Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: 79. Solitude (2)
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Fiore headed alone toward Franchese.
When his retainers urged him to take troops along, Fiore replied:
"If you all disappear, the Empire will sense something amiss and come attacking. Are you saying we should hand over Bezos? I'll go and return quickly on my own."
Fiore had never been one to heed others' words.
Even the fact that his safety as king was linked to the kingdom's very survival held little weight for him.
He simply did what he wanted.
Perhaps he was lacking as a king.
No matter how he was hailed as the strongest swordsman, his retainers and knights couldn't bear to let their king depart alone, so countless numbers tried to follow him.
But Fiore shook them all off through sheer force.
"You lot would only get in the way."
Fiore departed Bezos without a second thought.
And upon arriving at Franchese, what he saw was a blanket of dark clouds and thick black fog engulfing the entire region.
It felt as if only the Franchese territory had transformed into another world.
Fiore plunged straight in without hesitation.
A viscous, tangible atmosphere clung to his body as it passed over him.
Fiore raised his sword and wrapped his form in sword aura.
The darkness parted behind him.
Fiore muttered.
"Cedric."
He was his father.
But just as he fell short as a king, so too did he as a father.
Even harboring suspicions that his son Cedric might not be the purely gentle soul others described, he had simply let it slide.
That held no importance for Fiore either.
"Father."
Cedric stood beyond the fog.
Fiore gazed at him, memories of bygone days flooding back. Indifferent though he had been as a father, he remembered well how his son had grown.
The once tiny, fragile child had gradually matured into a dignified adult, and now he was an enigma whose thoughts Fiore could no longer read.
Fiore reflected.
It had probably gone wrong from a very young age.
Cedric had learned to speak early and keenly observed the world around him. He eavesdropped on the servants' conversations and analyzed their every action.
Then one day, he asked.
'Father. What should be done if there are too many foolish humans?'
At the time, Fiore was utterly consumed by the sword, caring for nothing beyond swinging it.
So he gave Cedric a casual reply.
'Well, what can you do?'
'Shouldn't someone correct them?'
'That would be fine.'
'If we kill them all, won't the foolish human trait vanish?'
He had sensed something off-putting, yet dismissed it as an innocent child's harmless fancy.
Still, to teach Cedric a lesson, Fiore deliberately hardened his expression and radiated intimidation.
'What nonsense is that?'
Cedric recoiled.
He looked up at Fiore, lost in thought for a moment.
Deeming it lesson enough, Fiore turned away. After that, Cedric never posed such questions again.
He always wore a smile, saying only what others wanted to hear.
Cedric hadn't been reformed—he had simply learned.
Would things have turned out differently if he'd devoted more attention?
Fiore pondered this as he raised his sword.
"No."
Cedric responded.
"What do you mean, no?"
"It means no to whatever Father is thinking right now."
"And what am I thinking?"
"You know."
Cedric smiled faintly.
"Just as Father is that sort of person, I've ended up like this."
"Is this your way of comforting me?"
"No. I'm done with the pretense."
Suddenly, a man clad in black appeared at Cedric's side.
Fiore lifted his sword.
"Father isn't surprised. Perhaps you even feel some empathy."
"No."
"Liar."
Cedric stepped back.
The black-clad man then raised his own sword and advanced.
The aura emanating from him was far from ordinary.
"Father thought the same as me, didn't you?"
"What thought was that?"
"Why do humans have to wield swords like that?"
"No."
"Why can't humans wield swords any better than that?"
Fiore fell silent.
It was just as Cedric said.
He was a prodigy of the sword, wielding it like an extension of his own limbs from the very beginning. The only thing that stirred his interest was the sword itself.
Thus, there were times he simply couldn't comprehend the swordplay of other humans.
"I'm the same. The difference is, I'm correcting it myself."
"I see."
"Using black magic to manipulate the Empire is simply the most efficient method. I hope you understand."
Fiore nodded.
"Very well. Let's see just how prepared you are."
With those words, the black-clad man fully readied his sword and stepped forward.
He declared.
"My name is Dansocheon."
"Fiore Brioll."
Fiore locked eyes on his foe.
The name Dansocheon suggested he hailed from the East. His aura rivaled that of the Ten Supremes. He must be the Shadowless Sword.
Fiore smiled unwittingly.
A proper opponent after so long.
Fiore began gradually unleashing his own power. Razor-sharp sword intent, capable of cleaving all things, enveloped his entire body.
No energy could breach the radius around him.
Dansocheon swallowed hard and murmured.
"As expected... the supreme of the West."
Fiore moved.
His form vanished, only to reappear before Dansocheon in an instant as he swung.
A sharp whoosh rent the air.
"Urk!"
Dansocheon was forced back.
"Is that all you've got?"
"No."
Dansocheon surged his energy. Dark power flowed forth.
Their sword auras collided.
Thunder cracked.
Fiore began to chuckle.
He had always swung his blade alone. He had always felt a void. There had been no one fit to meet his sword.
But Dansocheon was different. He yielded ground yet did not shatter.
"Good."
Fiore muttered as he escalated his power once more.
His robes billowed. His sword aura shot skyward. Dansocheon's face drained of color.
"Indeed..."
Fiore swung.
One strike ravaged the surroundings.
The terrain crumbled, carving a massive crater everywhere save where Dansocheon stood.
Blood dripped from Dansocheon's lips.
"Impossible..."
"This can't be the end for you."
Dansocheon glared wide-eyed.
"A true monster. But..."
His eyes blackened.
"I too am a Heavenly Demon."
Dansocheon raised his sword. Dark sword aura rippled outward like waves, coalescing into a colossal mass of power that swirled around him.
Yet it endured but briefly.
Fiore swung.
A slender line etched across the world, cleanly bisecting the energy Dansocheon had conjured.
The immense force imploded in a cataclysmic blast.
Dansocheon was hurled sprawling.
"What in the world..."
A faint luminescence coated Fiore's blade.
This was no mere sword aura.
Dansocheon sensed the miraculous realm infused within it.
A sword that severed all.
A blade that truly cut even the uncuttable.
Fiore operated on a plane far beyond. For the first time, Dansocheon tasted utter powerlessness.
"You bastard!"
Dansocheon summoned his inner energy anew. He invoked his most ferocious technique.
Black energy erupted like flames along his sword. His eyes burned red. It was an assault that discarded his own well-being.
"Raaagh!"
But mere exchanges later, his sword shattered.
No chance even for astonishment.
"Dansocheon."
Cedric spoke from behind.
"At this point, even the words 'don't interfere' wouldn't come to mind, would they?"
"..."
Dansocheon had no retort.
Fighting spirit requires a modicum of parity.
He had started with arrogant intent to topple the West's supreme and prove his superiority. Even in defeat, he believed he could forge a worthy clash.
Nothing could be further from truth.
No matter his efforts, victory against Fiore was impossible.
He had witnessed the East's vaunted warriors aplenty, yet never a swordsman ascended to such heights.
Frantic as he thrashed, Fiore severed all with impassive visage.
"Now I step in."
"...Yes."
Dansocheon nodded.
"That's a monster."
Father and son alike were monsters.
Cedric let out a low chuckle before invoking black magic. The omnipresent fog thickened. Darkness deepened until Fiore ahead vanished from sight.
"My poison, born from sacrificing all of Franchese."
Something stirred within the gloom.
Soon, an anomaly unfolded.
Darkness funneled toward a single point. The surroundings abruptly cleared.
Fiore's body was engulfed in shadow.
"Take this."
Cedric pressed a new sword into Dansocheon's grasp. Superior to the last.
"Understood."
Dansocheon gripped the blade and advanced toward the darkness-cloaked form.
He knew full well what lurked inside.
The materialized grudges and resentments of all humans sacrificed to Cedric's black magic. The instant contact was made, thousands upon thousands of screams would echo in the mind.
No mortal could endure it.
Dansocheon lunged in a flash, thrusting into the dark.
Clang.
Yet something inconceivable occurred.
"What?"
Fiore should have been blind and deaf within Cedric's black magic, helpless.
He ought to have been skewered defenselessly.
Instead, swords clashed from within the void.
And then the greater marvel.
The darkness rent asunder, a streak of pristine white sword aura lancing forth.
"Gah!"
Unable to fully evade, Dansocheon was slashed, bleeding profusely as he crumpled.
He had dodged a fatal blow, but the hemorrhage was severe.
Dansocheon looked up.
From the pitch-black darkness encircling Fiore like a coffin, a blade edge protruded.
It then slid up and down.
Fiore's figure tore free of the shadow, growing ever clearer.
He was smiling.
"Cedric!"
Yet Cedric's black magic was no trifling matter. It writhed around Fiore's body, distorting and tormenting his flesh.
The darkness opened and tore repeatedly.
Like an insect shedding its cocoon, Fiore rent the gloom and took a step forward.
"Hoo..."
But soon, shadow coiled about him once more, binding him anew. Fiore vanished from view again.
Cedric shouted.
"Keep going!"
"R-Right."
Dansocheon raised his sword again.
This time, he didn't swing wildly. Channeling energy and sword aura, he aimed a direct strike at the darkness harboring Fiore with a demonic sect technique.
Kang!
A section of shadow erupted like an explosion, another blade thrusting from within.
Fiore's shadow-streaked face emerged as he strode out.
With each step, darkness clung to him.
Yet he pressed on without pause.
Fiore seemed an immortal who wouldn't die no matter how many times he was slain.
"Cedric, do something!"
"Wait."
Cedric began chanting anew. Otherworldly tongue spilled forth.
Dansocheon glanced back.
The ever-composed Cedric, who seemed to know all, now appeared desperate for the first time.
Frantically forming hand seals, he amplified the black magic's power.
"Hoo..."
The moment Dansocheon turned, Fiore's assault hurtled in.
He barely blocked.
The darkness morphed into human hands, shielding Fiore. Countless ebony limbs erupted, seizing his limbs.
Fiore now bore a shadow far vaster than himself.
But he did not halt.
Shouldering it all upon his frame, Fiore advanced.
One step.
One step.
As he drew near, Dansocheon retreated.
"Did I miscalculate?"
Cedric's hollow voice echoed from behind.
"Even sacrificing all of Franchese wasn't enough."
"Do something—anything!"
"I am."
Myriad hands rose once more, grasping at Fiore.
Fiore ignored them and lifted his sword.
In the inky abyss, only his pristine blade gleamed white.
Shaking free of it all, Fiore swung.