Chapter 73: What is a sword?

"What is a sword?!"

With his eyes closed and his hands in a sword-drawing stance, Kenjiro made his stand.

As a swordsman, he had long been in tune with his surroundings, able to walk effortlessly even with his eyes closed.

In terms of spatial awareness, he was leagues above any other veteran.

And now, with Mana Sight, that mastery had transcended its former limits.

Bang!

Drawing mana from his circle and concentrating it into his eyes, even though his eyelids remained closed, he could see better than those with open eyes.

In front of him, a giant monster was launching toward him, claws outstretched, moving in slow motion within his perception.

"What is a sword?!" he asked again, his eyelids slowly opening as a faint smile appeared on his withered face.

"Some say it is a weapon. Others say it is an extension of the arm."

As he spoke, mana began to gather right where his hands met.

"But after sixty-five years of pursuing the blade, this old man has come to understand one thing."

Carefully yet swiftly, with each word he spoke, a luminous blue sword made of compressed mana began to form between his hands.

A slender, double-edged jian materialized between Kenjiro’s hands, its blue blade shimmering with condensed mana.

Lucian’s eyes widened.

The old man in front of him had forged a sword out of nothing, and he was still talking.

"In all my years of practicing the sword, I always thought I had reached the peak."

"Even my peers at the time told me that the likes of Miyamoto Musashi would not be my match."

"However, I was wrong, very wrong!"

He paused. At this moment, Lucian was a hair’s breadth away from him; if even a fraction of a second passed, Kenjiro’s head would have been swatted right off his shoulders.

But for someone like Kenjiro with extreme spatial awareness and Mana Sight, a fraction of a second was all he needed.

"Encountering this power called mana, only now do I understand."

"The perfect sword does not exist. There is only the swordsman who has yet to reach his limit!"

"Now, beast who dares to wantonly slaughter humans, take this old man’s attack!"

"Boundary-Cleaving Sword!"

Bang!

The Boundary-Cleaving Sword, a martial sword style created by Kenjiro by integrating all his past mastery with the mana that had allowed him to break through his mortal boundaries once more.

In this sword style, there were no fancy techniques, no defensive maneuvers. It focused purely on extreme offense!

By utilizing his heightened spatial awareness and Mana Sight, he focused all his energy into a singular strike targeted directly at the opponent’s vital weakness, an attack designed to sever all boundaries!

Bang!

Accompanied by a blinding flash of blue light, Lucian’s massive figure was thrown back several meters, a huge slash running across his chest.

Purple blood spilled out and even his bones began to show, proving just how severe his injuries were.

Cough!

"Hey, old man... what kind of monster are you?!"

"If I hadn’t completed my evolution last time, I might have actually died just now!"

Cough! Cough!

Coughing up a clot of dark blood, Lucian used his paw to wipe his beak.

At this moment, under the shocked gazes of everyone watching, his horrific wounds began to knit together.

Cut organs, flesh, and bone rapidly regenerated, leaving everyone stunned.

"Unfortunately for you, old man, if you want to kill me, you’ll have to do better than that!"

Looking at the old man in the kimono, Lucian realized that unless he wanted to die, he could no longer hold back.

"However... that sword of yours really packs a punch."

"In that case, I’m going to have to go all out, old man!"

Saying this, Lucian’s body began to undergo a violent transformation.

Crack! Crack!

His bones began to break and reorganize, his height expanding until he reached a staggering sixteen feet tall!

His beak and feathers hardened like iron, with several feathers falling off and piercing straight into the ground like steel daggers.

His claws lengthened by nearly a meter, taking on a cold, metallic luster.

In just a few seconds, it was hard to believe this was the same beast that had just been hurled back.

"Hahaha! Today, not only will I win three battles, but I will kill all of you to prevent future trouble!"

"If anything, blame your leader over there for promising not to intervene no matter what!"

With a twisted smirk on his face, Lucian suddenly regained his confidence.

This was the full beast form he had unlocked after completing his evolution. Although he hadn’t planned to reveal it so soon, the current situation left him with no choice.

Receiving that last slash had been a brutal reminder that he had to go all out to leave this place alive.

"I see... A monster is indeed a monster," muttered Kenjiro.

However, despite this terrifying change, he did not falter. Instead, he turned toward Ethan and the others sitting at the top of the arena.

"Patriarch, although this old man cannot guarantee a win, I will do my absolute best not to disgrace your grace."

"For this power you have granted me, much like the monster in front of me, it seems I too must surpass myself! Right here, right now!"

Holding his mana Jian firmly in hand, he once again closed his eyes.

The mana within his chest, which he had consumed to deliver that initial strike, began to churn once more.

Entering a deep state of focus, his senses spread far and wide, capturing every sound, the shift of the wind, and even the smallest dust particles in the air.

Sensing the surge of energy in the beast before him, he knew this battle would not be as easy as the last strike.

But then again, among all the legendary achievements Kenjiro Sato had accomplished in his life, which one of them had ever been easy?

It was precisely when things became difficult or seemingly impossible that he had always succeeded.

"Kenjiro Sato, swordsman of the Veteran Legion! Please advise!"

Saying this, he charged directly toward Lucian!

And thus, the true battle between the Monster King Lucian and the sword addict Kenjiro had officially begun!