Savage Ascension: Starting with God-Tier Plunder Ability-Chapter 74: Duel with the Undead

’It’s related to the black dream.’

Spewing black smoke was evidence. Crystal clear.

Though composed only of bones, the undead looked like it’d be 2m. In life it would’ve been bigger. The skeleton shuddered in pain and rose, screaming with sounds full of resentment. Then pulled out the mounted longsword and charged straight at Rowan.

He couldn’t see the longsword’s blade precisely, but Rowan could guess through the handle.

’The grip length looks about 30cm.’

Maximum grip length considering two-handed use. Long grip meant heavy weight. That could work as a disadvantage. Because it ate away the longsword’s advantage.

A longsword’s advantage was clear. Surprisingly light and easy to handle for its size and length. Unlike other two-handed blades, even reaching maximum total length of 1.3m, weight didn’t exceed 2kg.

Naturally if the grip was long, the blade was also long. But within common sense, it wouldn’t exceed 1m.

Rowan gauged the first engagement and pulled the round shield tight to his body while backing away. Gulliver Alastor’s longsword, having already used feet charging, just slightly scraped the round shield.

’1.3m longsword.’

Exactly right. Good start.

[Who are you? Why did you wake me! What do you want!]

Rowan couldn’t speak. He had to grit his teeth and block Gulliver’s sword. The destructive power of the longsword striking the round shield, coming in thickly with both hands, was considerable.

’Ugh.’

But what stopped Rowan from taking the offensive more than that was the presence. The undead knight’s presence was terrifying enough to feel along the skin. Tremendous enough that suppressing opponents with presence alone was the right expression.

It felt like having charisma as a stat or skill.

’An opportunity will come.’ 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Even in the fierce attack through presence, Rowan was calm. Leading with the round shield, he stubbornly blocked, obstructing the destructive centrifugal force through the longsword’s long reach. It felt like a powerful attack because of presence, but Rowan, having experienced much real combat, immediately grasped his weakness.

’Light body weight for his height.’

Gulliver with a body composed only of bones. His body weight differed greatly from Rowan’s. Height and frame were his advantage, but body weight was Rowan’s. Because of this, even while mixing feints, Gulliver often did powerful downward strikes.

’I’ll target that.’

[I’ll kill them all! Everything living in Medio!]

’Now!’

Rowan pulled the round shield toward his chest. He bent his elbow. Gulliver’s longsword made a grand empty swing.

Whooom!

That whooshing sound! It convinced Rowan the opponent had done it with full heart and strength, putting in body weight. Also evidence was Gulliver’s bent upper body. In one go, Rowan pushed the round shield straight and stepped forward one step.

That moment, a strange air sound came.

Swish.

Within the vision limited by the round shield, the moment Rowan heard that sound, he stopped his steps.

’It’s a secret technique.’

Strength entered fully in the hand gripping the shortsword. Because it was a secret technique he didn’t know. Making a hard-to-hear wind sound, the longsword curved like a snake, passing the round shield and targeting Rowan’s arm.

Clang!

Miraculously, he blocked it by stabbing with the shortsword. Sweat dripped from Rowan’s forehead into his eyes, but he didn’t close them. He hurried back two or three steps.

[You... don’t look like a knight though.]

Whether surprised at blocking the secret technique, Gulliver regained coolness from resentful rage. That’s how amazing blocking a secret technique was.

’If it weren’t for sparring experience with Rakson, I couldn’t have blocked it.’

"What’s the name?"

He was curious about the secret technique’s name.

[Elastisch Zerstorung (Elastic Destruction). Of course, you won’t know that meaning.]

Rowan smiled. He’d ignorantly memorized a huge language dictionary by rote. That also included archaic language used in knights’ secret technique names no longer used today.

"Elastic Destruction? Not destroying the shield but shooting out—the name is odd."

[...!]

Even while saying that, Rowan stuck out his tongue. Though vision was blocked, because he’d made various secret technique arrangements with excellent imagination, he could grasp what secret technique it was through context.

’Crazy secret technique.’

Curses came out first.

Striking downward had been a feint. Full heart and strength. The scary point was that even striking with all heart and all strength, it was imaginary. That word also meant he could always counterattack opponents even striking with full strength.

No different from standing on the borderline between real attacks and fake attacks—that was exactly Elastisch Zerstorung.

’Strike down and next would’ve gone up.’

Logically impossible. But what made that possible was a knight’s technician skills. Also a secret technique requiring long practice. So even knowing it, Rowan couldn’t use it.

Though technically difficult, that wasn’t a big problem. The actual bigger problem was that it used the longsword’s elasticity.

Elasticity meant resilience. The characteristic of not breaking. Severely it’d bend, less it’d break easily. Strength essential to steel, but Rowan couldn’t use it because it used the weapon’s characteristics.

’That longsword...’

Only possible with a contradictory longsword that was hard yet had powerful elasticity. Looking at the fancy patterns on the guard extending both ways below the blade’s edge, it wasn’t an ordinary sword.

A contradictory sword that didn’t bend even when clashing strongly while allowing elastic operation to the degree of bending.

’A magic sword?’

A secret technique possible because of such a sword. Curving like a snake meant soft. But that longsword was fine even clashing with the round shield. Because it was contradictory, Rowan even had to feel discomfort.

Full-scale combat began. Because Rowan didn’t want to die, so he had quite a lot of time gauging.

Clang!

The shortsword went between middle and low stances, steadily targeting wrists. The longsword moved dizzily. Because Rowan’s shortsword precisely targeted moves. That could be called just probability, but even that alone was big restraint.

Sometimes when clashing, along with the round shield, Rowan roughly landed shield charge once anywhere.

"Grrr! Hyngg! Heong!"

The wolf Dono barked going between rear and left-right. Never charged recklessly. Rowan cherished Dono and had blind faith in wolf bite force. He wanted a killing blow. Having even trained for that, Dono had become skilled enough to bite human necks with at least fifty-fifty probability in human hunting.

’It’ll definitely go in.’

Because he had to seek safety through the shield, the shortsword naturally had to be in middle-low stance. Because of that, Rowan constantly trying to raise it couldn’t help but show gaps. But that was the only answer.

The reach difference between longsword and shortsword, plus because of Gulliver’s tall height.

Gulliver didn’t miss that.

[Huaaaaaah!]

A rough shout spewed out. Gulliver rather stepped forward one step. Not a downward strike. A thrust. Targeting the head, arms and longsword formed a triangle in ∧ shape.

Arms were upper stance while the longsword was in a formation of strongly thrusting downward. If he raised and blocked with the round shield, he’d be an idiot. Because it’d only block the arms but not block the longsword. Because it was an urgent situation, intuitive judgment naturally raised the round shield.

’Not a chance.’

Blockieren Zuruckfang (Block and Recapture).

Rowan’s secret technique was displayed in an instant. The shield moved with the thrusting longsword while pushing the longsword even slightly. Simultaneously, it arrived before the longsword like armor stuck to Rowan’s skin. Because it was a shield on Rowan’s body side.

With inside-outside difference, the longsword belatedly stabbed the shield acting as armor. Rowan lowered his upper body. Simultaneously, he put strength in the arm gripping the round shield. Because it received impact from the longsword, adding strength like this let him go forward.

The shield went forward separating, strongly pushing Gulliver’s longsword sideways. He tried to retrieve it, but the shield stuck like gum.

Amazing technique.

’This is the last!’

Rowan roughly stepped forward once. Because the shield was pushing the longsword outward, naturally Gulliver was in an unguarded state. The shortsword swung.

[Ha!]

Gulliver shouted and played his feet. He tilted his upper body toward the longsword side. The back foot also headed toward the longsword side. That was to avoid Rowan’s sword. Just moving where the hand gripping the shield was heading could avoid Rowan’s shortsword’s distance.

Crunch!

Part of ribs got hit by the shortsword, but that was all. Gulliver who retrieved the longsword again sent mental waves.

[You don’t look like Akkir Roleon’s descendant.]

Rowan spoke honestly. Having been backstabbed hard by lies from Rakson, aversion to lies was even stuck on him.

"I learned from some retired soldier."

[Hmph.]

He made a sound in a tone saying how ridiculous.

Gulliver who spun the longsword twice in circles with one hand then gripped it with both hands again charged once more. The wolf seemed not in his sight at all. He might be thinking it was one fist worth, but that wasn’t it, Rowan thought.

An experienced knight. He’d definitely faced beasts. Rather, given the chance, he’d be thinking to kill the wolf before Rowan. When opportunity was given, because killing Dono was more certain than killing Rowan.

Gulliver raised the longsword. Obviously he intended to use his height. It couldn’t help but be very threatening to Rowan. But Rowan had no thought of fleeing. He was already full of excitement. He wanted to see the end.

’A secret technique that can use light body weight...’

Cedric Gerald’s secret technique’s light footwork. He intended to use an arrangement of that.

The secret technique called Wie ein Pferd (Like a Light Horse) was a secret technique following a quadrupedal horse’s footwork with two feet. That had directionality moving left-right opposite to horses charging front-back.

Because it moved strongly left-right, it tremendously needed lower body strength. Otherwise, you’d lose balance and legs would split wide or fall pathetically. For Rowan who’d traveled mountains, it was work he could do easily.

He was confident his explosive thigh strength wouldn’t lose to anyone. But that secret technique Gulliver Alastor would definitely know. So he intended to use its arrangement. Originally, Wie ein Pferd was a secret technique suited to weapons focused on thrusting like rapiers.

For Rowan using round shield and shortsword, the effect wasn’t good. These problems were things he’d thought about from when learning secret techniques from Rakson, and it was Rowan who’d put effort into arranging the twelve secret techniques from quite long ago.

’Sturm rausch (Storm Rush).’

A secret technique using the round shield’s ignorant defense power, befitting the simple and clear name.

"Phew."

Rowan took a deep breath as if grasping his mind anew. Gulliver also didn’t want to drag out the fight. Outwardly it was just one rib slightly broken, but for him with light body weight, that approached as big loss.

Not because body weight left, but because balance became subtly off. If they kept clashing, the one crumbling would be him.