Chapter 268: The Curtain Falls

"Hiss, is this what you meant by 'not good at sword arts,' Lord Clown?"

Outside the arena, Ghost Face, who was overlooking the entire battle, clearly saw the whole process of that stunning strike.

She clearly witnessed how this Lord Clown, who had previously claimed her sword arts were average, drew her sword, how she cut through the torrent of light with one strike, stepped forward, went against the current, and finally lightly slashed across the neck of the resurrected Holy Knight.

That was a peerless sword technique that could not be described in words. It was clearly a strike that surpassed god-like speed, and it should have been fast enough to exceed the limits of her vision, but in fact, she had incredibly witnessed the entire drawing process. Everything seemed like slow motion.

If one had to use a metaphor, it was probably a bit like the close-up CG of a character releasing an ultimate move in a game. Under that strike, Lord Clown briefly transcended the world and stood outside of it. She was no longer in the current space-time, forming a space-time turbulence with the existing space-time. That was why this situation occurred where it was clearly a strike of god-like speed, but felt like slow motion to the senses.

What a terrifying strike this was.

As an Eastern Witch, Ghost Face had learned ancestral sword arts from her Shrine Maiden teacher since she was young. The sword arts in their village had always been famous in the Witch World, and her sword art talent was the best in the whole village. At sixteen years old this year, she had already awakened her Sword Soul and was the youngest Sword Saint in the village.

The Shrine Maiden teacher had said that as long as she didn't slack off and practiced hard, she had a chance to reach the pinnacle of sword arts before she was a hundred, becoming the first Sword God in the village since its founding.

But it was precisely because Ghost Face's sword arts were excellent that she could understand the terror of Lord Clown's strike just now better than anyone else. That was the most terrifying strike she had ever seen in her life.

Could this be the supreme realm of sword arts recorded in the sword manuals left by the ancestors—the "No Thought, No Mind" strike? So it wasn't a legend, but a fact?

Ghost Face was very shocked. Before today, she had only thought that strike existed in theory, not in reality.

After all, their village had been established for twenty or thirty thousand years, but in such a long time, no one had ever reached that "No Thought, No Mind" realm to become a Sword God.

Although the sword manual said that the Eastern Universe had peerless Sword Immortals who could open the heavens with one strike and split the sea with sword light, they, the younger generation, only listened to it as a legend.

And now, the legend was reflected in reality; the Sword God was right before her eyes.

"I'm such a fool, really. I clearly knew that this Lord Clown was a big shot with a quirky taste for playing the pig to eat the tiger, so why did I actually believe her nonsense about not being good at sword arts?"

Ghost Face mocked herself. At this moment, she only felt that the clown was actually herself.

She had always known that this Lord Clown was hiding her strength. After all, in her perception, Lord Clown only had a little over 30,000 Mana. But could that little Mana make one a Grand Inquisitor? Thinking with one's feet, it was impossible. She must have used some secret method to conceal her strength.

Therefore, when they first met, she had sighed in her heart about the big shot's deep schemes, but she never expected that she would still fall for it. One could only say that the big shot's disguise was truly powerful.

However, a living Sword God was right in front of her; could she just watch and not do something?

Recalling that strike that stunned the world, Ghost Face's heart began to stir.

On the other side, in the arena.

"So, the true Swallow Reversal only needs one strike. The three strikes in an instant of the past were ultimately just taking shortcuts because the realm wasn't high enough."

Dorothy was also savoring the strike she had just unleashed, feeling as if she had gained some insight.

Swallows are birds with excellent flight techniques. They travel with the wind and are very sensitive to changes in the wind. Therefore, no matter how fast that strike is, the swallow can always sense the change in the wind in advance and dodge it.

Therefore, the Secret Sword: Swallow Reversal created by Sword Saint Sasaki was actually a sword technique that sealed off movement. One strike slashes at the swallow, two strikes seal the swallow's movement. Facing these three strikes unleashed in an instant, even the most agile bird had nowhere to escape; it would definitely be cut down by one of the strikes.

Of course, the human limit is three strikes in an instant, but witches can easily surpass human limits. Dorothy had been able to do nine strikes in an instant at her peak, but that actually didn't have much meaning. After all, an enemy that three strikes couldn't kill would be the same with nine.

It looked like a big improvement, but in reality, there was no qualitative change at all.

But after clarifying her heart and understanding "No Thought, No Mind," what three strikes or nine strikes? One strike was enough. Why think so much about sealing movement? Just slash, and that's it.

The enemy is right in front of me, so I unleash my blade. If it hits, everything is just that simple.

"Also, sword arts are actually quite simple; it's people who think too much. This is probably what 'returning to simplicity' means."

Although the sword in her hand was not stained with blood, Dorothy still habitually performed a blood-shaking motion, then rotated the hilt and sheathed the large katana, which was over a meter long.

Clang...

Accompanied by the sound of the tsuba colliding with the scabbard, the Shut-in Martial Soul turned around and looked at the Succubus Holy Knight behind her, who was still maintaining her previous sword-holding posture.

"You lost."

Dorothy said quite happily.

This time, she wasn't using the same mutually destructive fighting style as before; she had won fair and square against Madeline, the president of the Armament Club.

"Yeah, you won. You really are a monster."

The Succubus Witch also frankly admitted her defeat. She also recalled the strike she had faced.

Probably no one understood how terrifying that strike was better than her, the victim.

She had also clearly seen the entire process of the opponent drawing the sword, which looked like a slow-motion close-up. She should have had the chance to change her move to defend or dodge.

But in the end, she could only watch helplessly as she was beheaded by a single strike, unable to make any reaction.

Change move to defend? That strike only looked slow; in fact, it was a strike of god-like speed. Her movement to sheath her sword to defend had just begun, and the opponent's attack was already right in front of her.

Dodge? That was a strike that was impossible to dodge, because in Madeline's perception, the young lady wasn't slashing at her at all, but at the entire world she was in.

When that strike approached, everything else in the Succubus Witch's perception had disappeared, leaving only the young lady who seemed to have transformed into a giant standing between heaven and earth, and the huge katana in her hand that was comparable to a mountain. Facing this strike that felt like Mount Tai pressing down with full pressure, she had nowhere to hide and could only endure it.

Hehe, as expected of you, young lady. In just one month, can a person's progress really be this great?

Madeline recalled that a month ago she could still crush the opponent with martial arts, but now she had tried her best and still couldn't block the opponent's strike. Her heart was filled with mixed feelings.

Just then, a blood line cracked open on her smooth, delicate, and beautiful neck, and then, a beautiful head naturally slid off.

Hmm, as expected of the woman I took a fancy to.

At the very end, the Succubus Witch smiled beneath her mask, feeling relieved.

That strike was really too fast, so fast that her body hadn't even realized the fact that she was already dead.

... Madeline is turning into light... ===== CHAPTER 269 =====