Epilogue: I’d destroy the world if I could have it! part 4

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Translator: Soafp

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“Shadow?!”

Alexia’s astonished voice.

“Shadow……”

Christina was also startled. But as she looked up at Shadow, she felt her heart pounding somewhat.

“Shadow. I knew you would come. ……”

Fenrir does not seem to be shaken. Before long, he is confronted by Shadow with a burst of magical power.

“Disguised as a student, looking for an opening? You’re a tricky man.”

“No, it was just a sideshow.”

“You’re full of lies. For a mere sideshow, it is very elaborate. I am not so much of an old geezer as to misread your intentions.”

“……Hoo”

“People lie to hide what they do not want others to know. Behind every lie is the truth.”

“That makes sense.”

“You went to the trouble of disguising yourself as a student, looking for an opening and avoiding a head-on fight with me. There is only caution. You tried to hide your fear of me by lying in the form of a sideshow.”

“Pfft……Don’t make me laugh, old man.”

“If so, that’s a shame. I was a little amused to find out just how good Shadow really is. I was a little amused to see that after so many years, a man who had reached the top of the sword had surpassed my imagination.”

Fenrir then readied his blood fangs.

“Shall we give it a try?”

Shadow held up his jet-black sword lightly.

“I’ve always wanted to try it.”

Fenrir’s hips dropped deep. Blood fangs drawn far back, he half-strides.

“Shadow, don’t let me down.”

The next moment, Fenrir’s figure vanished in a swirl of white mist.

“Ancient Swordsmanship Mystery ─ Cicada in the Air”

Fenrir appeared behind Shadow.

Blood fangs had already been swung out, forming a zanshin (a form of lingering mind).

“Hoo……, you managed to block”

Fenrir said happily.

Shadow’s long coat has a single scratch on it. Fenrir had left a mark on it.

“I’ve been hit by fast swords many times. But this sword is …… slow.”

Shadow repaired the wound on his long coat and looked back.

“Only once did you realize how slow it was.”

A white mist swirled around Fenrir.

“Interesting …….”

Shadow quietly surveyed the flow of magic.

The next moment, Fenrir disappeared again. Another wound was carved into Shadow’s long coat. It was deeper than the first blow.

“Once again, yet another block.”

Fenrir took Zanshin behind Shadow’s back.

“As I thought, you’re slow.”

Shadow patted the wound on his long coat and repaired it.

“Can you see the locust in the sky?”

“I almost saw it, but I couldn’t.”

“Then how could he have blocked it?”

“I ducked just as the blades touched. That’s all.”

“It’s Jujutsu, isn’t? I heard there is a martial art that neutralizes attacks like willow.”

“I’ve never studied it.”

“So you’re a natural?”

“I’m not that talented.”

“Then why?”

“Practice.”

“Hoo….That is the truth of martial arts.”

Fenrir sits back down again and readies his blood fangs.

“Then take the training of the old wolf.”

A white mist swirled around him.

“…..I see.”

Shadow swung his sword. The sword was aimed at the empty space.

“—-brilliant.”

And then, Fenrir’s figure disappeared.

The next moment, Fenrir appears behind Shadow. Blood gushed out from Fenrir’s shoulder.

“….. have I been spotted?”

Fenrir said, holding the wound on his shoulder.

“No, I followed the flow of magic.”

“I see,……, the seeds have cracked.”

“The empty cicada is a magical afterimage. Its counterpart is the slow sword, whose presence has been reduced to the barest minimum.

“Indeed. I was already wielding the sword when you were looking at the cicada. You saw right through me. The power of it all, was it real?”

Fenrir turned and readied himself again.

“Are you going to continue?”

“Of course. I have been waiting for this day for a long time. There is no better moment to test my skills. I cannot wield the sword alone.”

Then, he lengthened his blood fangs.

“My secret of sublimation of the empty locust, take it, Shadow.”

Fenrir swung out his blood fangs.

But Shadow dodged before he could.

The white mist cracked, carving a gash in the ground. A blood fang, whip-like, followed later.

The order was reversed, and the attack was further accelerated by Fanrir’s technique.

The number of blood fangs was increasing.

One, two, three …… fangs increased each time Fenrir wielded his blood fangs, finally reaching nine.

Fenrir, holding nine blood fangs, laughed.

“This is the pinnacle of swordsmanship—-the blood fangs of the cicada.”

Nine blades strike Shadow from all directions at the same time.

“Hou ……”

Shadow exhaled.

“All the blades in my eyes are afterimages.”

Then he closed his eyes as if giving up.

The next moment, the nine slashes made Shadow’s body dance.

To the right, to the left, up, down —- like a wild game of dolls, he was cruelly discarded.

“Shadow—!”

“Shadow-san!”

Alexia and Cristina screamed. It was such a terrible beating.

Fenrir looked down at the powerless Shadow.

Shadow’s finger twitched.

“….Are you done?”

It was Shadow who said that.

“Not a scratch on you”

Fenrir said.

It was a strange conversation, as if the winners and losers were reversed.

Fenrir swung his blood fangs down on the fallen Shadow.

The blood fangs easily cut Shadow in two and left a deep wound on the ground. However, there was no blood from Shadow’s body.

On the contrary, the flesh was fading away.

“An afterimage…….”

Fenrir muttered, as if giving up.

“I was shown a precious sword.”

A voice comes from the mist.

Nine shadows appeared, echoing with the sound of nine footsteps, knack, knack, knack.

“All at once…….”

Fenrir gasps.

Nine black swords extend. Like dragons, they danced in the mist.

“Splendid!”

Fenrir’s voice had a hint of joy in it.

“Secret technique—Agony of hanging atomi in the empty cicada”

Then, nine dragons devoured Fenrir.

The first one bit Fenrir’s right arm, the second one bit his left arm.

The third one bit Fenrir’s right leg, the fourth one his left leg.

The fifth and sixth mutilated both sides of his torso, the seventh pierced his chest, and the eighth severed his neck.

The ninth one sucked his head into its mouth.

“Still breathing?”

Shadow spoke to the head of the ninth creature.

“Gohu,……, I saw the top of the warrior’s head at the end,……, and you showed me something good.”

Fenrir said in a gravelly voice.

“There is no such thing as the pinnacle of martial arts.”

Shadow said in a bored tone.

“What do you mean, you’re the one who ……”

“Beyond the summit, there is a greater peak. That’s all there is. ……”

“What did you say…..”

“When one thinks that’s the peak, one stops walking.”

“I see, that’s why I ……”

Fenrir’s face showed regret.

“…… The summit is not yet in sight.”

And then the jaws of the ninth dragon closed.

Fenrir’s head shattered.