One More Date
Three swordsmen charged the slowly falling Hwasinjo.
— ······.
The Hwasinjo's golden eyes swept over the swordsmen, deep and still.
It kindled one last flame. The dying light flared back to life for a single instant and spat fire.
Leon unfurled a sword barrier.
Bigwanggeomhyeong, Form Three: Gwanghwa.
Sword-flowers spun and deflected the blast of heat. Holding that barrier before him like a shield, Leon charged straight ahead.
Hera casually swept her Sword Gang through the flames and snuffed them out; Billy did much the same, if a shade less cleanly.
As expected, Hera reached the Hwasinjo first.
Thung—!
The water's surface heaved as her body rose. She used no grand technique—only a simple, relentless rain of sword strikes.
Blow after blow landed with lethal precision. Golden blood sprayed; flesh was carved away in thick slabs.
Taaang—!
Billy leapt next. He played a soft, blue Sword Thread across the beast and added fresh wounds of his own.
As Billy began to fall, Leon—who had been waiting for the exact moment—finally sprang.
Tu-woong!
He poured the energy of his dantian without stint, rose into the empty air, and unleashed three sword forms in unbroken succession.
Jecheon Sword Style, Form Two—Variation.
Baegunyeongcheon.
Jecheon Sword Style, Form Two—Variation.
Cheonunjincheon.
Jecheon Sword Style, Form Two: Manunbicheon.
Hundred, thousand, ten thousand. Bundles of sword-cloud swelled tenfold with each form and blanketed the sky.
The Hwasinjo managed to block as far as Cheonunjincheon—but the Manunbicheon that followed struck it full-on.
Puh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buk—!!
Fire-qi and bodily fluids sheared away in countless fragments and scattered as powder. The Hwasinjo was left a complete rag, hanging in tatters.
"······Mm."
Leon looked down at the approaching water and let out a short groan.
From his hands and arms all the way through his upper body and meridians, everything burned. These forms had never been meant to be used in a chain. This was the end, so he had pushed a little too hard.
Leon snapped his head up.
He saw the half-dead Hwasinjo still falling, and Billy and Hera already closing in, settling into their stances.
Focus.
This was the critical moment.
Leon flung open his Extreme Sense and revived the feel of Neungcheongong. The instant his feet touched the water he kicked hard off the surface and leapt again at once.
The timing came together almost perfectly.
One heartbeat.
Three figures surrounding the Hwasinjo in midair.
Billy raised his sword from behind for an upward cut.
Hera lifted both arms from the side, Sword Gang gathering.
In that split second, her voice transmission reached Leon.
— One more date.
Then Hera launched two blades of force at once.
They flew like shafts of light······.
Kwajik!
One cleanly cleaved the Hwasinjo's torso.
Kkaang!
The other deftly deflected Billy's sword, which had been driving for the beast's chest.
"······!"
Seogeok!
Bent off course, Billy's blade instead split the Hwasinjo's shoulder.
Yes!
Leon's eyes flew wide.
Lightning surged from his hand.
Jecheon Sword Style, Form Four: Taegwangbyeokryeok.
His sword became a thunderbolt and crashed down upon a single point.
—Kwaduk!
The exact center of the Hwasinjo's chest was pierced clean through.
Done!
He had succeeded without question. Leon felt it clearly—his blade had stabbed the creature's fire core.
Kwachachang!
The explosion that followed tore open a gaping hole.
The fire core shattered completely. From deep within it, an auspicious energy began to pour out.
Shwaaaaaaaa—!
Formless, colorless, odorless—the energy flooded straight into Leon's body.
"······!!!"
Leon's mind went blank. A pure, radiant power beyond any words he knew wrapped around his soul. It was like drinking a draft of heaven itself.
This was not fire-qi. It was the fundamental essence of a divine beast, nested deep inside the fire core.
Half out of his senses, Leon greedily forced the energy into himself. He simply took it in and drank it down, without even knowing where it was being absorbed.
Shiiiiiiik—!
He was still falling alongside the Hwasinjo's corpse. Even so, he did not pull free the sword he had driven in. Slack-bodied, dazed, he clung to the hilt and dropped.
In that strange state, the swelling fullness became too much to bear, and Leon threw back his head and laughed aloud.
A little later.
The Hwasinjo hunting party gathered along the bank of the Rumel Canal.
Jenian spoke.
"Well done, all of you. Thanks to you, we were able to handle it smoothly."
Everyone else only nodded; Leon alone answered.
"I'm honored to have been of help."
"The Imperial Court will likely send people to investigate. I've recorded everything that happened here, so you can all head back and rest as you are. You must be tired."
Meaning he had captured it all on video.
"Oh—thank you."
Jenian scratched his chin and continued in the same flat tone.
"His Majesty the Emperor will probably bestow commendations by tomorrow, so don't sleep in."
"Yes, sir."
"I can take this thing's corpse, I assume?"
"Of course."
"······."
Jenian looked over the group for a moment, then turned to Billy.
"What was your name again?"
Billy answered.
"Billy, eldest son of the Cainetel family."
"Ah, right."
Jenian nodded. Leon asked, a little puzzled.
"How do you know Billy?"
"Isn't he the runner-up of Elprime's martial arts division?"
"Ah—so that's it."
"And you're the top student. I know that much. I do read the papers, you know. The Empire's future looks bright indeed—young pillars like you stepping up first when a crisis hits. How did you all end up here, anyway?"
Leon, glad of the opening, redirected the attention onto Billy.
"Yeah, right. How did you end up here? Weren't you going to District Two to see a play? You even got tickets."
Every gaze locked onto Billy.
Billy's hand, mid-sweep of his bangs, froze.
"······Well."
"Uh-huh."
"The theater troupe you gave me tickets for had some trouble today and canceled. So I decided to watch the Sacred Flame Festival instead."
"······."
Leon pressed a hand to his forehead. This bastard, honestly······.
Billy went on.
"So I arrived at the Plaza of Abundance, and that bird suddenly erupted out of the ground. I got my little brother to safety, then came here."
Leon tilted his head.
"······You went that far? You hate sticking your neck out like that."
Billy admitted it freely.
"True enough."
"Then why?"
"A somewhat emotional decision. My brother was badly shaken. The festival he'd been looking forward to was ruined, too."
"Mm."
Leon accepted that. So he had simply gotten angry and come to hunt it down. When it came to family, even Billy's rational side cracked a little.
Hera muttered to herself.
"Hmm. I came because of my little brother, too."
Leon ignored the aside and steered things toward a breakup. Aria would be fretting and waiting for him by now.
"Your Excellency, thank you for today. We'll take our leave."
"Good work. Need a teleport?"
"The night's pleasant—we'll walk."
Hera and Billy added their own.
"Same for me."
"Likewise."
Jenian placed a hand over his heart in a mage's salute.
"Very well. If you ever have business, feel free to visit my magic tower."
"Have a peaceful night."
They all set hands to their sword hilts and bowed at the waist. Jenian teleported away with the Hwasinjo's corpse.
Billy exchanged farewells with Leon and Hera as well, then left to find his brother.
"Shall we go, too?"
Hera draped an arm over Leon's shoulder.
The two of them began to walk at an easy pace. The moonlight was remarkably bright.
Leon gazed for a while at the streets still marked by the Hwasinjo's aftermath, then spoke.
"Noona, since you helped today······ I'm willing to cut you up to twenty percent of what we took from the Full Moon people."
"That much? Works for me~."
"But I've got one favor to ask. Do this for me and I'll make it thirty."
"Go on."
"We need to dispose of the goods we brought back, and we can't sell them in the capital."
Selling items stolen from the Full Moon Auction in the capital—where the Full Moon trading house itself was based—would get them caught at once.
"So Aria's going to Glenberg. It's too dangerous alone, so I'd like you to go with her."
"Hmm."
Glenberg was a famous trade city within the Empire, notorious for its thriving black market and under-the-table deals.
Which also made it a thoroughly vicious place. Even a fighter of Aria's caliber would be uneasy going alone.
Leon had to attend the Emperor's banquet the day after tomorrow, so he could not go with them. That was why he meant to attach Hera as escort.
Hera agreed.
"Glenberg? Fine. Nothing difficult about it."
She jabbed Leon in the side with a grin.
"So Noona's completely trustworthy now, huh? Sending me off alone with Aria all that way."
"Hm? I'm going to use a Blood Oath later, though?"
"······That's mean."
They picked up their pace and headed quickly for their destination.
A hotel on the outskirts of District Four. They went inside and found the largest room.
Beolk—
They opened the unlocked door and······.
"······Whoa."
Leon felt as if he had walked into a monastery. The room was unnervingly awkward, still, and quiet.
Riel sat on the floor tending a sword; Aria sat at a side table with a teacup in hand.
At the large dining table in the middle, a dozen or so small children fidgeted over their meals.
They all looked freshly washed—soft and clean, hair still damp.
"······Little brother, looking at these kids is somehow making it hard to breathe."
"······."
Leon felt the same.
Riel, Aria, and a pack of little boys and girls who had been taken as slaves. Truly an extraordinary combination.
The thought that not a single word had been exchanged in this room before they arrived drew an involuntary note of admiration.
Aria and Riel both rose at once.
"Master, are you all right? You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"
"You've returned."
"Yeah, I'm fine. Hey, Riel. Long time no see."
Leon shrugged off his scorched coat, dragged over a chair, and sat in the middle.
Riel, who had been studying someone intently, spoke up abruptly.
"Commander, please wash and then go to bed."
"······."
Hera's body, mid-dive toward the pristine white bed, froze.
"Wait—were you about to just flop down without washing? Honestly, Noona······."
Leon clicked his tongue, grabbed another chair, and shoved it toward her.
Hera looked stricken.
"L-little brother······. I'm not that dirty right now······."
Leon ignored her and ran his eyes over the children.
"Two, four, six, eight······ huh? What."
He widened his eyes at the two extra girls he had failed to rescue earlier.
"How did you bring those two?"
Hera cut in.
"I had Riel go get them. Pretty good, right?"
Leon gave Riel a thumbs-up.
"Wow, really? Well done, Riel."
"Thank you."
"I'm going to sulk."
As Hera pushed out her lower lip, Aria came over with a damp cloth, wiped Leon's face, and asked,
"What do you intend to do with those children?"
"Well."
Leon closed his mouth. Only one idea came to mind at once.
"Most likely······."