WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 29: Sincerity
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“Created? I just tweaked the swordsmanship a little.”
Rimon answered as if he could not understand why everyone was making such a fuss over something so trivial.
But Lee Cheon-gi could not accept that.
“How could you call this a few minor adjustments?”
“What’s the problem? If you stole my swordsmanship, you should be able to do this much too.”
It was absurd.
Having acquired the Demon-Slaying Dragon-Killing Sword through 『Skill Acquisition』, Lee Cheon-gi knew better than anyone.
Rimon’s improvements were not some improvised fixes to a few sword forms.
They were vicious counters, calculated to take an opponent’s head the moment they charged in with victory assured. A complete reinterpretation of the Demon-Slaying Dragon-Killing Sword from its roots!
The technique was so refined that, without 『Precognitive Foresight』, even Lee Cheon-gi would have nearly died several times.
That was why he could state with certainty.
It was absolutely impossible for him.
Even if he devoted the rest of his life solely to improving swordsmanship, he would not create even one counter-form.
The Demon-Slaying Dragon-Killing Sword was that perfect a sword art.
“If you’ve got time to talk, swing your sword properly. Don’t spout bullshit later about how you let your guard down.”
Yet Rimon, the very person who had improved that perfect sword art dozens of times in the blink of an eye, did not so much as twitch an eyebrow.
As though telling him to steal it if he could.
He simply continued attacking Lee Cheon-gi.
Clanggg!
“Urgh...!”
In the end, Lee Cheon-gi had no choice but to use 『Skill Acquisition』 while parrying Rimon’s sword.
Even if the swordsmanship would soon be countered, he had no way to handle the terrifying speed at which Rimon created new techniques unless he stole and used them as well.
[Acquiring 『Demon-Slaying Dragon-Killing Sword Version 4.3』...]
[Acquiring 『Demon-Slaying Dragon-Killing Sword Version 7.1... 11.5... 19.8』...]
[System error. Error code xi111a0o44...]
Clang! Clang! Clangggg!
It was a truly strange battle.
They used the same sword art.
But its essence changed without pause.
With simplicity that shattered insight, flamboyance that overwhelmed monotony, strength that cut through complexity, and speed that left sluggishness behind.
Neither side was allowed even a moment of rest.
The same sword art... No, precisely because it was the same sword art, the side that fell behind would inevitably be crushed.
So this was not a sword duel.
It was a contest.
One side created swordsmanship.
The other stole it.
An unbearably pure struggle of skill, in which they endlessly pulled ahead of and caught up to each other from opposite directions.
Fwaaaaaash!
Ordinarily, this duel should have been impossible from the start.
Creating new techniques.
Stealing and learning them.
Both were tasks that normally required years, if not more.
Yet the fact that such a fight was possible proved just how absurd Rimon’s skill and Lee Cheon-gi’s 『Skill Acquisition』 were.
And it was obvious who held the advantage.
Stealing was easier than creating.
Using a skill was easier and more efficient than not having one.
That was so obvious there was no need to question it.
Yet at this very moment, as the battle continued, it was Lee Cheon-gi who was being driven into a corner.
Clang!
This is the limit.
Lee Cheon-gi swung his sword with a sweat-soaked hand and knocked Rimon’s blade away.
He could not keep up any longer.
At first, he had been certain of his advantage.
Unlike himself, who only needed to use a skill, Rimon had to invent swordsmanship every moment. Swordsmanship capable of overwhelming every technique stolen up to that point.
Rimon was human too. He had to have limits.
Lee Cheon-gi had believed that if he simply held out, Rimon would eventually collapse under his own strain.
But the System messages that kept appearing before his eyes told him how empty that hope had been.
[Acquiring 『Demon-Slaying Dragon-Killing Sword Version 93.7... 102.3... 142.1』]
[System error. Error code xi111a0o44...]
[System error. System error...]
The version numbers soared madly, like a game endlessly pushing patches just to squeeze money from its users when there was nothing left to update.
Then there were the error messages covering most of his vision, and the rapidly mounting pressure.
All of it meant only one thing.
He’s getting faster and faster!
Far from collapsing, Rimon was accelerating the more their contest continued!
He had become so fast that using 『Skill Acquisition』 itself was now meaningless.
To activate 『Skill Acquisition』, he had to meet a minimum amount of experience through combat. But before he could accumulate it, Rimon had already created another sword art.
His opponent charged forward like a runaway locomotive while he himself was stagnating.
There was no way he could endure any longer.
“...It can’t be helped.”
That was why Lee Cheon-gi gave up on their contest.
But that did not mean he admitted defeat.
“From now on, I will fight in earnest.”
“What’s with that bullshit about being some loser hiding his strength? Don’t tell me you were going easy on me until now.”
“No. I mean that, if it is to defeat you, I am willing to put aside something as trivial as pride.”
Rimon mocked him for saying such nonsense now, after falling so badly behind in their contest.
But Lee Cheon-gi did not waver.
With the same cold face as before, he merely spoke quietly.
“『Emergency Evasion』.”
Rimon’s eyebrow twitched.
Just as he was about to cut Lee Cheon-gi down, his body disappeared for an instant, then reappeared.
But that was only the beginning.
“『Technique Enhancement』, 『Instant Acceleration』, 『Weapon Enhancement』, 『Giant’s Strength』.”
His swordsmanship grew sharper.
His sword grew faster.
A brilliant radiance seeped into his treasured sword.
The muscles beneath his armor swelled as if they were about to burst.
Then, after enhancing himself with all manner of skills, he brought down his sword like lightning.
“『Superheavy Strike』.”
Craaaaaash!!!
The sword carried power so far beyond anything before it that it seemed capable of crushing a mountain.
Rimon cleverly redirected it with a twisted blade, driving it into the ground, then asked quietly.
“What kind of stunt is this?”
“I told you I would fight in earnest.”
“So you can’t beat me with swordsmanship alone, so you’re bringing out every skill you have?”
“You are worthy of that much.”
To Lee Cheon-gi, it was the highest praise.
It was an acknowledgment that Rimon was a fighter equal to himself.
In this Iron Age, where Monarchs were absolute, it was an honor great enough to boast of for generations.
“...I’ve told you several times already.”
But Rimon was not pleased in the least.
He merely snapped back in a strangely languid voice.
“Don’t start counting your chickens before you’ve beaten me, you bastard.”
“If that is what you desire, then I will oblige.”
He did not hesitate.
Just as he had declared, he used his skills without restraint.
Through 『Incomplete Doppelganger』, he summoned a duplicate unable to use skills but possessing 80 percent of his stats.
With 『Stamina Recovery』, he restored vitality to his exhausted body.
With 『Reflective Armor』, he covered himself in a barrier that reflected damage.
With 『Shadow Blade』, he gave his sword an additional strike.
And beyond that, 『Precognitive Foresight』, 『Berserk』, 『Coolheaded Mind』, 『Iron Man』, 『Third Hand』, and more.
Enhancing himself with every kind of skill, he swung his sword and unleashed a fierce assault.
Clang! Clanggg! Clanggggggg!
A body multiplied into two.
Stats enhanced far beyond their former level.
All manner of special abilities and additional effects.
Wrapped in countless layered skills, Lee Cheon-gi’s attacks were a calamity in human form, carrying such overwhelming force that it was impossible to imagine he had been on the defensive only moments ago, as if anything in his path would be mercilessly reduced to ruins.
Naturally.
He was the Infinite Monarch.
The ruler who commanded infinite skills.
Until now, he had fought only with swordsmanship because of his pride and because he wished to acquire as many techniques as possible.
Using countless skills in combination was his original fighting style, and the way he displayed his true ability as a Monarch.
This time, it truly ends.
Perhaps because of his outstanding swordsmanship.
Rimon held firm against the tremendous assault with only a single sword.
It was a truly astonishing sight.
But Lee Cheon-gi was certain.
It was only a matter of time.
Rimon Aspelder, you made a mistake.
No matter how sharp its fangs, an ant could not bring down an elephant.
No matter how outstanding Rimon’s swordsmanship was, he could not stand against Lee Cheon-gi now that he was fighting in earnest.
There had always been an overwhelming difference in their stats.
Especially now.
You should never have given me the chance to acquire your swordsmanship in the first place.
Before he acquired the Demon-Slaying Dragon-Killing Sword, Rimon might have had a chance.
But not now.
Even if he had become unable to keep up midway through, Lee Cheon-gi had grown terrifyingly stronger just by repeatedly acquiring the Demon-Slaying Dragon-Killing Sword until then.
His stat bonuses alone had multiplied several times over.
And if one considered the improvement in his skill as well?
It would not have been an exaggeration to say that he had become more than twice as strong as before fighting Rimon.
And Rimon, who had been locked in a close battle with him since before Lee Cheon-gi acquired the Demon-Slaying Dragon-Killing Sword, could not possibly defeat him...
A close battle?
It was then that a chill ran down Lee Cheon-gi’s spine.
From the beginning until now, all along?
He felt something was wrong.
When he had used only skills, before he acquired the Demon-Slaying Dragon-Killing Sword, and when they had continued their struggle of creating and stealing techniques.
Rimon and he had remained locked in a narrow battle.
Until now, he had not found that strange.
After all, he had not been fighting at full strength from the beginning, and he had deliberately drawn Rimon into a close fight to acquire the Demon-Slaying Dragon-Killing Sword.
But after he had acquired it?
Even then, when he had been too busy keeping up with Rimon’s swordsmanship, had he held back his strength?
That could not be true.
As his stats surged with every stolen technique, he had no room to regulate his strength against Rimon, who created swordsmanship at a mad pace.
Yet the balance between them had never broken.
How is that possible?
A life-or-death battle on such a razor’s edge, where the slightest misstep meant instant death, was nearly impossible to sustain.
There were only two ways it could happen.
Their skill was miraculously equal.
Or one side was deliberately matching the other’s skill.
That was why Lee Cheon-gi had believed that once he fought in earnest, he could shatter this balance at once.
Because he had created that balance.
But... what if that had been a misunderstanding?
What if he had never been the one controlling this situation from the start?
“What’s wrong?”
The moment he heard that calm voice and looked at Rimon, Lee Cheon-gi understood for the first time.
“You said you would fight in earnest.”
Rimon had been excited, cursing, mocking, and talking throughout their battle.
But unlike that heated behavior, the truth was that his golden eyes had never once wavered. They had remained cold and still all along.
“Then show me what you can really do. How long are you planning to keep this probing match up?”
And one more thing.
Though Lee Cheon-gi’s whole body had long been drenched in sweat.
Not a single drop ran down Rimon’s face, despite their close battle.
Lee Cheon-gi’s face stiffened.
Looking at him, Rimon smiled coldly.
“Or shall I show you first?”
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