Olivia
Ian’s gaze briefly drifted toward the garden, but he shook his head and refocused on Sera.
The stages of sword mastery totaled five.
Sword Wind, Sword Fire, Sword Thunder, Sword Cloud.
Wait, one’s missing?
The final stage was left blank.
“Sera. Then what’s the last stage?”
“...I haven’t reached it myself, but I believe it’s called Sword Rain. It’s the supreme realm known across the continent as Sword Master.”
The stages are surprisingly all tied to nature.
From wind and flame, it ascends to lightning and clouds.
It felt like an abstract expression of swordsmanship gradually climbing toward the ‘heavens.’
“...So there’s nothing beyond Sword Rain?”
According to Ian’s knowledge, there had to be a realm stronger than that.
After all, the original story’s protagonist, Andrew, had hunted devils alone in the latter half of the tale.
That would have been impossible with mere Sword Master-level strength.
“Hmm, anything beyond that is the stuff of myths and legends. I only heard it secondhand from the Knight Commander, but I was told that starting from the Sword Rain realm, one can no longer grow through ‘normal’ means.”
“Normal means…?”
“...How should I put it? The usual ways we think of getting stronger? Constantly honing a single path through effort, creating new techniques, or studying. Apparently, beyond that point, growth requires something twisted or closer to heretical methods—completely unrelated to ordinary effort or talent.”
Twisted… or heretical methods…?
The conversation had suddenly shifted from orthodox fantasy to something far darker.
Ian had seen all sorts of bizarre monsters and grotesque creatures in the Forest of Nightmares and the Rift of the Continent, but this method of growth struck him with a peculiar shock.
As he fell into brief contemplation, Sera spoke to him in a comforting tone.
“...Well, you haven’t even reached Sword Rain yet, so thinking about what comes after is rather arrogant. Though of course, Master, you have every right to worry about such things.”
According to Sera’s expectations, Ian would easily attain the Sword Rain realm within ten years.
Does she even realize that the greatest sword talent on the continent is right here? Hehe.
Recalling her fellow trainees in the Twilight Knights, Sera inwardly sneered at them.
Didn’t they say the Richard family recently produced a prodigy destined to be the greatest swordsman? Well, compared to Master’s talent, that fool is nothing but dust.
After exchanging a few conversations with Ian, Sera had roughly figured out how she should teach him.
From the start, theoretical lectures simply didn’t suit him.
She spoke bluntly.
“Master! Let’s spar right now!”
“...Already? You’re not going to teach me anything else first?”
Ian had expected to learn various techniques, but he hadn’t thought they would jump straight into sparring.
“I’ll teach you slowly while we spar. It seems your talent leans more toward practical combat than theory…”
Though slightly puzzled, Ian didn’t refuse.
If anything, he felt a flicker of anticipation.
Srrrng—
Was this how she held it?
Drawing the sword from its sheath, Ian gripped it in a reverse hold.
The same stance Sera had demonstrated earlier.
“Master?”
The clear provocation made the corner of Sera’s mouth twitch upward.
No matter how much she adored her Master, if he openly challenged her like this…
I suppose I’ll have to teach him exactly who holds the upper hand.
If he ended up exhausted and collapsed, Sera decided she would pretend not to notice and stroke him all over.
“......”
The garden of Lumiela’s residence was now in utter disarray.
There, the two of them charged at each other with swords drawn.
Clang—!
The blades collided, ringing with resonance.
What the—?
The first to be shocked was Sera.
She hadn’t expected Ian to master the reverse grip so skillfully.
He copied it with just a single sidelong glance? What a monstrous Master!
That wasn’t all.
His speed had become far faster than before.
What Sera had misunderstood was that when Ian had previously clashed with her, he hadn’t been in a normal ‘condition.’
His legs had been so badly damaged they were nearly crippled, yet he had still fought her on even ground.
Now that his legs had fully healed, Ian displayed speed beyond imagination.
Scratch—
Ting—!
The moment their swords met, Ian used Sera’s own force against her, flinging her back.
…Rebound Sword?
When had he calculated her power?
Crunch—
Sera gritted her teeth and stabbed her sword into the ground to dampen the impact.
This time, she gradually reduced her strength as she charged again.
The biggest weakness of Rebound Sword is calculation.
Regardless of the difference in power, if the calculation was off, Ian would be the one to suffer.
The instant his prediction failed, he would take the full brunt of the attack.
Sera smiled, certain of her victory.
However.
Clang—
Ting—!
“......!”
How…?
This, too, had been within Ian’s expectations.
To be precise, he had caught on from the demonstration Sera had shown earlier.
Sera is splitting her power roughly in half each time.
Every time she explained a new realm, her strength had increased exponentially.
In other words, when she first explained Sword Wind, she had only used about ten to twenty percent of her full power.
At the time, while Sera exerted her strength, Ian hadn’t simply watched her swordplay.
He observed the tension in the muscles across her body, the positioning of her feet to control her center of gravity, and every other physical cue that couldn’t be faked. From that, he could predict exactly how much power she was using.
With keen observation and a body capable of executing it, it was surprisingly easy.
Once again, Sera was sent flying.
But mid-air, she kicked off the ground to reduce the force acting on her.
Ian tried to seize the opening to attack, but…
The gap created when she left the ground was clearly a weakness worth exploiting, yet something feels ominous.
Since he already knew about her linked sword strikes, he decided to focus solely on defense rather than risk a counterattack.
Tsk, he’s not falling for it.
Sera clicked her tongue as she looked at Ian.
She had boldly declared she would teach him, yet her attacks had already been blocked twice. It was time to get serious.
I know Master is incredible, but the world is too vast to run wild relying solely on talent.
Before joining the knight order, Sera herself had firmly believed she possessed the greatest talent on the continent.
She concluded that Ian needed a lesson in humility.
The rapid assault continued.
Just like before, Sera charged at Ian.
Tap—
This time she’s using roughly eighty percent of her full power.
Ian observed her and made minute adjustments to his own strength.
Calculating the optimal angle and force, he twisted his blade.
Clang—
The instant Ian’s sword met Sera’s—
…Huh?
Thud—
It was Ian, not Sera, who was sent flying.
The calculation was perfect, so why?
No, this wasn’t a matter of calculation.
As he flew through the air, Ian glanced at Sera’s expression.
She was looking at him with a faint, subtle smile.
“...Rebound Sword. It really is a useful technique.”
It wasn’t just Ian who was growing.
Through this spar, Sera was also becoming stronger in real time.
Sera Lexion.
As a member of the Twilight Knights, she was only surpassed by her peer Theodora. Sera herself was an unfathomably gifted genius.
Of course, unlike Ian, she couldn’t copy every sword technique with a single glance.
But she had already heard the principles of Rebound Sword explained in detail from Ian’s own mouth, and with her exceptional swordsmanship, she had mastered it almost immediately.
It’s still too much to use in real combat, but it should work fine in a spar.
Sera had only used a rough estimate of Ian’s strength.
The fortunate part was that Ian always fought at full power, making him easy to predict.
Unlike Sera who could reduce her output, the moment Ian held back even slightly, the difference in raw strength made him no match for her. It was an unavoidable choice.
Just before Ian hit the ground, he thought:
I’ll have to roll.
He planned to relax his body and tumble across the floor.
Thankfully, his small frame made it easier to disperse the impact.
But Sera wasn’t about to let that happen.
She immediately leaped forward.
“Hehe, you’re still far from reaching me, Master.”
Is… is this really a spar?
It felt less like a lesson and more like actual combat…
Before Ian could finish the thought, Sera’s sword shot straight toward his torso.
She wasn’t truly trying to harm him.
Her goal was simply to tear his clothes and satisfy her own desires.
Just before her blade reached Ian—
Crunch—!
“Ugh.”
Squish—
An incomprehensible force crushed Sera’s entire body, slamming her into the ground.
What the…?
Ian was startled.
Still sprawled on the ground, he slowly lifted his head.
Before he knew it, a familiar-looking woman with platinum blonde hair stood before him.
It wasn’t Lumiela.
Could it be…?
Ian’s eyes widened in shock.
A face slightly younger than Lumiela’s.
Purple Magic Eyes gleamed.
Second Imperial Princess, Olivia von Lebeus.
She had come to the Moon God Palace.
“Explain what the hell is going on. Right now.”
A completely ruined battlefield.
A space so devastated it could no longer be called part of the continent.
The man let out a deep sigh as he looked upon it.
“Olivia.”
“Mm?”
“...I’m sorry.”
“...What are you talking about? This is what you wanted, Ian.”
“I did something terrible to you.”
“I told you I’m fine! And what’s wrong with a noona granting her little brother’s request?”
At Olivia’s confident words, the man hesitated.
“I already told you, from the beginning I’m not…”
“I know.”
“What…?”
“I’ve known for a long time. That you’re not my blood relative. But does that mean we can’t do this?”
Olivia took the man’s hand.
A hand covered in scars.
It had been broken, severed, and regenerated countless times, long since losing its original shape.
“......”
“Even if we don’t share blood, that doesn’t erase the bond we’ve built all this time, does it? And strictly speaking, it’s not like we have no blood relation at all…”
Recalling their extremely complicated family ties, Olivia wiped the blood from her forehead.
Hearing such unusually ‘rational’ words from her, the man fell silent.
“...Anyway, Ian, you just stay back and watch! Noona will take care of everything.”
The moment Olivia finished speaking, the continent itself began to ‘rise’ on its own.