The Academy’s Sashimi Sword Master

A silver trail crossed the sky of Seoul. The citizens stood dumbfounded, as if watching a comet.

Despite having witnessed the strange phenomenon in the Eye of Jamsil Tower—a phenomenon later nicknamed the Eye of Sauron—the citizens of Seoul felt awe at dozens and hundreds of silver comets.

=…..=

Kali Yuga turned its neck to look unconsciously toward the sky.

=…!=

It was startled.

The human barrier it had formed with mages had collapsed. The mages had regained their senses.

They had escaped the pleasure that Kali Yuga had made them experience. The human wall, once so densely packed, began to scatter as if kernels had been stripped from a cob of corn.

“Save me…!”

“Because of that bast—…!”

They fell screaming.

Kali Yuga looked down in bewilderment at those who had been its servants. Not only had the wall collapsed, but how was it possible that they had freed themselves from him?

The doubt lasted only an instant.

────────!

The igi-eogeom lunged again! Kali Yuga darted quickly behind a building to evade.

The sashimi sliced the building as if it were tofu.

It barely felt a prickling danger above its crown when it saw the building it used as cover split into slices. The upper part of the building crumbled, and the sashimi offensive came again.

Kali Yuga felt a chill down its back. But there was no time for astonishment.

The sashimi pecked at it relentlessly.

“…Ha.”

Balor Joaquin let out an incredulous laugh.

“He sure knows how to make a dramatic entrance.”

He couldn’t see his disciple clearly.

It was because the sun was behind him. Balor Joaquin had to raise his hand to his brow to shield his eyes.

It was such an overwhelming sight that one could mistake him for a god. Yet his clumsy disciple still didn’t seem to have noticed him.

“Good. You’re doing well.”

After all, you can’t let yourself get distracted with the enemy right in front of you. He never taught that.

Even if the place of instruction had been a fish market, he still taught that.

Anyway.

“It’s been a long time since I saw your skills, show them to me.”

That boy, who had taken up the sword some twenty years ago, had been called the best swordsman in the country.

And then another ten years passed.

Evaluating how astonishing Kang Geom-Ma’s mastery was, that was his duty as a true master. Balor Joaquin, hiding a smile, signaled to the Sword Master.

“If we interfere now, we’ll just get in the way.”

“I agree.”

“If we’re not going to help, it’s best not to hinder. That’s a teacher’s virtue. But still, as decent people in combat, it’s not like we’ll just sit discarded in a corner.”

“Uwaaaaah!”

The bodies of the mages were about to be torn apart. Balor Joaquin and the Sword Master floated in the air, observing the situation.

Balor Joaquin sighed.

“…Let’s deal with them first.”

“I agree as well.”

Even if they were responsible for their own actions, the mages hadn’t even had time to enjoy anything before being discarded by Kali Yuga.

“That aside…”

The Sword Master crouched slightly and murmured.

“…I humbly apologize, but…”

He insisted.

“…The Heavenly Sword is my disciple.”

He pressed even harder.

“What?”

Balor Joaquin, who was about to jump in, was left speechless.

The Sword Master added.

“I don’t know exactly how, but the last person who taught the Heavenly Sword was me.”

“And what does that matter now?”

“It matters. A lot.”

In the Sword Master’s golden eyes, a spark gleamed. It was the greed of an old man.

That grandson-in-law had been his pride for ten years. At first, he nearly hated him for taking his granddaughter, but in the end.

“Even if you’re the founding hero. On this, I won’t yield.”

The Sword Master was completely blinded by his grandson-in-law.

So much so that his granddaughter was already sick of him.

***

“Ahhhhh!”

A falling mage closed her eyes. But feeling a weight on her back, she opened them slowly.

A black-haired man was holding the mage like a princess.

It was Balor Joaquin.

“Oh…”

A handsome man.

He spoke with a serious expression.

“Hold on tight. This will get fast.”

Even if his tone was that of an old man, she didn’t notice. As soon as the mage clung to his neck, Balor Joaquin sped up.

“Uaaaagh!”

He moved between the buildings like lightning. He rescued the mages in midair at a speed barely perceptible.

And soon, he had a mountain of mages piled up in his arms.

He set them down in a solitary park. The survivors staggered and vomited.

“Bueehhh.”

It was from dizziness and from the forced activation of their mana.

Balor Joaquin frowned. He was used to dealing with drunks because of his work at the tavern, but having a bunch of mages doing that—what an image.

Just as he was leaving, a mage stopped him while wiping her mouth.

“Uh, hey.”

“……”

“Can I have your number? Or at least your name?”

From someone who just threw up?

“If you can’t give me your contact, then at least your name!”

“No.”

He was going to leave without looking back.

‘Mmm.’

He thought about it for a moment and stopped. He turned toward the mage, who trembled as if her arms were fly legs, and said.

“Balor Joaquin.”

“……”

Silence.

“Believe it or not, it doesn’t matter.”

“Balor…”

“Yes.”

“Balor Joaquin… then!”

It was such a mythical name that her brain went into dissonance. The man who had introduced himself as Balor Joaquin pointed at the sky with his index finger.

“You see that boy.”

The Heavenly Sword, Kang Geom-Ma.

“I am his master and his father.”

He emphasized it, even if it seemed strange.

“Remember. That boy’s master and father is not the Sword Master or anything like that. It’s me.”

“Y-yes.”

Even he regretted saying it as soon as he did. But still, he added in embarrassment.

“Me, I said me!”

The mage nodded awkwardly.

***

At the same time.

=Shit…=

Kali Yuga thought as it felt the sea wind on its face. Something had started to go wrong at some point. But in truth, there was no mistake.

It was just that the being called Kang Geom-Ma was an unknowable existence that surpassed all foresight.

Slash.

The sashimi finally struck its heel. Kali Yuga flailed at the air as blood poured from its seven orifices.

It was the end. Physical pain meant nothing. It was the mental pressure that was strangling its existence.

The Apocalypse.

Kali Yuga was an entity that embodied vague fear made tangible. In other words, he himself was fear.

And yet.

Slash, slash!

Every time the sashimi rose to stab him, Kali Yuga held its breath.

Just by looking into that man’s eyes, its hips shrank. An apostle of the Force of Suppression.

The sum total of fear. Humanity’s taboo.

It feared that black-eyed human.

=Are you… really thinking of rebelling against the Force of Suppression…?=

“What are you talking about?”

Kang Geom-Ma spat the words as he stomped on the clouds.

It wasn’t as fast as the speed of light earlier, but fortunately, Kali Yuga gained a brief instant to react.

But then.

Slash—!

With a single cut, the Mapo Bridge collapsed. Kali Yuga fled at full speed. A second strike followed.

Kali Yuga ran, shoving cars with its body.

It was going to die. Each of those cuts represented death.

In truth, an apostle of the Force of Suppression cannot die as such. But it can reach its “end.”

If the concept that the apostle represents vanishes, the end disappears from the universe.

The conditions were demanding, and eliminating a taboo was practically impossible. Or so it thought—until facing Kang Geom-Ma’s sword.

=If he cuts me, I’ll be extinguished=

If that sashimi cut its throat, it would disappear. That’s why it had to avoid it at all costs.

Kali Yuga, manifestation of the Apocalypse, writhed to survive. It ripped a building from the ground as if it were a radish and hurled it.

Kang Geom-Ma, running, swung his sword.

Slash!

Every time Murasame flashed, the hurled objects were chopped into pieces.

The cuts had yellowish edges. Proof that the friction with the air had cooked them.

Could one even call that a “cut”?

And on top of that, he wasn’t even using magic. It seemed he was deliberately avoiding it. And yet, he had grown stronger.

Maybe that was why.

Kang Geom-Ma, now using only the sashimi, was sharper than ever, incomparable to before when he combined it with magic.

He cut and sliced no matter what it was.

Legal consequences? Screw them. Property damage? In the middle of the Apocalypse, if someone complained, he’d gladly give them CPR.

“I am…”

Kang Geom-Ma.

“I only need to cut.”

Everything around him urged him to do just that.

Abel had told him:

“Your sword is my ideal.”

Rachel had also said.

“Your strength is not only physical, but also mental.”

And Ryozo always told him.

“Don’t think about anything else.”

So he did.

He swept through Seoul, slicing everything in his path. Kali Yuga hurled massive chunks of debris.

And he answered with his sword.

He cut everything.

After that, all he had to do was get closer to him.

“Don’t think about anything else, Kang Geom-Ma.”

“I’m going to…”

Cut.

If he did, he would slice him apart.

The gravity binding his limbs lost its strength. In a lighter atmosphere, he advanced unhindered.

=Dammit!=

Kali Yuga turned pale.

=I must at least buy time to escape!=

Once again, the sword exploded. This time, while crossing Yanghwa Bridge, Kali Yuga ducked down completely.

Ting ting ting!

The steel cables connecting the bridge towers snapped with a roar.

It barely managed to dodge. But its pride as the Apocalypse was also cut.

It couldn’t go on like this. If it kept fleeing this way, it would die.

Even if it had no honor as the Apocalypse, it had to survive. So it decided.

Beeeeep…!

Headlights blinded it. It was the subway train crossing Yanghwa Bridge.

Kali Yuga planted a hand. And hurled with all its might the train, its head already crushed.

The passengers rolled inside like trapped insects.

The train rose diagonally.

Kang Geom-Ma advanced.

Murasame crossed with the train.

=That’s it!=

Before it could shout for joy, Kali Yuga, already pale, turned even bluer.

Swoosh…

The train was split cleanly in two. But the sashimi didn’t touch a single passenger.

It only sliced the metal. In sudden weightlessness, the citizens barely managed to utter an “ah,” and Kang Geom-Ma flung the train into the Han River.

They fell into the water from a safe height.

No one died.

The river’s temperature rose in a good way.

=I-is this even possible…?=

Kang Geom-Ma passed by Kali Yuga.

A blue arm fell from its side. Kali Yuga stared at the arm that rolled to its feet.

Is that… my arm?

=U-ugh=

It moved its lips.

No one heard. Kang Geom-Ma spread his spiritual perception.

A wave expanded from him and formed a semi-transparent barrier. Its radius— all of Seoul.

Not enough.

He expanded it further.

With the Blessing of the God of Transition, his perception encompassed all of South Korea.

“You.”

Suddenly, he spoke.

“Do you know how many Daiso stores there are in South Korea?”

=What… the fuck…?=

He ignored it. He didn’t expect an answer.

“In total, there are 1,519.”

Click.

He snapped his fingers.

The rubble on the ground vibrated.

“How many sashimi knives do you think are in all those stores?”

And then…

=…!=

Stars began to sprout in the sky. How many?

“I don’t know.”

“Me neither.”

“Let’s count them together.”

=You son of a biiiiiiitch!=

Kali Yuga shot forward like an arrow.

“Die.”

But he couldn’t reach me.

He couldn’t reach us.