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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: What Must Not Be Forgotten (4)
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7.
Thwack!
Karron lightly parried the wooden sword rushing toward his side from the right. Then he firmly planted both feet on the ground.
The swordsmanship of the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Sword Style.
A sword style Karron had learned long ago.
The Imperial Sword Style was a different breed from the Sea Wolf Sword Style.
If the Sea Wolf Sword Style was about overwhelming an opponent with solid power, the Imperial Sword Style was about subduing them through unpredictability.
In other words, it was a style where improvisation born from experience was crucial.
That's why real combat is so important.
For that reason, to the Imperial Guards who learned the Imperial Sword Style, real combat was more important than anything else.
The Imperial Sword Style, when wielded by someone lacking experience
Thump.
Kuh!
Too obvious.
lacked a sharp edge.
It felt like she was swinging with a predetermined path for her sword.
Karron's lips curled up as he thrust his wooden sword into Eimi's abdomen.
Her sword was like an ornamental flower.
On the surface, it looked like a sharp thrust, but it had no substance.
Whoosh.
Eimi, her fighting spirit flaring, lowered her stance and quickly released mana through her feet.
Her speed increased in an instant, and Eimi's wooden sword shot toward Karron's right leg.
But that sword, too, failed to reach Karron's body.
A good attempt to break my balance but isn't this also too straightforward?
Karron parried her sword without moving a single step.
Still, that last attack wasn't bad.
Gaining acceleration by momentarily releasing mana through her feet.
It meant she could wield her mana freely.
But her application skills are lacking.
That was as far as it went.
Her mana control was commendable, but she showed no ability to create variables with it.
An Imperial Sword Style without unpredictability could not keep up with the Sea Wolf Sword Style.
It was a fundamental difference.
The Sea Wolf Sword Style was, by its nature, a straightforward path. It was created to maximize the innate power of Azure Mana, so it had no need for unpredictability.
The Imperial Sword Style also emphasized fundamentals, just like the Sea Wolf style, but the direction it pursued was completely different.
If the Sea Wolf Sword Style was like the vast ocean, the Imperial Sword Style was a fiercely burning fire.
It was a sword that existed to take an opponent's life by any means necessary.
A sword style that existed to burn away one's enemiesand by extension, the enemies of the Imperial familyeven at the cost of one's own life.
That was why the Imperial Sword Style was known as a combat-oriented style.
This era can't be compared to my time.
The era ruled by the Evil Emperor was the period with the most frequent rebellions in the empire's history.
The Imperial Guards were mobilized to suppress those rebellions, forcing them to fight without rest.
It was an environment where they naturally had no choice but to experience countless real battles.
In contrast, this was an era of peace.
The role of the Imperial Guards was merely to stay in the Imperial Palace and clean up after the royals and nobles.
What happens when those who learn a combat-oriented sword style don't experience real combat?
The result was obvious.
They regress.
The refinement of the sword style might have improved, but they were bound to grow weaker.
Karron frowned at Eimi. Then, with a displeased expression, he spoke.
That's not how you do it.
What?
Watch closely.
He could have crushed Eimi with brute force right then and there. But Karron wanted to show her.
What path she should walk.
Therefore, Karron surged forward without hesitation.
Seeing him, Eimi raised her sword into a middle guard.
The opponent's attack was visible.
The length of his stride, the shift in his shoulders.
Woooong.
She drew upon her mana with all her might, watching Karron's attack.
The chest.
Having identified Karron's target, Eimi immediately angled her sword to prepare her defense.
Karron's attack involved a large, almost reckless motion. It was a strike filled with immense power, visible at a glance.
Facing that head-on would be foolish.
Therefore.
I'll deflect it.
She had to divert his attack with her sword. If she could do that, he would be left defenseless.
She made a quick judgment and kept her eyes on Karron's sword.
Before she knew it, Karron was right in front of her.
Shwiiiik.
His sword cut through the air as it thrust forward.
Toward the spot she had predictedher chest.
Eimi shifted her foot slightly to the right, bracing for the coming impact.
Got i
Just as the sword was about to graze past her, its straight path suddenly bent.
And that sword
Booooom!
mercilessly struck her defenseless side.
At the same time, her body was lifted into the air.
Kraaaaash!
And then slammed into the outer wall of the training grounds.
Dust rose from the wall, and gasps escaped from the onlookers.
But Karron, the one who had caused this, simply smiled and walked toward the wall.
Wow, your instincts are still sharp. Is this real talent?
The moment his sword reached her, he had released mana through his feet to forcibly twist its path.
This was a technique he had often used in his past life.
A technique where you blatantly show your sword's path, only to twist it at the last moment.
However, he hadn't achieved his initial goal.
He had originally intended to end it with that attack.
To concentrate mana and disperse the impact in that brief moment
Eimi's response had been faster than he'd expected.
Karron smiled pleasantly as he watched Eimi pull herself up from the cracked wall.
Very good.
Eimi's condition was clearly not good.
A pale face, a limping left leg.
It seemed she even had internal injuries, as a trickle of blood seeped from her lips.
Despite all that, the wooden sword was still in her hand.
She hadn't let go of her sword even as she was slammed into the wall.
Karron! That's enough
Leo shouted from a distance, but Karron raised a hand, cutting him off. He then asked Eimi.
You can stop if you want. What do you say, shall we call it here?
Eimi adamantly shook her head at Karron's offer. She spat bloody saliva onto the ground, then wiped her mouth with her hand and smiled.
That wouldn't be fair. It'd be a shame to end it with me being the only one who took a hit.
You're going to land a hit on me? That's harsh on a patient.
I'm a patient now too, so let's call it even.
That sounds plausible enough.
What you said about my attacks being too straightforward I think I'm starting to get it. So let's keep going.
Eimi readjusted her grip on her sword and glared at Karron.
At this, Karron nodded in satisfaction.
That's more like it.
She was a junior worth teaching.
His thoughts concluded, Karron surged toward Eimi without hesitation.
8.
Watching the duel between Eimi and Karron, Leo was left speechless.
Relentless, so relentless.
He had known for a while that Karron was the type who didn't hold back, whether against a man or a woman.
A merciless assault disguised as a duel.
Karron's sword was relentlessly beating Eimi's body.
But the one Leo called relentless wasn't Karron, but the other person.
Karron wasn't just relentless, he was a madman, so that was a given, but Eimi's will was truly on another level of tenacity.
The way she kept swinging her sword despite being obviously injured.
That wasn't the only chilling part.
Her whole body must have been in agony, yet a faint smile could be seen on Eimi's face.
Why on earth is she going this far?
It is a process of realization.
Jeras replied to Leo's muttering in a low voice.
To break through a plateau, one must push oneself to the absolute limit. That is also why knights of four stars and above are assigned missions at the Azure Fortress.
She's just getting beaten one-sidedly. How is that helpful?
It is true that there is less power in her sword's tip, but doesn't she look far more natural compared to the beginning?
That's true. By the way, Sir Jeras.
Yes, Lord Leo.
The sword style Karron is using right now. It doesn't look like the Sea Wolf Sword Style Is it just me? It's more like
Your eye has sharpened, Lord Leo.
Jeras slowly nodded upon hearing Leo's observation.
Leo was right.
The sword style Karron was employing was not the Sea Wolf Sword Style. It was a style far more versatile.
It looked closer to the Imperial Sword Style than the Sea Wolf Sword Style.
Of course, that didn't mean it was the Imperial Sword Style either.
It looked like a half-and-half mix of the Sea Wolf and Imperial Sword Styles.
He would hold his center of gravity with a solid lower body, then smoothly shift his weight to thrust his sword from an unexpected direction.
In terms of swordsmanship alone, he has already surpassed the young masters. He's already adding his own color to it.
He had known for a while that Karron's swordsmanship was unusual.
Karron's Sea Wolf Sword Style was quite different from that of others.
If others' Sea Wolf Sword Style evoked the grandeur of a calm sea, Karron's evoked a raging one.
A raging sea is perilous, its next move impossible to predict.
Karron's swordsmanship was exactly like that.
It seems Lord Karron has taken quite a liking to Lady Eimi.
What kind of madman beats up someone he likes? Oh, right, Karron is a madman.
He is showing Lady Eimi the path she must take.
Scouting, unpredictability, overcoming.
Those three elements were the representative factors that defined the sword style known as the Imperial Sword Style.
Quickly scout the opponent, create variables through unpredictability, and in the end, overcome them.
Thus, the flexible Imperial Sword Style had an objective that was the complete opposite of the straightforward Sea Wolf Sword Style.
In other words, it was practically impossible for those who learned the Sea Wolf Sword Style to learn the Imperial Sword Style.
After all, it is difficult to merge sword styles that pursue different ideals.
But Karron, right before his eyes, was accomplishing that difficult feat as if to show off.
At the Azure Fortress, they don't teach any sword style other than the Sea Wolf. In that case it means he learned it on his own. The library has various sword manuals, including the one for the Imperial Sword Style Was that why he frequented the Azure Fortress's library?
Jeras's eyes quickly followed Karron's sword.
Even if one read the manuals, learning a sword style of a different nature was no easy task. If it were possible to learn swordsmanship from manuals alone, who would ever need a master?
Moreover, a misstep could easily corrupt the essence of the style one was already practicing.
Yet Karron had fused the two with great naturalness.
To the point that even Jeras could find no fault in it.
Jeras recalled what Sabina had told him when he first saw Karron.
-You have to call a monster a monster, what else would you call him? A genius? That word would be an insult to him.
A monster who might even surpass the current family head he served, Duke Halo.
Karron's talent was real. And it was dazzlingly brilliant.
He had always thought so while instructing Karron, but at this moment, he realized it once again.
Karron, that monster
will bring new glory to the Azure Fortress.
He was certain of it.
Of course, there would be questions about this sword style once they returned, but given the personality of the family head he served, he likely wouldn't care much.
There was a rule that one must learn the Sea Wolf Sword Style, but there was no rule saying one could not learn other styles.
It seems like a provocation.
Jeras said, watching the duel that was nearing its end.
At his words, Leo tilted his head and asked.
A provocation?
Ah, just thinking aloud.
He said this as he looked at the Imperial Guards watching this 'duel' from a distance.
If even he, who had learned the Sea Wolf Sword Style, could recognize it, there was no way those who had learned the Imperial Sword Style wouldn't.
Indeed, the Imperial Guards, who had been radiating only hostility until a moment ago, were now visibly agitated.
Some showed bewilderment, others, fear.
A variety of emotions could be felt from them.
Therefore, this was a provocation.
A provocation aimed at the Imperial Guard.
He didn't know why Karron would go out of his way to provoke the Imperial Guards.
What are you thinking?
Jeras quietly watched Karron.
Before long, the duel disguised as a sparring match was over.
Eimi lay collapsed, a battered mess, while Karron still stood, perfectly fine.
Karron's voice reached Jeras's ears.
What's this? You actually landed a hit.
At those words, Jeras lowered his gaze to Karron's foot. Eimi's cracked wooden sword was touching it.
I hit you.
With those words, Eimi's body went limp.
Karron smiled at the unconscious Eimi's back. Then he spoke with satisfaction.
You pass. That was excellent, Eimi. So
It seemed the duel was about to end there.
But Karron's next action made Jeras's face turn pale.
Our reckless youngest master crooked a finger at the other Imperial Guards and said.
Next.
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