Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: The Final Trial
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Lucas, the last Head of Riverune.
He was a benevolent man who cared for the entire family, and to me, he was my father from a past life.
My father never once relinquished his title as the strongest on the Livius continent.
He was that strong and unrivaled, but he made a grave mistake.
The naive belief that all who reached the pinnacle of mastery would be as honorable in combat as he was.
His decision to accept the peace summit at face value led the Riverune family to its ruin.
Seeing my father's face again, I felt the devastating emotions of that time resurfacing.
'If Father had been there, we would have stood a chance.'
Through my resurrection via Deinox's seal, I learned a new truth about the war from eighteen years ago.
The Rantzverger family did not directly participate in the war.
'The Head of Rantzverger played a crucial role in my father's assassination. That's why they could take a step back and not join the full-scale invasion.'
Thanks to being born into the Rantzverger main line, I came to understand that the family's choice was unavoidable.
But that didn't mean I could forgive my enemies.
Especially now, facing the visage of my father from my past life, a fierce anger surged within me.
"Ah..."
Suddenly, the figure standing before me blurred.
It seemed tears had welled up, obscuring my vision.
'Damn it. Must be something in my eye.'
I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again, and only then did my vision clear.
But in that very moment, a chilling blue sword light was closing in right before my eyes.
*Clang!*
"Ugh!"
Having blocked the strike on reflex, I staggered backward.
The impact was so powerful that I couldn't keep my balance.
*Vwooom!*
A deep blue aura encased in a white haze—it was unmistakably the Heaven-Severing Flash.
The vivid sensation at my fingertips, the sword path my father from my memories so often used.
The way his eyes looked at me with that subtle smile as I lived my life like a carefree wanderer.
The sight was so identical that a curse escaped my lips.
"Damn it."
The tower's trials were designed to end only when the opponent was defeated.
The first trial had been like that, so the second was unlikely to be much different.
But how on earth could I cut down such a vivid image of my father?
'Why this kind of damn trial...?'
I forced strength into my hand to grip the Black Dragon Sword, but my broken fighting spirit showed no signs of returning.
*Viiing—! Fshhhk!*
My father continuously unleashed blue flashes of light.
They were sword strikes executed as naturally as breathing, but their results were anything but light.
*Swhoooosh!*
A diagonal sword path, arcing subtly upward from below.
It was a trajectory that could maximize the power of the Heaven-Severing Lunar Eclipse, but few could replicate it.
The internal recoil it generated prevented one from swinging the sword freely.
*Clang!*
I blocked the strike by executing the same Heaven-Severing Lunar Eclipse.
"Kuh!"
*Drip!*
But the effort left me with internal injuries.
The Heaven-Severing Lunar Eclipse, unleashed from that strange angle, was incredibly difficult to defend against.
Forcing myself to swallow the blood trickling from my lips, I readjusted my grip on the hilt.
*Click!*
'It's just an illusion, not my real father. You idiot!'
No being could bring the dead back to life.
I screamed this inwardly, but my fighting spirit refused to rise.
Why on earth did Esmeranta's Tower create such a trial?
The tower was clearly posing some kind of question to its challengers.
I would have to find the answer to overcome the trial.
*Clang! Claang!*
While enduring my father's attacks, I agonized over the question again and again.
But dragging it out wouldn't lead me to an answer.
Besides, there was no question to begin with.
'Wait a minute. Why did I think the tower was asking a question?'
The chain of questions and answers eventually led to a single conclusion.
What the tower wanted was simple.
To defeat the opponent before me and proceed to the next stage.
Then, eventually, the end would come.
In truth, there was no reason to hesitate.
"Let's keep it simple. You were always good at that. That thing is not my father."
I already knew the opponent wasn't real.
But somewhere along the way, I had become captivated by its form.
Seeing it perform the sword arts exactly as he did in life might have drawn me deeper into the trap.
'Of course. It was created based on my memories.'
*Sshhh.*
With a long sigh, I took a step back and activated the Form-Shifting Invisibility Technique.
'I don't have the strength to use any other secret arts. I have to settle this with assassination techniques.'
After facing two supreme masters in a row, my aura and mana were almost completely depleted.
Now, I couldn't even use the Demonic Wheel Kill, which consumed relatively little aura.
All that was left was the Silent Flowing Fire Sword.
After concealing my presence and form with the Form-Shifting Invisibility Technique, I began to approach my target.
The illusion of my father stood still, calmly gazing into the empty air.
I could feel a spirit that seemed ready to cut down an enemy in a single blow, no matter where it appeared.
But I revealed myself directly in front of him.
*Sshh. Shiiik! Thunk!*
"Keuk!"
Unleashing the ultimate One-Star Flowing Fire Sword, my father thrust his blade toward my abdomen.
I had intentionally protected only my face and neck.
And then, I roughly seized the wrist of my opponent as he tried to withdraw his sword.
"Uwaaaaah!"
*Crunch!*
The Black Dragon Sword was already piercing through my father's chest.
The moment I realized I couldn't win by normal means, I had resorted to the tactic of sacrificing flesh to take bone.
*Thump! Thump!*
Through the blade that had pushed past his ribs, I could feel the slowing beat of his heart.
My vision had already turned hazy.
The tears I had been holding back burst forth uncontrollably, blurring everything.
Because of that, I didn't even notice my opponent raising his right hand.
*Sshh. Pat.*
But instead of attacking, my father gently placed his hand on my head.
"..."
When I looked up, I saw a kind face with a faint smile.
The moment I saw that smile, my father's form began to crumble into dust.
The second trial of Esmeranta's Tower was finally over.
*Thud.*
Collapsing with shallow, ragged breaths, I couldn't move for a long time.
Even the nonsense I habitually spouted showed no sign of surfacing.
That was how intensely I had felt my father's warmth.
* * *
"Is it over?"
A fair amount of time had passed, but there was no change in this vast space.
There was no sign of anyone approaching, so it seemed the trials were over.
I pushed myself up and started walking along the path before me.
The tower's reward would be at the end of this path.
*Step. Step.*
"Ugh..."
My body felt as heavy as lead, a result of the fierce battles.
I cast a cure spell once more for first aid, but my internal injuries remained severe.
But I couldn't bear the curiosity of what the tower's reward might be.
Hadn't I overcome those brutal hardships and come this far for the sake of growth?
'What does it mean to ascend to the next level? An ancient artifact? A new secret art?'
As I walked straight ahead, a staircase bearing the clear marks of time appeared before me.
At the top of the stairs was a short wooden door.
But the shape of the door seemed strangely familiar.
"What is this?"
Though I was puzzled, I decided to go inside.
*Creeak.*
As I carefully pushed the door open, an unbelievable scene filled my vision.
"Oh! You're late. Did you just finish sparring with your father?"
"Brother, you're here? Come on in. Haha! It's been a while since we could all eat together as a family."
There was my mother, with her endlessly affectionate smile, and my younger brother, with whom I had trained and shared all of life's joys and sorrows.
"Ahem! You're late. What are you doing, not coming in?"
And then my father suddenly appeared from behind, heading inside.
I almost walked forward without thinking.
It was the image of my family, so familiar and deeply missed.
'Was this the tower's reward? Showing me what I desire most?'
But just as I was about to take a step, a scene flashed through my mind.
It was the image of my mother and brother dying horribly in battle.
'My family is all dead. And besides, I've been reborn as Ray Rantzverger.'
As I snapped back to my senses, the scene of the peaceful family dinner instantly changed.
The scene filled with familial love was gone, replaced by the edge of a high tower.
To my shock, I was about to step out into thin air.
*Whoooosh!*
I quickly pulled my foot back, and a gust of wind immediately blew past.
"Whoa! Damn, I almost died. This is seriously vicious."
I happened to glance down and saw a huge pile of human bone fragments.
This was the other side of the tower, which I hadn't seen on my way in.
Those who let their guard down, relieved that the trials were over, must have fallen to their deaths there.
Realizing this, I sank to the floor with a heavy heart.
* * *
I wonder how much time passed.
After continuously circulating the Wheel Energy Arts and the Konntraeger Energy Arts, I finally got up after a long while.
'Something... has changed.'
The Wheel Energy Arts was a technique with a high capacity for assimilation, capable of incorporating only the strengths of other skills.
But as I used it alongside the Konntraeger technique, it began to show signs of merging.
'Is it because neither is superior?'
When I tried to merge other secret arts, the Wheel Energy Arts was usually far superior.
But the Konntraeger technique was the pinnacle of arts, developed by the Rantzverger family over hundreds of years.
It was an energy art so outstanding that it could stand comparison with that of the Riverune, called the best on the continent.
Because I was using two comparable energy arts in parallel, they were showing a reaction as if to merge into one.
Of course, for now, it was only a slight precursor.
'I can't predict the result of the fusion. No one has ever mastered both before.'
It probably wouldn't combine immediately.
I had been consciously controlling them to prevent the two energy arts from mixing.
'I haven't reached Tier 3. But I've reached the very edge of Tier 4.'
Thanks to the enlightenment gained in the tower, my level had risen dramatically.
I hadn't skipped a whole tier, but it was still remarkable growth.
My business in Esmeranta's Tower was finished.
All that was left was to go back.
The shabby door at the top of the tower was now firmly shut.
'Tsk, isn't there a convenient exit right from here or something?'
But on my way back, a rather interesting scene caught my eye.
There had been nothing here when I came in, but now, all sorts of weapons were stuck in the ground.
There were so many it could truly be called a tomb of blades.
Going down the stairs and examining the broken and old weapons, I saw recent bloodstains.
Judging by the footprints on the floor, the bloodstains seemed to be mine.
"So all my injuries came from these."
During the two battles in the illusion, I had sustained numerous wounds.
To think they were all inflicted by these weapons was truly astonishing.
*Thud. Crack!*
As I passed through the tomb of swords, I felt something kick against my foot.
The cracking sound was unusual, and when I looked closely at the ground, I saw it was a mix of sand and bone fragments.
It seemed the owners of these weapons had also met their end here and rotted away.
'As long as it's not me... Saying that would make me sound like a total bastard, wouldn't it?'
With a light shrug, I immediately left Esmeranta's Tower.
"Hm?"
As I left the tower and headed for the entrance of the Forest of the Dead, I suddenly sensed a group of people.
They possessed a familiar yet secretive energy.
'Why are they following me? What did I do wrong?'
It was a reasonable question.
Because they were none other than the Shadow Blood Assassination Squad of the Rantzverger family.