TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 31
The Ephania Empire Martial Arts Tournament Finals.
Before anyone realized, the finals had reached their peak and arrived at the last match.
Strangely enough, however, what drew attention wasn’t the Adult Division, which was supposed to be the main event, but the Boys’ Division.
The reason was none other than Krad, rumored to be affiliated with Night Crow.
A boy with narrow eyes and a crow perched on his shoulder.
He was as enigmatic as he was exceptional in combat.
Until now, he had subdued every opponent with a single punch, without ever drawing the sword at his hip.
Because of this, people began speculating whether the sword was just a decoy.
Amidst the growing curiosity, the final match of the competition began.
“Thank you for waiting!”
“Wooooaaahhhh!”
The overwhelming cheers of the crowd echoed through the Boys’ Division arena.
The massive indoor stadium, the largest in the Empire, was packed with spectators, all eagerly anticipating the final match.
“Let us begin the final match of the Boys’ Division in this year’s Martial Arts Tournament!”
The announcer shouted, raising his left arm high into the air.
“Introducing the first finalist! A boy who grew up in a Rural Village, dreaming of protecting world peace by stopping the World Erosion someday! Felray!”
At the announcer’s declaration, a boy slowly walked into the arena.
With a hesitant posture, he appeared to be a plain-looking boy, just fourteen years old this year.
“Felray, you can do it!”
“Don’t lose to some Night Crow lackey!”
To his surprise, more people than expected cheered him on.
That was because he was seen as a beacon of hope for ordinary commoners.
A boy who trained with a sword in a humble Rural Village, unlike the nobles, and made it to the finals of the Martial Arts Tournament.
Inspired by him, the commoners cheered for him even more fervently.
“And his opponent… From the infamous Assassin Family of the Underworld, whose very name inspires fear!”
The announcer, gauging the audience’s anticipation, grinned broadly.
“Krad!”
At the announcer’s cry, a crow suddenly flew out from the entrance tunnel.
“Caw!”
The loud caw of the soaring crow immediately captured everyone’s attention.
A crow, the symbol of misfortune.
At the momentary lull caused by the ominous bird’s appearance—
Step, step—
A boy slowly walked out from the entrance.
Beneath his jet-black hair, his closed eyes concealed his thoughts, and the aura emanating from him exuded a strange sense of pressure.
As he stepped onto the arena, the crow flying above gently descended onto his shoulder.
“…Alright, I won’t make you do this kind of thing again.”
When he muttered to himself and raised his head, the audience’s roaring cheers filled the stadium once more.
“Night Crow!!!”
“I’ve bet on you to win! Take it!!!”
“Show them what it means to be from an Assassin Family!!!!”
Amidst the thunderous cheers from all around, Kraush looked ahead.
And there, Felray came into view.
Even upon a closer look, he still appeared plain.
But appearances aside, he was once part of both the Rahelrn Academy and the Skyborne Generation.
‘I never thought I’d see him here.’
Those hopeful eyes of his remained unchanged, just like before.
Kraush vividly recalled the day when that hope had been extinguished from Felray’s gaze.
But unfortunately, taking him on wasn’t Kraush’s priority right now.
After all, he’d already achieved his modest objective.
“Krad.”
At that moment, Felray suddenly spoke up.
“Are you really part of Night Crow?”
Such an innocent fool.
Instead of answering, Kraush lightly stretched his neck.
In any case, his business here was practically done.
All that was left was to stir up enough chaos to get the other side moving.
“If that’s the case, you’d better come at me right away.”
At that moment, Felray said something unexpected.
“They said this Martial Arts Tournament was organized by the Ephania Royal Family to recruit additional students for Rahelrn Academy. Since we’ve made it to the finals, we’ll both surely be admitted into Rahelrn Academy.”
Information that had already spread far and wide.
It was nothing new, yet Felray spoke as if he was revealing something significant.
“Rahelrn Academy is said to be an independent academy, free from interference by any nation. There, even you can escape from Night Crow.”
And so, he brought up a tale brimming with dreams and hope.
Regrettably, Rahelrn Academy was far from being such an ideal institution.
Being newly established, Rahelrn Academy lacked influence.
Except for its early days, it didn’t take long for it to be swayed by the power struggles of empires and kingdoms.
‘Looking back now.’
There were several reasons why Rahelrn Academy ended up being so easily swayed.
But resolving that was neither urgent nor Kraush’s concern.
“Felray.”
For the first time in the tournament, Kraush drew his sword.
As the audience erupted into cheers once more, Kraush aimed the blade at Felray.
“If you cling too much to hope, you’ll be unable to withstand the despair that follows.”
“What?”
“Begin the match!”
With that cryptic warning, the referee’s voice rang out.
Felray was the one to launch the first attack.
Strangely, he seemed to glide across the ground as he approached.
‘That’s the footwork he developed himself.’
Felray grew up in one of the northernmost parts of the Empire.
A place where snow fell year-round.
Having grown up there, Felray moved across slippery ice and snow so frequently that he developed a more efficient movement technique.
Although he probably hadn’t named it yet, Kraush knew its name.
Thousand Miles Ten Steps.
A technique named for its ability to traverse a thousand miles in just ten steps.
‘An unprepared opponent would surely be caught off guard.’
Even when a considerable distance seemed to separate them, Felray would close it in an instant.
And as proof, Felray had already reached Kraush’s nose in a single moment.
The only commoner to rise to the Skyborne Generation purely through talent and effort, Felray.
Even during this time, he was as strong as Aniks.
Clang!
But his opponent was the wrong one.
“Huh?!”
Felray’s sword, aimed at Kraush’s waist with a feint, was blocked perfectly.
As if Kraush knew exactly where his blade would strike, Felray’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“You don’t seem to be in a position to give advice to others.”
When Kraush taunted him, Felray bit his lip and immediately launched a flurry of attacks with his sword.
It was a blade honed by swinging it ten thousand times to cut wood, and a hundred thousand times to slice through stone.
Just by looking at the calluses on his hands, one could tell how much effort he’d poured into mastering his swordsmanship.
What defined Felray was undoubtedly the lifelong training he had endured.
However, there existed something even greater than that training.
‘The experience of knowing your opponent.’
Someone who had to stay behind more than anyone else, someone who had observed the Skyborne Generation closer than anyone else.
That someone was himself.
‘The Sixth Sense.’
The aura surrounding Kraush’s body awakened a new sense within him.
Wherever Felray’s sword aimed to strike, Kraush’s blade was already there.
From feints to real strikes, and even the smallest habits Felray had, up to his ultimate moves.
Kraush knew it all.
It was the one and only talent he had without even realizing it.
A talent to meticulously observe and remember every detail of others because he himself had nothing.
In the past, that was undoubtedly a useless talent.
No matter how keenly he observed others or how sharp his awareness was, all he ever received in return were reactions of discomfort.
But at this very moment, that talent was beginning to bloom for the first time.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Every strike of Felray’s sword dissolved into nothingness before Kraush.
Even the spectators, watching the scene, found themselves unconsciously entranced.
Felray’s sword, wielding speed that was almost impossible for the eye to follow, was unmatched.
His skill was so extraordinary for his age that even the Empire’s knights couldn’t help but express admiration.
But Kraush stood a step above him.
Every chain of strikes Felray executed seemed to play right into Kraush’s hands.
Not a single one of his attacks ever reached Kraush and was blocked every time.
The Blunt Sword.
A technique that, though slower than the opponent’s movements, always reached their space first.
Kraush, in this moment, had fully stepped into that domain.
“You can’t reach me.”
“What… is that?”
As they witnessed this, the crowd began to fall silent.
Even those who had been subtly cheering for Felray gradually quieted their voices.
It was overwhelming.
The kind of overwhelming that made everyone think Felray could never defeat Kraush, no matter what he tried.
Everyone present could directly feel that overwhelming force with their own eyes.
[Hahaha.]
Suddenly, the loud laughter of Crimson Garden echoed as she soared into the sky.
[Yes, child.]
As if reveling in the current situation, she spread her crow-like wings in the air.
[That is your only strength. If you possess nothing, take everything from your opponent. Show them the full extent of your greed.]
The Blunt Sword is a technique that seizes the opponent’s space.
No matter where the opponent’s sword is aimed, the Blunt Sword dominates the space first.
Ironically, the Blunt Sword was a technique that suited Kraush better than anyone else.
Because he had to take everything to rise above.
“Ugh, huff!”
The sound of Felray’s suppressed groaning filled the air.
He was undoubtedly the one attacking.
And yet, he was being pushed further and further back.
No matter how much he swung his sword, he couldn’t move forward.
Because Kraush’s sword had already seized all the space he could occupy.
Kraush was slightly shorter than Felray.
Yet, somehow, with every blocked strike, Kraush’s presence grew ever larger.
Felray felt the same sensation he had when swinging his sword at a boulder.
Could he cut through this boulder?
The sheer hopelessness of it seeped into his body.
“Felray.”
At that moment, Kraush’s voice rang out.
When Felray looked up, Kraush’s blade was already at his throat.
“Hah, hah.”
The sound of Felray’s ragged breathing escaped his lips.
Though it was Felray who had swung his sword, it had barely advanced a centimeter from his neck.
Even though it was Felray’s strike, that was the reality.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Felray’s cheek and touched Kraush’s blade.
That’s how close their distance was.
“Grow stronger.”
And with those words directed at Felray, Kraush opened his mouth.
“So even when your hope shatters, you can still leave behind a spark.”
With those cryptic words, Kraush ended it by driving his fist into Felray’s solar plexus.
Inch Strength.
With the reverberation of two impacts, Felray spat out saliva and collapsed.
And with that, Kraush turned his body away.
Though the aftermath of using the Blunt Sword left his lungs burning with each breath, Kraush maintained his composure.
And then, at that moment.
“Waaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!”
A cheer unlike any before erupted, shaking the arena to its core.
It was truly an overwhelming display of the Blunt Sword.
There wasn’t a single person left who could hold back their voice after witnessing this.
“Ah, the winner is—!”
Finally coming back to his senses, the announcer raised his arm.
“Krad!”
As he pointed at Kraush and declared his victory, the arena erupted once again.
“Kra-d!”
At that moment, Kraush turned his head toward the voice behind him.
He hadn’t expected Felray to regain his senses so quickly, even after taking the Inch Strength.
“Will we… meet again?”
Was this the reason he had joined the Skyborne Generation after all?
As Kraush observed Felray stubbornly clinging to his consciousness, he spoke.
“Yes, if it’s at the Academy.”
“I… see.”
And with that, Felray finally lost consciousness completely.
They would meet again.
Though not in this form, but in another.
[Thank you, Kraush. I’ll work harder than the curse you took for me. I’ll show you I can protect this world.]
A fleeting memory of the past resurfaced.
It was what Felray had said when Kraush took on the curse of the World Erosion for him.
It was the first time in a long while that Kraush had heard words of gratitude.
But one month after that.
Felray met his end, slowly devoured by the master of the World Erosion, limb by limb.
Kraush’s fist clenched tightly.
‘Don’t worry, Felray.’
And Kraush’s gaze slowly lifted upward.
“This time, I’ll be the one to protect it.”
Not others, but myself.
And for that to happen.
‘Sigrid.’
I’ll ruin that woman’s plans.