Ch.105Conquest Battle (3)

“I’ll set some conditions.”

The Empire’s Sword Master, Gerd.

What he wanted was to confirm what Najin had hidden. Excalibur, a Masterpiece, or if not those, the blessing of a Star. Gerd was certain that the boy before him was hiding “something.”

“As you suggested, I won’t use any Sword Master’s privileges, powers, or enhanced senses.”

If the boy refused to speak until the end.

To confirm this, Gerd needed to corner the boy. If pushed to the brink of death, he would eventually reveal everything to survive. But killing him would defeat the purpose.

Just wanting to confirm.

That’s why Gerd set conditions.

“I’ll swing my sword with killing intent, but I’ll give you three chances. If you can make me take even one step back before using all three chances, you win.”

“Isn’t that condition favorable to me?”

“Generosity is a virtue of the strong. This much should allow me to enjoy the duel as you said.”

Gerd slowly raised the sword he had drawn.

“If you lose to me, you must reveal everything you’re hiding. And I will report this to the Emperor. Additionally, if the Empire needs you, you must answer that call without fail.”

“Very well. Then what if I win?”

“I won’t press you for anything. Even if you reveal what you’ve been hiding to defeat me, I won’t report it to the Emperor. Only I will remember it. However, if by some chance you win while still hiding your true power.”

Gerd curled up the corner of his mouth.

As if saying, try it if you can.

“I will grant you one wish, whatever you desire. I swear by my seven Stars.”

The Empire’s First Horn. A transcendent with seven Stars.

When such a powerful figure says “I will grant whatever you wish,” it is by no means a light statement. He truly had the ability to fulfill anything.

“Do you mean you’ll give me a chance to borrow your sword, Lord Gerd?”

“Sword, position, power, wealth, anything will do. As long as it doesn’t involve raising arms against the Empire.”

It was a good condition.

Najin smiled.

“I accept.”

On the vast prairie where the wind blew.

Najin took his stance on the landscape Gerd had created. Looking ahead, there stood the Empire’s Sword Master holding a sword.

The Empire’s Sword Master raised his sword.

Najin fully understood the weight of that single sentence. His whole body trembled. His instincts screamed, and his fingertips holding the sword tingled. But that lasted only a moment. Najin gripped his sword firmly as he exhaled deeply.

The sword tip no longer wavered.

“……”

Gerd, who had been quietly observing Najin, curled up the corner of his mouth. The old man also took his stance. The old man had no need to accommodate the boy’s duel or place restrictions on himself. But he willingly responded to the boy’s spirit.

Before being the Empire’s First Horn, Gerd was a swordsman.

His sword had not dulled to the point of refusing a duel requested by a junior with shining talent. How long had it been since his last duel? How long since he had faced such a bold challenger like this boy? A smile formed on the old man’s lips.

Let me see.

Show me your sword.

2.

The Empire’s Sword Master, Gerd.

What sword did he wield?

Gerd had mastered the sword that was the origin of the Imperial swordsmanship used by the Empire’s knights. A sword passed down from “Alderan Basaglia,” the national hero and former Empire’s First Horn.

The Triumph Sword.

A sword that brought victory on every battlefield, bringing only glory of victory to the Empire. A swordsmanship known to only two people in this world, including Gerd. Therefore, the characteristics of the Triumph Sword were not well known to the world, but…

In the Empire’s history books, it was often described like this:

An impenetrable fortress wall.

A sword carrying the weight of the Empire’s thousand years.

‘So that’s what it meant.’

CLAAAAAANG!

The moment their swords collided, Najin’s body was pushed far back. Twisting his body to land on the ground in a sliding motion, Najin stuck out his tongue. The moment their swords clashed, he immediately understood the description of the Triumph Sword.

Heavy. Incredibly so.

Though it was Gerd alone who wielded the sword, the swung blade felt as if hundreds of knights were striking at once. Narrowing his eyes, Najin lowered his stance. He stared at Gerd, who was pointing his sword toward him as if inviting him to come.

A single human standing alone on the vast prairie.

This prairie was undoubtedly Gerd’s mental landscape. That’s why Najin had wondered when he first saw the prairie. Why would an old man who knew nothing but the Empire and swords have a vast prairie as his mental landscape?

Najin now resolved that question.

From a distance, Gerd raised his sword. As if he didn’t even need to take a step. He swung down the sword he had raised high into the sky. At that moment, Najin, with eyes wide open, reflexively threw himself aside.

CRACK.

The ground split in a long, straight line. This phenomenon was created without even using sword energy. It was purely the result of swinging a sword and splitting the ground from a distance. Realizing this fact, a wry smile escaped Najin’s lips.

‘There was no need for scenery like the Empire or swords to be placed on the prairie.’

The old man standing there was the Empire itself.

The sword the old man wielded was the sword wielded by the Empire. Is that why he was the Empire’s Best Swordsman? Looking at Gerd swinging his sword, Najin was in awe.

He doesn’t even use sword energy. There’s no mysterious footwork either. He just swings his sword. Steadfastly.

With just that, the old man’s blade splits even the distant landscape. A presence that couldn’t be hidden despite restraining himself. This was the realm Gerd had reached. Najin felt pure reverence for that realm.

While Charon had shown him meticulously refined technique, the old man before him exuded stubborn persistence. A person who had reached transcendence by stubbornly pursuing just one thing.

‘But.’

BOOM, Najin stomped his foot down.

‘I didn’t rush at you just to watch you split landscapes from afar. I didn’t request this duel just to stand in admiration.’

He lowered his stance. His eyes widened.

‘The Sword Master gave me a sword. The Executioner gave me the right to own a Masterpiece. Then, I should take something from you as well.’

With a BOOM, Najin’s heart beat fiercely. If Klaus Aten had been present, he would have widened his eyes. The stance Najin had taken matched exactly with that of Klaus Aten, the vanguard captain of the Blue Wing Cavalry.

The stance matched. The heartbeat matched.

When Najin stomped the ground, a thunderous sound echoed. How to run with all one’s might. How to become a single spear crossing the battlefield. How to channel the momentum of the charge directly into one’s weapon. Klaus Aten had taught Najin all this, even without intending to.

And so, Najin charging forward after stomping the ground was astonishing even to Gerd. For the first time since the duel began, Gerd frowned as he glared at Najin.

…According to records, Najin had become a Sword Seeker just a few weeks ago. But was this really someone who had just recently become a Sword Seeker? To the Empire’s Sword Master, it certainly was not.

He had complete control over his sword energy. He knew exactly where his physical limits were and when to concentrate his strength. He understood precisely the altered structure of his body and mana that came with reaching a higher realm. This was movement that only martial artists who had spent at least ten years as Sword Seekers would show.

It was absurd. Here was a boy who raised his middle finger to the world’s common sense.

‘Interesting.’

He became even more curious. What lay at the bottom of this boy’s abilities? Gerd wanted to see it. He caught the boy’s sword as he charged head-on. Even while receiving a sword with such momentum, Gerd didn’t move an inch.

‘Show me more.’

As he was getting excited after a long time, he hoped the boy wouldn’t waste his three chances in an instant.

3.

Najin used his first chance after their swords had clashed seventeen times. Gerd’s sword, exploiting a gap in Najin’s stance, cut Najin’s shoulder by a hand’s width. Najin’s sword tip didn’t even touch or point at Gerd, instead being deflected upward toward the sky.

With his sword embedded in Najin’s shoulder, Gerd didn’t swing any further and said, “That’s one.” His expression was blank.

The second chance was used on the forty-third clash. Gerd’s sword was touching Najin’s nape. Najin’s sword was also stopped in front of Gerd’s shoulder, but there was a one-second gap between the two swords. And one second was enough time to kill an opponent multiple times.

“That’s two,” Gerd said. A faint smile formed on his lips.

Najin used his third chance.

After the swords had clashed seventy-three times. And in this case, Gerd didn’t say “that’s three.” The situation was too ambiguous for such a declaration.

Gerd’s mental landscape shattered. As the two returned to the reception room, Najin, from the impact of the final blow exchanged in the mental landscape, crashed into the door of the reception room. He broke through the door and was thrown outside the reception room.

THUD, SCREEEECH!

Najin slid along the ground with his sword stabbed into it. Barely stopping his body at the end of the corridor, Najin slowly stood up. A smile formed on his lips as he rose.

“Lord Gerd.”

Najin looked at Gerd standing in the reception room.

“In this case, whose victory is it?”

Gerd standing in the reception room.

He had stepped back exactly one step from where he had stomped the ground. It was because he had stepped back that the mental landscape had shattered, meaning that the final simultaneous blow had fulfilled both their conditions.

Najin had used all three of his chances.

At the same time, he had fulfilled the condition Gerd had declared.

He had won and lost, lost and won. How should this be judged? Najin asked Gerd this question, and in response, Gerd laughed out loud. The laughter that echoed from inside the reception room filled the corridor. It was laughter of utmost joy.

“Obviously, it’s my defeat.”

“Isn’t it a draw?”

“A draw means my defeat.”

Even while declaring his own defeat, Gerd laughed, seemingly pleased with both the process and outcome of the duel. He exhaled deeply.

“Whose swordsmanship was that final blow?”

“It belongs to my first master.”

“You had an excellent master. A steadfast and upright sword, beautiful because of its uprightness.”

The old man stroked his beard.

“It was a good duel. A good duel should have a beautiful ending. I won’t forget the reward I promised. Feel free to knock on the door of the First Horn anytime.”

First Horn, the name of the tower where Gerd resided.

Saying this, the old man patted Najin’s shoulder and walked away. Only then did Najin let out the breath he had been holding. His shoulders were stiff from swinging his sword so much.

‘Somehow I managed to get through it.’

-Well done. But it doesn’t look like you’ll get a break?

Merlin snickered.

She waved her fingers as if telling him to look around. Following Merlin’s fingertips with his gaze, Najin finally realized what situation he was in.

“……”

“……”

“……”

Those who had gathered to scout Najin.

Representatives from numerous groups were staring at Najin with wide eyes, their gazes filled with astonishment.

Having just regained consciousness after fainting from the shockwave Gerd had spread, what they witnessed was Najin flying into the corridor after smashing through the reception room door. That alone was shocking enough, but what came next?

Gerd acknowledged his defeat in front of Najin.

Judging from the context of their conversation, some kind of duel had taken place inside, and Najin had emerged victorious. In other words, he had claimed victory against the Empire’s First Horn.

Of course, it must have been a duel with restrictions.

But that wasn’t important.

What mattered was that the boy had received the favor of the Empire’s First Horn, and that the great Empire’s Sword Master had acknowledged the boy’s victory with a smile.

The stern and expressionless Lord Gerd had laughed out loud. That laughter was not fake.

Those gathered in the corridor were competent, and being competent, they understood well what this meant. The youngest Sword Seeker who had reached the realm of Sword Seeker at the age of 18. Another descriptor was added to the boy’s already unbelievable title.

Acknowledged by the Empire’s First Horn.

Or, the youngest Sword Seeker favored by him.

Najin’s already soaring stock price shot up even more steeply. Those gathered in the corridor had to discard their original negotiation plans and come up with new ones on the spot.

Immediately after, they rushed toward Najin one after another.

To compete for this unbelievable asset.