Sword Saint and the Rust Monsters

Gong Qiying had heard of the Sword Saint Gapar.

I first heard this name after the rampage in the Zane Dungeon. I heard from the guild that Leon had received training from the other party, which is why his strength improved by leaps and bounds and he even defeated the Avatar of Soul Five.

However, Gong Qiying felt that Leon was able to defeat the incarnation mainly because of his invincible Swift Slash and Snack Marathon. That battle did not really show his increase in hard power.

Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've seen Leon. Where did that kid go? Is he thinking about another dungeon?

The second time I heard the name of Sword Saint Gapar was just two days ago, when he appeared with the professors of the Magic Association and made a big show of himself at the end of the Battle of Val City.

The people of Bede City were in an uproar. It was the first time they had ever seen such a powerful figure—the legendary Sword Saint!

Earl Ka Rong rushed to visit Jia Paer, but found no one there; the man had long since vanished.

Now I realize that I've ended up in the Zane Dungeon.

"I don't know when he came in. He's been busy with other things lately." One person's energy is indeed limited. Gong Qiying pinched the bridge of his nose and focused on Jia Paer's battle.

He is likely a Tier 1 fighter in this world, and it is worth observing him closely.

Farron Keep.

Jia Paer used some kind of technology to stand on the Swamp without getting dirty at all.

He was surrounded by a raging Ghrū, and several Ghru Elders were casting spells, making the situation extremely dangerous.

Just seeing that he had a way to avoid the latrine made Gong Qiying think that this person was a formidable enemy.

Sword Saint! My poison pool is so magnificent, why did you hide from it!

Just as Ghru Elder's magic was about to reach them, and the berserk Ghrū swarmed forward, Jia Paer made his move.

He drew his sword. Unlike the straight swords commonly used by the public, the blade of that sword was thin and long, as if a regular straight sword had been stretched. At first glance, it looked like a katana, but it was double-edged.

Jia Paer took a step forward, and a circular aura rapidly expanded from him, instantly enveloping all the monsters present.

With a seemingly ordinary sword strike, the closest Ghrū, was instantly beheaded. By then, the other demons had already pounced on him, and there was no way to dodge at that distance!

A miraculous thing happened: the next second, a slash appeared on the bodies of all the monsters shrouded in the circle.

The slashes appeared in unpredictable locations; some severed arms, some chopped off legs, some cleaved vertically, and even Ghru Elder's magic was struck and dissipated into the air.

More than a dozen monsters fell in an instant, and the Sword Saint wiped out the entire enemy force.

Drops of water trickled down the blade, washing away the bloodstains. Jia Paer deftly shook the weapon dry, sheathed it, and continued walking forward.

"Is your sword called Muramasa?" Gong Qiying asked sarcastically.

I don't know if that "circle" is Weapon Skill, magic, or Unique Talent, but it looks pretty powerful. Judging from the appearance, the effect is to cover all the creatures inside the circle with the slash.

I didn't see how exquisite the Sword Saint's martial arts were; I only saw the pure mechanics and stats.

Jia Paer continued forward, instantly defeating any monsters he encountered with a single strike. If more than ten monsters surrounded him, he would activate "Circle." He made his way through without any obstacles.

Gong Qiying threw the Soul-Sucking Ghost down ahead of time, and the two immediately engaged in a fierce battle upon encountering each other.

Jia Paer used four moves before finally slaying the Soul-Sucking Demon with his sword.

"Fortunately, not all of them were one-hit kills,"

Gong Qiying gradually increased the level of the monsters he deployed, starting from D Rank and capping at C+, alternating between non-humanoid and humanoid monsters, basically giving the monsters no chance to rest.

It is clear that Jia Paer is more dominant when facing humanoid enemies. He can even use a technique similar to parrying with his longsword, and ordinary Crucible Knight are powerless against him.

It truly lives up to its reputation as a crucible for weak rebound.

However, after replacing the Crucible Knight with other humanoid enemies of the same level who are not so weak at parrying, Jia Paer often has to fight for dozens of rounds to finally win.

It seems that while the Sword Saint is strong, he is not so strong as to be mindless and absurd.

As for non-humanoid monsters, he would always slash here and there, and only after finding their weakness would he unleash his full power to defeat them in one move.

Regardless of whether the attacks of the non-humanoid monsters he faced were ferocious or slow, he never retreated or dodged, always using his sword to parry. The longsword, which looked like it would break at the slightest touch, was able to block the huge Beast Claw; his skill was truly astonishing.

This also revealed one of his... well, you could call it a quirk or a characteristic: he seemed too lazy to dodge the monsters' attacks.

Even when he tries to dodge, it's only a small step; I've never seen him do anything as big as a roll.

Was it that these monsters were not strong enough for him to dodge? Or was he the kind of tough guy who would swear never to dodge an attack, like the characters in Japanese anime?

That shouldn't be the case; he would dodge the Soul Eater's throwing techniques as well.

However, he was too lazy to dodge the attacks of the Ghrū. Even when being washed, he could still grab them and pull them off. The monsters' sharp teeth and claws could only leave white marks on his body.

The case is solved. He was able to withstand those weak attacks only because he was physically strong.

As expected, Jia Paer's martial arts skills are also very strong. He has both high stats and good technique. Is there no way to defeat him?

Jia Paer continued walking forward, seemingly in no hurry to clear the level, but rather slowly exploring the map.

The mass destruction of monsters was nothing to Gong Qiying; the Spirit Power Jia Paer released during the battle was equivalent to the cost of the monsters.

What distressed Gong Qiying was that Jia Paer remained expressionless, as if nothing in the dungeon held any interest for him.

This is undoubtedly the ultimate insult to the people who designed the dungeon.

"Anything is fine, I have to make this guy's expression change a bit,"

He watched for a while and noticed that Jia Paer always meticulously cleaned his sword blade after Execute monsters, showing that he was a sword enthusiast.

Gong Qiying tapped his finger on the list of Available Monster, then stared intently at the Crystal Ball, mimicking Commander Ikari's gesture with a serious expression.

So, after walking for a while, Jia Paer suddenly encountered a group of monsters he had never seen before.

They looked like a group of insects, but each one was larger than a person, with two long antennae like feathers.

[Rust Monster]

This is a monster that lives off the heat emitted when metal oxidizes; when weapons hit them, the corrosion process is accelerated.

The tentacles of the Rust Monster can greatly accelerate the rusting process, making them a big problem for melee classes.

Of course, the Rust Monster are not native monsters either, and local adventurers know nothing about them.

Jia Paer had heard that the Zane Dungeon was known to produce new monsters he had never seen before, so he was not surprised by it.

"You have new blood to make you happy," Jia Paer, stroking the slender blade with the look of someone looking at a comrade.

Although he wanted to become a magician, he still loved the weapons that accompanied him in battle to the extreme.

This longsword is considered a fine piece among his many weapons. It has no enchantments or anything, but it can actively clean bloodstains, which is really convenient.

He liked it very much.

Seeing the Rust Monster swarm forward, Jia Paer once again used "Circle" and slashed out with his sword!

The so-called circle, in his words, is called "Severing Domain," Unique Talent he was born with.

It can be regarded as an alternative form of Space Magic. Under the effect of Severing Domain, when Jia Paer slashes out with his sword, his sword lands on all the monsters in the domain after a one-second delay.

It's equivalent to using a sword to cut everyone at the same time; that's a physical attack.

"Pfft!"

One Rust Monster was severed from its body, and a second later, all the Rust Monster were Execute.

As we all know, corrosion begins the moment a weapon comes into contact with the Rust Monster's body, and the more contact it has, the more severe the corrosion becomes.

What if the weapon comes into contact with a group of Rust Monster at the same time?

The Rust Monster collapsed in droves, Jia Paer admired his masterpiece with satisfaction, about to wipe the blood off his sword.

Huh, why does it feel so light in my hand?

Looking down, he saw that only the wooden hilt of the longsword remained in his hand.

The blade has vanished!

Jia Paer is down.

He stood there like a motionless statue, staring blankly at the sword hilt for a very long time, not even reacting when a bunch of Ghrū ran up to him.

When he finally realized what had happened, his face visibly turned red, a condition known as "red fever."

Me, and my sword.

Jia Paer looked dejected, finally no longer expressionless.

This is the expression I wanted to see! Gong Qiying was completely satisfied, feeling his withered body full of vitality.

The sword saint's Spirit Power was surging, equivalent to the deaths of several adventurers, and it was still rising rapidly.

The Ghrū circled around him, calling out hoarsely, but none of them dared to approach due to his powerful aura.

Jia Paer suddenly glared at the Ghrū, who were startled because their hair stood on end in anger, like an old lion whose rage had been provoked.

"Me, me"

He slapped Ghrū's head so hard it shattered, and could no longer maintain his previous nonchalant demeanor, roaring:

"I'll scatter you all!"

Then, Gong Qiying saw the enraged sword saint suddenly transform into a boxing champion, relentlessly beating people with fists the size of sandbags.

Enraged, he didn't care about the dirt anymore and stepped into the Swamp, offering his fist as a sacrifice to his weapon!

Strange, why is the Swamp's deadly poison ineffective against him?

As if given a command, the monsters charged at him. Jia Paer fought with increasing ferocity, and in his rage, he no longer dodged the attacks, taking down a monster with a single punch.

The consequence of not dodging was that his body began to show signs of injury; it turned out that he could be breached.

However, some monsters accumulate abnormal effects, and neither poison, freezing, burning, nor anything else works against them.

"An abnormal immune state?"

Gong Qiying had just lowered his head to search for any other monsters he could throw up to test when he looked up again and suddenly discovered—

Hey, why is Jia Paer lying on the ground?

Upon closer inspection, black thorn-like things emerged from his body, and various insects swarmed around him.

These special effects look so familiar; isn't this Curse of Death?

Beside Jia Paer's corpse, several Curse Frog happily stuck out their tongues.

Even Gong Qiying was stunned.

How could a swordsman with such a high level of prestige die like this?

Could it be that although this guy is immune to abnormal states, he...

Is it not immune to abnormal states like Curse of Death that don't exist in the native world?