"Y-You crazy bastard!" Leo shouted.
"What?" Caron asked, tilting his head as if genuinely confused.
"If I hadn't blocked that just now, you would've taken off my arm!" Leo shouted.
"I figured you'd block it. Don't be such a baby," Caron said.
Boom!
Leo, drenched in sweat, deflected another one of Caron's sword blasts. The crescent-shaped slash grazed his shoulder by a hair's breadth. The shoulder of his armor was deeply gouged, but he had no time to care.
Boom!
Each and every one of Caron's strikes carried insane force. They rained down endlessly, and Leo could barely catch his breath. He felt this way every time he sparred with Caron, who had absolutely no mercy.
Crackle—ssssh!
"Grrgh..." Leo growled.
A wave of aura from Caron's blade skimmed past his thigh this time. If Leo hadn't jerked his leg back at the last second, it would've sliced down to the bone.
And that wasn't all.
...He's using Pluto's power too, Leo thought.
His vision started to blur. The darkness—the power of the Dark Spirit—was slowly eating into his field of view. No matter how hard he tried to stay focused, that cursed darkness kept narrowing the space he could see.
Staying alive is all that matters, Leo thought.
Victory had never even been on the table. More than anyone, Leo knew he couldn't beat Caron. Caron was a calamity. And humans didn't fight calamities—they survived them.
But then again, humans weren't always rational. The goal wasn't to win, but to endure .
Right side! Leo thought.
Clang!
Leo twisted Rigor to block a Guillotine slash diving toward his flank.
Each strike could be fatal. His entire body was battered and broken. The arena floor beneath him was already soaked in his blood.
And yet, against the very same sword path that even a southern 8-Star knight couldn't endure for more than a few seconds, Leo held his ground through experience honed over years.
The past three years hadn't made only Caron stronger.
"Well, look at you. You're holding up pretty well today," Caron said casually.
"Try getting beaten to a pulp all day long! You start doing whatever you can just to make it hurt a little less!" Leo snapped back.
"Aha, so that's your tragic backstory," Caron said.
"You bastard! You made me like this!" Leo snapped once again.
Leo had grown, too—perhaps more than anyone.
In the mornings, he sparred with Caron. After lunch, he dueled his uncle, Dales and his father, Raphael. For nearly every day of the past three years, he had fought against 8-Star knights.
If it hadn't been for the chill of Rigor, he wouldn't have lasted in those fights.
Crackle!
A sword slash came at him from the left, but this time, Leo twisted its trajectory using a wall made from that icy aura.
The thin ice wall shattered the moment Guillotine's strike touched it, but it had skewed the attack just enough.
Without hesitation, Leo slipped into the opening, thinking, I need to counterattack.
If this battle continued to go one-sidedly, even hanging on would become impossible.
Whoosh.
Leo pushed off with strength in his legs. The ground trembled as a whirlwind tore across the arena floor. Mist began to rise from within the storm. It was something he had conjured: The seventh form of Oceanwolf Sword Arts, Sea Fog.
A still and frigid mist unfurled over the arena like a sudden fog descending upon a silent sea.
Leo's eyes locked onto Caron's exposed abdomen, just barely visible through the haze. He had spent nearly his whole life training with Caron. He knew Caron's habits.
When Caron swung from the right, he always left his side slightly open. Of course, he knew that too, and always reinforced that area with powerful mana.
But if Leo could pierce through that reinforcement, he could actually land a solid hit.
Hah... I meant to save this for later for when it was fully ready... Leo thought.
He'd named it, "The Anti-Caron Finisher."
It was a technique made for no other purpose than to strike Caron . Not to defeat him, but just to land one good hit.
Crackle!
The chill of the sea spread out from Leo once more, but unlike before, this wasn't a slow wave. It shot like a spear straight toward Caron's right arm.
"Tricks, huh..." Caron muttered.
Naturally, he responded with a surge of mana. The waves of power around him rose and devoured the cold as if it was nothing.
But then...
"...Huh?" Caron said.
A shard of frost, sharp as an awl, pierced through the tide and stabbed his right arm. For the first time, Caron faltered and tried to force the chill out of his body.
And that was exactly the opening Leo had been waiting for.
Whoosh!
He launched forward, detonating the mana he had gathered in his legs. Rigor, infused with tremendous acceleration, gleamed like a blade of light as Leo swung with all his might.
Slice!
The sword, white as snow, slashed across Caron's side. A streak of crimson blood stained the blade of Rigor.
...It was shallow... Leo thought.
He realized the cut hadn't gone as deep as he'd hoped. He hurried to regain his stance... but Caron gave him no time.
Boom!
From somewhere above, the moon shattered and now rained down upon him. Leo stood frozen, staring blankly at the falling fragments.
It was Caron's signature technique, Eclipse. It was a familiar sight, one Leo had seen many times. And it was beautiful—always beautiful, no matter how often it appeared. But it was also a sword technique that left people in despair.
Today, however, it felt different.
"Heh... I saw blood today," Leo said.
"...You're crazy too, Leo. Get some sleep," Caron muttered.
"Next time, I'll drive it right into your stomach... for real..." Leo trailed off.
Boom!
Leo closed his eyes with a gentle smile, as if at peace. The shards of the moon engulfed him.
Dust billowed into the air above the arena.
"...He actually got me," Caron murmured, then reached toward his side. The wound wasn't deep, but blood trickled from the crack in his armor.
"Wow, he actually landed a hit?" Guillotine said.
"I couldn't have avoided it," Caron replied.
"That last move... Leo squeezed out every last bit of his core mana. It could've taken out an organ. Seriously, what a lunatic. I take back what I said—Leo's got talent," Guillotine said.
Caron casually swept Guillotine through the air, clearing the dust. Only then did the ruined state of the arena come into full view, revealing the whole picture.
"You had this up your sleeve?" Caron let out a dry chuckle looking at Leo.
The retreat path behind him was littered with ice spikes. If Caron had lost balance and stepped back, he would've impaled himself. Leo had conjured those spikes using concentrated mana, so they likely would've pierced even his plated boots with ease.
Caron looked down at Leo's unconscious face. For some reason, Leo was smiling widely.
"Well done," Caron said.
He'd only let his guard down a little, but Leo had dug into that opening with terrifying precision.
These past three years of training hadn't been in vain. Leo had proven it himself.
Caron pulled out a potion, poured it casually over his wound, then gave Leo a thumbs-up.
"Looks like I can trust you to guard my back now. Don't you agree, Guillotine?" Caron said.
"I have no choice but to admit it," Guillotine said.
"You did well, Leo," Caron said with a grin, then lifted Leo's unconscious body over his shoulders.
And at that moment...
"M-Match over! Caron Leston is the winner!"
"Woooooo!"
"That was incredible!"
"Way more intense than I expected!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd.
Caron noticed that most of the applause wasn't for him—but for Leo.
To have driven his blade toward an overwhelmingly stronger opponent until the very end—that kind of boldness deserved applause.
Watching from high above, Halo clenched his fist softly and smiled, thinking, ...Well done, Leo.
Leo, his grandson who had been overshadowed by the sun of Caron, now shone with a light of his own. Naturally, Halo had to be proud.
"Raphael, look at Leo's hand," Halo said to his son Raphael, who was Leo's father. "Leo didn't let go of his sword, even after he lost consciousness."
"...I see it, Father," Raphael said.
"He's grown up magnificently, hasn't he? Don't you agree?" Halo asked.
Raphael said nothing. He simply gazed at his son, thinking, You've truly become something special...
Leo had always been the one who was scolded, always compared to Caron and always deemed lacking.
But in that moment, Raphael felt an overwhelming pride.
To fall, yet never let go of one's sword... That was the very essence of a true knight.
I'm proud of you, Raphael thought. He smiled brightly, watching his son carried away on Caron's shoulders.
In this match, at least—there were no losers. Leo Leston had proven his will without a doubt.
The thunderous applause and cheers didn't stop until both Caron and Leo had exited the arena.
And so, the Leston Civil War came to an end.
***
At that very moment, while the capital burned with excitement from the duel between Caron Leston and Leo Leston—
Crunch!
—in a shadowy alley somewhere in the city, a man collapsed to the ground without even a scream. His body dissolved in an instant. Cockroaches, swarming up from the cracks in the ground, devoured him with terrifying speed. Not a single drop of blood remained where he had fallen.
Then, a bat fluttered into the now-empty space. And moments later...
Ssshhhhh.
The bat transformed into a stunning woman in the blink of an eye.
"Mmm... It's such a bother now that the Doppelganger Lord is dead," she said, stretching lazily. "He was useful at times—at least for playing tricks. Don't you agree, little bug?"
At her silky voice, one of the cockroaches on the ground leaped upward. Hundreds of cockroaches writhed and swarmed together. From their midst emerged a demon, clad in a violet suit.
"I have no need for a weakling who merely mimicked others, Your Majesty," the demon said. "I will fulfill your expectations myself."
"You're not much different," the woman said with a sweet chuckle. "Just another filthy pest spreading plague."
She reached out and gently caressed the demon's pallid cheek.
Clack.
Her high heels echoed through the deserted alley as she said, "Coming back here after taking the throne... It's such a strange feeling."
Petals scattered into the air, dancing around her. Wherever they touched, illusions rippled like waves. In the drab, colorless alley, a soft floral scent began to bloom, carried gently away by the wind.
"If you so command me, my queen," the demon said, bowing low, "I can raze this place to the ground right now. All the preparations are complete."
"What's the rush?" the woman asked, lips curling. "It's festival season. We should enjoy it, too. After all, nowhere reveals the twisted desires of humans better than a festival."
Sssshhhk.
The sultry leather outfit she wore changed in an instant, melting into a lavish, elegant gown.
The Demon King of Lust, Laia, smiled radiantly, her golden earrings chiming softly with her movements.
"Let them enjoy themselves," she said. "It's hard to wait for the fruit to ripen, but that will make it all the sweeter."
Everything was ready.
Though a few pests were scurrying about trying to interfere, the empire was riddled with vulnerabilities. And the imperial capital was brimming with guests.
Slipping her pawns into the crowd had been child's play for Laia.
"The maggots of the Holy Kingdom, those nauseating elves, the revolting dwarves... Such rare delicacies from across the continent have all gathered here," Laia murmured. "So let's show them—just how heated we've gotten."
A wicked gleam flickered in her crimson eyes as she looked around.
"Caron Leston," she whispered with delight, "I've prepared a magnificent party just for you. I can't wait to see the look on your face. I wonder what kind of expression you'll make."
Grinning with barely contained glee, Laia sauntered slowly out of the alley. All around her, people filled the streets, their faces flushed red with excitement and drink. Imperial knights and mages bustled through the crowd, but none of them noticed her.
It was as if she were merely part of a dream. Seamlessly, she melted into the throng. Not a soul recognized her.
She turned her head slowly, lifting her gaze to the sky. Thick clouds blanketed the heavens, and the sun was already sinking behind them.
"It's time for everyone... to start dreaming," Laia said.
She exhaled softly, and her breath drifted unseen into the crowd.
The grand feast was only moments away, and she intended to savor every second of the wait.