The Problematic Child of the Magic Tower
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 335: The Violet Brigade (6)
Step, step.
The air changed.
Just from a single person taking a step, everyone, as if by prior agreement, turned their eyes toward her.
As though they all knew who the true protagonist of this place was.
“Can’t you hear me? Move.”
At the appearance of Kaya Lockwood, the members flinched.
Those quick on the uptake hurriedly retreated, but wherever you go, it’s always the half-aware ones that cause trouble.
Especially the two Level-6s whose strength had been enhanced through the Sanctuary of Hierarchy Reversal.
Right now, even someone as infamous as Kaya Lockwood didn’t seem frightening to them.
‘If you think about it, her specialty is just hand-to-hand combat, isn’t it?’
‘...Then aren’t we stronger right now? We’ve got specs on par with Level 8.’
Though the true owner of this power—the Heavenly Sword, who had reached the very late stage of Level 8—was still a monster even while weakened,
if the opponent was merely a woman at Level 7, with no special abilities and only martial skill to rely on?
It really rubbed them the wrong way how she spoke informally like she was their superior.
“....”
“....”
Naturally, they exchanged looks and hardened their expressions.
“Kaya Lockwood. Was that meant for us to hear?”
“You’ve just been watching from the back this whole time—what exactly are you bragging about?”
“.......”
Kaya quietly turned her neck.
Each movement produced a cracking sound that soaked into the silence hanging over the room.
Then she stretched in order—shoulders, waist, knees, ankles—before looking ahead.
“You still haven’t moved?”
“You crazy bitch! There’s a limit to how much you can look down on people—!”
Crack!
A knee slammed into the face of the man shouting at her.
In the next instant, the member was embedded in the wall at the speed of light, never to rise again.
“......I-is he dead?”
His comrade had just been killed.
And by someone who was, at least officially, an ally.
The member wielding twin sickles barely managed to turn his head.
“Hoo.”
There she was—Kaya smiling refreshingly, as though relieved.
“See? This way is faster and easier. People never listen when you try being nice, right?”
“M-monster....”
“Exactly. If people would just understand the first time you talk, it’d be so much better.”
Kaya slowly reached out a hand, yet he couldn’t react at all.
No—he didn’t.
His survival instincts screamed that resisting meant death.
Tap, tap.
Even as she slapped his cheek in a disturbingly casual way, he couldn’t protest.
All he wished for was for this moment to pass quickly.
“Modric.”
At Kaya’s mutter, a man watching from the back flinched.
It was the man who had picked a fight with Oran earlier—the one carrying a black greatsword on his back.
“...I’m listening.”
“These two are your people, right?”
“So what if they are?”
“Take them and get lost to the back. I’ll spare your lives.”
For something said to a fellow Level-7 swordsman, the tone was excessively humiliating.
“Heh... just because you’ve got some skill, you really talk like shit....”
“You just gonna stand there and listen to that?”
As Modric’s companions showed their displeasure, Kaya grinned and looked at him.
“So? Modric, you offended?”
“...!”
Snapping back to his senses, he shook his head.
“No. I’m fine. If my comrades’ words bothered you, I apologize. I’ll make sure they’re more careful.”
“You call that—”
“Shut up.”
He forcibly clamped a hand over the mouth of the colleague trying to complain.
People whispered that Oran Quill acted cocky because Kaya Lockwood backed him, but the truth was the exact opposite.
‘She’s only holding herself back because he’s here. He’s basically her limiter.’
Modric remembered.
He remembered what Kaya had been like before Oran appeared.
Back then, she hadn’t distinguished between ally and enemy depending on her mood.
If something annoyed her, she destroyed it. If necessary, she killed.
Calling her a demon had not been an exaggeration.
‘But after she got a junior... she changed.’
She started showing mercy.
She gave verbal warnings first whenever possible.
Anyone could see she was trying to act like a “good senior.”
The moment he noticed that change, Modric altered his strategy.
‘Instead of confronting Kaya, I started messing with Oran.’
That way, other members would think he stood shoulder to shoulder with her.
It worked well enough that he managed to form a pretty respectable faction within the brigade.
But that only held as long as she allowed it.
‘Right now, that line’s been crossed.’
Quick to read the situation, Modric swallowed his pride and bowed his head.
“I’ll take care of that one myself. If you need anything else, just say the word.”
“Don’t need it.”
“Fine. You’ll handle it yourself, as always.”
Sending endless encouragement and support toward Kaya, Modric led his comrades away to the rear.
Kaya snorted at the clean yet shameless retreat when someone approached.
When she glanced sideways, she saw unpleasant eyes slit like a snake’s.
“Shall I assist you?”
“...I said I don’t need help. That includes you.”
The Designer, one of the strongest here alongside herself, made an exaggerated gesture of wounded feelings.
“Ah, what a shame. I was looking forward to working together with you again.”
“I told you. I don’t turn my back to creeps like you.”
Receiving Kaya’s wary gaze, the Designer shrugged and stepped back.
“If I may, do you remember the Captain’s order?”
“I know.”
The Captain had repeatedly warned them tonight: no one should die if possible.
That included the Heavenly Sword, who had joined them abruptly.
Kaya clicked her tongue lightly.
“I won’t kill him, so relax.”
“That’s good to hear. If things seem too dangerous, I will intervene.”
“Fair warning—don’t interfere. Unless you want to get hit too.”
Even under her razor-sharp warning, the Designer only chuckled and retreated.
Kaya nudged the corpse at her feet aside and fixed her gaze on the Heavenly Sword.
‘An extremely late Level-8 swordsman... even weakened by the Sanctuary of Hierarchy Reversal, he’s still a pain.’
Her World Release, Allform Primordium, was a world designed to be used against the strong.
Because of the sanctuary’s weakening effect, she couldn’t use it on him right now.
If she did, she might actually end up sharing her own power with him instead.
‘Well... doesn’t matter right now.’
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
She was still someone who wouldn’t lose to anyone among Level 7s.
‘Right now, at least.’
She was certain.
His sword would not reach her.
Boom!
The moment she kicked off the ground, her leg lashed out like a whip.
At the same time—flash!—the Heavenly Sword’s blade traced a fierce trajectory toward her.
It was the sword that had taken countless Level-6s and Level-7s, even after losing power.
‘But.’
Slow.
Her foot had already driven cleanly into his side.
Her eyes flickered toward his lower body.
That strike should have shattered his balance completely, yet his legs stood rooted like ancient tree stumps.
‘Even weakened, his fundamentals are still monstrous. No wonder the others couldn’t handle him.’
Bang! Bam!
Like striking a heavy sandbag, Kaya found a rhythm and started pummeling him.
His sword slashed sharply in return each time, but never enough to reach her.
“Old man, block while you’re taking hits. Ah... maybe you can’t even hear me now?”
Looking irritated, Kaya offered a merciful warning.
“If it gets too hard, say so. Just drop your sword. I’ll stop.”
In other words—until he showed intent to stop, this wouldn’t end.
Crack!
Her fist drove into his abdomen.
As his upper body lifted—
BOOM!
Her spinning leg slammed down onto the back of his head.
“....”
He hit the ground—then staggered back up.
Still enduring?
Kaya frowned, reinforcing her fists and feet.
Showing pity now would only make things harder for him.
BOOM!
His body slid across the ground.
But he didn’t fall completely.
Seeing that, Kaya pressed forward mercilessly.
Crack!
His left knee bent at a horrifying angle.
Crunch!
Ribs breaking.
Blood sprayed from his body with every hit, his breathing growing thinner and thinner.
“Seriously.”
She was starting to feel sick of how stubborn he was.
‘Why are you doing this?’
Wouldn’t it be easier for both sides if he just pretended he couldn’t win and collapsed?
Everyone here knew the fight was unfair.
So what was keeping him standing?
“Why are you enduring, old man?”
Her words were light, but her movements heavy.
Her elbow struck his temple, her knee drove into his stomach.
As he staggered off balance, her leg sliced upward and smashed his jaw.
His head snapped back violently—enough force to tear it off.
And yet he didn’t fall.
As if he simply couldn’t, he planted both feet into the ground again and gripped his sword tighter.
“...Shall we end this?”
He clearly had no intention of giving up, so she would have to end it by force.
The aftereffects would probably keep him bedridden for months.
Drawing mana into her body, Kaya’s foot scraped the ground.
The explosive strike shot forward and smashed into his unguarded jaw.
Clink.
The sword that had never left his hand finally fell to the floor.
‘It’s over.’
His jaw was shattered.
No one could endure that.
Just as Kaya lowered her hand, hiding her pity—
“......?”
Her eyes shook.
The old man still stood, his eyes burning.
The Heavenly Sword thought.
Why could he not fall?
The answer came quickly.
‘Just a little more.’
Just a little more.
Ever since he realized that a sword was originally heavy, it felt as though something lay only one step ahead.
Enlightenment was like that.
Something you might reach and yet miss forever.
Something you never knew if you’d encounter again.
A mirage.
‘Why?’
Questions chained endlessly together.
If something as trivial as a dungeon’s effect could make him this powerless, then why had he trained his entire life?
Why had he swung his blade while everyone else slept?
Why had he picked up a sword at all?
—This swordsmanship was created to cut the heavens.
What exactly were the “heavens” the first Sword Master spoke of?
There were no heavens in this dungeon.
Only a dark, suffocating black ceiling.
“Why are you enduring, old man?”
The moment he felt a sense of incongruity was when the tattooed fighter gave that gentle warning.
‘Am I... enduring?’
He was not someone who fought to endure.
He had always been the one to cut down his opponent first.
That was how he had won all his life.
‘Ah. I am enduring.’
With that realization came another question.
Then why, now, could he not cut down his opponent and instead only endure?
The reason was simple.
Because he was weak.
‘Then why am I weak?’
Because the opponent was strong?
No.
Because he had been designated to be weak.
All of it was due to the Sanctuary of Hierarchy Reversal—the order imposed by a dungeon that once worshiped an ancient evil god.
‘Then is the order of a mere dungeon greater than the sword I spent my life forging?’
He could not accept that.
Even if it were true, he would never acknowledge it.
If such an order existed, then he would reject it.
‘...My swordsmanship was created to cut the heavens.’
At that moment, a ray of light appeared at the end of the endless dark tunnel.
‘Ah.’
To cut the heavens—
to cut what exists yet does not exist.
“Heh...”
The Heavenly Sword let out a dry laugh.
He had already reached Level 7 and obtained a world where he swung a sword that could not be seen or held—
One Sword, All Things Severed — The Single Realm, a realm where all surrounding things were treated as blades.
‘I have already been wielding the unseen. What reason is there that I cannot cut the unseen?’
The Heavenly Sword slowly extended his hand.
His trembling fingers had reached their limit, holding not even a sword.
But that didn’t matter.
What he wished to grasp, what he wished to cut, did not need to be visible.
“Be cut.”
Slash!
Along with a light slicing sound audible only to his own ears—
the order that had confined him was severed.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]

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