Paladin of the Dead God
chapter-214

Isaac first activated the Eye of Chaos.

His eyes turned a deep violet, and tentacles began to slither out from between his eyelids. He had never used this ability to such an extent except when trying to discern everything about his opponent.

‘…Dizzying.’

Looking at Elil with the Eye of Chaos, Isaac began to understand the enormity of what he had said.

Even with the Eye of Chaos, Isaac couldn’t glean any information about Elil.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t see him. There was just too much to see. Elil was prepared to cut Isaac down with tens of thousands of movements. He had complete control over the space they were in.

Meanwhile, Isaac realized that no matter how much he attacked, he wouldn’t be able to touch Elil.

His confidence was not arrogance.

‘But that’s only if I fight like an ordinary swordmaster…’

Isaac didn’t know his own limits when pushing the power of Chaos to its extremes. He had avoided relying on Chaos’s power because he knew that the more he used it, the further he drifted from his true self.

Today might be the stage to test those limits.

Isaac ignited the heat of the Luadin Key to its maximum. The heat, fused with his sword aura, flared with a menacing force. He took a deep breath and then launched himself forward.

*Boom.* The granite slabs of the floor cracked under the shockwave. Sword aura flowed from his blade, leaving strange marks on the walls and floor as it surged forward.

*Slash! Boom!*

Isaac slashed horizontally at Elil’s body in an instant. However, Elil caught the sword with one hand without even looking at it. He was simply staring at Isaac.

It was an unbelievable feat. Catching sword aura with an ordinary sword was impossible.

But Elil did it.

The tip of his sword precisely struck the hilt of the Luadin Key.

No matter how strong a sword, it had weak and strong points. The weaker part is near the handle, and the stronger part is the tip. Even with sword aura, the distribution of force doesn’t change.

Elil intercepted it at the exact weak point in a fraction of a second.

‘Just use sword aura, you madman…!’

Understanding and replicating are entirely different matters.

Isaac was certain he could never master Elil’s technique, no matter what. He continued his attacks. Although he was cautious of Elil’s counterattacks, each strike was blocked by Elil’s sword tip.

Yet it was strange that Elil’s sword tip didn’t even get damaged.

“…That’s not an ordinary sword, is it?”

“It’s the Holy Sword Aleval.”

“Holy Sword Aleval? That’s a new name to me.”

“It means ‘nameless.’”

So Elil wouldn’t use miracles or advanced sword techniques, but he would use a holy relic?

Isaac thought about pointing this out but decided against it, as it made him look pitiful. However, Elil, perhaps sensing this, added an explanation.

“Any sword I wield becomes a holy sword. But without a legend, it’s just slightly better than an ordinary sword, so don’t worry about it.”

In other words, he had indeed just picked up a random sword.

Isaac felt a mix of disbelief and awe at the idea that any sword Elil picked up would become a holy sword.

It wasn’t surprising, considering it was a weapon used by a god, not just an angel. Although Elil wasn’t using sword aura, the sword still didn’t emit any special energy.

Accepting this, Isaac resumed his attacks.

*Clang! Clang! Crash! Crack!*

Isaac’s attacks were fierce and aggressive, but they were merely traps to provoke Elil’s reaction.

Elil saw through Isaac’s ploy and didn’t move unless there was a genuine opening. Hence, Isaac used his sword aura to viciously grab and tear at Elil’s sword to disrupt his movements.

After several exchanges, Isaac began to understand Elil’s movements through the Eye of Chaos.

Elil’s body moved with mechanical efficiency and effectiveness. Every muscle fiber contracted and relaxed with a clear purpose.

His movements were so beautiful they almost exuded a sense of functional beauty.

‘Was this monster just born this way?’

Isaac continued his relentless assault, even though replicating Elil’s techniques seemed impossible. Elil had vowed not to use sword aura. Missing even once in targeting the exact point where the force changes would break his sword.

Isaac aimed for that.

‘…Honestly, I’m not sure I could win even if Elil fought barehanded.’

*Crack!*

When Isaac crossed swords with Elil for the fourth time, he managed to make their blades clash directly. The moment their blades met, the teeth of Elil’s sword chipped, and a crack formed. Isaac didn’t miss the opportunity and immediately executed his Ezak Swordsmanship: Eightfold Path.

*Boom!* In an instant, Isaac’s energy erupted, creating the image of a beast rising from the abyss with eight tentacles, engulfing Elil in a ferocious attack.

*Crack, crack, crack!*

However, Elil merely tapped at parts of Isaac’s sword trajectory with his own blade.

The “Eight Branches” lost its momentum and shattered almost instantly.

The beast formed by sword aura dissipated, and Isaac lost his balance. Elil approached casually, placing his blade against Isaac’s neck.

“Two.”

Elil whispered. Isaac couldn’t tell how many chances he would get, but he was already launching his next attack before Elil could say anything more.

From beneath Isaac’s shadow, the grasp of the abyss shot up.

The grip of the abyss emerged right beneath Elil’s feet, writhing to tear him apart. However, Isaac realized through shared pain that it was thrashing not to finish its prey but out of agony.

For the first time, the abyssal grasp had been slashed and wounded, revealing its innards and viscera. It melted away quickly into the colors beyond.

Elil had not been swallowed by the abyssal grasp. He had simply stepped back and sliced through it as it emerged.

But there was a result. Elil looked at Isaac for a moment before tapping his sword. With a sharp sound, the blade split in half. The part Isaac had managed to crack had broken.

“Impressive.”

Isaac steadied himself again.

Elil had taken Isaac’s life twice, but Isaac had broken Elil’s holy sword, Aleval. Breaking a god’s sword was an encouraging result.

Instead of picking up a new sword, Elil picked up the broken blade.

Then he assumed a dual-wielding stance. What had been Aleval was now divided into Al and Eval.

“Let’s raise the difficulty a bit.”

With those ridiculous weapons, higher difficulty?

Isaac wanted to laugh but couldn’t even move his lips.

‘Being underestimated has its limits.’

His eyes burned even more fiercely.

“Then I’ll raise the difficulty too.”

Isaac’s left hand finally began to twitch and morph.

***

Despite his bravado, Isaac had never considered Elil an opponent of “low difficulty.”

The reason he hadn’t used the tentacle of his left hand until now was that it interfered with holding his sword and couldn’t exert its true power in its unfamiliar form. The tentacle was more of a tool for unpredictable situations.

But Elil required experimental attempts to find a breakthrough.

Bang. Isaac charged at Elil again.

This time, he didn’t approach head-on but circled around, looking for an opening. Elil was deflecting Isaac’s attacks with minimal movements. It required high concentration to execute such precise actions.

In this case, a flashy and unpredictable technique was necessary.

*Crack, crack, crack!* The tentacle gripped the Luadin Key tightly. After witnessing Elil sever the grasp of the abyss, wielding the tentacle recklessly would be foolish. Instead, Isaac decided to use the enhanced grip strength and flexible movements provided by the tentacle.

The hilt of the Luadin Key, now almost fused with his left hand, was invisible. The blazing flames seemed to scream.

‘Now!’

As Elil moved to face Isaac, who was circling him, Isaac kicked off the wall and lunged. The colors of the abyss burst forth from each step, enveloping Elil.

Though it couldn’t inflict deadly damage, it was enough to obscure Elil’s vision.

Isaac swung the Luadin Key, entwined with tentacles, mimicking Lianne’s advanced swordsmanship. Reproducing her swordsmanship perfectly without Lumiarde was impossible. However, the fluidity of the tentacles allowed him to replicate the intricate movements to some extent.

*Clang!* Using the Elion swordsmanship, dozens of beasts with gaping maws emerged from the ink-like colors beyond, attacking Elil. Elil, unflinching, disrupted and countered Isaac’s swordsmanship calmly, just as he had before.

At that moment, Isaac’s eyes gleamed. Using the Eye of Chaos, he tried to delve deeply into Elil’s emotions to unsettle him.

“…!”

But all he sensed was a single thought: the desire for battle.

There was no emotion to draw upon.

*Boom!*

Finally, Isaac’s sword clashed with Elil’s once more.

This time, Isaac’s sword didn’t waver as easily. Elil’s eyebrows twitched. The ridiculous strength and flexibility of the tentacle absorbed and deflected Elil’s attacks. Elil had no choice but to parry each strike that rained down on him.

It was akin to catching raindrops one by one. An impossible feat for most, but for Elil, it seemed as simple as a walk in the park.

“Three.”

Though Isaac was the one pressing the attack, hiding within the colors beyond and pushing forward, it was Isaac who was on the defensive.

His breathing grew labored, and his vision blurred. Hunger gnawed at him slowly.

“Four.”

In that time, Isaac’s life was taken two more times.

Yet, Isaac continued to press on.

Just one mistake, one moment of carelessness, and he could prevail.

Isaac was already using the Broken Crystal Tombstone Fragment.

‘This is an opponent where cheap tricks won’t work.’

The fragment heightened his focus to an extreme degree. In the intense concentration that felt like his brain was burning, Isaac felt the world slow down. Just like Elil, he could afford no mistakes.

‘I must force a reaction in direct combat!’

Isaac attacked with the intent to kill Elil but did not think of victory.

Such determination might provoke a reaction or emotion from Elil, finally leading to victory. Driven by this single-minded resolve, Isaac pushed his limits to the utmost.

*Pik, jureuk…* The intense focus granted by the Broken Crystal Tombstone Fragment and the Eye of Chaos allowing him to discern Elil’s intentions and movements caused his eyes to bleed. Blood-tears streamed down his face.

Isaac didn’t even notice the blood-tears as the tentacles absorbed them before they obscured his vision.

With heightened focus, he unleashed advanced swordsmanship without pause. The Eightfold Path, Drowned Hand, Avalanche Swordsmanship, Rotten Hammer Swordsmanship, techniques of Cedric, the Knights of Aldeon, and the Elion Knight Order. Isaac meticulously executed and unleashed every swordsmanship he had witnessed and consumed.

As a result, there wasn’t a part of his body that wasn’t being strained.

Only then could Isaac begin to mimic Elil’s movements.

His muscles, bones, blood flow, and nerves screamed in agony as they were forcibly aligned like a machine. It was a violent will that would force the body to move correctly even if it had to crush it. In fact, his body was tearing apart.

Even the tentacles gripping the Luadin Key were splitting and bleeding from the pressure. Yet Isaac pushed on, unaware that his body was breaking apart from his own sword aura.

He was nothing but a vortex consuming everything, jaws open wide, aiming to devour Elil.

*Shick.* The blood Isaac shed turned into mist and dispersed.

The blood mist mixed with the colors beyond, forming a monster born of chaos that swung its sword.

It was a beast of calamity.

By now, it was impossible to distinguish between the colors beyond and Isaac.

Only then did Elil begin to move.

***

Elil moved swiftly, continuing his attacks and defenses to avoid getting caught up in Isaac’s swordsmanship.

A fighting spirit that didn’t care for its own body.

But Elil sensed that it wasn’t desperation but conviction that drove Isaac.

And he was thrilled by that fighting spirit.

An old emotion was stirred within him by that fighting spirit.

“Five.”

Elil’s sword once again grazed Isaac’s heart. But he wondered if Isaac would have stopped even if he had pierced his heart.

With that fighting spirit, Isaac would likely have struck down with his body even if he lost his heart. And Elil found it increasingly difficult to exploit Isaac’s weaknesses.

A slight doubt.

That was enough for Isaac.

If he could make Elil realize that his chance of winning this fight wasn’t 100%, it would be enough.

Only then did Elil realize what was happening.

Isaac was fighting with everything, risking his life, while demanding something from Elil.

Demanding he use his sword aura, demanding he show his true swordsmanship.

Demanding he lay everything he had before Isaac.

In the midst of it all, Isaac was growing at an incredible pace. By observing and devouring each of Elil’s movements, he felt sword aura form at his will. No, the sword aura was guiding and leading him.

It brought Isaac to a realization.

‘Sword aura… could it be…’

And as Isaac transcended a certain limit, he stopped unleashing every swordsmanship he knew.

He discarded everything. All miracles, relics, blessings, and wonders.

Only one movement remained.

He perfectly mimicked Elil’s movement.

–TL Notes–