“How many survivors are left in the arena?”
“Five… no, four. No, wait—those two over there are the last ones standing.”
“Why does the number keep changing?”
“One of them was trembling so hard from the killing intent in the air that he stumbled into the fence and got shredded. The others wiped each other out. One guy managed to kill his opponent, but he took a blade to the gut and keeled over right after. So, those two are all that’s left. Whoever wins this takes the whole thing.”
“So you’re saying it’s down to the Sword Demon—the cash cow gladiator who’s made us a fortune—and the young master we’re dead meat if he gets so much as a scratch?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Fine. That means it doesn’t matter if we jump in and call the match ourselves, right? Since the winner of this fight is the champion anyway, no one’s going to complain.”
“But won’t we get a lot of flak for that? The crowd’s already pissed off about how this Infinite Duel has gone, starting with the species duels.”
“Who cares? It’s better than being dead. Are you going to take responsibility if things go south? What are we going to do if that monster of a father comes looking for us because someone touched his precious son?”
“…….”
“Well, even so, I doubt we’ll actually get much heat. Isn’t that young master a pretty famous swordsman? I heard he’s a powerhouse everyone in the Free City knows. No matter how good a butcher the Sword Demon is, he can’t beat a Rhapsody young master. So, we just wait. If the young master takes the Sword Demon’s head, we proceed as usual. But if—just in case—it looks like the Sword Demon might actually hurt him, we jump in….”
“But who’s going to stop a fight that intense?”
“Don’t worry. As soon as the background check was done, I asked the right person to handle it. Dammit, it was a pain to get him on such short notice. That old man is retired, but he’s still damn picky….”
* * *
Toma Rhapsody looked at the gladiator standing before him. The offer he had extended had been rejected.
The madman.
When told to ask for whatever he wanted, the man had immediately demanded the lives of Swordmaster Carlos and the Iron Prince. It was as good as a sarcastic refusal. Toma Rhapsody felt it was a pity, but since he had been so coldly rejected, he saw no further need for mercy.
This experience had taught him how vast the world truly was. If treasures were hidden even in an event like this, where lowly gladiators gathered to brawl, how many great powerhouses must there be in the Eastern, Northern, and Southern Continents? His heart was already racing with anticipation.
Toma Rhapsody watched the gladiator, who was gasping for air. Every time the man exhaled, the surrounding air seemed to shimmer and heat up. Toma recognized this as a phenomenon caused by an excessive accumulation of Mana.
I suppose he did have one last trick up his sleeve.
A technique that influenced the very environment.
Normally, this was a Mystery that only a 「Sword Runner」 could manifest. It was a mystery how a mere 「Sword Walker」 like him possessed such a skill, but it didn’t matter. Toma Rhapsody took two steps back, feeling the searing heat. Then, he took a deep breath.
“Consider this a gift for waking me from my long slumber.”
As he exhaled, Toma Rhapsody’s sword grew blurred.
Then, brilliant wings began to glow behind his pitch-black armor. It wasn’t just one pair. One pair, two pairs, three pairs… a total of six wings revealed their presence.
The three pairs of wings vibrated like a roaring beast, awakening the authority of a 「Sword Runner」. Acceleration.
When the first pair of wings flashed, Toma Rhapsody’s thoughts accelerated to an insane degree. The world he perceived slowed down infinitely.
When the second pair of wings flashed, Toma Rhapsody’s body accelerated to an insane degree. He could now move like a bolt of lightning. As if teleporting.
When the third pair of wings flashed, the Mana flowing through Toma Rhapsody’s body accelerated. Fast—incredibly fast.
Immediately after the triple acceleration was complete, Toma Rhapsody slowly crouched. It was the posture of a beast preparing to pounce. Simultaneously, a mystical power infused the sword in his hand. It was one of the techniques of the Spiral Sword passed down through the Rhapsody family.
“Watch closely.”
Among the Spiral Sword techniques modeled after the sea, this was the sword that resembled a wave. A violent sword that ground down and pulverized every enemy in its path, like a massive tidal wave sweeping everything away.
“If you can even see it, that is.”
The technique that was the very symbol of 「Rhapsody」 unfolded from Toma Rhapsody’s fingertips. As his wings fluttered, he could even hear the sound of crashing waves inside his head. The free sea that no one could catch. The unstoppable violence delivered by the currents of that free ocean. Toma Rhapsody became a streak of light and charged.
And then.
“……?”
The image of the gladiator reflected in Toma Rhapsody’s eyes began to shimmer and change. Just as Toma Rhapsody had become a wave, the gladiator transformed into something else in the face of the descending violence.
“……Steel?”
* * *
I saw a world on fire.
It was the sun that set the world ablaze. Looking up at the scorching sun, I recalled an old memory. The day I lost everything and was consumed by a terrible sense of helplessness. The day my people screamed at me to give up, to forget it all. On that day, I lay in a garden thick with the scent of blood and looked up at the sky. The sky was resentfully clear and blue, and the sun hanging there was far too beautiful. I thought to myself then:
The sun was beautiful when I was happy, the sun was beautiful the moment I lost everything, and the sun is far too beautiful even now.
And so, I had a thought.
I wished that sun would burn this resentful, broken world to the ground. I wished it would burn away everything I couldn’t accept, burning them all equally until not a trace remained. If there truly was a God, I wished He would take my hateful enemies to His side this instant.
But God did not grant a single one of my wishes.
My enemies flourished more with each passing day, while I grew more pathetic. Even those who left my side did not live happily. Those who fled the territory they had lived in their whole lives couldn’t adapt, and many were ambushed and killed by bandits during their difficult journey. I resented everything.
I couldn’t even blame those who abandoned me.
I wasn’t cold-hearted enough for that. I just cried for a long time.
I felt agony at the news that my precious people had died while leaving me, at the fact that they had met such unhappy ends. Why was this world so harsh? Every novel on the continent spoke of rewarding good and punishing evil, and every follower of the nine goddesses and seven chief gods shouted to do good and avoid sin—so why did the sinners become the upper class, while the righteous lost everything and died miserable deaths? Whose side was this world on?
Doubt followed doubt in an endless chain.
Even after I picked up the sword, the doubt did not stop. Why did my neighbor, Sir Petel, a knight who lived his whole life with nobility, have to die like that? Why did the gods refuse to grant wings to that poor knight until his final moment? Why could Sir Petel, who lived like a lonely wolf, never confess his heart to his young lord until the very end?
Does this world only run on the logic of power?
Do good and evil not exist?
Are rewarding good and punishing evil, sin and punishment, heaven and hell merely fictional concepts existing only in the imaginations of insignificant creatures? There were too many things I couldn’t accept. No one gave me an answer. Since I couldn’t find a clear answer to anything, I had no choice but to swing my sword.
Until the day my blade finally reached this unacceptable world. Until those who are not honorable, those who deserve judgment, and those who bring misfortune learn to fear my blade. Until my enemy can no longer breathe under the same sky as me.
I heard a heartbeat.
My own heartbeat thundered with a thrill. As my entire body vibrated, I became a flicker of flame. A terrifying flame that melted everything nearby without a trace, delivering death and pain equally to all. Instinctively, I knew. This merciless flame was the ‘Mystery’ contained within me.
I slowly raised my head.
He was approaching from the distance.
With every step he took, his form gradually shifted. Holding his sword, he looked like a wave. A wave that would sweep everything away. And in the face of a crashing wave, a flame is destined to flicker and die.
So, what should I do?
I didn’t know. I had managed to draw out the flame, but I didn’t know how to use it. I didn’t know how to survive before that wave. As I stood there blankly, a wrinkled, rough, transparent hand overlapped mine. My Master’s hand.
「You are lucky. The Caravan’s sword and flame have good compatibility.」
As my Master’s hand moved, I instinctively followed the motion. Slow and heavy, as if practicing swordsmanship.
「Think of it as striking.」
The sword slowly pointed upward.
「Think of it as striking the blazing flame with a hammer. Visualize a blacksmith forging the flame. Think of striking it, and striking it again, to shape the flame into a sword.」
I thought exactly as my Master said.
In that moment, I was no longer a gladiator holding a sword, but a blacksmith surrendering his body to the heat of a roaring blast furnace. What I held in my hand was no longer a blade meant to take life, but a hammer meant to create tools. Holding the hammer, I followed my Master’s movement and brought the raised blade down. Like a blacksmith.
「That is the first sword of Steel.」
At that moment, a powerful metallic ring echoed in my head.
A sharp clang , like metal striking metal, snapped my eyes open. The moment my mind cleared, he was right in front of me. Our swords were pressed against each other. A binding. A position where blade meets blade.
“……You, just now, you blocked the wave—”
A voice filled with disbelief escaped his lips. He was visibly shaken. I swung my sword toward him. A vertical slash. The Steel my Master had taught me.
“Ugh—”
Panicked, he hurriedly took a stance to block. In the process, his wings flashed as the authority of a 「Sword Runner」 tried to activate. However—
“……?”
The flame that had risen from me transferred to his wings. Simultaneously, his wings lost their light and vanished. His body, which had been accelerating at an abnormal speed, suddenly stiffened. It was as if the wings of a bird in flight had been incinerated mid-air.
“Wha—What is—”
Now, a voice bordering on panic escaped his lips. Without stopping, I continued the vertical slash. The sword, swung from top to bottom, struck his blade. A sharp thud of metal on metal rang out. And then.
“Guh.”
In the next instant, a powerful clang resonated as the ground beneath him caved in. A massive shockwave accompanied the roar. The arms and legs he used to block my sword trembled violently. The pitch-black armor covering his shaking limbs shattered with a crack . The skin beneath the broken armor was revealed, his arms and legs covered in deep, dark bruises.
“Wh-What on earth is this?”
He stammered, gasping for breath.
With that, the flame rising from my body transferred to him once again. His massive presence began to slowly fade. This time, the 「Paths」 he used to dominate his surroundings began to disappear one by one. First, the traits of a 「Sword Runner」 vanished, followed by those of a 「Sword Walker」. It was as if he was being turned back into a pathetic human who possessed nothing.
「A Mystery truly fitting for you.」
“…….”
「How is it? The first Steel.」
Skreeee.
His blade, its Mana drained to a pathetic level, could no longer withstand my blade made of Winter Steel. The surface of his metal was slowly being shaved away.
「It is a strike that can only be swung by a Caravan with the characteristics of Steel. A sword that contains the essence of Steel within a simple vertical slash. It is a sword heavier than any other on the continent.」
“…….”
「This sword can contain a Mystery in a single swing. Just as you contained the ‘Flame of Doubt’ in your blade just now.」
The Flame of Doubt.
It seemed my Master had already given my Mystery a name.
「No matter how fierce the waves of Rhapsody may be, a mere ripple cannot sweep away Steel. No matter how many times the wave strikes, Steel simply remains in its place.」
“…….”
「That is Steel.」
I felt the strength slowly draining from my body. The time to face the side effects of the 「Lamp」 was approaching. Soon, the flame enveloping my body would vanish, and this overflowing power would disappear entirely. I would no longer be able to swing this insanely powerful and heavy sword. So, I had to swing it at least once more before then.
“St-Stop.”
For the first time, a voice filled with fear came from him.
“Stop…….”
Clang—!
My sword swung toward him. He blocked it while falling back, almost as if trying to flee, but he couldn’t handle the shockwave that followed the strike. His body was sent flying as if hit by a carriage. With a series of thuds and cracks, his body rolled across the ground. No aura could be felt from the man who had fallen so pathetically. First the wings, then the path, and finally the heart. A man who didn’t possess even a handful of Mana could no longer be called a swordsman.
“Ugh, ah…….”
I silently followed him.
Approaching step by step, I pointed my sword at the man crawling on the ground.
Raising the blade, I swung it downward once more, just as my Master had taught me. To ensure it was finished. And then.
“—!”
With a loud boom , my body was launched into the air.
By the time I regained my senses, I had been thrown a good distance away and slammed into the ground. Brushing off the dust, I stood up and saw the man clutching his head and trembling. And in front of him stood a familiar face.
“That is enough.”
An old man with hair turned white as snow.
A man dressed as a neat gentleman, with a kind gaze visible behind his monocle.
“The match is decided, Young Master.”
A benevolent voice, a friendly tone.
But the atmosphere radiating from him was not friendly in the slightest.
In this moment, the Tom blocking my path had not come as the Caretaker of the Hall of Fame.
“So, let us sheathe our swords and enjoy the glory of victory, ho ho ho.”
The current Tom had come as a 「Sword Expert」.
