'It's so cold.
Where's Mother?
Aunt Fina?
They'll come back, right? '
She thought about it in a daze. She could not help but shiver in the snow. The cold wind blew past her exposed face and neck, bringing with it a pain that felt like knives were cutting into her.
She could not even feel her limbs.
'What about my younger brother and sister? What about Uncle Enzel? '
She missed Taliyah's hot pies a little … even though she hated the garlic on them every time.
She walked past a person lying in the snow.
That person was sleeping soundly. His body was curled up and he did not move, but he had the happiest smile on his face.
He did not even know that his eyebrows and hair were covered in ice crystals.
'This is a' smiling person ',' she told herself.
Yesterday, when she tried to help them sweep the ice crystals off their faces, Uncle Enzel laughed and told her that they were 'smiling people'. They loved to smile to sleep in the wild during winter and would only wake up in spring. Good girls should not disturb them, and it was best not to go near them.
She obeyed and continued walking forward.
Her dress was slightly torn. She was very depressed … This was the dress that Liscia's aunt gave her before she left for the capital.
She walked past the second 'smiling person'.
This' smiling person 'seemed to be an older sister who was the same age as the maid Taliyah, but she wore very little. She leaned against a rock with a grin on her face and held a baby in her arms.
However, the baby did not smile. He only shut his small eyes and mouth tightly and did not move.
This made her very unhappy.
'Why is he not smiling?
'Everyone in the Northern Territory should be smiling, shouldn't they?'
This was what Uncle Nolanur had told her.
When they left the stable in Cold Castle with the other two uncles, Nolanur laughed as he did in the past and pulled himself into his arms. Then, as she protested in dissatisfaction, he poked her face repeatedly with his stubble.
'Alright, Nolanur.' Her thoughts were in a mess. She thought of her youngest uncle and could not help but curl her lips.
'If you appear now …
I will … be merciful and forgive you for your beard. '
She continued walking and met a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth person on the snow. There were so many of them that she could not even count …
'Smiling people'.
At this moment, a person who was not a 'smiling person' finally appeared before her.
She raised her head with lifeless eyes and looked at the unfamiliar boy in front of her.
The ragged boy was lying next to the other Laughing Man, rummaging for something.
The boy noticed her approach and raised his head like a wild beast.
His eyes were a deep red and frightening.
"Scram!"
The boy subconsciously protected the thing in his arms tightly and glared at her fiercely. His voice was vigilant and fierce. "I found this place first! Food, clothes, everything is mine! "
"Get lost! Get lost! "
"Go search the other bodies!"
She breathed in weakly, feeling pain in her face from the wind.
How fierce.
She pouted.
But she was a little hungry.
His vision blurred.
The coldness poured into her lungs through her mouth, nose, and trachea, causing her heart to spasm again.
She walked towards the boy.
"Little bitch, if you dare to take another step forward, I'll bite you to pieces!" The boy, who was also shivering in the cold, opened his mouth fiercely and bared his teeth.
She ignored him.
But her consciousness was becoming more and more numb.
Her vision became dimmer and dimmer.
But she still dragged her feet forward on the snowy ground step by step, relying on her vision instead of the sense of touch under her feet to confirm the existence of the ground. She could barely feel her limbs, which had been numb for a long time.
The boy crawled down and growled like a beast, as if preparing to attack.
She looked at the fierce-looking boy and took a deep breath. Her lungs trembled again because of the cold air.
She continued to walk forward.
The wariness on the boy's face turned into hatred and murderous intent.
His right hand emerged from behind him, holding a long, rusty awl.
'Mother said, to strangers …'
The boy howled angrily and threw the weak girl to the ground.
'To strangers …'
She tugged at her frozen face.
The boy stared at her face and raised the awl in his hand ferociously.
She looked at the boy's dark red eyes and pulled an ugly arc from the corner of her mouth.
'I should smile.
The people of the Northern Territory should smile, shouldn't they? '
In the next moment, Miranda Arunde, the First Seed of the Swordsmen of Eradication, opened her eyes abruptly in an alley in Dragon Clouds City!
A sword with an empty groove had already pierced through half of her breastplate, stabbing into her left chest.
The blade sank an inch into her flesh.
It stopped in front of her beating heart.
But it did not move forward even an inch.
The middle-aged Disaster Swordsman frowned.
He looked at Miranda's blade. It was stuck in the empty groove from the tip of the sword to the middle of the sword, blocking his strange sword.
It prevented it from piercing the swordswoman's heart.
Just now, at the critical moment, Miranda decisively thrust the blade into the empty groove of the enemy's sword.
It was like a carpenter inserting a wedge into the empty groove of a piece of wood while he was working.
Miranda's black-gloved hands gripped the hilt of her cross-shaped sword tightly. Cold sweat seeped out of her head due to pain and trembling. She was in a stalemate with the enemy.
'Such a fast sword.
And … that feeling of being unable to dodge, is it his Power of Eradication? '
"Not bad." The middle-aged man exhaled softly and showed a look of approval. "Your reaction, observation, and temperament are all rare and outstanding. It's rare that you're still so young … My student is very smart, but he lacks training and experience. He'll need at least five years to catch up to your level.
"But from the beginning, you were already on the verge of death …" The middle-aged man's tone was cold. He suddenly exerted force on the sword that pierced into Miranda's chest and thrust it forward.
As he exerted force, the two swords that were stuck together underwent a subtle change in shape. They let out a groan in the air, which was the unique sound of metal under stress.
Pain shot up from her heart.
Miranda's face contorted slightly.
If the tip of the sword went in an inch more, it would reach the blood groove.
The swordswoman gritted her teeth and held her breath. She tried hard to get rid of the double effects of the physical pain and the psychological worry.
She listened to the enemy's rhythm and felt the rhythm of the enemy's movements. She forced herself to enter the zone.
She was suppressed by the enemy's sword in the first strike. She had to find a chance to turn defeat into victory.
Miranda resisted the enemy's sword with all her might. She widened her eyes and observed the motionless enemy under the setting sun.
The middle-aged man sighed. "You know, I originally didn't want to use this move.
But based on the current situation, it seems that pure swordsmanship and sword speed won't be able to take you down immediately … There are only four minutes left before the patrol team arrives. "
The next moment, the middle-aged enemy's face revealed a pained and unbearable expression.
A ferocious Power of Eradication seeped out of his arm muscles and invaded the two swords that were stuck together!
Miranda's expression changed.
'This is … the violent and crazy Power of Eradication that Kohen mentioned?'
The middle-aged man's arm trembled. As if he had released a ferocious beast that was about to devour a human, explosive power rose from his sword!
The two swords simultaneously let out a groan as they trembled faster, like two patients who could not bear the burden.
Miranda felt the blade that was pierced into her body start to tremble, and it went further towards her heart!
'Sh * t.'
The next moment.
* Rip! *
Blood splattered everywhere.
Miranda's left hand covered her chest in pain.
But it was not over yet.
* Clang! *
The two swords clashed against each other, bursting into sparks and separating from each other in the air.
The middle-aged man's sword light disappeared in the air.
Then, like stars in the night sky, it suddenly appeared!
It went for the injured Miranda.
The swordswoman raised her trembling sword and subconsciously swung it into the air!
* Clang! Clang! *
Less than a second after they separated, the two swords collided in the air again!
Miranda's sword blocked the enemy's attack twice.
Both of them took a step back at the same time.
Miranda leaned against the wall behind her, her face pale, and stared at the middle-aged man with wide eyes.
"May you die in peace, swordswoman." The middle-aged man sighed and shook the blood off his sword.
But the middle-aged man's expression suddenly froze.
He noticed the blood on his sword.
It was just a small amount of blood.
How could it be?
Her heart should have been pierced through by now …
But she …
Was it a right-handed person? Or was it equipped with a protection that could resist the Power of Eradication? The Refined Crystal Drop Board of the Dwarves? The Elven Royalty's Exquisite Silver Chain Mail? Silicone?
The middle-aged man raised his head in disbelief and looked at Miranda, who leaned against the wall weakly.
"That strange Power of Eradication didn't work, did it?"
The swordswoman took a deep breath and moved her left hand away from her chest.
A rather long wound extended from Miranda's chest to her shoulder, but it only tore through her light armor and caused a little blood.
The middle-aged man looked surprised.
According to the original plan, his beast-like Power of Eradication would invade the enemy's body unstoppably, destroy the tissues in the body, slow down the enemy's movements, and even devour and destroy her Power of Eradication like a natural enemy.
Then, when the enemy could not move or was in great pain, he would use his Power of Eradication to activate the blade and pierce Miranda's heart. It might not go deep, but it would be enough to make her bleed.
His next step would be to attack with the terrifying speed of his sword and mobilize the blood in the enemy's body. In less than a few tenths of a second, bright red arterial blood would erupt from the chest of the female Swordsman of Eradication until her life completely withered.
But she actually blocked the sword that was destined to pierce her heart …
The middle-aged man looked at the girl in front of him in confusion.
"From the beginning of my attack, your movements were very normal, and your sword was also very smooth. You blocked my stab without the slightest delay. In that case …" A few seconds later, the middle-aged man looked at Miranda's hand as if he had figured something out. His eyes were filled with astonishment. "Impossible …"
The middle-aged man frowned. "You … You were not affected by the 'Touch of Greed' at all!"
Miranda took a deep breath and rearranged her sword.
"'Touch of Greed'? That's the name of your Power of Eradication? What a disgusting name, "Miranda said coldly.
"My companion once told me about that feeling. A frenzied Power of Eradication whose goal is to invade, destroy, and destroy." She raised her sword and pointed it at her opponent. "An ordinary Swordsman of Eradication would probably be helpless against that terrifying Power of Eradication."
"But, once you encounter a Power of Eradication that loses its effect … What should you do?"
The middle-aged man did not speak.
Instead, he answered with his lightning-fast sword!
The sword with an empty groove whistled in the air and went for the swordswoman's throat.
Miranda, who was already prepared, turned serious. Turning her wrist, the Power of Eradication surged and supported the strength in her hand as she faced the middle-aged man.
* Clang! Swoosh! *
Two sparks violently flew out!
The two of them exchanged two sword strikes in an instant.
The two figures alternated between flashes. After the last strike, they instantly widened the distance between them by five steps.
Miranda widened her footsteps. Feeling the vibration of the crossguard sword, she calmly thought about her enemy's characteristics.
"I attacked eight times just now.
"You only blocked two strikes, and even got hit once." The middle-aged man looked at Miranda's left leg, which was cut open, and said calmly, "Your swordsmanship is sloppy and ordinary, and you can't keep up with the speed of my sword at all. Your body may seem agile, but it's actually just light — your footsteps will occasionally miss when you dodge.
"What's even more strange is that during the exchange of blows, your sword actually trembled slightly, so much so that it affected your swordsmanship … This is a mistake that only beginners would make.
"Other than that stunning interception at the beginning, your sword is completely useless." The middle-aged man shook his head. "With this kind of swordsmanship habit and strength … you should have died ten thousand times already. How did you survive until now?"
Miranda did not say anything. She only stared at the middle-aged man carefully.
In the next moment, her enemy suddenly revealed a smile. "But in the eight sword strikes just now, you were either lucky enough to dodge or just barely dodge the five most fatal strikes."
"You also counterattacked at the most subtle moment." The middle-aged man looked at his cut left upper arm, frowned, and sighed. "And you succeeded."
Miranda finally frowned.
"There's only one explanation." The middle-aged man moved his feet lightly. Miranda's sword also slowly moved along with his position.
"What you rely on in battle is not some exquisite sword style or agile footwork, but your observation and perception." The middle-aged man's pupils shrank slightly. "It is to identify the enemy's rhythm and the timing of the sword attack. No matter how crude the swordsmanship is or how simple the sword move is, as long as it appears in the right place at the right time, it can be turned into the most exquisite strike."
Miranda breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. 'He found out.'
"What you practice is the Pegasus' Music, one of the Four Great Primitive Powers of Eradication that is famous for grasping the right timing and controlling the rhythm." The middle-aged man sighed deeply and said, "It's been a long time since I received the inheritance from the tower.
"And the reason why you're not afraid of the 'Touch of Greed'." He raised his head, his gaze aggressive. "I can roughly guess."
Miranda was slightly startled.
The middle-aged man's gaze focused on Miranda's black-gloved hands.
"It's your hands, isn't it?"
Miranda revealed a look of disbelief.
'Forget about the Pegasus' Music, but even he … discovered it? '
Miranda tightened her grip on her sword.
"Your hands were the first to touch the 'Touch of Greed'." The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes and carefully observed his opponent. "But there was no reaction … Is it because of that pair of gloves?"
Miranda was silent for a few seconds.
The scene from many years ago appeared before her eyes.
That kind of freezing … coldness.
"No, it's not the gloves." Miranda exhaled softly, then raised her head and generously admitted, "It's just my hands."
The middle-aged man frowned.
"A long time ago, my hands … were severely frostbitten."
A vast expanse of white snow appeared in front of Miranda's eyes.
"When I recovered, I lost most of my sense of touch and pain," Miranda said flatly, as if she was talking about something that had nothing to do with her.
"I couldn't master it, and I couldn't use the most exquisite and unfathomable sword skills either. In the beginning, I couldn't even lift a teacup.
"No matter how terrifying the pain brought by your power was, I couldn't feel it with my hands.
"And what can your invasive Power of Eradication do against my hands, which have been numb for many years?" Miranda slowly raised her sword. Her hands trembled visibly. "What can you do against my hands, which have been numb for years?"
There was silence.
Soon, the middle-aged man stared at Miranda's hands. His eyes were filled with shock.
'Those hands …
'Those hands that held the sword …
'They actually …
'There's no pain, and they can't be touched?'
The middle-aged man's gaze on Miranda was already filled with pity.
And admiration.
"A pair of hands that can't feel can actually hold a sword?" he said slowly, but his voice was filled with admiration.
'This young girl …
'In order to let a pair of hands that can't feel hold the sword hilt, she had to swing it in the air tens of thousands of times. She must have gone through a lot of pain.'
"So, you were taught the Pegasus' Music. Of course, this is also the Power of Eradication that suits you best." The middle-aged man nodded. His gaze was filled with affirmation and excitement. "To abandon the feeling in your hands, to ignore the specific sword moves, to follow the rhythm of the battle, and to entrust the sword to your own observation, cognition, and judgment — your teacher must be a genius."
Miranda did not speak. She only stared at her gloved hands in a daze.
"Please forgive my previous disrespect." The middle-aged man put his sword behind his back and bowed respectfully to Miranda with the most standard ancient swordsman's salute. "You are an admirable swordsman …
"I am Salander Klein. As the Sword of Eradication that has been passed down outside the Tower of Eradication, it is my honor to spar with you."
Miranda also put away her sword and returned the salute with an expressionless face.
"Miranda Arunde, Chief Seed of the 134th batch of the Tower of Eradication … In view of what you did to my friend's right hand, please forgive me for not being able to say 'it is my honor to spar with you'."
Klein smiled faintly. "Right hand, is it?"
The two of them straightened their bodies and their swords reappeared by their sides.
In the next moment, the two of them approached each other again!
* Clang! Clang! *
Klein's swift sword and Miranda's ingenious figure moved back and forth on this small piece of ground!
In a dozen or so seconds, Miranda once again dodged the enemy's four fatal strikes and counterattacked at the most crucial moment.
Blood flowed from Miranda's right waist, the side of her ear, and Klein's left forearm.
"What a deep impression." Klein widened the distance between the two of them and sighed. "Given time, you will definitely reach supreme class."
Miranda nodded and accepted the other party's acknowledgment.
'No matter how fast you are, you cannot omit the process of drawing your sword. With a process, there will be a rhythm of high and low, movement and stillness.
There will be openings that can be grasped and exploited. '
While widening the distance between them, Miranda carefully observed the enemy and said faintly, "And I can see it too. Your so-called 'Touch of Greed', that never-ending, continuous, violent characteristic …"
The middle-aged Klein was slightly stunned.
Miranda's gaze was firm.
"It's the 'Glory of the Stars', right?"
Under Klein's surprised gaze, Miranda confidently said, "Sorry, I'm really … too familiar with this Power of Eradication."
The scene in the Tower of Eradication appeared before her eyes. Cohen's figure holding his swollen arm and crying bitterly appeared in her mind.
The two of them stared at each other for a moment.
"I really admire your observation skills, but not entirely." Klein shook his head and chuckled.
"'Touch of Greed' is not the 'Glory of the Stars'." Under Miranda's strange gaze, Klein sheathed his sword at his waist. "If I must say, it can be considered an enhanced version of the 'Glory of the Stars'."
Doubts rose in Miranda's heart.
'The Glory of the Stars …
Enhanced version?
Is he referring to that violent characteristic?
'Let's put it that way.
'The Disaster Sword's Power of Eradication is based on the original Power of Eradication …'
"There's still thirty seconds." Klein sighed. "Forget it, there's not enough time."
Miranda stared at him in surprise.
"We'll meet again." Klein nodded faintly. "Chief with numb hands."
Miranda gritted her teeth and caught up with him. "Wait!"
Klein turned around and punched the dirt wall beside him!
* Bang! *
Amidst a cloud of dust, his figure disappeared from Miranda's sight.
At this moment, the voice of a patrol came from outside the alley. "It's near here … We suspect that there's a chase for no reason and an illegal fight! What was that sound just now? "
Miranda, who could not stop coughing because of the dust, stared in the direction where Klein had left. She punched the wall indignantly, and as the voices of the people drew closer, she sheathed her sword and left.
— —
* Ding! *
Just as Cohen's sword was about to pierce the young man's throat, a sword flew across the air and blocked the police officer's rapier.
Cohen quickly turned around and faced the newcomer, whose back was facing the setting sun.
But the newcomer's sword attracted all of Cohen's attention.
It was a sword of medium length, but the blade was extremely thin. There was a black counterweight ball at the hilt of the sword.
There was a round hole in the handguard of the sword, just enough for the user to put in his index finger.
Cohen's pupils shrank!
He recognized this sword.
He was too familiar with this sword.
And too familiar … with the owner of this sword.
"Why aren't you getting lost?" The newcomer had a clear voice and said faintly to the young man from Disaster Sword, "Go and find your teacher."
The young man, who was covered in wounds, got up in a disheveled manner and limped into the alley.
But Cohen ignored him.
He stared at the newcomer in disbelief with his round eyes.
From the moment he saw this person, he did not want to care about anything else.
"Why are you here?" Cohen swallowed with difficulty and asked in the most incredulous tone.
"And you … what are you doing?" Cohen struggled to raise his eyebrows as he looked at the newcomer before him.
"What am I doing?" The newcomer snorted softly, moved his feet, and approached him.
"Before you bunch of idiots mess everything up," the newcomer revealed a pair of dark red eyes in the dark and said faintly, "I'm here to stop you."
Or … "
The newcomer walked out of the shadows of the alley.
"Kill you?"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
