Chapter 108: Counterfire (2)
Chapter 108: Counterfire (2)
“I’m going to assume I misheard that.”
“Now, Tom, don’t be like that.”
“Please, tell me you’re joking.”
“I’m not.”
At my words, Tom slammed his palm against his forehead.
“You challenged Edan Rhapsody to a duel? How can this be real?”
“……”
“Young Master, do you not understand what it means to be the swordsman chosen to succeed Hugo Rhapsody? He is a Swordmaster candidate! A Swordmaster candidate!”
“I know.”
“If you know that, then why would you do something so insane?!”
“I thought it was the only way out, even if the sky were to fall.”
“Oh, no. That’s not a way out; that’s a way to make the sky fall even faster! Do you realize what you’ve done? Now, you can’t even beg for forgiveness to save your life. Edan Rhapsody will proceed with this duel no matter what. And once it begins, you’ll be dead before you even realize you've been struck.”
“……”
“Edan Rhapsody is a powerhouse that even I cannot defeat.”
Tom ranted for a long while before finally falling silent when I didn't respond. Then, with a face still etched with worry, he asked, “What were you thinking?”
“It was to lure Toma Rhapsody out.”
“Toma Rhapsody…?”
“The precious youngest son. That lunatic who claims I defiled his honor.”
Tom’s eyebrows twitched.
“If I can just get him here, I can reveal the truth. Didn't you say it yourself, Tom? That the Five Families are bound by Law. That great power comes with great responsibility. This is the chance to hold them accountable for the unreasonable power they’ve wielded.”
“……How do you plan to do that?”
“First, please answer my question.”
Tom finally settled into a listening posture. I cleared my throat and asked, “Ten seconds.”
“……”
“What must I do to survive ten seconds against Edan Rhapsody?”
* * *
I listened to Tom’s assessment. His view was straightforward.
“Edan Rhapsody is a swordsman who recently reached the rank of Sword Expert. However, unlike me, who wears half-armor, he has forged a complete set. And a Sword Expert possessing full Armor gains the Authority of ‘Invulnerability.’ It is an authority akin to invincibility—one that permits no attack of any kind to land.”
“I know how formidable the armor is.”
“Yes, you experienced it during the second event of the Infinite Duel when you fought the dwarf who had reached Sword Expert. But that dwarf likely didn't reveal even a fraction of his true power.”
“……”
“People often describe a Sword Expert as being like a city wall. When they hear ‘wall,’ they imagine something heavy and massive. A dull image, so to speak. But a Sword Expert is never dull.”
Tom drew his sword—a silver rapier.
“As you know, the realms of the sword are built one upon another. Reaching the next realm doesn't mean the characteristics of the previous one disappear. You can only ascend once you have reached the absolute limit of your current stage. Do you understand what that means?”
“It means you have to reach the limit of a Sword Runner to become a Sword Expert, right?”
“Correct. But saying it and seeing it are two different things.”
“Yes, you’re right—”
Just as I finished the word ‘right,’ Tom’s sword moved.
The tips of Tom’s fingers blurred. A fierce wind whipped up. In the next moment, Tom stared at me and asked, “Did you see it?”
“……No.”
“I thrust more than two hundred times just now.”
“……”
“Of course, to you, it might have just seemed like a very fast series of stabs. My sword fundamentally pursues high speed, and I am much faster than other swordsmen of the same realm.”
Tom returned the silver rapier to his waist.
“But the opponent you challenged to a duel is a Rhapsody.”
“……”
“And the swords of the Rhapsody family are the fastest on the entire continent. He will be ten times faster than the thrusts I just showed you. That is what it means to possess the fastest speed in the world.”
Ten times faster than that. A hollow laugh escaped me.
“So, think carefully. It wouldn't be a bad idea to cancel the duel even now. Or, if you truly feel there is no turning back, tell me.”
“What will you do if I tell you?”
“I will become the Proxy Warrior. Since we are both Sword Experts, it would be a plausible match. Though I wouldn't be able to win.”
“……”
“Don’t worry. This old man has lived long enough. It would be an honor to die in place of a young friend. So, feel free to say the word at any time.”
Tom spoke of dying in my place with such a bright, clear expression.
Setting Tom as the Proxy Warrior? I could never do that. This was my doing. I had to bear the burden of it all. I refused to let a kind caretaker die for me. Watching the end of someone close to me was an unbearable agony. I never wanted to experience that again. Never.
Next, I questioned my Master.
The answer I received?
「 It would be a miracle if you could survive for even one second. 」
As expected. Master was excessively cold when it came to the sword.
「 Think of it the other way around. If the current you were to duel a newborn baby who had never held a sword in its life, how many seconds do you think it would take to kill it? 」
“Is the difference really that vast?”
「 It might be even worse. The higher the realm, the more extreme the disparity becomes. 」
Master’s analogy was perfect. If I were ordered to duel an ordinary person right now, I could slaughter them within a single second the moment they came within range. It would be far too easy. An ordinary person has no Path and no Mana Heart. Perhaps Edan Rhapsody’s perspective was the same. I had no Wings and no Armor. Edan Rhapsody could kill me as easily as crushing a crawling earthworm.
However.
「 It is not as if there is no way at all. 」
“There is… a way?”
「 Considering the characteristics of your sword, there is a possibility. 」
Tom was right.
「 All swordsmen take up the sword for their own reasons. To become stronger, to protect someone precious, to make a living, or for honor. 」
“……”
「 And you took up the sword solely to kill a single Swordmaster. Following the maxim that only a Swordmaster can kill a Swordmaster. 」
Even if the sky fell, there was a way out.
「 Your sword was forged to face those far stronger than yourself. As proof, your Mystery was not born to protect something or to boast of miraculous swordsmanship, but in a different direction. The Flame of Doubt. A power that drags those stronger than you down to a pathetic level. 」
“……”
「 If you can only make that unprecedented Mystery bloom, there will be a possibility. 」
Liam looked at me.
「 One second. 」
“If it’s one second…”
「 A Caravan becomes great within battle. You remember this, don't you? 」
“Yes.”
「 The one second immediately after the duel with the descendant of the idler begins—make that one second your trial. In the face of a shockingly powerful foe, turn that fleeting moment into enlightenment. Thus, spread your wings before that second ends. If you do, you might be able to endure the nine seconds that follow. 」
Turn a fleeting moment into enlightenment.
“…Is that even possible?”
It sounded absurd. But.
「 I could do it. 」
“……”
「 And your ancestors could do it as well. 」
It was also quintessentially Caravan.
“I’ll try.”
The blood of Steel flows through my body. If so...
“No.”
I can do it.
“I will do it.”
* * *
I gathered Seol-yoon, Hailyn, Tom, and Audrey and explained my plan. Upon hearing it, everyone asked in unison if I had lost my mind. Well, Hailyn didn't say such mean things—she didn't quite understand what Sword Expert or Sword Runner meant anyway.
Regardless, I had ten days.
Perhaps even less. The condition I had set was to bring Toma Rhapsody, the youngest master of the Rhapsody family who had competed against me in the Infinite Duel. They might feel so insulted that they would bring him in less than ten days.
In any case, the moment Toma Rhapsody arrived, the duel would begin immediately. There wasn't much I could do to prepare. I trained to sharpen my senses even slightly and asked Master about the characteristics of the ‘Rhapsody’ sword. That was all.
Since I first took up the sword, this was effectively my greatest crisis.
Honestly, I was nervous. I tried to act composed, but I couldn't help it. I was only human, after all.
It was even more so because this situation felt similar to the day Swordmaster Carlos had come looking for me. I remembered the sight of the estate residents fleeing. I remembered that day when we were helpless before unreasonable violence. I remembered all too vividly how terrifying the violence of a massive individual could be.
It was trauma.
Just as the swordswoman Mary within the Needle feared fire, just as soldiers who have experienced war flinch at the sight of any pointed blade, just as those who nearly drowned as children fear water—I feared unreasonable violence. I feared the ruin of those precious to me.
It was contradictory. I had said I would stand against unreasonable violence. I had declared I would take up the sword for that purpose. I had said I would become a Swordmaster to kill the greatest and most powerful Swordmaster on the continent. Yet, I feared it all. Terribly so.
Time flowed quickly. Before I knew it, ten days had passed.
At dawn on the tenth day, an army of a scale incomparable to the vanguard that had arrived previously surrounded the Caravan estate. It could not be dismissed as a mere threatening group. Scenes from the War Duel came to mind. A legion—a violence capable of destroying everything.
“Sword Demon Liam.”
And a certain swordsman, possessing the most potent violence of all, made his declaration.
“Come out.”
* * *
The northern part of the Iron Kingdom.
An iron-blooded fortress that had never once fallen throughout the long history of the continent. At the peak of the white Winter Fortress, a certain flag fluttered. A pure white and beautiful pattern depicting a winter landscape. That pattern symbolized a single family: one of the Great Five Families, White.
Within the pure white mansion built at the heart of the great Winter Fortress, a pure white bird flew into a window of ‘White Castle,’ where the true master who ruled the North resided. A beautiful bird made of dazzling light. The bird approached its master, who was fast asleep.
“Mm.”
Standing before its master, the pure white bird performed its assigned task: to inform them that the benefactor who had received the medal of White was in danger. And thus, that he was in desperate need of help. The mysterious bird performed its duty without error.
However, when the mysterious bird fulfilled its mission, Daisy White was not the only one there. It was only natural. Whenever Daisy stayed at ‘White Castle,’ a certain man was always by her side.
“My Daisy.”
The man spoke softly. “It seems your benefactor is in trouble.”
The noble who held the highest rank in the Iron Kingdom, excluding those of royal blood. The Winter Lord who ruled and governed the entirety of the northern Iron Kingdom. The master of the Watchers who upheld the order of the continent according to the solemn Law.
“If he is your benefactor, then he is my benefactor as well.”
The man who had rejected the advances of countless peerless beauties. The man who had even turned down a marriage proposal from the princess of the Sky Empire. The man who had married a certain insignificant woman.
“And if he is my benefactor, then he is a benefactor of White.”
A woman from a fallen noble family. A plain appearance without any special beauty. A woman whose purity had been defiled by a Baron’s son at a social party. A woman who had risen from the bottom and possessed no sense of modesty, a woman who surely would not be submissive to her husband. A woman followed by foul rumors that she had slept with the half-wit knight she had kept by her side since childhood.
Knowing all of that. Despite having many brilliant options to choose from. Even so, he was the man who had chosen her.
“A Watcher of the White family never forgets a debt.”
The continent’s most famous doting husband.
“Whether it be a favor or a grudge, we always repay it.”
The master of the great family, White. The Northern Grand Duke.
Russell White.
“No matter what it takes.”
A vortex. Intervention.