Chapter 14: It's an Unwritten Rule That Transfer Students Are Singularities (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 14: It's an Unwritten Rule That Transfer Students Are Singularities (2)
Muffled gasps of admiration transformed into thunderous cheers. Enough to scatter the clouds above.
"Uwooooooah...!"
The training ground was a complete cauldron of frenzy. It violently yanked at the footsteps of passersby, drawing them toward the commotion. Among them was Lee Won-bin, the head instructor of the Wolf Class.
"Wh-What is this?!"
He thought a riot had broken out. Making swimming motions with his arms, he sliced through the crowd.
The moment he stepped into the training area, the glaring sun stung his eyes, making him frown. His bald head might have been a sun to someone else, but in front of the original, it was a mere firefly.
Anyway.
Taking in the entire training ground, Lee Won-bin couldn't help but let out a dazed sound.
"Why are they over there...?"
Kang Geomma of the Seven Stars, the greatest swordsman of all time.
And standing twenty paces away from him—
The Hero (aspirant), Leon von Reinhardt.
Kang Geomma was shaking off his sashimi knife scabbards, while Leon was drawing Balmung, the Holy Sword that was also a Demonic Sword.
Indeed. The two men, who had long transcended the simple title of Hero, were currently preparing for a subspace sparring match.
For a split second, Lee Won-bin almost reflexively vaulted over the railing to stop them. There was a risk that the Heavenly Sword's sashimi slicing would tear the subspace apart. Thinking of the cadets' safety...
Then he remembered that neither of them was a cadet anymore. Besides, once the main event started, his stepping in wouldn't change a thing.
'Surely the Heavenly Sword will hold back enough.'
He had learned through experience that a clumsy intervention could only escalate the problem—a lesson that had cost him his hair as a sacrificial offering.
Just then, his gaze shifted toward a corner of the spectator stands.
He wondered why, only to see a certain group caught in his peripheral vision.
Third-year students. Though they were cadets too, the aura they exuded was entirely different from ordinary cadets.
'How should I put it...'
Petty, perhaps.
It was a highly controversial thought for an instructor, but what could he do when their mannerisms and behavior were like that?
Folding fans in the twenty-first century, and factional divisions based on social status in this day and age?
Whether others felt it too, cadets within a thirty-meter radius whispered among themselves and began slowly drifting away from the third-years' territory.
'The offspring of politicians.'
At the center of the group stood Princess Victoria. Her deep crimson-gold hair—looking as if a gold ingot had been heated in lava and its absolute essence extracted—naturally drew the cadets' eyes at least once.
They must have rushed to the training ground the moment they heard the news. Naturally, they had blown off their morning classes cleanly.
Lee Won-bin considered going over to give them an earful, but shook his head once more. Instead, a sharp, cold sneer carved itself onto his lips.
"If I recall, they're the ones badgering the current principal while desperately hoping the Heavenly Sword's influence wanes."
The current principal, Saki Ryozo, and the Heavenly Sword, Kang Geomma, were pupils he cherished deeply.
Furthermore, even after graduating, Kang Geomma, Saki, and Abel had stayed at the academy and kept in touch with Lee Won-bin. At this point, they were practically family.
Though that group of third-years fell under Lee Won-bin's students in a broad sense, even educators have favorites deep down.
Lee Won-bin was only human, after all—even if he was a great hero ranked in this year's Top 100 Heroes. (He had framed that year's cover of TAMES Magazine and hung it prominently at his entrance.)
Lee Won-bin scoffed at himself for being a rotten educator, but took a seat nonetheless. He then fixed an intense gaze on the center of the training ground.
"Show them."
My disciples. Show them what a true hero is.
*
The atmospheric density was tremendous.
The training ground was wide open and as large as several football fields combined. Yet with thousands sharing the oxygen, the air felt stiflingly thick.
"Quite a crowd gathered."
"Indeed."
As I spoke, Leon swept his gaze across the vast training ground. His eyes grew strangely distant. His feelings were probably complicated in many ways.
Feigning ignorance, I tossed out lightly, "How long has it been since you were at the academy?"
"Ten years."
Knowing I was bringing up what we both already knew just to blow away his lingering regrets, Leon chuckled softly and replied.
"Time really flies. Ten years..."
"Ten years."
I nonchalantly slid the blade an inch out of its scabbard, placing emphasis on that 'duration.'
"Now that ten years have passed, don't you think it's about time you stopped digging a burrow in your heart?"
"...What do you mean by..."
"With a face like yours, why is your self-esteem crawling on the floor? You've been living like a sinner every single day since then—you ought to think about the people watching you."
Leon bit his lip as he listened. Because I had hit the nail right on the head.
From now on, he was a human dartboard. I had accepted Metatron's proposal right away precisely for this reason. I continued to speak.
"Never mind me, but how uncomfortable must your father, the Archangel, feel? Watching his only son's heart rot away day by day, while forcing up the corners of his mouth so hard it looks like a muscle spasm."
"..."
"That's why he asked me to blow a breath of fresh air into your nose, you brat. Doing that to your parent is shameful behavior for a son."
"..."
"If you carry yourself too heavily all the time, it exhausts the people around you. So I'm telling you to let go a little and live. And look."
Saying that, I gestured with my eyes toward the general audience. Leon lifted his head as well.
There were a few cadets casting scornful glances here and there. But they barely made up ten percent. For the most part, envy and admiration were carved onto their faces.
The world had not yet forgotten Leon's blunder.
And yet, it had not forgotten the self-sacrifice he displayed in the 2nd Human-Demon War either.
'If not for Leon...'
While I was dealing with the False Gods, the Human Realm would have crumbled at Kuarne's hands.
If I was the one who slew the culprit behind the tragedy, the ones who practically saved the Human Realm were Leon and his father, Metatron.
Because father and son held back Kuarne, humanity was able to grasp victory. Joaquin Academy succeeded in rebuilding.
It was no exaggeration to say that the Hero Leon had laid the foundation for this very training ground, now larger than before. I had brought him here precisely to remind him of that fact.
"Kang Geomma... you..."
"Let's not get misty-eyed between two dark-hearted bastards. The kids are watching, they'll get the wrong idea. Besides, I'm a married man."
"Hahaha."
Leon burst into a refreshing laugh.
As he wiped the corner of his eyes with his thumb, his deep blue eyes radiated brilliant light.
'That's it.'
Now he finally looks like a Hero.
"I'll give it my all."
"Just focus on enduring."
"How long should I aim to hold out?"
"One minute."
Leon nodded.
"It'll be tough, but I'll give it a shot."
The protagonist of the game that used to take up my free time back on Earth. He drew his hilt up high and long.
Kiring-g-g-g.
The natures of good and evil resonated with each other.
Not to be outdone, a mechanical chime echoed across the training ground.
[Deploying the Subspace Barrier.]
[May the Blessing of the Hero be with you.]
I, too, shook off the scabbards of Murasame and Ten-Thousand-Year Frost.
[The Blessing of the Sword God manifests.]
The blade sings.
+++++++++++++++++++
《May the Blessing of God be with you》
+++++++++++++++++++
The man kicked off the ground and surged forward.
*
An eagle glided through the sky. A purple barrier systematically nibbled at his glossy, transparent retinas.
Again today?
When flying over the rugged mountain terrain of Chiaksan in Wonju, Gangwon-do, he often witnessed such bizarre phenomena. To the Eagle family, who had settled and lived generation after generation on Chiaksan Mountain, it was nothing new.
Tsk. Today's hunt was meager anyway; maybe he should circle around and watch the show.
Having made up his mind, Eagle XIV immediately lowered his altitude and breached the Subspace Barrier. In that brief instant—
Flash!
Lightning burst from the ground. Once, twice, then multiple times. Counting was pointless.
Eagle XIV flinched in shock, stumbling in mid-air. A few feathers drifted away into the clouds.
'What is that?!'
He widened his fierce eyes. True to the genes of the Eagle family boasting 8.0 vision, he managed to capture what was taking place on the training ground.
Clang—!
A fierce metallic clash rattled heaven and earth. The black-haired man's knife and the blonde-haired man's sword had collided.
In Eagle XIV's vision, the two dots appeared to merge into one.
And yet.
The frequency. The speed!
It was fast enough to split the very concept of an instant. Was it just speed? The shockwaves pierced the clouds. The fact that a flock of migratory birds had lost formation and scattered in panic said it all.
Those birds only reacted like that during earthquakes. Meaning this was tantamount to an impending natural disaster!
The two humans repeatedly separated and clashed. Blade flashes and residual images multiplied continuously. Eagle XIV's pupils rolled dynamically.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
It felt as though the heart of the world was beating.
First off, the wet-behind-the-ears brats sitting in the stands didn't seem to have a clue what was going on. Only because he was an eagle could he follow the flow of battle. But before he could even feel a sense of species superiority, continuous explosions followed.
The air churned so violently that even 'the great Eagle XIV' frequently lost track of the flow.
His pride was wounded. Thus, Eagle XIV decided to observe the match from a bit closer.
The outlaw of the skies slowly descended.
*
A sashimi knife swung. Subspace cracked where it met the blade. The path drawn by the knife was an honest straight line. Yet the sword principles dissolved within it were infinite.
K-k-k-k-k-k-k!
He blocked it. Yet from a single strike, Leon slid back, dust scattering beneath his feet.
"Huuup!"
Gasping sounds echoed from all around.
Kang Geomma's auditing students gasped out of empathy for Leon, while the third-year group gasped because they felt as though the tip of the sashimi knife was somehow aimed at them—a reaction akin to a guilty conscience giving itself away.
'It's gotten even heavier.'
Blue eyes shimmered between his disheveled blonde hair. The only reason Balmung hadn't been snapped in half was that Kang Geomma had tempered his force. Leon knew this, showing no sign of dismay.
With a snap of his wrist, Kang Geomma tilted Murasame downward. An exquisite shift in the center of gravity. Immediately following, Leon drew back the arm holding Balmung by three inches.
He thrust forward.
A single point stretched into a ray of light. Kang Geomma pulled his body sideways to evade it. Carving away the blind spots of vision with residual images, he moved his arm once more.
Blades crossed. As the sashimi knife and Balmung ground against each other, Kang Geomma and Leon stared into each other's eyes.
A black glow in his eyes.
Even while holding back against Leon, Kang Geomma was precariously straddling the boundary between god and mortal. A single nudge, and he would cross that line in an instant.
"Nghhhhh."
Leon groaned. At this rate, let alone one minute, he wouldn't last even forty seconds.
To a casual observer, it might look like a close match, but the exchange was entirely one-sided. And even this was Kang Geomma pulling his punches.
'I can't let it end like this.'
His first time back at the academy in ten years.
Whatever he might have said aloud, subconsciously he had wanted to at least be honorable to himself—which was why he hadn't adamantly refused and had dared to step foot into Joaquin Academy once more.
'If so...'
He had to be honorable to himself.
'And that's not all.'
For the blade is a mirror that reflects the warrior's soul. From Kang Geomma's sashimi knife, he felt loneliness.
Kang Geomma was a born swordsman.
Deep down, he must be yearning for an opponent who could take even a single strike from his blade. He didn't want to disappoint him on that front.
This wasn't friendship. It was a duel of pride between men.
"Kang Geomma—!"
Leon roared, stomping his foot hard.
Boom!
Taking a large stride forward with his front foot and raising the heel of his back foot, he shifted his full weight forward. He intended to press his advantage using the length and power of his sword.
K-r-r-r-r-k!
Kang Geomma's footwork came first. Pressing down on Balmung's fuller, he planted the tip of the sword into the ground. Executed at a speed approaching light, the sequence of movements seemed to skip steps entirely.
"..."
Late to react, Leon tried to pull Balmung free. Then, chills running down his spine, he hastily looked up. Even that panic-stricken movement left behind residual images.
Kang Geomma's left shoulder line blurred smoothly. Simultaneously, Leon's world was cleaved clean in two. The slash that split the world extended all the way to the distant mountain ridge.
Slash—
Leon's focus blurred for a moment, but he managed to retrieve Balmung anyway. Then, he was hurled backward with tremendous force.
"M-M-My body..."
Is my body still attached? Why is it attached? I was definitely split in two, wasn't I?
Having landed far away, Leon fumbled at the back of his neck as if scratching it. Every cadet stared at him as his lips parted like a man who had lost his sanity.
Silence gradually enveloped the surroundings. Thanks to that, Leon was able to calmly reflect on the cause.
And then—
"Hahahahaha!"
He threw back his head and burst into roaring laughter.
The faces of all the cadets turned pale white. It was an inexplicably, profoundly bizarre scene.
Humans possessing blessings naturally had a corner of their brains numbed. Consequently, they were far more indifferent to death than normal humans on Earth.
The fact that they had brushed off their trauma just a few hours after enduring a subspace battle royale stemmed from this very trait.
Yet even they were trembling now.
As if they had witnessed something they shouldn't have seen.
Amidst the astonishment, the laughter abruptly ceased.
"Kang Geomma, did you..."
Leon spoke with difficulty.
"...just cut down death itself?"
"..."
Kang Geomma showed no particular agitation.
He merely tucked his two sashimi knives into the crooks of his elbows and pulled them through one after the other to wipe away the blood.