Chapter 1019
Chapter 1019
Chapter 1019
‘Wrath.’
Raon addressed Wrath, keeping his eyes firmly anchored on the Queen of Swords.
‘You feel it as well, don’t you?’
A mortal’s core disposition does not transform so abruptly. Considering how she had displayed an entirely different persona within mere seconds, it was evident that an alien presence had entered the body of the Queen of Swords.
—Naturally.
Wrath gave an immediate nod, as if answering an utterly obvious inquiry.
—An entirely separate soul currently occupies that female’s flesh.
He tilted his face slightly, projecting absolute certainty.
‘Could it be a demon that climbed up from Devildom, similar to yourself?’
The waning embers of Raon’s Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation flared back to life as he weighed whether a demon king or archdemon akin to Wrath had possessed the Queen of Swords’ physical form.
—Not in the slightest.
Wrath offered a resolute shake of his head, dismissing the notion entirely.
—The inhabitant dwelling inside her frame is unmistakably human.
Curling his lip, he affirmed that this was no trespasser hailing from an otherworldly realm, but rather a mortal belonging to this very world.
‘A mortal human…?’
Raon narrowed his gaze, observing the Queen of Swords as a faint curve formed on her lips.
‘Could it possibly be the Leader of the White Blood Religion?’
The Leader of the White Blood Religion had seized the flesh of Martha’s mother. The possibility flashed through his mind that she had commandeered the Queen of Swords’ frame through a comparable mystical technique.
‘No, the signs don’t match.’
He couldn’t detect the faintest trace of malicious power radiating from her. Though an unusual luster shone in the Queen of Swords’ eyes, there were no lingering currents of wickedness, whether sanguinary force or demonic energy. Exactly as Wrath had pointed out, she gave off the impression of an everyday human.
—Indeed.
Wrath bobbed his head with composure.
—The entity inside that vessel is human. Granted, a faint trace of arcana clings to her.
He waved his hand dismissively, indicating that despite an elusive flow of magical resonance, her essence remained that of a mundane mortal.
“Before I disclose my identity.”
The Queen of Swords stepped closer, her pace languid and unhurried.
“Wouldn’t it be wise for you to pull back?”
While the timbre remained identical to that of the Queen of Swords, her delivery was notably airy and carefree. All doubt vanished. A distinct spirit was presently pulling the strings within the flesh of Brigitte the Queen of Swords.
“It would be quite improper to disrupt someone experiencing a precious flash of enlightenment, wouldn’t you agree?”
The Queen of Swords made a beckoning gesture, treating him almost like a youngster.
“I simply stepped forward because I anticipated you might interfere with the Thespian Emperor.”
Raon knitted his brows, keeping his grip steady without lowering Heavenly Drive.
“Ah, of course. A combatant of the Sword Emperor’s caliber wouldn’t present an opening only to snatch it away. My mistake.”
The Queen of Swords pressed her palms together against her chest in a playful show of contrition.
“…”
Raon pressed his tongue against his teeth, observing the Queen of Swords offering such an effortless apology.
‘Her demeanor has grown remarkably flippant.’
It wasn’t merely her phrasing; her entire temperament felt infinitely more buoyant than that of the original Queen of Swords.
“You wished to learn who stands before you? I am called Briana.”
The Queen of Swords beamed with genuine warmth as she presented herself as Briana rather than Brigitte. It was a radiant expression the true owner of that face would never have offered.
“Briana…”
Raon’s brow furrowed tightly as he rolled the name Briana across his mind.
“Head over this way.”
Briana signaled with her fingers, inviting him to walk beside her.
“To what destination are you leading?”
Raon inquired, his feet planted firmly in place.
“Didn’t you have unfinished matters with me?”
Briana cocked her head curiously, asking whether he still intended to hold a proper match.
“A match…”
Drawing in a steady breath, Raon evaluated the tranquil presence Briana projected.
‘Something is bizarre here.’
Briana carried the identical vessel and inner energy of the Queen of Swords, yet she radiated an unyielding pressure that hinted she had no intention of falling before him.
‘Could she be channeling power across dimensions from her true body while shouldering the cosmic causality, just as you do?’
Raon shifted his focus toward Wrath.
—She does not. Merely the soul has swapped places.
Wrath gave a firm negative gesture, pointing out that an ordinary human could never endure or execute such an extraordinary feat.
‘Then how can swapping out the soul alone generate such a startling contrast?’
He found himself wondering what inherent quality inside Briana caused him to perceive such a radically elevated level of might.
“Hmm…”
Raon glanced over his shoulder.
“Th-thank you immensely for protecting our master.”
“Leave everything on this end to us.”
“W-we shall stand guard over our master with our lives.”
The martial practitioners of the White Whale surrounded their leader with drawn armaments, clearly intending to stay rooted to the spot until the Thespian Emperor returned to waking consciousness.
“I will leave her in your hands.”
He had no desire to spoil this fortunate turn after placing such an immense obligation on the Thespian Emperor, and her retainers seemed fully capable of shielding her.
“Follow behind me.”
Raon signaled to the swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace, stepping out in pursuit of Briana. She cast her gaze over the bustling stalls and storefronts bordering the dueling field, tossing cheerful nods to passersby. This behavior was the complete antithesis of the notoriously reticent Queen of Swords.
“Doesn’t the Queen of Swords appear completely unhinged?”
“My thoughts exactly. Did losing that contest push her past the brink of sanity…?”
Krein and Burren let out heavy breaths, remarking that she bore zero resemblance to the Queen of Swords depicted in circulating tales.
“Someone else is steering that vessel…”
“Indeed. Another presence occupies that form, not the real Queen of Swords.”
Runaan and Martha seemed to grasp that an alien inhabitant dwelt within the Queen of Swords, likely recognizing the signs thanks to the unique tribulations of their youth.
“Eek…”
Dorian likewise shuddered, detecting via his Mind’s Eye that the woman before them was no longer the Queen of Swords.
“This clearing should serve our purpose, correct? It’s completely deserted.”
Briana lifted her shoulders nonchalantly as she surveyed an open training perimeter erected on the outskirts of Barene.
“Now then, let us engage in earnest…”
“Hold on.”
Raon held up a single palm toward Briana, who was rolling her shoulders to warm up.
“Reveal your true identity first.”
“I already shared it—I am Briana.”
Briana offered a sunny grin, acting as though nothing more needed explaining.
“You understand full well that isn’t the truth I’m seeking.”
Raon frowned, his eyes narrowing upon Briana.
“If curiosity plagues you so deeply, defeat me in combat. Overcome me, and I shall unveil everything.”
Briana smiled playfully, resting her fingers against the hilt strapped at her hip.
‘Does she rely on the identical martial foundation?’
The Queen of Swords was a master who specialized in the Drawing Technique, and it appeared Briana meant to utilize the exact same quick-draw method.
“Very well.”
Raon gave a crisp nod, releasing a sharp breath.
“It shouldn’t prove overly demanding.”
While taking the Thespian Emperor’s unbridled blows had inflicted noticeable internal damage upon his body, he remained confident that defeat at Briana’s hands was out of the question.
“How delightful. You really… Ah!”
Briana’s pleasant expression snapped into an annoyed scowl.
“Will you be quiet for just a moment!”
She stamped her boot hard against the dirt, barking at the empty breeze in pure irritation.
“Converse through mental communication? Do that on your own end! I don’t harbor the slightest shred of shame!”
Clicking her tongue with rough exasperation, the Queen of Swords strode forward.
“Apologies for that! Let us get started without delay.”
She gave a nod, signaling her desire to cross blades immediately.
“…Fine.”
Raon considered pressing Briana with more questions, but chose to swallow them for now.
‘Every answer will present itself once I claim victory.’
He had formed an inkling of an idea, but dwell time was unnecessary. Securing triumph in this confrontation took absolute priority.
“Shall we commence?”
Briana bounced lightly on the balls of her feet like an athlete skipping rope, and then dissolved into thin air like vanishing mist. A rush of displaced air tore through the area, and she reappeared instantaneously at his right flank. She folded the spatial gap in a heartbeat, unleashing an exceptionally rapid Drawing Technique. By the instant his senses registered the motion, her edge was already bearing down against his throat.
Clang!
Raon adjusted the angle of Heavenly Drive, held at his waistline, barely in time to deflect the lethal cut Briana aimed at his neck.
‘Ugh.’
Could raw velocity explain all of this? Although he had mounted a successful guard, his reaction was slightly delayed, transmitting an impact so brutal it felt as if the skeletal structure within his wrist and arm would fracture.
‘It goes far beyond mere swiftness.’
Briana performed the very techniques and steps native to the Queen of Swords, yet the output was completely uncomparable. It felt as though the underlying martial foundation itself had undergone a fundamental metamorphosis.
“It would be quite disappointing if something of that level leaves you flabbergasted.”
Briana flashed a knowing grin and flicked her wrist, signaling that this was merely the prelude.
“I am well aware.”
Raon thrust forward, unleashing his Thirty-Six Crimson Flash Techniques directly toward Briana’s motionless figure. Whoosh! Thirty-six blazing streaks erupted as if preparing to rend the earth to pieces, but Briana had already abandoned that coordinate entirely.
“Impressive power! Allow me to answer in kind!”
The instant Briana smiled and swung her blade, an icy chill crept down the nape of Raon’s neck. Clang! Without even pivoting his torso, Raon shifted Heavenly Drive behind him, deflecting a dark streak of sword energy seeking to bore into his shoulder blade.
‘Her strikes pierce like sewing needles.’
Briana’s blade penetrated flesh and muscle to rattle the marrow even when met with a solid parry. It was a brand of swordsmanship endowed with horrifying puncturing momentum.
“You’ll find yourself nursing chronic aches if you fail to block with proper form, you know?”
Briana swished her blade lightly through the air, teasing him to concentrate on his defense.
“You certainly talk much more than she ever did.”
Raon’s eyebrows drew together as he formed the silhouette of an infernal dragon at the tip of Heavenly Drive. A devastating roar shook the air—the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation Heavenly Drive Flame Dragon Strike. A crimson wyrm enshrouded in scorching fire scorched the entirety of the clearing before him. Whoosh!
Briana burst out from the left flank, cutting straight across the churning ash and blistering warmth. She had evidently mobilized the evasive footwork of the Quick Sword to bypass the destruction zone of the Flame Dragon Strike.
Swish!
Treading directly atop the embers lapping up from the soil, she drove her edge straight toward his heart.
“Your raw strength is simply absurd.”
Briana offered genuine praise, yet not a speck of trepidation flickered within her pupils. Clang! Raon parried Briana’s thrust as it burrowed toward his stance like a venomous splinter, letting out a stifled grunt.
‘She executes the exact same arts, yet the difference in execution is night and day.’
Briana was wielding the Queen of Swords’ physical shell to deploy her signature swordsmanship and movement techniques, yet she was conjuring a monstrous, unbelievable disparity. It felt almost like stepping into a surreal dream.
‘I must treat her as a completely distinct opponent from this point on.’
Raon sequentially triggered the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation Flame and Ice Unification alongside the Azure Sky Sword’s Great Bind of the Heavy Sky, creating overlapping barriers to blunt Briana’s assault and constrict the territory she could maneuver through.
“Now this is truly exhilarating!”
Yet Briana swept aside his offensive pressure with effortless grace, answering with vicious counter-strokes. Her rhythm resembled a cornered beast turning around to bite the predator chasing it.
“Hmm…”
Raon’s forehead creased deeply as he turned aside Briana’s straight thrust by a microscopic fraction.
“I won’t let up.”
Briana launched a continuous barrage of Quick Sword stabs right at him as his expression tightened. A rapid storm of metallic clangs echoed outward. Raon erected the Fire Wall to absorb the Queen of Swords’ relentless thrusts, but the barrier of blazing energy cracked and shattered like fragile cobwebs under the onslaught. His aura simply couldn’t endure the concentrated sharpness of Briana’s energy.
“Ah, I see it clearly now.”
Briana nodded, her gaze piercing right through his style.
“Ever since you broke through to Transcendence, you’ve relied almost exclusively on overwhelming, colossal sword arts, haven’t you?”
She ran her tongue along her lips and launched an even swifter, deadlier thrust.
“That…”
Raon clamped down on his lower lip while parrying Briana’s lunge.
“What are you implying?”
“You’ve lost the habit of reading nuanced maneuvers because your recent adversaries were either far beneath your level or ridiculously beyond your reach, haven’t they?”
Briana pulled her lips into an amused smirk, suggesting that dissecting his approach was laughably simple. Clang! Raon ground his molars together, desperately deflecting Briana’s blade before it could bite into his flesh.
‘When I pause to consider it…’
Her assessment hit uncomfortably close to home. The vast majority of his recent skirmishes involved either crushing opposition beneath pure force—such as carving paths through enemy formations—or staking everything on massive trump cards to counter overwhelming powerhouses like the Black Tower Master or The Fallen.
The Demon Slaying Spear stood as the sole exception; save for that singular clash where his fundamental martial senses were reawakened, nearly every encounter had unfolded in a one-sided fashion.
“It seems my intuition was spot-on, wasn’t it?”
Briana nodded with supreme self-assurance.
“How were you able to deduce that?”
“Your sword telegraphs it plainly. That unshakeable assumption that whispers, ‘I cannot be matched.’”
She offered a mocking grin while wearing the Queen of Swords’ typically stoic countenance, finding the situation thoroughly entertaining.
“Allow me to shatter that illusion for you today.”
Briana’s form vanished before her final syllable faded, materializing directly within his personal space. Clang! She aimed straight for his gut. Raon snapped Heavenly Drive downward in a frantic parry, but his reaction was a fraction behind, sending sharp pangs radiating up through his hands and into his shoulders.
“Ugh…”
Raon drew a ragged breath.
‘She has pushed the Precision Sword, Quick Sword, Elegant Sword, and Observant Sword to their utmost limits.’
Her footwork followed the same terrifying standard. Briana’s command over those four core sword principles outstripped his own, and her evasive steps were even more refined. Yet even that mastery failed to fully explain the suffocating pressure she exerted.
‘What fundamental element am I overlooking?’
Raon scowled as his Crimson Slash collided violently with Briana’s freezing thrust.
‘Can merely substituting the soul produce such an overwhelming divergence, when the vessel and its aura remain entirely unchanged?’
It defied all logical sense, clouding his clarity and causing the stability of his blade to waver.
“What does swordsmanship represent to you?”
Briana questioned, keeping her weapon locked tightly against his.
“Swordsmanship is ultimately a method for wielding a blade.”
“A response quite typical of a Transcendent who has touched upon the sword’s core.”
Briana gave a nod, acknowledging the validity of the premise.
“The identical sword style might fail to sever a slender branch in the grip of one person, yet cleave the firmament in the hands of another. Be that as it may…”
She gestured toward herself, tilting her chin upward.
“To my eyes, swordsmanship is chess.”
“Chess?”
Raon lowered his brows, knocking aside Briana’s vertical strike as it descended.
“Indeed. A clash between swordmasters is equivalent to a siege. The adversary’s style represents their fortress walls and entry gates. One must ponder how to fracture those ramparts and breach the stronghold.”
Briana curled her lips into a smirk and shook her head.
“And from where I stand, your defensive perimeter has already been thoroughly breached.”
Accompanied by that chilling declaration, Briana’s sword flashed, slicing cleanly across Raon’s right flank.
“Hah.”
Briana ran her tongue across her lips, watching Raon, who seemed entirely unfazed by the fresh laceration carved into his ribs.
‘A warrior nearing the threshold of absolute perfection, is he?’
Physical conditioning, mental fortitude, sword technique, and personal resolve. Raon walked the path toward perfection more convincingly than any combatant she had ever laid eyes upon. Should he maintain this trajectory of growth, he would undoubtedly mature into a monumental figure atop the Throne of the Continent.
‘Yet when it comes to pure swordsmanship, defeat is an impossibility for me.’
Within the quiet realm of the mind where a single glimmer of light constituted the entire world, she had practiced the Supreme Swordsmanship and Hundred Battles Preservation hundreds of thousands—nay, millions—of times over. The martial fundamentals woven into the Supreme Swordsmanship and Hundred Battles Preservation had advanced past mere muscle memory, becoming indelibly fused to her very soul.
Above all, having waged endless, timeless duels against Brigitte—who brought outside sword forms into that mental landscape where worldly time had no meaning—she held supreme conviction that she would never succumb in a contest of pure sword technique.
Swish!
Briana moistened her lips after tearing through Raon’s guard to carve a shallow cut across his thigh.
‘A genuine pity.’
A wide repertoire of sword principles, a physique bordering on perfection, and an ocean of inner energy. The ultimate ingredients were all laid out before him, yet Raon remained incapable of synthesizing them into a masterwork dish.
‘I understand why this occurred.’
Raon surely had not set out to overwhelm opponents with pure might and cataclysmic techniques from the very beginning. His current habits were the natural byproduct of the extreme conflicts he had survived, making it an extraordinarily difficult flaw to untangle now.
‘Perhaps I should bring this duel to a close.’
Brigitte had pleaded with her not to claim his life, asking only that she break his pride; thus, it seemed prudent to wrap up the engagement before any erratic gambits were made. Whoosh! Briana moistened her lips as she observed Raon bringing down a ponderous downward swing.
‘A siege commences by withstanding the defender’s assault.’
Angling her blade on an incline, she effortlessly absorbed the crushing kinetic force driving Raon’s strike.
‘Next comes the shattering of the gateway.’
As Raon stepped backward to recover from his failed attempt, she thrust her weapon straight through the opening. Bang! Raon manifested a dual shield and lance of crimson heat, but her edge cleaved past his protective aura in the blink of an eye. Hum! Blazing with majestic golden flames fitting for a Transcendent, Raon swung Heavenly Drive upward in a desperate bid to repel her momentum.
‘I foresaw that reaction as well.’
Using the rising velocity of Raon’s counter-swing to guide her trajectory, Briana angled her point directly toward the center of his neck.
‘Now, the king’s head shall be taken.’
Just as she concluded the bout had reached its end, intending to halt her steel a hair’s breadth before his throat—
Hum!
Raon’s blade, which had consistently failed to track her patterns, suddenly twisted along an unnatural, alien arc. Clang! A flawless parry executed with pinpoint perfection neutralized the lethal maneuver of the Supreme Swordsmanship, hammering her blade downward with decisive authority.
Swish!
For the very first time, Briana was driven backward, repelled entirely against her own volition by Raon’s steel. Deep indentations sank into the soil of the training grounds as she struggled to bleed off the kinetic shock, mirroring the traces left previously by the Queen of Swords.
“What…?”
The Queen of Swords swallowed hard, staring down at the smoking footprints pressed deep into the earth.
“Swordsmanship is a contest of pure technique? You spoke the truth. It always was.”
An ignited flame of genuine fascination flared within Raon’s eyes.
“My thanks to you for bringing that back to light.”
Comments for chapter "Chapter 1019"
MANGA DISCUSSION
Madara Info
Madara stands as a beacon for those desiring to craft a captivating online comic and manga reading platform on WordPress
For custom work request, please send email to wpstylish(at)gmail(dot)com