64

Chapter 64: The Sword Beast

The Sword Beast charged.

Its enormous body crossed the distance between them with frightening speed, but Subin did not retreat. He watched the creature's shoulders, its legs, the angle of its head, and most importantly, the Sword Intent flowing through its body.

Unlike the masters from the Weapon Battlefield, this creature did not use a sword as an external weapon.

Its entire body was built around swordsmanship.

The horn extending from its forehead was only one part of that structure. Its claws, teeth, tail, movement, and even the way it shifted its weight were connected to the same cutting intent.

Subin understood why the dungeon had placed it here.

The Sword Beast was the natural expression of Weaponless Sword.

The beast reached him.

Its horn thrust forward.

Subin turned his body just enough for the blade-like horn to pass beside his chest. At the same time, Simple Edge moved toward the creature's neck.

The Sword Beast twisted.

Subin's sword missed.

The creature's tail swept toward his legs.

He jumped.

The tail passed beneath him with enough force to crack the stone floor.

Subin landed several meters away.

The beast immediately turned.

There was no pause between its attacks.

Subin's expression became focused.

"Your body itself is the weapon."

The Sword Beast lunged again.

This time Subin didn't try to attack immediately.

He allowed it to approach.

The creature's horn came toward his chest.

At the final moment, Subin stepped diagonally and brought Simple Edge down along the side of the horn.

The blade didn't try to overpower it.

It redirected the creature's momentum.

The Sword Beast's head was forced downward.

Subin stepped past it and struck its shoulder.

The sword cut through several layers of black scales.

A thin wound appeared.

The creature jumped backward.

[Sword Beast — Level 78.]

[Physical integrity: 94%.]

Subin studied the wound.

His attack had penetrated the scales, but barely.

The beast's Sword Intent had reinforced its body.

More importantly, the reinforcement wasn't uniform.

The flow changed constantly according to movement.

Subin smiled.

"I see."

The creature wasn't simply covered in mana.

Its Sword Intent was moving through its body like a swordsman's intent moving through a blade.

That meant its defense would change with every movement.

Subin tightened his grip on Simple Edge.

The beast attacked again.

This time, Subin deliberately allowed the creature to come closer.

The horn swept toward him.

He blocked.

The impact forced him several steps backward.

Before he could stabilize, the creature's claw came toward his shoulder.

Subin turned.

The claw scraped his clothing.

He countered with a horizontal cut.

The beast lowered its body.

Simple Edge passed over its back.

Its tail immediately struck toward his abdomen.

Subin caught the tail with his left forearm and was thrown backward.

He landed on one knee.

The Sword Beast was already coming again.

Subin rose.

Their movements became faster.

The creature had tremendous physical power, but its real strength was the integration of body and Sword Intent. It never needed to stop attacking because every part of its body could become the next attack.

A horn thrust became a head strike.

The head strike became a claw.

The claw became a turn.

The turn became a tail sweep.

The tail sweep became another charge.

There were no gaps.

Subin recognized the principle.

Continuity.

But there was something beyond it.

The creature wasn't consciously transitioning between techniques.

Its entire body had become one continuous weapon.

Subin's eyes sharpened.

This was the same idea he had encountered in the Weaponless Master.

But the Sword Beast had taken it further.

It didn't merely fight without a sword.

It had transformed its entire body into an expression of swordsmanship.

Subin stepped backward as the beast's horn cut through the space where his chest had been.

Then he suddenly moved forward.

Simple Edge struck the horn.

The Sword Beast expected him to redirect it.

Instead, Subin followed the impact.

His blade slid along the horn, and his body rotated around the creature's head.

The beast tried to turn.

Subin was already behind it.

He cut.

The wound opened across its back.

The Sword Beast roared.

Its Sword Intent exploded outward.

The entire chamber shook.

Subin immediately felt the amplification effect.

The creature's Sword Intent had been strengthened by the fourth layer.

The pressure was enormous.

His own Sword Intent responded instinctively.

But Subin restrained it.

He remembered the lesson of the chamber.

More was not always better.

He reduced his output.

One percent.

Then less.

The Sword Beast's pressure surrounded him.

Subin allowed the pressure to pass around his body.

He didn't resist it.

He didn't try to overpower it.

He searched for the smallest opening in its Sword Intent.

There.

A tiny fluctuation beneath the left foreleg.

Subin's eyes narrowed.

The creature charged.

He waited.

The horn came forward.

Subin moved.

Not backward.

Not sideways.

Forward.

He stepped beneath the horn.

Simple Edge rose.

The blade touched the creature's chest.

Subin released a microscopic amount of Sword Intent.

The cut entered.

The Sword Beast's body stiffened.

Its own Sword Intent was disrupted.

Subin turned his wrist.

The blade traveled along the natural flow of the creature's reinforcement.

The wound opened.

The beast staggered backward.

[Sword Beast — Physical Integrity: 61%.]

The creature roared again.

This time, its entire body became surrounded by blue light.

Its horn extended.

Its claws sharpened.

Its tail hardened.

The Sword Intent around it became far denser.

Subin immediately understood that the creature had entered another phase.

[Sword Beast has activated Sword Body.]

[Sword Intent density increased.]

[Physical reinforcement increased.]

[Cutting efficiency increased.]

Subin's expression became serious.

The creature disappeared.

Not literally.

It simply moved so quickly that Subin's eyes lost track of it.

His Predator's Sense reacted.

Subin turned.

The horn was already beside his neck.

He raised Simple Edge.

The impact sent him sliding across the floor.

Before he could stop, the beast appeared above him.

Subin rolled.

The creature's claw smashed into the ground.

The floor shattered.

Subin rose and immediately counterattacked.

His sword cut toward its foreleg.

The beast twisted.

The blade grazed it.

The creature's tail struck.

Subin jumped.

The tail followed.

He changed direction in midair.

The tail passed beneath him.

The beast opened its jaws.

A concentrated Sword Intent beam erupted.

Subin crossed Simple Edge before his body.

The beam struck the blade.

For a moment, Subin was pushed backward.

His feet carved two long lines into the stone.

He couldn't block it forever.

Instead, he studied it.

The beam wasn't continuous.

Its strength fluctuated.

It became strongest at the beginning and weakest during the transition between pulses.

Subin waited.

The second pulse came.

He didn't resist.

He stepped through it.

The third pulse began.

He was already inside the beast's range.

The Sword Beast's eyes widened.

Subin's sword moved.

Simple Edge cut across its chest.

The beast staggered.

Subin continued.

One cut became another.

Not a combination.

Not a named technique.

Each cut simply created the position for the next.

The Sword Beast tried to retreat.

Subin followed.

It turned.

He changed direction.

It attacked.

He redirected.

Its horn came from the left.

He moved inside.

Its claw followed.

He shifted his shoulder.

Its tail swept toward his legs.

He stepped over it.

The creature's body seemed to have no weakness.

But Subin wasn't trying to find a fixed weakness anymore.

He was cutting the transitions.

Every time the Sword Beast changed from one movement to another, its Sword Intent had to change direction.

That transition was the only moment when its defense became imperfect.

Subin waited for it.

Then he cut.

The Sword Beast roared.

A deep wound appeared beneath its jaw.

Its Sword Body began collapsing.

Subin stepped forward.

His Sword Intent remained incredibly small.

But the blade carried it perfectly.

One final cut.

Simple Edge passed beneath the creature's jaw.

The Sword Beast froze.

Its body dissolved into blue particles.

[Sword Beast defeated.]

[Level 78 Sword Beast eliminated.]

[Victory condition fulfilled.]

Subin lowered his sword.

He breathed slowly.

The fight had been difficult.

Not because the beast was simply stronger.

Because it had forced him to understand something he had only partially grasped before.

The body could become a sword.

But the true sword was the decision behind the movement.

The system appeared.

[Combat analysis complete.]

[Weaponless Sword: 68% → 74%.]

[Intent Transition: Refinement detected.]

[Sword Intent Comprehension: 69% → 72%.]

[Personal Sword Path: 99.9%.]

Subin looked at the final number.

Still 99.9%.

He smiled.

The remaining 0.1% was refusing to disappear.

"Fine."

He looked at the spot where the Sword Beast had vanished.

"I won't force it."

A large crystal appeared on the floor.

Subin walked over.

[Sword Beast Core.]

[Grade: Legendary.]

[Purity: 91.7%.]

[Mana Content: 38,420.]

Subin picked it up.

The moment his fingers touched the core, a powerful Sword Intent entered his body.

He immediately released the connection.

The core remained in his hand.

He could feel the temptation.

This single item contained enormous energy.

It could probably increase his Mana considerably.

It might even strengthen his Sword Intent.

But Subin didn't absorb it immediately.

He had learned enough from the previous layers not to take power simply because it was available.

Instead, he stored the core.

The chamber began changing.

The arena disappeared.

The stone floor opened.

A staircase appeared beneath him.

But this time, the system didn't display another ordinary trial.

Instead, several messages appeared one after another.

[Fourth Layer Trial Complete.]

[Sword Intent Amplification Trial Complete.]

[Sword Beast Trial Complete.]

[Deep Core Territory progression: 3/7 layers.]

Subin looked at the last line.

Three out of seven.

There were still four layers remaining.

The system continued.

[New area unlocked.]

[Deep Core Territory — Fifth Layer.]

Subin frowned.

"Fifth?"

He had just completed the fourth layer.

The system clarified.

[Layer Four contained multiple sub-trials.]

[Next accessible area: Fifth Layer.]

Subin accepted the explanation.

He stepped toward the staircase.

Then he noticed something.

Simple Edge was vibrating.

Very slightly.

He stopped.

The sword's synchronization remained:

99.99%.

But a new line had appeared.

[Potential: Awakening.]

[Awakening progress: 0.01%.]

Subin's eyes narrowed.

For the first time, the sword had displayed actual progress toward awakening.

He stared at it for several seconds.

Then the number disappeared.

[Potential: Awakening.]

No percentage.

No explanation.

Subin didn't become frustrated.

If anything, he was more interested than before.

"You're not going to make it easy."

He continued downward.

The fifth layer was colder.

The blue mana flowing through the walls became darker, almost black.

As Subin descended, the Sword Intent around him grew stronger.

But unlike the fourth layer, it wasn't amplifying his own Sword Intent.

It was coming from somewhere ahead.

An enormous pressure.

Subin's expression became serious.

At the bottom of the staircase, he found a massive open chamber.

The floor was covered in swords.

Thousands of them.

But unlike the broken weapons from the earlier battlefield, these swords were intact.

Each one was different.

Some were ancient.

Some were enormous.

Some were tiny.

Some were plain.

Others were decorated with intricate patterns.

At the center of the chamber stood a single empty pedestal.

Above it was an inscription.

"Thousands may wield the sword."

A second line appeared beneath it.

"But only one can decide what the sword means."

Subin stood silently.

The system appeared.

[Deep Core Territory — Fifth Layer.]

[Trial Type: Personal Sword.]

[External Sword Intent: Active.]

[Sword Intent Suppression: None.]

[Objective: Select one sword.]

Subin looked across the enormous chamber.

Thousands of swords waited.

For some reason, he felt that this trial would be more difficult than fighting the Sword Beast.

Because this time, the dungeon wasn't asking him to defeat anything.

It was asking him to choose.