Solo Swordmaster - Chapter 30

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 30: 【Overlord】

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Lee Cheon-gi gripped his sword so hard he nearly crushed it.

It was not because of Rimon’s provocation.

Nor was it because he felt confused.

The moment he saw those cold eyes, he instinctively knew.

Something had changed.

Even Lee Cheon-gi himself did not know what that something was.

He only felt as though he were facing a ferocious beast released from its cage, and that chilling sensation made him move on reflex.

“『Emergency Evasion』!”

Swish!

The instant Lee Cheon-gi’s body vanished with the activation of his skill, a cold blue blade pierced the clone left behind.

If his reaction had been even a second slower, it would have severed not only the clone, but Lee Cheon-gi’s neck, carotid artery, windpipe, and esophagus in one stroke.

The fact that he had evaded it at all was proof of Lee Cheon-gi’s skill.

But he could not be pleased.

No, his expression hardened instead.

I didn’t see it.

For one thing, he had no idea how Rimon’s sword had passed through the space where his neck had been.

And for another.

“Why? Are you surprised that 『Precognitive Foresight』 didn’t activate?”

“...How did you do that?”

“It’s nothing special. Just a simple trick you pick up after killing enough lousy precogs to make you sick of them.”

Rimon chuckled with a malicious grin.

Watching him, Lee Cheon-gi gritted his teeth.

Among the thousands of skills he possessed, 『Precognitive Foresight』 was one of the most useful in combat.

It was also a major reason Lee Cheon-gi, who lagged behind Rimon in swordsmanship, had been able to maintain such a close sword fight until now.

At the very least, he could read and evade futures in which he suffered fatal wounds.

Conversely, now that 『Precognitive Foresight』 had been blocked, he could no longer prevent deadly attacks.

But there was another, greater reason for Lee Cheon-gi’s agitation.

“Are you saying you were deliberately going easy on me?”

He could tell from that one strike.

If Rimon had wanted to cut him down, he could have killed him at any time.

“Rather than going easy on you, it was a probing match. When you’re dealing with someone who might pull out anything, it’s common sense to test their mettle first.”

Rimon replied without a care.

Then he slightly raised one corner of his mouth in a sneer.

“Why? Did you think you were the only one who could have a probing match?”

Lee Cheon-gi did not answer.

Because Rimon was right.

Against anyone else, perhaps not. But probing someone like Lee Cheon-gi, who possessed countless skills, was no different from suicide.

That was why, even before becoming a Monarch, Lee Cheon-gi had always observed opponents who came at him with everything they had, testing whether they possessed skills worth copying.

He had rarely been the one tested.

And now he was being probed?

By an outdated has-been like Rimon?

Without even realizing that the other man could have taken his head at any moment?

Crrrk.

Lee Cheon-gi felt something stir in the depths of his heart.

It was too heavy as night to be anger, too clinging as a swamp to be defeat, and too hot as fire to be shame.

In the past, he would not even have known what it was.

But after meeting that person, he had learned.

The moment he realized that emotion called humiliation was crushing him, Lee Cheon-gi had already activated his skills.

“『Limit Break』, 『Transcendent Will』, 『Restriction Release』, 『Future Sacrifice』, 『Hero’s Descent』.”

The limiters that every human naturally possessed were released, removing the limits of body and mind.

Part of his status was burned away to temporarily increase all his abilities, while his potential was drawn out to the extreme in order to achieve a specific goal.

They were double-edged swords.

Skills that granted immense power for a brief time in exchange for terrible aftereffects.

The result he had finally completed after combining such skills hundreds of times, driven solely by the resolve to surpass that person.

The one and only original that the man called the Infinite Monarch had gained himself rather than copied from another.

【Overlord】

Immersed in that transcendent realm, Lee Cheon-gi rushed at Rimon and swung his sword.

Clang!

“Oh?”

Rimon raised an eyebrow.

It was not merely because the tremendous impact numbed his hand even though he had properly redirected the blow.

Lee Cheon-gi had felt something from Rimon.

Something that could never be possessed by a person merely fighting half-heartedly.

And Rimon felt that same thing from Lee Cheon-gi.

“Have you finally decided to fight properly?”

Lee Cheon-gi did not answer.

He simply continued attacking Rimon while activating skill after skill.

“『Super Acceleration』, 『Lightning Flash』, 『Wind Walk』, 『Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara』, 『Extra Action』.”

“Hmm, you’re certainly better than before, but this much is...”

“『Lionheart』, 『Monstrous Strength』, 『Muscle Rampage』, 『Mysterious Strength』, 『Superhuman Strength』.”

“You’re still quite...”

“『Attribute Fusion』, 『Lightning Imbuement』, 『Flame Imbuement』, 『Frost Imbuement』, 『Curse Imbuement』.”

“Not enough...”

“『Weapon Manifestation』, 『Undead Summoning』, 『Venomous Insect Summoning』, 『Monstrous Bird Summoning』, 『Earth Monster Summoning』.”

“...Hey, wait a second.”

“『Invisible Blade』, 『Flame Bullet』, 『Wave Cannon』, 『Spatial Severance』, 『Gravity Manipulation』.”

“You crazy bastard?!”

Clang! Clang-clang! Claaaaaang! Craaaaaash!

Though only swords were colliding, flames and lightning erupted, the ground was crushed, and storms raged.

Summoned creatures surged at him from every direction, including the sky and underground, while attack skills powerful enough to send even those creatures flying poured down upon him.

Rimon was dumbfounded.

He was already used to the endless chains of skills.

As befitted the Infinite Monarch, Lee Cheon-gi’s fighting style was to unleash every sort of skill in succession.

But the density of the skills Lee Cheon-gi was unleashing now was on an entirely different level.

More than several hundred skills activating at once!

As skills poured down more densely than raindrops, Rimon frantically blocked, cut through, and evaded them, then shouted sharply.

“Hey, you bastard! I told you to show me your real strength, not put on a skill parade!”

“Putting on a parade is also an ability.”

“You call that an answer?!”

“Say whatever you like. I will be the one who wins in the end.”

Lee Cheon-gi declared coldly.

Rimon had disparaged it as a parade, but what Lee Cheon-gi was displaying was by no means trivial.

Skills naturally became stronger when stacked together.

Yet few people actually layered skills that way.

Leaving aside the fact that they lacked enough skills to do so, the more skills one used at once, the greater the burden placed on the body.

Most people suffered aftereffects such as headaches and dizziness from using even two skills together, and would pass out if they maintained them for long.

That was why most Players used only one or two main techniques.

But Lee Cheon-gi was different.

He had trained relentlessly and equipped himself so that he could use at least a dozen skills at once.

No matter how many skills he possessed, if he could not use them properly, they were no better than pearls before swine.

And that effort had been worthwhile.

There was an enormous difference between using one or two skills and using more than a dozen together.

Rimon himself had even judged Lee Cheon-gi, who constantly maintained ten skills, to be more troublesome than a thousand Players using only their main techniques.

Then what if he constantly maintained hundreds of skills?

What if he could unleash hundreds of skills all at once?

Lee Cheon-gi was certain.

Even an army of tens of thousands made entirely of Players would be easy for him to sweep aside now.

That was why he had named this realm 【Overlord】[1].

It was the power of a transcendent being, surpassing even Monarchs, who were called the absolute rulers of this age.

Naturally, the price was not small.

The pain of feeling as though his head were splitting apart was only the beginning.

Blood vessels bulged across his body, and his muscles convulsed.

Under the burden of so many skills, Lee Cheon-gi’s body and mind were in a state where they could collapse at any moment.

In another sense, this transcendent realm was also a power that pushed him beyond his limits through sheer overload.

But Lee Cheon-gi did not stop.

As though he would defeat Rimon even if it turned him into a cripple, he kept pouring out skills while healing his collapsing body in real time.

“...I see. So this is your sincerity.”

As he deflected Lee Cheon-gi’s torrent of skills with his sword, Rimon spoke quietly.

He could tell at a glance.

Lee Cheon-gi was fighting now at the cost of even his lifespan.

“Still, I’ll ask one last time to make sure. Is that all?”

“What do you mean, is that all?”

“I’m asking whether this is all that you people can show.”

“What does that...?”

Lee Cheon-gi frowned at those incomprehensible words, then flinched.

Rimon was looking steadily at him.

Even after seeing the transcendent realm called 【Overlord】, Rimon’s pitch-black eyes remained dull and flat, as though he found it boring.

“Yes. If there’s nothing more, then that’s enough.”

As though he understood even without an answer, Rimon nodded to himself.

Then, gripping his sword with both hands, he spoke in a languid voice.

“Let’s finish this.”

“...!”

At that moment, Lee Cheon-gi’s pupils contracted.

It was not merely because Rimon, who had wielded his sword with one hand until now, had gripped it with both hands for the first time.

Nor was it only because simply seeing Rimon stand still with his sword in hand made him feel as though a blade were pressed against his neck.

The instincts he had built up through countless Dungeon expeditions told him.

He had to run from here immediately.

He could not let that man swing his sword.

If he did, everything would end.

Crunch.

But Lee Cheon-gi ignored that instinctive warning.

No, he denied it.

Running away now was something his pride as a Monarch would never allow.

So he charged at Rimon.

Then, gritting his teeth until blood seeped from his gums, he activated his skills with every ounce of his strength.

“『Demon-Slaying Dragon-Killing Sword』, 『Blade Storm』, 『Superheavy Strike』, 『Asura Blood-Wave Slash』, 『Magic Sword』, 『Power Concentration』, 『Attribute Fusion』, 『Freezing Rain』, 『Great Flame Formation』, 『Heavenly Thunder Hell』, 『Wave Cannon』, 『Spatial Severance』, 『Defense Penetration』, 『Destructive Power Enhancement』...”

From swordsmanship skills to attack skills and support skills.

The total number of skills he activated at once, surpassing even the limits of 【Overlord】 with the resolve to throw away his life, was one thousand!

The backlash alone burst blood vessels throughout his body, tore apart his muscles, drove blood from his ruptured organs up his throat, and heated his brain as though it would melt.

Countless skills raged in every direction, their aftereffects tearing, burning, and freezing his skin all over.

Even so, he did not stop.

He simply unleashed the thousand wildly raging skills at Rimon all at once.

It was a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering strike.

A storm of destruction that would split a mountain, reduce a city to ruins, and evaporate even an entire sea.

If Rimon evaded it, the stray force alone would be enough to wipe out the surrounding area for ten-odd kilometers.

Yet even before that storm of skills, Rimon did not so much as twitch.

He merely moved his sword with a languid expression.

It was not fast.

It was not powerful.

It was not dazzling.

Rather, it was an incomparably slow, soft, tranquil sword strike, elegant and beautiful as a single movement in a sword dance.