第14章 秒杀赤龙

"Father..."

Nina watched her father continuously swing his sword, unease stirring in her heart.

Ever since Cain had fought her father and taken the title of Second Sword God from Gall, her father's temperament had completely changed...

He no longer pursued the most rational way of swinging his sword. Instead, he changed into trainee clothes and, like Cain before he left, shut himself away and swung his sword day and night.

But perhaps the greatest change was the expression on his face. Her father often wore a smile, as though he had let something go.

Still, her father had already entered middle age. He was long past the best years for sword training, so he probably would not improve much...

Gall took a deep breath, his eyes profound. Raising Demon Sword Flute with both hands, he suddenly swung, leaving behind an afterimage. A golden flash burst forth, swallowing the ground before him!

Boom! Boom! Boom! A deep fissure was carved through the target ten meters ahead of him and the ground beneath it. The thick red wooden target had been split cleanly in two, wisps of smoke rising from it.

"Good! That was amazing, Father! The next time you see Cain, you'll definitely defeat him completely!"

But Sword God Gall did not answer the stunned Nina, nor did he reprimand her. After pondering for a long while, a self-mocking smile rose at the corner of his lips. He slowly raised his hand and lightly pointed toward the farthest red target.

Nina looked over in confusion. The target fifty meters away had been split neatly in half from its bullseye, as though someone had cleaved it apart, along with the massive boulder behind it.

"Blade of Light is the ultimate technique of the Sword God Style. That day, that brat asked me whether the Sword God Style's ultimate technique, Blade of Light, could strike a distant target, so I demonstrated it for him."

"That time, I struck a target ten meters away. That was what I believed to be the limit of Blade of Light."

"He said that one day, he would surpass my record."

As Gall spoke, the curve of his lips lifted even higher. Looking at the target fifty meters away, his eyes were filled with fighting spirit and gratification.

Nina's blue pupils trembled violently as she looked at that target.

"Could it be..."

"Yeah, that's right, Nina. He made that strike, the day before he challenged me... A fifty-meter Blade of Light has completely shattered the limits I established."

Gall could not stop himself from laughing.

"To increase the range and speed of his long-range Blade of Light, that brat trained his battle aura into an incomparably sharp blade. He's the only one in the entire Sword God's Holy Land who managed it. Before his Sword God Style, even I've become nothing more than a leaf that sets off the flower..."

"But one day! I'll fight him again!"

After Sword God Gall finished speaking, he seemed to think of something and looked at Nina.

"You have talent, daughter, but if you ever face him, never stand more than ten meters away from him."

Nina blinked and tilted her head slightly in confusion.

"Why, Father?!"

Gall smiled, but the scar at the corner of his mouth made that smile look somewhat vicious. With a trace of mockery in his eyes, he looked at Nina.

"Because outside that range, you won't stand a chance."

"Ten... ten meters? I have to fight him within ten meters..."

Nina pursed her lips. But her father, Sword God Gall, seemed to have been defeated within ten meters...

"Leave. I'm going to start training. Don't come bother me again."

Nina gave a slight bow and withdrew, leaving Sword God Gall alone where he stood, continuously swinging his sword.

"Heh, I wonder whether that brat has reached the Kingdom of Asura yet. I really want to see that old hag Water God's expression when she sees him. It'll definitely be spectacular!"

The next day, at the gates of Ranoa Magic City.

A massive group made up of three A-rank adventurer parties and more than a dozen B-rank adventurer parties had gathered at the city gates. They should have formed up to face the Red Dragon's attack, but every one of them stood frozen in place.

Blade of Light...

What unfolded before their eyes was a one-sided slaughter.

Cain slowly sheathed Demon Blade: Instant Void at his waist. Boom! The huge Red Dragon head that had been roaring moments ago crashed to the ground. Its massive body slammed limply into the earth, kicking up a spray of snow. Its headless body twitched faintly in the snow before falling completely still.

Sunlight fell over the young man. Amid the falling snow, Cain stood with sword in hand, calmly sweeping his gaze across the surroundings, as though the creature whose neck he had severed was merely an ordinary Demonic Beast.

"Amazing! That was incredible!! That was an S-rank Red Dragon! Well done, Sword God Cain!"

"As expected of the Sword God from Sword God's Holy Land! One strike! He severed that Red Dragon's neck, covered in hard scales, with one strike?! Is that the power of Second Sword God Cain Blade?! It's unbelievable!"

Every adventurer present was fired up by Cain's strike and began cheering for him. The S-rank Demonic Beast Red Dragon had not even lasted one blow before this Sword God who had appeared out of nowhere.

"Th-this time, we really found a treasure..."

Zoldat swallowed, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He knew Cain should have been able to kill the Red Dragon, but he had not expected Cain to instantly kill it.

He had thought it would be a hard battle, perhaps even a legendary one. Who would have thought that Cain would accomplish such a miraculous feat in less than ten seconds after stepping onto the field alone? The long-range Blade of Light—the curve of that slash of light had been impossibly beautiful, and the young man's movement when unleashing Blade of Light had been as perfect as a god's.

Amid the cheers of the adventurer parties, Cain remained calm, his gaze casually sweeping over the crowd.

"The first one. I remember Master once saying that he wanted to kill a Red Dragon. I suppose this counts as fulfilling one of his wishes..."

As Cain murmured, he spotted his other master among the crowd—the young girl with two blue braids, who had pulled down her wizard hat to hide her cute face.

"Master Roxy! Over here, over here!"

Under everyone's shocked gazes, Cain called out as though he had found his most precious treasure. His cold expression broke into a radiant smile the moment he saw Roxy in the crowd.

Cain waved at Roxy, whose face was flushed red as she covered it and did not dare look at the astonished adventurers around her. Smiling, he walked over in high spirits.

Ahhh, that idiot disciple! There are so many people here! Don't shout so loudly! This is so embarrassing!!!

Roxy became the center of attention for the hundreds of adventurers present. She was so embarrassed that she wanted to bury her little head in the snow and become a cute ostrich that stayed out of the world's affairs.

"She's the master of Second Sword God Cain Brand?!"

"Hey, hey! Is that for real?!"

The many adventurers stared dumbfoundedly at Roxy, who stood inconspicuously among them with the build of a little girl. The scene instantly fell silent.

Hey! What are you all so surprised about?! Sorry that I'm his magic teacher!

Roxy pursed her lips, her cheeks burning red. Looking at Cain, who had walked over with a bright smile on his face, her feelings were extremely complicated.

"Hmm? Don't you all have anything to do? What are you staring at us for? There's more than one Red Dragon. Stay alert and prepare for battle. Pull yourselves together—this isn't the time to lose focus."

Cain saw how embarrassed his master was and realized it was probably because of the gazes around them. Dissatisfied, he loudly addressed the adventurers staring at them.

"Y-yes! Sword God!"

"Long live Sword God! Long live Sword God's master!"

The adventurer force of more than a hundred people raised their swords, shields, and magic staffs, shouting as one.

It was as though Cain were the leader of this force made up of dozens of elite adventurer parties.

Zoldat smiled helplessly as he looked at Roxy and Cain amid the adventurer party.

"Looks like the cost of recruiting him will have to go up."

Instantly killing a Red Dragon—such strength was enough to conquer every adventurer present.