There are countless ways to hone one’s will in this world.
Whether it’s magic, swordsmanship, or curses, it’s all possible to break through those limits and draw out one’s own martial arts secrets.
All those secrets converge into one singular path.
Ultimate Technique.
I closed my eyes and, as I gradually spread the ultimate technique around me, I sensed something.
This isn’t the end.
All secrets lead to one path, the ultimate technique.
But that doesn’t mean it’s over.
There exists a realm beyond the ultimate technique, a path to take.
So far, I’m the only one who has reached this place.
However, from here on, someone else might just zoom past me.
I decided to keep concentrating, to see if I could master the ultimate technique.
When unleashing my secrets, I always swung with intense will, resulting in nothing less than a destructive strike.
But with the ultimate technique, there’s a way to cast it without much fuss.
The ultimate technique is like a sword that slices through the essence.
Before slicing, there’s a stage of understanding.
Light bursts forth from around me.
But unlike ordinary light, it curves and changes direction here and there.
The essence within whatever it touches gets flipped inside out.
And information about that essence floods into me like a tide.
Since it’s an unfamiliar kind of information, processing it takes quite a bit of time.
The information from representations is intuitive, but the essence can be rather hard to define.
No one is born evil, just as no one is purely good; thus, the essence is an intricate composite that isn’t simple.
Therefore, even if I glanced into the essence, I cannot claim to know everything about it.
In fact, having seen that essence only makes me feel more perplexed.
After a lifetime of straining to understand only the surface of things, I realize, upon seeing the essence, that it’s impossible.
I reach a state where I escape the illusion of understanding and recognize my ignorance.
I’ll give up trying to understand.
I can’t understand everything.
Each person’s life is different, and the realizations they gain are varied.
What seems contradictory and unreasonable to me may be their own answer.
It’s the same when others look at me.
How can it be easy to accept that one has fallen in love with a woman who has deceived and trampled on emotions all her life?
By skipping the process of trying to understand, it seems the speed of processing has accelerated.
The light of the ultimate technique, which had felt stagnant, swiftly spreads through my surroundings.
Soon, that light fills the room and spills outside.
Wide. Wider.
The endless spreading light colors the whole land and sky.
In response, my line of sight continues to expand.
Connecting the essence and its information, I gain a perspective as if I’m looking down on everything around me from above.
I can grasp every movement within a radius of about 10 kilometers.
Is that all?
If I wanted to, I could cut through everything that touched the light.
However, with it spread so wide, everything around falls into the scope of destruction, and there’s the problem…
It seems I’ll need much more training to selectively cut only what I desire.
“Hmm?”
At that moment.
I felt a strange object entering my field of vision.
Something is coming this way.
When I confirmed its face, a smile naturally crept onto my own.
“Cornelia.”
.
.
.
It’s been a day since the pillar of light erupted.
That place it rose from was definitely the alliance headquarters.
The last communication was that “the airship fleet is under attack,” so Alicia, Transylvania, and Gui Ho had no choice but to rush back.
The communication was completely cut off.
The communication network seemed thoroughly neutralized; we couldn’t access it at all.
Both landline and wireless connections couldn’t locate the alliance’s command network.
I couldn’t help but feel worried.
What on earth is happening?
With the archive obliterated, now the alliance headquarters…?
I couldn’t help but think of ominous thoughts.
They must’ve broken it themselves. Didn’t they say the emergency communication network wasn’t functioning?
“That’s correct, Gui Ho.”
“If the emergency communication network is supposed to operate under any circumstances, it wouldn’t have broken due to an external force. It’s wise to stop for security reasons.”
Certainly, that was the case.
Seeing that all communication was cut off at once, it’s unlikely that it was neutralized in an instant; it’s highly probable it was deliberately stopped by an internal decision.
Could it mean the 1st fleet betrayed us?
Or is there a rebellion?
Alicia felt her head getting hot.
“There’s an overturned carriage ahead. It passed about 30 minutes ago.”
“…!”
At that moment, Transylvania rode in, clearly leaving tracks and hoofprints in the dirt.
Someone passed this way.
Quite recently, too.
The group’s alertness heightened sharply.
We still didn’t know the situation at headquarters, nor who had betrayed us, so we had to assume everything we encountered was an enemy.
Before long, the carriage climbed the hill, and the scenery of the alliance headquarters came into view.
“It’s intact?”
To their surprise, the headquarters appeared undamaged.
Instead, the airship fleet seemed to be the one in ruins.
The remnants of 9 airships that crashed in the open field were hard to believe, even when witnessing them.
Wasn’t there any bombardment? That couldn’t be the case either.
When 9 airships fired all at once, the number of shells poured out was 72.
And lying around the wreckage were brass shell casings.
There were easily over 100 of them, indicating there had been at least two barrages.
Yet, did the barrier really withstand such firepower…?
It’s fine to say it held up.
But for such a situation to arise meant it was at the level of full-scale warfare.
The fleet must’ve planned to completely annihilate the headquarters.
So then, why couldn’t the airships shoot third or fourth barrages and crashed after only the second?
Where in this world is there a weapon capable of shooting down all 9 airships?
Alicia was quick to find that answer.
“Ah…!”
The strongest person she had ever seen out of all those she had encountered.
It wasn’t merely a story of physical might.
It was about the strength of the person themselves.
That person had now overcome even death and returned.
As Alicia clutched her chest with complex feelings, jubilant voices erupted from either side.
“Oh! Is Yoo Jin back!”
“But who’s that girl he’s holding? My eyes are blurry; I can’t see well.”
“Hmmm. I’m not sure, but given Sola is escorting him, she might be Mayor Briam Cologne?”
“……”
Yoo Jin was not alone.
The carriage that arrived earlier.
And in Yoo Jin’s embrace was Cornelia Briam, shedding tears of joy while recalling the past non-stop.
Come to think of it, Mayor Briam had a verbal agreement with Yoo Jin, and they even had an engagement, right?
She confessed first, and Yoo Jin accepted, or so I heard.
I had been told that Mayor Briam had become Yoo Jin’s only sanctuary amidst his wandering and anxiety.
At first, I felt pity for Mayor Briam upon hearing that tale.
Her first marriage had gone awry, and now her second one…
Not to mention, she bore an unkind fate waiting until her death without even finding a body.
But now the tables had turned.
“Isn’t it said that partings make encounters valuable? It certainly seems so. Cornelia, if I hadn’t gained courage from your words, I wouldn’t be here now. Your wishes, and your connection, led me this far.”
“Huff… Did I say something like that…?”
“Sure. I was cowardly avoiding connections with others; you felt frustrated and told me that. Don’t you remember?”
“Hehe… Back then, I just liked you so much. I didn’t want it to be unrequited love, so I said that?”
“What does it matter? In the end, it’s also true that I gained enlightenment thanks to that.”
“But, um… What should I do…?”
They looked happy.
No, it was more than happiness; it was a torrent of emotions that couldn’t be expressed merely with that word flowing between them.
Due to the limitations of human language, it wasn’t a lengthy conversation.
Rather than exchanging words, they resolve and commune all the emotions that had built up over time through their gazes.
Though there was a 3-year gap, that connection swiftly filled the void between them.
They’d both gone through many things, suffered countless injuries, but they could sense that they were healing each other’s wounds.
What do you call that?
Love…
Yes. It was love.
Watching the two share a passionate communion without any intense actions from afar, Alicia felt a burning pain inside her chest for some reason.
“Ah! You guys are back!”
The moment Yoo Jin’s booming voice echoed, Alicia flinched and trembled.
It felt as if she had been caught eavesdropping.
As his gaze turned towards her, Alicia instinctively looked away.
What on earth is this feeling?
Why does seeing this beautiful couple share their lovely moments suddenly make me feel like this?
Alicia bit her lip.
This feeling wasn’t right.
She had to forget it.
With that determination, she forced a smile and started down the hill.
“Yoo Jin!”
Running towards him, beams of lively laughter.
Ah, isn’t this wrong?
Three years ago, I disliked Yoo Jin and treated him coldly.
Yet here I am treating him the same way even after three years—doesn’t that feel strange?
Which side is right?
How should I resolve my feelings?
Thud, thud, feeling her heart race.
And within, feeling something hurting.
Alicia, uncertain of what to do, stifled a cry that felt like it was about to burst forth.
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