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[You took a long time this time, right?]
Chaos raised its head and said.
Today, on the first day of October 1801, Jin had entered the door of chaos three months after the last confrontation. It was the first time after he had fought a battle every month.
"I've been choosing a gift for you."
Jin answered in a low voice.
That calm answer was imbued with a deep hostility toward Chaos. If those who had eyes to discern such profound enmity were to see him now, Jin would almost appear like a demon.
[A gift?]
In the past year and three months, Jin had undergone significant changes. Through the challenging battles of the past, he had regained about half of his strength and accumulated new power through training.
Nevertheless, until now, he had not become a match for chaos.
Even the record he achieved in the last fight, a battle that lasted for 18 minutes and 27 seconds, could hardly be considered a proper fight. Most of the time, he focused on evading and eventually retreated.
However, Jin believed that today would be different.
[Well, did you bring a toy for me?]
Chaos snorted.
'Ultimate technique of the shadow Sword... Did he come after perfecting the technique that he used to think about whenever he fought?'
In this space, Chaos can read Jin's thoughts.
That's why, in each battle, Chaos obtained information about all the martial arts that Jin was learning, including the ultimate technique of the shadow sword, and easily destroyed it.
'I didn't even need to do anything to be exact. Even the techniques that seemed somewhat decent were never fully executed because he lacks the power he possesses.'
So far, what had irritated Chaos was solely Jin's pure enmity. Just reading the enmity made Chaos feel uneasy.
Chaos stood up and looked down at Jin. As always, in its eyes, Jin looked weak enough to kill by simply squeezing him with its front paws.
However, after a while, Chaos felt the enmity that Jin harbored suddenly subside.
[Oh, what's this? Have you realized it's no longer effective against me... Huh?]
And that wasn't all.
Not only that, along with the diminishing enmity, Chaos realized that Jin's inner thoughts were no longer readable.
This was also a first.
This was also a first .
[What did you do?]
Jin didn't answer.
Suddenly, in his right hand was Bradamante, stained black with shadow force, and Chaos could not help but be shocked by the sight.
It was because Chaos completely failed to perceive the moment Jin drew the sword. A ominous premonition sent a chilling shiver down his spine, and his scales stood on end.
[What's this!]
Shaak-!
Chaos quickly swung its forepaw, but he didn't feel the impact of a solid hit. Even swinging the front paw again or hastily striking the surroundings with his tail yielded the same result.
'Where did he go!?'
No matter how he turned his head, Jin's figure was nowhere to be seen. It was as if Jin had never entered this space at all.
'There is no trace of opening the door and running away.'
So, if Chaos released his energy throughout the entire space, Jin would inevitably be caught. However, Chaos was worried about one problem that could arise if he did so, but now was not the time to be so relaxed.
Chaos' vision was suddenly blocked.
'My eyes...!'
For a moment, Chaos had no choice but to mistakenly believe that he had gone blind.
This sub-space was originally composed of chaos, but the color and outline of chaos and Jin's body are not covered by the empty darkness.
But not now. Even if chaos put his front paws and tail in front of his face, or turning his head to look at his wings, all he saw was pitch darkness.
Invisible.
Only then did Chaos realize what had happened. The fact that Jin's hostility did not disappear, it was just blocked as if his vision had suddenly disappeared.
Chaos didn't even have to think about what was blocking them.
Shadow force.
In an instant, the energy of chaos that made up the entire subspace was covered with shadow force.
"It seems this time it even affects you..."
When Jin's low voice was heard again, Chaos reflexively twisted his body.
Chaos couldn't tell from which direction it started. At that time, Chaos was exploding energy in all directions with no worries, but even it did not feel the sense of hitting Jin.
Since the dawn of life, darkness had never shed the symbol of 'terror' even once. Therefore, Chaos, for the first time, found himself enveloped in fear.
The opponent who had seemed so pitiful just a few seconds ago was now becoming an unknown terror, pressing Chaos.
[Hey, wait, wait. How is this possible? This is my territory...…!]
"Finally, you're showing your true shallow self in panic, huh?"
[This bastard!]
"Oh, and I guess you can't read my thoughts in this state? If you had just kept your mouth shut, I wouldn't have known that."
It was a 'sign' that the vision of chaos was blocked when the ultimate technique of shadow sword was unleashed.
The sign naturally colored the subspace from the moment Jin decided to use the ultimate technique of the Shadow sword, and from then on, all of its senses became dull without chaos's knowledge, and it was at the point when Jin pulled out his sword.
Chaos hadn't noticed Jin's sword because he had let his guard down.
"Thanks to that, I've gained more confidence."
Over the past year and three months, the shadow sword's ultimate technique, which had plunged Jin into despair countless times, was beginning.
Shadow Sword Ultimate technique - 1st maneuver
First Night
The darkness that engulfed the chaos deepened. Even if chaos opened or closed its eyes, only endless darkness disturbed the mind of chaos.
His mind felt distorted. It just wasn't a feeling. Chaos was aware that his known senses were going out one by one like flickering candles.
After a sense of sight. The sensation of moving his body, the feeling of air touching his skin, the sense of sound reaching his ears—all these senses were fading away.
It was as if he had become an inanimate object.
Despite the overwhelming fear, he couldn't even express his frustration. No sound came out as if his throat were suddenly sealed shut.
Chaos couldn't see, move his body, or make a sound.
He couldn't even feel the struggle of flailing about. Chaos could do nothing but die, like a puppet with cut strings.
'Thoughts... even thoughts!?'
The last thing to be blocked was consciousness.
The darkness that covered all sides was eroding the mind of chaos like water. He desperately tried to hold on to his fading consciousness, but it was futile.
'No...!'
With that thought as the last, all of Chaos's senses and consciousness were extinguished.
However, he couldn't be in a more vulnerable state. Chaos had been in a state where no matter how much he was attacked, he couldn't wake up, and he couldn't even feel the pain of the impact.
Swoosh...….
Eventually, the figure of Jin, gradually taking steps towards Chaos in the darkness, emerged.
Unlike Chaos, Jin was able to recognize exactly what he was doing. Chaos remained motionless, clinging to the curtains of shadow force.
'It's different from when I used it on the sister Battle god. I am able to succeed like this only because he was just a strong demonic creature.'
Jin observed Chaos for a moment.
Jin wasn't relaxing. It was because he was so exhausted that he couldn't do anything else for a moment while unleashing his ultimate technique of the Shadow Sword.
'Certainly, as the siblings said, the shadow sword feels more like an ability than a technique.'
Shadow Sword Ultimate technique - 1st maneuver, the first night is based on Shadow Sword 1st technique 'Soul Slash'.
-By the way, didn't you say that soul slash is the beginning and end of a shadow sword?
-Yes.
-So, even if you master soul slash, does this mean that leaving a sword mark of only 100 steps in this training ground is the limit?
-If you only master the soul slash, that's the limit. However, when you reach the peak of the martial art called the shadow sword, the soul slash is not a technique, but becomes an ability.
The conversation Jin had with Garmund when he first started to receive training for shadow sword in Laprarosa.
At the time, Garmund had said that if he reaches the peak of the shadow sword and executes a soul slash, he can take the life of anyone weaker in will than himself at any time.
The first night could be considered an intermediate stage leading to the ability to wield "Soul Slash" at that level.
If Chaos had a stronger will than Jin's, the result would have been completely different from now.
"Whoa...."
Jin took a deep breath, adjusting his posture. It was time to cut down Chaos and bring an end to this long nightmare.
Swoosh, slash!
Jin leaped through the darkness of the shadow force enveloping the surroundings, wielding the Bradamante. Each time, flashes of sharp black energy cut through Chaos.
Like shattering glass. Chaos's body was breaking apart.
Jin had never landed a single blow on Chaos until now, but as soon as he mastered the Shadow Sword Ultimate Technique, he was effortlessly cutting through Chaos. The realization of easily defeating Chaos filled Jin with a sense of helplessness and thrill at the same time.
It was also the pleasure of finally regaining strength. Each time Chaos' body was cut into pieces, a chunk that glowed like ore was revealed one by one, all of which were Jin's strength that chaos had stolen.
Jin snatched them and replenished his energy, increasing the speed of his sword swings.
Before long, Jin was able to get all his strength back from chaos. Jin's eyes widened at the power that filled his whole body, and what he saw right after was that the body of chaos disintegrated beyond recognition of its original form.
When the first night technique was over, a feeling of exhaustion came over that was so intense that it overshadowed the sense of recovering all the strength.
'No, if I get tired like this now.'
Jin was not yet convinced that he had put an end to the chaos. It almost seemed like that, but there was still plenty of room for Chaos to recover.
And within seconds, the fear became a reality.
[You, damn...!]
The chaos, which had re-formed before anyone knew it, now hovered in the air, glaring down at Jin.
Fortunately, it was incomparably weaker and smaller than before.
On the other hand, Jin was only temporarily exhausted, so if he could overcome this crisis, he would undoubtedly secure a complete victory in the next battle.
[Bastard!]
Chaos descended and spewed an awl into Jin's chest. Jin managed to block the first three, but the fourth awl was unavoidable.
The fourth awl was aiming for the face, and if hit, the head would disappear. Jin gritted his teeth and raised his sword, but it was a little late.
'Did it stop?'
For some reason, the awl stopped moving in front of Jin's eyes. If it hadn't stopped, at least half of Jin's face would have been torn away.
Seizing the opportunity, Jin could have opened the crack with the Shadow Sword and escaped, securing victory in the next battle.
However, Jin suppressed the urge to do so and made eye contact with Chaos.
"You can't kill me, can you?"
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