Before Chaos Merges
Raon narrowed his eyes as he studied the bracket now that every match of the round of sixteen had ended.
Just as I expected.
Spear-Point Sword Borini Kitten. Dragon-Cleaving Asura Garona. Wave Sword Kadis. And even Ron, the Mage of Annihilation, ranked ninth among the Continental Twelve Stars. The round of sixteen had unfolded without a single deviation from the predictions he'd made the moment he first saw the bracket.
This is going to be fun.
The thought of fighting Borini Kitten, then Garona, then Kadis Robert after that sent strength gathering in his grip of its own accord.
"Don't you have something to take care of first?"
Wrath wriggled up onto the ice-flower bracelet.
I do.
Raon licked his lips as his gaze dropped to Matio, Derus's direct subordinate, listed beneath the bracket.
I have to deal with that one and Tatcheon's ambush at the same time.
"And just how do you intend to pull that off? Out with it already."
Skillfully.
"Grrrk…"
Wrath glared at him, grinding his teeth loud enough to hear.
"T-those who keep too many secrets don't live long! This King shall personally hear you out, so speak your plan!"
He really did seem desperate to know. Wrath swallowed his fury and asked again.
I'd rather keep the secrets and not live long.
"You insufferable little—!"
Wrath finally snapped, cold bursting off him as he lunged.
I've got a quarterfinal to fight. I'll play with you later.
Raon flicked away the cotton-ball face shoving itself at him.
Ah. Wrath.
He pushed the demon off—then caught him by the scruff. He wanted a little more certainty in his prediction.
"What now!"
Wrath whipped his head away like a child in a sulk.
Remember that purple magic Tatcheon used at the end last time?
"Of course. That half-wit even uses magic as wretched as himself."
Wrath nodded, slow and grave.
"The harmony of light and darkness. A power called Chaos."
I thought so.
Raon smiled faintly and nodded.
Do you know how to stop it?
"Hmph! Even if you died and came back, that power would be beyond the likes of you! So in the end you meant to borrow This King's strength! This King has no intention whatsoever of helping an insolent brat like you!"
Wrath flicked his tongue, grinning as if he'd been handed the perfect opening.
You're right. Stopping Chaos itself would be impossible for me. But if I deal with them while they're still light and darkness—before the two forces mix—that should work, shouldn't it?
If Chaos was a power too overwhelming to block, then all he had to do was destroy the light and the darkness before they ever met.
"Uh…"
Wrath's mouth fell open, tongue still hanging out.
"That's… true?"
He nodded blankly—then froze.
"W-wait, that's not enough—"
Yep. That's it.
"Y-you idiot! You missed something! What if that half-wit attacks with Chaos from the start…"
That won't happen.
Chaos was powerful. If Tatcheon hurled it as-is, the heads of the Six Kings sitting in the conference hall would come bursting out of their seats at once. He would send the light and the darkness separately, then mix them here.
Thanks. That gave me the certainty I needed.
Raon patted the cotton-candy puff of Wrath's head as it rose, thin and sulky, into view.
"Y-you will be struck down by heaven's punishment! And if heaven won't do it, This King will…"
For a Demon King, you sure are fond of heaven.
"That remark! That's racial discrimination!"
You're not even human.
"Then it's species discrimination!"
Wrath was still shrieking when the announcer climbed onto the sparring ground.
"We will now begin the quarterfinals of the Master-class dueling tournament!"
"Woooooooah!"
"Finally, the quarterfinals!"
"I thought I was going to die waiting!"
"Hurry up and start already! I can barely breathe!"
The announcer waved in answer to the roar, then pointed to the first slot on the bracket.
"The first match of the quarterfinals: Frost-Flower Sword Hero Raon Zieghart versus Spear-Point Sword Borini Kitten, ranked seventh among the Continental Twelve Stars!"
The cry that answered him was loud enough to lift the arena off its foundations.
"Raon! Raon!"
"Frost-Flower Sword Hero!"
"Spear-Point Sword! Spear-Point Sword! Spear-Point Sword!"
"The Frost-Flower Sword Hero was more impressive than I expected, but he's still no match for the Spear-Point Sword."
"Did you even watch the round of sixteen? He wiped the floor with Matis!"
"You're putting Borini Kitten and Matis in the same sentence? You think seventh among the Continental Twelve Stars is some small fry?"
Plenty of people were still picking Borini Kitten to win—but the cheers for Raon had swollen beyond any comparison with the round of sixteen.
"Hah."
Raon stepped up onto the sparring ground with the crowd's roar at his back, as if those voices were a hand pushing him forward.
From the opposite side, Borini Kitten approached with steps so precise they might have been cut to an angle.
His sky-blue hair drifted as he walked. His gaze was as sharp as a spear-blade, his presence lofty and austere—like an ancient pine that had taken human form.
A full dimension above Matis.
Unlike Matis Kiserm, who had been a middle-rank Master, Borini Kitten had firmly reached Upper Master. Underestimate him, and the match would be over in a blink.
"This is the first time we've spoken privately. I look forward to our match."
Borini Kitten came forward and bowed. His low voice was packed with conviction and courtesy.
"The others seem to be undervaluing Sir Raon somewhat. I do not."
He raised his presence, slow and deliberate. A pressure like awls driving into skin unfurled from the soles of his feet.
"I regard you as the most dangerous favorite for the championship among everyone here."
Whether he meant it or not, Borini Kitten's presence did not diminish. It felt like a declaration that he would go all-out from the first exchange.
"I'm grateful for the high opinion. But I'm not quite on the level of the Dragon-Cleaving Asura or the Wave Sword, am I?"
"No. I consider you their equal."
"That's a rather heavy expectation."
Raon smiled faintly as he met the pressure Borini Kitten was raising, and pushed back.
A deep, grinding rumble rolled through the air. The duel had not even begun, and already their colliding auras lifted sand and shards of stone off the floor of the sparring ground.
"I-it's already this intense…"
The announcer swallowed hard, cold sweat beading as the two men's energy washed over him.
"From the quarterfinals onward, two additional layers of protective magic have been added to the sparring ground! Please, display your full strength without reservation."
He descended from the platform and raised a hand.
"The first match of the quarterfinals—begins!"
The instant the announcer's hand dropped from the sky to point at the sparring ground, Raon and Borini Kitten vanished.
A thunderclap of steel.
In the space of a blink they had drawn and crashed together at the center—a sword strike so instantaneous that the draw itself was the attack.
A savage, piercing sword-cry erupted as blade met blade, each weapon bared like a beast showing its teeth.
"You reacted, as I thought you would."
Borini Kitten nodded, as if he had expected nothing less.
"You placed your expectations on me. I ought to live up to them."
Raon nodded and unfolded the Mad Fang Sword. A slash that could have split the air itself came scything down on a diagonal.
"Hmph!"
Borini Kitten did not flinch. He raised his sword, the ganggi wrapping his blade honed even sharper, and met the Mad Fang Sword's form head-on.
A shriek of metal. The second clash was even as well—neither man giving an inch, a deadlock of equal force.
Raon drove power into his left ankle and shoved the Heavenly Sky Sword forward. Borini Kitten held the edge in sharpness and density of aura, but the difference in physical ability was real, and Raon was confident he could crush him with it.
A hiss of sliding steel. Borini Kitten felt the strength going against him, flicked the face of his blade, and stepped back.
"With a frame like yours, isn't that kind of power cheating?"
He rolled his wrist, frowning. The shock seemed to have registered.
"We haven't even started yet."
Raon smiled coldly and stamped his foot. He advanced and heaved the Mad Fang Sword up once more.
A sword strike like a snake glued to the earth, baring its fangs at a bird stooping from the sky. The Mad Fang Sword's Venomous Serpent Chain.
A ringing crash. Borini Kitten drew his left foot back to open space, then smashed the rising center of the Venomous Serpent Chain aside.
"Ngh!"
Raon narrowed his eyes and swallowed a groan. The impact sang through the bones of his arm.
He really does pierce the opening.
He had some confidence in the Mad Fang Sword. And yet the man was hunting not only a person's gaps, but the tiniest flaws in the sword strike itself. The name Spear-Point Sword, earned among the Continental Twelve Stars, was the real thing.
A heavy rush of air. This time it was Borini Kitten's counter. Having knocked the Venomous Serpent Chain aside, he brought the sword that had risen to the upper left straight down. A strike both fast and keen dropped toward Raon's head.
Raon twisted his ankle. From the calf he dragged up the strength of his body, and from his dantian he raised the heat of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, and he threw both at once.
A volcanic explosion of flame met Borini Kitten's thunderbolt of a slash.
Ganggi ground against ganggi, and scarlet sparks fanned out across the entire sparring ground.
And in the middle of that, he was still aiming for a gap?
Borini Kitten had targeted the opening in the upward strike and neutralized its force. The eye for it—and the keenness—were almost absurd.
"Hoo."
Raon wet his lips with his tongue.
That's what I need to take from this.
He decided, then and there, what he would learn from the duel with Borini Kitten. The split-second judgment to pick out a true opening. The mastery of the keen edge and the true edge required to drive a blade into that opening. Those three things. He would have them.
"Isn't that greed a little excessive?"
Better than having none.
"If Greed saw you, he'd come running to be your friend."
Gullible marks are always welcome.
Raon adjusted his grip on the Heavenly Sky Sword and smiled.
"The atmosphere has changed."
Borini Kitten narrowed his eyes and set his sword at mid-guard.
"Even so, I will not let my guard down. I will come at you with everything I have."
He shoved off the ground, closed in, and scattered sword strikes. The blade coming for Raon's throat was so chilling that gooseflesh rose along his spine. It was the highest martial art Borini Kitten had mastered—the Blood-Cleaving Sword Art.
A deep, gathering hum. Raon resonated the Ring of Fire. Seven rings sang in succession, and the world began to slow.
Borini Kitten's sword-tip entered his sight. It advanced in a perfectly straight line toward the opening he had chosen at the outset, without the slightest tremor.
What I can see right now…
Even through the Ring of Fire, Borini Kitten's openings were invisible. It didn't matter.
If there aren't any, I'll make them.
He dropped his center of gravity and tightened his grip. Frost surged up from the floor—the Snow Wind Sword Art, carrying the energy of Glacia.
A keening clash. The Snow Wind Sword Art's Azure Cloud Chain twisted into the Blood-Cleaving Sword Art Borini Kitten had raised, and the two locked together.
Raon and Borini Kitten slid past each other, eyes meeting as they crossed.
A hiss of parting air. Borini Kitten snapped his ankle around and poured out a second strike.
Raon did not counter at once. He stepped his left foot forward.
Three openings.
The twist of the Snow Wind Sword Art had carved three gaps in Borini Kitten. Not all of them were real. He had to filter the fakes and find the true one.
Right flank, at the waist.
The openings at the neck and heart were swaying too honestly, as if begging to be stabbed. A man like Borini Kitten would never leave vitals like that exposed. Those were bait.
He finished the judgment in a flash and drove the Heavenly Sky Sword at Borini Kitten's waist, blending the true edge and the keen edge so the blade would seat itself cleanly in the gap.
"Nnh…"
Borini Kitten converted the attack he had been throwing into a defense and caught the sword coming for his waist.
A long, grinding hiss. But that, too, was a Frost Flower sword strike. The breath of a blade that broke the flow carved a new opening in Borini Kitten.
This time…
Raon stepped in further, raised the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, and converted the Snow Wind Sword Art into the Mad Fang Sword. He poured the Mad Fang Sword's savagery into a strike honed with keenness and precision.
A roaring detonation. Faced with a sword strike as wild as an unleashed beast and as refined as a master's, Borini Kitten could not counter. He could only cover the openings.
A searing scrape. Driven backward, Borini Kitten frowned and straightened his waist.
"For a little while now, it has felt as though your very temperament has changed."
He clenched his sword and narrowed his eyes.
"It feels as though I am fighting a mirror."
"I happen to enjoy hunting openings myself."
"Then we will have to settle, cleanly, which of us stands above the other."
Borini Kitten clenched his teeth and charged. Even his footwork was keen. He carved into Raon's rear with movements like a blade.
"Anytime."
Raon smiled coldly and drove the Snow Wind Sword Art in. Borini Kitten, too, unfolded the Blood-Cleaving Sword at full force and ran to meet him.
A rending crash. Crimson and azure sword-light split the sinking sun.
A white beach, where gentle waves rolled in and out.
Beneath a scarlet sun sinking toward the horizon, two men in a mask and a helm sat at a wooden table.
"Are you truly going to do this?"
The man in the red snake helm with two horns asked, watching the dying sun. It was Jeokgwisa.
"Of course."
Tatcheon, wearing the mask of a handsome youth who looked even younger than he had when he fought Glenn, smiled softly and tapped the map spread on the table.
The place the map indicated was the heart of Owen Royal Castle—the sparring ground itself.
"We can hardly leave a sprout that may one day equal Glenn. No—that may surpass him. And we can erase the futures of the other Six Kings while we're at it. An opportunity like this will not come again."
"Raon Zieghart…"
"Ah, come to think of it, Jeokgwisa, you had a rather unfortunate encounter with him as well."
"That wasn't me."
"Ah. My mistake."
Tatcheon smiled faintly. He called it a mistake, but there was not a trace of apology on his face.
"And it is a meaningless matter."
Jeokgwisa waved a hand, slow and dismissive.
"How fortunate."
Tatcheon nodded and turned his gaze. The Soul-Severing Sword stood with his feet in the shallows, looking out at the far sea.
"Heh."
Tatcheon smiled for a moment at that silent back, then lifted his index and middle fingers.
A vast, gathering hum. White light and black light welled up from those two fingers, glittering.
"Even with the Six Kings in the conference hall, there will be strong ones at the sparring ground."
"Humans, you see, have a way of missing the second thing when they're focused on the first."
Tatcheon smiled as he watched the black and white lights floating above his fingers.
"When those two's fight reaches its peak, they will not see the light and darkness descending from that sky. And if it blends into the sunset, still less."
"Hnh…"
"Then let us send our regards."
Tatcheon lowered his hand, and the two lights gathered at his fingertips traced half-circles and sank into the map.
"After all, today will be the last day of the Continental Twelve Stars—and of Raon Zieghart."
A laugh as clear as a child's, and a colossal radiance erupted from within the map.
A shriek of metal on metal tore through a storm of crimson ganggi, like a lump of iron dragged across a sawblade.
It was the roar of Raon and Borini Kitten pouring sword strikes into each other.
Ganggi ground as sharp as awls burned along both their blades—sword-aura honed for the sole purpose of piercing each other's openings with perfect, merciless precision.
A rending, continuous crash. Shockwaves burst as ganggi met ganggi, but neither Raon nor Borini Kitten gave ground. The wounds tearing open across their bodies were being seared shut by ganggi; the pain should have been staggering. They drove only the sword arts meant to cut the other's throat.
A scarlet gleam lit in both of Raon's eyes.
Right shoulder. Left knee.
The real one was the knee.
The instant he saw the openings, true and false sorted themselves. He sent the Snow Wind Sword Art at the left knee.
"Kh…"
Unable to fully offset the ice-cold strike, Borini Kitten was driven two steps back.
A heavy boom. Raon stepped his right foot forward and stamped a true step. Power surged up from his thigh; he loaded it with tremendous heat and spun it.
Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation: Revolving Heaven. A rotating sawblade of flame came crashing down with almost stupid, overwhelming force.
A shattering detonation. Borini Kitten could not take that power. He stumbled backward and was driven to the very edge of the sparring ground. The force was great enough to leave footprints in a floor protected by magic.
The storm of ganggi died, and the two of them came into view.
Raon's uniform was torn in places and stained red. Borini Kitten's armor was dented and cracked, blood running down. Neither of them looked well—and yet both their faces were brighter than they had any right to be.
"Wh-wha…"
"Who said it was one-sided? They're dead even!"
"No—right now Raon actually looks like he has the advantage?"
"So that's the Frost-Flower Sword Hero's true strength…"
"When you think about it, of course he got kidnapped! It was the Tenth Apostle and Merlin!"
"Right. A little kidnapping wasn't even worth worrying about."
"Come to think of it, the Frost-Flower Sword Hero has taken down two Apostles by himself!"
The spectators stared, mouths hanging open, at Raon matching Borini Kitten blow for blow. More than a few of them were so stunned they were actually drooling.
"I have not had a fight this enjoyable in a very long time."
Borini Kitten reset his grip on a faintly trembling hand. He had said fight, not duel, not spar. He was treating this as a real battle.
"So it is."
Raon smiled and nodded.
It really was an educational match.
He had learned a great deal in the close-quarters exchanges. Distinguishing true openings from false ones. The judgment to aim, among those openings, for the ones that mattered. Mastery of the keen edge and the true edge. The man in front of him had been no different from a teacher instructing him at arm's length.
"I had heard there were monsters who grow while they fight. Seeing one before my eyes is rather chilling."
"I've learned a great deal, thanks to you."
Borini Kitten was a knight complete even in character. It was not mockery. He offered his thanks in earnest.
"Regrettably, it seems it is time to end this."
Borini Kitten smiled. He raised his sword to high guard and drew his left foot back. He took a stance like a spearman aiming at an enemy from mid-range, and pulled up every last drop of his aura.
A vast, gathering roar. The stronger his aura grew, the more the ganggi wreathing him settled and condensed. A single spear, ganggi refined without end. A presence that would tear any shield to shreds, tight enough to squeeze the heart.
Raon bit his lip and smiled. He raised the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacia at the same time. It was a method of circulation that put a heavy burden on the mana circuits—but this was not the moment to be picky.
A bloom of fire. With his right hand he kindled the flames of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation along the Heavenly Sky Sword and leveled it at Borini Kitten. His left hand closed on the hilt of the Requiem Sword at the small of his back.
A grinding quake. Their auras, both drawn to the limit, collided, and the sparring ground began to shake as if an earthquake had struck.
"Hoooh."
Raon drew a breath and licked his lips.
It's hot.
He could feel Borini Kitten's fierce gaze. He could feel Matio staring at him with eyes wide, the announcer swallowing a dry throat, and the spirits of every spectator in the stands winding tighter and tighter.
It's coming now.
This—right now, with every gaze and every mind in this sparring ground concentrated in one place—was the moment that creature had been waiting for.
A high, ringing whine. He drove the Ring of Fire and the Sense of Frost Flowers to their extreme. Time flowed slower still. With senses refined enough to feel the weight of dust on his fingertips, he searched the sky.
There it is…
Senses honed to their limit caught the stealthy energies of light and darkness falling from the far heavens. Just as he had predicted, the creature had sent them separately, intending to mix them here.
I have to go now.
Raon clenched his teeth. He compressed the power he had been focusing on Borini Kitten even further.
A deep thrum. The instant the heat wrapping the Heavenly Sky Sword condensed into a single point, Borini Kitten charged. He seemed to think Raon was ready, and that this was the moment to strike.
I can't block this.
If he defended here, he would not be able to stop Tatcheon's energy falling from above. The two would mix, and they would become Chaos.
I endure it.
He stepped the Supreme Harmony Footwork and twisted his body. Borini Kitten's eyes flew wide. He, too, sensed something wrong and tried to pull his sword back—but it was already far too late.
A wet, tearing sound. Raon's right flank ripped open in a long gash, and bright blood burst out.
"Why…"
Borini Kitten's jaw trembled. The word asked why he had stopped.
"I'll just go deal with an interruption."
Raon smiled, pale, and detonated the power he had gathered, kicking off the ground.
A rushing roar of air. As he drove toward the energies of light and darkness drawing closer to each other, Rimer burst from the right-hand stands.
Was the squad leader waiting for this too?
Raon had thought the man was doing nothing but gambling. Apparently he had been preparing for the possibility of something like this.
Rimer smiled and spoke with his eyes. It looked as if he were asking whether Raon could do it.
Raon nodded, and Rimer's smile deepened.
"Then go!"
Rimer drew his sword, set it beneath Raon's feet, and struck upward. Thanks to that, Raon reached the heavens at a speed greater than if he had launched himself from the ground with all his strength.
A crackling hiss. Between the sunset colors where day crossed into night, light and darkness were drawing toward each other like magnets. Between the two forces, violet sparks of Chaos had begun to leap.
Lightning fiercer than those sparks flashed in Raon's crimson eyes. The flames blazing along the Heavenly Sky Sword and the frost blooming from the Requiem Sword shot toward the twin lights.
A cataclysmic roar split the dusk.