SWNOVELXO Chapter 324
Chapter 325. It Was Winter (1)
As Keter had anticipated, Kai knew of Henya’s whereabouts.
Moreover, just by hearing Keter’s words about finding Henya, he had already grasped his intentions.
“You plan to fight Lord Eslow.”
“Of course, you’ll help, right?”
Once before, Kai had attempted to assassinate Lord Eslow. Although the plan was thwarted by Ayrus’s betrayal, even if it hadn’t been, he wouldn’t have been able to capture Lord Eslow. Lord Eslow was far stronger than the Empire had imagined.
“Hmm.”
Kai scrutinized Keter’s entire body, then shook his head.
“Your growth is exponential. But even assuming you’ve become a 7-Star Prime, you absolutely cannot defeat Lord Eslow. I understand why you want to take him down, but I advise against it.”
“Are you trying to curb Sephira’s growth?”
Tap.
Kai closed the book he was reading and even took off his glasses.
“People like you and me can’t always be persuaded with words. Follow me.”
“Fine by me.”
Kai, as if walking into his own living room, entered Sephira’s most remote underground training room. There, four blue-haired boys, Six Hundred, were waiting.
But they weren’t Six Hundred. Though their hair was the same blue, their height and build had grown larger.
“Know this as an honor. These are the Empire’s new Homunculi, completed less than a week ago.”
Kai pointed to Decameron, who had followed Keter.
“Their performance is more than three times that of Decameron. Their cognitive abilities have also doubled. Most importantly, their resistance to divine power has greatly increased, allowing them to counter Authority.”
Keter rubbed his ear.
“Did you call me here to boast?”
“With just two of the latest Homunculi, they can defeat a Prime. Even if four such Homunculi gather, they can’t handle an Irregular. Keter. If you can defeat the four Homunculi here, our Special Operations Unit will fully support you.”
“By the way, can you record and analyze my fighting style? Clever old man.”
“If you put it that way, aren’t you also enjoying the privilege of experiencing the Empire’s Homunculi ahead of time?”
“That sounds like I’m going to fight the Empire or something.”
“The Empire’s goal is continental unification. We aim for peaceful unification, but there are moments when it’s impossible without fighting, like now.”
“Peaceful unification? Not bad as a slogan.”
Keter distanced himself with those words. There was no point of agreement on such topics.
“Since the dawn of civilization, the best means of solving problems has been fighting. And that truth won’t change even thousands, tens of thousands of years from now.”
“I agree.”
Further conversation was a waste of time. Kai stepped back, and the four latest Homunculi stepped forward.
“It’s quite cramped, but that penalty makes the fight more interesting.”
“I knew that when I called you here.”
Keter’s Celestial Infinity Technique has a wide range. Milky Way, which mainly causes massive explosions, is his main strength, but it’s very difficult to utilize in such an underground space.
On the other hand, the Homunculi are adept at both close and long-range combat. They never tire, feel no fear, and are artificial lifeforms with infinite energy. The perfect soldiers every leader dreams of—Homunculi. They never betray, are versatile, and are powerful soldiers.
Meanwhile, Keter wasn’t afraid of the Celestial Infinity Technique leaking to the Empire, which harbored ambitions of unification.
‘Because the Celestial Infinity Technique isn’t complete.’
There is no ‘end’ to the Celestial Infinity Technique. Keter didn’t ‘complete’ it. He can change it anytime. He can add more formulas.
The word ‘complete’ implies no further changes. Keter believed that was no different from obsolescence.
‘It constantly changes. Of course, it’s tough, but it won’t get boring.’
With that, Keter clashed with the Homunculi in high spirits.
I can definitely feel it. The creator’s determination.
‘They handle irregular archery flexibly. Does the Empire have an archer like me? Or is this customization just for me?’
Kai’s confidence wasn’t unfounded. The latest Homunculi were impressive. There’s no denying it.
Transparent arrows, bending and curving arrows. They react and deflect them all. If they judge it can be blocked, they layer defenses instead of dodging. There’s no flaw.
Their attacks are also flawless. They relentlessly press with swordsmanship and martial arts. What seemed like a gap was a trap, and attacks that seemed blockable were heavy.
Most annoyingly, they can freely use magic. And in combination.
“Ice World.”
A 6th-circle ice magic, Ice World, is cast with a single word. For a Homunculus to use incantations so easily, isn’t that cheating?
The temperature in the underground training room drops instantly. It could be used as a freezer. The air freezes, slowing the arrows.
Dodging a slash aimed at my ankles, icicles rain down from the ceiling.
‘Their coordination is quite smooth and well-structured. There was no sign of signaling each other. Are they mentally connected?’
The claim that their performance improved two or three times over Decameron was a lie. It’s at least five times. No need for false modesty here.
Injuries pile up. Even minor wounds can’t be ignored. The extreme cold slows recovery.
Bleeding accumulates. Time isn’t on my side. The opponent has infinite stamina.
‘In an open field, there are many strategies I could use, but in such a confined space, I’m at a disadvantage.’
Of course, if I wanted, I could go above ground. But I shouldn’t.
An open field is where ‘I’ want to be. Not where the opponent wants to be. If the opponent must kill me, they’ll gladly follow me to an open field. But what if it’s the opposite?
For example, if I go to kill Lord Eslow, and he doesn’t leave his palace?
As an archer, I can shoot arrows from outside, but Lord Eslow’s palace itself is Authority. Even I can’t destroy a fortress made of Authority.
It’s not for nothing that Lord Eslow stays holed up in his palace, and other princes can’t do anything about it. If he holds his ground within his domain, even two or more Transcendent Beings can’t do anything.
Now, Kai is asking me this:
-Suppose you manage to lure Lord Eslow to an open field. But what if, cornered, he flees to a narrow place like his palace? Your archery doesn’t exert its full power in tight spaces.
I must answer his question. I have a plan. To prove it, I must defeat the Homunculi in this cramped underground training room.
‘Actually, whether I die or not, they could have just let me meet Lord Eslow.’
From the Empire’s perspective, that would be more convenient. Me and Lord Eslow destroying each other.
But for some reason, Kai is helping me grow. Even if he acts like he wants to steal the techniques of the Celestial Infinity Technique.
‘As expected, even among the same sex, this guy’s popularity is inescapable.’
Seeing my satisfied smile, Kai said to the Homunculi:
“Seeing him smile, he’s not fully focused. Release the limit.”
They weren’t at full power yet? Instantly, the Homunculi’s skin turns black. It’s not just a paint job.
Thwack!
Proving it immediately, their speed nearly triples. In the blink of an eye, a chunk of my shoulder is sliced off. A moment slower, and my arm would have been severed.
‘How many of these does the Empire have?’
I must admit it. The Empire is truly insane. Without Authority, dealing with those Homunculi would be tough.
‘…That’s what Kai must be thinking.’
The Celestial Infinity Technique is an archery I perfected over 30 years in my past life. During those 30 years, did I only fight in open fields? Of course, there were times I had to fight in tight spaces like now.
Celestial Infinity Technique, 5th Form: ‘Kaleidoscope – Asamkhya’.
Acceleration, refraction, and spatial movement panels fill the underground training room without gaps.
My Authority in my past life wasn’t specialized in attack. Therefore, the technique itself had to be close to Authority.
Power comparable to Authority. That is my Celestial Infinity Technique.
Celestial Infinity Technique, 4th Form: ‘Scatter, Split – Tusk’.
Each of the dozens, hundreds, thousands of split arrows is imbued with the penetrating power of Tusk.
The Homunculi, who had countered all techniques so far, tried to deflect as many arrows as possible, but even deflecting hundreds, thousands remained.
Thousands of arrows collide with the walls of the training room. And the walls are made of kaleidoscopes.
Arrows that touch the kaleidoscopes split, accelerate, refract, or move to other kaleidoscope panels.
Infinite changes and amplification. The arrows’ speed is now so fast they appear as streaks of light. Even Homunculi can’t react.
The Homunculi abandon sensing the arrows and layer all sorts of defenses to withstand the impact.
Innermost is an Aura Shield, outside that a vibrating Mana Shield. Theoretically, a defense that can even block Sword Energy, but-
“Shallow.”
Squeeze.
I clench my fist. The endlessly splitting and accelerating arrows simultaneously strike the Homunculi.
Sparks fly. Simultaneously, the sound of shattering glass echoes, and what were Homunculi scatter into fragments.
The match is clearly over. Torn to pieces smaller than fingernails, how could it not be?
But-
Flash.
Kai’s wide eyes weren’t admitting defeat.
This is why intuition is important. If Kai hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have delivered the finishing blow.
‘It’s obvious it’s not over yet.’
In sparring, there’s an unwritten rule. No matter how long transformations and ultimate moves take, you must wait.
‘But this isn’t sparring.’
So, no need to hold back.
Celestial Infinity Technique, 2nd Form: ‘Milky Way – Spiral’.
Two Milky Ways are twisted together and shot.
This is a Milky Way that initially explodes outward, then condenses inward. The misconception that Milky Way can’t be used in tight spaces was shattered ten years ago.
Kwaaaaaaaah!
As I shoot the Milky Way, Kai’s eyes widen. He didn’t expect me to use this.
But just before the Milky Way’s explosion engulfs the underground training room, seeing the flames swirl inward again, Keter bites his lip.
The ground of Sephira shakes from the explosion of ‘Milky Way – Spiral’.
Even if the explosion condenses inward, its power doesn’t disappear. It’s enough to collapse the entire underground training room.
Yet, it remains intact now, thanks to the kaleidoscope laid down just before casting the technique.
The kaleidoscope isn’t just for assisting attacks. It also absorbs and deflects impacts.
Thanks to that, the underground training room didn’t collapse, and Keter waved off the dust.
“Did I win?”
Keter casually speaks the resurrection spell. When others say this, the opponent usually survives, but Keter is an exception.
There was no trace of the Homunculi. Of course not. Torn to shreds and turned to dust. If they could resurrect from dust, that would surpass immortality.
Kai looked around the training room and sighed deeply.
“I have no idea how to explain the Homunculi’s disappearance to the Director. I didn’t expect you to annihilate them completely.”
“If you want to see my full power, you have to accept some sacrifices.”
“I hope the Director thinks the same.”
Kai, who tried to find even fragments of the Homunculi, soon gave up. Then he looked at Keter’s face.
“I know it’s not, but that arrow that finished off the Homunculi. Was it Authority?”
“Not at all.”
“The barrier the Homunculi deployed at the end was a plagiarism of Kwonhwang’s Iron Blood Divine Technique. Of course, it’s inferior to the original, but to tear through it in one go… Your technique must be at the level of Authority. But it’s definitely not Authority. Because we’ve already identified your Authority.”
“Did it show?”
“Yes. Thanks to you blatantly showing it. The Homunculi used all sorts of binding magic, but you ignored them without a care.”
The most reliable way to subdue a fast opponent is restraint. The Homunculi cast all sorts of binding magic on Keter from the start.
But Keter ignored all binding magic.
This wasn’t just shaking it off. It was as if it never existed, simply not being bound.
Having no intention of hiding it, Keter nonchalantly revealed his Authority.
“Unchain. Not being bound by any restraint. That’s my Authority.”
Keter didn’t need to say it was his first Authority.