I Became the Academy's Turn-Based Swordsman - Chapter 40

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 40: Cut It Down

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Maliaas doubted himself.

Slash!

Yet the clear sword mark carved into his arm proved that he had not made a mistake.

‘Clown’s Domain is definitely active.’

Clown’s Domain, a power that disrupted human perception.

No matter how skilled someone was, adapting to Clown’s Domain took quite some time.

Yet Halibal, standing before him, moved as though it had no effect on him at all.

There was an even bigger question.

‘Why... is he here?’

With the Divine Essence Maliaas currently possessed, turning humans into monsters was difficult, but objects were manageable.

That was also why he had come to the doll workshop today: to purchase dolls that could be used as soldiers in place of humans.

Yet there, of all places, he had encountered Halibal, the insolent Funeral Sword who had dared point his blade at the One.

He had wanted to deal with him on the spot, but he did not even have enough Divine Essence to fulfill the grand design.

He could not waste his strength carelessly, and above all, he had not received permission from the other Bishops.

So he had acted naturally and left, but why was Halibal treating him as an enemy as though it were only natural?

As blood flowed from the X-shaped wound on his arm, Maliaas recalled the man he had been absorbing just moments ago.

‘...I should have absorbed at least one person before fighting.’

He tried to pull back, but Halibal was faster.

Slash!

An X-shaped wound was carved into his other arm as well.

‘But why is he only aiming for my arms?’

At this distance, wasn’t it common sense to stab for the heart?

Of course, Maliaas had wanted him to do exactly that.

A faint trace of Divine Essence, imperceptible to ordinary humans, thoroughly protected his heart from attacks.

He had planned to counterattack while Halibal was caught off guard by having his strike blocked.

Yet his opponent moved as though he already knew.

Maliaas was briefly flustered, but soon steadied himself.

He had already received authorization for an immediate execution.

He only needed to eliminate him here.

“You’re quite impatient! The audience hasn’t even arrived yet!”

After shoving away Cecilia as she charged at him, Maliaas summoned four dolls and imbued them with Divine Essence.

The grotesque monsters formed in an instant and charged at Halibal on his command.

They appeared to be targeting Halibal’s head, but Maliaas had other intentions.

‘If they aim for his heart or head, he’ll naturally guard them. Aim for his right arm.’

Those who wield swords generally tended to leave their arms poorly guarded.

Besides, Maliaas’s sadistic nature made him curious about how a young swordsman would react after losing an arm.

‘Will he rage and thrash about? Will he become dejected, or fall into despair? Either way, it will be entertaining.’

As the monsters altered their trajectory in midair and flew toward Halibal’s arm, Maliaas’s lips split into a clownish grin.

Yet what he expected did not happen.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

“...What?”

Halibal swung his sword and deflected every one of the monsters’ attacks.

It had been an ambush launched from the air, yet he moved as though he had read even that.

Cold sweat gathered on Maliaas’s brow.

‘Did he read the flow of battle through his senses alone? If so, he has innate talent!’

His wariness toward Halibal rose sharply.

The name Halibal Velder had been newly carved onto the Cult’s list of people to watch.

‘But he isn’t fully developed yet. He has the instincts, but not the strength to support them.’

The minions that had been knocked aside made that clear.

They had suffered only superficial damage. Halibal had not been able to cut them down, only fend them off.

As long as his senses and strength remained unbalanced, Maliaas still had the advantage.

That would have been true if Halibal had been alone.

“Cecilia!”

“Huh?!”

At Halibal’s shout, Maliaas turned his head.

What he saw was Cecilia Ren, the young lady of the Ren House.

She was Senia Ren’s younger twin sister. Though the Cult had been wary of Senia, Cecilia herself had received no attention due to her apparent lack of talent.

Maliaas had felt the same way. At that moment, his interest was focused solely on Halibal.

‘Damn it...!’

He realized that had been a mistake the moment unfamiliar mana began gathering around her blade.

The monsters were as tough as steel, making them difficult to cut with an ordinary sword.

Mana changed things.

‘A mage... no, a magic swordswoman?!’

Monsters formed from Divine Essence could do nothing before mana.

“How can a young lady of the Ren House wield mana of such purity?!”

“Radiant Chain Fang!”

Instead of answering, Cecilia unleashed her Art, which engulfed the entire alley.

The monsters caught in the flash melted into ash, and Maliaas could not escape its aftermath either.

“Ghhhk!”

The flash, imbued with sword energy, tore through his entire body, turning his pale skin blood-soaked in an instant.

When he came to his senses, Halibal and Cecilia were already standing before him.

‘I need to retreat first!’

Maliaas desperately threw himself into the cloud of dust.

Halibal had no intention of letting him go.

Halibal flew at him again, staring straight at Maliaas.

Normally, Maliaas would have tossed out some dull joke, but the situation did not allow it.

Halibal and Cecilia showed no intention of letting up their assault.

‘At this rate, I won’t even have time to catch my breath.’

Slash! Slash!

Halibal’s swift sword cut Maliaas twice more.

Once again, not his heart or head.

Both legs.

Blood dripped from all four of his limbs, and Maliaas finally burst into anger.

“What the hell are you trying to do?!”

“What?”

Halibal remained utterly calm.

The wounds carved into Maliaas’s arms were not ordinary wounds.

Their power was weak, but judging by their energy, they were clearly some kind of Art.

Even when he tried to heal them with Divine Essence, the wounds would not close. Instead, the bleeding only worsened.

If Halibal had continued to target those spots, Maliaas’s defeat would have become nearly certain.

Yet Halibal had cut his legs instead of his arms.

Maliaas took it as mockery.

‘He dares toy with me?’

The smile vanished from Maliaas’s face.

As he floated into the air again and made a gesture, hundreds of daggers appeared in midair.

“Thousand Knives!”

It was the strongest Art he could use right now.

Halibal’s expression stiffened.

“Yes! That expression! Die with that look on your face!!”

Hundreds of daggers shot forward like arrows.

Thousand Knives possessed tracking power. It could not be dodged.

Even if one of them dodged, the other was certain to die.

Yet the two of them moved strangely.

Cecilia nodded with a grim expression, then hid behind Halibal’s back.

Halibal remained where he was and aimed his sword at the incoming daggers.

“...Huh?”

As though he intended to take the attack head-on.

‘Impossible. Thousand Knives cannot be blocked!’

Yet Halibal’s gaze did not waver.

His crimson eyes pierced through Maliaas.

For some reason, they stirred his emotions. It was as though Halibal held everything in the palm of his hand.

The moment he saw those eyes, Maliaas’s mind grew cold instead.

“Is this bravado?! Foolhardiness?! Or both?!”

He soon regained his composure and sneered.

‘That’s right. Thousand Knives cannot be avoided.’

He had simply let his guard down until now.

‘The Funeral Sword’s death is certain. Then I only need to deal with that young lady hiding behind him.’

The daggers poured down upon Halibal all at once.

In response, Halibal swung his sword with all his strength.

Clangclangclangclang!

At first, it looked as though Halibal was knocking the daggers aside.

But there were far too many, and soon the daggers began piercing various parts of Halibal’s body.

When the rain of daggers ceased, Halibal was as blood-soaked as Maliaas.

Seeing Halibal’s body tremble from head to toe, Maliaas became certain.

Certain of his victory.

“Hehehe...! This is the end!”

Then it happened.

“Cecilia.”

Halibal slowly raised his left arm and pointed at Maliaas.

“Two on your arms, two on your legs. You see the wounds, right?”

Maliaas could not believe his eyes.

‘There should have been several daggers embedded in his left arm.’

Yet Halibal’s wounds looked strangely shallow.

It was as though he wore armor over his entire body. It had to be the effect of Yellow Shards.

Would an ordinary swordsman not focus more on Attack Power to strengthen his body?

Then why?

“There. Cut it down.”

“Got it.”

Maliaas’s thoughts could not continue.

Cecilia, who had been gathering strength behind Halibal the entire time, stepped out with her blade, now suffused with pure white mana, hanging at her side.

“Ren Sword Style. Second Sword. White Fang Dance.”

As Cecilia stepped forward, her blade drew a silver trail through the air.

Her movements resembled a dancer’s, and the hem of her clothes swayed beautifully with each motion.

Clang!

Something flew into the sky with a sharp tearing sound.

Only after lifting his head did Maliaas realize that it was his arm.

“Uaaaaaagh!!”

Cecilia had accurately targeted the wound Halibal had carved and cleanly severed his arm at that spot.

Only then did Halibal’s actions fit together in Maliaas’s mind like a puzzle.

‘Could it be... he predicted all of this?’

He had deliberately carved wounds into Maliaas’s arms and legs.

It was as though he had prepared him for Cecilia to finish off now.

Clang!

But that made no sense.

For that to work, Halibal first had to endure Thousand Knives.

If Halibal had failed to withstand Maliaas’s attack and died there, every prediction would have been wrong, and victory would have gone to Maliaas.

By all common sense, that meant Halibal had included being struck and enduring the attack in his plan.

Could a seventeen-year-old boy fight while assuming he would be hit?

No normal human could do such a thing.

Clang!

If it were possible...

‘A monster...?’

There was no other explanation.

Clang!

With the final blow, Maliaas collapsed onto the ground with all four limbs severed.

“Huff... huff...!”

Maliaas panted roughly.

Cecilia slowly approached with her blade hanging at her side, intending to finish him.

Yet Halibal’s existence was all that filled Maliaas’s mind now.

He had only encountered Halibal for a few minutes at the doll workshop.

If Halibal could control the flow of battle this thoroughly after knowing him for so little time, he would surely become a threat to the grand design.

‘I need to tell the Cult! The ones we need to be wary of aren’t the Main Gods or Ultimate Divine Sword!’

So Maliaas decided to flee.

He squeezed out his remaining demonic energy, rose into the air, and threw himself beyond the alley.

Halibal’s expression filled with alarm.

“...Ah!”

“Cecilia! We have to catch him here! We absolutely cannot let him get away!”

Seeing that expression, Maliaas became certain.

Even that monster had not foreseen this.

“Urgh!”

Cecilia clutched her shoulder and crumpled to the ground.

Judging by the power of her Arts, most of the Shards strengthening her body had to be White Shards.

Two powerful Arts in a row under those circumstances would naturally put a burden on her body.

Halibal, too, was unable to move properly due to his Thousand Knives wounds.

Maliaas easily left the two behind and headed toward the end of the alley.

‘This is my victory! Once I return to the Cult, I can restore this body as many times as I want. If I just pass on information about the Funeral Sword, he will no longer be a threat to us!’

Yet the instant he reached the far end of the alley, an utterly inexplicable sight unfolded before him.

“...Huh?”

He had clearly flown straight ahead, yet Halibal and Cecilia stood before him again.

Maliaas hurriedly turned around and flew into another alley.

“...Huh?”

But the two of them were there as well.

It was as though he had been trapped behind an invisible wall, endlessly circling within the narrow alley.

Then the black night sky slowly split apart, and a soft blue light seeped out from the gap.

Thousands, tens of thousands of blue crystals had filled the sky before he knew it.

Beams of light formed as the crystals collided, weaving the sky into a net.

As though someone were passing judgment on Maliaas.

“Could it be... this power...?”