I Became a Genius Swordsman in the Pretty Girl Game-Chapter 282: Ma Count (3)

Baek Seol-hee, who remained alone outside, closed her eyes and planted her sword into the ground, wearing the pure white uniform Jin Yoo-ha had given her.

Sssss—

She took a deep breath, awakening the long-dormant essence of ice within her.

'...Indeed, the absorption of mana slows down with the ice attribute.'

It was a curious thing.

As soon as she activated her ice attribute, the absorption of her mana slowed, and even her diminished physical abilities began to recover. Baek Seol-hee started to spread the icy mana from the tip of her sword.

Saaa—

The ground around her began to freeze over, a white frost descending upon the grass and trees around her.

The cold energy surged through the ground, spreading downward. All she needed to do was find the tree buried underground and freeze it solid.

As she continued pouring her mana into the earth, like trying to fill a bottomless pit, Baek Seol-hee drifted into thought.

A short while ago, she had harshly rebuked the Sword Sovereign for abandoning Jin Yoo-ha, but in truth, she had no right to say such things.

Despite everything, Jin Yoo-ha had found a breakthrough in the Wolyeong Sword Technique thanks to the Sword Sovereign’s training, while all she had done was hand her disciple a cursed sword, endangering his life.

Through this ordeal, she had discovered the essence of the Wolyeong Sword Technique.

'A sword that can only be completed by experiencing the fear of death...'

She couldn’t do it. No, even if she could, she had no intention of doing so.

There were many reasons she could give, but the fundamental issue was that she could no longer feel the torment of approaching death. If anything, she would accept death as just deserts if it came now.

'Because I’m a teacher who almost killed her disciple.'

She had devoted her entire life to the sword, only to find out it was a cursed one.

Ha.

Baek Seol-hee lifted her head, her blue eyes reflecting the sky above. Her heart was filled with regret and guilt.

'Perhaps after this, I should break my sword.'

No.

Breaking her sword wouldn’t be enough to atone for her sins toward her disciple.

'...Maybe if I used this sword to eradicate demons and monsters?'

Her disciple would continue to face more enemies and dangerous situations in the future.

If that were the case, then becoming a sword demon with this cursed blade and cutting down the enemies that lay in Jin Yoo-ha’s path might be the proper way to atone.

Eventually, there would ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) be an enemy too powerful for her to handle alone. At that point, she would merely extend her sword in the direction the Wolyeong Sword Technique guided her and embrace a mutual destruction.

To end alongside the sword she had created—how paradoxical.

Of course, even if she did all this, it wouldn’t wash away her sins...

But at least it might bring her some small measure of peace.

"I suppose it would have been better to leave quietly."

Baek Seol-hee looked down at the uniform she was wearing and smiled bitterly.

It was so light and beautiful that it felt like she wasn’t even wearing it. Even after all the strange artifacts she had encountered while by Rina’s side, this one had astounded her with its incredible performance.

As soon as she donned it, her ice attribute’s essence became several times sharper, and its potency was incomparable to before.

Baek Seol-hee touched the sleeve of her uniform, feeling its soft texture. She could sense the care her disciple had put into it.

"A leash, huh."

Jin Yoo-ha had called it a gift, but she knew she wasn’t deserving of it.

'In the end, I’ll have to see him one more time.'

In truth, it was a rationalization. If she really intended to leave quietly, she could simply fold the uniform and leave it in Jin Yoo-ha’s room once everything was over.

She knew it was a desire she shouldn’t have.

But just one last time.

She wanted to see her disciple’s face.

And hear him call her name.

'...How pathetic of me.'

Now that she was truly preparing to say goodbye, her heart ached. The sensation of her frozen mana swirling within her body only intensified the coldness.

"Hahaha!! You could have just surrendered, but you’ve chosen death instead! Not that it’s a bad choice!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Slash! Slash! Slash!

The Sword Sovereign was still enduring the relentless onslaught from the Magesu and Alice.

"Grandmother! Just go! Please!!!"

Alice, her face a mess of tears and snot, swung her sword wildly, while the Sword Sovereign silently endured the attacks from both her and the Magesu.

Even though she was titled the strongest swordsman in the world, in a situation where she couldn’t even defend herself, she had no choice but to take the hits. But despite this, the Sword Sovereign grinned, her bloodied teeth showing.

"...Alice, you really have no talent for the sword."

"Is now... really the time to say that!? I won’t... I won’t use the sword anymore! Please... Grandmother, Grandmother!"

As the Sword Sovereign held her ground, we spread the top-grade mana stones around the Magesu.

"Jin Yoo-ha, it’s all set."

"We’re done here too."

Lee Yu-ri bit her nails as she nervously watched the Sword Sovereign.

"Now we just have to wait."

"But... when... when is she coming? The Instructor!"

I wasn’t at ease either.

But there was no other way to rescue Alice safely without using this strategy.

The Magesu’s control involved planting mana in its victims, and forcibly breaking that control could stop Alice’s heart.

And then, at that moment—

Saaa—

The temperature suddenly dropped, and a layer of white frost began to spread everywhere.

That’s when—

"Lee Yu-ri! Kang Do-hee!"

As soon as I called out to them,

Kaaaang—!!!

Lee Yu-ri struck her shield with her sword.

"Raaahhhhhh—!"

The Magesu, which had been focused entirely on the Sword Sovereign, suddenly turned its attention towards us.

Tap!

Kang Do-hee pushed off the ground, grabbed Alice, and dashed out of the cave.

"Now! Strike the Magesu!"

I shouted at the Sword Sovereign, who squinted her eyes and—

Shluk—

Drove her sword deep into the Magesu’s body.

"Pour your mana into it!"

Wuuuung—!

Shrrrrrk—

Simultaneously, I drew my sword.

The Wolyeong Sword Technique.

As I slashed my sword vertically,

Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash.

A barrage of sword energy was unleashed.

But my target wasn’t the Magesu itself—it was the top-grade mana stones spread around it.

Crack—

The mana stones shattered simultaneously under the force of my sword energy.

"We need to escape now!!!"

At my shout, the Sword Sovereign turned, grabbed Alice and Kang Do-hee, and launched us all skyward.

Booooom—!!!

With a deafening explosion, we soared into the sky.

"Kyaaaaaaaaah!!! What is this—!!!"

An ear-splitting wail echoed as the ground trembled, and an explosion large enough to blow away the entire Taebaek Mountain occurred.

Lee Yu-ri, looking down from the sky, gasped and stared at me with wide eyes.

"...What... what just happened?"

"This? Mana collision."

"...Mana collision?"

"Yes."

I nodded.

The core of this strategy was the collision of ice and mana.

The ice attribute was necessary because, first and foremost, we needed to freeze the Magesu into a status ailment.

When the Magesu is frozen, its control connection is temporarily severed.

During that time, Kang Do-hee, the fastest among us, rescued Alice.

Then, to prevent the Magesu from recovering, we flooded it with an overwhelming amount of mana.

But what if the mana it absorbed was mixed with the energy from top-grade mana stones?

Naturally, a massive explosion would occur.

The collision of the Sword Sovereign’s mana and the energy from the top-grade mana stones.

In this world, only one person could use unrefined mana stones directly without any processing.

The woman with the unique absorption trait.

Im Ga-eul.

"...Wow."

Lee Yu-ri’s jaw dropped as she listened to my explanation.

This was the only way to utterly eliminate the Magesu, leaving not even a single root behind.

Of course, it was a bit of a waste to use all the top-grade mana stones I had, but it was necessary.

"...Thank you."

The Sword Sovereign looked down at the destruction below and spoke in a quiet voice. I responded with a grin.

"No problem, but you still owe me."

"...Whatever you ask, I will grant it."

The Sword Sovereign spoke with genuine sincerity, willing to fulfill any request.

Hanging from her arm, I looked up at her and spoke.

"Sword Sovereign, you mentioned there’s a sword I need to learn, right?"

"...Yes. If you want, I can—"

"No."

I cut her off.

"...?"

"Teach that sword to my teacher."

The Sword Sovereign’s eyes widened at my words.

"To that monstrous little girl...?"