Chapter 56: The Return of the Doom-Grade Death Knight

Chapter 56: Jacques Noire (2)

"It's somewhat amusing, but it's nothing special."

When he heard Damian Hassen's words, Jacques Noire felt a faint anger.

The sword technique he was using was a high-level technique that a low-class person could not look down upon.

The False True Bubble Shadow Sword (僞眞泡影.劍).

It was the sword technique that the Swordmaster Mirage (蜃氣樓), who was active a hundred years ago, used as his main technique.

Mirage was a very famous Swordmaster in his time. Even in the Empire, where Masters were piled up like mountains, he was someone to be wary of.

When Jacques Noire obtained the manual for the False True Bubble Shadow Sword, he was so delighted that he lost his senses.

However, the joy did not last long. The False True Bubble Shadow Sword was mostly lost.

But Jacques Noire could not give up on the False True Bubble Shadow Sword. The name value of Mirage was immense.

Jacques Noire believed that if he could master the perfectly restored False True Bubble Shadow Sword, he could also reach the realm of a Master.

So he devoted his entire life to the False True Bubble Shadow Sword.

The restoration rate that Jacques Noire achieved through his arduous efforts was only about 30%, but even that was enough to create realistic illusions.

"You seem to have a great deal of pride in that sword technique."

That's why each word from Damian Hassen was grating.

The False True Bubble Shadow Sword was everything to Jacques Noire, and it was the guide that would lead him to the realm of a Master.

"I'll shatter that illusion."

Damian Hassen's sword began to emit a sword cry.

Seeing this, Jacques Noire felt a sense of foreboding.

He had never seen a sword technique that amplified a sword cry before.

Damian Hassen flicked the blade with his finger. Immediately, the sword cry spread in all directions.

A storm of sound swept through the area. The afterimages rushing towards Damian Hassen turned to dust and disappeared.

No, it wasn't just the afterimages rushing towards him. All the afterimages Jacques Noire had created vanished, leaving him alone.

"..."

Faced with this unexpected scene, Jacques Noire's mind went blank.

The illusions created by the False True Bubble Shadow Sword should not be so easily erased.

They wouldn't disappear even if cut or stabbed. A certain amount of impact, beyond what a commoner or low-class person could achieve, was required to destroy them.

It wasn't just any sword technique that a Master used.

Yet, all the afterimages were erased by mere sound?

"This is a major weakness of illusionary swords. The flaws are as clear as the strengths."

Damian Hassen adjusted his grip on the sword. Jacques Noire's instincts sounded the alarm.

"Now it's my turn, right?"

Damian Hassen charged at Jacques Noire.

Seeing this, Jacques Noire regained his composure. The battle was not over yet.

"Even after just erasing the afterimages, don't get so arrogant!"

For a low-class person to initiate an attack on a mid-class person was absurd. Jacques Noire felt anger.

The two swung their swords at each other.

Dozens of trajectories collided and disappeared. The sound of metal clashing echoed continuously.

"Damian Hassen! It's time you got serious! I'll show you the true essence of the illusionary sword!"

Jacques Noire extended his sword towards Damian Hassen and simultaneously created two afterimages.

Three Jacques Noires swung their swords at once. Each sword aimed at a different vital point.

At that moment, Damian Hassen swept his palm across the blade. The sword cry echoed.

The sword cry erased the afterimages, exposing the real Jacques Noire.

"What?"

Compared to the previous one, this sword cry was ridiculously small. Yet, it was enough to erase the afterimages.

In the moment of Jacques Noire's confusion, Damian swung his sword. A long cut appeared on his cheek.

He had allowed a low-class person to wound him.

Before he could even feel the pain, a deep sense of humiliation spread throughout Jacques Noire's body. His eyes flared with rage.

"Don't act so arrogantly!"

Jacques Noire moved his mana to create an illusion.

But the mana dispersed and disappeared before it could form an illusion. No matter how many times he tried, the result was the same.

The user of the illusionary sword was in a situation where he could not create illusions.

Perplexed, Jacques Noire asked Damian.

"What's a mid-class person like you doing if you can't even grasp the situation?"

Only then did Jacques Noire realize why the illusions were blocked.

It was because of Damian Hassen's sword.

The sword cry emitted by that damn sword was interfering with the concentration of mana, preventing the creation of illusions.

"What... What is this...!"

For the False True Bubble Shadow Sword to be blocked by such a simple method was impossible. It shouldn't happen.

"Let's end this soon."

Suddenly, Damian Hassen's speed increased. The number of trajectories grew even more.

"Unbelievable..."

There was no time to speak. Jacques Noire desperately deflected Damian Hassen's sword.

"Watch out, or you'll lose your arm."

As soon as he finished speaking, his arm tingled. Damian Hassen's sword had grazed it.

"Get serious. If you keep this up, you'll lose your wrist."

This time, his wrist was cut. It wasn't deep, just a slight cut on the skin.

"Only paying attention to the top. You should also look down."

His pants and thigh were simultaneously slashed. Again, only the skin was cut.

Jacques Noire's eyes widened.

A mid-class person like himself was being outmatched by a low-class person. No, it was embarrassing to even say he was being outmatched.

He was being toyed with like a toy.

"This sword... Do you know what kind of sword technique this is? It's not something you can handle!"

Jacques Noire screamed. Damian Hassen chuckled.

"Making a lot of noise over a mediocre sword technique."

"Mediocre? Don't say... nonsense...!"

Damian Hassen kicked Jacques Noire. Jacques Noire's body flew backward.

He had been hit in a very bad spot. Jacques Noire coughed, his sword planted in the ground.

"You... you..."

Jacques Noire glared at Damian Hassen, who stood far away.

"I'll show you something interesting before I kill you."

Damian Hassen took a step forward. An afterimage remained where he had been.

With each step Damian Hassen took, an afterimage appeared.

Dozens of afterimages were left on the ground.

"You... you..."

Jacques Noire looked at Damian Hassen with trembling fingers.

"How... How did you... the False True Bubble Shadow Sword...?"

"I learned by watching."

"Nonsense...!"

"By the way, I can do this too."

Damian flicked his finger.

Suddenly, the afterimages swung their swords at each other. The afterimages that were cut disappeared.

Jacques Noire's mouth gaped open at the sight.

He couldn't move the afterimages so precisely.

At best, he could only instruct one action. Giving different commands to each was impossible.

"Jacques Noire, snap out of it. This sword technique isn't that great."

Jacques Noire slowly shifted his gaze at Damian's words.

"To be precise, it's a pretty good sword technique, but it's broken. It's strange. The principle behind the technique is quite advanced, but the actual techniques using that principle are poor."

Damian Hassen continued.

"Perhaps there was an original sword technique. You probably modified it on your own. It's like a bad modification. You wouldn't deliberately ruin a good sword technique, so you might have failed to restore it."

Damian Hassen didn't just copy the sword technique.

He had thoroughly analyzed everything.

"Once you understand the principle, creating techniques is easy. The original sword technique was probably something like this."

An afterimage appeared in front of Damian Hassen.

The afterimage walked forward. Soon, it began to split.

One became two, two became four, four became eight.

Before long, the world was filled with afterimages.

"..."

The False True Bubble Shadow Sword that Jacques Noire had restored could only create illusions in the places where the user had been.

That's why Jacques Noire moved constantly, to leave afterimages.

But Damian Hassen created illusions while standing still, and in numbers far exceeding what Jacques Noire could create.

At this point, they weren't afterimages anymore.

They were clones.

"False True Bubble Shadow Sword, right? The original sword was probably something like this."

Jacques Noire had collected all the anecdotes related to Mirage to restore the False True Bubble Shadow Sword.

Many of them suggested that Mirage wasn't one person but dozens.

The illusions created by Mirage moved so realistically.

Jacques Noire worked tirelessly to realize these testimonies.

But he could only create afterimages, not clones.

What Jacques Noire couldn't restore in his entire life, Damian Hassen perfectly restored in just a few minutes.

"How... How did you... restore the False True Bubble Shadow Sword...!"

"Just did it."

Damian said casually.

"Just did it."

Those words darkened Jacques Noire's eyes.

* * *

In his childhood, Jacques Noire believed he was a genius.

His peers in training were all much weaker than him. He reached the low-class level years earlier than others.

It was natural for him to believe he was a 'genius.'

This illusion was shattered right after he reached the low-class level.

He was defeated in a single blow by a knight who was also called a genius.

His first defeat.

His first confusion.

His first indignation.

A mix of emotions. Jacques Noire couldn't accept the defeat and challenged another duel.

The result was even more惨烈。这次他连剑都没能挥动就被击败了。

对方是如何如此轻易地击败他的？那个天才回答说：

- 就这样。

- 就这样就做到了。

这句话打破了雅克·诺瓦尔的错觉。

他不是天才，只是比别人稍微优秀一点。

从那天起，雅克·诺瓦尔疯狂地练习剑术，放弃了所有的享乐，专注于训练。

十几年后，雅克·诺瓦尔达到了中级水平。

而那些“真正的”天才们则达到了高级水平。

面对无法通过努力缩小的差距，雅克·诺瓦尔感到绝望。

从那时起，他开始痴迷于灵药和大师们的技艺。

他认为服用顶级灵药可以弥补他不足的天赋。

他希望通过大师们留下的知识获得自己无法领悟的知识。

就这样又过了十几年。

雅克·诺瓦尔仍然是中级水平。

如果换作别人，可能早就放弃了，承认自己的不足，安于现状。

但雅克·诺瓦尔没有放弃。他决心一定要超越那些“真正的”天才。

然而今天，他又听到了同样的话。

“就这样就做到了。”

多年积累的情感被点燃了。

情感如同腐烂的油，火焰吞噬了情感，猛烈地燃烧。

雅克·诺瓦尔甚至无法承受如此巨大的愤怒。

“你刚才说……就这样？”

握着剑柄的手不由自主地用力。

“对！就这样就做到了！就这样！就这样！该死的就这样！”

牙齿不由自主地磨着，血管里的血液仿佛要爆裂。

天才们总是这样。

他们轻而易举地追上了他拼命努力的成果。

并且总是说出“就这样”这种令人无法忍受的话。

“这不是机缘！你是天才！德米安·哈森！你也是天才！”

雅克·诺瓦尔开始间歇性地笑起来，笑声中透出疯狂。

“不，你不仅仅是天才！我见过的任何天才都无法像你这样！”

雅克·诺瓦尔见过的任何天才都无法像德米安·哈森那样偷学他人的剑术，不仅完美地掌握，还能立即复原。

“够了。一切都无所谓了。即使放弃一切，我也要杀了你！”

如果无法成为大师，他要在其他地方找到意义。

此刻，雅克·诺瓦尔决定在德米安·哈森这个罕见的天才绽放之前，将他摧毁。

雅克·诺瓦尔掌握的高级技艺不仅仅是False True Bubble Shadow Sword。

他用手指刺向自己身体的各个部位。

刺激了流淌着魔力的经脉。

被刺激的经脉使魔力暴走。暴走的魔力激发了雅克·诺瓦尔的潜力。

伐性之狂药 (伐性之狂藥)。

曾经被称为战争化身的大师在最后时刻燃烧自己的身体的绝技。

虽然在水平上远超False True Bubble Shadow Sword，但由于需要舍弃生命，不能随意使用。

同归于尽的手段显现。

全身肌肉膨胀，魔力凶猛地肆虐。

雅克·诺瓦尔举起剑。狂暴的魔力形成了鲜红的斗气。

“去死吧！”

雅克·诺瓦尔挥剑砍下。巨大的斩击将德米安·哈森的身体一分为二。

“……？”

但有些不对劲。虽然被一分为二，却没有流血，断面空洞无物。

“难道……？”

被一分为二的德米安·哈森的身体化为虚影消失。

使用False True Bubble Shadow Sword的技巧欺骗了自己的眼睛。

被自己的技巧所欺骗的情况。

雅克·诺瓦尔的瞳孔中血管暴突，眼白变得通红。

“德米安·哈森！我要撕碎你……”

就在这时，从背后突袭的剑割断了雅克·诺瓦尔的脖子。