Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Martial Arts Tournament Finals
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Epania Empire Martial Arts Tournament finals.
Before long, the preliminaries had ripened into the grand finale.
Yet, strangely enough, rather than the adult division that should have drawn the most attention, it was the youth division that captured everyone's gaze.
The reason was none other than Krad, the rumored member of the Night Ravens.
A boy with half-lidded eyes and a crow perched on his shoulder.
His prowess matched his enigmatic aura.
Up to now, he hadn't drawn the sword at his waist even once, subduing every opponent with a single fist strike.
This led people to wonder if the sword was just for show.
Amid all these questions, the final match began.
"You've waited long enough!"
"Woooooooooo!"
The crowd's massive cheers made the youth division arena shake as if it might burst.
The people filling the empire's largest indoor stadium were all eagerly anticipating this final bout.
"The youth division of this martial arts tournament, the final match, will now begin!"
The announcer shouted this and thrust his left arm high.
"Introducing the first of our two finalists! A boy raised in a rural village, harboring ambitions to one day halt the World Erosion and safeguard world peace! Pelei!"
At the announcer's call, a boy walked into the arena.
He shuffled out hesitantly, a plain-looking fourteen-year-old.
"Pelei, you got this!"
"Don't let some Night Raven punk beat you, man!"
Surprisingly many cheered for him.
Because to the common folk, he was a ray of light.
Unlike nobles, he was a boy from an ordinary rural village who had honed his swordsmanship to reach the tournament finals.
The commoners, inspired by him, rooted for him all the more fervently.
"And his opponent... The infamous scion of the underworld's renowned family, the Night Ravens—or so the rumors say!"
The announcer nailed the crowd's interests and flashed a grin.
"Krad!"
At his shout, a crow suddenly soared from the participant entrance tunnel.
"Caw!"
The crow's fierce cry as it took to the skies instantly drew all eyes.
A symbol of ill omen.
In that brief moment of hush at the crow's appearance...
Thud... thud...
A boy slowly emerged from the entrance.
Under his jet-black hair, his softly curved eyes hid unknowable thoughts, and the aura emanating from him created a subtle pressure.
As he stepped onto the arena floor amid that atmosphere, the crow flying overhead slowly descended to his shoulder.
"...Got it. I won't do that again."
He muttered to himself and looked up, and in that instant, the crowd's cheers exploded through the stadium.
"Night Raven!!!"
"I bet on you for first place! Win this!!!"
"Show 'em what an assassin clan's made of!!!!"
Amid the cheers echoing everywhere, Krash gazed ahead.
In his eyes reflected Pelei.
Plain-looking even on a second glance.
But despite appearances, this guy had been part of the Generation of the Sky, not just Raheln Academy.
'Didn't expect to see you here.'
Those hopeful eyes were as steadfast as ever.
So Krash clearly remembered the day that hope died in them.
But regrettably, right now, dealing with him took a backseat to other matters.
His original goal was achieved anyway.
"Krad."
Just then, Pelei spoke up abruptly.
"Are you really with the Night Ravens?"
What an innocent kid.
Instead of answering, Krash lightly rolled his neck.
This job was pretty much done anyway.
All that was left was to rampage enough to let that side make their big move.
"If you are, you'd better come at me full force."
Unexpected words tumbled from Pelei's mouth.
"They say this martial arts tournament is being held by the Epania imperial family to recruit additional students for Raheln Academy. We've both made it to the finals, so we're definitely getting in."
Information that had already spread far and wide.
Nothing new, but Pelei said it proudly anyway.
"Raheln Academy is an independent institution no country can interfere with. If you join there, you can break free from the Night Ravens too."
And out came a tale brimming with dreams and hope.
Unfortunately, Raheln Academy wasn't that great.
Being newly established, its influence was limited.
Aside from its early days, it quickly got tossed around in power struggles between empires and kingdoms.
'Thinking about it now...'
There were a few reasons it ended up that way.
But that wasn't something to fix right now, nor was it Krash's concern.
"Pelei."
So Krash drew his sword for the first time in this tournament.
As the crowd roared again at the sight, he pointed it at Pelei.
"If you're too caught up in hope, you won't survive the despair that crashes in."
"What?"
"Match start!"
The advice he wouldn't understand rang out alongside the referee's voice.
Pelei fired the first shot in the battle.
Curiously, he glided across the floor like he was sliding.
'His self-developed footwork.'
Where Pelei grew up was the northernmost part of the empire, even by northern standards.
A place where snow fell year-round.
Raised there, Pelei traversed slick ice and snow, eventually developing this footwork for greater efficiency.
He probably hadn't named it yet, but Krash knew it.
Thousand Li Ten Steps.
A footwork named for covering a thousand li in ten strides.
'First-timers would panic.'
Even thinking the distance was considerable, he'd closed it in an instant.
Proof: Pelei was right in Krash's face in a single moment.
The sole commoner to rise to the Generation of the Sky through talent and effort.
Around this time, he was as strong as Anix Graiza.
Clang!
But he picked the wrong opponent.
"Huh?!"
Pelei's feint-laced waist strike was perfectly parried by Krash's sword.
As if he knew exactly where it was going—Pelei's eyes widened in shock.
"Doesn't look like you're in a position to give advice."
Provoked, Pelei bit his lip and unleashed a flurry of strikes.
A sword that felled trees with ten thousand swings, rocks with a hundred thousand.
Just the calluses on his hands told how relentlessly he'd trained.
Pelei was forged from a lifetime of such training.
But something surpassed even that.
'Experience knowing the opponent.'
Because he was always last, he observed the Generation of the Sky more than anyone.
That was him.
'Sixth Sense.'
The aura cloaking Krash's body awakened a new sense.
His sword was already positioned at every spot Pelei's blade flew toward.
From minor habits to feints and true strikes, all the way to his killing moves.
Krash knew everything.
It was the one talent he hadn't realized he possessed.
A talent for meticulously observing, memorizing everyone else's everything, because he had nothing of his own.
In the past, it had been useless.
Observing well and quick on the uptake only earned disgusted reactions.
But now, that talent began to bloom for the first time.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Every swing from Pelei returned to nothing before Krash.
The spectators were utterly entranced by the sight.
Pelei's swordplay was so fast it was hard to track with the naked eye.
Skill unbelievable for his age drew gasps even from imperial knights.
But Krash was a step ahead.
Pelei's combos played right into his hands, as if dancing in his palm.
Not a single attack reached him; all were blocked.
Dull Sword.
A sword style slower than the opponent's but arriving in their space first.
In this moment, Krash had fully stepped into that realm.
"It won't connect."
"What the hell is that?"
People fell silent watching it unfold.
Even those quietly rooting for Pelei gradually quieted down.
It was overwhelming.
The sense that no matter what Pelei did, he couldn't win.
Everyone present felt that overwhelming pressure with their own eyes.
[Hahahaha!]
Suddenly, Crimson Garden's laughter boomed from the sky.
[Yes, child.]
Evidently delighted by the situation, she spread her crow wings overhead.
[That's your one weapon. If you have nothing, steal everything they have. Show them your greedy specialty in full.]
Dull Sword stole the opponent's space.
No matter where their sword went, yours seized it first.
Ironically, it suited Krash better than anyone.
He had to steal everything to rise above.
"Ugh, hngh!"
Pelei's groans echoed.
He was the one attacking.
Yet he was steadily backpedaling.
No matter how he swung, he couldn't advance.
Krash's sword dominated all his space.
Krash was slightly shorter than him.
But with every blocked strike, his presence grew larger for some reason.
Pelei felt the sensation of swinging at a boulder.
Could I ever cut this rock?
That hopelessness gripped his body.
"Pelei."
Krash's voice rang out.
As Pelei looked up, his sword was already at his throat.
"Hah... ha..."
Ragged breaths escaped Pelei's lips.
The farthest his swings had reached was barely an inch from Krash's throat.
Even though Pelei was the one swinging.
Sweat trickled down Pelei's cheek onto Krash's blade.
They were that close.
"Get stronger."
Krash spoke to him.
"So even if your hope crumbles, you can keep an ember alive."
Leaving those cryptic words, Krash drove his fist into Pelei's solar plexus.
Inch Strength.
Two resounding impacts echoed as Pelei spewed saliva and collapsed.
With that, Krash turned away.
The aftermath of Dull Sword filled his mouth with hot breath stabbing his lungs wildly, but he kept a poker face.
And at that moment...
"Woooooooooooooooooo!"
A cheer unlike any before erupted, shaking the stadium.
It was pure domination with Dull Sword.
No one could hold back their shouts at that display.
"Ah, the winner is!"
The announcer, snapping to belatedly, raised his hand.
"Krad!"
Pointing at Krash, he declared victory, and the stadium shook once more.
"Kr... ad!"
Just then, Krash turned at the voice from behind.
Didn't expect him to recover from Inch Strength this fast.
"Will we... meet again?"
Figures he made the Generation of the Sky for a reason.
Seeing him clinging desperately to consciousness, Krash replied.
"Yeah, at the academy."
"I... see..."
With that, he fully blacked out.
They would meet again.
Though not like this, in a different form.
「Thanks. Krash, I'll work harder than the curse you took for me. I'll protect the world.」
For a fleeting moment, the past resurfaced.
Words from Pelei when Krash stole his World Erosion curse after it struck.
Thanks he hadn't heard in ages.
Yet a month later...
Pelei was slowly torn apart limb from limb by the World Erosion's master, meeting his end.
Krash's fist clenched tight.
'Don't worry, Pelei.'
Slowly, he raised his head.
"This time, I'm the one protecting it."
Not others—himself.
And for that...
'Sigrin.'
He would ruin that woman's plans.