Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 596

“Here I come.”

For the briefest moment after Roland’s declaration, Su-ho tensed.

Bang!

A rough launching step.

Roland closed the distance first.

Kwaaang!!

Their swords collided.

It was the heaviest strike he had felt so far.

His fingertips went numb to the point that his forearms ached.

But exhilaration surged through him.

Because until now, it had felt as though Roland had been holding back, and only now did it feel as though he had finally drawn out his true strength.

Bang!! Bang!! Bang!! Bang!!

Roland pressed him relentlessly without pause.

It was overwhelming.

It was difficult.

But at the same time, they were not attacks he absolutely could not handle.

There was simply a physical difference between them, making things extremely tight.

‘They say battles between masters are decided by a sheet of paper’s worth of difference.’

Roland received Su-ho’s attacks as smoothly as flowing water, but Su-ho also managed, barely, to receive Roland’s attacks.

Which meant it was manageable.

As that thought repeated itself, it felt as though he was forcing some composure into existence.

No.

He deliberately struggled to carve out composure where there was none.

And with that artificially created breathing room, he once again targeted the waist of Durandal.

Of course, Roland had no intention of simply allowing it.

If Durandal happened to break, then things would truly become troublesome.

Perhaps because of that—

At a glance, the battle looked as though Roland was overwhelmingly pressuring Su-ho, but if one looked carefully, it was actually Roland who seemed to be getting chased around, almost like a game of tag.

Then, in the middle of that—

Su-ho’s sword grazed Roland’s chin.

It was only a very shallow wound, but he had succeeded in carving a sword line into Roland’s chin.

“......!”

Roland’s eyes widened.

Su-ho’s eyes widened as well.

Both had widened their eyes, but the emotions they felt were different.

Kwaang!!

Roland swung his sword again and drove Su-ho far away.

However, like a starving demon from hell, Su-ho immediately sprang back in and targeted Roland again.

It was not that adrenaline had made him stronger.

The force Roland used to repel him had weakened.

There was only one reason.

It was not because his chin had been cut.

Roland had unconsciously held back his strength out of concern that the accumulated damage to the sword might suddenly explode.

Su-ho noticed that change with monstrous sharpness.

And so, with exhilaration filling his eyes, he charged at Roland like a demon.

Kwaang!! Kwaang!! Kwaang!!

The tide of battle changed.

What had once merely looked like Roland pressing him now truly became a game of tag.

And Su-ho was the one chasing.

A tiger hunting with everything it had.

Roland’s expression twisted.

It was the first frown he had shown.

It could not be helped.

His composure had long since vanished.

There was only one reason.

Because this was the first time something like this had happened.

Roland had crossed swords with countless swordsmen.

But this kind of situation was a first for him.

Because most swordsmen lost before things ever reached this stage.

‘So battles between strong people really are decided by a sheet of paper’s worth of difference.’

He had never considered Su-ho weak.

If anything, he thought Su-ho was the best among the swordsmen who had challenged him.

But he had believed Su-ho still could not defeat him, and that confidence had turned into arrogance, preventing him from anticipating a variable like this.

And yet, when he thought about it, it had been a variable he should have expected.

Perhaps because of that, composure disappeared from Roland’s movements.

He avoided clashes between their swords as much as possible and instead increased his evasive movements, leaning his body away to dodge.

At the same time, he tried to somehow find an opening and land a decisive blow.

Impatience unbecoming of a professional.

And that impatience led to mistakes.

Those mistakes consumed his composure even faster, and finally—

Kwaang!!

This time, it was Su-ho who violently pushed Roland back.

“.......”

Roland had failed to dodge and blocked with his sword, but unfortunately, the targeted point had been Durandal’s waist.

So he had blocked with another part of the blade, failed to distribute the force properly, and ended up getting pushed far back.

Craaack—

A fracture.

The sound came from Durandal.

The impact point had been different, but the damage that had been received traveled all the way to the cracked waist of the blade, widening the fracture even further.

Silently, Roland looked at his sword.

Su-ho also stopped attacking and looked at Roland.

After some time passed in silence, Roland finally spoke.

“I have lost.”

“Your sword hasn’t broken yet, though?”

“Yes, it has not broken yet. But it will break before long. And I think it would be difficult for me to watch my sword break.”

Durandal.

The first sword granted to him by his lord.

It had spent his entire life beside him as his partner.

Some people would say:

A tiger fights with its full strength even when hunting a rabbit, and one never knows the outcome of a battle until the very end.

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