Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha! Novel - Chapter 344
## Chapter 344 – The Sword Waiting to be Drawn (9)
<Aaron’s Parallel Story Episode 15>
***
The man walked slowly through the palace hall, located in the north of the city. Wherever he looked, jewels and ornaments decorated the place. Beneath his feet, a luxurious red carpet was spread out.
“Kyaaa!”
“Hiii…!”
Human maids screamed and ran out of the place, fleeing from him. It was understandable: he was covered in blood.
“Kiaaak!”
A bloodshot-eyed noble lunged at him. He was a palace guard, who had already thrown his spear. Raising his nails and teeth, he tried to tear him apart.
Ssh.
A faint sound could be heard.
“Kuh?”
The man passed by him. A thin red line appeared on the noble’s neck, separating his head from his body.
Psshh.
Blood spurted quickly, forming a puddle on the red carpet. The man continued walking without a care.
“Who is that man…?”
“Kill him, kill him!”
“If you retreat, I’ll kill you myself!”
In the spacious palace hall, the nobles surrounded the man. However, none dared to approach. The brave nobles were already there, dead.
“Get out of my way.”
The man said coldly. Two nobles blocking his path stepped back. Their superior shouted behind them.
“What are you doing?”
The two soldiers, pressed, made a decision. They attacked simultaneously from left and right.
The man’s gaze swept across both sides. A blunt iron sword began to trace a curve.
“……”
The noble on the right lunged at him with a speed that vibrated the air. His nails grazed the man’s abdomen, and blood splattered from the wound.
From the left, another soldier’s nails aimed for the man’s neck. At that moment, the sword shot out like lightning. The sword and the nails crossed.
“Kuh!”
The noble’s attack aimed at the neck didn’t reach its target.
The tip of the man’s sword had first pierced the noble’s heart.
Meanwhile, the soldier on the right, who had wounded the man, was already a corpse. When he scratched his abdomen, his neck was cut by the sword.
Puh.
The man withdrew his sword from the noble’s heart. Now there were two new corpses in the palace hall.
“Kyaak, Kiaak!”
The nobles only threatened, but they didn’t dare to attack. They instinctively understood that fighting him meant death.
“Are you really a human?” the guard captain murmured. He couldn’t accept what he saw.
The White Demons were born to rule humans, with superior physical strength and an innate bestial instinct. An adult White Demon could jump 5 meters in a single step, cover 100 meters in 8 seconds, and lift rocks weighing almost 200 kg. They were superhuman in human terms.
What about their teeth and nails? Their fierce fangs could chew on stones, and their sharp, hard nails could leave long marks on metal armor.
How did they fight? Just as humans learn to walk naturally, the White Demons instinctively learn to kill and tear. This isn’t a technique, but an instinct. The White Demons are born with the combat senses that human warriors must acquire through training. They don’t need weapons. The fact that they wear armor and spears is a whim of the king. They only participated in the king’s human games.
Human warriors. No matter how much they train, they can always be crushed. For them, humans were just toys. But…
Despite all that, that man was shattering the common notions of the White Demons.
“Kiek, Kyak!”
A surprise attack from behind. Once again, the sword flashed. A White Demon with a severed arm screamed. At the same time, the iron sword cut his neck. One more.
Every time the man took a step, he left more White Demon corpses in his wake.
“How…?”
The man wasn’t fast. He didn’t have lightning speed to jump several meters in a single step. He was normal, like a human.
No, he was rather slow.
A well-trained gladiator could move much faster than him. But, at the same time, he was fast. Slower than the White Demons, but faster than them. The White Demons couldn’t understand this paradoxical contradiction. Clearly, the White Demons attacked first. But their blows didn’t land. A thrust appeared out of nowhere and struck their vital points.
It wasn’t a fast sword. If it were just fast, the White Demons could have avoided it. But they couldn’t. The thrusts ‘appeared’ suddenly, impossible to evade. He attacked afterwards, but he struck first. It was the essence of the art of post-action, a technique that was achieved after long years of training and understanding, but the man performed it naturally. As if he had always known.
“Kyaa!”
He cut and cut again. No matter if it was in front, to the side, or behind.
“Kuh!”
Invariably, the White Demons’ heads flew off.
Now, the White Demons were starting to lose the will to fight. Some soldiers threw down their weapons and fled. However, some still didn’t surrender.
“Kyaaa!”
Another White Demon lunged. The man’s resistance was limited. His breathing was getting heavier. Therefore, he had to finish the fight in one blow.
“……”
Puhsh.
Blood spurted from his torn shoulder. This time, he couldn’t avoid the wound. He was covered in blood. He didn’t know if it was his own or someone else’s. The difference from his time as a gladiator was that this time the wounds weren’t intentional. Therefore, it was dangerous. Some of the wounds he had sustained already required attention. If he didn’t hide and treat the wounds, they could become fatal. But the man didn’t stop. He kept advancing, cutting down the White Demons. Until the doors of the throne room, where the king was, opened.
“Stop him! Don’t let him reach the king! I’ll kill anyone who flees! I’ll kill them in the king’s name!” someone shouted.
“He’s just a human. Can’t you stop a single human? Do you all want to die?”
He was just a human. The White Demons, filled with renewed courage, lunged at him. The man’s sword moved again. Changing and versatile. It changed a thousand times and transformed ten thousand times. Fast and slow. Heavy and light. Smooth and sharp, brave as fire and serene as water.
“Kuh!”
Every time the old sword flashed, a life was lost. One cut, one death. The man moved as if he were dancing, scattering sword flashes in the bloodstorm. Surely, if someone who understood martial arts had seen this scene, they would have been amazed. Forgotten miracles of the ancient era were being recreated in the man’s hands. To defeat the strong with the weak. What he was doing was, without a doubt, the essence of martial arts.
But it was discordant. Martial arts are learned and understood. They aren’t born with them. The man had never learned martial arts in his life. Although he had been through several battles, he had never trained seriously. He had surpassed the level that would be considered talent.
Normally, it is said that a genius learns ten things for every one that is taught to him, but if someone learns ten things without even knowing one, what is he called?
The man was a mutant. He had an intangible and special organ. Using that organ, he could see and hear intangible things. It was a kind of supersense. This went beyond ability or talent. Even with the help of a system, the man’s power couldn’t be fully understood.
“…Haa.”
The man lowered his sword. The sticky blood dripped from the blade to the floor. Around him lay numerous White Demon corpses. The guard captain had called all the city’s defense forces, but they couldn’t stop a single man. Sure, if all the White Demons had risked their lives and attacked, the man would have died. But the White Demons didn’t have such loyalty. When it became difficult to contain him, they all fled. The guard captain was no exception. So, in front of the throne room door, the man was catching his breath.
His vision was blurry. He had lost too much blood. All over his body were fragments of broken swords, spears, and arrows embedded. It was no wonder he would fall dead at any moment. He didn’t know how many White Demons he had killed. No matter how much he understood the essence of martial arts, he couldn’t overcome physical limits. A weak body without any training had allowed many wounds. However, the man was still standing. A superhuman will kept his body moving.
‘It’s hard.’
The man smiled bitterly and regretted it a little. If he had diligently practiced swordsmanship, as the old man said, he wouldn’t have been so wounded.
‘Isn’t there much left?’
The back of his neck was cold. Death was right behind him. It was too late to treat his wounds. However, he didn’t regret it. He should have died in the arena anyway. If he had something to gain, it wasn’t so bad. The man changed his mind after finding the will. He had visited the old man’s room before Kainil. The liberation army didn’t exist. The man had understood that the plan would fail. Why? He had no relationship with Kainil and his group. If he knew they would fail, the normal thing would be to abandon them. But the man moved. He massacred the arena guards and opened the way for the gladiators to escape. Then, he went alone to the northern palace to attract the defense forces of the south gate.
He knew it would be dangerous. He knew death awaited him.
“Kuh!”
The man coughed up a sticky red blood clot. Now, staying on his feet wasn’t easy.
‘Did he want to leave something?’
If he was going to die anyway. If he hated his talent and died because of it. Maybe he wanted to leave something meaningful before he died. Maybe he wanted to believe. That his talent didn’t exist only to kill. That his life, full of abuse, also had meaning.
Fwoosh!
The flames in the palace hall intensified. During the fight, the hall’s lamps had been broken, causing a fire. The flames devoured the corpses, the blood, and the carpet, growing in size. The man smiled. It was better this way. The fire would isolate both of them from the outside world. He opened the doors leading to the throne room. There, beyond the throne room, he saw the palace throne. And there was the king.
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