The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage-Chapter 376

4.

A sword is not as easy to handle as one might think.

In imagination, anyone could cut through a bundle of straw cleanly. But in reality, once you actually try it yourself, it is questionable whether you could even cut it at all, let alone cleanly.

It might take days just to learn how to swing with the blade aligned correctly.

That is why, when newcomers first enter Eternal World, they are made to strike scarecrows during the tutorial.

Only with in-game corrections could most players barely manage to handle a sword.

For this reason, NPCs could not help but look down on outsiders.

They said, outsiders could not even grasp the basics of swordsmanship.

Ricardo was one such NPC.

Especially since he was the head of a count’s family in the Rieskan Kingdom, famed as the Kingdom of Knights.

His pride in the sword soared to the heavens.

And above all, the swordsmanship he had mastered—Mirrorblade Arts—was lord-class swordsmanship.

Naturally, his pride was unmatched.

But right now, something felt strange.

‘Her stance...’

Using a Secret Art—that much could be explained.

He knew that the will of the world was aiding outsiders, allowing them to do so.

But isn’t there a saying? You can tell ten things from one.

And Ricardo was a true master of the sword.

From his perspective, the outsider standing before him had a stance far from ordinary.

A solid foundation like that of a towering tree.

This was not the bearing of someone who had merely practiced a few years. It was the stance that came only after at least a decade of training.

Her sword tip did not waver even once, not a tremor.

Her lower body was as stable as deep-rooted timber, solid and firm.

Ricardo’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Yuna. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Who would have thought he would encounter an outsider of such caliber?

He had thought the only one to worry about was the Overlord, Seong.

“It seems I was mistaken.”

If there was a swordsman like this, he should have been more vigilant.

Had he underestimated her too much?

Ricardo Silverrain thought so as he adjusted his grip on his sword.

But unlike Ricardo—

Yuna glared coldly at him and spoke in a low voice.

“Was it you? The one who touched my little brother?”

Ricardo was dumbfounded at her blunt words.

That she spoke of someone harming her brother, he could understand.

But he was the one who had lost a child.

Ricardo once again thought outsiders were outsiders, and with icy anger said to Yuna,

“......Hah. Even your manner of speech reeks of an outsider.”

“What, did you get your family seat with your tongue?”

“Impudent wench... how dare you!”

“Funny. The man talks more than the ‘wench.’”

“......”

Ricardo fell silent at Yuna’s refusal to back down in wordplay.

The viewers watching could only click their tongues.

-Oh geez;;;

-Spicy, spicy;;;;;

-I was wondering why Yuna-nim wasn’t trash-talking this time...

-But compared to usual, she’s holding back a lot lol

-lol for real, guess she’s actually pissed.

-When Yuna-noona gets mad, she can’t trash-talk as well lol

The viewers who often watched Yuna’s streams could tell—she was absolutely furious.

Even those who didn’t know her could see, just from the way she stood ready to attack at any moment, that she was enraged.

From the way she gripped her sword to the tension in her stance, her whole body radiated anger—ignorance of it would itself be insulting.

At her words, Ricardo also nodded.

“You’re right, words are unnecessary.”

“Funny. For someone who says they’re unnecessary, you keep talking.”

As Yuna spoke, Ricardo’s eyes sharpened, and in the next instant, his form blurred and scattered.

Like trailing lines, the afterimage of Ricardo’s movement extended toward Yuna, and likewise, Yuna’s figure began to blur and fade. A moment later, both their forms vanished like mirages.

Then they reappeared, meeting at the exact midpoint between them, and in the same instant a violent shockwave erupted.

Kwaaaaaaaa———!!!

It was only the clash of swords, yet the world around seemed split apart.

Not cracks, but blades of killing aura lashed out in every direction, cutting through everything in range.

Shaaaaaaaa———!!!

Sseoooooook!!!

As Yuna and Ricardo’s swords collided, the force of their sword-qi was extraordinary. Both immediately realized—

Unless they gave it their all, they could be the one cut down.

Yuna, ranked number 5 in the Single Rankings, and Ricardo, lord of the count’s family in the Kingdom of Knights, Rieskan.

Two figures with nothing lacking, colliding head-on.

They were so fast that to the viewers, only occasional afterimages flickered in the air. Watching, they could only swallow hard.

For good reason.

Technology had advanced so much that even live streams now came with partial slow-motion, like an edited video.

And yet, even slowed down, the two were too fast to follow.

-Insane, they’re too fast???

-Even with slow-mo it’s still fast;;;

-Just controlling movements at that speed is insane, but they’re fighting with precision???

-At that speed???

-Now I see why they’re Single Rankers;;;

In awe, the viewers watched as Yuna and Ricardo’s eyes sharpened further.

It had not been long, but already dozens of exchanges had passed.

And both had realized much.

They could not yet read each other’s swordsmanship fully, but—

‘Troublesome.’

Recalling times she had fought other Single Rankers, Yuna frowned.

This opponent was certainly troublesome.

No matter what anyone said, Ricardo was a true master of the sword.

A man who had trained with the sword for decades.

Which made him no easy foe for Yuna’s swordsmanship alone.

His openings were narrower than a needle’s eye, and even those were blocked by sudden shifts of his technique.

Another opponent might have fallen to Yuna’s innate talent and learned sword arts, but not him.

And just as Yuna thought this, Ricardo was thinking something similar.

That he was crossing blades with an outsider at such depth wounded his pride, but he did not allow himself to relax.

‘Not shallow...’

The understanding Yuna showed with the sword was not shallow at all.

Though her depth was not yet greater than his, her overwhelming talent let her absorb his swordsmanship as they fought.

What kind of genius could pick up techniques naturally, in the middle of battle itself?

As he saw Yuna’s sword strikes growing sharper with each exchange, Ricardo was shaken to his core.

When had he last seen talent like this?

Not even he had possessed such raw gift.

Not even his son, Reindel, had shown such ability.

Seething with resentment, Ricardo gripped his sword tighter, and the aura surrounding him began to reveal itself.

Ssssss.

The aura enveloped his blade, reflecting all like a mirror. Yuna too began to draw up her own energy.

Until now, neither had used even a single skill—only physical strength and technique. But now, things changed.

The viewers noticed the shift in atmosphere too. Some held their breath, others began to cheer.

-Whoa, it’s really starting now.

-The feeling-out # Nоvеlight # stage is over.

-Looks like they’re going all out.

-It begins.

-Lmao my fried chicken just got delivered, perfect timing;;;

Everyone waited, knowing the real battle was about to unfold.

Yuna’s orange aura burst forth like a geyser.

Rising skyward with piercing force, her aura blazed orange, and within it shimmered a mystical light like a mirror reflecting the whole world.

Yuna instinctively began to guess at Ricardo’s swordsmanship.

Ricardo, meanwhile, struggled to read the nature of Yuna’s aura.

A crimson-orange aura, blazing like the sun.

It was no easy thing to discern its attribute.

But it didn’t matter.

With Mirrorblade Arts, any attribute could be countered.

‘O Blade of the Aura Mirror.’

Ricardo intoned within as he swung, a sword that reflected the world itself now cutting toward Yuna.

His swordsmanship, a realm Reindel had never reached, looked like an illusion.

The sword that reflected the world now reflected Ricardo himself, multiplying his image.

In an instant, dozens of Ricardos were charging at Yuna.

The sword that reflected the world, the mirror that replicated images, had multiplied its master into many.

They were illusions in appearance, but each carried substance—terrifying mirror strikes that rained down upon Yuna.

Yuna, seeing the false forms, gave a short, incredulous laugh.

Then she unleashed her blazing aura. The orange light deepened into crimson, spreading around her.

As the crimson aura swept across the world, heat surged upward.

Fwoooosh——.

What began as sparks spread into searing flames, as though to consume everything. The mirror images blurred and melted under the heat, until only one remained.

But even that one did not remain unharmed.

As the sparks caught, crimson flames erupted, and Ricardo’s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Yuna.

“T-This sword art... no, it can’t be!?”

“Too late.”

Yuna raised her sword.

Ricardo hastily lifted his Mirror Sword, trying to reflect the heat and attack back at her.

For a mirror reflected all, carrying both light and image.

But—

Fwooooooosh———!!!

The crimson flames that had begun as mere sparks now shone with the heat of the sun, embedding themselves in Yuna’s sword.

Gripping that blazing blade, Yuna drenched the world in crimson light as she struck forward.

Like twilight splitting the heavens, the light between orange and crimson streaked outward, the scorching heat turning to sword-qi that burned everything, cutting all it touched.

Twilight Sword – Secret Art『Dusking』

The sun sank, casting twilight across the sky. As the night darkened, embers dwindled, and all turned to ash.

The Mirror Sword could not withstand the heat and melted away.

Ricardo, too, burned with his Mirror Sword, reduced to ash in an instant.

A pitiful end for the head of a count’s house in the Rieskan Kingdom.