Chapter 189 - INTENSIFICATION (1) (1/2)

Count Bayer.

Jude Bayer’s father.

One of the Ten Great Swordmasters.

A powerful swordsman with the title Sword General.

But despite being the father of Jude, one of the playable characters, his presence in the game was not very strong.

‘He doesn’t appear much.’

Moreover, the sword of wind that he used – Count Bayer’s swordsmanship and martial arts, did not receive much attention.

‘There were no practitioners.’

To be exact, none of the playable characters could master Count Bayer’s swordsmanship.

In the game, Jude immediately disappeared after training to some extent when his illness was resolved, as he left for the north in order to search for the missing Cordelia, so he wasn’t able to properly learn Count Bayer’s swordsmanship.

In addition, not long after he left, a major event called the northern barbarian invasion occurred, and Count Bayer as well as his successor, Gaël, were killed during the war by the great demon Kriemler, so Count Bayer’s swordsmanship was more or less disappeared.

‘Although there were some knights of Count Bayer who survived…’

All they had learned were basic techniques, such as Gale Steps and Lightning Punch.

It was only the direct descendants of the count who could properly learn the ‘sword of wind.’

‘Count Bayer’s strength.’

He was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters, so he was definitely strong.

But how strong was he?

Would his sword, which had no record in the game other than the fight with the great demon Kriemler, be able to reach the sword of light?

Wind and light crossed.

The cries of their swords burst out once again.

***

“Jude!”

On the floor.

Cordelia called him.

A spectacular battle took place before his eyes.

The wild wind and the brilliant light.

Babababababang!

The place was filled with loud sounds that could not be imagined from clashing swords.

The surroundings were destroyed in the aftermath of their skills.

This was a battle between two great swordmasters.

No, this was a battle between sword saints!

‘The Sword Saint of Wind.’

Jude had not fully heard of it.

He didn’t know the full story.

If Count Bayer was indeed a sword saint, why did he return that title?

‘No, before that.’

Is that really Count Bayer’s swordsmanship?

He had only seen it a few times.

But it seemed like he was seeing a completely different kind of swordsmanship from the swordsmanship of Count Bayer that Jude had known so far.

And Jude realized it.

Count Bayer’s swordsmanship, the sword of wind, was not that strong in the game.

There was no opportunity for it to be revealed in the game, but the true sword of wind was really powerful.

First Sword burst out laughing.

He laughed and laughed again as he enjoyed the current fight.

It had become possible.

Originally, the Ten Great Swordmasters were forbidden to duel each other.

If one of the Ten Great Swordmasters used their full power, one of the two was bound to die or be fatally wounded.

The power of their Aura Blades was too powerful for a body made up of bones and flesh that even a wound from a missed attack could cause fatal injuries.

Therefore, the Ten Great Swordmasters were prohibited from fighting each other.

The empire also strictly prohibited fights between their country’s swordsmen who were equivalent to the Ten Great Swordmasters of the Sälen Kingdom.

But now, a duel between two great swordmasters was taking place at full strength.

“Hahaha!”

First Sword uncontrollably laughed.

Because he enjoyed this very much.

It had already been 6 years since he became one of the Ten Great Swordmasters. It had already been 3 years since he became a sword saint.

In those six years, he didn’t have a proper battle.

He couldn’t fight anyone with his full strength.

Unlike in the heyday of the Lord Protector, the Sälen Kingdom and the Argon Empire were now only growling at each other and not engaged in war.

It was forbidden to compete with the other Ten Great Swordmasters within the Sälen Kingdom.

“This is it!”

How long had it been since he fought against a swordsman who could match his sword in this way?

There was a separate reason why he held hands with the Devil’s Hand, but at this moment alone, he thought that it was worth it.

Count Bayer wasn’t as crazy as First Sword.

But he also felt his blood boil.

His sword was faster and stronger than usual.

‘Jude.’

Jude had talked about a possibility of an attack around the time of the founding anniversary celebration.

In addition, Jude gave him an artifact that could help him know Jude’s location, and was asked to save them in case a situation arose.

As parts of the palace collapsed and the zombies ran wild, an emergency signal came in. After leaving the situation to Count Chase, he reached this place through the half-open secret door.

What he had seen on the way.

The torn apart bodies of the royal family members.

And as soon as he left the secret door, he witnessed First Sword attacking Jude and Cordelia.

He blocked it reflexively.

And he realized.

He didn’t know the exact situation, but he understood that First Sword was an enemy.

If so, he had to stop First Sword with all his power.

He must do his best to defeat the enemy in front of him!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Count Bayer’s sword was usually very gentle.

But not now. He entered into a mad frenzy and pushed First Sword.

If First Sword had a sharp and quick sword, Count Bayer’s sword was a wild and strong gale.

Jude himself was unconsciously drawn to the sword of wind.

But now was not the time.

After he came back to reality, he looked back at Cordelia.

She was the same as always.

She was instinctively focusing on what she had to do right now.

Jude’s own treatment.

Although he had regenerative abilities due to the Sphere of Life, it was not at the level of a werewolf.

Cordelia cast a powerful recovery magic by adding the power of an angel to the Tiara of Life’s power, and Jude’s arm healed in an instant.

So Jude did his job too.

He sought a way to overcome their current situation.

‘The situation.’

He didn’t even have the time to think about it as a whole.

Therefore, he only thought of the most important thing.

In front of us is First Sword while the Lord Protector is running towards the shelter in order to massacre the royal family.

My father is blocking First Sword.

Then, the remaining problem is the Lord Protector.

We have to stop him.

We have to do something about him.

But how?

He already left.

So how do we catch up to him?

If we catch up to him, how do we stop him?

Should we go to the banquet hall and move after Count Chase joined us?

No, that’s impossible.

Even if I get up and run right now, it’s highly likely that we won’t be able to catch up to the Lord Protector.

It’s also impossible to help my father in defeating First Sword.

Aside from whether we can intervene in a fight between sword saints, everything will be over at the moment the Lord Protector massacres the royal family.

We don’t have time.

None of the options can give us enough time.

I don’t even know if thinking like this even now is a waste of time.

Then, what can we do?

What should we do?

‘Victory conditions.’

Always remember the victory conditions.

Killing doesn’t always work.

Alexei’s teachings came to his mind.

It was as he said.

Victory conditions.

Our goal is not to kill the Lord Protector.

Our goal is to save the royal family.

There is no need for us to defeat the Lord Protector.

‘If we arrive first.’

It’s impossible in this difficult situation to even catch up to the Lord Protector, but if we can.

If we can reach the shelter before the Lord Protector.

If we can get in touch with the royalty who are standing blankly while waiting for the Lord Protector to arrive.

There will be a way.

We can fulfill the victory conditions.

But how?

“Follow me!”

Cordelia cried.

She grabbed Jude’s hand and ran.

How?

Did she see my eyes and read my thoughts?

Or did I speak out my thoughts without realizing it?

No, where are we going right now?

Jude recalled the map of the royal palace.

And he realized where Cordelia was heading.

The grand banquet hall.