The Najever-Style Battō
At some point during training, I had asked her once.
"Why is the skill called the Najever Style?"
Names like that are usually taken from someone's title or actual name.
Most other skills had intuitive names—Black Moon Night, Black Shadow Flash, things like that.
"He was one of the Black Knights. An exceptional warrior. Now, take the stance."
Seira sheathed her sword and lowered her posture.
Slowly correcting my form, she continued speaking.
"I first met Najever in a village destroyed by monsters. His injuries were severe. Especially his eyes—he suffered wounds so great that he would have to live the rest of his life blind."
"That must've been devastating."
To wake up one morning and be unable to see.
Even imagining it felt unbearably tragic.
Seira nodded.
"That's what I thought as well. In truth, Najever didn't speak for a long time. So I took him to a cleric I knew well, asked them to take good care of the child so he wouldn't break. But just as I was leaving, Najever spoke for the first time."
"What did he say?"
"He asked me to take him with me. Said he wanted to become stronger."
Seira had answered firmly.
She'd told him that if he couldn't see, he couldn't fight. That she could not take him with her.
Cruel, perhaps—but realistic.
To fight in a darkness where you can see nothing…
Even the most gifted warriors would find surviving such conditions close to impossible.
"Then that child spoke even more firmly than I had. He said he would grow strong and prove me wrong. So I took him with me… and it didn't take long before I had to admit it. That I had been wrong."
"Oh, so he really did become strong."
"Najever understood his strengths and weaknesses perfectly. Most try to overcome their weaknesses—but Najever did the opposite. He dug relentlessly into a single path, to the point where others called it reckless, all to maximize his strengths."
Without sight, navigating complex terrain and following the trajectory of blades in real time was impossible.
And so, Najever made a choice.
To end the fight before any such variables could arise.
"Najever's battles always ended in a single exchange. The moment his blade left the sheath, the outcome was decided."
"That's… extreme."
"Extreme, but strong. When it came to battō alone, no knight could compare to him. Especially in darkness—Najever's draw-cut was a nightmare. Most enemies were decapitated before they even realized he was there."
After that, Seira incorporated Najever's battō style into the Black Knights' swordsmanship.
Thanks to that, the order's overall strength rose considerably.
Of course, not a single knight ever managed to surpass Najever's battō.
The Black Knights' sole battō master—Najever—remained unmatched.
"Ssssss."
Finishing her recollection, she steadied her breath.
The sword I had just picked up didn't feel familiar in my grip.
But that didn't matter.
Najever's sword had been similar in length and thickness to this one.
[Najever-Style Battō, First Form]
As I closed my eyes, the ambient noise flooding the area seeped into my ears.
The battō master Najever's senses intertwined with my usual aura perception.
I felt the firmness of the ground beneath my feet.
And then—pouring in all my strength while remaining utterly silent—I swung my blade.
[Night Raven Hunt]
Blue aura flowed along the blade and raced toward its tip.
When it reached the end, it scattered outward in a beautiful circular arc.
"!?"
The security team saw that light too.
But reacting to it was impossible.
By the time their eyes registered the glow, the aura had already cut through their bodies.
Fwaaaash!!
Blood sprayed, and screams burst forth from the darkness.
"Aaagh! M-my arm!"
"Kh…!"
"There's something in the center!"
"Get him!"
They shouted to capture me, but catching me was impossible.
With the dome-shaped ceiling sealed tight, not a single thread of moonlight entered this place.
And yet—why?
We were both unable to see.
And despite that—
Slash! Swish! Crack!
"Aaaagh!"
"You bastard—grrk!"
Their screams never ceased.
As though I could see through the darkness, the blue aura swept through the security team with unerring accuracy.
Every time it touched flesh, hot liquid splattered in all directions.
"Turn on the generator or open the ceiling—hurry! Now!"
A man who had retreated far back shouted harshly.
Shock and disbelief were visible on his face.
It's him.
The control room had suddenly gone silent.
Anyone sent to check on it had also fallen out of contact one by one.
So they had moved to Plan B earlier than expected—taking the event guests hostage to contain whatever had infiltrated the New Cali.
But they had been one step too late.
Clank!
With a mechanical whir, the New Cali's ceiling opened.
A beam of moonlight slipped in.
Only then did the culprit reveal himself.
I had just sliced down another security officer—the true cause of this chaos.
His eyes… are closed?
And almost immediately—
Tak!
The lights flickered on.
Having adjusted to darkness, their eyes instinctively flinched from the sudden brightness.
"!!"
I did not miss that opening.
The man's body recoiled backward like a spring as he narrowly evaded my blade.
Oh?
Seeing my strike cut only empty air, I raised my head.
I had meant to finish it before he adjusted to the light, but it seemed he had some sort of evasive skill.
I glanced back.
Two members of the security team lay sprawled near Jin Seohee.
Excellent.
Satisfied that she was unharmed, I smiled.
It seemed she had made it just in time.
Seohee also confirmed that I was safe.
But unlike me, she could not smile.
That blue aura that had painted the pitch-black darkness moments earlier—
The afterimage of that light was still flickering before her eyes.
—"Gan-Jang-Mak-Ya has been given to a worthy owner."
Seohee bit her lip.
She couldn't even imagine replicating what she had just seen.
The light painted by Jin-hyuk's blade was beyond anything she could conceive.
"What… are you?"
The team leader, Oh Min-su, scowled.
Security personnel lay scattered everywhere—around thirty of them.
None were high-level players.
Even so, the outcome made no sense.
The organization Vesta didn't hire weaklings.
Their levels might be low, but every one of them had been formidable criminals before Awakening.
Far more experienced in real combat than the pampered guests aboard the New Cali.
And yet—one boy, some rookie-looking brat—had cut through them without a fight.
"I heard you're called Vesta. Is that right?"
"Who told you that?"
"The people in the control room."
"So it was you. What'd you do to them?"
I didn't answer.
Instead, I simply glanced at the bodies on the floor.
"Hah."
Oh Min-su let out a hollow laugh.
This was bad.
He hadn't been told anything about this being on board.
He slowly organized the situation in his mind.
A ridiculous variable had appeared, yes.
But the operation wasn't a failure yet.
The New Cali had just left the waters near Incheon.
A little farther, and their comrades would rendezvous at sea.
Players fully armed and incomparable to these fallen security men.
"Waiting for your comrades, by any chance? The ones waiting out in the Yellow Sea?"
"...!"
"You shouldn't bother. This ship's going to stop."
Oh Min-su sneered.
"Nonsense. There's no one left to pilot this massive cruise ship."
The captain and navigation officers had already been dealt with.
They had also disabled the autopilot system.
No "driving god" could stop the New Cali under these conditions.
"No need. I'll get rid of the path instead. Seohee, hold on tight."
"What are you—"
KRRRRRAAAASH!!!
The ship rocked violently, as though it had struck a reef.
"Kyaaah!"
"Uwaaagh! What now?!"
Screams erupted from the hall but died down quickly.
The New Cali soon stabilized, almost as if nothing had happened.
"!?"
Sensing something was wrong, Oh Min-su yanked out his phone.
The location marker on the map hadn't moved at all.
Not a bug.
The New Cali had truly—impossibly—stopped dead in the water.
"What… is this…?"
While he struggled to comprehend the situation,
A chill brushed his cheek from the ceiling's open gap.
He turned toward the window—and his eyes trembled violently.
The sea… froze?
"Impossible" wasn't enough.
It simply couldn't happen.
Slowly, he looked back at Jin-hyuk.
"What… are you?"
Gone was the confidence he had moments ago.
Fear now colored his gaze.
Instead of answering, I smiled and looked up toward the ship's bow—where the freezing aura had begun.
"Now this… this is much better."
Lounging at the front of the ship, Dark stretched and yawned.
Only after the ship had fully stopped did he feel truly at ease.
Sprawled on the deck, he enjoyed the crisp night air.
This state—this was perfect.
Back inside the New Cali—
Thud…!
Oh Min-su kicked off the ground and launched himself upward.
He wasn't trying to run.
Even if he wanted to, he couldn't.
He was trapped on a frozen sea.
So he needed to reverse the situation.
Reaching the ceiling, Oh Min-su gathered all his power beneath his feet.
He had no intention of clashing head-on with Jin-hyuk.
His target was the event hall beyond Jin Seohee.
No matter how strong Jin-hyuk was, he was still a boy in his early twenties.
If he began slaughtering the terrified influencers one by one, the brat would break eventually.
I'll play with them slowly… let him watch them die—
Squelch.
"...?"
Oh Min-su looked down.
A black sword had pierced through his back and out his abdomen.
He turned his head.
A woman stood on the ceiling, having stabbed him clean through.
Her red eyes gazed down at him—utterly cold, utterly indifferent.
"What… the…?"
At this point, he wasn't even shocked—just dumbfounded.
How had this red-eyed woman reached the ceiling before he did?
He had no time to ponder.
The blade slid free.
Fwhoooosh!!
With a spray of blood and his power dispersing, Oh Min-su plummeted to the ground.
He crashed into the central fountain.
Crack.
Barely clinging to consciousness, he fumbled in his pocket.
If I'm going down… I'll at least take some with me.
He pressed the button.
BEEEEEEEEEP—!!
A shrill alarm screamed.
But there was one problem.
The sound was coming from his other pocket.
He pulled out the red-flashing canister, scowling.
"You've gotta be kidding me…"
Pooom!!
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T/N:
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