CH 7

Is this what it feels like to have a luxurious course meal in front of you?

The guys in front of me were far from the word high-class in terms of strength or anything, but to me now, they were the best dinner.

To be honest, I am enjoying this moment.

It’s just not Baldo, all swordsmanship are techniques designed to kill people.

It’s self-defense and important for training or whatever, even if you wrap it up, that fact doesn’t change that it's for killing people.

Of course, I am well aware of how frivolous it is to say that cutting people and killing people is fun.

However, the moment has come when this Baldo, which I have been trained so far, has finally been put to use in real combat and sees light, So how can I not be happy?

If I can use Baldo in the true sense, I don’t mind being called frivolous and cruel garbage.

“Die so I can have fun!!”

“Someone like an idiot… Hey guys! Kill him!!”

When the man who seemed to be the boss gave the order, the dogs and the robbers started running towards me at once.

The first ones that came into my range were not robbers, but dogs similar to or slightly larger than the one before.

Dogs attacked at me with their sharp teeth as if they were saying they would tear my body apart.

There were four of them, so I can cut them any way I want, this is perfect.

Cut off the head as if they were made vertical

Next, simply beheaded.

The one who jumped exceptionally high, I cut out its stomach and severed its intestines.

In an instant, the four dogs turned into something one couldn't bear to see, scattering blood and guts all over the floor and sky.

“... What the fuck is this?”

As soon as I slaughtered four dogs in an instant, the robbers who rushed at me with a force that seemed to kill me, stopped.

The robbers rolled their eyes, looking alternately at the corpse of the dog on the floor and me, and shouted to their boss who was behind them.

“Boss!! Is this guy a wizard?!”

“What?”

There was a saying on Earth that highly developed swords are indistinguishable from magic, but what kind of nonsense is this guy living in a world, where magic really exists.

“…”

To the mouth of that boss, I said, ‘That is the strongest swordsmanship called Battōjutsu!’ I expected the same word to come out, but he didn’t say anything as if he had been hit hard in the back of his head.

They stopped and looked at this side without saying a word, where the carcass of a dog was cut in two, horizontally.

In the midst of an uncomfortable silence, I was impatient and was thinking about whether to approach them first or not.

“You assholes! Now you are all gone!!”

I turned my head to see who said it, and it was the traitor robber C who had guided me all the way here.

He shouted in a half-insane manner as if he was glad that he wasn't on the other side of the dog.

“I live!! I lived!! Life likes me, you bastards!!”

Hearing those words, the robbers began to shout, perhaps realizing that it was all his fault that I was there.

“You bastard traitor!!”

“kill!! I will definitely kill you, I will really!!”

“Kill these assholes!! Your future is like this dog rolling on the floor right now——!” The robber C, who did not doubt his own survival, continue with words.

“I’ve come this far, so I don’t need you anymore.”

The robber C's head was cut horizontally by my katana, and his entire face was cut off, turning into a ghastly ghoul with cross-sections of his eyes and brain visible.

“You would understand even if I didn't tell you, but I won't accept surrender and I won't negotiate. You will die just like this.”

Some of the robbers, whose faces were more rigid than before, inadvertently put their sword in their hands, as if they had lost their will to fight.

“Everyone, don’t panic!”

I thought it would be boring to deal with a sandbag who had lost their fighting spirit like this, but when the man who looked like the boss raised his voice, everyone regained their will, even a little bit.

“Spread to both sides!! spread and target the guys behind him!!”

Hearing those words, I turned around, but I did not feel any fear or anxiety on the faces of Hori and Boris.

It was just a look that said that nothing would happen again this time.

I don’t think it’s too scary, but in a way, this is normal.

Why am I so scared when they are in front of me, who uses the strongest swordsmanship known as Battōjutsu?

“Take hostage! And then there will be room for negotiation!!”

“Yes!!”

The robbers, with eyes full of determination, were divided into two sides according to the boss’s words and seemed to see a way to survive.

It seems to be more controlled than expected.

Watching robbers approach, I deliberately waited for them to come closer.

And when they came close.

“I apologize in advance.”

“Yeah? Kyaaaa!!”

“Oh, my clothes!!”

I threw Hori and Boris, who was right behind me, high into the sky so that they could float for quite some time.

Now, all the remains on the ground were eight robbers who came to capture Hori and Boris.

With four people each on the left and right, with nothing obstructing me, I unleashed a sword containing a fighting spirit.

–Wiririk

A sharp slash, accompanied by a wind not sure where it came from, spread around like a ripple caused by a drop of water falling on the water's surface.

I can feel this touch without touching it directly.

As the sensation of cutting off the intestines and cutting off the spine trembled in my hand, a smile was drawn on my lips without me realizing it.

The bodies of the robbers who rushed in at random fell to the ground as if their upper body was cut in two based on the waist and slid smoothly.

“Utcha!”

Putting the sword back in, I caught the two men falling down and set them down on the ground.

“How did it feel to fly in the sky for a moment?”

“It was refreshing...”

“More than that, what have you been doing right now?”

“What did you do?”

The sword of Ripple Baldo.

For a swordsman, it is a technique to infuse the sword with a fighting spirit, which can be called mana, and explode it in an instant, cutting down nearby enemies.

If you use it in a leaded state, the speed of the sword increases, making it faster and more powerful.

[Sword Art: Ripple Baldo] [Grade: B-]

[A skill that condenses the sword in its sheath by infusing it with a fighting spirit and then spreading it around the moment of Baldo to cut the opponent. You don’t have to call it while using it. It's faster if you remove the sword beforehand.]

Shut up.

What do you know about Baldo?

*****

At the moment when eight of my subordinates had their waists cut off at the same time along with his Baldo, the fighting spirit in my heart disappeared in an instant like melting snow.

No, it’s not just me.

Even without looking at the faces of the members, I could tell that everyone had lost their will.

‘Dangerous… .’

Even taking hostage is now difficult.

No, even if we catch them, with his unhesitating attitude toward murder, I think he might cut the hostage as well.

It would probably be unreasonable to try to plan any operation using the members.

Either way, it’s going to end up being the same as dying for me or that guy.

No, I’d rather think that those who break the order and run away are more likely to survive.

All you have to do here is run away.

And To do that….

“Hey everyone, go inside!!”

“Yes?! Boss, what are you talking about?”

“Have you seen that technique before? It’s no use trying to deal with him with a lot of people! So I am dealing with him myself!!”

“Alone… How is that...”

At my words, the members look at me with eyes wondering what crazy things I'm saying.

If I had been one of those guys, I would have looked at who I am today with the same eyes.

“Even if you try to run away, you can’t run away from him. So I have no choice but to fight! And You’re getting in the way, so go inside!”

Hesitating at those words, the members slowly moved into the cave one by one.

“Listen, you guys. 3 minutes from now… No, if I don’t come back within two minutes, run out of the hideout and run without stopping. Do you understand?!”

“Boos...Yes, We will do that!!”

Seeing that answer in a voice mixed with tears, I could barely hold back my laughter.

Stupid bastards… Did they really think I would sacrifice myself for them?

If I had planned to do that in the first place, I would have told them to disperse from this place instead of going back to the hideout first.

No matter how frightened they are, they are stupid.

“Are you dealing with me alone?”

“Yes.”

He looked at me with a rigid expression and took a stance as if he didn’t like how I dared to deal with him alone.

I also raised my sword forward and took a stance.

And as if to rush at it right away, he concentrated his speculation or fighting spirit on his legs and continued on.

“Choose either me or those guys!!”

Throwing my greatsword forward, I jumped as hard as I could into the bush next to me.

Now he has two options.

Will he follow me and kill me?

Or will he let me go here and kill the members in the hideout?

If he chooses me unless he kills me within 2 minutes, all the members in the hideout will run away, and the two people behind may also die at the hands of the members.

If He chooses them, He will miss me, but he can catch all the members in the hideout and get all the wagons and items we stole.

It would be foolish to think which one is more beneficial and which has fewer variables.

‘Stupid bastard... This is what happens when you bring such a load!’

Thinking like that, I ran as hard as I could, but my escape didn’t last long.

“uh?”

As I was running for a while, the ground suddenly came up and hit me.

No, the ground is not raised.

Those two feet striding towards me, the ground didn’t come up, but I was twisted to the ground.

“Ahhhh!!!”

I couldn’t help but scream at the intense pain I felt in my leg.

My leg was cut off, you can tell without seeing it with my own eyes.

“I, what did you do to me… !!”

“Vacuum Charm of Battōjutsu.”

Is that the name of the technique that cut off my legs from that distance?

He slowly drew his sword as if he was about to demonstrate, and in the next moment my body… No, my head was flying in the air.

From the moment the head separated from the body, I felt no pain.

It was just a strange feeling that a hazy feeling as if I was about to fall into a deep sleep wrapped around my head.

The last time I saw him return to the hideout before my head fell to the floor.

Ah, all those bastards are going to die too.

Let’s not see him in hell, kids.