WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

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◈ Academy’s Pure Love Dark Knight

Chapter 072

──────

Episode 72. To Know Love.

Shooaaahhh-.

A sudden downpour.

Within it, two knights stood side by side, holding their swords.

“..Finally drawing that sword.”

“I thought I couldn’t win without using it anyway.”

Like David and Goliath, facing the giant Glass Knight, I was being overwhelmed by its pressure. I put more strength into the hand holding my sword to resist.

“Conviction. Giyu(冀雨). Say hello. This sword is like my son.”

“Hello. Giyu.”

Mardol, waving her hand slowly at the sword. She really was an eccentric person. If I had thought a little more, I would have quickly noticed she was a different person from Lupus.

“Haha.. You actually did it.”

“..Is something wrong?”

“No, I just thought it was like you.”

When it comes to our Saintess, I become even more oblivious than Yellow Dog. My thoughts stop, and my mind goes blank. A hollow laugh escaped me.

‘I was so stupid. If the Saintess knew about this, she would definitely scold me.’

Wouldn’t she call me a fool puppy? Her characteristic high-pitched voice lingered in my ears.

What is love that I’ve ended up in this state? It’s absurd. I thought quick thinking was my strength, but now, maybe not.

“..Licht.”

At that moment. As I was lost in memories in the rain, she on the opposite side opened her mouth.

“I seek strength, Licht.”

“I am not strong, Mardol.”

Our values had been running parallel from the start. Chewing over my past efforts, I spoke honestly. I lifted my head and faced Mardol.

“Rather, I climbed this high because I was weak.”

“Really, even if you’re weak… can you protect, as you say?”

Whose opinion was correct? Now I had to prove it. Our relationship that would never get close no matter how close we tried. The paths I and Mardol had walked were completely different.

“Yeah. Even if I’m weak, I’ll be able to protect.”

One side was a liar who only piled up defeats,

“..Then, prove me wrong, Licht.”

The other side was a cold, transparent, glass-like figure who sought only victory.

“I understand, Mardol.”

I nodded and answered her. After all, it seemed like we would have to catch the Demon King together as comrades. I should at least fix her trauma.

And so, black and white clashed. I held Giyu, turned into a droplet, and changed positions here and there. The cold sensation wet my body as the wind brushed past.

“As expected, you’re fast.”

Mardol didn’t miss that movement and tried to attack me with the knight’s illusion behind her.

Sounds of thump! crash! echoed through the arena, ruthlessly smashing the surroundings.

A barrage as if begging me to be hit just once. The blind attacks of the greatsword carved from glass targeted me.

‘I know that kind of method doesn’t work.’

I thought as I mixed with the raindrops, evading her sword strikes. She’s not the kind of person to use such a poor tactic. Was she aiming for something?

“They say it looks like flowers falling, so 'Falling Flowers (落花)'.”

But I couldn’t miss the opening that appeared. My sword also had weaknesses.

Approaching quickly, I prepared the swordsmanship the Heavenly Demon had taught me. A motion created while watching magnolia flowers fall.

“Magnolia Sword Art, 3rd Form. One Sword, Falling Flowers (一劍落花).”

White petals fluttered and scattered around, and with a gentle curve, I slashed Mardol from above.

At that moment, her golden eyes met my brown eyes.

“You were too hasty, Licht.”

A sound like clang! rang out as she erected a wall of glass. The Heavenly Demon’s sword forms reflected right back. How could she even copy techniques using Qi?

“If I turn into a raindrop…!”

“..No, Licht.”

I tried to turn into a raindrop again and dodge the clone’s attacks that popped out of the glass wall. But that attempt was rather a bad move.

「Mirror Shield.」

A transparent glass wall that covered the entire arena like a giant dome was erected around us. With a soft thud, the falling rain stopped. The means to move around were gone.

A complete sealed room. An iron fortress that no one except the two figures could even approach.

‘So this was what she was aiming for.’

There was no way to avoid it. I was flustered by the momentary gap.

‘Come to think of it, Mardol once offered me an umbrella.’

She was an opponent who already knew the countermeasure. I had let my guard down, and she had been launching sword strikes here and there with the intention of countering my strong attacks.

Two sword trajectories that seemed to touch my body. The exact same stance I had used to try and slash Mardol from above. If this continued, I would be hit by the illusion’s attack. I had to defend.

“Magnolia Sword Art, 1st Form, Baeksan (白山)..!”

Krrrriek. A metallic sound rang from the sword that blocked the attack. A scene like white snow unfolded behind me. Techniques using imagery. Unlike magic, they used Qi.

“Amazing. It doesn’t seem like you’re using mana.”

“...”

“Can you show me more?”

After barely blocking the clones made of glass, that’s what she said. I couldn’t understand how obsessed she was with strength. The attacks from the giant behind me kept coming.

Kwaaaak! Even with Baeksan, an opening appeared, and a huge blow to the upper body had already sent most of my mana barrier flying. I had no choice.

I had to use that.

My most precious imagery.

“..Yeah. As much as you want.”

I had to see if that Glass Knight or whatever was stronger than my feelings for the Saintess. I readjusted my stance. I focused all my mind and poured all my Qi into the sword blade.

***

A few weeks ago, when I was training with the Heavenly Demon.

“Boy, now it’s about time you create your own imagery, isn’t it?”

“Yes..? What do you mean, Heavenly Demon?”

“I mean you must obtain innate strength. If you merely follow this one’s movements, there is no development.”

She observed my sword-swinging form several times with her dragon-like eyes, then said with an expression that said it was enough.

“I don’t quite understand….”

“Tsk. For a boy this dense to be this one’s disciple. Do you truly believe that just ‘following’ is the best course?”

Baek-Mokryeon clicked her tongue as her brown hair fluttered. Even closing her eyes tightly, she looked dissatisfied.

“The strength of the Heart Sword (心劍) does not come from another’s emotions, young lad.”

“Then you mean it must come from my own emotions? I already have the Heart Sword, Giyu….”

I didn’t understand the unclear intention. My sword was already forged. I wield my own heart, so what more was needed?

“That’s not it. Do you know why I am called the Heavenly Demon, young lad?”

"I... I'm not really sure."

Wasn’t it because she was a game character? Probably due to the setting of being an existence from another world. Hearing my answer, she shook her head.

“Originally, in the Central Plains where I lived, martial artists who belonged to neither orthodox nor unorthodox sects were called Ground Demons (地魔), belittling their names.”

“..To brand them beforehand?”

“Indeed. An absurd matter. Those who exclude and look down on those not in their own faction, while chattering about knowing chivalry and martial arts, trying to put on the appearance of the jianghu.”

The Heavenly Demon spread her right hand toward the sky. A palm blocking the sky. In truth, it was nonsense.

“And so, that Ground Demon, the realm of the weak earthworm, rises to the sky and takes on a dragon-like bearing, do you know what they call it belatedly?”

“What do.. they call it?”

As she made a fist and mimed grabbing the sun, the surroundings went dark, as if Laplace was using his ability.

“..The serpent that has touched the sky. Heavenly Demon (天魔).”

As Baek-Mokryeon twisted her grip with force, a crack! sound of something breaking rang out, and the sun shattered.

“Those steeped in the mundane praised this one with that name.”

As I watched the fragments of light scatter, I was at a loss for words.

“...”

"Surely even a boy has at least one precious inner self."

As if it were nothing, she waved her hand in front of my dazed face, snapping me back to reality, and the surroundings brightened again as if nothing had happened.

With the returning morning, I slumped down on the spot. Could this really be done with just imagery?

“Kheheh. Work hard, boy!”

The woman in black hanbok on the opposite side just let out a small laugh.

***

The nameless Saintess.

For a time ordinary people would forget, the memories he had kept to himself.

To Licht, the most precious imagery was only that.

“..White Wolf, Shadow Fang.”

As he finished speaking, the air echoed.

Auuuuuuuuu─!!

A giant white wolf emerged from behind him and howled. The man in the Black Knight helmet charging toward the Glass Knight with his sword.

Not the thrusting motion, nor the Drake-style Reverse Scale Pierce that continued into consecutive attacks. Just a simple charge. He kicked off the ground and advanced step by step.

‘That's..? is that me?’

The platinum wolf with white fur and flashing golden eyes that appeared behind Licht.

Seeing it, Phine Gransia inside the glass armor felt as if she was facing herself directly.

A subtle sense of deja vu, like looking at her own reflection in a mirror, sharpened her nerves.

[Student Licht! Suddenly creating a giant wolf and charging! It seems he’s aiming for the final blow! With the Glass Knight remaining, approaching will be difficult, though!]

Suddenly, she predicted that if things continued like this, she would lose. A result derived not from intellect, but instinct.

She had already blocked the method of evading with rain. Both the Magnolia Sword Art and the Drake-style swordsmanship had been countered with the glass wall. Where did such a move remain?

‘He staked everything on this one strike. A straightforward movement that deceives nothing.’

Watching the man sprinting at full power, she felt a momentary chill. Why would someone who used restrained and deceptive moves suddenly act like this?

「..Mirror Shield.」

A glass wall popped out and blocked his path. The illusions that popped out to match his charge; even as he took those hits, the man did not stop his feet.

“He.. broke through everything?”

Without even thinking of knocking away his own reflected self, he ran in a straight line. A fighting spirit that seemed to sweep away all enemies in front of him was imbued in him.

“Th-the Glass Knight!”

Even the giant knight could not stop him. Even when it swung its sword to block him, he kept finding gaps and barging in. Faced with the opponent’s determination that seemed to have no front or back, she was flustered.

‘This won’t work either. I have to use another method.’

The flashing brown eyes, the black helmet closing in. Phine now had to make a decision.

“Gransia Style.. 5th Form.”

She readjusted her stance, holding the glass sword.

The strongest technique in the Gransia style, excluding the ultimate move. She raised her sword high toward the sky. Normally, the preparatory motion shouldn’t be this large, but.

‘..I need to recreate Father’s form as closely as possible.’

Obsessed with strength, she acted recklessly in order to pour the true power of Emperor Rook’s style directly into Licht. A high stance to slash diagonally from above.

「Heart Slash.」

No matter how strong her opponent was, it was a technique that surely cuts the heart.

Unlike the One Sword, Falling Flowers someone had just used, this was a stance overflowing with force. Seeing Licht already right in front of her, she tried to slam the sword down.

A metallic sound of clang! rang out as she blocked his cobalt-colored sword once. The man’s balance momentarily collapsed.

“I blocked..!”

Having blocked the attack, Phine was momentarily relieved. However, the brown eyes inside the black helmet maintained a calm demeanor.

“No, from the beginning.. I said ‘Shadow Fang,’ didn’t I.”

Using the opponent’s attack to his advantage, Licht gently danced, deflecting Phine’s sword and taking a reverse stance, slashing upward from below.

“Ugh..!”

Phine tilted her head back. A cobalt-colored flash passing close to her nose. She thought she had barely dodged the sword by a hair’s breadth.

“This is the real thing.”

“..What?”

In an instant, her keen eyes caught the anomaly. Something strange emerged from the man’s shadow. A black object rising like a dolphins leaping.

[N-now a black wolf has appeared from Student Licht! Another wolf leaping into the air!]

A black wolf, similar in size to the white wolf seen earlier, soared into the air.

‘Shadow Wolf..?’

It even looked similar to the Shadow Wolf Licht and Kainel had faced before. Its wide-open mouth, as if to devour the entire arena, flaunted its majesty.

[Student Mardol, it’s already too late to block with the Glass Knight!]

It was too late to gather all her magic and react. Phine barely lifted her sword to try and block the wolf’s attack.

Kwaaaaaaaak-!!

As the wolf made from Licht’s shadow collided with Phine, the air vibrated with a crashing sound.

[Huh..? What’s happening!]

Immediately after, black darkness like smoke filled the glass dome, making the two figures invisible from outside.

[The two students’ figures cannot be confirmed! The glass wall is now completely pitch-black, so it’s impossible to see who won!!]

“Kai, what happened? Did Licht win?”

“Did Mardol.. lose?”

“Junior..?! This way, we can’t see who won!”

The pitch-black hemisphere. Seeing it, the audience was all in an uproar, unable to know what had happened inside.

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