EP.154 A Tale from Afar. Sword and Spear - Conclusion
"Good. Good. Very good."
Partaraxion grabbed his halved, broken spear and leapt to his feet. No telling how many times he had rolled on the ground, but his entire body was covered in dirt and dust.
Still, his face was filled with a pure, childlike smile. A pure smile of uncontrollable joy.
"It's been a long time since I felt this way. Your sense lacks compared to the power of your weapon, but that's something you can learn over time. It's very... very much to my liking. Sense can be trained, but such power isn't easily obtained."
The spear shaft, broken in half. Partaraxion looked down at it and joined the two pieces together. His energy seeped into the broken gap, binding them even more tightly.
Those whose qi is stronger than steel can turn even a piece of straw into a weapon. Even if a weapon that isn't a relic breaks, there is no loss to the Absolute Spear's full power.
No, rather—
"Since you used your technique, as a return gift, I will show you my ultimate move."
Partaraxion spun the spear shaft.
With the broken center acting as a joint, the spear spun like a windmill. It looked less like a spear and more like a giant flail.
The broken spear, the joint resulting from it. The spear wobbling precariously around that as an axis.
That spear, broken in half, looked more dangerous than ever.
"A spear is straight and hard. It draws a concise line to take the enemy's life. But a person must be soft and flexible. For power comes from softness."
In the past, Partaraxion went through a hundred duels and became a wreck.
At the boundary between life and death, he held his blood-stained spear and walked to the royal castle. Before the castle gates, the Guardian Knight, the kingdom's final bastion, blocked his way like Mount Tai.
The Guardian Knight, said to be the strongest of his era, was stronger than anyone. When he swung his spear, Mount Tai would split in a single strike and the earth would be swept away. Partaraxion, caught in that storm, rolled on the ground several times. The spear he held split in half, his armor shattered miserably, and it seemed the giant halberd would take his life at any moment.
In his increasingly blurring vision, Partaraxion swung his broken, dangling spear. Then suddenly, he saw the tip of that spear moving faster than ever.
"A straight line is short. But it is not always the fastest. Because we have this body, and we stand on this earth. The fastest trajectory draws a curve close to a circle."
At that moment, even if just for a brief second, Partaraxion touched upon the truth. He couldn't grasp it, only brushing it with his fingertips.
But that alone was enough to take the Guardian Knight's life.
"Take this."
"...Tch!"
Shei drew Jizan and overturned the ground with Earth Arts.
Rock spikes sprouted up like bamboo shoots after rain. The earth became a massive barrier, blocking Partaraxion. Over the ground, shattered in all directions as if someone had been playing with mud, a long, trailing Cheonaeng fell.
However, Partaraxion stepped with bizarre footwork and avoided everything.
Smoothly riding the waves flowing through the ground, he dodged the slashing strikes falling from the sky by a hair's breadth.
Capturing attacks with qi sense.
Naturally pushing and pulling the earth.
One who has reached the realm of controlling their entire body at will.
Performing marvels precariously, as if standing on the edge of a blade.
Having leaped over all obstacles and reached the range where his spear could strike, the Absolute Spear gripped the center-broken spear with both hands. Like a leaf shaking in the wind, the tip of the spear swayed softly.
In the space where the ground rippled and the sky collapsed, Partaraxion fired his life-dependent ultimate move.
Ultimate Technique, Absolute Spear.
The half-broken spear drew a trajectory.
It was a curve extremely close to a straight line.
From the legs, waist, shoulders, arms, and hands, to the joint of the halved spear shaft. Tremendous internal power was imbued into each joint, shooting force from all of them.
This was the truth the Absolute Spear had enlightened to.
Though it draws a straight line, it is the sum of the countless curves that exist in his spear and flesh.
Unavoidable. Unstoppable. The trajectory that touched upon the truth rode over Jizan and aimed for Shei's face. The straight line he drew was one of the few correct answers the tool called a spear could obtain in this world.
The secret technique that made the Absolute Spear be called the Absolute Spear.
The way to deflect this was—
"Cheonaeng!"
Only by twisting space itself.
She fully unleashed the power of Cheonaeng. The arcane peeked through the gaps as space bulged.
The Absolute Spear's ultimate move, which had never been blocked nor missed, grazed precariously past Shei's sideburns. Severed black hair scattered into the darkness.
"Hmm. I intended to leave a scratch on your skin."
A strange light appeared in Partaraxion's eyes. He had originally set the trajectory to slightly graze her cheek, but it missed by a much wider margin than expected.
At the center of it was the invisible sword Shei held, but that wasn't everything.
"You're sensitive. Good weapon, good skill. Especially when it comes to defense."
The two distanced themselves as if they had agreed to. Shei muttered with a highly displeased face.
"...Going easy on me."
"It's the usual moderation in a duel. Isn't it the same for both of us?"
They hadn't gone all out. Perhaps it was more like they had exchanged one technique each.
Still, Shei was dissatisfied with this result. It wasn't impossible to win, but she felt like she had been overwhelmed in the fight itself.
"I see why you seem weak. The qi art you've learned is extremely defensive."
That was the same for Partaraxion, who had been crossing weapons with her until just now. He rested the half-broken spear on his shoulder and spoke.
"Your countermeasures are perfect. You kept up with all my attacks. You even responded to my ultimate move in your own way, which you saw for the first time today. Excellent. But as you know, you cannot win with defense alone."
"...I know that!"
"Tearing apart and modifying a qi art is an extremely difficult task. You'll have to devise your own means from it."
The Heaven-Reversal Sutra is the ultimate defensive qi art.
The implication is that its offense falls far short of it.
Thanks to engraving them into her body one by one while recalling the experiences of her regression, Shei's survivability and adaptability increased with each iteration. Because of that, Shei could see more and do more.
However, at no point could Shei overwhelm an enemy of a similar level.
"It seems impossible on your own. Considering it didn't change much even inside the Abyss."
Shei's skill was mostly due to the Heaven-Reversal Sutra. The attacks she watched while dying, she engraved into her body in the next iteration, overcoming them one by one.
But compared to the increasingly proficient Heaven-Reversal Sutra.
Her attacks still relied on simple power.
"Grow up. No, wait. I will let you experience things from an equal standing. You can build experience, and I can introduce you to other strong ones. It will be helpful."
Even at the Absolute Spear's proposal, Shei didn't feel the joy of being acknowledged.
Because she had already experienced it in a previous iteration.
When Shei was wandering the Military Kingdom to get information about the Abyss. She had received the Absolute Spear's teachings once.
At that time, Shei didn't dress as a man. Because she knew that the Absolute Spear doted on his daughter and was generous to children of that age.
However, the Absolute Spear was overly generous to Shei at that time. He vehemently opposed Shei going to Tartarus, and because of that, a lot of time ended up being wasted.
And while she received his teachings.
Defensive aspects aside, Shei's offensive side didn't improve at all.
"...I'll decline."
Having already failed, there was no need to hesitate. Partaraxion clicked his tongue.
"Is that so. That's a shame."
"I'm not really disappointed."
"What? Hey. This isn't an opportunity that comes easily. Just a few days ago, there was someone who wanted to receive my teachings."
It was when the two reached a brief lull and readjusted their grips on their weapons.
"Stop right there."
A faint voice echoed from the darkness. The pitch-black darkness, as if ink had been scattered in the air, dissipated, and from there, a silver-haired vampire walked over confidently.
And dangling from Tirkanjaka's hand was some person.
Partaraxion's eyes widened.
"Huh? Hey, Gand. What are you doing there?"
Partaraxion's disciple and adjutant who was guarding the perimeter, Colonel Gand, was grabbed by the collar by Tirkanjaka. Unable to shake off that slender arm, he struggled and shouted.
"...I have no face to show you! But, Master, retreat! The Progenitor is...! We cannot win!"
"What?"
Partaraxion looked at the vampire's hand. And quickly realized what had happened.
Tirkanjaka's right arm was pierced by a spear from the palm to the elbow. It was surely Gand's handiwork.
However, to Tirkanjaka, a piercing wound was as trivial as a needle prick. With his arm skewered, Tirkanjaka had simply walked over and grabbed Gand by the collar.
"Your skill is quite something. There are not many beings who have wounded my body this much."
Partaraxion asked again with an absurd expression.
"Wait, you get stabbed and you don't even bleed?"
"Mas-ter...! Dodge! The compatibility is...!"
Even for the Absolute Spear, the essence is drawing a trajectory that pierces through anything.
But the Vampire Progenitor does not die even if pierced. In other words.
"You cannot kill me. It has been so until now, and it shall be so in the future."
Tirkanjaka murmured languidly.
He isn't called the Knight Killer for nothing. Because Tirkanjaka doesn't die, because he doesn't exhaust, he is the natural enemy of knights who use swords and spears.
Tirkanjaka pulled out the spear. In the process, not a single drop of blood flowed from Tirkanjaka's body. Pulling a stick out of a mud doll would have produced a more tragic scene.
Partaraxion, grasping the situation, muttered.
"Wow. Hold on. Is that it? No wonder I was told to 'actively avoid engagement'."
"I, too, wish for you to do the same. If you continue to resist, I will have to turn this guy in my hand into my shadow."
"Okay!"
Partaraxion threw his broken spear away. At the same time, Tirkanjaka released Colonel Gand. Gand stumbled backward.
As soon as Colonel Gand returned, Partaraxion playfully smacked him on the head.
"Hey, why do you act up so needlessly. If you don't think you can match them, you should just back off appropriately."
"...Even with a hundred mouths, I have nothing to say."
"You little punk, look at your confidence dropping. Do you get it now? How many weird things there are in the world?"
Meanwhile, Tirkanjaka, who had approached Shei, scolded her with slightly cooled eyes.
"Enjoy yourself in moderation. Don't we have the goal of finding Hue? If you were to accidentally die here, what would become of me?"
"...Got it. I'm sorry."
"Hmm? What's with you being so obedient. Good. I've seen many men forge bonds this way."
"...Men..."
"However, from now on, you must call me when something like this happens. I shouldn't miss such a good spectacle..."
And so, as if nothing had happened, they headed in opposite directions.
The duel of the century ended, but there was no audience. Sending the events of today beyond oblivion, the night in Falkaris faded away.