Ch.12641. That is Arrogance.(3)

“What you have learned and mastered is not wrong.”

In the end.

The one who inherited and succeeded Grandeus’s progress was Kariel.

Then, what exactly have we been learning all this time?

Similar yet different. Alien.

Venus was curious about the reason.

And that impudent fellow who calmly claimed that the path Venus had walked wasn’t wrong.

Kariel’s composed attitude deeply irritated him.

“Then why are you and I different?”

Kariel countered with a question of his own.

“…What are you pursuing?”

“What?”

“For what purpose do you seek strength, and for what have you been honing your skills? That’s what I’m asking.”

“What else? Obviously, I did it so I wouldn’t have to bow my head to anyone.”

“…If that’s all, then it’s only natural that you cannot reach my domain.”

“…What are you talking about?”

Kariel shook his head.

“My purpose is simple.”

You, Father.

“To defeat you with skill.”

“You…”

“A simple but impossibly difficult goal.”

However, the fact that something is impossible doesn’t directly mean one shouldn’t attempt it.

And.

The mindset and determination to achieve it no matter what.

Not simply falling into self-satisfaction or convenient self-justification, saying “I tried but couldn’t reach it.”

…To arrive at such a conclusion.

To be satisfied with such things.

…That’s not why I took up the sword.

“I made that determination, and for that, I threw away everything I had.”

Perhaps a future that could have been better.

A future that might have been smooth and ordinary.

A future that might have been stable.

Even another future that might have been happy.

Putting everything down, throwing it all away, destroying it all.

…I chose this path willingly.

“But that’s just the minimum requirement.”

“…So you begged the Demon Lord? That Golden Beast or whatever?”

Venus had heard it.

The ramblings Kariel had muttered to the Legion Commander, whether true or false, closer to venting than anything else.

Whether to believe it or not is up to him.

Even dismissing it as nonsense is his choice.

“Yes. That’s why I made a contract.”

“……”

He’s admitting it so openly?

He could have evaded or glossed over it, or said nothing at all about something so difficult to question, but he’s openly admitting it?

“I didn’t ask for power. I asked to be shown the way. And she told me what Grandeus had passed down.”

She?

What did Grandeus pass down?

“Do you want me to tell you what I put up as collateral for that?”

“…Forget it. I don’t care about that crap, so shut up.”

Venus frowned uncomfortably.

“Then what is it that Grandeus, that he passed down?”

“Sword techniques and mental techniques.”

Just seven movements.

Mental techniques that were extremely simple in content.

Since there was nothing to hide, he told him right away.

“When taking a stance, be like rock and tree. When connecting movements, be like water and wind. Burrow in like flames devouring kindling, and slice through like the cold that freezes lakes and rivers.”

This is the mental technique.

It wasn’t without a name, but he said it wasn’t really necessary.

Still, if one had to call it something:

Doleam

When asked what it meant, he said it meant pain.

To feel pain.

To hurt.

To be in pain.

To grieve.

To lament.

To mourn.

I wondered why a word would have so many meanings, but when tracing linguistics, one word having multiple meanings… isn’t that rare.

Depending on the time and situation of use, while the essence of a word remains the same, its meaning tends to shift slightly.

This must be in that context too.

Why Grandeus named the first mental technique Doleam.

He explained it as if it were nothing special.

[To abandon oneself and become something else. What is that if not pain? What could be more frightening and difficult than abandoning oneself?]

…Is that so?

Was that the meaning of not just emulating nature but becoming one with it to the point of assimilation?

Pain…

I don’t know.

There was boredom.

Sometimes it felt tedious.

But I pressed on steadfastly.

Because I didn’t even have the luxury to doubt.

[Yes. That’s what matters. Where’s the time to dawdle? That’s why I didn’t bother giving it a name.]

What matters is wielding the sword in your hand well, so why assign meaning to it?

…When you’re busy just swinging it.

“Why what I learned and gained is different from what you learned and gained. The reason is simple.”

What I learned would take a lifetime of dedication for an ordinary person to master.

For instance, if the Demon Lord hadn’t guaranteed me an immeasurably long time in my dreams, in a virtual space.

I would still be at the stage of just performing and connecting basic movements.

“……”

And it would have been even more impossible to kill myself and renew myself.

“Look.”

He demonstrated each of the seven movements one by one.

Along with the name of each movement.

“I had been practicing these… for nearly 10 years without a moment’s rest to master them. Without time to sleep, eat, or catch my breath, not stopping for a moment. That’s the state I was in when I encountered you in Someren.”

But even that is now a distant past for him.

So what about now?

It’s on a completely different level.

“…Is that even possible?”

“It was one of the conditions of the contract and a grace bestowed by her. However, this doesn’t mean the physical body is trained in reality.”

No matter how much training you do in a dream.

The physical body doesn’t get trained.

Only the mind and consciousness are trained.

However, the Demon Lord said that the body is trained simply by believing so intensely.

[The brain, you see, can’t distinguish between reality and falsehood.]

Believing so firmly.

When that belief is exposed at the crossroads of life and death.

It’s precisely then that the concentration and willpower manifest. When such desperate desire aligns.

The effect is further multiplied.

So, I didn’t just endure.

That time, those years.

Beyond enduring, as if dominating, as if encroaching.

I concentrated and devoted myself to training.

Therefore, that time, even if it wasn’t quite 10 years.

It’s easily equivalent to hundreds of years of someone else’s life.

Let’s say someone boasts they’ve wielded a sword for a good ten years.

But out of those 10 years, how much time did they actually hold a sword?

What about sleeping time? Is everyday life part of sword training?

Let’s say they train.

Physical conditioning? Running? Wrestling?

Mental cultivation? Theory? Tactics and strategy?

Is this truly sword training?

Assuming they did all that, and then they hold and swing a sword.

…How much time is that exactly?

1 hour? 2 hours? 5 hours? 10 hours? 20 hours? 24 hours?

For instance, even if that person claims to have wielded a sword for 10 years.

The time they actually held a sword each day might be just an hour or two.

What if they take days off or rest days?

What if they skip even their regular training due to illness or accumulated fatigue?

What if they skip a day or two while having fun, eating, and enjoying themselves?

They all claim to have wielded a sword for 10 years, but.

If one swung it for 1 hour, another for 2 hours, and yet another for 5 hours, consistently without missing a single day.

…Are those really the same 10 years?

And then again.

Even if they all swing for the same 1 hour.

What’s the gap between training with extreme concentration, desperation, and urgency.

And one who just pretends to swing a sword formally?

[That makes even talent meaningless.]

I had no talent for the sword.

But.

When you reach a realm where talent becomes meaningless.

All that remains is the accumulated years.

Then what exactly has he accumulated?

Between one who piles up sand dust.

And one who stacks proper stones.

Isn’t it just that the two are on completely different dimensions?

So as long as you don’t do the meaningless act of piling sand dust.

Time never betrays you.

If you hadn’t mistaken the method of accumulation.

That’s why.

The Demon Lord emphasized three things at the very beginning before teaching:

Accuracy. Efficiency. Sincerity.

With accurate methods.

Accumulating efficiently.

Proceeding with sincerity and without wavering.

That way, you don’t waste effort.

You grow as normally, appropriately, and quickly as possible.

And you can continue and push forward with all of that.

And for that.

You need clear plans and goals to avoid wavering.

“If you just wanted to be strong and became that strong, then you too would have merely relied on your innate talent. But that’s not the case, is it?”

At Kariel’s words, Venus gritted his teeth.

Yes. I admit my answer was rash.

“…You’re right. It’s as you say.”

No goal?

Just wanted to be strong for no particular reason?

Simply didn’t want to bow my head? Felt unjust and displeased by the threatening reality?

…Thinking about it again, it was all nonsense, wasn’t it?

“I wanted to overturn the world.”

But that’s a realm impossible for an individual’s power.

Nevertheless, I wanted to do it.

“……”

But the limitations were clear.

That’s why I wanted power like Grandeus.

I believed I needed at least that much to make an attempt.

“He provided the best he could offer to you all at that time.”

Kariel said.

Did Grandeus teach them inadequately because he didn’t favor them?

That’s not it.

This is why those who glimpse the future are pitiful.

They’ve already gauged their limitations.

This won’t change, nor will it be overcome.

What they’ve seen is absolute.

So rather than giving them what they couldn’t accept, he told them what they could.

That was perhaps the most optimal teaching, a humane consideration, and the most suitable gift he gave to those he favored in his own way.

“If you had learned exactly what I learned, you would have reached a better state than now only after turning at least 40.”

However.

“…Would you have had the luxury to hold a sword and train consistently until then? The will to do so?”

Throwing away all emotions.

While maintaining minimal but not inadequate living conditions.

A life of extreme solitude where you must never doubt your path.

Yet the effects are minimal, and those who watch your consistency would not spare their mockery.

Even if this would clearly lead to a transcendent state someday.

This is not a realm that an ordinary human can overcome.

Then wouldn’t it be a bit easier for a well-fed nobleman?

Would there be nobles or royalty who would just watch a son or brother who doesn’t know his place and spends his entire life in seemingly meaningless training?

Even if there were, who knows when circumstances might change.

No, more than that, they would likely throw themselves into the waves of pleasure, exposed to even greater temptations.

Most nobles and those in power, from childhood, for the sake of pleasure, for happiness.

Just as they willingly offer their bodies and souls to various vices to obtain pleasure that’s like a fantasy.

And then.

What acts have they repeated to enjoy that eternally?

“So what you learned was the right answer at that time.”

Because you weren’t in the same situation as me.

Also.

Ignoring the circumstances I’ve gone through to reach this point.

If you only look at the results in my hands, yes, I admit it might have seemed like a privilege.

Therefore.

Kariel asked himself once more.

‘Did I get all of this for free?’

Kariel could only endure this after being broken.

But if he had been asked to do this before being broken.

Even if he had poured in 100 years or 1,000 years.

It would have been just meaningless years of endurance.

…But the Demon Lord wouldn’t have just watched.

So.

To make him realize his true heart, true intention, true sincerity.

The Demon Lord ordered him to take his own life 100 times.

By himself.

With his own hands.

With his own hands.

So he killed himself.

It never became familiar, not even once.

Not the first time, not the second time.

Not the tenth time.

Not the twentieth time.

Even when he reached halfway, rather than being happy about what he had achieved, he was more daunted by the number of times left.

“……”

And.

Venus finally understood a bit about why that guy’s eyes were like that.

That is.

For a single purpose, he burned himself.

Beyond burning, he turned to ashes.

But he’s not a tree.

Even if he’s burned to ashes, his life doesn’t end there.

“If you still want to learn, by all means. But to learn this, you’ll have to give up everything you’ve learned and gained so far.”

First of all.

“The first step is to remove the incorrectly formed muscles. The second is to make you forget all the habits and sensations engraved in your body. The third is to wash away even your combat consciousness, temperament, instincts, skills, and experiences engraved in your mind and spirit.”

Like that.

…After you’ve become so ordinary that you’re no different from those common people wandering on the streets.

“That’s when it begins. That’s when you’ll be given the qualification to learn. Of course, by then, you’ll have become an infinitely weaker human compared to now.”

How about it? Is it possible?

“And then 30 years. No, with your tenacity, it might take only 20 years to reach my current state…”

“Stop it. That’s impossible, isn’t it?”

They say muscles are fine if you don’t use them, but.

What about sensations?

This is impossible.

How am I supposed to forget these?

Let alone consciousness? Temperament? Instinct?

By this point, I can’t even distinguish what he’s saying.

How distant and vague that meaning is.

But it’s not that I can’t guess.

Even if I somehow achieve what he’s asking for.

What I get is just a starting point, a weakened self.

The process to reach there is ultimately making oneself weak.

“……”

For instance.

It’s like removing color.

Completely removing the color from dyed leather.

Then dyeing it anew.

It sounded like a task with similar meaning.

“That’s exactly right.”

As Venus guessed, Kariel nodded at Venus’s words.

“……”

And.

Venus realized one more thing from those words.

This guy in front of me.

This guy, surely the son of a great hero, has been trained with all sorts of education and various training in the Empire.

Then.

It means that the process this guy just described is a process he himself has gone through once.

Washing away everything he had learned as a great noble of the Empire.

He, following the guidance of the Demon Lord, the Golden Beast.

…Does it mean he dyed himself with Grandeus’s colors?

Even throwing himself away?

“…You’re quite something.”

Even if they clashed swords hundreds of times.

Venus was certain he couldn’t defeat the current Kariel.

However, his spirit wouldn’t be broken.

But this is different.

This… isn’t even a matter of breaking or not breaking, is it?

Even if it’s a question of whether I break or not.

Even if we reduce the matter to such a question.

…Can I really not be broken by him?

Even if I don’t break.

…Will he ever break?

At the point of having such thoughts, he was already half-acknowledging that he had been overwhelmed.

Venus half-admitted it.

…To think I’d admit defeat over something like this.

It’s absurd.

“Instead, with your current level, you could give me advice, right?”

“……”

“It’s the condition for taking care of that kid for a while.”

So that I can become stronger than I am now.

“Give me advice. Right now.”

“……”

The guy asking for help, his attitude is quite something.

However, Kariel didn’t bother to scold him.

The fact that this arrogant fellow was asking someone else for guidance was already, by his standards, beyond compromise and a major deliberate attempt, which Kariel roughly understood.

That’s how desperate he must be.

“Alright. That much I can do.”

Kariel smiled without malice.