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Chapter 215: – Heart Sword
Chapter 215: – Heart Sword
Chapter 215 – Heart Sword
-Clash.
The intense battle between Stardus and Katana seemed to come to an end the moment Stardus shattered Katana’s Japanese sword. Katana was left in shock, and Stardus quickly sent a punch towards her.
“Ugh.”
Reacting swiftly, Katana threw the remaining hilt to the ground and agilely leaped backward. She then used her powerful legs to kick off several nearby buildings, moving further and further away until she finally landed on a rooftop. With her white martial arts uniform and swaying hair, she let out a sigh.
“Phew…”
And so, as Stardus, with a bright yellow light emanating from her fist, continued to fly towards the defenseless Katana…
*
[Is it really ending like this?????]
[How to deal with a sword master: (1) Destroy the sword (2) End. Wowww]
[Hey Mango, it hasn’t even been an hour since the broadcast started???]
*
Amidst the confusion in the chat, Katana, standing on the rooftop, calmly took a deep breath. She extended her hand towards the empty sword sheath.
“I didn’t expect to use this here…”
Despite the life-threatening situation, Katana spoke nonchalantly. She extended her hand as though there was something in the empty sheath.
And then…
*
[?????]
[What is it?????]
*
From her side, within the empty sheath, a blue-glowing sword seemed to emerge as if it were being created from thin air. No, to be precise, the sword was ‘appearing’ in the empty space with a mysterious, glowing energy.
With the sword glowing blue, Katana withdrew it from her side, extending her arm.
Suddenly, a breeze began to flutter around, as if responding to the sword.
‘…I never thought it would come to this.’
Katana controlled the sword made of a swirling blue energy within her hand and thought to herself.
Katana, an S-class villain from Japan, had never lost a one-on-one battle before. She singlehandedly subdued all the rampant villains in Japan’s various factions with her swordsmanship, even pressuring the Association to establish SamHyupPa. In essence, she had reached the pinnacle of Japan.
In other words, in one-on-one combat, she had never been defeated.
‘…I never expected to have to use this much power today.’
As Katana calmed her breathing, she thought quietly. Stardus, the hero she faced today, was unexpectedly powerful. Much stronger than what she had seen in her previous videos. It was as if her abilities had evolved.
Out of all the opponents she had faced in Japan until now, Stardus was the strongest. In fact, she seemed even stronger than that. Katana decided to unleash her full power on foreign soil.
…Today’s events seemed like they would provide her with a valuable lesson.
“Ugh!”
With the blue sword now in her hand, Katana swung it directly at Stardus, who was flying toward her.
Swooooooosh-
Kabooooooooooom.
“Ugh…!”
In an instant, an eerie premonition, the sound of tearing wind, and the overwhelming energy in front of her overwhelmed Stardus.
Stardus quickly raised her shining arm in front of herself in response to the immediate threat.
Then, the blue sword’s energy emanating from Katana’s sword clashed with Stardus.
Booooooooooom.
In the sky, a tremendous explosion echoed as if a bomb had gone off. A thick smoke clouded the sky. Amidst the chat uproar about what had just happened…
“Haa… Haa…”
“…Ugh.”
Struggling for breath, Stardus faced Katana, who was still standing strong, her black hair fluttering in the wind, with her calm and composed demeanor. Katana aimed her blue sword at Stardus.
The blue energy of Katana’s sword swirled, while Stardus’s yellow light sparkled. In that moment, as the chat was buzzing with excitement…
“Haha, now the real fun begins, everyone!”
Laughter mixed with a familiar smile echoed in the ears of those watching the live stream.
Egostic, who disappeared from the screen silently, started to speak up again.
***
“…As expected.”
After Katana’s sword broke.
Witnessing Katana wielding the Blue Spirit Sword and facing off against Stardus, I nodded in agreement.
The Blue Spirit Sword was an incredibly durable weapon, and honestly, I didn’t expect it to come to this when I first introduced it into the story.
Katana’s ultimate weapon, the ‘Blue Spirit Sword.’
It may sound quite cheesy, but it’s an actual martial art technique that appeared in the original work.
To be precise, it was a hidden weapon that her comrades pulled out at the critical moment when they were being overwhelmed by internal betrayal.
‘…Honestly, I didn’t expect that the sword itself was made of a material that wouldn’t easily break, so I didn’t think I would come this far.’
Originally, Katana could easily defeat most opponents with just her sword, so there was no need to bring out that soul sword. It’s not necessary for one-on-one battles either.
However, in moments like this when her sword alone isn’t enough to handle the situation and things are getting out of control, she may have no choice but to unleash that weapon.
At this point, Katana and Stardus were evenly matched. They were in a fierce, equal battle, which was quite different from their initial encounter. In the original work, Katana had demonstrated her ability to slice through buildings with a single swing of her sword.
‘Now that it’s almost at our doorstep, we need to provide Stardus with opponents of this caliber to help her grow quickly.’
With the arrival of the monster army led by the Wolgwanggyo, and as the world gradually falls apart, I naturally need to focus on Stardust’s ability growth. There’s no harm in her becoming stronger sooner rather than later, especially while my body is still in good shape and Katana is functioning smoothly. It’s crucial to maximize Stardus’s growth potential now.
‘Especially because there will be more and more to handle soon…’
As we move beyond the middle of the original story, the named villains will start to appear one by one. We need to pay attention to them as well. Particularly in the later part of the story, considering the power displayed by the main villains and the fear they instilled in the public, it becomes necessary for members of Ego Stream to step forward to control public opinion.
In other words, when that time comes, I might not have as much time to focus on Stardus’s growth as I do now, so it’s essential to prepare him in advance.
‘…And once her growth is complete’
I’ll need to consider retirement. It’s a bit of a shame that I won’t be able to watch Stardus directly, but given her personality, she’ll probably appreciate it. It’s time to relax and focus on other things.”
“That’s something to think about later…”
For now, let’s concentrate on Stardus. With that thought in mind, I used telekinesis to bring the camera that had been filming their battle over to me. Maybe I could provide some commentary. Of course, while pretending to provide commentary, the main focus would be on showcasing Stardus.
I revealed myself in front of the camera.
“Haha, now the real fun begins, everyone!”
Now, should I start talking?
Until the fight reached its climax.
***
“Meanwhile… Ah! Stardus successfully blocks this one! I’ve heard that no one has ever blocked Katana’s sword aura before, but Stardus just did it!”
*
[Kya hahahahahahah]
[Seriously, I’ve only heard of Katana before, but she’s seriously strong. But Stardus is impressive too.]
[I can’t tell who’s going to win overall; it’s a fierce battle.]
[Wow, Stardus is blocking all of Japan’s top-tier attacks barehanded! Cheers to the host for another round!]
[But seriously, Egostic explaining everything is making it so much more enjoyable. Earlier, something felt like it was missing, but it’s because Mango wasn’t here!]
[Why doesn’t Egostic fight himself and only does commentary? So annoying! Show us Mango fighting!]
[Hehe, if Mango starts fighting now, he’ll be knocked out by one punch from Stardus and taken captive by the Association… and then he’ll be gone.]
[But seriously, what is Katana doing here, fighting with Stardus? I really don’t get it.]
[Well, Egostic asked for it, you know… Normally, if Mango asks for something, they all listen. It’s common sense, right?]
[Mango, conquering Korea and now Japan too, expanding to a world under his control.]
[They even seem pretty friendly, don’t they? HOXY*? Wow….] *T/N: “Is it?” in slang
*
While glancing at the livelier chat, I continued with my commentary. Occasionally, there were some useless comments, but that wasn’t important right now.
The battle between Stardus and Katana was fierce and intense. Katana had mentioned that she wanted to break through my wall this time, and it felt like she was giving it her all. Stardus, for some unknown reason, was fighting more fiercely than he did against me. …It was terrifying.
As time passed, the end of their battle drew near.
“…Urgh!”
“….!!”
Stardus took advantage of a moment when Katana let her guard down and once again struck her sword with his fist, just like before.
I was surprised to see Stardus boldly punching Katana’s Blue Spirit Sword, which wasn’t made of any physical material but rather composed of energy.
-Clash!
“….Huh?”
*
[????????????????]
“What is this, could it break like that???”
[Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch!]
[The punch tore through the Blue Spirit Sword!]
[Stardus, hooray~ Suki yay~ This is a K-Hero! Kekekekeke]
*
Stardus had simply punched the Blue Spirit Sword with her starlight-infused fist, shattering it.
Katana, with a look of surprise in her eyes as if she had never even considered this possibility, lost her balance in mid-air.
That’s when I teleported.
I caught Katana from behind, as if embracing her, to end today’s terror here.
In truth, Katana could summon her Blue Spirit Sword again, so the battle would continue, but it had been quite some time already, and the intensity was too high. Ending it here was the right call.
I roughly held Katana and prepared to deliver the broadcast ending message. That would be it for today!
I thought it would be that simple.