The Catalyst for Change (4)
The blade of the Sword Princess sliced through the air with deadly precision.
A single stroke of azure light carved across the sky.
She's improved a lot.
When I first saw her, I was honestly quite disappointed.
She wasn't my enemy, yet the sight of someone I would have suspected as one before me standing right in front of me left my blade blunt.
As a martial artist, and as someone who had lost everything in my previous life, it was extremely disappointing, just like her.
Even so, the Sword Princess's blade was in dire condition.
Too many unnecessary movements, and her energy distribution was uneven.
It meant she had advanced alone to the highest rank without any teacher guiding her.
In a way, it was impressive that she had reached the upper ranks by herself.
But that was no longer the case.
She now knew exactly where to channel her strength, and her unnecessary movements had vanished, leaving her movements fluid and graceful.
Scang—!!
"Enough of this judging! Come at me already!!"
Seeing her changed movements, I picked up speed and shouted for her to charge.
"I clearly told you not to lose your composure."
Thud!!
Cheon Seong's fist met the Sword Princess's blade with the back of his hand, then a dark mana-infused strike hammered into her head.
Since he hadn't used full power, she didn't fall, but it had been a decisive blow that would have ended the spar if he had.
Whoosh—!
Though she wasn't knocked out, the shock of that attack had shaken her brain, and the Sword Princess staggered.
"I won't yield! Not to you!"
But she used that stagger to continue her attack.
Hanbing Jeolyeommu — the technique.
Imu (Two Dances) — Punghwayuseol.
A storm of blue petals rushed forth.
A beautiful gathering of flowers that naturally drew the eyes and enchanted people.
At the same time, a fragrant threat of danger bloomed.
Scang!
Every petal became a blue sword edge, cutting through the air in a graceful dance that left wounds on the body.
She's different now.
"No, you can't do that."
Fang—!!!
Responding, Cheon Seong spat out dark mana.
"Your attack is sloppy and clumsy."
Dark mana dispersed the petals of Punghwayuseol, sending them flying.
Plop... Crack—!
The remaining petals fell and bloomed into beautiful blue crystals.
"Haa... haa... Are you some madman to stop that with just your strength?"
"If that's all it is, then I'm coming."
Breathing heavily, Cheon Seong launched himself toward the Sword Princess, kicking off the ground.
"I'll show you the real flowers."
New white White Night flowers bloomed in his hand.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art
First Form
White Night · Flower
The flowers rushed toward the Sword Princess, rejecting and dominating everything with dark mana petals.
The petals were so beautiful that the Sword Princess unconsciously stared at the white petals of White Night.
"!!!"
Realizing the threat too late, she quickly bloomed another blue flower.
"You've reduced the quantity but elevated the quality."
Even though she tried to speak, the Sword Princess was too busy blocking to answer.
Her petals were far fewer than before, but their quality had risen dramatically.
Some attacks she couldn't fully block, yet she reduced the damage to a minimum.
Whoosh—!!
Between the petals that barely held against the attack, something long approached at high speed.
Thud!!
Directly hit on the forehead, the Sword Princess couldn't withstand the recoil and flew backward, crashing into the wall.
"I told you."
Cheon Seong approached her, whispering.
"That I wouldn't go easy on you."
Whirring—!
From his hand, something long spun and smashed down to the ground with a loud bang.
"The... staff? Where did that come from?"
The Sword Princess asked, her brain still shaken by the impact.
"It's not where it came from... I'm not done attacking yet?"
The staff spun violently in his hand, creating a wind.
Sruruk
Black mana crawled like a snake along the staff, carving a black snake pattern with intertwined tails.
Instinct screamed a warning of danger.
Swallow
Her Adam's apple moved involuntarily, and sweat beaded on her hand gripping the blade.
Strengthen my sight. Don't miss a single movement.
Enhancing her sight with mana, she mentally warned herself not to overlook his movements.
She had never properly seen his movements before.
She had only predicted his position from the eerie feeling unique to dark mana.
But now even that is impossible.
But now it was even harder.
Sticky dark mana spread across the sparring ground like an infection, making it impossible to pinpoint his location by feeling alone.
So she had to see.
His movements.
His, Cheon Seong's movements.
"...Come on."
Waiting for the Sword Princess to finish her preparations, Cheon Seong announced that her preparations were complete.
Don't miss it. Follow it to the end.
She strengthened her sight to the maximum until the very last moment.
Whoosh
His body disappeared like fog, and the world went dark before her eyes.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The staff in my hand was the gauntlet I had been wearing, requested from Imir.
The gauntlet's name was Thousand-Face Weapon.
A weapon with a thousand faces.
A weapon with a thousand forms.
Created by Imir using the Doppelganger boss's mana core I obtained from the Seoraksan Dungeon.
It was a kind of artifact that transformed into any weapon form I imagined.
As expected.
Honestly, when I first handed over the core to Imir, I was hesitant.
I knew Imir's skill well, but Thousand-Face Weapon was truly the one and only impossible artifact in the world.
An artifact made from the one and only Doppelganger boss's core in existence.
Theoretically possible considering the Doppelganger's characteristics, but something I myself would never have believed possible.
Yet Imir succeeded.
Thousand-Face Weapon was a weapon that transformed into various forms perfectly suited to the user.
Therefore, it was an artifact perfectly suited to me.
After my regression, I had fought with fists and magic.
But that didn't mean those were the only weapons I could use.
As I had said many times, the world after regression was a place where only the strong survived.
Day or night, raiders, traitors, and monster attacks demanded constant vigilance.
Eventually, the weapons I used were worn down and broken countless times.
It was no different for me.
If my weapon broke, I had to seize an enemy's weapon and use it.
Naturally, I learned to handle countless weapons.
Of course, my mastery of fists and magic remained superior.
In life-and-death battles, every variable brought me one step closer to victory and survival.
Approaching the tense Sword Princess with the staff wrapped in black mana.
Cheon Seong's staff charged toward her abdomen, spewing black mana.
Time to pay the price for taunting me like that.
It didn't matter if it was childish.
Even if it wasn't, I was extremely angry right now.
It wasn't just about linking me to Yoo Hwa-young.
Right now, I was angry at the Sword Princess herself who was sparring with me.
A woman who says she's learning from me can't do this much. How pathetic.
Our spar was the price of the Soul Oath contract.
Under the guarantee of causality that supported the world, the most noble contract's price.
The price for that woman to become stronger by learning from me.
The staff of Cheon Seong reached the Sword Princess's abdomen.
Thud!!
The Sword Princess, who had flown at high speed, crashed into the wall and fell sliding down.
"You can't even move properly. Really pathetic."
Not seeing my movements at all was pitiful, the way of the Sword Princess, and I was angry.
"Sword Princess, you've definitely become stronger than when we first met."
Cheon Seong approached the Sword Princess and said.
Then, kicking her in the stomach to stop the shock from the hit, he continued.
"But that's all there is to it. With that kind of skill, you can't."
Thud
Thud
Thud
"You can never achieve revenge for your brother."
Shiver
The Sword Princess's body trembled at Cheon Seong's words.
Cheon Seong pierced through her spine.
"Shut up."
From the Sword Princess's cold killing intent, which trampled her dreams to pieces, the words "No matter what you are, I won't forgive you for that much" echoed.
Even so, Cheon Seong didn't stop, receiving that killing intent with his own body.
"People don't listen to the words of the weak."
Cheon Seong took a step back.
Then, with his footsteps stopping, the following words pierced the Sword Princess's heart.
"You are the weak one. People don't listen to your words as a weak person."
There are no heroes who help the weak.
Pure heroes who defeat villains with justice are nothing but the fantasies of foolish people who know nothing of the world.
Look for that kind of thing in fairy tales, not in this world.
The world's justice is only the twisted appearance of evil; justice does not exist in this world.
Because of power, those who help the weak gain something, and so they help the weak.
This is the world and light I have seen.
"While your brother was alive, did you show any interest in your brother?"
"I...!"
"Yeah, you did, right."
Meeting the Sword Princess, I had come to understand somewhat what her brother meant to her.
The sun that illuminates the world. A being like Yuna and Beatrice to me.
"But you were the weak one. Your brother was weaker than you, and he didn't listen to your words."
"Shut up..."
I told her to shut up, but I had no intention of stopping.
The Sword Princess must understand.
The reason she was living.
"You are weaker than your brother. Your brother didn't listen to your words, and because you are still weak, Persona doesn't listen to your words or your cry for revenge."
"Shut up!!!"
Reaching the limit of her rage, the Sword Princess swung her sword filled only with the emotion of anger.
The blade was too obvious, like an angry goblin's sword.
While I kept dodging it, the Sword Princess's cry filled with suppressed resentment flew out.
"You! What do you know about me!!"
My hand trembled like a reed.
"Why are you spouting such nonsense as if you know about a genius like me!!"
I know too. I know too.
About my skill being stagnant.
But what could I do about it?
"I know!! I know it's not good!!"
I know myself well.
"I'm an idiot! What do you know about me, an idiot, when you're such a damned genius spouting nonsense!!!"
Cang!!
Cheon Seong's staff and the Sword Princess's blade collided, sending sparks flying.
Every time their weapons met, the Sword Princess's resentment that had built up exploded.
"I know too, that my skill is stagnant. That's the one thing I know best!! But what are you supposed to do!!"
I noticed my skill had stagnated and doubled my training, but the skill didn't improve.
Even in sparring with Cheon Seong, I could only fall after ten exchanges.
Stagnant skill had pushed the destination of my revenge goal far away and eroded the emotion of hope into despair.
It was too terrifying.
Scared that the only hope I had found would be lost in front of my eyes.
So I increased the training volume to the point where my body couldn't endure it.
"Even so, my skill didn't increase, unlike you, a genius!!"
Cang!!
The Sword Princess dropped her sword and sat on the floor.
Thud
"No matter how hard I try... I'm still an idiot."
In my heart, the "me" that existed was standing on the edge of a cliff, precariously.
An idiot could never surpass a genius.
The people who cheered for the Sword Princess, the youngest to reach the highest rank and called a genius, the Sword Princess Ryu Se-rin... is not a genius.
"So what?"
"...What?"
"What difference does being an idiot make?"
Cheon Seong walked toward the Sword Princess, whose heart was about to break like a cliff.
"Who says the weak can't beat the genius?"
"Well, that's obvious...!"
"Who decides that obvious thing?"
"..."
At Cheon Seong's words, the Sword Princess had no answer.
Cheon Seong was not joking now; it was sincere, and she could see that, so she had no words.
The Sword Princess didn't know.
That Cheon Seong was more of an idiot than her, even though he wasn't a genius.
How many sacrifices had been made to obtain the power she had now.
That she knew the pain of losing something because she lacked power and weak power.
That she had broken the frame of "me" to avoid repeating that pain.
"If you can't bear it to the point of death, then die."
If it's too much to regret after losing, then it's better to die.
"If you still can't, then even if it means disappearing from existence, do it."
The Sword Princess looked up at Cheon Seong, and Cheon Seong looked down at her.
"Instead of living with the pain of unfulfilled revenge, just die."
Choose to give up and live with pain, or choose to live with pain and die.
"But if you won't give up, then keep standing up."
That is the reason a revengeist lives, a person who lives only for revenge.
There is no difference between genius and idiot for that reason.
Only those who don't give up are winners, and those who give up are just losers.
"Even if you're a genius. If you give up, you're just a loser."
Cheon Seong extended his hand toward the Sword Princess.
"Even if you're an idiot. If you don't give up, you're a winner."
So don't give up and stand up right now.