Barbarian in a Failed Game

“Isa!”

Serenil’s green hair stood on end, a natural reaction to the massive outflow of mana from her body, signifying the imminent use of spirit magic. In an instant, Leniyar charged towards her.

“Elk-sedge!”

Recognizing the ancient incantation Serenil uttered, Khan shouted a warning.

“Fall back!”

“Damn it…!”

Leniyar was just within striking distance, but she didn’t risk pushing forward.

Shing—!

Her decision was validated a moment later. A circular section of the marble floor surrounding Serenil was neatly cut away. Had Leniyar insisted on attacking, her body might have been severed by the invisible force.

“Bothersome…!”

It was spirit magic. No matter how skilled a swordsman Leniyar was, she couldn’t ignore the invisibility of spirit magic. In Hoarfrost Gorge, she had dealt with elves by cutting them down before they could cast, but—

‘She’s remarkably fast…!’

Serenil’s speed with spirit magic was unparalleled among elves. Not only was it swift, but it was also nearly as deadly.

“So what if I did use it? What can you do to me? An insignificant short-lived race and a barbarian without mana?”

Serenil’s eyes glowed with a fierce blue as her hair reached the ceiling. She was an elder elf who had lived an unfathomable length of time by human standards.

The accumulated mana she possessed was overwhelmingly vast for a single being. Moreover, elves were naturally more mana-attuned, giving them an intrinsic advantage.

Whoooosh—!

A torrent of mana swirled around. Merely unleashing her internal mana caused physical phenomena due to its sheer volume.

“It’s not too late to back out, blockhead.”

“Shut up!”

Khan, who had been methodically dealing with the approaching elves, commented from the side, prompting an outburst from Leniyar.

Leniyar had sworn to kill Serenil with her own hands if it was confirmed she drugged her. She was confident that, unlike the battle in Hoarfrost Gorge where she fought at her limits, she was in peak condition now.

In her mind, the possibility of failing to kill Serenil was virtually zero.

“If I fail, I’ll become a pet instead of a slave. So shut up and watch!”

No stopping her now.

Khan chuckled as he watched Leniyar recklessly charge into the range of Serenil’s spirit magic. Her strong sense of rivalry and pride was untouched by the lessons of their past bets in Hoarfrost Gorge.

She remembered an old adage from ancient times: “Foolish girl. For ages, elves have been the bane of swordsmen.”

With a resonating hum, the spirit magic spread out, making the air vibrate, as though affirming the wisdom behind those ancient words.

Swordsmen’s physicality, no matter how remarkable, doesn’t transcend human limits.

Of course, Leniyar’s level of swordsmanship can slice through most attacks, making it harder to kill her. However, when the opponent is an elf, the swordsman’s life becomes as fragile as a candle in the wind.

‘Unlike knights or paladins, swordsmen and mages die instantly if they get even slightly hit.’

Even a swordsman who claims to cut through anything cannot cut what is invisible.

『It is possible. If one’s pure swordsmanship has reached a transcendent level, they can cut through anything.』

Easier said than done.

Khan thought silently, as usual, giving a mental retort to the ancient spirit’s nonsense. The spirit’s insights were growing increasingly sophisticated, making him consider that it might have once possessed significant stature. Sometimes, it would drop bits of information that even Khan wasn’t aware of.

‘Come to think of it, it handed over B-rank swordsmanship techniques, the origin of absolute swordsmanship, without a second thought… And it seemed very knowledgeable about the golden dragon, Areolus.’

Considering it was a soul sealed in a dragon-slaying sword, its vast knowledge about dragons wasn’t too surprising. Khan recalled how it had furiously referred to Areolus as a ‘traitor’ during their battle.

Initially, Khan had thought this was because the spirit sensed the divine power of the Goddess of Justice in Aries. But realistically, why would an ancient dragon at war with mortals call a heavenly God a traitor?

‘Indeed, there’s something more to this one.’

Determined to delve deeper into the spirit’s secrets when the opportunity arose, Khan’s thoughts were interrupted by another telepathic message.

『Great beings always carry profound secrets, as all monarchs did. More importantly… look, that woman is already bleeding.』

Despite sensing a deflection, Khan decided to play along this time, wiping blood from his sword, Draupnir, and turning to observe the scene.

‘Well, I expected this outcome.’

Unlike the unscathed Khan, who had fought off over ten elves attempting to assist Serenil, Leniyar was visibly injured after only a few minutes. Although it could be said that he had managed remarkably under invisible attacks, given his brainless persistence, there was no need to praise his efforts given the circumstances of their wager.

“You’re starting to look vulnerable. If you need help, just say so, blockhead.”

“Shut up—!”

Possibly spurred by Khan’s taunting, Leniyar’s eyes blazed with anger as she charged fiercely at Serenil again.

Charging headlong at an elder elf seemed nothing short of a suicidal act. Yet Leniyar possessed the skill to reduce that “suicidal act” to merely “a bit risky.”

‘She’s insane.’

Spirits exist within the realm of Midland and yet, simultaneously do not. It’s something explained in game setting books as a “dimensional hierarchy” but for Khan, who liked to skip through content, it was a difficult concept to grasp.

What he did know was that elves could see through these dimensional hierarchies, which allowed them to manipulate spirit magic.

The key point was that while spirits reside in other-dimensional hierarchies, when they create physical phenomena, they temporarily exist in the same hierarchy.

‘While you can’t see spirits, spotting them at the moment they manifest in this dimension is nearly impossible….’

Abandoning any hope of timing his attacks to coincide with these moments, Leniyar opted for the brute-force approach: ceaseless strikes. It was crude, but for a swordsman facing spirits, it was the only viable method.

“How long can your frail short-lived body keep this up?!”

The grimace on Serenil’s otherwise composed face was proof that his relentless approach was working. But that was it.

The outcome of their fight was already decided. It would end in mutual destruction or a stalemate, depending on whether Leniyar staked his life or not.

“This time, I’ve won—blockhead.”

“Hey, wait…!”

Just as Leniyar failed another attempt to break through the spirit magic and began to retreat, Khan had finished dealing with another elf and swiftly pivoted toward Serenil.

Boom—!

His charge was so fierce it seemed as if his body had reached her before the sound did. But surprisingly, Serenil noticed Khan’s approach while focusing on the Sword Demon.

“Isa!”

The invocation of the spirit’s name and the manifestation of ancient magic happened almost simultaneously. Khan shattered the ice spikes rising beneath him with a single powerful step, turning his vision crimson.

The world hadn’t become red from blood.

Through Karyan’s eyes, Serenil’s presence was so potent it felt as though it stained the entire world red. Khan had encountered Serenil’s attack patterns in the game before.

‘An area attack pattern!’

Bracing for impact, Khan crouched slightly and gripped Draupnir tightly.

“Let’s see what you’ve got.”

***

“You fool! I’ll obliterate you until not even your bones remain—!”

The blue glow from the massive release of mana now enveloped Serenil’s entire body. She was using every bit of her power, indicating the vast amount of mana she was pouring into her current attack.

“Elk-sedge!”

Behind Serenil, a massive entity wielded a double-edged greatsword raised toward the heavens. This entity was a frost giant with the head of an elk and the torso of a man, crafted from ice.

Although it only had an upper body, its immense size overshadowed most buildings. This apparition was a high-level spirit, one only the most talented direct descendants of the Isa family could nurture.

“Die—!”

The giant, with its elk head, swung the greatsword, which engulfed the entire corridor. Escape and defense were impossible once caught within its range—a decisive, deadly strike.

‘From the beginning, I’ve only been targeting you! Foolish barbarian!’

Even before the battle commenced, Serenil had considered the barbarian from Hoarfrost Gorge the greatest threat, not Leniyar. The reason wasn’t merely the brute strength reminiscent of a barrage of spells.

Every elf born into the six families grows up hearing tales that include a certain name.

Just as humans on the continent grow up with a vague fear of ‘witches’ and ‘demons’ from fairy tales and folklore, all elves live with an inherent fear of ‘that entity’.

The worst entity that forced the ancestors of the six families to leave the continent and head for Paradise. That entity’s name was Karyan.

‘I must kill him!’

And now a mortal openly spoke that name in front of her. From that moment, Serenil was single-mindedly focused on killing Khan. Capturing him wasn’t even a consideration.

He would be crushed by the spirit’s greatsword, using Paradise Bank’s headquarters as his grave, until he was unrecognizable. Serenil was certain.

“……!”

Until she saw the barbarian moving in sync with the greatsword’s trajectory.

‘Is this a coincidence?!’

She couldn’t think otherwise. Only elves can see spirits.

It was a blessing granted by nature solely to the great race of elves. There was no way a lesser barbarian without mana could possess such a gift…!

“Die—!”

The arrogance inherent to elves prevented Serenil from even considering an unlikely scenario. Certain of her lethal strike, she manipulated the elk-headed giant to bring down the greatsword.

However, Khan’s movements were too precise to be mere coincidence. It was as if he could indeed see the spirit and its attacks. Bracing himself, Khan dodged with such finesse, almost as if anticipating the strike.

“Let’s end this.”

Understanding the significance of the coming clash, both combatants prepared for their final moves.

*

“Foolish thing! I’ll crush you until there’s nothing left—!”

The blue radiance around Serenil intensified, now enveloping her entire body. It signified that she was utilizing all of her power, pouring an overwhelming amount of mana into this ultimate attack.

And then.

‘Now.’

The S-rank skill ‘Karyan’s Vision’ precisely identified the moment when the spirit’s strike gained a physical form.

Shing—! Kaboom—!!

The enormous half-beast, half-human giant that pierced the ceiling of Paradise Bank’s headquarters evaporated without a trace. The spirit was dead. A high-level spirit that had spent over a millennium with the Isa family returned to nature after just one clash with a supposed lesser being. Serenil couldn’t believe it.

No, what she couldn’t truly accept was—

“You—! How could you possess a power granted only to the great elves… urgh…!”

The fact that an ability forming the cornerstone of the elves’ pride was granted to a mere inferior race infuriated her.

Yet, she never got to fully express that anger.

“Great, huh? Relying on a single spirit and getting all high and mighty.”

Having lost the spirit and suffering its backlash, Serenil was no match for Khan. The hand that obliterated the half-beast giant now grasped her small head with ease.

“The backyard string-pulling ends here.”

“Uuggh…!”

“You should have kept your arrogance confined to Paradise.”

Serenil struggled desperately.

She clawed at Khan’s wrist and bared her teeth to bite his hand. Unlike her previous lofty demeanor as a member of a noble and superior race, she howled and fought for her life just like any common human—or rather, like a wild animal.

“P-Please… spare me…!”

“Sure, live a good life.”

Live a good life? Did that mean he would spare her? A glimmer of hope appeared in Serenil’s eyes. But then, the barbarian’s blade fell mercilessly.

Slash.

“I meant you should be a good corpse, elf.”