He underestimated his opponent’s abilities.
When he sensed an overwhelming presence of magical power and witnessed magic materializing in reality, Rudra reflected on his own carelessness.
It had been many decades since he made the decision to live solely by the sword. He takes pride in the skills he has gradually honed over that time.
He has cut countless people, including powerful foes who were believed to be stronger than he was back then.
Despite his years of combat experience, he misjudged the abilities of the young man named Chrono.
(A Black Mage? Hehe, it’s the first time I’ve seen someone claim to be a Mage with such equipment.)
Moreover, he boasts sword skills that surpass those of an average warrior, and more importantly, he wields a cursed weapon. While he might appear as a berserker, he certainly does not look like a Mage.
However, Chrono demonstrated his magic in reality—not the enhancement magic typically learned by Swordsmen, but attack magic meant to kill.
The red blade of the large sword in his left hand ignited with black flames, while in his right hand was a magic wand known as a ‘gun.’
Countless black bullets floated around him, along with ten black long swords, all aimed at Rudra, poised to attack and brimming with magical power.
These were unprecedented and mysterious spells he had never seen before—likely primordial magic. He could feel deep in his bones, intuitively, that they possessed lethal power equal to that wielded by top-tier Mages.
(Very well, I will accept it, Chrono!)
Thus, the Black Magic was finally unleashed toward Rudra.
“Fire all magic bullets!”
The first to move was the countless bullets.
With a blinding flash distinct from darkness, accompanied by a roaring sound, they were shot straight at Rudra.
However, all of the created bullets moved simultaneously, as if a black wall were approaching—meaning there was no escape.
“Harden!”
With nowhere to dodge, he had no choice but to defend.
He used the defensive martial art ‘Harden,’ which allows him to harden his entire body with magical power refined within his vampire physique, preparing for the damage.
“Dash!”
Of course, he wouldn’t foolishly try to absorb the attack head-on; he used his sword to swiftly deflect the incoming bullets, aiming to cover vital points like his head and heart.
Rudra had confidence in his ability to deflect even a rain of arrows, but before the dense curtain of bullets, it was only possible to evade them to avoid being hit in critical areas.
Though the steel-like bullets grazed his shoulders, sides, and legs, thanks to his physique and martial arts, he managed to fend off the attacks without taking significant damage.
“Pierce, Magic Sword!”
In the brief moment between the firing of the bullets and their impact, Chrono launched a follow-up attack.
Now, the floating ten swords surged toward him with the force of arrows released from a bow.
“Rapid Dash!”
However, the curtain of bullets had already passed; for Rudra, who was not a defense-focused Samurai like a knight or warrior, he could only avoid most of the attacks.
Thanks to new magical power newly refined in his legs, a martial art granting him a speed akin to teleportation activated, allowing him to easily evade even with just about ten incoming attack lines.
The master-level martial art ‘Rapid Dash’ let him easily escape from ten attacks, yet Rudra underestimated Chrono’s magic as just ‘sending swords flying.’
(Automatic tracking—no, it’s direct control, after all, he must be doing at least that much!)
Rudra dashed through the trees like a gale, but the swords released chased after him, surrounding him in a clever manner using their numbers.
Continuing with his high-speed movement, Rudra first swung his sword at three swords ahead of him.
The swords closing in aimed at his head, chest, and abdomen, lined up vertically.
“Scarlet Flash!”
As he lightly kicked off the ground and jumped, he brought down his sword with martial arts’ might.
As expected, these ten swords were not cursed weapons but merely imbued with magical power. They were sliced in two by the crimson blade of ‘Bloodsucker’ and dispersed black magic and fragments everywhere.
“Dash!”
As if cunningly waiting for the landing, three new swords flew toward him from behind and the left.
Facing the approaching swords from two directions with Rudra at the intersection, he now had to deal with them purely through deflections and body movements.
He couldn’t completely slice them in two, but as he deflected or parried the swords, the black magical coating covering them peeled away briefly, revealing the glint of steel.
(If the magical addition peels away, does it become unmanageable?)
One sword that he parried with strength scattered a large portion of its magical power and suddenly lost its buoyancy, plunging into the ground and becoming immobile.
The other swords, if dodged, did not immediately reverse their momentum, but they turned and attacked again.
To his surprise, even those that had stabbed into the ground or trees pulled themselves out and quickly returned to battle.
(What a troublesome spell; unless I break them all, they will keep targeting me.)
As the last of the ten swords fell from above, aimed at his head, Rudra dodged and swiftly chopped down the sword stuck in the ground before it could free itself.
Just as he was about to anticipate that the one he nearly broke would fly toward him again, he heard the explosive sound of magic bursting forth.
“Magic Bullet Sweep!”
From the ‘Gun,’ the magic wand, black flashes erupted continuously, sending bullets racing toward him as if gouging the ground.
(It’s capable of rapid fire, not just simultaneous shots!)
The bullets were shot in a continuous stream, resembling a black line, complemented by the thunderous sound of their discharge, creating a storm-like atmosphere.
(Should I defend, or no, in a continuous attack, avoiding is my only option!)
Rudra had successfully blocked the simultaneous shots with ‘Harden,’ but the activation time was short, and if he took a hit, the protective magical coating would diminish even further.
He immediately understood that while he might block the initial several dozen shots, he would not be able to shield against the next round of bullets. Even with a strong vampire’s body, taking so many powerful attacks would soon render him combat incapable.
Therefore, he chose to evade.
Fortunately, he still had room to dodge rather than face simultaneous fire.
However, not only the black bullets were targeting him, but the remaining swords were also beginning to move from behind.
With the ongoing effect of ‘Rapid Dash’ empowering his swift legs, he ran in a circular pattern around Chrono, solely focused on evasion.
(This is better than waiting for the attacks to stop; I should make the first move.)
When facing a Mage, it is typically effective to wait for their attacks to pass and then counterattack.
Fundamentally, magic requires incantations or rituals, making attacks much slower compared to swinging a sword.
Of course, magic possesses powerful strength that compensates for this disadvantage, but the more powerful it is, the longer it takes to cast, exponentially increasing the risk of failure if it misses.
Yet, that theory was easily overturned just now.
Chrono’s initial attack of simultaneous bullets: a normal Mage would likely require several seconds of incantation before launching a new attack.
However, the ten swords that followed without giving him a moment’s respite possessed the annoying ability to continue targeting until all were destroyed.
Simultaneously, Chrono unleashed a continuous barrage of bullets.
It was hard to determine how long this could continue, but he had no reason to believe that ‘running out of bullets’ would occur in ten or twenty seconds.
If a Mage could continuously fire attack magic without interruption, the concept of responding after the fact would cease to exist.
In retrospect, Rudra’s choice to focus solely on evasion after weathering that initial storm was a mistake, though only from the perspective gained after experiencing Chrono’s magic.
Now, more than reflecting, he needed to take action to turn the situation around.
(I must prepare to take a few hits.)
He fully understood that his opponent was not someone he could defeat without injury; in fact, the fiercest foes are those that demand he fights bloody.
Rudra, who had been circling Chrono, now made a direct charge at him.
His evasion movements, swerving with such speed that they created afterimages, allowed him to avoid most bullets, but as he approached head-on, the accuracy of the attacks increased significantly.
(As long as I don’t get hit in the head, I can manage.)
Rudra was not careless about armor; he equipped himself with appropriate protective gear.
This seemingly shabby black coat was made of a magical metallic fiber known as ‘Black Steel Weave,’ providing him with solid magical defense.
Even if he faced the magical bullets compressed at high density directly, he had enough defensive power to withstand them without being penetrated.
(If I can just push through—)
Just as he believed that,
“Black Flame!”
Chrono swung the red large sword in his left hand, and roaring black flames spread before him.
Rudra’s vision was filled with the intense heat of darkness; however,
(I will push through!)
Without a moment’s hesitation, he chose to charge straight through.
“Uagh!”
The pain of the flames seared his body; for many races, the agony of being engulfed in flames would be unbearable, but a vampire’s vitality allowed him to endure it.
It seemed this flame lacked the necessary force to stop Rudra’s movement immediately.
Once he passed the hellish inferno, only five meters remained to Chrono.
With just one more step, he’d be within striking distance.
However, Rudra successfully calmed his eager heart at this critical moment.
(So this is when he will attack.)
The moment the black flames obscured his vision and he passed through, Chrono prepared to unleash another assault.
The ‘Gun’ in his right hand pointed straight at him, but the rapid-fire shots had ceased.
Only the two lined-up barrels revealed their dark muzzles.
At the same time, Rudra sensed the approach of the undamaged sword from behind.
Bam!
An explosion-like, intense roar and flash erupted right in front of Rudra.
He anticipated that something would be fired from the gun at this close range.
Knowing this,
“Kyahhhh!!”
With his arm, facing it head-on was not impossible.
Though the distance was merely five meters from the muzzle, with a burst of ki, he swung his sword and intercepted the two approaching bullets.
Fortune favored him, as these bullets lacked any additional explosive effects and were only simple attacks specializing in penetration.
The bullets, which could only travel straight, were captured by Rudra’s superhuman reflexes and intuition, redirected by the blade he held.
The two bullets that were meant to strike Rudra’s chest veered off course, one grazing his left shoulder and the other his side, slightly tearing through his ‘Black Steel Weave’ coat and flesh, drawing a small amount of blood.
Immediately after parrying the bullets, Rudra turned to confront the sword flying towards his back, spinning around with the momentum of his sword.
“Yaaah!!”
With one decisive strike, he knocked all the approaching swords away.
Exposing his back, albeit briefly, right in front of the enemy was deadly, but given the minimal distance required for the blade to reach him, which he surpassed through the extreme speed of his vampire reflexes, it did not create an opening for Chrono to attack.
In fact, Chrono did not swing his blade toward Rudra, who had turned back to face him.
Chrono maintained the same posture he had when firing the gun, half-turned with his right hand still extended toward him.
Thus, Rudra charged forward to try and finish Chrono.
(With my strongest martial art, I will deliver the final blow!)
Unlike magic, martial arts require very little time to activate.
While some, like ‘Harden,’ require buildup, it does not mean that high-power martial arts always necessitate buildup.
This martial art was something Rudra developed through relentless training that rendered counting pointless; it could be considered his ultimate technique.
What he needed was only himself and his sword; no lengthy incantations, expensive catalysts, or special rituals like magic were necessary.
Thus, its execution was the fastest, with unparalleled power.
His beloved sword, ‘Bloodsucker,’ radiated a disturbingly vibrant red aura akin to fresh blood, answering Rudra’s call.
That meant it was a martial art that sought the singular, absolute function of ‘cutting’ to its utmost limits.
“—Sky-Slicing Scarlet Radiance!”
With a skyward red brilliance that sliced through the heavens, the deadly martial art was unleashed, tracing a scarlet arc that glinted in the void as it aimed to cleave the enemy in two.