Chapter 22 The Tragic Hero (Part Three)

The resolve to die——

This was the resolve the jet-black swordsman said Bray needed to have.

In a 「Life and Death Battle」, it was either Bray's death, or the jet-black swordsman's demise.

There were no other endings.

But in fact, Bray was very helpless in his heart.

After all, who would have known he would be tricked like this.

“Huu——” Bray let out a heavy breath, his gaze sharp.

The blade of the sword let out a clear ring, lingering in everyone's ears.

To be honest, Bray had no way of completely mastering the strength he currently possessed.

The fact that he could last so many moves just now, he had to praise the hardness of 「Final Echo」.

“I'm sorry for wanting to sell you.”

Bray's left hand slid across the back of the blade, his right eye staring at the figure of the jet-black swordsman.

As his words fell, Bray's figure suddenly disappeared from the spot.

“ding——”

Suddenly, the crisp sound of metal clashing rang out once again in the arena.

The battle between the two reignited, silently.

After the clash of one strike between sword and sword, there was silence.

After a second of silence, the sound of metal clashing began to ring incessantly.

Nisha stared intently at the battle scene, with only astonishment left in her heart.

So fast… even Nisha's eyesight couldn't capture it.

By the time she saw a spark fly, Bray and the jet-black swordsman had already exchanged no less than a hundred blows.

The aftershocks from the blades cut through the surrounding brick slabs and walls.

Nisha, who was leaning against the wall, could feel the oppressive feeling coming towards her.

Bray's right eye was incomparably calm, with no excitement, no fear, no hope to be seen.

The sword in his hand was being swung without a moment's pause.

At first glance, it seemed as if the two were simply using their speed to quickly slash at each other.

But at the center of the furious greatsword's offensive, Bray knew very well that behind these thunderous movements were countless sword techniques.

Every seemingly random sword strike was a different school.

Even though he was using a greatsword, it made Bray see the shadow of a rapier, the shadow of a dagger, the shadow of a long spear…

Bray's adventurer's jacket was torn by the sword wind, revealing his not-so-sturdy upper body.

It was unknown when, but Bray's body was covered in sword marks of varying depths, bleeding.

As the battle intensified, the injuries on Bray's body became more and more severe.

Until now, no one could still read any panic in Bray's eyes.

But… they also didn't see any confidence.

——“Why did I agree to something like this?”

——“If this continues, I might die.”

——“But why, do I not feel any regret now?”

If it were those Heroes, perhaps they would be thinking things like "Ah, I must fulfill his wish," "Ah, I absolutely cannot lose," "Ah, I still have people I want to protect"...

However, Bray did not have the slightest sense of mission or struggle lingering in his heart.

He just felt a wave of confusion about his own heart.

Bray was still using the sword moves he had learned from the jet-black swordsman, making a fool of himself in front of him.

Even though the jet-black swordsman was even lending Bray his knowledge through his remnant will, he still couldn't prevent Bray's gradually emerging decline.

From the center of the arena, they fought to the edge, and then once again returned to the center for a fierce battle.

In this sunless arena, no one knew how long the battle had lasted, and probably no one cared how much time had passed.

The more intense the battle became, the more exaggerated the battle scene between the two became.

The space of the arena was cut open with one rift after another, the gaps filled with a heart-stopping danger.

All of this was cut out by the jet-black swordsman, damage caused by 「Concept」.

「Concept」, a power that should not have been mastered by a lower species, erupted in the hands of the jet-black swordsman.

A 「Concept」 was often a word, a phrase.

The so-called mastering of a concept was the ability to do things related to this word or phrase.

And the jet-black swordsman's 「Concept」 was——

「Sever」.

Just as the literal meaning suggested, he could sever anything.

Magic could be severed, life could be severed, even rules could be severed.

An unreasonable ability, this was the power that only the demigod-like Silver and Gold Species could master.

If the jet-black swordsman wanted to, he could even cut the entire ruin in two at any time.

Normally, the only ability that could restrict a 「Concept」 was another 「Concept」.

Only the collision of two 「Concepts」 could limit the expression of both parties' abilities.

When two 「Concepts」 coexisted within a certain range, their extraordinariness would be greatly weakened.

However, the jet-black swordsman had not "severed" Bray until now.

“GUAAAAAA!!!!!” The jet-black swordsman's offensive never stopped climbing, as if there was no end.

The two greatswords were swung so fast that one could only see the faint deep blue streams of light reflecting the blue flames.

“peng——”

The black armor suddenly paused, and then the jet-black swordsman was sent flying backward violently.

Bray was silent, retracting his already bleeding fist.

---

「Final Echo」

Type: Longsword

Dimensions: Length 80 cm, Width 5.5 cm

Special: Suppresses 「Concept」

Overall Evaluation: A sword from the hands of a master, now a broken sword with a nicked blade, but its material is still very good.

Addendum: Why does this kind of sword exist!!! This consort has never seen this kind of damn thing before!!!!!! Why would a sword be like this!!!!!!

---

In the rumors of the common folk, 「Final Echo」 had a very low evaluation.

This was a sword that couldn't be called sharp at all, and had no value even as a decoration.

Apart from its commendable hardness, no one praised this sword.

However, this sword was forged with the last bit of effort of a legendary blacksmith.

It was forged by the blacksmith in order to resist that irresistible power.

「Final Echo」 could suppress all 「Concepts」, its very existence seemed to be like a 「Concept」 itself.

It was of little use for killing people, and might even be difficult to use to kill magical beasts.

Subjugating a Demon King or something?

There were probably tons of swords better than this.

Slaying the Bronze Species?

Sorry, it would probably be used as a shield.

From the very beginning, 「Final Echo」 had only one purpose——

Not to bestow some supreme power, but to allow the insignificant to at least have the ability to touch the so-called gods.

Bray looked at 「Final Echo」, silent for a long time.

Use this sword to slay gods?

No, this wasn't made for that.

This was a sword forged for resistance.

If he had wanted to slay gods, the blacksmith would probably have made 「Final Echo」 sharper, more lethal.

「Final Echo」 was not sharp, but, even if it was shattered to the point where only the hilt remained, it could still allow the person holding it to stand tall in front of that incomprehensible existence.

Bray had once, as a weak person, witnessed an existence several dimensions above himself.

From the perspective of those existences, the Black Iron Species were just like ants.

“Ants, huh… ants probably also want to live, ants probably also want to have dignity, ants probably… also hope to struggle.”

“I think you understand too, right? Hero.”

Bray didn't wait for the jet-black swordsman to get up.

He had already leaped forward, the sword in his hand striking straight at the seemingly indestructible armor.

“kalalalalala”

The jet-black swordsman had just gotten up from the rubble when he was met with Bray's attack.

“ding——”

「Final Echo」 pierced the armor, only creating sparks, not even leaving a white mark on it.

However, the jet-black swordsman was sent flying again, crashing into the wall.

「Ancient Sword School」「Heaven's Return」

It wasn't focused on superficial destruction, but used the sword to produce an effect similar to penetrating force.

The destroyed interior caused the jet-black swordsman to roar in pain, and then he swung his greatsword and slashed at Bray.

The swing of the greatsword was not fast, but even though he clearly saw the jet-black greatsword coming, Bray found that he couldn't dodge.

It was as if he was locked in place.

“peng——”

The greatsword struck 「Final Echo」, and the huge impact, even for the current Bray, was impossible to withstand.

Bray stood up again, but was sent flying by the jet-black swordsman who had instantly appeared in front of him with a flurry of sword strikes.

Using the 「Concept」 of 「Sever」, as long as the jet-black swordsman severed a part of space, he could achieve the effect of teleportation.

“GUAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” Seeing Bray being sent flying again, the jet-black swordsman roared at the sky.

The roar that went straight into the soul nearly caused the minds of the fragile to collapse.

Nisha bit her lower lip, looking at the jet-black swordsman in fear.

And Virginia was in Blanche's arms, trying her best not to hear this roar.

Several survivors fell into madness under the roar.

“Huu——” A sigh interrupted the frenzied roar from the jet-black swordsman.

Blood was flowing from Bray's forehead, sliding down his eyepatch to his chin, and then dripping onto the ground.

“You really should have continued cutting.”

Bray tore off his eyepatch, revealing the empty eye socket underneath.

“GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” As if to intimidate, the jet-black swordsman roared at Bray.

The helmet gradually cracked, like a beast opening its bloody maw.

“It seems you're not going to listen.”

After taking off the eyepatch, the left side finally didn't have that wet feeling from the eyepatch being soaked in blood.

“The way you are now, the more I look, the more pathetic you seem. I think I understand why you want to die.”

“I have already made my resolve, so what about you.”

Bray swung his sword, flinging off his own blood from the blade, splattering it all over the ground.

Responding to Bray were two jet-black greatswords.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.