Chapter 594
At Su-ho’s smile, Roland smiled faintly as well.
“Of course, my sacred arts may be weaker than those of other later Paladins. As you said, I believe humans are more important than God, and no matter how much sacred arts operate through mana, I believe faith must still be their foundation.”
“Mm? Then what kind of teachings did you give to the later Paladins, sir?”
At those words, Roland lightly lifted his sword.
“I taught them how to fight.”
“How to fight?”
“In truth, my juniors are stronger when it comes to sacred arts. Is that not only natural? Compared to me, who says humans come before God, the faith of my juniors, who place God above all else, must be firmer, so God must also grant them greater power. However.”
Roland’s eyes widened slightly.
“Before I was a holy knight, I was a knight. Paladin was merely a title given to strong knights. Sacred arts and the like were never that important to me in the first place.”
The corners of Su-ho’s mouth rose.
Because he liked that answer far too much.
“Of course, that does not mean I cannot use sacred arts. Their power is merely a little lacking. In addition, this place is the Paladin Stone, where the powers of all Paladins are recorded. So if I set my mind to it, passing on every teaching here to you would not be difficult. However.”
“However?”
“Just as my juniors did, I too would like to experience your sword once. I want to see whether, though you share the same values as I do, you can truly be called an outstanding knight—the original meaning of Paladin.”
“You have been watching all along, so shouldn’t you know my strength well?”
“Yes, I have watched all along. But those were other arts you used as a Player, not as a knight wielding a sword, were they not?”
Other arts.
The same thing Sword Demon had said.
Because of that, Su-ho found himself nodding without realizing it.
“Then what you want to test, sir, is my pure martial force?”
“Yes. More precisely, I would like to see your swordsmanship and the way you fight.”
As he continued speaking, Roland drew his sword from its sheath.
“How about it... Would you be willing to grant this old man’s impertinent request?”
A cool smile.
But since coming to the Pantheon, Su-ho had never received a request so welcome.
“Of course. No, I’m grateful that you would make this request. I happen to think the same way you do, sir. And you seem to have misunderstood something.”
Su-ho summoned the Blood Sword and gripped it as he spoke.
“I may look like someone who relies on other arts because I have many cards I can use, but my own foundation is swordsmanship too.”
“Oh, is that so? That is very pleasant to hear. Then may I take it that you accept the test?”
“Of course.”
At Su-ho’s acceptance, Roland smiled brightly.
Somehow, all swordsmen seemed to be alike.
He raised his sword properly and showed his courtesy.
“Then allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Master Roland, once the head of the twelve knights who served the Great Emperor, the first Paladin, and the first Pope from among the Paladins.”
The qualifiers were long.
He was not listing them because he liked boasting.
He was only listing them because he was a man of that era.
Therefore, Su-ho also showed courtesy in the same manner.
“I am An Su-ho, currently undergoing the promotion test to become a Constellation. I became Pope not long ago, and right now, at the suggestion of the chief god Quai, I am taking tests to earn the acknowledgment of the Masters.”
“Haha. A Pope, by nature, must be able to encompass everyone’s power. Then......”
Roland took his stance, his eyes shining.
“Then I ask for a bout.”
Su-ho also took his stance.
“Ah, for reference, you will likely be unable to use anything here except swordsmanship. It is not because I forced it, but because that is the power of the Paladin Stone.”
“That’s fine. I wasn’t planning to bring anything else out anyway.”
There was a reason Jack had not responded.
He did not ask whether this was a spar either.
His opponent was a ghost.
Like Ruinberg or Spil, even if he killed him, Roland would probably not vanish completely.
So he intended to swing his sword without hesitation.
Naturally, he did not think he would lose.
No matter how much his opponent was the first Paladin, Su-ho was the greatest swordsman on Earth and the disciple of the mighty Sword Demon.
‘Still......’
There was no opening.
He could say with certainty that he had not seen a swordsman with such a good stance since Sword Demon.
Was that why?
At the thought of meeting a swordsman as strong as Sword Demon, Su-ho felt his heart beat faster without realizing it.
At the same time, he sincerely hoped that the fight with Roland would be of great help to him.
At that moment, Roland, whom he had expected to take a defensive approach, began moving first.
Su-ho did not move.
The method of combat was a duel to the death, but more than the fight itself, the meaning lay in testing each other’s foundational swordsmanship.
Soon, Roland closed the distance and thrust his sword at Su-ho.
Su-ho did not dodge.
He could have evaded, but he wanted to know Roland’s strength.
Kaaang!
A clear crack rang out.
The moment he received the sword, Su-ho inwardly marveled.
Because it was heavier than he had expected.
Between the overlapped blades, the two met each other’s eyes.
Was this the dignity of an old veteran?
Roland’s gaze was like a vast sea.
It seemed firm and immense, yet at the same time, he could not tell its depth, giving it a strange sense of pressure.
But the same was true for Roland.
‘He has good eyes.’
The two, having exchanged strength, pushed each other away again like magnets.
Kaaang!
After that, neither could be said to move first as they moved toward each other again.
Their footwork was rough enough to tear the ground apart, and Su-ho’s sword flew straight toward Roland’s neck.
Roland did not raise his sword upright. He turned his body halfway and deflected Su-ho’s blade. The tip of his sword in the counterattack that followed passed by as if grazing Su-ho’s side.
Su-ho rolled across the ground as if falling, widening the distance.
Cold sweat ran down his spine.
‘Wow?’
He was surprised.
Only then did he realize that the exchange just now had been nothing more than a greeting, like two boxers touching fists before a match.
He was fast.
More precisely, he was not simply fast. There was no waste in his movements.
Su-ho approached him again and swung his sword.
Kaaang! Kang! Kaaang!! Kang!!
Clear sounds of friction rang out.
Roland’s sword did not flow.
As if it had stopped still, it thrust, cut, and blocked only at exactly the necessary moments.
He also never lost his center, and without the slightest wavering, he maintained his own rhythm instead of being dragged around by his opponent’s.
‘So he didn’t win the title of first Paladin in a card game, huh.’
It was impressive.
Because since Sword Demon, this was the first swordsman he had seen who handled a sword this well.
That was why, strangely enough, the more they crossed swords, the more adrenaline surged through him.
However, separate from that adrenaline, he struggled constantly to keep his head cold.
Because in a fight, excitement was the shortest path to defeat.
Roland knew that fact as well, so he gave Su-ho no chance to rest.
He was indeed a seasoned old veteran.
But Su-ho had not lived his life carelessly either, so he somehow found his breathing and cooled his head.
Once again, the sword flew in.
He barely received the blade approaching his temple and pushed it downward as if sweeping it away.
At the same time, he slipped into Roland’s flank and cut in from an irregular angle.
However, the attack was blocked again.
Roland’s sword blocked the trajectory precisely, as if it knew every path a blade could take in advance.
Still, Su-ho did not give up and thrust his sword in again.
He cut.
He stabbed.
He swung.
But each time, Roland’s sword clung stubbornly like a magnet, striking his attacks away and seeking openings.
When Roland’s sword came rushing back in a counterattack toward Su-ho’s face, Su-ho barely knocked it aside like an acrobat.
After tumbling backward and taking his stance again, Su-ho heard Roland, who had quietly been crossing swords with him, speak.
“You are quite sharp.”
“Haha, are you making fun of me?”
“That was sincere praise.”
“Then I suppose I’m the twisted one. Before crossing swords, I would have taken it as praise, but now that we’ve actually crossed swords, praise doesn’t sound like praise.”
“Do not grow impatient. If you grow impatient, you lose.”
Suddenly, Su-ho thought of Sword Demon.
Sword Demon speaking politely instead of informally.
Because Sword Demon had said the exact same thing.
“Get rid of that impatience. A sword follows its owner’s temper.”
To receive the same criticism again.
He really did seem to have some impatience in him.
“Whew.”
Su-ho exhaled for a long time and steadied his breathing. Then he shook his head once and raised his sword again.
‘He said impatience was the problem.’
After organizing his thoughts, Su-ho lowered his stance more than usual.
Then, one step at a time, he slowly approached like a cat hunting prey.
If impatience was the problem, he had decided to slow down the speed of the fight itself.
Seeing that, Roland took his stance as well and lifted the corners of his mouth faintly.
“A good attempt.”
Su-ho did not answer.
Instead, he focused.
Then, when he entered range, he thrust his sword like lightning.
Kaaang!!
However, Roland received the sword again this time too.
He did not give advice.
Instead, he answered by swinging his sword.
Kaaang!!
A collision even more intense than before.
For an instant, a vein stood out on Su-ho’s forehead.
The two swords pushed each other away again, then swung rapidly in the air as if spitting lightning.
It was fiercer than before and more intense.
But what was interesting was that the two of them hardly moved from where they stood.
At most, they moved within a range of only two or three steps.
But the violent clashes that occurred within that narrow range were more intense than any storm.
Su-ho cut.
He cut again.
Fast and strong, throwing his entire body into it.
Yet Roland did not retreat even a single step. Standing in place, he fluidly received every attack.
Acceleration built.
Adrenaline exploded, and the tempo grew faster and faster.
At that moment, through the storm-like point of contact, Roland’s sword slipped through an opening and entered like a spear.
Pu-kwaak!
The sound of blood bursting.
Blood scattered all around.
...The owner of that blood was Su-ho.