Chapter 59 - Snapping Blade Technique

Encrid was hit in the side by a quarrel on his eighth today.

The quarrel pierced between his ribs and scrambled his internal organs.

'This is unexpected.'

It was right after he had dodged all the Whistle Daggers and kicked away Rotten, who had ambushed him from behind.

In that brief opening, a quarrel suddenly flew at him. He couldn't possibly dodge it.

'They prepared.'

They really did it thoroughly.

It felt like pulling out the quarrel would cause a more fatal injury.

As he lifted his head just like that, he saw the ugly mug of the Half Fairy right in front of his eyes.

Did all mixed-bloods look like that?

He didn't know.

This was the first time in his life he had encountered a mixed-blood demi-human.

Though he knew most of them didn't receive good treatment.

"You have extraordinary intuition. You."

The Half Fairy spoke from above his head. He was a bastard who really loved to talk.

"I suppose I do. Phew."

Encrid steadied his breathing as he spoke.

It was to show his last desperate struggle, memorizing the Half Fairy's position, the distance, and everything else in his head.

SHING.

In an instant, he drew a broad-bladed dagger and stabbed from bottom to top.

The item called a guard sword whizzed past and grazed the Half Fairy's cheek.

The fairy turned his head sideways to dodge, then kicked Encrid in the stomach.

THUD!

"Urk."

A groan leaked out instead of a scream. The arrowhead lodged in his organs churned his insides. It hurt like hell.

It had already hurt when he moved, but taking a hit made his vision turn white from the terrible pain.

"Nice try."

It didn't take a long time to die. The fairy's handiwork was clean and sharp.

His throat slit, Encrid closed his eyes.

In the today he faced next, the fairy, Rotten, Jack, and Bo all attacked at once.

Even as his hands got tangled and he died, Encrid killed Jack and Bo, and took one of the Half Fairy's arms.

The final blow was to the heart again.

His heart was pierced by an awl-like sword the Half Fairy had hidden at his waist.

After spending nine todays like that, the tenth morning dawned.

He finished gymnastics with Audin and met Jaxon. It was a repeating routine.

Since he couldn't spend a single day idly, Encrid gave his all today as well.

"Could you take a look at my stance?"

Since he didn't care whether it was equivalent exchange or whatever, Encrid showed him how to throw a dagger for the purpose of coaxing Jaxon.

It was a completely different level of proficiency from when he first learned it.

Because it was a technique he had ingrained in his body by holding onto the very edge of his talent.

It was definitely different from before.

Encrid activated Concentrate on a Single Point, relaxed the tension in his body, and used the muscles of his entire body in an instant, as if snapping them.

His hand sliced through the air, and the dagger in his grip flew off with a *TWANG! *

He couldn't say it was like a ray of light, but it was several times faster than before.

"The arm and hand are the launcher, and utilizing the entire body's elasticity. I understood it well up to this point. Does it look like anything is missing?"

Gape.

In all his life, Encrid had never seen Jaxon open his mouth that wide.

Wasn't he a squadmate who always used a calm gaze and tone?

He was a friend with few emotional changes and expressions.

The mouth that expressed his shock quickly closed. His eyes still wavered, but his expression returned to normal.

His mouth had only been open for around a single second.

"Jaxon?"

"Where did you learn this?"

"There was some bastard on the battlefield who threw daggers incredibly well."

"Because he threw them well?"

"I watched and learned."

"You watched and learned?"

He wasn't a parrot, yet he was busy repeating the ends of Encrid's sentences. In truth, it was understandable he was surprised. This kind of technique wasn't something you could master just by simply training.

It was separate from polishing the fundamentals.

Learning it at all was nonsense unless you were born with the sense for it.

Jaxon knew that well.

That was why he was surprised.

But, the Squad Leader did it?

Although his skills had rapidly improved lately, this was an entirely different category.

Staring blankly at the nodding Encrid, Jaxon said what he needed to say.

"That is good enough. It is not a technique you should delve deeper into. However, since the one you are holding has weight, it would be better to put heft into your fingertips rather than lightness."

Jaxon chose the necessary words and spoke.

Encrid nodded.

"It is called the Snapping Blade Technique."

Jaxon suddenly added right after.

Even if it wasn't an equivalent exchange, Jaxon wasn't the type to be stingy with his teachings.

Encrid straightened his posture.

It was an attitude deeply ingrained in his body, an attentive listening posture where he had even learned how to express it by observing Krang.

Because there was a way to do your absolute best even when listening.

Seeing that attitude, Jaxon felt a sense of enjoyment.

It was merely a throwing technique; who else would listen this seriously?

Then again, if he hadn't shown this kind of attitude normally, Jaxon would have ignored and turned a blind eye to his existence as the Squad Leader long ago.

"It is a technique that was fundamentally established by a peerless assassin named Georg in the past. There is a theory that he was stimulated by Leonesis compiling the five sword techniques, but the details are unknown."

It was a technique with history. Encrid's concentration burned brighter than ever.

Ragna would explain and tell him the path forward at the same time.

And the listening Encrid's eyes sparkled with utmost seriousness.

Though it was named the Snapping Blade Technique, in reality, it couldn't be called a technique solely for throwing swords.

It dealt with all throwing weapons in general.

In the midst of that, even without Encrid asking, the topic of the Whistle Dagger came up.

"There is a throwing dagger known as a Whistle Dagger. If you encounter one, you must dodge it. They are difficult to deal with. The very reason the character for 'blade' was included in Georg's Snapping Blade Technique was because of the Whistle Dagger."

Additional explanation followed.

He explained that the Whistle Dagger was originally made by layering thin blades.

He said the state that Georg originally pursued was using just a single layer, a single throwing blade.

He added that if only a single blade was thrown, it wouldn't even make a sound anymore, so it wouldn't even be called a Whistle Dagger.

'How many layers was it?'

Encrid reflexively recalled the flying dagger the Half Fairy had thrown.

He traced back his memories to when it had pierced his forearm. The flying dagger stuck in his arm had been three layers.

"Hey, don't you have duty today?"

Bo came all the way to the front of the barracks and called out to Encrid.

He had been so engrossed that he hadn't even realized his shift was approaching.

"Ah, it slipped my mind. Let's go. We're on the same shift today, right?"

"Yes, my name is Bo."

"I know. Belonging to the Recon Party."

Encrid replied casually to Bo, then spoke toward Jaxon.

"I learned a lot."

"Is that so?"

Jaxon had never thought of himself as having a loose tongue, but he had to admit that he became unusually talkative whenever he stood before the Squad Leader.

Although he only said what was strictly necessary.

He really did talk a lot.

'Did I go too far by bringing up the Whistle Dagger?'

Why did that topic even come up?

Thinking back on it, it made sense. It was a topic bound to come up.

It was because of the stance Encrid had shown him.

'The way he throws is similar.'

Georg's Snapping Blade Technique wasn't a throwing art with a fixed way of tossing, but it did have a fundamental framework.

Yet the stance the Squad Leader had shown earlier brought the Whistle Dagger exactly to mind. It was a clean stance, as if someone had physically guided him right beside him.

Jaxon could never possibly know it, but the one who had guided Encrid's stance was Jaxon himself.

* * *

"Let's go this way."

Encrid changed the patrol route as he pleased.

"Huh, the orders from above were to patrol the market, you know? Fuck, we'll get disciplined at this rate."

Jack protested.

"I'll take responsibility."

A Squad Leader, promoted to an upper-grade soldier, and a talent coveted by both the 1st Company and the Border Guard.

A late-blooming rookie who was only just starting to draw attention at the age of thirty.

That was Encrid.

There was nothing the two soldiers belonging to the Recon Party could do, even if they rebelled.

"I said I'll take responsibility. We should take our time with our duties, too. Let's go."

Encrid took the lead. He held the attitude that the two of them following him was a given.

"Abandoning our patrol route is grounds for disciplinary action."

Bo muttered as he looked at Jack.

Jack's hands moved busily.

'What do we do?'

'I don't know.'

Bo shook his head.

Encrid felt as if he could hear the conversation the two were having without even looking.

Discussing it wouldn't yield an answer. There were things in the world that just couldn't be helped. Just like how you had to do what your superior ordered you to do.

And right now, he was their superior and senior.

The assassin had prepared the location, the time, and the people.

Was there a need to strictly play along with that?

'I'll change the location.'

The opponent was an assassin; there was no need to walk right into the stage they had set.

This was the answer Encrid had come up with after much deliberation.

He moved wherever he pleased. He outright strolled along the outskirts of the gates. He didn't even go near the downtown area where the buildings were.

Jack and Bo were in a bind.

They tried to persuade him that they needed to head to the market, but Encrid remained adamant.

It was after they had walked like that for about half an hour.

Encrid suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Eh? Why are you stopping?"

The two, having walked past Encrid, took two more steps forward before stopping and turning around.

The pair had gradually given up on entering the market. They had just finished secretly leaving signals here and there after giving up.

So, it was time.

Encrid, who was staring blankly at the two, asked.

"Why did you do it?"

Blank stares.

Jack and Bo looked at Encrid before making eye contact with each other.

'What the fuck is this bastard talking about?'

'How the hell should I know?'

"Pardon?"

Bo asked back on their behalf.

"I'm asking why you did it."

"What are you talking about? Fuck, you need to speak so we can understand."

Jack let out a blunt tone.

"I agonized over it a few times, but I simply cannot understand the reason. Does playing the spy as a mere soldier change anything? The crona? Is it because of money?"

At the suddenly thrown words, Jack and Bo recoiled backward as if they had bounced.

Then, looking embarrassed, they exchanged glances before Bo scratched the back of his head and opened his mouth.

"What are you talking about?"

"No, shit, are you just suddenly framing people as spies?"

Jack flared up in anger as well.

"Don't you think it's a pathetic excuse when you've already stepped back and placed your hands on your sword hilts?"

At Encrid's words, the two locked eyes once again. And then.

SHIIING!

Both of them drew their swords.

Bo drew a thin-bladed stiletto-style dagger.

Jack drew a relatively thicker shortsword.

Encrid stood perfectly still.

"Fuck, you caught on damn fast."

"You'll have to die here."

Their plan had gone awry, but what they had to do was clear. Jack and Bo met each other's eyes and nodded.

While the two gauged the situation and paused, Encrid also drew his sword.

SHING!

The sharpened longsword reflected the sunlight as it was drawn. Then, holding it exactly as he drew it, he took a large step forward and drew a semicircle with the blade.

Because he swung it so broadly, Jack and Bo read the distance and dodged it.

No, it didn't stop there.

Because Encrid had swung his sword so widely, there were many openings. Bo aimed for that gap and lunged forward.

He was a soldier who usually possessed excellent physical agility.

He put strength into his back foot and dashed forward. It was exactly the moment Encrid's center of gravity was shifting to the right after grabbing the sword with both hands and swinging it.

The moment Bo closed the distance to where his shortsword could reach.

SCHLUCK!

Before anyone realized, a blade sprang out from under Encrid's left armpit.

That blade pierced straight through Bo's throat.

Valen Mercenary Sword Technique, Shadow Stab.

Pretending to swing widely to draw the enemy in was the beginning.

After that, he supported the longsword solely with his left hand, hid his right hand with his body, and drew the dagger from his right waist, thrusting it through the gap in his armpit.

The opponent wouldn't have even imagined a blade coming out from there.

It was because Bo had trusted his own reflexes and closed the distance too much. And Encrid had predicted that exact reaction from Bo.

There was no way a guy whose specialty was being physically nimble would miss a chance to close the distance.

Just because he had built his foundation on the Northern Heavy Sword Technique didn't mean he had to forget what he had learned previously.

It was a realization gained from his battle with the mustached soldier during the final moments of the battlefield against Aspen.

That the fundamentals were just fundamentals, and adding or subtracting from them was up to the user.

Since one could swing a heavy sword and then gently flow it, or aim for a counter.

So it would be fine to mix the Valen Mercenary Sword Technique into it as well.

As long as the foundational framework didn't waver, it was fine.

Bo collapsed to the ground, making a gurgling sound. Blood poured from his pierced throat and soaked the ground.

"... Fuck, we got caught bad."

Seeing that, all the color drained from Jack's face.

He lacked the confidence to run away, but also the confidence to fight.

Even so, what could he do?

"Why did you do it?"

"What's it to you? Fuck."

Jack was consistent, and since Encrid hadn't specifically prepared a blade of mercy for his opponent, their clash was short.

A short, snapping strike of the longsword from top to bottom.

Jack dodged rather than blocked.

Predicting that movement, Encrid took the sword he had swung as if to snap it downward and directly slashed it horizontally.

RIIIP! SLICE!

The well-sharpened blade created a hole in Jack's side that shouldn't have been there.

"Huk, fuuuck."

That was Jack's end. Jack collapsed with a curse instead of a death throe.

Encrid paused in place for a moment and waited.

It was after he had planted his sword in the ground and steadied his breathing for a long while.

Only then did the others arrive. A quarrel flew in from behind with a *TWANG-. *

Dodging by tilting his head, Encrid's eyes caught sight of one bastard hiding his face with a mask, Rotten stepping forward hesitantly beside him, and finally, the assassin draped in rags.

Encrid asked while keeping his sword planted.

"You'll all come at once, right?"

Asking to fight one-on-one didn't seem like it would work.

It was exactly as he said.

The bastard holding the quarrel aimed at him again. Encrid took a short breath in.

He drained all the strength from his body. Leaving his sword planted in the ground, he let his arms hang down.

His hanging hands swayed like pendulums.

Then, his right hand whipped upward, flinging out and releasing the dagger held in his grip.

SWOOSH!

The Snapping Blade Technique, utilizing the elasticity of his entire body.

The flying blade embedded itself in the masked crossbowman's forehead.

It was truly like a ray of light.