11. The Difference in Rank
11. The Difference in Rank
What happens when a fist and a sword collide?
In most cases, the blade would pierce through skin and muscle, lodging itself into bone.
In a way, it's the natural outcome.
A human fist can't beat a blade.
...Well, in a normal case, that is.
Kagagagagak!!!
A terrible sound, as if two blades had clashed, reverberated as they entered a contest of strength.
"Your fist. How?"
Kaede also tilted her head, finding it strange that he was blocking the sword with his fist.
"Hmm. Try cutting me down even once, and I'll tell you."
Shingen replied with a smile, adding one more proposition.
"Promise. Keep it."
Hwung!
Hwoong!!!
Without any wasted motion, she withdrew her sword and swung it again.
She quickly realized it was impossible to cut down her opponent through sheer force.
However, in Shingen's eyes, she was full of openings.
'Her movements are too large and her strength is lacking. Her cold precision is decent, but that's about it.'
From the perspective of Shingen, whose all capabilities had reached the heavens, it felt like watching a newborn baby trying to run.
Whether Kaede knew that or not, she continued to swing her sword, trying to press Shingen back.
She likely believed she was winning... but that was merely her own delusion.
"You possess cold precision, but everything else is deficient."
"Me. Said something?"
Kang!!!
Once again, sword and fist collided, entering another contest of strength.
To her question, Shingen nodded in affirmation.
"You. Arrogant."
"That too is the privilege of the strong. Surely you'd know if you've taken countless lives as well?"
It was impossible for the opponent before him not to know.
Because she too was someone who had cut down many lives.
Even if the worlds they lived in were different, that didn't change the weight of a life.
Chae-aeng!!!
In an instant, he withdrew the fist that was pressed against hers and then thrust it out again, pushing the sword away.
"You need power to enact your will. Without power, everything is futile."
"Me. Lack power?"
A pure question.
Shingen didn't avoid her gaze, which held no emotion—a purely innocent look.
"Didn't I say? You have one talent, but everything else is below standard."
Not everyone who harbors a goal succeeds.
If that were the case, then any dog or cow would succeed and live in luxury.
As important as a goal is the power to back it up.
Kaede, pushed back momentarily, stepped back and readied her stance.
"......."
It was impossible to tell what she was thinking, but she looked quite troubled.
"Are you brooding?"
"...?"
"I'm asking if you're truly pondering your own shortcomings."
He asked plainly.
If he didn't know, he just needed to ask directly to find out.
"No. Lack. None."
"Is that so... You still think that way."
If she still believed she was strong, that was also correct.
Merely foolish, that's all.
"Well, if you keep getting hit until you break, you'll change your mind. Then let's continue figh—"
"Sword."
Cutting off Shingen's words, Kaede opened her mouth.
Her gaze was directed at the Japanese sword hanging at Shingen's waist.
"Sword?"
"Sword. Draw it."
She was now commanding him to draw his sword.
Even though she couldn't overwhelm him while he fought barehanded.
"If I draw my sword, you will die without fail. Is that still alright?"
Shingen uttered a concise warning.
The moment the sword is drawn, you die—this wasn't arrogance but conviction.
"It's fine. A warrior. Speaks. With their sword."
"A warrior speaks with their sword... A very samurai-like saying."
What is the bushidō of samurai?
The fairness of a duel?
The mindset of not showing one's back when facing a battle?
It's not that those are entirely wrong, but that's not what Shingen considers bushidō.
'The courage to swing one's sword even if you know you'll die tomorrow.'
That, he believes, is the essence of bushidō.
"I haven't drawn my sword once since returning here."
"......."
"Because a warrior does not wield their sword lightly."
His hand slowly moved towards his waist.
In response, Kaede also began to unveil the full extent of her power.
Saaaaaa...
A cold energy rose around her, and the sword began to take on a white hue.
'An ability.'
Shingen naturally realized the frost forming on the blade originated from her ability.
A flesh-rending chill spread in all directions, but to Shingen, it merely felt like a cool breeze.
Nothing more, nothing less.
"Bring out every ounce of your capability. If you don't, you will truly die."
The moment Shingen's hand gripped the Japanese sword at his waist, Kaede charged.
Shingen was the only one who fully captured her speed in his eyes.
The rest couldn't even perceive what was moving.
In an instant, she closed the distance and swung her sword.
It was clearly a different swordsmanship from before.
Tsukumi Ryu - Hatsuyuki
Her sword was like the first snow.
Cold, yet not alien.
The first snow that visits someday on a winter day.
...like a snow flurry blooming luxuriantly.
Until the moment her sword swung, Shingen made no move to respond.
Just as Kaede's blade was about to touch Shingen's body...
He moved.
His swordsmanship, set against her splendid swordsmanship, was...
"Can't. See it?"
It was completely invisible to her eyes.
He simply passed by her, his hand resting on the hilt as if nothing had happened at all.
Swish!
Simultaneously, the sound of something being sliced cleanly reverberated, and Kaede's gaze naturally drifted downward.
"Huh?"
The clothing enveloping her body had been neatly severed in half.
Without leaving even a speck of a trace on her body.
"This... What swordsmanship is this?"
Carefully turning her head, Kaede asked.
"What is there to call swordsmanship."
In response, Shingen looked back at her with a laugh.
"It's just a simple downward slash."
What had overcome her swordsmanship was not some overwhelmingly superior swordsmanship... but a simple downward slash, a single cut from above to below.
'He's not worth fighting. I should just kill him quickly.'
When the fight began, Kaede hadn't thought about it too deeply.
Using a Japanese name, but just a drug-peddling organization from Korea.
How strong could the leader of such an organization possibly be?
She entered the battle with a light heart, announcing her name.
However, as her sword was completely blocked not by another sword, but by a fist, her thoughts began to change little by little.
For her sword to be blocked by a mere fist, not even the same weapon.
Even for her, who had cut down numerous powerful figures in the [Archipelago], this was inevitably bewildering.
In that situation, her opponent spoke.
"You possess cold precision, but lack everything else."
Hearing those words, Kaede could only be bewildered.
Lacking everything.
While few in the [Archipelago] could defeat her. It didn't make sense for her to receive such an evaluation.
She continued to swing her sword.
To deny the man's words, to prove that she was strong.
She swung her sword with all her might, but it was blocked by the fist once again.
It felt like striking a massive fortress of steel with her sword.
She couldn't inflict any damage.
It was also a result unacceptable to her, who had secured victory in most of her battles.
"Draw. Your sword."
Stubbornly, she persisted in her obsession.
To tell him to draw his sword in a situation where she was barely holding her own against a single fist.
But this was a matter of pride.
What would happen if rumors spread that a sword-wielding warrior was defeated by a fist?
Her honor and worth would be trampled into the ground.
If she couldn't win, if she couldn't win no matter what method she used, she would rather die facing a sword at least once.
She had resolved herself for death in her own way.
She hadn't experienced it, so she didn't know what would come after, but she thought it was a better choice than being killed by a fist.
She gave it her all, even revealing a technique from her swordsmanship she hadn't used before, but was most confident in.
'Did I. Win?'
Just before her all-out sword technique was about to cleave right through the man's chest...
Her mind was filled with doubt.
The opponent who had overwhelmingly dominated her with his fist was making no response at all.
Surely he must see her sword.
"Huh?"
The moment she harbored doubt about her victory...
The man had already passed by her.
Still with his hand on the hilt, as if nothing had happened.
Swish!
Simultaneously, the sound of something being cut off reached her ears, and she realized only her clothes had been neatly sliced away.
'I've lost, haven't I.'
Only then did she become aware of the fact that she had been defeated.
She couldn't even see him swing his sword.
She felt as if she had seen a grand, lofty mountain standing far in the distance.
No matter how hard she tried, she would likely never reach that realm.
She was in despair, but on the other hand, felt relief at having survived.
'...How disgusting.'
Even that emotion felt disgusting to her.
"......"
She just stared blankly into empty space.
No thoughts came to mind.
Only the fact of her defeat tore her heart to shreds.
'I, what do I do now-'
Crunch, crunch...
Footsteps could be heard from behind.
It must be the man who defeated her, but that wasn't important anymore.
She was going to die anyway.
She would perish like those she had cut down countless times.
As death approached, the resolution she had made earlier faded away.
All that remained was a sense of emptiness and fear of death.
"It was a skill with many shortcomings. But it was beautiful swordsmanship."
"...Huh."
However, the man did not immediately strike her neck, but instead offered praise.
Bewildered by this sight...
"If you had a good teacher, you surely had the potential to become a warrior capable of discussing the world's affairs."
"What. Are you talking about?"
Kaede couldn't understand what Shingen was saying.
"My mind has changed, so listen well."
In response to her question, Shingen showed a satisfied expression.
"Tsukumi Kaede. Become my disciple."
A sudden proposal from an enemy who hadn't killed her.
"......"
Faced with that proposal, Kaede could only show a blank expression and say nothing.