Chapter 26. The Third Absolute (5)

Six months ago, the day when Yurii first realized the pain of defeat.

Swish—

Amid the refreshing sound of rain echoing in the cave, Johan's voice gently filled the air.

The reason he made Yurii engage in a sparring match where she was bound to lose.

The miserable feeling of defeat and the desperate resolve that could be gained through it.

Yurii listened intently to Johan's story.

She accepted without any filter what he wanted to convey to her.

As the voice continued for a long time, it gradually faded.

Swoosh—

Johan stood up from his seat.

"Did you say you never wanted to lose again?"

The small vow Yurii had muttered to herself.

Johan, turning it into a question, picked up his sword and walked out.

Pitter-patter—

The raindrops soaked Johan's head and shoulders.

Drip—

Standing on the wet ground, drenched by the rain, Johan turned to look at Yurii.

A bitter smile hung on his lips.

"I was the same."

Twenty-five years ago, when Johan was forty.

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

Johan, who believed he could do what the Sword Master could, challenged him.

The challenge from a genius who was thought to have no equal except the Sword Master.

Many people were interested in the showdown between the acknowledged number one and number two.

Even enthusiasts appeared, speculating that this might be the time when the owner of the Sword Seat would change.

The epic battle that took place under immense attention.

The result was... a miserable defeat for the challenger.

The defeat of the one considered the second strongest in the world reasserted the Sword Master's presence, which had been momentarily forgotten.

Why he was called the Sword Master.

And how the Sword Master had conquered the world.

The presence of the Sword Master, which had become blurry over time, was revived by that battle.

And no one suffered more from the Sword Master's presence than Johan.

"Have you ever faced a wall you couldn't climb? No matter how much you struggle throughout your life, you can't even see the top... and if you slip and miss a step, you'll fall from a great height... such a cliff."

To the despair of his first defeat, the Sword Master was exactly that presence for Johan.

The misery, the powerlessness, the frustration.

And the fear instilled by the Sword Master.

After that defeat, Johan had to fight fiercely to overcome the Sword Master, who had become a towering wall in his heart.

To prevent his spirit from breaking and to regain the motivation to rise again, he struggled alone.

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

"I thought one defeat was enough. I engraved in my bones that I would never lose again."

After that, he relentlessly pushed himself.

He honed his weapon even further to prepare for a battle with the Sword Master.

And so, ten years later.

Johan, who had completed his preparations, once again aimed his sword at the Sword Master.

The Sword Master laughed.

[Interesting. You were the first to survive a sword duel with me, but you are also the only one whose spirit wasn't broken.]

The Sword Master accepted Johan's challenge with great pleasure.

In the second showdown, Johan burned everything he had.

Thinking this would be his last chance, he poured out everything he could.

The result...

"I lost again. Miserably. Hahahaha."

The defeat was so disheartening that it made his ten years of effort and resolve seem meaningless.

Unable to move a finger after pouring out everything, Johan looked up at the sky and calmly accepted death.

Thinking that dying at the hands of the Sword Master wouldn't be a bad end.

But the Sword Master took something other than Johan's life.

Squish—

Blood spurted from below Johan's right knee.

[Can you still remain unbroken this time?]

That day, Johan lost a leg, which was as important as his life.

[If you can run faster than you do now with that condition... come find me again. I'll return this then. Hahaha.]

The Sword Master, picking up the severed leg, laughed and left.

A truly humiliating defeat.

And the worst situation, having lost a leg.

But for some reason, Johan didn't feel as frustrated as before.

Instead, he felt relieved.

"I poured everything I had, yet I couldn't reach the Sword Master. Ironically, that failure 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.

"The monster pursues destruction based on extreme strength and extreme speed. There might be someone who surpasses the Sword Master in one of these, but no one can surpass him in both."

Extreme strength (極强) and extreme speed (極快).

With just one, he would end up like Johan, and surpassing the Sword Master in both was impossible from the start.

"So, how do you think you can catch that monster?"

With a slight trailing of his words, Johan's sword began to move.

Swish—

Slowly, as if dancing, the sword moved between the raindrops.

Suddenly, the sword, which had been narrating, disappeared.

Swoosh—

Only a silver trajectory remained around Johan.

* * *

Just like Johan's sword, Yurii's sword also danced in the rain.

Then, at some point, the sword disappeared.

Instead, a silver line appeared around Yurii, undulating like waves.

It was so calm and beautiful that it seemed someone had drawn a silver thread in the air.

Boom—

The red trajectory of Mutsu's spear attack and the illusory silver lines surrounding Yurii were in stark contrast.

And finally, when Mutsu's red spear reached above Yurii's head.

Swoosh—

The raindrops falling around Yurii stopped.

As if time had frozen.

For a moment, the rain stopped, then the raindrops began to reverse their course.

Swish—

From the ground to the sky, the raindrops rose in reverse around Yurii.

At the same time, Mutsu's red spear touched the silver trajectory.

[The solution I came up with was simple. Just...]

Yurii, following what Johan had taught her that day, recited.

[Return the monster's fire.]

"Return the monster's fire."

As soon as her muttering ended, the silver trajectory that had touched Mutsu's spear transformed into the shape of a sword.

Yurii blocked the spear's downward strike from above.

Puff!

A strong wind burst between them, and concentric ripples appeared on the ground around Yurii.

And that was the end.

There was no huge explosion, no shockwave from the mana collision.

There was no change at all.

Yurii, who had blocked Mutsu's attack, looked incredibly calm.

A second later, Yurii's sword began to slowly push Mutsu's spear back.

At the same time, a change occurred in Mutsu's spear.

Clang— Clang—

From the point where Yurii's sword touched, Mutsu's spear began to undulate strangely.

Clang— Clang—

"Wha?!"

Mutsu was taken aback by the spear undulating like a snake.

But for Mutsu, unfortunately, that was just the beginning.

Clang— Clang—

The undulation intensified and eventually turned into a violent vibration.

"Ugh, ugh?!"

The vibration became so intense that even the calluses and grip strength he had developed over ten years of wielding the spear couldn't withstand it.

With a pale face, Mutsu let go of the spear and leaped to the side.

It was a truly excellent decision.

Swoosh—

Even after Mutsu let go, the spear, filled with red energy, fell wildly from the air.

Finally, the red energy contained in the spear was released in reverse.

Boom—

The red energy flew in the exact direction where Mutsu had been standing, sweeping through the forest in a straight line.

Crack— Crack—

After destroying no less than twelve giant trees, the red energy finally dissipated.

* * *

Ralph and Johan couldn't take their eyes off the scene where the red energy had swept through.

In the heavy silence, Ralph's eyes wavered.

After all, what Yurii had shown was something he had never seen before, despite his vast experience.

'The red energy flying was clearly the mana from the Cold Wall Split, but what was that technique that deflected it? A redirection technique?'

Among the various techniques of martial arts, there was a defensive technique that redirected the opponent's force to minimize damage.

At first, Ralph thought what Yurii had shown was a type of redirection.

But he soon shook his head.

'No, the Cold Wall Split can't be redirected.'

Even if the power of the Cold Wall Split had been greatly reduced by Mutsu's use, it was not a technique that could be easily redirected.

How many people had been crushed trying to redirect the Cold Wall Split?

Avoid it or counter it with greater force.

Those were the only two ways to deal with the Cold Wall Split.

Initially, Ralph had expected Yurii to counter it with force using the Thunder Wing.

That was what he had intended, even using underhanded tactics.

But what happened?

Yurii raised her sword and blocked the Cold Wall Split.

Even if he conceded a hundred times that Yurii had redirected the Cold Wall Split, the direction of the force should have been toward the ground from her stance.

However, the force of the Cold Wall Split flew in a completely different direction.

'Clearly, she changed the direction of the Cold Wall Split mid-way.'

She deflected the force of the Cold Wall Split without any preparatory stance.

And she changed its direction freely.

'It's as if... she used the opponent's force as if it were her own and returned it.'

Unable to find an answer within his own common sense, Ralph finally had to ask.

"Johan, what is that... exactly?"

With a slightly resigned smile, Johan answered Ralph's question.

"The Third Absolute (三絶)..."

The fifth head of the Redner family, who created the Thunder Wing, had elevated the Redner family to the ranks of the prestigious.

Since then, the Redner family had only two ultimate techniques: the Thunder Wing and the Footwork.

They didn't bother to create or collect other martial arts techniques, such as sword techniques or fist techniques, which existed in dozens in other prestigious families.

Because these two ultimate techniques were sufficient.

Indeed, the Redner family was praised as the strongest family with just these techniques.

For hundreds of years after the fifth head.

Another unparalleled genius of the Redner family created another ultimate technique.

The third ultimate technique, created with the determination to deal with the monster's fire.

Johan named this incomplete technique, which aimed to control all the world's flows, as follows.

"Magic Flow (魔流)."

The flow of the demon.