The old man gazed out at the sea.
“Young Master.”
To the old man, the sea was the world itself.
The infinitely sprawling waters represented the endless possibilities granted to the young—a dazzling future offered like a gift to those brave enough to challenge it. Those who ventured forth might haul treasures from the depths, discover new lands to seize glory, or simply catch enough fish to feed their families. To those who challenged it, the sea bestowed gifts. To those who challenged it, the world yielded its rewards.
“Get behind me.”
But the future and its possibilities, the gifts and the glory, were never free. The world and the sea always imposed harsh trials. Before these incomprehensible ordeals, flowers that never had the chance to bloom were snapped, the young were crushed, and a youth that should have shone disappeared into the dirt.
“Hurry.”
The old man, Caretaker Tom, saw the trial approaching. It was an ordeal too great for his friend to bear, too savage—a wave so massive it threatened to break the flower before it could even bud. Yet, it was a wave the aged warrior had crossed before.
“Tom, it’s dangerous.”
“It is fine.”
Back in his young and promising days.
Back when Tom was not the caretaker of the Hall of Fame, but a gladiator whose name echoed across the Steel Kingdom, he was a swordsman capable of slaying even a Divine Beast.
“I have faced such a thing before, in my youth.”
But Tom was old now.
A swordsman who is not a Swordmaster cannot escape the ravages of aging. A life that has not transcended its limits is bound to grow worn and broken by the passage of time. Just as a legendary blade of the century turns to rusted scrap after hundreds of years, Tom had withered within the long stretch of time. Living his life buried among blades, he had failed to sharpen his own. The old man’s techniques were dated, his body was failing, and his life was racing toward its twilight.
“It’s dangerous, Tom. Don’t do this—”
“It is fine.”
“You’re hurt! And badly at that!”
The old man was racing toward the end of his life.
In his frantic efforts to save his friend, the old man’s body had broken even further. His injuries had yet to heal. Perhaps the wounds etched into his aged frame would remain forever. If he forced himself to move with such a battered body, it might break completely. He might meet a pathetic end—unable to even swing a sword, losing control of his own functions—the common fate shared by so many of the elderly in the Steel Kingdom.
“No, I am fine.”
Even so, he did not step back.
The old man looked at the sea.
The sea was infinitely wide, and the old man was now far too old to chase dreams and romance. Looking at the rising clouds, the ocean, and the approaching shadow, Tom smiled. Here were the clouds, the sky, a drifting sailboat, and his young, brave friend. The old man knew that on the sea, no one is ever truly alone.
“Tom, let’s run. You aren’t a young gladiator anymore.”
“You are right. I am old now.”
Tom drew the rapier from his waist.
“The fact that I proved myself thousands of times in the past means nothing. What matters most is proving it once again, right here and now.”
His young friend had told him: Let’s run, old man.
But the old man had no intention of doing so. He had a sailboat filled with romance and a young friend to protect. There were things he had to guard, even if it meant throwing away this old, broken body. And the one who had taught him the sword back when Caretaker Tom was still a gladiator had said:
“Young Master.”
A man can be destroyed.
But he is not defeated.
Tom had never once forgotten that teaching. Not during his days as a gladiator, and not now as an old caretaker.
“A man is not created for defeat.”
There was the sea. There was the old man. And there was the sword.
*
Unless I devoured a new sword, I couldn’t win. It didn’t take long to understand the meaning behind Liam’s words. The Authority of Steel possessed by a Caravan is the power to consume blades and absorb the souls dwelling within them. And for a soul to dwell within a sword, its former master must meet their end. Right now, Liam was telling me to survive by using Tom as a sacrifice.
「It is not a sacrifice, young descendant.」
Liam spoke as if he had read my mind.
「It is a succession.」
Succession.
Perhaps my Master was right. The fate of my kind neighbor, the terminally ill Knight Petel, was to vanish quietly in a backwater estate. Quietly, lonely, and forever. But within me, Petel did not vanish; he remained. Because he was passed on.
「…You will have to get used to it.」
Tom drew his sword.
「For that is the fate of Steel.」
As long as my old friend was determined to fight, I couldn’t show my back. I cast aside my doubts. Instead, I stood beside Tom, facing the shadow looming toward us. Soon, Tom spoke.
“The creature approaching is the Kraken, one of the six Divine Beasts. Among the people of the continent, it is more famously known as the Overlord of the Sea.”
“…”
“Normally, it is a Divine Beast that does not leave its territory, and even when it hunts, it targets massive warships. I do not know why it is targeting this decrepit sailboat, but… our chances of survival are higher if we fight rather than flee.”
“Because we can’t outrun it?”
“Yes. It is impossible to flee from a Kraken on the ocean.”
Rumble.
With a bone-chilling sound, the Kraken revealed itself above the water. It resembled a giant octopus, but its size and the pressure it exuded were incomparable to a mere mollusk. It was a gargantuan warship in the shape of an octopus, a true monarch that crushed the presence of all other sea creatures. Soon, the nine eyes embedded like jewels in the Kraken’s head turned toward me.
【 Found you, descendant of Steel. 】
A powerful mental wave echoed in my head.
It seemed the creature had no intention of hiding its purpose. As I drew my sword following Tom’s lead, doubt bloomed within me, and information about the giant octopus poured in like a tide.
How am I supposed to cut through something like that?
The information provided by 「The Path」 regarding the Kraken was simple: A giant monster with insane durability, insane power, and an incredibly tough hide. Its basic specs far exceeded the monsters of the Northern Continent. Furthermore, it wasn’t just a monster; it was a Divine Beast. And a Divine Beast always possessed a Mystery.
“Watch out for the water.”
“The water?”
“The Kraken is a being beloved by the Spirit King of Water. At the same time, it is beloved by the ‘Unending Father,’ one of the Seven Chief Gods. By moving its eight legs, it can manipulate the surrounding sea at will.”
A being loved by a Spirit King and one of the Seven Chief Gods. Those titles alone were enough to make one lose the will to fight. It looked no different from an octopus, yet it had such formidable backing.
I really don’t want to fight this thing.
But I couldn’t retreat.
As I balanced myself on the sailboat, Tom took a deep breath. As he inhaled, small sparks of lightning crackled around him. That was Tom’s sword. It was the pursuit of extreme speed I had seen several times before—a swift sword style perfectly suited for the rapier held by the old caretaker.
What kind of help can I provide?
The Caravan’s Steel could surely pierce even that hide. If the creature was protected by divine grace, ‘Demon Ore’ would strip away its flesh. But while it might be possible on land, was it even feasible to contend with such a thing at sea? The 「Wings」 of a Sword Runner do not function like the wings of an actual bird. Even if the Steel Wings possessed hardness, they didn’t grant the ability to fly. I couldn’t even use my treasure, Gaia’s Sword. Gaia is the Spirit King of Earth; in a place where not a single grain of dirt could be found, let alone dry land, she would provide no help.
“Young Master.”
While I was desperately searching for a way, Tom spoke.
“Just once.”
“Pardon?”
“Hold it off for just one moment.”
Tom gave a thin smile.
Without further explanation, he asked me to hold it off just once. Questions rushed to the tip of my tongue, but there was no time for a Q&A session. As the Kraken’s tentacles surged forward, I answered with action instead of words. With a sharp thud , I kicked off the sailboat and leaped. The water’s surface swayed, and my body accelerated as my blade dug toward the Kraken’s limb. The sword, which possessed a blade among the hardest on the continent thanks to Gaia’s blessing, stood its ground even against the body of one of the six Divine Beasts.
【 …Why does the Spirit King of Earth… favor the descendant of Steel? 】
A mental wave flew from the Kraken, which had been staring at me triumphantly. There was clear agitation in the wave—a reaction as if something impossible had occurred. I moved my sword fluidly to sever the octopus-like limb. However, the hide did not cut. Instead, the blade merely slid and stuck against the suckers of the tentacle.
Damn it.
The strength of the suckers was beyond expectation.
Instead of trying to wrench Gaia’s Sword free, I pulled a dagger from my thigh and swung it in a wide, spinning arc. The Assassin’s technique. Into that technique, I poured the acceleration of the Wings, the First Steel, and Forging. The weight of the heaviest sword on the continent was imbued into the short blade, and a force capable of shaking even the massive body of a Divine Beast exploded from the tip of the dagger. With a bang , a massive pillar of water erupted, and blue blood sprayed from the Kraken’s body.
【 …! 】
I wounded it. I can kill it.
The moment I saw with my own eyes that my sword worked, a smile naturally formed on my face.
Yes.
【 You have already inherited the Steel. 】
That was, until the wound—which had been no more than a thin line—healed in less than a second.
【 But you have yet… to inherit the Maverick. 】
The nine jewel-like eyes flashed. In that instant, eight tentacles surged from the swaying surface. Gritting my teeth, I tore my sword from the suckers and immediately unleashed the Mystery of Brilliance. What I summoned was the Gale Ronin. Appearing within a halo of light, the Ronin swung his sword, conjuring a violent wind. Caught in the gale, the Kraken’s tentacles became tangled and disoriented. Using the Ronin’s shoulder as a stepping stone, I leaped again. Then, spinning in mid-air, I swung my sword with a flourish. Refinement, the Second Steel.
Along with the hallucination of sparks flying, the Flame of Doubt scattered in all directions. The flames did not extinguish even upon touching the sea, successfully transferring to the Kraken’s limbs. My blade, swung alongside the spreading fire, carved away the Kraken’s tentacles entirely. But—
What the…
Its limbs regenerated in less than a second the moment they were severed.
Why? The Flame of Doubt should be restricting its Mystery.
I soon realized the reason.
It’s not a Mystery.
That freakish regenerative power originated from that massive body itself. It wasn’t a Mystery; it was innate. And my Mystery could not burn away the inherent power of a physical body. As I stood there dazed, before I could even regain my stance, a newly grown tentacle on the Kraken’s body moved like a whip. It flew toward me at an unavoidable speed, aiming straight for my heart.
However.
“Well done, Young Master.”
The limb was blocked by Tom’s sword.
“But that is not how you cut an octopus tentacle.”
The razor-thin rapier pierced the limb. In the next instant, with a thunderous crack , the Kraken’s eight tentacles were sent flying into the air with a shink . Before the limbs could even hit the water, thunder rolled once more, and Tom became a bolt of lightning, stripping the Kraken of its mantle. Blue blood exploded like a fountain.
An overwhelming assault. Yet Tom, who hadn’t taken a single hit, spat out black blood immediately after swinging his sword. Tom’s eyes shook violently.
“Tom!”
“I am fine. An old wound just opened up…”
Does an old wound opening up make you vomit black blood?
Doubt flared within me. But this wasn’t the situation to be asking such things. I saw the Kraken’s tentacles flailing beneath the sea. An uncanny vitality. The assessment by Tom and Liam that it was invincible in the sea was no exaggeration. Even though Tom had pierced its limbs, mantle, flesh, and even its internal organs, the giant octopus did not die. It was impossible to pursue the Kraken now that it had hidden beneath the surface. Taking a breath to compose himself, Tom looked at me.
“Still, it is a relief. The Kraken is a Divine Beast with a clear territory, so it won’t attack again—”
And then.
“—it…”
The deck Tom was standing on collapsed with a boom . The sailboat was smashed to pieces, and a partially healed tentacle surged from below. As we were tossed into the air by the underwater ambush, a creature resembling the sun appeared against the backdrop of the burning sunset beyond the blue sky. It was a creature I knew very well. Was it not a Divine Beast that appeared in all sorts of legends?
「 It is a Phoenix. 」
“…”
「 A Divine Beast more famous by the name Immortal Bird than its original name. 」
The Kraken was already more than enough, yet another Divine Beast had appeared. With the arrival of the Phoenix against the sun, the surrounding air heated up instantly. In the next moment, with a thud , something pushed Tom and me aside. Squinting and turning my head, I saw a Divine Beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. A Griffin.
What is… going on?
And.
“…”
Beyond the three Divine Beasts, in the highest reaches of the sky.
At the center of the deep blue firmament, a creature looked down upon us with its wings spread wide. This creature was as large as the sun, with eyes that sparkled like embedded sapphires, looking down at its surroundings with an arrogant gaze befitting the master of the sky it flew in. Yet, that arrogance wasn’t the least bit awkward. On the contrary, it felt incredibly natural. No, rather than natural, the word ‘obvious’ would be more appropriate. For that creature belonged to the greatest race, a race born to be the masters of the heavens.
“What in the world…”
Tom, who had barely managed to keep his head above water by treading, looked up at the sky and muttered in a voice that had lost all its previous confidence. It wasn’t strange. Wondering if I was seeing a hallucination, I looked up at the sky again. In the middle of the blue sky, the same creature was flying, unchanged.
That is to say.
“Why is the Master of the Firmament…”
A Dragon.
And.
『 It is foolish to abandon hope. 』
A moment of absolute desperation.
From the blade held in Tom’s hand, a voice echoed incessantly. It was a bizarre occurrence; for such signals to pour out from a blade that clearly had a master.
『 Even so, a man is not created for defeat. 』
Inside my head, the voice continued to linger.
『 A man can be destroyed, but he is not defeated. 』
The voice of the sword.
