Arrogance (2)
[...! Pielott! The reason I left you!]
"I didn't even know you left."
[Pielott!]
Hypnos' voice boomed in his head.
In truth, Pielott knew.
Among his many talents, the most potent was Hypnos’s devotion to him.
Pielott had seen many who received divine power, but he was the only one for whom a God would go this far.
Hypnos had even tried to steal the obsidian of Frondier for him.
"Hypnos, I know very well what you have done for me."
[Then why!]
"But that doesn't mean..."
Another arrow came flying, this time three.
‘This time he won’t be able to block them all!’
The devil thought. Two arrows were manageable, either by swinging the sword with perfect timing within a single trajectory or by moving the sword at a speed close to that of a divine being.
But three were impossible. One would inevitably pierce his flesh.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Yet, all three arrows fell harmlessly, and—
Swoosh!
“……?!”
—a cut suddenly appeared on the devil’s face.
The devil touched his face in a panic. A clear bloodstain marked his hand.
‘What, what is this? From this distance?’
The devil was at a distance perfectly suited for shooting arrows. It was absurd for a blade to reach him.
‘His aura, it reached all the way here…!’
He knew the human was skilled in manipulating aura, but a sword strike that reached the range of an archer?
“That doesn't mean...”
The human’s voice rang out. He had been spouting nonsense since earlier, but—
“That you can control me.”
—this one sentence sent chills down even the devil’s spine.
‘This guy!’
The devil nocked his next arrow with haste. His instincts screamed a warning.
It wasn't just the aura that reached his face now. A few steps back would be enough.
But what then? The moment Pielott's sword touched him, Pielott himself might have figured out some trick or sense.
If so, shooting arrows mindlessly was now a bad move. It would only make him Pielott's training partner.
He pulled out all the arrows from his quiver, grabbing a handful and haphazardly nocking them onto the bowstring.
Even in this messy posture, all these arrows would fly true.
‘Even if I use all my arrows, I can still fight!’
The devil’s true weapon wasn’t the bow. It was a gift. He usually wielded dual swords.
He had only used the bow because its power negated the need for skill. Now, his main weapons, the dual swords, rested at his waist.
‘Don’t think you can beat a devil in the art of manipulating aura.’
The devil wiped away all playfulness and prepared his arrows.
He didn't care about hitting his target. The bow would take care of that.
What to do after shooting? The devil's attention was solely on that.
‘I don’t think he can block all these arrows...’
It wasn't just three arrows now. It was literally ‘a handful,’ too many to even count. It wasn't a number that could be deflected with a sword, even if it were a shield.
However,
Though the devil found his own feelings unpleasant, he felt fear at the human’s arrogant expression.
‘Let’s make sure you die.’
Having finalized his plan, the devil released the string.
Fwoosh!
This time, a countless barrage of arrows shot forth. The haphazardly launched arrows were pulled toward Pielott as if drawn by a magnet.
[Pielott! Use my power! Quickly—]
Pielott had no time to answer.
He simply looked at the incoming arrows, his stance for drawing the sword not an inch different from before.
‘This is it.’
With that thought, his eyes captured all the arrows, and—
Ribanche swordsmanship.
Draw
Four-Directional Slash
Shing!
With a beastly roar, the black blade was drawn, the blade and its aura shattering the arrows.
Thud!
And there, within arm’s reach, Pielott saw the devil.
A leap, a landing that barely grazed the ground, a body moving at high speed. As the devil moved, both his hands reached for the dual swords at his waist.
Pielott's sword remained drawn, unlike before. Unlike previously,when the blade would return to its sheath after cleaving through the arrows, it was now out in the open.
‘He didn’t have time to sheathe his sword after dealing with that many arrows?’
That meant a window of opportunity.
From what he had observed so far, this human could only unleash his true skill in a drawing stance. So, it would take time to sheathe and draw his sword again.
Now that the devil had closed the distance, Pielott would be forced to respond without sheathing his sword.
‘In that state, I win.’
The human was stubbornly trying to sheathe his sword. If he drew it again, his skill would undoubtedly be halved.
That was why the devil had forced a close-range confrontation.
‘What?’
But Pielott did something unexpected.
With the devil right under his nose, he was actually sheathing his sword.
‘You fool!’
The devil’s dual swords thrust out simultaneously. One aimed for Pielott’s sword, its trajectory cunningly designed to intercept the path of the blade as it was drawn. The other aimed for Pielott’s neck.
The trajectory of a sword drawn from its sheath was limited. It inevitably had to strike upwards. Moreover, the devil had two swords.
As the devil’s sword swung towards Pielott—
“—Finally.”
—You fell for it.
Ribanche Swordsmanship
Draw, Pielott Original
Banshee
‘You actually drew your sword!’
The devil felt Pielott’s aura and his eyes gleamed.
Pielott’s draw would undoubtedly be blocked by his sword. Meanwhile, his other sword would take Pielott’s head.
However.
However, Pielott’s sword wasn’t being drawn.
‘What? When did he—’
And then the devil saw it.
Above Pielott, who stood perfectly still in his drawing stance, a sword descended upon him.
‘This, this is…’
Slice—
Thud.
Without Pielott’s drawing stance budging an inch—
—the devil’s arm fell to the ground.
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