Whoosh────.
Suddenly, a torrential downpour.
Amidst it stood two knights, swords drawn and ready.
“Finally pulling out that sword, huh?”
“I thought I wouldn’t win without using it anyway.”
Facing the colossal Glass Knight, I felt overwhelmed by its intimidating presence. I gripped my sword tighter in anticipation of resisting.
“Belief. Hope for Rain. Say hello. It’s a sword like my son’s.”
“Hello, Hope for Rain.”
Mardol, waving slowly at the sword, was quite a quirky person. If I put a bit more thought into it, I would’ve quickly realized he was different from Rufus.
“Haha… you’re really doing this.”
“…Is something wrong?”
“No, just felt like it was so Mardol of you.”
Whenever our Saintess gets involved, he becomes as clueless as a golden retriever. His mind would freeze, and his brain would turn blank. I let out a wry laugh.
‘I was so foolish. If the Saintess found out about this, she’d surely have a few words for me.’
Wouldn’t she call me a silly pup? Her distinct high-pitched voice echoed in my ears.
What love could’ve brought me to this state? It’s almost absurd. I thought being quick-witted was an advantage, but now it seems otherwise.
“…Licht.”
It was then. Lost in memories among the rain, she opened her mouth from across me.
“I want strength, Licht.”
“I’m not strong, Mardol.”
Our values had always run parallel. Reflecting on the efforts of the past, I decided to say it honestly. I lifted my gaze to face Mardol.
“Rather, I got this far because I’m weak.”
“Really, even if you’re weak… can you defend like you say?”
Whose opinion is right? It was time to prove it. The gap between us that was close yet so distant. The paths Mardol and I walked were entirely different.
“Yeah. Even weak, I can defend.”
One was a liar, only stacking up defeats,
“…Okay, let me know that I was wrong, Licht.”
The other was a cold, transparent figure trying to only seize victories.
“Got it. Mardol.”
I nodded, responding to her. Ultimately, it seemed like I had to capture the Demon King as comrades too. I should at least heal this trauma.
So, the clash of black and white began. I wielded Hope for Rain, morphing into droplets as I rapidly changed positions. The cold sensation soaked my body, and the wind rustled past.
“Indeed, quick.”
Mardol, not missing my movements, tried to attack me with the shadow of a knight behind her.
Bang! Bang! The sounds echoed through the arena, mercilessly shattering the surroundings.
It was like it was begging me to get hit just once. The blind attacks of the oversized sword, carved from glass, aimed for me.
‘Surely, she knows this approach won’t work.’
I thought while dodging her strikes blended with raindrops. There’s no way someone like her would make such a silly move. There must be something she was aiming for.
“It’s as if flowers are falling, hence Falling Flower.”
But I couldn’t miss the opening. My sword also had its weaknesses.
I quickly closed the distance and prepared the technique the Celestial Demon taught me. A movement inspired by watching the lilies falling.
“Lily Sword Technique 3. One Sword Falling Flower.”
White petals fluttered around, softly descending as I cut down from above, targeting Mardol.
In that instant, her golden eyes met my brown ones.
“You were too hasty, Licht.”
Kachang! The sound resounded as she erected a wall of glass. Immediately reflecting the Celestial Demon’s sword techniques back at me. Can she even replicate techniques using internal energy?
“When you turn into raindrops…!”
“…Don’t, Licht.”
I tried to dodge the assault from the clone that sprang out of the glass wall by transforming back into raindrops. However, that attempt was a blunder.
Mirror Shield.
A transparent glass wall enveloped the entire arena like a giant dome. The drizzling rain ceased. There were no longer any ways to move about.
A complete sealed room, a solid fortress where only the two of us could be.
‘Was she aiming for this all along?’
There was no escaping. A sudden gap left me flustered.
‘I remember Mardol once put an umbrella over me.’
She was already aware of how to counter. I had let my guard down, and she secretly struck with quick attacks left and right.
Two sword paths were close enough to touch my body. It was just like the position I took when I aimed to cut Mardol from above. If this continued, I’d be hit by the shadow’s attack. I had to defend.
“Lily Sword Technique 1, White Mountain..!”
Clank! The sound echoed as the metal clashed against my sword. A white, snowy landscape unfolded behind me. Techniques using mental imagery, relying on internal energy rather than magic.
“Interesting. It doesn’t seem like you’re using magic.”
“…”
“Can you show me more?”
After barely blocking the glass clone’s attack, that was what she said. I couldn’t comprehend how intense her obsession with strength was. The attacks from behind were still coming.
Crash! Even White Mountain had a gap, and I took a significant hit to my upper body, nearly losing all my mana protective gear. There seemed to be no other choice.
I had to use it.
My most precious mental image.
“…Yeah. I’ll show you as much as you want.”
I needed to see if my feelings for the Saintess were stronger than that Glass Knight or whatever. I readied my stance, pouring all my internal energy into my sword.
*
A few weeks ago, while I was training with the Celestial Demon.
“Boy, isn’t it about time you create your own mental image?”
“Eh..? What do you mean, Celestial Demon?”
“It means you need to have your inherent strength. If all you do is follow, there’s no growth for you.”
She had been observing my sword movements multiple times with her dragon-like eyes before she declared it was time.
“I’m not really getting it…”
“Tsk, I can’t believe a clueless boy like you is my disciple. Do you think merely following is enough?”
The White Lily clicked her tongue, letting her brown hair flutter, her eyes squinting in dissatisfaction.
“The strength of the Mind Sword doesn’t come from the emotions of others, boy.”
“So it should come from my own emotions? The Mind Sword Hope for Rain…”
Her vague words left me puzzled. My sword was already molded into my being. I wield my feelings; what more could I need?
“That’s not it. Do you know why I’m called the Celestial Demon, boy?”
“I… don’t know well.”
Is it because I’m a game character? Maybe it’s because of the setting of being a being from another world. Shaking her head at my answer, she spoke again.
“In the land where I once lived, those who didn’t belong to any sect would be called ‘Earth Demons’ and labeled derogatively.”
“Are they marking us in advance?”
“Exactly. It’s a ridiculous thing. A group that scorns and looks down upon those who don’t belong to their factions while claiming to know about the martial world.”
The Celestial Demon raised her right hand toward the sky. Her palm blocking the heavens, it was, in fact, quite absurd.
“So, what happens when the demeaned Earth Demons rise to the heavens and acquire a dragon-like demeanor?”
“What do they call it…?”
As if mimicking Laplace’s abilities, she made a fist, and as she did, the surroundings turned dark.
“…The Earth Demon that touches the sky. Celestial Demon.”
When the White Lily exerted strength in her hand, a crash! rang out as something shattered, and the sun lost its vigor.
“As those steeped in the mundane praised me by that name.”
Watching the fragments of light scatter, I was left speechless.
“…”
“You also have one precious mental image, don’t you?”
With a dismissive wave, she snapped me out of my daze, and the surroundings got bright again as if nothing had occurred.
The following morning, I collapsed in my seat. Is this all achievable just by mental images?
“Cough, cough. Strive harder! Boy.”
The woman in a black hanbok across from me merely giggled softly.
*
The Nameless Saintess.
What ordinary people would forget in no time, she kept to herself as cherished memories.
For Licht, the most precious mental image was just that.
“…White Wolf, Shadow Fang.”
As I finished speaking, the air echoed.
Awoooooo────!!
A massive white wolf emerged from behind him, howling. Right towards the Glass Knight, a man donned in a dark knight helmet charged with his blade.
A thrusting move. It wasn’t the Drake Style’s Reverse Scale Stab connected by a chain attack. Just a simple charge. He propelled himself off the ground, taking his steps forward.
‘Is that me…?’
The white-haired wolf with golden eyes leaping out behind Licht.
Seeing that, Pina Grancia inside her glass armor felt as if she was confronting herself directly.
A strange déjà vu surged, sharp as she watched her reflection in a mirror.
[Student Licht! A giant wolf suddenly appears and is charging! It looks like he’s aiming for one last blow! Given the Glass Knight is still there, closing in will be tough!]
Suddenly, a realization struck her that she might lose. Not through intellect but instinctively deducing the situation.
There was already no way to dodge. Techniques from the Lily Sword Technique and Drake Style were thwarted by the glass wall. Where did he still have such tricks left?
‘With this one shot, I’ll bet everything. A linearly straightforward motion without deceit.’
As she watched the man charging with all his might, chills ran down her spine. Why would someone so composed suddenly act like that?
Mirror Shield.
The glass wall sprang up to block his path. As the illusory copies manifested in response, he didn’t halt his charge.
“He’s… charging through?!”
Ignoring the reflections that surrounded him, he continued straight, with the fierce momentum to wipe out every adversary before him.
“That Glass Knight!”
Even a colossal knight couldn’t stop him. No matter how much she swung her sword in a bid to halt him, he continually found gaps, charging forward. Mardol was thrown into disarray by the apparent lack of mindfulness in his decision.
‘This isn’t going to work. I need to try a different method.’
Seeing the shimmering brown eyes and the dark helmet coming dangerously close, Pina knew she had to make a decisive move.
“Grancia Style… 5th form.”
The one with the glass sword reformed her stance.
The strongest technique save for the ultimate move in the Grancia style. She raised her sword high into the air. Normally, such a gravitational setup shouldn’t be this large.
‘…I’ll have to recreate my father’s technique as closely as possible.’
Obsessed with strength, she aimed to unleash the original power utilized by Emperor Rock himself onto Licht, displaying a wide downward cut.
Heart Slash.
No matter how strong the opponent was, she was determined to slice through the heart.
Regardless of just how fierce Licht was before her, this attack bore a different kind of weight than the One Sword Falling Flower she had previously employed. As she looked directly at the approaching Licht, she moved to strike downward.
Saat!
The metal clashing noise resonated as his cobalt sword deflected her strike. For a moment, his balance faltered.
“I struck…!”
With the block, Pina felt a fleeting sense of relief. However, his expression beneath the black helmet remained enigmatic.
“No, you said from the start… ‘Shadow Fang.'”
Immediately using her attack against her, Licht fluidly deflected Pina’s sword with a graceful maneuver, taking a reversed stance to cut upward.
“Ugh…!”
Pina recoiled, leaning back as the cobalt light flashed past her face. Just as she thought she had barely missed the strike.
“This is the real deal.”
“…What?”
In an instant, her keen eyes captured an anomaly. From the shadows of the man, something strange emerged. A black object soaring into the air like a dolphin.
[W-What’s happening this time? A black wolf has just emerged from Licht’s shadow! It’s leaping into the air!]
A black wolf, similar in size to the previously seen white wolf, jumped into the air.
‘Shadow Wolf…?’
It resembled the Shadow Wolf that Licht and Kainel had faced before. Its maw opened wide, seemingly consuming the entire arena.
[Mardol, it’s already too late to attempt to block it with the Glass Knight─!]
It was too late to respond, drawing all her magical energy. Pina barely managed to lift her sword in a bid to fend off the wolf’s assault.
BOOM────!!!
As the wolf forged from Licht’s shadow collided with Pina, the air trembled, producing a shockwave.
[Oh, what’s going on?!]
Right after, a dark fog began to envelop the glass dome, hiding the two figures from view.
[We can’t see either student’s forms! The glass walls have become utterly coated in darkness and it’s impossible to see who won!!]
“Kay, what’s going on? Did Licht win?”
“Did Mardol… lose?”
“Senior?! We can’t tell who’s won like this!”
In the pitch-black hemisphere, the audience was in a frenzy, not being able to grasp what transpired within.
