I’m Here to End This Fight

Chapter 26. Three Techniques (5)

Six months ago, on the day Yuri first experienced the pain of defeat.

Swoosh-.

The refreshing sound of rain echoed inside the cave, and Johan’s voice quietly resonated.

The reason Johan had arranged a sparring match Yuri couldn’t win.

The humiliation of defeat and the desperation it could instill.

Yuri listened intently to Johan’s story.

Moreover, he accepted Johan’s message without any filter.

As Johan’s voice, which had continued for a long time, gradually faded away.

Screech-.

Johan stood up.

“You said you never wanted to lose again?”

Johan threw out the question that reflected Yuri’s own small vow he had murmured to himself.

Picking up his sword, Johan walked outside.

Clomp, clomp-.

The falling rain soaked Johan’s head and shoulders.

Drip, drip-.

Standing on the wet ground in the rain, Johan looked back at Yuri.

A bitter smile spread across his face.

“I felt the same.”

Twenty-five years ago, Johan was forty.

The Sword Master, who was the same age, had conquered the world.

Believing he could achieve what the Sword Master had, Johan challenged him.

The genius, who had no rival other than the Sword Master, issued a challenge.

Many were interested in this match between the recognized number one and the second.

Some even speculated that this might be the time for the Sword Master’s throne to be taken.

The match, which took place under immense interest, ended in… a crushing defeat for the challenger.

The defeat of the person deemed the second strongest in the world reaffirmed the presence of the Sword Master, which had been somewhat forgotten.

Why he was called the Sword Master.

How he had come to grasp the world.

The existence of the Sword Master, which had become vague over time, was revived through that match.

And Johan, more than anyone else, was tormented by the presence of the Sword Master.

“Have you ever faced an insurmountable wall? No matter how hard you climb, the peak is not in sight… if you slip even slightly, you fall from a terrifying height… such a cliff.”

To Johan, the Sword Master was precisely such an existence after his first defeat.

Humiliation, helplessness, despair.

And the fear instilled by the Sword Master.

After that day’s defeat, Johan had to fight fiercely to overcome the mental image of the Sword Master, who had become a gigantic wall.

To keep his spirit from breaking, to find the strength to rise again, he struggled alone.

After a long time, having finally conquered the mental image of the Sword Master, Johan made a vow.

“I decided one defeat was enough. I engraved in my bones the determination never to lose again.”

From then on, he pushed himself mercilessly.

He honed his skills further in preparation to fight the Sword Master.

Ten years passed.

Having completed his preparation, Johan once again pointed his sword at the Sword Master.

The Sword Master laughed.

[Interesting. You’re the first to survive a duel with me and still retain your spirit.]

The Sword Master joyfully accepted Johan’s challenge.

In their second match, Johan gave his all.

Thinking it would be the last time, he poured everything he had into it.

The result…

“I lost again. Pathetically, ridiculously. Puhaha.”

Despite his ten years of effort and determination, the defeat came too easily.

Exhausted, unable to move a finger, Johan lay down, looking up at the sky, accepting death calmly.

He thought it wouldn’t be a bad end to die at the hands of the Sword Master.

But instead of taking his life, the Sword Master took something else.

Slash-.

Blood spurted from beneath Johan’s right knee.

[Can you keep your spirit unbroken this time?]

That day, Johan lost a leg, something almost as precious as his life.

[If you can run faster than before with that condition… come find me again. I’ll return this to you then. Haha.]

The Sword Master left, laughing, carrying Johan’s severed leg.

It was indeed a humiliating defeat.

Losing his leg made it the worst situation.

But for some reason, Johan did not despair as he had before.

Instead, he felt relieved.

“Despite giving my all, I couldn’t reach the Sword Master. Ironically, that showed me the way.”

Johan realized.

No matter how much he honed what he had, he would never surpass the Sword Master.

So he searched.

For a way to defeat the Sword Master.

“That monster seeks destruction based on extreme strength and speed. There may be someone stronger or faster than the Sword Master, but there’s no one who surpasses him in both aspects.”

Extreme strength and extreme speed.

Having just one would lead to the same fate as his, and surpassing the Sword Master in both was impossible.

“So, what do you think is the way to defeat that monster?”

Swish-.

Johan unsheathed his sword and quietly extended it forward.

Drip, drip-.

Watching the clear drops bounce off the silver blade, he continued his story.

“The Sword Master’s avatar embodies a Red Dragon with fiery flames.”

In the legends of the Layment Continent, the Red Dragon symbolized strength and destruction.

A fitting avatar for the Sword Master.

“According to legend, the Red Dragon’s flames destroy everything. They’re so powerful and fast that they cannot be blocked or extinguished. How could one deal with such flames?”

From earlier, Johan had been repeatedly asking Yuri about ways to face the Sword Master.

But he was not asking Yuri directly.

He was merely reviewing the problem he had once solved.

“The answer I came up with was simple. Just…”

As his words trailed off, Johan’s sword began to move.

Swish-.

Slowly, like a dance, it glided through the raindrops.

The sharp blade, which had been radiating intent, disappeared at some point.

Swish-.

Only a silver trail remained around Johan.

* * *

Just like Johan’s sword, Yuri’s sword roamed through the rain.

Then at some point, the shape of the sword vanished.

Instead, silver lines appeared around Yuri.

They were so tranquil and beautiful that it seemed as if someone had drawn a picture in the air with silver threads.

Boom, boom-.

Mucci’s fierce attack drew a red trajectory, contrasting sharply with the fantastical silver lines surrounding Yuri.

The two were so different that it felt almost discordant.

Finally, as Mucci’s red spear reached Yuri’s head.

Swish-.

The raindrops around Yuri stopped.

As if time had frozen.

But only for a moment, the falling rain reversed its course.

Swoosh-.

In an astonishing phenomenon, the rain rose from the ground to the sky around Yuri.

And at the same time, Mucci’s red spear touched the silver trajectory.

[The answer I came up with was simple. Just…]

Yuri recited the method Johan had taught him to counter the “monster’s fire.”

[Return the monster’s fire.]

“Return the monster’s fire.”

As soon as he murmured those words, the silver trajectory touching Mucci’s spear transformed into the shape of a sword.

Yuri, holding the descending spear with an upper block.

Boom!

A strong wind erupted between the two, creating concentric waves in the dirt centered on Yuri.

And that was it.

No loud explosion or shockwave from the collision of mana.

Nothing changed.

Yuri, who had taken Mucci’s attack, looked perfectly at ease.

A second later, Yuri’s sword began to slowly push away Mucci’s spear.

Simultaneously, a change occurred in Mucci’s spear.

Drip, drip-.

The point of contact between Yuri’s sword and Mucci’s spear began to quiver.

Drip, drip-.

“What?!”

The spear wriggled like a snake, causing Mucci to panic.

Unfortunately for Mucci, this was just the beginning.

Drip, drip-.

The wriggling intensified, eventually turning into a violent vibration.

“Ugh, ah?!”

The vibration became so intense that even Mucci’s hardened calluses and grip, honed over ten years, couldn’t withstand it.

Yuri smiled as he watched.

“You should let go unless you want your arm broken.”

Drip, drip-.

As the vibration grew stronger, Mucci realized Yuri’s words were more than a simple warning.

‘This… I have to let go!’

Instinctively, he understood.

Holding on would not just break his arm.

Pale-faced, Mucci let go of the spear and threw himself to the side.

It was an excellent decision.

Bzzzz-.

Even after Mucci released it, the spear, engulfed in a red aura, continued to fall madly in the air.

Finally, the red aura reversed and exploded.

Boom!

The red aura, flying in the direction Mucci had stood, swept through the forest in a straight line.

Crash, crash.

It shattered twelve large trees before dissipating.

* * *

Ralph and Johan’s eyes remained fixed on the path where the red aura had swept through.

In the heavy silence, Ralph’s eyes shook.

It was understandable, given what Yuri had shown was something he had never seen despite his vast experience.

‘The red aura was definitely from Ice Wall Splitting… but what was that technique that countered it? Flow?’

Among the various techniques in the magic body technique, there was a defensive technique that minimized damage by diverting the opponent’s force.

At first, Ralph thought what Yuri had shown was some form of flow.

But he soon shook his head.

‘No, Ice Wall Splitting can’t be diverted.’

Even though Mucci’s use had reduced its power, Ice Wall Splitting wasn’t something easily diverted.

Many had died trying to divert Ice Wall Splitting’s force.

You either avoided it or countered with a stronger force.

Those were the only ways to deal with Ice Wall Splitting.

Ralph had expected Yuri to counter it with Thunder Wing.

That’s why Ralph had used a trick to guide the situation.

But what happened?

Yuri blocked Ice Wall Splitting with his sword.

Even if Yuri managed to divert Ice Wall Splitting’s force, the direction of the diverted force should have been toward the ground.

Yet, the force from Ice Wall Splitting flew in a completely different direction.

‘He must have redirected the force of Ice Wall Splitting.’

Without any preparation, he had countered the force of Ice Wall Splitting.

And changed its direction freely.

‘It was as if… he used the opponent’s force as his own and returned it.’

Unable to find an answer within his own understanding, Ralph had to ask.

The creator of that strange technique.

“What… is that?”

Ralph’s question was met with a slightly exasperated smile from Johan as he answered.

“The Third Technique…”

The Redner family had risen to prominence with the creation of Thunder Wing by the fifth family head.

Since then, for hundreds of years, the Redner family had only two ultimate techniques: Cloud Step and Thunder Wing.

They neither created nor collected countless other sword and martial arts techniques, unlike other prestigious families.

The two ultimate techniques were sufficient.

They were enough to make the Redner family the strongest.

For hundreds of years since the fifth family head, a prodigious genius of the Redner family had created another ultimate technique.

A third technique, born from the obsession to counter the monster’s fire.

An unfinished technique meant to control all flows.

Johan had named it:

“Magic Flow.”

The flow of magic.