Extra in a Romance Fantasy

194 – King (6)

I gripped the sword.

And lifted my gaze to face forward.

I saw the man still looking at me with a smile.

I realized.

He was also preparing for the fight.

However, even so, I didn’t sense any particular intensity from him.

At this point, I still felt no hostility from the man.

So how did I notice the change in him?

It was simple.

The air, and the atmosphere had shifted.

The air held its breath, the sky held its breath, and the world was holding its breath.

It was no exaggeration.

The world was trembling.

Trembling in fear of him.

Fear of the power he possessed.

Just by steeling my resolve, I could make the world tremble.

It was a power so transcendent that it was hard to even describe it as overwhelming.

The being before me was, quite literally, close to a god.

Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be able to unleash its full strength due to constraints, but through the soul of the priest, it devoured a part of the source and cast off those limitations.

If it desired, it could bring an empire to ruin in an instant, and erasing all of humanity on this continent would take less than a day.

And now, I had to fight against such a monster.

To be honest, I didn’t feel even the slightest chance of winning.

No, beyond that, I couldn’t even be sure if there was any chance at all.

The man’s power seemed endless, and I was in a situation where I couldn’t even gauge how much of it there was.

However.

Even so.

I had to fight.

If I didn’t, humanity would face annihilation.

All of my precious people would die.

To protect humanity, to protect everyone, I had to fight this monster before me alone.

Of course, if I wanted, I could seek help.

With the powers of Estelle and Kairn, I could have the backing of a great army, and furthermore, I could also gain the assistance of those known as superhumans.

But I deliberately chose not to.

I knew all too well that it would be meaningless.

The ten swords standing at the pinnacle of countless warriors, the great sorcerers who could send mountains flying with a mere gesture, would be of no help in this fight against the man.

Their attacks, infused with their full power, would not harm him, and his casual strikes would snatch away their lives in an instant.

In the first place, the fight wouldn’t even be established.

To the man before me, they would be nothing more than dust.

Knowing this, I did not seek help.

Knowing this, I sent Beluid and Ethan away from here.

“……”

I exhaled, steadying my mind.

To fight the man, I sharpened the blade of my heart.

“It’s been hundreds of years since our last battle, Ferdion.”

The man spoke to me.

“Well, you probably don’t have any memories of that time now.”

With a face tinged with regret, the man lightly shook his head.

“What a pity. I wanted to ask you how it feels to reunite like this.”

His tone was light, as if he were speaking to a friend.

It was hard to imagine such a casual and gentle demeanor coming from someone about to engage in a fight.

And then.

“Alright, then, shall we really begin?”

With that same light voice.

The man declared the start of the fight and slowly raised his hand.

The moment I saw that movement.

Thud!

I lunged forward.

My body accelerated, and the surrounding scenery stretched like taffy.

Just like that, I charged at the man, swinging my sword.

A strike delivered with the speed of a flash, perfectly aimed at the man’s breath, at his opening.

But.

“Oh dear.”

The man effortlessly evaded the swing of my sword with a slight tilt of his head.

“This speed is quite rare; I must admit, I’m a bit surprised.”

With an unruffled expression, the man said that.

Seeing him like that.

“…….”

I quietly swallowed my breath.

It was an unexpected strike.

I had aimed for the gap in the man’s readiness.

Since the preparation time had been short, I couldn’t put all my strength into it.

However, it was sincere nonetheless, and I was confident in my speed.

It was a blow so fast that anyone on the continent, even a swordsman, would likely have been unable to react.

Yet, the man evaded that strike with such ease.

The realization of that fact made it impossible for me not to hold my breath.

“Hmm. Now that I’ve been greeted, it’s time for us to return the favor.”

With those words, the man waved his hand.

And in that instant.

“……!”

I felt a sharp warning from my instincts and moved my body with all my strength.

And just as quickly.

Square—

The space where I had just been standing vanished.

It wasn’t a metaphorical expression.

Truly, the space disappeared.

As if a hole had been punched in the air.

Though the space that had been punctured soon returned to its original state, I stood there, my heart racing, staring blankly at the spot.

Just moments ago, if I hadn’t moved…

‘…I would have died.’

I would have certainly died.

Not that I would have sustained a fatal injury or anything like that; I would have genuinely perished on the spot.

That was, quite literally, the disappearance of space.

No matter how strong one’s body is, no matter how sturdy one’s armor, if caught in that phenomenon, one would vanish from this world without leaving even a drop of blood behind.

“You have a good sense. Truly, you are a Feridion.”

The man’s calm voice reached my ears as cold sweat trickled down my back.

“Still, it would be disappointing to fall to something like this.”

I looked at the man, who muttered that with a serene expression, with eyes that trembled slightly.

From the attack just moments ago, I was reminded once again.

The fact that the man before me was an absurd monster.

It was a fleeting moment, but I understood.

What had just happened.

The man had annihilated space.

However, that wasn’t a result of the man manipulating space.

The one who had obliterated space was merely a fragment of energy.

The energy he had emitted had gathered at a point and exploded.

And as a result, the space vanished.

The man wore a face that suggested he found it trivial, yet what had just occurred was not something that could be brushed off so lightly.

The mere explosion of energy could not cause space to disappear.

If such a thing were possible, this entire continent would have ceased to exist long ago.

The explosion of energy is a technique favored by humans, especially by wizards.

However, no wizard on this continent could achieve what the man had done.

Even if the continent’s greatest archmage concentrated all their power into a single point, the result would likely only distort space.

Thus, the act of exploding energy to annihilate space is an impossible feat.

Yet, the monster before me had realized that impossibility.

Without a hint of strain, far too easily.

The realization made me break into a cold sweat.

For now, it was confined to this narrow space, but what if that attack were unleashed over a wider area?

For instance, if the man were to perform the same act across this entire space?

As that thought crossed my mind—

Thud!

I charged at the man once more.

It was a simple reason.

To prevent him from finding an opening.

Just a fleeting moment was enough for him to unleash such an attack.

If the man set his mind to it and launched a proper assault, I could hardly predict what would happen.

Therefore, I launched another attack.

Following the saying that the best offense is defense.

Swish—

My thoughts, my magic, reached a new realm, accelerating my body.

Thus, my body, now accelerated, surpassed even the speed of sound, soon transcending the realm of perception itself.

It was a speed that could not be recognized by the eyes, no, even beyond that, it could not be chased by sensation—truly, a divine swiftness.

With that transcendent speed, I swung my sword once more at the man.

This time, without a doubt, at a speed he could not react to.

But.

Clang—

The black of speed came to a halt, emptily, in the void.

“……!”

At that sight, I involuntarily swallowed my breath.

“Fast. But… that alone is meaningless.”

The voice of the man, devoid of any tension, reached my ears.

I had no leisure to listen to that voice.

I quietly gazed at my sword, frozen in the air.

And I immediately grasped the cause of this phenomenon.

It was none other than a barrier that had stopped my sword.

A thin, almost imperceptible barrier, so delicate that one could hardly notice its existence without close observation.

The same energy that had just annihilated space was now manifesting as a barrier, obstructing my sword.

It wasn’t a full-powered defense; it was merely a light barrier that had intercepted my blade.

Despite the grim realization of this fact, I did not cease my actions.

Whooosh—

The sword in my hand let out a clear cry.

And in the next moment, a dazzling light enveloped the blade.

Its essence was the sword’s aura.

Having stepped into a new realm, the evolved aura radiated brilliant light, wrapping around the sword.

I was certain.

With this aura.

If it was the aura that had developed upon reaching a new level.

‘I can break through.’

I believed I could shatter the barrier before me.

And that conviction soon became reality.

Swish!

The barrier created by the man was smoothly sliced away, as if it had no limits.

And with the barrier neutralized, my sword charged toward the man—

Slash!

My sword finally cleaved through the man’s body.

However, I was not satisfied with that outcome and immediately swung my sword again.

—

Swoosh!

The dazzling light emitted by the sword danced through the air countless times.

Soon, the man was scattered into a handful of flesh and blood.

The purpose of going to such lengths was certainly not for some base hobby or pleasure.

I was wary of the man’s regenerative abilities.

Even a calamity-level monster possesses a grotesque level of regeneration as a given.

Therefore, to think that the king of those monsters would lack regenerative power was an exceedingly optimistic observation.

Thus, I deliberately tore the man’s body to shreds.

At the same time, with the thought of reaching a new realm, I even severed that regenerative power.

Just as I had done to the shadow monster in the past.

So that he could never regenerate again.

Only after thoroughly finishing everything did I internally rejoice and relax my expression.

However, that relaxed expression had to harden again immediately.

It was because of what I saw.

The cult leader, who had been quietly watching the fight between the man and me.

That serene expression.

Even after the flesh of the master he served had been shattered, the cult leader’s expression remained utterly calm.

I didn’t need to ask the reason for that calmness.

“Impressive.”

A voice came from behind me.

A familiar, laughter-laden voice.

I slowly turned my head toward that voice and…

I soon witnessed it.

The sight of the man, who should have been scattered into flesh, looking at me in perfect condition.

“Just as I thought, it’s Ferdion.”

With an appearance and expression no different from moments ago, the man said that and smiled.