Regressing as the Reincarnated Bastard of the Sword Clan

Chapter 352

"...."

The last sight he always witnessed was Caliburn scattering all too easily, like a piece of tissue placed upon water.

Along with that, the sensation of his entire body being wrung out and ground away was an indescribably nauseating feeling.

'Guess I should give up on getting used to this.'

He'd already died countless times.

In the end, after dying five times trying to find a clue about the final attack, he gave up.

Because he realized that, as he was now, it was an area he simply couldn't handle.

Still, he hadn't come away empty-handed.

'So, I have to finish it before those attacks begin.'

Not an attack initiated by just one side, but the release of mana emitted from both sides.

And the destruction that occurred when those collided.

Of course, there might be some other secret or trick, but for now, he couldn't think of any other way.

In other words, he had to cut down one of those two before their attacks were unleashed.

'Even when Ashin appeared, it didn't feel this hopeless.'

How long had it been since he felt such helplessness?

Theo raised his lying body and chuckled softly.

'I thought all that was left was to refine myself, but the world is still vast.'

Cheonoecheon—a sky beyond the sky.

Truly, there was another sky above the sky right here.

He had thought he'd become one of the top masters in the world.

Yet, there was still a realm he had yet to reach right before his eyes.

'Come to think of it, there's still one guy left.'

Theo's eyes narrowed as he recalled that person in his mind.

The First Apostle.

Someone whose depth of strength he couldn't even begin to fathom.

But now, even that person seemed utterly insignificant compared to this place.

So.

"Shall I try a different plan?"

He firmly drew Caliburn.

The path of growth lay before his eyes.

And the realm of completion was right over there.

Therefore, he charged.

Into that place where fire and water, lightning and earth were being shattered.

He threw himself into the vortex of immense mana.

Whether he did or not, the colossal war machines didn't pay any attention to Theo, who had intruded.

No, it was natural they didn't notice.

This place was already constantly exploding with their mana.

There was no way they would notice a microorganism with weak mana intruding.

'As expected, now that I'm actually inside...!'

Rumble!

Caliburn shook incessantly as he struggled amidst the massive currents and explosions.

Even for a fleeting moment, the pressure that made it feel like his entire body would be crushed made it hard to breathe.

It was as if he were submerged in the middle of the ocean, suffocating from the insanely dense mana.

At that moment, a thought flashed through his mind.

Recalling the lake in the Naga's forest, Theo changed his breathing method.

'Now I can breathe.'

Though the density was on a different level than back then, just being able to breathe was enough to move.

As his breathing eased, his body gradually adapted to the environment.

Theo dodged the endlessly swirling fragments of earth here and there.

He cut down towering trees and unleashed a slash at the belly of a nearby war machine.

Clang!

"What the...!?"

Theo cursed, feeling his hands go numb.

'Is it beyond the Sublimation Gate?'

Buzzing.

Caliburn was still emitting a resonant hum, seemingly astonished by the hardness.

Before he knew it, something gigantic approached, and his entire body was crushed.

[You have died.]

From the moment he intervened in the battlefield, the system was now kindly informing him.

"Impressive..."

As always, he knew well that seeing from the outside and feeling from the inside were different truths.

But the gap in the current situation was so vast.

Even so, Theo stood up.

'The first goal is to survive until before that attack.'

Still, just figuring out how to breathe from the moment he entered that place was a big gain.

Thus.

Once.

Five times.

Ten times.

He died so many times that he lost count of his deaths.

Even being resurrected was torment.

The terrible agony of his soul being finely torn apart before disappearing was becoming increasingly vivid each time he died.

Each time, his sword naturally wavered, and his soul grew weary at a rapid pace.

And then.

Grit!

Theo's teeth clenched so hard they seemed about to shatter.

Because he knew better than anyone what this emotion he was feeling was.

The helplessness and despair he wanted to forget, thought he had forgotten.

That feeling as if he had fallen into a pit deeper than the bottom.

Crackle!

Black lightning began to roar fiercely from all over Theo's body.

Just recalling the emotions from that time stirred his feelings, causing the Shadow Poison to circulate more fiercely throughout his body.

'I can't be discouraged by this.'

Grip!

Theo gripped Caliburn's hilt so hard it seemed it would break.

He felt a piercing pain as if the bones of his hand would break through the skin, but he didn't care.

Using his anger as fuel, Theo began to burn himself up.

The tip of his sword, which had been wavering, was honed sharply once more, and perhaps due to his heightened emotions, his mana operation was explosively powerful.

Kaaang!

He recalled Van Harald's martial arts, which seemed capable of cutting a massive tidal wave with a single slash.

That overwhelmingly domineering figure.

'Everything around me!'

Hadn't he told him long ago?

That war is about utilizing everything around you.

Conveniently, there was an overflow of debris.

Theo poured trees, rocks, everything he could grab with his hands or kick with his feet, into the incoming tidal wave.

'Don't stop!'

He didn't forget to keep swinging his sword, urging himself on.

Even if it looked unsightly, his sword path had to be sharp; there should be no wasted slashes.

Theo felt a current rapidly flowing within his body.

His body was starting to overload.

Blood trickled from the corner of Theo's mouth.

Due to internal injuries and the intense pain, his vision was becoming dizzy.

He realized that this was as far as he could go this time.

But if he could be just a bit greedier.

"Just split already!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Triple Core began to spin fiercely like never before.

He pushed it endlessly to the brink of rampaging, as if it would break.

As a result, blood vessels burst in Theo's eyes, and tears of blood flowed down.

He knew that his current actions were meaningless.

This was just venting.

A release of emotions heightened by recalling the feelings from that time.

Whiiiiing!

A golden radiance wrapped around Caliburn.

His muscle fibers snapped with popping sounds.

Aiming for the very center of the tidal wave, no, toward the war machine beyond that had caused the tidal wave.

As the golden radiance rapidly concentrated and finally held a brilliant glow.

Theo thrust Caliburn forward.

A single flash flying straight ahead confronted the incoming tidal wave at terrifying speed.

And then.

Shaaah!

The water streams of the tidal wave wrapped around the golden beam of light Theo had unleashed, and gradually, the scenery beyond began to faintly appear.

Paaaah!

And finally, a massive hole was carved into the center of the tidal wave, causing a spray of water.

Theo witnessed that sight with a contented expression through his dimming vision.

He split the tidal wave?

-----!

No, it was the small yet magnificent hole he had made in the belly of the war machine.

His entire body was engulfed in terrible pain, and he was screaming.

Following that, sensation slowly faded from the extremities of his body.

It was a desperate strike without any thought for the aftermath.

An act that could only be done because he knew he would come back to life.

Therefore, it was the first time he felt so refreshed.

No, it wasn't just that which made him feel so relieved.

It was because he had cleanly blown away all the negative emotions he had held so desperately back then.

'I never thought I could draw out such power by using the emotions from that day as a driving force.'

He was surprised at himself.

And from then on, things became somewhat easier.

Everything he had felt and learned in reaching this place began to connect smoothly at last.

His inherent talent in swordsmanship accelerated his thinking rapidly, like a fish in water.

The fire that held the sun, originating from Yeouiju Sun, scattered as Dragon's Claw, tearing apart the tidal wave, and rocks were cut smoothly like tofu.

Theo greedily savored this moment.

Excluding the inevitable end called death, he could pour everything he had and crash forward.

Truly, this place was no different from a furnace to temper himself.

And finally.

"Have you appeared now."

-----!

He had reached it.

At the time when those two beings appeared on the battlefield.

'How far can I reach?'

Now, he felt he could survive the clash of mana that was like an instant-death attack.

He was that confident.

However.

"...."

As expected, he died in the blink of an eye.

It's not so simple to covet divinity.

It meant he was still lacking.

But Theo held his forehead and burst into hearty laughter.

"Alright, I'll reach it soon enough."

Madness flowed from Theo's eyes.

At that moment.

"Hmm?"

When his body's reconstruction was complete and he was fully recovered, Theo realized the sense of discomfort he had felt at first.

'My mana circuits have expanded?'

At first, it was no different from usual, but as he died and his body was reconstructed, his mana circuits were gradually expanding.

Just as muscles become larger in the process of repairing after muscle fibers tear.

'Truly, this is no different from a furnace.'

The operation of mana was explosively different from before.

Theo opened and closed his hands, smiled with satisfaction, and once again jumped into the midst of the war machines.

At that moment.

-----!

"!?"

Theo felt a thrill at the sudden, unexpected situation.

Finally.

"You've finally recognized me as an enemy."

The war machines, responding to the uninvited guest who had intruded between the two sides, reached out their hands toward Theo without distinguishing between friend and foe.

An overwhelming pressure as if meteors were approaching.

At that moment, Caliburn in Theo's hand began to emit a golden radiance.

At first, it was just a faint light, but as the war machines' hands approached, the light suddenly shone dazzlingly, as if holding the sun.

"What is this...?"

At the unexpected reaction, Theo raised his sword.

Wuuuung. Wuuuuung!

Caliburn was howling.

Light called forth more light, wrapping around the sword like threads.

All the strength in his body.

The resonating mana.

Everything that made up his flesh seemed to urge him to swing.

As if possessed, Theo gripped Caliburn with both hands and took a step forward.

Fixing his foot, he put strong force into his waist.

A stance he normally wouldn't adopt due to its lack of flexibility and the crudeness of the sword path.

As he swung the sword just like that, the light pouring out of Caliburn roared greatly and surged forward.

A flash that appeared in an instant.

As the light disappeared, a moment of silence flowed.

As if time had stopped, the war machines' hands were halted in mid-air.

Theo was still dumbfounded by the situation, but soon the corners of his mouth curled up.