I Became a Swordsmanship Genius at the Academy

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Poof!

It’s been ages since I felt such pain.

Although my body wasn’t completely human, it exerted tremendous force in sustaining and recovering itself.

If I allowed this kind of damage even a few more times, I wouldn’t be able to endure and would ultimately perish.

This was none other than an attack encased in divinity.

Caught off guard by the unexpected strike, I found myself on the defensive.

The Demon Lord collected his thoughts and replayed the recent events in his mind.

There was something significant that couldn’t be dismissed lightly.

‘What is it?’

At the moment of contact with Kim Il-shin’s body, the Demon Lord glimpsed something binding his soul.

Not even divine insight could discern its origin.

I had no idea about its type or identity, but for some reason, it continuously nagged at me.

But first, I had to prepare for Kim Il-shin’s next attack.

Kim Il-shin didn’t miss the instant when the Demon Lord became lost in thought.

*

‘No time is given.’

Normally, he would have paused for a moment.

Against someone of the Demon Lord’s caliber, such a minor injury wouldn’t cause him to falter.

In fact, rushing in recklessly could potentially backfire.

However, Kim Il-shin lunged forward faster.

His eyes, which seemed to be lost in thought, betrayed something more profound.

It was as if he was peering deep within Kim Il-shin, beyond the surface.

‘In this situation?’

Kim Il-shin felt a peculiar unease. It seemed he shouldn’t grant any time.

Wham!

A vivid crimson aura flared from the blade, tracing red trajectories in the air.

Crack!

The Demon Lord swiftly struck down, shattering Kim Il-shin’s blade all at once.

It was astonishing how much his hands had been trained; the blade, capable of slicing through rock, left not even a mark upon contact.

‘It must be endlessly precise.’

This was the realm of the decisive. A mere moment’s lapse could invite death.

No power could be wasted, and no carelessness could be allowed.

Swoosh—

Kim Il-shin applied the brakes mid-dash, faking a movement before spiraling his sword upward from below.

Fragments scattered around like shards of broken glass, soon becoming daggers targeting the Demon Lord’s entire body.

‘That’s!’

Hazuki recognized that sword technique instantly.

It was the sword style she had created, now unfurling from Kim Il-shin’s blade.

She had seen him practice it a few times, but never imagined he could master it to this degree in such an intense scenario.

Yet an even more astonishing event occurred.

The Demon Lord’s two hands surged forward like beams of light.

After a rhythm of draw and retraction, phantoms trailed behind.

His arms appeared to multiply. It was akin to witnessing a Shura.

Smack!

“Spare me the tricks.”

The Demon Lord crushed the energy retained within his hands and surged forward once more.

Flash Thunder Strike.

Each punch contained explosive energy, radiating crimson streaks in all directions.

Clang!!

In the time it took to split a mere second, dozens of strikes had been exchanged.

This was a technique that only those who had reached the pinnacle of martial prowess could manifest — something that no ordinary individual would dare attempt.

Heat radiated from the blade of the Gyeongwol Sword, heated by countless collisions.

Waveforms emitted from within, revealing both pain and ecstasy.

The Demon Lord’s fists were riddled with deep and shallow scratches, with black blood pooling from them, soaking his hands.

Bang!

The Demon Lord suddenly pulled back his body.

His retreat was so swift it seemed unrestrainable.

At the same time, he firmly secured his right hand on his waist, placing his left hand atop it.

Flash Thunder Strike.

This was a technique initiated by compressing and unleashing muscle to achieve the world’s fastest speed, a deceptively simple concept that birthed a martial art.

It was purely coincidental that a new phase of attack was born from it.

In the course of the light-beam-like strike, a flow of power extended outward from his body.

That intense forward momentum did not easily dissipate but left traces in the air.

Those with the sense to pierce through space could utilize it.

Creeeek…

A terrifying sound, like bone being scraped away, echoed from the Demon Lord’s right fist.

The left hand resting on it combined its power, exerting great pressure on the right.

Just a bit further, and his hand would be crushed.

Crackkkk—!!

In that moment, the explosive punch shot forth.

Riding the tide of advance, it grew ever faster and mightier until it became a tremendous catastrophe akin to an avalanche.

Heavenly Strike Collision.

A blow so overwhelming that neither the beginning nor the end of its power could be discerned.

Kim Il-shin felt as though he was confronting a massive mountain range.

‘Far more threatening than some clumsy spear skills.’

That attack offered no core to sever, no way to dodge, nor any means to deflect it.

Only forward motion. Crush and advance, regardless of what blocks the path.

The only thing that could stop it was an equally relentless advance.

Resolving to channel mana as if to draw forth the innate energy, he ramped up the core’s output, ignoring the irregular beats of his laboring heart.

The sharpest and most acute techniques he possessed were the Proof of Existence and the Instantaneous Severing.

But these two could cleave and slice, lacking the destructiveness needed to counter such a technique.

Therefore, Kim Il-shin decided to counter it using the very technique once belonging to the Demon Lord.

As if by habit, he took a step forward with his left foot. Compressing the energy into the blade, he lowered his stance.

Boom!

As he surpassed the limits that the body and sword could contain, a dazzling energy erupted forth, revealing its pure destructive intent.

Il-shin Breaking Sky: Radiant Blade Strike.

A light-beam-like slash etched itself into the space.

The ensuing shockwave was not something that could be overshadowed by the catastrophe before him.

Kwahhhhhh—!!

The collision of two disasters shook the dimension.

Quakes and storms erupted around them, a scene right out of a myth.

“Haah…”

Kim Il-shin blocked the Demon Lord’s strike head-on.

His breath became ragged, and his limbs trembled, yet no major wounds were visible.

However, the Demon Lord’s condition had worsened, as he already prepared for the next attack.

‘The flow is not singular.’

Kim Il-shin had perfectly blocked the Flash Thunder Strike, inadvertently becoming the Demon Lord’s stepping stone.

If there had been any lapse, the path would have skewed, rendering it unusable.

But Kim Il-shin confronted the Flash Thunder Strike with perfect intensity, trajectory, and timing.

Thus, another flow emerged. Redirecting its direction was an easy task for the Demon Lord.

Kwahhhhh—!!

Once more, the strike erupted.

Observing Kim Il-shin’s rough breathing beyond that, the Demon Lord involuntarily speculated.

He wouldn’t be able to fully block this attack.

The Demon Lord still had not completely grasped Kim Il-shin’s abilities.

Swoosh!

So, he couldn’t comprehend that Kim Il-shin would cut through the center of the Heaven’s Strike Collision.

Twisting the endless forward flow in a knot with two sword strikes.

Swish!

To cut through it and break free was an unimaginable countermeasure.

A blade advanced with the intent to sever his neck.

Unprepared and unable to react, the Demon Lord found himself unable to respond.

Clang!

All he could do was flail desperately to deflect the blade. The result: his neck was saved, but his right arm was shattered.

Then the briefly soaring blade came crashing down, cleaving through half of the Demon Lord’s upper body.

Kruuunch…

The only reason his body wasn’t fully severed was that he caught the blade with his left hand.

Yet it felt like he would soon lose his balance.

Crackle!

Soon, the flames of the Lunar Sword flared up, inflicting excruciating pain upon the Demon Lord.

The wave pulsing from his core began to tear him apart from the inside, and the Demon Lord felt the strength in his left hand ebb away.

Nevertheless, the Demon Lord refused to give in.

He thought and thought again. He frantically devised a means to overcome this crisis.

And at the moment he reached Kim Il-shin’s heart and brain, the Demon Lord realized.

The identity of that unknown thing binding to Kim Il-shin’s soul.

It was both a restraint and a blessing. The source of all the power possessed by Kim Il-shin.

And there, he could make out traces of a deity that felt eerily familiar.

“Ha.”

The Demon Lord let out a short sigh.

Through this battle, he acknowledged Kim Il-shin.

He thought it might be acceptable to lose to someone like that.

Yet he also regretted it.

Looking at Kim Il-shin, it seemed he could reach the heavens even in human form.

But Kim Il-shin was a fake.

“You too…”

Kim Il-shin’s power wasn’t solely his own.

He was just a trifling human who could achieve nothing without divine grace.

The Demon Lord wanted to tear the very human before him to shreds at that moment.

Fortunately, a method existed for him to carry out that desire.

If it was a divine grace bestowed upon him, it could certainly be erased with divine power.

Although the sheer quantity of divine essence necessary to intervene and erase it might render sustaining a form after the battle doubtful.

‘Such trivialities don’t matter.’

As long as he could kill this damned thing right now.

Crack.

The Demon Lord clenched his left hand even tighter.

Despite the blade digging into his fingers, he fixed his gaze brimming with hatred upon Kim Il-shin’s eyes.

And then he murmured.

“Seal of Talent.”