Becoming a Swordmaster by Reading

Chapter 87. Operation Meatball (6)

At first, the fight between Jorje and Craig was evenly matched.

"Is that... a 6-star knight's battle?"

"Amazing. I can't even see the attacks."

The soldiers around them were astonished by the incredible fight the two were putting on.

Of course, this was from the perspective of the soldiers.

Even a 1-star knight could vaguely discern the battle of 6-star knights.

However, that didn't mean their fight wasn't impressive.

Even from Roden's point of view, the speed was incredibly fast, and the power was beyond imagination.

Above all,

‘As expected, a wide variety of secret techniques are being used.’

The sword moving at strange angles was a given.

The sword momentarily multiplied into three, immense weight was added to it, and the sword itself suddenly elongated.

Sometimes, all the secret techniques were unleashed at once, and each time, a surprising defensive art appeared.

There were secret techniques in defensive arts as well.

In other words, a 6-star knight had to be able to use various secret techniques freely.

Just in that brief moment, it seemed that each person used more than fifteen of them.

'On the other hand, I can't even use ten secret techniques yet.'

Broom Swordsmanship, Variola Swordsmanship, Incapie Swordsmanship, Sesuran Swordsmanship, Colombo Swordsmanship, Varese Swordsmanship.

He could only use a total of six.

Moreover, Roden knew that the superior swordsmanship manuals he had acquired so far were not of the highest quality.

Some swordsmanship manuals contained two, three, or even more secret techniques.

The Glockner Swordsmanship, which Ernst should have diligently learned, had at least five secret techniques in one book.

Of course, Ernst, far from learning one of them, didn't even know how to properly perform the basics of Glockner Swordsmanship.

It was when Roden was realizing the need to acquire additional secret techniques.

The tense battle between the two suddenly tilted to one side.

Jorje, perhaps thinking that he couldn't let it continue like this, made a decisive move.

Woowoong!

Suddenly, the aura in Jorje's body radiated outwards.

At the same time, as Jorje stomped his foot,

Kuuung!

As if an earthquake had occurred, the ground cracked and sharp rocks, like blades, shot up.

And it wasn't just one rock that shot up.

Dozens of them aimed for Craig.

“Wow!”

“As expected of a 6-star knight!”

The soldiers admired the sight, and Roden was no different.

But what Roden admired was different from the soldiers.

'Isn't that just... magic?'

It was this part.

Roden knew from rumors.

That some knights' secret techniques had almost the same effect as magic.

But this wasn't just a similar effect.

Although it used aura, what Jorje had just used was definitely magic.

‘Huh…….’

While Roden was surprised.

Craig, as a 6-star knight, did not just stand there and take it.

As if he had predicted Jorje's decisive move, he unfolded his aura shield, jumped up from his spot, and created a foothold with his aura.

Craig, stepping on the foothold, dodged the rocks that shot up from the ground.

At this rate, Jorje's decisive move would be nullified.

But as if he wouldn't allow it, Jorje raised his aura once more.

Woowoong!

As he swung his sword, surprisingly, a crescent-shaped yellow sword aura flew towards Craig.

Craig hurriedly unfolded his aura shield to defend against it, but the power seemed considerable, and the entire aura shield shook.

Kuuung! Kuuung! Kuuung!

Jorje continuously sent out sword auras, and finally, Craig's aura shield scattered.

But Jorje also seemed exhausted after sending out three sword auras.

Not missing this opportunity, this time it was Craig, who had been on the receiving end the whole time, who unleashed a magic-like secret technique.

As Craig swung his sword, a thunderbolt fell from the sky.

Flash! Kwarreureung!

It was a scene that made Roden think of magic once again. The rıghtful source is novelꞁire.net

But as if he had anticipated Craig's attack, Jorje quickly unfolded his aura shield, and the aura shield disappeared with the thunderbolt.

At the same time, Jorje, who was catching his breath, swung his sword once more and sent out a sword aura.

Weeeing! Chaeeeng!

And Craig, a step too late, raised his sword and deflected the sword aura.

But a piece of the sword aura lodged itself in Craig's shoulder.

Thud!

With a deep wound, Craig clutched his shoulder with one hand and fell to the ground.

Thud.

He managed to land somehow, but it was a situation where Craig could be in danger if he fought any longer.

Perhaps that was why.

Jorje, as if not to miss the opportunity, sent out another sword aura.

However,

Chaeeeng!

A man who appeared to be the deputy commander of the Allied Forces quickly blocked his path.

And a few other knights stepped forward and blocked Jorje's sword aura together.

As a result, their swords broke and their grips were torn, their sword hilts soaked in blood, but everyone managed to save their lives.

“Retreat! Sound the retreat bugle!”

The deputy commander shouted.

Buuuuu!

Following the command, the Allied Forces' support unit slowly retreated.

Fortunately, not only Jorje, but the Imperial Army's support unit also seemed exhausted, as no one gave chase.

***

Craig, clutching his bleeding shoulder with his hand as he retreated, spoke.

“Hehe. What do you think? With this, the enemy won't notice our feigned defeat, right?”

At Craig's words, the deputy commander nodded his head.

“Yes. They won't. More importantly, we've reduced the enemy's numbers enough in this battle, so we'll be able to fight much more easily when the castle gates open later.”

That was right.

Craig had not been defeated because he was weaker than Jorje.

He had deliberately controlled his strength to avoid Jorje's suspicion.

Of course, Craig had not started this battle with the goal of a feigned defeat from the beginning.

Originally, the goal of this battle was to stop the Imperial Army's support unit.

But after confirming the scale of the Imperial Army's support unit, Craig had revised his goal.

The scale of the Imperial Army's support unit was that formidable.

When they actually clashed, they were even stronger, and for that reason, Craig did not hesitate twice and changed his goal on the spot.

To moderately reduce the enemy's numbers and then retreat, feigning defeat.

In fact, while Craig was holding Jorje back.

The Allied Forces had attacked the Imperial Army with all their might.

Unlike the Imperial Army, who were controlling their strength because they didn't know how long they would have to fight, the Allied Forces knew that the retreat signal would soon be given, so they could exert even more strength.

As a result, although Craig suffered a serious wound to his shoulder, it was the Allied Forces who succeeded in killing more enemies in the battle.

“The enemy will probably only realize that more of our troops survived than they thought when the next battle begins.”

“That's right. But honestly, I'm worried. I wonder if the person called the Special Task Force Company Commander will be able to open the castle gates.”

Craig was also worried.

Although Tobias had actively expressed his opinion that Roden was trustworthy, he couldn't take his words at face value.

It was because infiltration operations had so many variables that success was hard to guarantee.

In fact, even if Craig himself had entered Velia Castle, the chances of the operation's success would not have been very high.

‘In the first place, even a 1-star knight would be suspected by the enemy. In the end, it means that an ordinary soldier who hasn't learned aura has to open the castle gates, but is that even possible?’

No matter how much he thought about it, it was difficult.

“I'm starting to think that we should have just stopped the Imperial Army somehow.”

The deputy commander said, as if he had similar thoughts to Craig.

But Craig shook his head.

“It would have been meaningless. In the end, even if we had succeeded in stopping them, it would have been difficult to capture Velia Castle before this war ended.”

In fact, a year was a long time to begin with.

After the capture of the Aequor Plains, when there were no further achievements for a while, the Allied Forces were once again crumbling from within.

And the speed was getting faster.

So, those who saw the situation pessimistically, like Craig, predicted that the peace negotiations would begin in about six months.

And if this war really ended in six months, it would be useless even if they had barely won today's battle by shedding so much blood.

Velia Castle would not be captured anyway.

In the end, the biggest reason Craig had retreated was to prevent unnecessary sacrifices.

Since they wouldn't be able to take Velia Castle even if they won, he thought it would be better to prevent sacrifices and support the Special Task Force Company instead.

Craig glanced at Velia Castle for a moment and continued.

“Let's wait and see if a miracle will happen.”

***

Meanwhile.

After Craig retreated with the Allied Forces' support unit.

The morale of the Imperial Army's support unit was high.

It was only natural, as they had won an important battle.

“We won!”

“Hooray!”

But for some reason, the Imperial Army's support unit was only happy and did not hurry their steps towards Velia Castle.

Instead, they raised their guard and looked around.

Roden watched them and thought.

'The commander of the Imperial Army's support unit must have felt something strange in the battle earlier.'

Certainly, for a clash of 6-star knights, it had ended a bit anticlimactically.While Jorje had showcased several supreme secret techniques, Craig had only shown a similar one once and that was it.

It was understandable for Jorje to be suspicious.

'But the fortunate thing is that he can't seem to think that there's a spy hidden inside.'

It was certainly difficult for Jorje to suspect this part.

Because he himself had carefully examined the bards, actors, strongmen, and cooks.

For that reason, the Imperial Army's support unit moved on, only conscious of an ambush.

'As a result, the Allied Forces' support unit did a good job of acting. Even I was completely fooled until the beginning of the battle, so there's no need to say more. Now, all that's left is to enter Velia Castle and open the gates, right?'

A short while later.

Roden's party entered Velia Castle along with the Imperial Army's support unit.