I Became a Raid Boss

There’s a famous saying known to every swordsman of the Ardina Continent.

“When blades clash, you can learn about a person’s life.”

I think that saying isn’t completely right, but it’s not entirely wrong either. There’s something you can feel when you cross swords.

If their movements are hurried, you can tell they have a hasty personality; if they focus on evasion, they must be passive.

It’s not just personalities you can glean from it. You can figure out whether they learned swordsmanship the traditional way or picked it up in the field, what techniques they favor, and even where they come from.

Swordsmanship embodies more than you might think.

Bwoom!

I ducked lightly and dodged a great sword swinging at me with the intent to take off my head.

A style relying more on technique and strength than psychological warfare. The oddly misaligned points of attack. Watchful eyes prepared for an assault that could come from anywhere.

It seems the great sword Peep fights more with things that aren’t human than with people.

It doesn’t seem like she has no experience fighting humans, but it feels like she hasn’t had many opponents wielding great swords.

Dodging and blocking the incoming attacks, I pondered again.

“Should I let this slide or not…?”

She moved in with her sword without hesitation after seeing that attack, so it feels like I don’t need to let her off easy.

After all, she’s an Apostle, so death won’t be the end for her.

But still, if I let her off easy, I feel like she’ll just rush at me more.

Hmm…

“Okay, I’ve decided.”

Let’s show just a hint.

If she doesn’t gain enlightenment, that’s all there is to it. If she does, she won’t keep being a bother anymore.

As soon as I made that decision, I completely severed the mana I had lightly wrapped around my sword.

The great sword Peep must have sensed something, as she stopped swinging her weapon and took a step back.

“What? Why the sudden change? Are you saying it’s over already?”

People often say that those who have reached the level of a master have attained enlightenment.

Enlightenment. It’s just two syllables, but the weight behind it is indescribable.

If that weight were light, there wouldn’t be so many who failed to breach the wall of mastery.

Being a master isn’t just about having good mana control; it’s a level that requires better handling of mana and other elements.

Hmmm… What would be a good analogy?

Sure, let’s go modern with it.

No matter how good your bullets are, they’re useless without the right gun, right?

In other words, the bullet is mana, and the gun symbolizes the skills one possesses.

The skills I’m talking about encompass techniques, physical prowess, and spirit. Let’s skip the details on that…

Simply put, those who earn the title of master are ones who handle their chosen weapons like a demon.

I’m one of those people, too.

Taking a step forward, Peep gripped her great sword tightly.

“I was surprised thinking it was the end.”

Her tone sounded somewhat sulky.

But her eyes were closely scrutinizing my movements.

She could be indignant about me withdrawing my mana and call it an oversight.

Contrary to her initial enthusiastic impression, Peep had a calm demeanor.

There was a reason she was the strongest of the Apostles I had encountered.

As a sign of invitation, I slightly flicked my sword, and Peep stomped the ground hard.

Having felt some realization during our fight, the great sword filled my vision, aiming precisely at my head.

A moment of frustration washed over me, pouting my lips.

“I’m the one struggling to match her.”

While she swings the great sword without a care in the world.

If our skills were equal, those would have been dangerous attacks that she wielded without hesitation.

“Ugh.”

Would she even get my plight?

Sighing, I brought the tip of my sword to meet her great sword.

“…Huh?”

In the next moment, the great sword Peep was buried in the ground, making a dazed sound.

*

This is fun. I’m enjoying this.

I’m finally… not.
Yuki cooled her overheated head.
Since starting Silia Online… No, even considering all her memories, she had never felt this joyful.

Anyone who saw Yuki had one unanimous thing to say.
“A genius.”

Be it soccer, basketball, or swordsmanship, Yuki had an innate talent for anything physical.

After a day, she would catch up to others’ half-year progress; after a week, she would catch up to a year’s worth of work, and after six months, she’d be standing at a height where she’d look down at those desperately crawling up.

What seemed like an insurmountable mountain to others felt like just a small hill to her, so nothing sparked her interest.

After all, even conquering something had to have value; otherwise, what was the point?

If she aimed for something, there was nothing she couldn’t achieve, nothing she wanted that couldn’t be done, making feelings like a sense of accomplishment or competition or passion completely foreign to Yuki.

Had Silia Online not been released, she would have remained that way, surely.

The pleasure she felt with every swing of her sword, the battles between life and death.

In stark contrast to the ease with which she achieved everything until then, Yuki found herself deeply captivated by a world where she had to exert all her effort to achieve her desires.

Therefore, Yuki enjoyed her fight with Kana.

No matter how fiercely she swung her sword, she couldn’t even graze her, and if there was a chance that might land, Kana would block it without a change in her expression.

An opponent against whom she saw no possibility of victory.

The towering wall she faced for the first time.

Gazing up at a wall so tall that climbing it felt impossible, she first felt a spark of competitive spirit.

When Kana withdrew her mana, disappointment flooded Yuki’s mind, thinking the fun time was coming to an end, but she soon realized her mistake and was filled with joy.

Though the sword, once dyed pink like Kana’s hair, returned to its original silver, Yuki didn’t let her guard down.

If she could have been taken down just because she didn’t wrap a sword energy, her sword would have already made contact with Kana multiple times by now.

“Quick but steady, strong yet accurate.”

A downward stroke using the weight of the great sword to its fullest.

A smile crept onto Yuki’s lips.

It was the most perfect sword path she had ever executed.

From a distance, it might have looked like a terrifying scene of a slender girl committing an act of brutality, but…

As she swung the great sword infused with mana down toward Kana’s head, Yuki was convinced that this time Kana wouldn’t be able to block it easily.

“…Huh?”

The world flipped upside down in an instant.

No, it wasn’t the world that flipped; it was Yuki herself.

Her eyes, which had been fixed forward, looked at the faraway sky, and the tightly gripped great sword was tossed aside carelessly a little distance away.

“Uh?”

A dazed sound escaped Yuki’s lips again.

She remembered Kana bringing her sword close.

Then in the next moment, she found herself sprawled on the ground.

Yuki couldn’t figure out what relationship there was between these two events.

She had thought she would block the attack without issue, but she never imagined it would happen like this.

“What on earth is going on…?”

Yuki wasn’t the only one confused.

Those watching the fight also shared the same bewilderment.

“…What? What just happened?”

“Don’t ask me that…”

“Still, you’re the only one who learned swordsmanship from the Gravekeeper… Kana… what should I even call her? Anyway, you’re the only one who learned from her.”

“If you’ve seen my streams, you’d know I didn’t learn anything like that. And I didn’t know Kana was this strong either.”

“Ah… I see.”

“…What?”

“…I didn’t say anything.”

“You were going to say something.”

“I didn’t say anything! But you seem to be calling her casually, Joanie.”

Pine’s attempt to change the subject was successful.

“Ah…”

Joanie scratched her cheek.

“I was scared at first, but as I watched, she started to feel more like a little sister to me… So, it’s hard to speak formally.”

“You have a younger sister?”

“No?”

“…?”

“But still, Pine, you also called her a gravekeeper and whatnot without any formality. Why bring it up now?”

“When I see her in person, I find it hard to call her casually. It’s like when you try to casually address a celebrity but can’t when you meet them face to face.”

“Ah, I get it. That feeling.”

Nod.

Joanie understood, nodding her head.

Pine asked carefully.

“But what if she’s actually much older than you, Joanie?”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean… right?”

Pine glanced at Kana for a moment.

Even looking again, her appearance was nothing short of breathtaking.

The cape hiding such beauty felt like a crime.

Right now, she might seem merely cute due to her still-childish face and small stature, but if she continued to grow with her innate charm, she would surely become a beauty capable of toppling a nation.

“You know, Joanie. It’s impossible for someone that age to possess such power.”

Those who stood among the mightiest in the world of Silia were all individuals who had seen a certain amount of years.

This was something that had been said since the rumors of the Gravekeeper first started circulating.

Claims that she wasn’t a child were dismissed as mere fanboy delusions.

“Back then, I had no idea. I didn’t think they might be right.”

Pine thought it was quite amusing to reflect back on it.

“Are you suggesting she practiced some sort of unorthodox technique like the Rebirth and Transformation?”

“Well, there might be a chance…”

“Honestly, I’d find it more believable if a dragon said they shapeshifted.”

Joanie dismissed Pine’s absurd claim but could grasp what he meant.

She too sensed that Kana’s strength was unsettlingly unreasonable.

‘If she really is older than me…’

Joanie felt a sudden wave of unease and reflected on her past interactions with Kana.

Though her strong desire to pet and admire her was overwhelming, thankfully, she had no memories of crossing any lines.

If she made such a blunder with someone of a higher status, not a royal but still someone important enough that their nation’s name featured in their title…

Joanie sighed with mixed relief and hidden desire, thinking of the harrowing situation that could have unfolded.

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