CHAPTER 131

The knights raised their swords, encircling the arena.

Colin, still unable to shake off the pain of defeat, nonetheless rose from his seat, compelled to take out his sword.

He had sworn to do so.

"The discipline of the swordmaster... truly unbelievable," muttered Jubert, usually composed, but now shaking his head in disbelief at the predicament.

Knights who raised their swords for the flower that was just about to bloom.

Though each bore their own convictions, under the current circumstances, they were united under a single discipline to fulfill their duties.

-State your name, boy!

The challengers and the defenders, the protectors and the protected, all stood within the confines of a single world.

The scene that King Frausen had so desired was now being realized within the arena of Deomar.

"...He has awakened it."

With someone's murmuring, Colin turned around.

There, faint light was beginning to emerge.

A boy, staggering as if he might collapse at any moment, yet relentlessly pressing forward.

That boy was shining.

In his blood-stained hands, he held the world he had just brought forth.

His name was Vlad of Shoara.

※※※※

Clang!

"······!"

As the sound of swords clashing drew nearer, Colin's eyes filled with astonishment rather than anger.

The form of Aura, embracing his arms like armor.

Right now, Vlad was pushing Colin, who possessed the greatest martial prowess in Pilos, with sheer force.

"Not... bad!"

Innate strength was one thing, but there were no limits within the world he had created.

Vlad was surpassing the limits of his innate talent through Larmund's Body Strengthening Art.

'Where did he learn such a bizarre technique!'

Startled by Vlad's technique, Colin quickly drew his sword and distanced himself.

Whatever trickery Vlad was employing, it amounted to nothing.

Colin believed that such petty tricks would ultimately falter in the face of true strength.

"Arrogant brat!"

Rather than adjusting to his opponent, he capitalized on his own strengths.

Swinging his sword in the manner he had always trusted, in the direction he had always believed in, Colin struck.

The splitting airflow surged towards Vlad's head as if to cleave it in two.

Crack!

"······!"

However, Colin's faith ultimately went unrewarded.

A sound he didn't even want to hear in his dreams.

In his memory, the one-eyed knight was laughing.

"Familiar, isn't it? This sound."

"······You bastard!"

Is that shining blue in front of him a sword or an eye?

The man looking at himself now was creating a world that was incomparably more splendid than back then.

A bolt of white lightning shot from his left eye, smiling at Colin.

'In just one year!'

Children grow up in the blink of an eye, but this was growth beyond imagination.

No one present could imagine that the boy facing him and clashing swords was the same boy from before.

"Now it's my turn!"

'······!'

Dawn shone from Vlad's right eye.

Permission granted by Auguste to exploit weaknesses.

Even the toughest warthog had its vulnerable spots.

'His legs!'

Strong support required a solid foundation.

Colin's indomitable martial prowess emanated from his firmly grounded legs.

The surging waves of aura indicated so.

'Damn it!'

Colin, who was strong but not flexible, was greatly bewildered by Vlad's persistent attacks targeting his lower body.

No one had ever attacked him like this before.

Clang!

As swords clashed, flames erupted from the collision.

'How is he doing this!'

Colin's thigh was slashed by the agile swordplay piercing like the fastest dragon.

The cruelty that cut down the sharpest dragon is persistently targeting the knight's knees.

All the worlds that Vlad had seen, learned from, and conquered were now embedded in the blade like stars.

"Argh!"

"Answer me!"

Now, he wanted to know.

Where did he stand in this vast world?

How much more did he need to reach the sky's end?

Now is the time for someone to answer his question.

"You arrogant brat!"

Kwaaaang!

Vlad's world came to a halt with dark red blood bursting out.

Colin let out a roar as he saw Vlad daring to look beyond himself instead of directly looking at him.

"Do you think I have come this far just to be defeated by someone like you!"

Though red droplets burst from his darkened skin, Colin didn't cease his onslaught.

He too was a man with his own world.

Dreaming of reaching the top wasn't just the privilege of Vlad.

"Die! You damn brat!"

Alongside Colin's fury, the tender ground, thawed by the spring breeze, began to explode outwards.

Like Colin's bursting veins and bulging muscles.

"Ugh!"

Colin's momentum was quite different from before, and Vlad realized that he had missed the moment.

The flow is like a wave; if you can't ride the wave coming towards you, it'll wash over to someone else.

"I asked if you understood my level!"

The constant flow of attack and defense suddenly shifted to Colin.

Everyone has a history and a world they have built.

Colin, too, had built his own world.

"I, Colin of Pilos, am exactly this!"

With a thunderous roar, the aura from the tip of Colin's sword began to burn everything in the world.

Colin's consciousness, which had sunk deep into himself, was no longer thinking about tomorrow.

Colin, who was buried in past defeats, did not have the confidence to take on today's defeat.

"Die!"

"······!"

Kwaaaang!

Vlad rolled around, avoiding the exploding ground.

Piles of dirt were falling like rain on his head.

"Huh, huff."

The fight was already over.

Only the duel remained.

The soldiers, who had been stabbing each other against the doors, were now all frozen like statues, watching only the current confrontation.

Everyone realized that this duel between the two would be both the beginning and the end of today.

"Hehe······."

A massive duel that a small village could not contain.

Amidst everyone watching with bated breath, Vlad was laughing.

Even the falling rain of dirt couldn't hide his laughter.

"Why are you laughing!"

Colin shouted loudly at Vlad, who suddenly seemed delighted, but the smile that began from his blue eyes did not stop.

"Because I think I can do it."

Vlad, who has finally stopped laughing, swings his sword.

The starlit sword, which had brushed off the accumulated dust, was shining blue.

Unlike before, Vlad was fighting today's battle without anyone's help or consideration.

But Vlad was certain.

".....Now, I can handle you."

"What?"

Vlad raised his sword with those words.

A sword made by the spirits and bestowed by the World Tree.

Vlad, who once again felt the sensation of holding an unadorned sword, erased his smile and returned to a serious expression.

"Thank you for answering me."

Vlad looked at the man before him and found his answer for today.

Colin of Pilos.

A great knight who awakened aura and built his own world.

But Vlad has already surpassed this man.

"So let's end it now."

And he is proving it right now.

The world built by Vlad began to swirl over the sword path established by the first Sword Master.

"Alright, come at me! Vlad of Shoara!"

The footsteps of the boy, staggering as he walked to create his own world, had not yet stopped.

The precarious footsteps he had taken so far had been piled up layer by layer within the boy's world, creating the knight he was now.

"Alright. You did not call me a brat."

Vlad's eyes began to flicker as he heard Colin's shout.

Now, with the knowledge of where he stood, the little dragon's blue eyes, newly awakened to his own potential, shone blue.

"Call me Vlad of Shoara."

Today, Vlad had successfully protected the wedding.

He protected someone's happiness with his sword and protected people's daily lives.

So now it's time to throw them one last red rose.

"······!"

In an instant, there was a flash of light.

Though they had started facing each other, in a moment, the positions of Vlad and Colin had swapped within the passing glance.

It was a light that one could not block even if they were looking at it, and that one could not avoid even if they noticed it.

"Gah······."

Colin's eyes widened in disbelief.

A sharp stake was driven into his heart that would not allow him to live any longer.

His heartbeat was fading away slowly.

The collapsing black figure poured out red liquid and fell onto the small village below.

Colin, the knight of Pilos.

He had become one of the proofs that Vlad had created today.

"Because I have come this far."

Winner and loser.

Vlad, who had taken Colin's life as payment for a fair duel, felt the light reaching over his shoulder and slowly raised his head.

A moon floating in the sky.

"If I push a little further, I might reach it."

Just like that day, the desolate moon with its blue light was looking down at Vlad.

Vlad felt like the moonlight shining down on him had gotten a little closer than before.

※※※※

A large mansion illuminated by moonlight.

The floor of the mansion was covered in dust, filled with grains of sand.

The dry wind that originated from the harsh land always tormented the people of the West.

"My lord."

In the vast lobby, where only the two of them existed, Count Gaidar looked at the knight who bowed his head to him.

"It's time, my lord."

".....Tell me more."

The knight of blue moonlight was climbing the stairs that not even his biological son could climb.

He was someone worthy of approaching the Count.

After all, it was he who paved the stairs of today with blood and corpses.

"Dragonblood Duke said."

Godin approached the Count and whispered softly into his ear.

"Is that so?"

Upon hearing Godin's words, Count Gaidar firmly grasped the armrests of his chair.

He was so happy that his two eyes were shining brightly in his frowning face.

"The time has finally come."

A ruthless ruler of the West.

A usurper who doesn't mind taking.

Count Sigmund Gaidar.

He had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

"I have been waiting for far too long, Godin. It was unbearable."

"I understand perfectly, my lord."

For those born in the West, it was their fate to always be hungry, no matter how much they swallowed.

This cursed land always made them yearn for distant lands, never settling in one place.

The unending hunger was like a curse.

"Go, Godin. Go and retrieve my son's sword."

Despite being the one who took, he had endured for a long time.

But now, the time had come, and the West no longer needed to endure.

The fragile fence that barely held its form had crumbled today.

"Go to Deomar. Bring me the bitch who claims to guard the northern gate!"

"Yes, my lord."

As a knight who obeyed his lord's commands, Godin would not hesitate to carry out his orders.

The blue moonlight shining from outside the window behind Gaidar illuminated Godin.

It was the same color as the moonlight that descended on Rose's Smiles that day.