The Eye of the Typhoon
The eye of a storm is the windless zone born at the heart of a colossal tempest. Mighty winds still howl on every side, yet within, all is still and peaceful, as if everything has already come to an end. That is the eye of the typhoon.
And now, that very phenomenon had unfolded before Raon's eyes.
The madness and Battle Qi the Mad Blood Fiend had been pouring out in a frenzy, and the deep-green aura Rimer had been unleashing — all of it was shoved outward, away from the center.
A space where even the wind did not blow.
No — it was not merely the wind. The very flow of air seemed to have stopped. Not a sound could be heard, and Raon's body felt as heavy as if iron weights had been hung from his shoulders.
The Mad Blood Fiend seemed just as bewildered, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. He, too, could not move his body properly.
Wiiiiing!
A clear, ringing current bloomed through that silent space.
It was Rimer's sword. Deep-green wind gathered upon the blade that had been emptied of aura, hollow and bare.
Thud!
Rimer stamped his foot. The earth crumpled, and his body shot forward like an arrow.
Even in his panic, the Mad Blood Fiend unleashed a devastating punch, but Rimer rode the wind like a breeze and slipped in even deeper.
Then, a single stroke.
A sword that held the wind itself fell in a vertical slash.
Pukak!
The Mad Blood Fiend's right arm, harder than steel, was severed and dropped onto the pitch-black ground.
But the Mad Blood Fiend was a martial artist who had reached the Master realm. He did not collapse simply because an arm had been cut off.
He immediately staunched the blood gushing from the severed right arm and stepped back. The movement was as swift and supple as a panther.
As if he had expected exactly that, Rimer whirled his sword and pursued him. The Mad Blood Fiend tried to escape the eye of the storm Rimer had created, but the space itself moved with Rimer.
Realizing there was no escape, the Mad Blood Fiend stopped. He lowered his stance and condensed every last scrap of power he possessed into his remaining left fist.
Wooooong!
Space itself trembled. Crimson Ganggi rose like a wave and surged into a tidal flood.
Before that Ganggi tsunami that threatened to swallow the earth, Rimer stood holding a single slender sword.
Hooooook!
The eye of the typhoon swelled even larger, and the wind coiled around Rimer's blade took on an ever-deeper hue.
Rimer brought the storm-wrapped sword down as it was.
Jaaaak!
With a sound like a cliff splitting apart, the deep-green wind cleaved through the crimson tide.
Hooooong!
In that instant, a fierce light erupted.
Khuk!
Even Raon could not endure that light. He shut his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.
Is it over?
When he opened his eyes, the eye of the typhoon had vanished, and the world had returned to normal.
"……."
The Mad Blood Fiend and Rimer stood facing each other, five paces apart.
"You halved the power of both our bodies and our aura, then poured every last scrap of wind from that still zone into your sword."
Madness and Battle Qi still overflowed from the Mad Blood Fiend's voice.
"Fine. That's what a Sword Realm is supposed to be. But how the hell did you even operate one?"
That was not the Mad Blood Fiend's question alone. Raon, too, had been stunned the moment he saw Rimer use a Sword Realm.
A Sword Realm should only be usable by those who inherit Zieghart blood…
The Six Kings and the Five Demons, the strongest powers on the continent, each had their own distinctive arts — but House Zieghart stood apart even among them.
A barrier woven not by a mage, but by a swordsman's own body. The power of Sword Realm Manifestation had been enough to set the entire continent buzzing.
The catch was that a Sword Realm could only be used by those who carried Zieghart blood, and even among them, the ones who could actually manifest it were few.
For Rimer — who was not of Zieghart, who was not even human, but an elf — to use one defied all common sense.
"To be precise, it isn't a Sword Realm. I just made something similar."
Rimer lowered his eyes and smiled.
"I'm an elf, so I'm pretty close with nature."
"…I see."
The Mad Blood Fiend nodded, as if he had grasped something.
"Even if a tiger grows old, loses its teeth, and takes wounds — a tiger is still a tiger, is that it?"
He laughed with a low growl in his throat, then turned his gaze toward Raon.
"A shame. That one should have been eliminated no matter what. He'll surely have a great impact on Eden…"
"I can't let our little king fall to the likes of you."
"That's certainly not the talent of an ordinary swordsman. It's the makings of a hegemon. Just don't get arrogant."
The Mad Blood Fiend's voice began to tremble.
"We have talent that doesn't fall short of that monster, either. I'm looking forward to seeing the two of them clash."
"The continent is a vast place."
Rimer murmured that it was possible, and nodded.
With those words, the Mad Blood Fiend closed his eyes. A vivid scarlet line was drawn through the center of his body.
The body he had been holding together with aura split apart, and the giant who had reached the Master realm toppled backward.
Hooooook!
The helmet the Mad Blood Fiend had been wearing split in two as well, and the mad light within it vanished.
"Haa…"
Rimer let out a long breath and sank to the ground.
"Did you see that?"
He looked back over his shoulder and grinned. It was the same expression as always, but the strength had gone out of it.
"I did."
Raon nodded.
"That's the art you need to learn as a Zieghart. It's called the Sword Realm."
"Sword Realm…"
He already knew the term, but he murmured it as if he didn't.
"Unlike the barriers mages weave with mana, this is a domain you unfold with the karma you've built and the presence you've accumulated."
"So that's why you've always placed such importance on presence."
"That's right. Even without a Sword Realm, if you build up your presence, it becomes that much easier to bring out the power that comes with it."
Rimer grinned, and Raon nodded once more.
He's not wrong…
Thanks to the training Rimer had driven them through every day — training that pushed them past their limits — Raon himself had benefited, of course, but the other children had clearly gained even more. If they had never trained to cultivate their presence, they would never have charged the Green Lightning Fiend, and they would never have been able to run from the Mad Blood Fiend.
"You're of the collateral line, but in truth you're direct blood. Someday you might be able to open it. No — you will be able to open it."
Rimer said it with absolute conviction, as if there were no other possibility.
"The experience you've piled up, the karma you've earned, your aura, even your future — you pour all of it in. That's what a Sword Realm is. Go out and experience a great deal. Learn a great deal."
He was still panting for breath, and still he taught. From the battle with the Mad Blood Fiend to this very moment, all of it had been a lesson.
"You all saw that too, right?"
Rimer turned all the way around and looked behind him. Runaan, Burren, Marta, and the rest of the trainees were standing there in a daze.
They seemed to have been watching the whole thing from outside the Sword Realm.
"Raon!"
Runaan came running. Tiny beads of dew had gathered in her still-dazed eyes.
"You crazy bastard! This kid was alive! He was alive this whole time!"
Marta could not believe Raon had survived until now. The hand she clamped on his shoulder was shaking.
"Young Master Raon!"
"Raon!"
"Khuhk!"
Dorian and the trainees came running with tears welling in their eyes.
"Raon Zieghart."
Burren let out a sigh of relief so deep it made his cheeks tremble.
"Thank goodness…"
He staggered, then caught sight of Rimer standing beside Raon and sniffled.
"Um, Instructor."
"Hm?"
"How did you use Sword Realm Manifestation?"
"I made it."
"Y-you made it?"
"Yeah."
Rimer nodded, repeating what he had told the Mad Blood Fiend.
"House Zieghart has a few Sword Realms that have been passed down. Those are carried in the blood, so only the bloodline can use them — but making a new one is a different story."
He said he had created a Sword Realm, and grinned.
"Then can I use that Sword Realm too?"
Marta stepped forward as she asked. Runaan's eyes sparkled as well.
"That's a no."
Rimer shook his head calmly.
"For someone who isn't a Zieghart to create a Sword Realm, two conditions are required."
"Two conditions?"
"The first is experience. You need a lot of experience with Sword Realms. I followed the Family Head and stood at the very front of the battlefield, and I witnessed countless Sword Realms. And the second is…"
He looked over the trainees one by one, letting the pause hang.
"Talent for the elements."
"What kind of talent are you talking about?"
Marta took another step closer as she asked. She was deeply interested in the Sword Realm.
"Talent for the elements. For those of us who don't carry Zieghart blood to create a Sword Realm, we need the power of an element. I used the wind to make mine."
"Mm…"
"But I wouldn't recommend it."
Rimer shook his head with a bitter look.
"The collateral lines, the Sullion family, and a few other vassal houses still have Zieghart blood running through them, so if they work hard enough, there's a chance they could open a Sword Realm. But for someone with no Zieghart blood at all to open one, there's something they have to sacrifice."
"Sacrifice?"
"……."
Rimer did not answer.
"Your futures are bright. Unlike me, who had no choice but to open a Sword Realm, you'll be able to grow strong on your own power."
He put wind into his voice so that everyone could hear.
"We'll talk about this later. First…"
Rimer pulled a clear vial from his sleeve and came over to Raon.
"This is going to hurt. Bear with it."
So saying, he poured it over the shattered arm, and over the torn waist and thigh.
"……."
Raon felt searing pain, but he did not let out even the smallest groan. Compared to fighting the Mad Blood Fiend, this barely counted as pain at all.
"It doesn't hurt?"
"It does."
"But you didn't even make a sound."
"It wasn't that bad, honestly."
"Hah, seriously."
Rimer snorted a laugh and shook his head.
"It's all over. Let's head back."
"Wait!"
Burren raised his hand. It was the same look he wore on the training grounds.
"I have one question."
"Eh? I'm tired. Can we do this later…"
Rimer swallowed dryly, as if he already knew what was coming.
"No. It has to be now. Where were you, and why did you only show up now? You were clearly following us — so why did you arrive at the most dangerous moment? It wasn't just us. The villagers were in danger too…"
"Huh? What's that?"
Rimer lifted a finger and pointed behind Burren.
"Huk!"
"What now…"
The trainees whipped around in a hurry, but only bare branches, stripped of every leaf, were swaying there.
"There's nothing… Where did he go!"
Burren's eyes flew wide. In the brief instant they had looked away, Rimer had vanished.
"This guy, seriously! Why did he only show up now! We really almost all died!"
They were grateful he had appeared and saved them, but the timing had been far too dramatic. Never mind themselves — for the villagers' sake, he should have come sooner.
"Any dead?"
Raon gripped his broken right arm and stepped up in front of Burren.
"Fortunately, no. If there had been, I'd have grabbed the instructor by the collar on the spot."
"Then that's enough."
Rimer surely had his reasons. The villagers had been shaken in more ways than one, but with no one dead, they would get through it.
"But…"
"Let's wrap this up. There's still a lot to do."
Covered head to toe in blood, Raon shook his head.
"A-are you sure you're okay?"
"Raon, are you okay?"
Burren and Runaan asked at the same time.
"I'm fine."
Raon nodded as if it were nothing, even though anyone could see he was gravely wounded.
He was circulating the Ring of Fire, restoring his body and his mana circuits. The medicine Rimer had given him was taking effect as well. If he rested properly, he would come out of this with a body and mana circuits even sturdier than before.
"I'm sorry."
Burren bowed his head. The hand hanging at his side trembled.
"My judgment was too slow. Even after you stepped in, I almost got everyone killed. I don't think I'm the kind of person who should be leading anyone."
"You're trying to die over one mistake. If you know what the problem was, then from now on, grow your judgment and your strength together."
"Mm…"
"If you don't have the confidence, then just quit for real."
"No. I'll do it. I'll forge the strength and the judgment to never lose, no matter the situation! I swear it to the one who saved my life!"
"Then that's enough."
Raon waved his uninjured left hand.
If he'd said he was sorry he couldn't help me, I'd have punched him.
What he liked was that Burren hadn't apologized for failing to charge the Mad Blood Fiend — he'd apologized for failing to run in time. The boy was still a child. He would grow a great deal from here.
"Runaan. Same goes for you. Back there, you shouldn't have tried to help me. You should have run."
"No."
Runaan shook her head with a rare sullen look.
"If there's an opponent you can't beat…"
"No."
"It's dangerous."
"No."
"Look, at least let me finish."
"I'm not listening. I'm going to help you."
So saying, she covered her ears and turned her head away.
"I'll get stronger. I'll definitely get stronger and fight at your side!"
"Ha…"
He was so dumbfounded a hollow laugh slipped out. But he knew that both the vow to grow stronger and the promise to help him were sincere, and warmth spread through his chest.
This mission had left them battered and exhausted — but he was glad, too, to be learning so many more kinds of feeling.
"……."
Last of all, Raon looked at Marta. She was watching him with deep eyes, as if turning something over in her mind.
"It's over. Let's go back."
He waved a hand toward the trainees, who were still standing there in a daze.
In the distance, figures came running out of the dark. They were House Zieghart's reinforcements — the ones Crain had gone to fetch.
The thought that it was all over made his heart go soft and loose, like something unclenching.
Just as he was thinking how badly he wanted to rest, a blue window rose before his eyes.
You have won the wager against Wrath.
"Huh?"
-Huh??