Reincarnated as a dragon’s egg ～Lets aim to be the strongest～ - Chapter 553

553 – The Essence of the Sword (side: Volk)
Howgrey slashes towards me. His physical abilities are far below mine, so he won’t be able to hit me with a head-on charge. He’ll no doubt read my movements and act to counter me. He’ll strike with another impossible movement.

The distance between us shortens. Normally I would suddenly strike from this position, but I need to be patient. Hurrying to strike will lead to death. I’ve managed to avoid fatal wounds by dodging at last moment until now, but if I’m just a tiny bit late next time, I’ll be dead in an instant.

Howgrey still hasn’t struck. We’re both within sword range, but he still hasn’t moved. He must be waiting for me to see how I will act.

Suddenly, I see a path of light. The dark cloud of danger around him has parted, revealing a path of safety.

As I kick off the ground to leap to the side, Howgrey appears to blur. He’s using [Shadow Fox], without a moment’s hesitation.

Moving with extreme speed, he slips past me. I parry his longsword aside as I dive into the path of light. His shortsword grazes past my back.

My feet touch the ground, and I raise my sword.

“Here!”

Aiming to cut into his [Shadow Fox], I swing my sword down hard. But, my sword swerves off course and strikes the ground. Howgrey deflected it with his longsword.

“…It seems it wasn’t a fluke that you saw through my [Shadow Fox]. You truly are astonishing to have handled my attack so well.”

Howgrey thrusts his shortsword towards me. I turn my body away to dodge, kicking out as I do.

He curls up in the air, skilfully dodging my leg. At the same time, he swings his longsword up.

“I can see you, Howgrey!”

I repel his sword with mine. Suddenly, the light shining from [Laevateinn of Life-Cutting] brightens, and the speed of my swing increases. His sword deflects away, and his stance crumbles slightly. While he’s still off balance, I swing my sword into his abdomen. I make contact with him, but he then flies away with a motion that transcends physics. It’s his [Protective Shellfish], which negates all damage.

He flies away in a zig-zag motion, then comes to a stop. From the surprise on his face, it seems he didn’t expect to be forced to use it again.

I look down at the dark red blade in my hand.

“This can work…”

When I swung, I felt my body overflowing with power. [Laevateinn of Life-Cutting]… With each swing of this magic sword, some of my life is stolen, and the radiance surrounding it becomes sickeningly bright. It might be a good match for me and my toughness.

The unusual effect will make it harder for him to read me. Moreover, the stronger my physical abilities, the fewer options he will have to strike at me. This sword was a final stab in the dark, but it seems I can see the light now.

“With this magic sword, I can prevent him from reading me…”

“That’s wrong.”

Howgrey says, matter-of-factly.

“It’s true that as long as you have that sword, it’s harder for me to fight. But that’s not all. Your capacity as a swordsman has rapidly grown close to my own. I feel envy. You have seen through my unfair techniques, and your ability surpasses my own. At such a young age, too. You truly are loved by the sword.”

Howgrey is mistaken. The strength a person can reach depends on their individual ceiling. Age has nothing to do with it. The fact that he’s manged to make up for the difference in strength through technique alone makes him the abnormal one.

But, thinking about it now, I might be a natural enemy to Howgrey. I am confident that I am among the most stubborn humans in the world. Thanks to my experience as a swordsman, I was able to avoid his [Dream Wolf] from the second time onwards, and my raw ability with the sword falls only a little short of his. As I am also a swordsman, I am able to see how to react to his abilities after having seen them a few times.

Though it looked impossibly distant before, my victory over Howgrey seems to now be at hand. I only need to land one blow. I need to strike him faster than he can perceive, so that his [Protective Shellfish] will be too late.

“To think I would be driven this far. It’s been decades since I’ve had to use this.”

Howgrey holds out his shortsword and places his foot to the handle.

“What are you…”

He kicks the shortsword’s handle. It flies towards me, spinning at high speed.

“Guh!”

I bend my body, dodging it with minimal movement. I never expected him to kick his sword at me.

But, this is strange. It’s true that he kicked with a lot of force, but… For Howgrey, its far too weak an attack. Even if it had hit, it wouldn’t have been a fatal wound to me.

Suddenly, I sense a dark bloodlust from behind me. Danger is approaching from behind. Glancing back, I see the shortsword flying back towards me, spinning even faster than before.

“Wh-what!?”

“Is this time to be looking away from me?” 

Howgrey is leaping towards me. He’s ready to swing Bandersnatch. I quickly move to parry. I’m about to jump to the right, but then I get a premonition and instead jump to the left.

The returning shortsword cuts through my shoulder. I attempted to twist my body to avoid it, but didn’t make it. Howgrey must have guided it.

“Guh!”

I see, he stole [Frumious Fang Bandersnatch] because he knew he might need to use this technique! By throwing the shortsword to restrict my movement while also attacking with the longsword, he can to make up for the difference in our physical abilities.

Howgrey runs towards me. I jump backwards. He snatches the shortsword out of the air and quickly puts his foot on its handle again.

“[Blissful Spinner], my speciality. I haven’t had many chances to use it, so I’m a little bit rusty. I never thought I’d come to rely on it again.”