Record of a Thousand Lives c9

I felt like doing this chapter first, just because of how awesome this whole thing was.

—–

Chapter 9. Shard of Strength (2)

Kang Yoonsoo took a deep breath.
In a short span of time, he jumped.
His movements were as light as feather.
The spear missed by mere centimeters.
The Spartoi changed the hand position on the spear, spun it around, then swung it widely.
Kang Yoonsoo immediately ducked, and got out of the trajectory of the spear.
It was a movement that seemed impossible for a blind man.
The guard’s eyes, hidden behind her helmet, widened.

“Is he actually not drunk?”
“Who knows. Even so, seeing a man who’s not even blind make those movements are quite amazing.”

Hermia watched the fight without even remembering to cover her open mouth.
A red tornado appeared whenever the Spartoi swung its spear.
Kang Yoonsoo dodged all its attacks, as if he had expected all its moves.
The Spartoi wasn’t fazed one bit, and kept swinging and stabbing with its spear.
After the spear grazed his shoulder lightly, Kang Yoonsoo immediately struck upwards with his machete for the first time.

Clang!

The Spartoi’s spear and the giant machete struck each other.
The Spartoi, who was in a light defending stance, was unable to hide its amazement.

“Amazing! So you weren’t just arrogant, but confident. Being able to execute such intricate moves blindfolded… it would not be a stretch to call you the strongest swordsman in the entire continent.”

It was the best compliment that could come out of a swordsman’s mouth.
Kang Yoonsoo did not respond, and kept swinging his machete.
Whenever he swung it, the strength that was wrapped around his hands exploded outwards.
The Spartoi repeatedly blocked Kang Yoonsoo’s attacks with a sharp gaze.

Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!

The giant sword struck blows with the spear multiple times.
Every time they met, sparks flew out.

“Your skills are flawless. But it looks like I am above you in strength!”

The Spartoi changed its grip on the spear, and suddenly struck downwards.
It was a move that was unforeseen by everyone.
But Kang Yoonsoo, instead of being cut in two pieces, lightly parried away the spear with his giant sword.
It was a move that completely predicted the opponent’s moves.

After the exchange, Kang Yoonsoo and the Spartoi moved back.
The Spartoi let out a pompous laugh.

“Interesting! Truly, this is fascinating! I probably would not be able to meet a fearsome swordsman like you for the rest of my lifetime. I look forward to see what you would accomplish in the future!”

Hermia and the guard swallowed.
A swordsman that the Spartoi complimented to that degree….
Kang Yoonsoo was a greater person than any of them ever thought.

But Kang Yoonsoo, in reality, felt no danger at all from the battle.
Although he could not see, he could see.
The trajectory of the attack, the movements of the Spartoi, even the breathing around him.
Kang Yoonsoo put back his sword. The Spartoi’s eyes twitched.

“You. Are you giving up on the test?”
“No.”

After a short reply, Kang Yoonsoo stretched out his right hand.

“Summon 92 skeletons. Summon Giant Hobgoblin Zombie.”

A black darkness flowered out, and an undead army was summoned from it.
The visage of the undead army at broad daylight was extremely frightening.

“Kyaa! U, undead!”

Hermia screamed, then fainted. The guard quickly supported her.
Even the Spartoi made a surprised face.

“You were a necromancer?”

Kang Yoonsoo ignored the question, and pointed at the Spartoi.

“Kill.”
“Kaah!”

The Skeleton army took up its weapons, and ran at the Spartoi.
The Spartoi widely swung its spear.
The Skeletons near it broke to pieces.
The Giant Hobgoblin Zombie charged forward, and bit the Spartoi’s shoulders.
Fresh blood exploded out.

Kang Yoonsoo watched from afar.
Even though he was unable to see, his eyes were pointed straight at the Spartoi.
He took out some throwing knives from his pocket.
They were something he picked up from someone he killed a while back.
Kang Yoonsoo stepped forward once, and threw two knives at once.

The knives flew through the ribs of the skeletons, grazed past the shoulder of the Giant Hobgoblin Zombie, cut through the air, and reached the Spartoi.
Blood sprayed out of both its eyes.
It was an accuracy that was seemingly impossible to have come from a blind man.
Even though it must’ve been suffering from immense pain, the Spartoi simply clenched its teeth and suppressed its scream.
But there was no doubt that its eyesight had suffered.
Kang Yoonsoo spoke.

“Now we’re fighting with the same handicap.”
“What a wicked method…. But well done!”

The Spartoi pointed forward with its spear, and charged forward with a scream.
In an instant, twelve skeletons broke apart.
But that was it.
Due to its loss of sight, the Spartoi became unaware of its surroundings.
The attacks from the skeletons behind him gave him many wounds.

“Away!”

The Spartoi swung its spear violently.
But the only thing the spear hit was empty air.
The loss of its sight alone made the Spartoi lose all its fighting strength.
There was only darkness around the Spartoi.
But under the same condition, Kang Yoonsoo was able to perform magnificently with his sword.
It was a moment where the difference in skill between the two became extremely clear.
Due to the attacks of the undead army, the wounds of the Spartoi kept increasing.

Kang Yoonsoo ran forward with his machete.
Even though he could not see, the course of his path was straight.
Kang Yoonsoo stabbed out at the chest of the blind Spartoi.

Crack-! (TL: Sound is actually a mix of flesh being stabbed+bones cracking, but I didn’t have the proper sfx for it.)

The giant sword pierced the heart.

[You have taken down the Spartoi(clone) of the Ignus Dragon.
You have pa.s.sed the Spartoi’s test.
The chosen one may inherit the shard of strength.]

The actual Spartoi of the Ignus Dragon was much, much stronger than this.
The enemy had been weakened considerably due to the difficulty of the test.
Since it was a clone, it was unable to collect its soul using the ring.

When he pa.s.sed the test, the corpse of the Spartoi crumbled away.
The piece of cloth that covered Kang Yoonsoo’s eyes also disappeared.
Only the spear and a lump of red light remained.
Due to the immense amount of energy that seemed to have condensed into the light, a fierce aura emanated out of the lump.

[Shard of Strength]
Rank-??
The remnant of the giant power the Ignus Dragon left behind. Only the chosen one can inherit it.

“So this is the shard of strength that……. The Ignus Dragon left behind.”

Hermia, who had recovered some time ago, made an amazed face.
She looked like she could cry at any given moment.
The mission given to her clan had finally ended at her generation.
Hermia nodded as she looked at Kang Yoonsoo.

“Now, please inherit the power of the shard of strength. It finally looks like the shard of strength has found its owner.”
“I do not have the qualifications.”
“…….What?”

Kang Yoonsoo looked at the shard of strength.
It raised your strength, and gave to an invulnerability to fire and heat.
It is possible to control flames.
As you grew, even more strength was released from it.
He spoke again.

“I am not the one who is supposed to take the shard of strength.”

Hermia made a confused face.
This was an answer she did not expect.
She spoke with a stutter.

“W, what do you mean? Even the Spartoi said that there was a person with the qualifications here.”

Kang Yoons...o...b..ought his finger to the lump of light.
Crackle!
Even though the finger touched the light for a second, a violent spark came out.
The shard was rejecting Kang Yoonsoo.
Hermia looked as if she was about to cry.

“I, if it’s not you, then who is it?”
“That person.”

Kang Yoonsoo pointed somewhere.
Hermia turned her head.
She became extremely surprised.
The guard, surprised, pointed at herself.

“M……me?”
“The one chosen by the Ignus dragon forms a predatory relations.h.i.+p with fire from birth.”

Kang Yoonsoo put the lump of light on one hand.
The moment flames burst out of the shard, he threw it towards the guard.
When the ball of fire flew towards her, the guard became afraid, and tried to run.
But the lump of light followed her, as if it was pulled by a magnetic power, and struck her chest.

Crackle-!

The guard’s entire body burst up in flames.
Hermia paled at the image.
The fire that surrounded the guard became even stronger.

But the guard did not shout one bit.
The fire was not hot.
It was just warm.

Crack-.

The helmet of the guard broke away.
Her long hair flowed down to her back.

“Oh my!”

Hermia spoke surprisedly.

Her face was beautiful.
The woman who took in fire seemed to be pretty like a doll, prettier than anything else in the world.

Her armor broke apart.
The cloth covering her burned away.
She was like a b.u.t.terfly that was breaking out of its coc.o.o.n, frail and beautiful.

Hermia shook her head, and asked a question.

“S, Shanette, are you alright?”
“I, it’s not hot. I’m fine. Please don’t look at me. I don’t want to show anyone my face.”

The guard, no, Shanette tried best to stay calm.
The fire that enveloped her disappeared.
But a part of her heart was still hot.
Rather than being embarra.s.sed by showing her naked body, she was more ashamed of showing her face to others.
Shanette quickly covered her face.
She didn’t want to show her filthy face.

The moment she covered her face with her hands,
She realized that she could not feel the burns on her face.

“Eh……?”

Shanette widened her eyes, then looked at her own body.

Her clothes had all burned away, and her naked body was shown.
There wasn’t even time to be ashamed.
The burns on her body had disappeared completely.
When she touched her cheeks with a trembling hand, a frighteningly smooth skin could be felt.

When Shanette was still trying to recover from her shock, Kang Yoonsoo approached her.
He took out a mirror, and gave it to her.
Shanette looked inside the mirror.
The woman at the other side seemed equally confused.

It was a face that she hadn’t seen for a long time.
It was her face, the face she had forgotten for a long time.

It was amazing.
Her burn marks were erased, and she recovered the body she possessed prior to the accident.
She was happy, but confused at the same time.
It was just half a day.
In just half a day, Kang Yoonsoo had healed someone with irrecoverable wounds.
Shanette spoke with a trembling voice.

“What…… what happened to my body?”

Kang Yoonsoo responded emotionlessly.

“Why are you so surprised. Nothing changed.”

It was a strange response.
Shanette was unable to shake her curiosity.

“…….Why are you being so kind so a person you saw for the first time……?”
“I don’t do anything that would negatively affect me.”

Kang Yoonsoo spoke.
His eyes didn’t change at all from before.

“You, come with me.”

After processing those words for a bit, Shanette realized a single change.
After her burns disappeared, Kang Yoons...o...b..gan to speak more unreservedly to her.