Game World: I Can Share Talents-Chapter 68: Is Only a Tachi Okay?

Solren’s annihilation of the field took but a moment, yet it sent endless shockwaves through the audience.

"He killed them with a borrowed knife."

"Not just killing with a borrowed knife—he crushed their spirits, too. How ruthless..."

"To sow discord like that... Is Duke Qinghui even human?"

"To be fair, he didn’t even say much. The War Knights were just full of openings."

"..."

The Sword Saint Solren’s execution of the Trial Takers had two primary victims: a pair of powerful and high-ranking figures in the Imperial court.

The Patriarch of the Solren Clan felt his mouth twitch. Even though everything in the Trial was a simulation, it was an absolutely realistic one!

Being publicly slapped in the face like this was utterly humiliating.

Unable to face the audience’s gossip, the Solren Patriarch left without a word, not even staying for the remainder of the Trial.

Meanwhile, the other deeply embarrassed figure, Prince Yaligong, appeared remarkably composed. He even took a sip of hot tea from his thermos, lacing his fingers over his chest as if the one eliminated hadn’t been his own trusted subordinate.

"Hahahaha! Duke Qinghui, Duke Qinghui! What an interesting man."

In the seats of the Branch of Prosperity, Luyetan clapped her hands in delight. Her bright, exquisite face was flushed with excitement, and she nearly jumped to her feet.

"With this, no matter how the battle with the Scorching Wings ends, Qinghui has already secured the crown of this Trial."

The composed Shadow Flame Duke couldn’t help but nod in praise. As a fellow member of the Branch of Prosperity, he was naturally on Westheid’s side.

After her initial excitement, Luyetan smiled and propped up her cheek with a slender hand.

"I wasn’t holding out much hope initially. Duke Qinghui has already given me more than enough surprises in this Trial. But, sir, perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to keep our expectations up, would it?"

...

「The next morning, in the Resistance Army fortress.」

With the vast majority of warriors gone, the once-cramped fortress now felt spacious.

Those who remained were all warriors prepared to die, now making their final, tense preparations for battle.

The Resistance Army’s stockpiled supplies had been taken away, leaving them with only a few days’ worth of rations. However, their weapons and ammunition were plentiful. They were a suicide squad, not a squad sent to be slaughtered.

"I’m not going to bother practicing with different weapons. It’s better to specialize in one for this fight."

Westheid rummaged through his weapon case, finally pulling out a large tachi forged from a Secret Silver Alloy.

A handsome blade, a graceful curve, a coldly sharp edge.

Westheid gave it an appreciative flourish, unable to put it down. "Can I get by with just a tachi?" he asked. "I do know a thing or two about the Dragon Slaying Technique."

Yolanda immediately retorted, "Since when did you learn any Dragon Slaying Technique, Brother? And a tachi... that’s so lame. How did you get into that stuff?"

Westheid replied, dissatisfied, "What do you mean, ’get into’? To think that after all we’ve been through, you still doubt me. That’s cold, sister. Truly cold."

Reiya picked a sword spear from the weapon case, clearly taking Westheid’s side.

"The Dragon Slaying Technique is still very useful when facing an ordinary Giant Dragon that’s stronger than you."

The so-called Dragon Slaying Technique was a set of weapon-based Combat Techniques designed specifically to counter the Dragon Race.

At the dawn of the Imperial era, the rule of the Dragon Realm was teetering on the brink of collapse, with the flames of war rising everywhere. But even without the protection of the Star Abyss Wings, the Dragon Race itself was terrifyingly powerful.

The Imperial ancestors of that time were still weak overall. To contend with the mighty Giant Dragons, they continuously developed new Combat Techniques. These warriors who fought on the front lines were known as Dragon Hunters.

Blades, swords, guns, spears, hammers, crossbows, and flutes—these were the seven arts of dragon slaying.

But later, as the Empire grew strong, the way of the Dragon Hunter quickly declined. After all, when you can just crush enemies with raw stats, who the hell bothers with technique?

A Dragon Hunter could use all eighteen styles of martial arts and fight for days and nights, working up a sweat just to trim a Giant Dragon’s claws. But a Divine Extraordinary could one-shot it with a single strike. Now *that* was true superiority!

In the modern era, the Dragon Slaying Technique was valued even less. It gradually faded into obscurity, becoming a niche hobby akin to "Imperial Ancient Martial Arts."

There was no need to learn it, but knowing it definitely upped your cool factor.

At the very least, many children of Imperial nobles liked to learn a move or two from the Dragon Slaying Technique, with the "tachi" combat style being the most popular among them.

There was no particular reason for this. It just looked cool.

Yolanda said coldly, "I’ve seen too many so-called tachi masters. They only know how to play by the book, with no power in their attacks and no finesse in their defense. Their movements are stiff, and all they think about is landing that damn Ascending Dragon. Forget a True Dragon, they’d get wiped by a monitor lizard... Brother, you’re not one of them, are you?"

"..."

Westheid was stunned for a moment, then cleared his throat twice. He said:

"Ahem, Yolanda, maybe you should take that back. I’m not bothered, but you’re making some of the guys sweat. Really, I’m fine, it doesn’t matter to me. It’s just that what you said is pretty offensive, you know? There’s no telling how many people you just insulted. The Qinghui Clan’s reputation can’t take a hit like that. For the sake of the family, just take it back. I’m begging you."

Yolanda: "Does the brother who freely mocks all the nobles in the Imperial Capital have any right to say that? If you truly cared, you wouldn’t have done it in the first place."

*STARE—*

Yolanda met Westheid’s gaze without backing down, her eyes interrogating him.

Just then, the sound of footsteps approached. Solren had returned to the fortress with a squad of Resistance Army warriors.

The crucial thing was what the Resistance warriors brought with them... It was clearly the Mechanical Battle Armor equipped by the War Knights!

"Looks like they dropped some loot."

As if granted a pardon, Westheid let out a whistle, quickly diverting everyone’s attention.

The Sword Saint walked straight up to Westheid and said flatly:

"I’ve eliminated the spies from the Celestial Vault Kingdom. Do you know how to use this Battle Armor? Can you help me distribute it to the right people?"

Westheid gladly agreed and accepted the task, then asked:

"Of course, no problem. But is this really okay? Even if they were spies, they were sincere about fighting the Dragon Race. They were at least competent combatants."

Solren’s icy expression softened for a moment, but he then shook his head.

"I know... but let’s just call it my own fastidiousness. I’d rather be short on manpower than fight alongside Celestial Beings who see the people of the surface as mere consumables."

The Sword Saint went on to assign some defensive tasks to the Resistance Army, then said to the Trial Takers:

"Everyone, tonight I will be moving all the defensive Runes to the lowest level of the fortress. Head there once you are ready."

With that, he departed in a hurry.

"West, it’s just as you predicted."

Reiya’s magnificent azure eyes looked at Westheid, sparkling brightly.

Effortlessly, with just a few words, he had made Solren personally deal with the "unstable elements." In Reiya’s eyes, Westheid was a sage of astonishing wisdom!

’I was just giving it a shot, I didn’t expect it to go so smoothly... Sigh. They really haven’t played enough Secret Realm Trials. Don’t they know this is a role-playing instance? If they’d just faked it a little, it wouldn’t have come to this. Tsk, tsk. So young.’

Westheid shrugged, then began to tearfully loot the spoils.

"But as for this Mechanical Battle Armor, we’ll gladly accept it."