Chapter 325

EPISODE 325 – THE GUARDIAN (3)

The sword’s inner essence.

The sword horizon.

It was both the source and the ultimate.

Seeing the horizon was possible.

But reaching it was impossible.

Since the horizon was the same as the ideal, it made sense that it could not be reached.

But there were those who made their way towards the horizon.

There were those who struggled to reach the unreachable state of fantasies.

Countless efforts and numerous attempts.

The genealogy of the sword which began with the first swordsman had been passed on to many people, and numerous roads leading to the horizon were born.

All roads lead to Rome.

There were different roads, but all eventually lead into one.

Numerous swordsmen walked their own paths.

There were those who were far from the horizon and hurriedly chased the backs of those who had gone before them, and there were others who cried and resented the horizon they could not reach no matter how much they walked. There were also many people who eventually gave up and stopped.

However, miracles were bound to happen.

In the long history of the sword, those who reached the horizon appeared.

There were only a few of them.

Only a few among the countless swordsmen.

The inner essence of the sword.

The horizon of the sword.

Those who created a miracle by reaching something that could not be reached.

Those who had been enlightened with the inner essence of the sword and arrived at the horizon.

People referred to them by a name.

The Sword of the Sky.

***

Black energy covered the sky.

It pressed the ground and devoured the place.

Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors.

The arena was engulfed in darkness.

The temple disappeared.

Only those who stood clearly in the dark filled their vision.

Jude could not breathe.

Just facing his opponent was suffocating and made him unable to move.

It was a pressure he had never experienced before.

First Sword whom he faced in the royal capital and Malekith who had terrorized the south did not exert the same pressure as it was now.

A swordsman who reached the inner essence of the sword.

The Sword of the Sky.

“Hyuuk….hyuk…”

He forced himself to breathe.

With poor breaths, he let out the power of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors in the same way.

The seventh door.

A state that neared the level of transcendence that the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors pursued.

In terms of the inner essence of the sword, it was like one had just began to see the horizon.

So Jude could tell.

The Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors of the Jude in front of him was still at a low level.

Fifth door.

But in the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors, levels did not determine everything.

In simple terms, the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors was a buff-type technique.

It doubled all the abilities of its user.

Therefore, the user’s own capabilities were also important.

Just like how Jude’s seventh door and Landius’ seventh door were the same seventh door but also different.

Because there was a huge gap in their abilities in the pure state, when the doors were not opened.

It was like the difference between multiplying 10 by 100 and 20 by 100.

The same was true of the Jude in front of him.

Although it was only the fifth door, the energy that he let out surpassed that of Jude who had opened the seventh door.

[My successor! Calm down! My successor!]

Valencia’s voice shook the mind of Jude.

She could do it because she was a swordsman who had reached the inner essence of the sword.

Only her soul was left as she had become a sword spirit, but the strength of her soul did not disappear.

[My successor!]

It worked.

At Valencia’s repeated cries, Jude came to his senses. He forced himself to calm his breathing.

He was dripping with sweat.

Chills ran down his spine and he felt thirsty at the same time.

And he thought.

Who was the Jude in front of him?

Gallus said that he was the strongest swordsman in Jude’s memories.

Memory.

Jude’s own memories.

[Here I go!]

Valencia moved first.

Ascalon rushed at the other Jude with a brilliant golden glow.

It was fast and powerful.

Like a beam of light.

But the other Jude was someone who knew the inner essence.

He read Valencia’s sword.

Although they had both reached the horizon, the gap between those who had a body and those who did not was clear.

The wind blew.

It was a rough gale.

The Sword of Wind.

A sword created by the progenitor of the Bayer family and handed down for hundreds of years.

Jude could tell.

It was the ultimate of the Sword of Wind.

A genuine Sword of Wind that no one could reach was now unfolding in front of his eyes.

[AAAAH!]

Valencia screamed in pain.

It was not a simple exchange of sword strikes.

The energy of the other Jude was too strong.

The darkness and threatening aura originating from the soul were enough to destroy the surroundings from just a touch, so Valencia felt a burning pain in her soul every time their swords crossed.

“AAAAAAH!”

Jude shouted.

He clenched his teeth and concentrated. He had already forgotten that this current fight was a test. He flew from the ground to avoid each destructive wave.

Black Lightning Covers the Sky.

Lightning struck.

Jude entered the striking range of the other Jude while Valencia flew again. She barely blocked the sword with a black aura that was going to cut Jude into two, and Jude did not miss that gap. He charged and penetrated in that instant.

But it was read.

The other Jude swung his sword in the air as if he already knew everything, and Jude was swept away by the attack as if he was being sucked in.

One would almost question if Jude himself had thrown his body towards the sword.

Thud!

Jude who was swept away by the sword attack was thrown to the ground. Valencia cried out in surprise and tried to protect Jude, but it was impossible. The other Jude moved. A black gale violently surrounded Ascalon and the other Jude’s feet trampled the sword. With his terrifying energy, he pressured Valencia’s soul itself.

[UGH!]

In the end, Valencia was forced to withdraw from Ascalon.

He was strong.

She might be strong, but he was too strong.

Even if Valencia herself had a body, he was such a powerful swordsman that she doubted if she could win against him.

But she could not help but admire him.

The other Jude was seriously threatening.

It was arrogant to think that there would be no worst-case scenario during a test.

“Haa… haa…”

Jude staggered as he stood up.

The other Jude who had completely killed Ascalon’s momentum turned towards such a Jude.

His white face was cast with deep fatigue.

His dark green eyes were as dark as the abyss.

The wind blew again.

A gale rose and swallowed everything around them.

[My successor!]

They had to resist that.

Even if they had to struggle, they had to face the gale.

Jude gritted his teeth. He rushed against the raging wind. He desperately resisted the barrage of sword attacks.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sword attacks of the other Jude were simple.

There was no tricks or techniques in it.

But it was always in front of Jude.

Jude could not avoid the sword of the other Jude.

He was exposed to the other Jude’s sword as if cause and effect were reversed.

Because Sword Origin was not invincible.

Jude’s body was broken every time a sword strike came and went.

Fortunately, the power of the seventh door made it impossible to be broken all at once.

Valencia was nervous.

If this continued, it was only a matter of time before they were defeated, or rather, destroyed.

She had to protect Jude somehow.

She had to overexert herself even though she knew that it would be too much.

Sword Origin’s second form.

The last form that existed after its sealed form and its current first form.

Valencia exerted her power as a sword spirit.

Despite knowing that it was too much not only for Sword Origin but also for Jude, she forcibly activated the second form.

Become one with the sword.

A state where one truly became one with the sword!

Bang!

A golden flash of light drove away the black energy in that short moment.

No, it was not just a moment.

A golden flame rose and devoured the darkness.

Sword Spirit Valencia.

The Elf Sword who had reached the horizon.

Her soul became one with Jude. It made the Sword Origin stronger and sharper while also uniting the two souls to create a stronger soul.

Would Jude be able to handle Valencia’s soul?

Would the incomplete union not harm each other’s souls?

There was no time to consider these questions.

Valencia only thought of empowering Jude.

[My successor!]

It was her last shout. She could not even scream anymore.

The black energy came rushing in like turbulent waves that threatened to swallow up the golden flame again.

A berserk wind sped up to destroy everything.

Jude felt Valencia and raised his head.

He faced the storm with the power of the Elf Sword which was beautiful and gentle yet unstoppable.

Their swords crossed each other.

He was not crushed by the black energy.

As Jude’s soul accepted Valencia’s soul, the golden flame with the energy of the black dragon transformed the flame into black as it beautifully rose in front of the storming black wind.

But this alone was not enough.

They somehow matched the amount of energy, but there was still the difference in ability.

In front of a sword with an inner essence, Jude was being gradually broken.

But Jude did not give up.

He literally kept his focus even though the crushing of his entire body was painful. He did not forget what he had to do.

Thinking.

Calculation.

Gallus had said.

He was the strongest swordsman in Jude’s memories.

He was not created by Jude’s imagination as he was something that was definitely in Jude’s memories.

Memory.

Jude knew.

Jude himself knew the other Jude in front of him.

Under the surface of his consciousness.

Memories that were buried deep and could not be peered upon normally.

He remembered.

He compared it.

He learned it from his recollections.

He had stabbed Cordelia in the chest.

He had shared his last kiss with her who apologized to him.

Maja had died.

Bailon had burned down.

His father, older brother, and everyone he had loved and cherished were gone.

“As expected… you’re my best rival.”

Lucas had smiled.

He had met his death with a smile.

He met his death from Jude’s own sword.

An endless despair.

A world where there was nothing more to protect.

Nevertheless, it was his fate to fight.

He was bound to become the wind.

All he could do was to become a storming berserk wind.

The other Jude looked at Jude.

Jude also stared at the other Jude.

The black wind and black flames intertwined and became one.

Jude came back to reality.

He thought of himself so as not to be buried in the memories of the other Jude.

He remembered the strongest anchor that he could hold himself onto.

‘Cordelia.’

Her smile.

Her warmth.

“UOOOOOOO!”

Jude roared. He synchronized with the other Jude’s memories. By doing so, he analyzed and understood the sword of the other Jude.

It was a completely different way from sword geniuses like Valencia.

It was not something he felt and understood instinctively like Cordelia.

He remembered and calculated.

He analyzed and understood the memories of the other Jude that came flooding in like a tsunami.

His head felt feverish.

At the same time, his heart began to pound as if it was going to burst.

He saw the sword.

He thought that he would be able to catch up to it, even if it was a step late.

It was only a tiny bit, but he now understood why the other Jude’s sword moved like that.

His body heated up.

It felt like his whole body would break into pieces.

But Jude did not stop.

As he let out a hot breath, he struck the other Jude’s sword.

He reproduced what he saw in his memories.

What the other Jude could see.

He could not even imagine it.

However, Jude succeeded in reproducing parts of it.

Valencia pushed Jude’s back, and the memories of the other Jude guided Jude’s hand.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

It was not a one-sided sword attack.

Their swords crossed.

Jude’s sword-like hand somehow caught up with the other Jude’s sword.

It felt completely different from when he crossed swords with Elune.

But it was similar in its essential aspects.

There was joy amidst the pain.

Valencia involuntarily exhaled.

Because she had reached the inner essence of the sword, she could not help but feel joy in fighting against the other Jude.

But Jude was not intoxicated with it.

Instead of falling into a trance, he constantly pondered and calculated.

Bang!

A violent clash.

It pushed each other away.

And at that moment, Jude understood.

Something that could not be compared to others was coming.

A real Sword of Wind and not just plain sword strikes.

Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes.

A sword attack that contained the inner essence of the sword then burst.

In front of the storm of swords that was like despair itself, Jude thought.

It became possible for him because he kept calculating without falling into a trance.

‘It cannot be the Sword of Wind.’

Jude now knew.

The Sword of Wind, the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes that had defeated Elio, came from the other Jude in front of him.

Therefore, the same Sword of Wind could not be used against the other Jude.

He had to use another swordsmanship style.

The first strike of the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes that were made up of thirteen sword strikes had begun unfolding.

At that moment, Jude also used the strongest sword attack he could do.

Black Wings Valiant Sword.

Valencia and Jude’s own swordsmanship style.

The sword of destruction made by Valencia with Jude who achieved it from obtaining Kamael’s Twelve Snowflake Sword Art and Landius’ Supreme Sun Divine Art.

It crossed.

Whether by chance or inevitability, the Black Wings Valiant Sword also consisted of thirteen sword strikes.

The Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes and the Black Wings Valiant Sword clashed head-on, and something happened as expected.

[My successor!]

Jude’s sword attack could not be like the sword attack of the other Jude.

It could only chase it somehow, but the gap between the two was clear.

Jude was broken.

Each time the sword strikes crossed, Jude’s soul and body were destroyed.

But Jude did not stop.

He clenched his teeth and looked straight ahead.

He screamed at the other Jude and continued his Black Wings Valiant Sword.

He was shredded, broken, and destroyed.

But he did not stop.

Even though he was getting weaker, he narrowed the gap each time a strike unfolded!

Bababang!

The twelfth sword strike.

The last strike was next.

The light and wind of the Wind and Lightning Flurry Strikes engulfed Jude.

At the same time, the black wings of the Black Wings Valiant Sword tore the wind.

Jude failed to knock down the other Jude.

But the same was true for the other Jude.

Their last sword strikes offset each other and scattered, and Jude and the other Jude faced each other.

Jude had caused a small miracle.

The other Jude withdrew his sword. He looked at Jude and slightly smiled. He slowly closed his eyes that were filled with sadness and despair as he melted into the darkness.

“Jude!”

He heard a voice behind his back.

The darkness that covered the place disappeared, and Cordelia appeared. She ran towards him and gave him a tight hug.

“Haa… haa… haa…”

Jude heavily breathed and hugged back Cordelia.

And he raised his head again.

The other Jude disappeared.

His memories of the man faded like a midsummer night’s dream.

However, the small miracle that Jude had created did not disappear.

A road that led to the horizon.

Rather than looking beyond the other Jude’s back, the horizon of the sword was fully revealed in front of Jude himself.

Jude gazed at it.

In his bliss, he felt like his heart would burst so he hugged Cordelia again.