On Mount Pulan, west of Montiro. A silver orb was buried between verdant valleys, with black demonic energy seeping out around it.
"..."
Burren stood guard in front of the valley, his hand resting on his sword hilt. As he watched the demonic energy being absorbed into the orb, heavy footsteps approached from the base of the mountain.
"That man..."
Burren narrowed his eyes as he saw a small-framed man climbing up the valley.
'The arena champion. No, one of the five heroes.'
It was Lupe, the martial artist who had instantly crushed his opponent and claimed victory when Raon came to inspect the arena, and one of Montiro's five heroes.
"Was it you?"
Lupe tilted his thick, tree trunk-like neck from side to side.
"Using such petty tricks?"
He revealed a cold gaze, his attitude more befitting a thug than a hero. He seemed to have already grasped the entire situation.
"Tricks? I don't know what you're talking about. I simply came up here because I enjoyed the mountain scenery."
Burren shrugged his shoulders, feigning ignorance.
"Why don't you pick fights in the arena instead? Sir Hero."
He waved his hand dismissively, telling him to leave.
"Putting aside the orb embedded behind you..."
Lupe let out a deflated laugh.
"You're radiating a killing intent towards me, yet what do you intend to do?"
He shook his head as if dumbfounded.
"Well, fine. To be honest, I don't care about magic circles either."
Lupe shrugged as he approached Burren.
"I don't care if you're Zieghart or Owen. I only want one thing. I'm just curious whether your sword can satisfy me or not."
He licked his lips in anticipation.
"What do you say? Can you cater to my discerning taste?"
"Come at me if you don't mind losing your tongue while tasting."
Burren drew his sword from his waist and shook his chin.
"Many swordsmen have said such things to me..."
Lupe smiled thinly as he put on leather gloves embossed with a black bull.
"I wonder how you'll fare?"
He vanished from sight, wrapped in a red aura. When Lupe reappeared, he was beneath the rock embedded in the valley. Seemingly uninterested in the orb, he thrust his fist towards Burren's waist.
Burren, as if reading all of Lupe's movements, pivoted on his ankle and slashed his sword diagonally upwards.
The sword and fist collided with a thunderous crash, as if metal was being crushed. Lupe's hand remained unscathed, and the bull gloves he wore seemed to be a special artifact, remaining intact. Burren and Lupe stepped back three paces each, eyeing one another.
"Good reflexes?"
Lupe briefly licked his lips, impressed by the quick response.
"But lacking in sharpness. My hand is unharmed, you see."
He nodded, pointing to his uninjured hand and glove.
"I was merely gauging your level as well."
Burren calmly shook his head before summoning astral energy in the form of a blue wind.
"I hope that sword isn't bland."
Lupe's mouth stretched into a long grin as he raised his toes. He charged from the left, wrapped in an even thicker red aura.
"Don't worry."
Burren's eyes flashed coldly as he unleashed his sword. Astral energy imbued with icy wind fell towards Lupe's neck.
"You've gotten faster."
Lupe let out a small exclamation as he thrust his fist, wrapped in red aura, towards Burren's sword. The sword and fist collided for the second time. Similar to before, Burren and Lupe were pushed back four steps each, pointing their sword and fist at each other.
Lupe's leather gloves tore, and red blood flowed from underneath. Burren's astral energy had pierced through the red aura and cut his skin.
"This one's quite spicy."
Lupe curled his lips as he looked at the wound on his fist.
"Today's meal won't be bad."
He nodded, seemingly pleased to have been injured.
"..."
Burren frowned as he watched Lupe licking his lips.
'Just like his personality in the arena.'
In the arena, Lupe had shown fights where he threw his solid body and overpowered opponents with strength, and it seemed he fought the same way in actual combat.
'It won't be difficult to buy time.'
Although Lupe was undoubtedly a strong martial artist, it seemed possible to hold out until the magic circle opened by fighting defensively and accumulating damage.
"Someone of your caliber should be just right."
Lupe nodded while massaging the back of his neck.
"What do you mean by that?"
"That I can use my true form's power."
He smiled as he stomped his foot, and black demonic energy began to burn above the red aura.
"Demonic energy..."
Burren bit his lip as he saw the black scales rising on the back of Lupe's hand.
'As expected.'
Raon had predicted that demonized humans who learned about the magic circle would openly use demonic energy, and it was exactly as they said. Lupe was spewing out an enormous amount of demonic energy as if he didn't care about being discovered.
"Don't die too easily."
Lupe charged forward, crushing the thick ground. He no longer circled around but shot his fist straight from the front.
"Huu."
Burren exhaled softly as he saw Lupe rushing in at a moment's notice.
'There's no need to fight head-on.'
This was Black Tower territory, and the opponent was a demonized human using demonic energy. It would be foolish to confront them directly in a situation advantageous to the enemy.
'But...'
Just this once, he wanted to fight foolishly. It wasn't about pride. He didn't want to fight defensively against the Black Tower scum who exploited even young children like Rensia. He wanted to behead that bastard with his own sword.
Burren didn't retreat but drew the form of the Frost Wind Sword towards Lupe's incoming fist.
The sword and fist collided for the third time with a metallic crash. The sound of breaking metal erupted again, but this time the result was different. Burren was pushed back eight steps and fell to one knee, while Lupe didn't move an inch from his position.
"Hmm..."
Burren narrowed his eyes as he looked at his trembling hand.
'Is the difference this great?'
He knew Lupe would become stronger, but he didn't expect him to suddenly rise from a level similar to his own to that of a Grandmaster. The difference was so stark it was bewildering.
"You shouldn't be surprised."
Lupe smiled thinly as he dusted off his fist.
"This is just the beginning!"
He shouted that they should play more as he thrust his pot lid-sized fist towards his own abdomen.
"Kuu."
Burren exhaled a turbid breath as he spread the defensive form of the Frost Wind Sword in front of his chest. The sword that blocked Lupe's fist bent as if it would break before barely stopping. His feet were involuntarily pushed back, leaving deep footprints on the ground.
'The power has increased even more.'
A tearing pain shot through the hand that had wielded a sword all his life. It felt like he had struck an unbreakable metal, not a human.
"Good! Stay right there! Don't break!"
Lupe charged forward with a twisted smile, seemingly in a good mood.
"Let me ask you one thing."
Burren shook his head as he barely blocked Lupe's fist attacks.
"What did you think when you saw the children with Black Hearts implanted?"
"That they'd break if I tapped them?"
Lupe snickered as if he didn't even see Rensia as human.
"I see. Then I don't need to worry."
Burren pressed his lips tightly and straightened his back. Once again, he didn't retreat but raised his sword shimmering with blue light.
"Because your neck will fall before I break."
* * *
"Huff..."
Burren crashed against the rock wall at the end of the valley, gasping for breath. He took off his tattered coat and uniform, wiping the blood flowing from his mouth.
"So you're Burren Zieghart."
Lupe nodded, saying he now understood.
"..."
Burren silently stared at Lupe with sunken eyes.
"I've heard about you. The 3rd squad leader of the Light Wind division. Acts like the division leader, but the weakest among the squad leaders?"
Lupe tilted his head mockingly.
"I heard you were the very image of a noble young master, but your head-on approach wasn't bad."
"I didn't want to back down in front of someone like you."
"You didn't know, but that was the right answer."
As he raised his fist, hook-like demonic energy rose above the black scales.
"If you had tried to run away to avoid my fists, your heart would have been torn out by the hooks. You didn't know, but that saved your life."
Lupe waved his hand, saying he was lucky.
"But that luck ends now."
He lowered his gaze, which had been burning with fighting spirit, as if he had lost interest in Burren.
"Your sword can't pierce my demonic energy. If you had met others, you might have struggled decently, but you had poor compatibility with me."
Lupe clenched his fist, black demonic energy rippling around it.
"I have no interest in broken toys, so I'll crush that head of yours now."
He took a charging stance, burning black demonic energy as if to end it in one go.
"..."
Burren didn't say a word despite Lupe's murderous words. He simply raised his sword, just as he had when the battle first began.
"Have you lost even the strength to speak now?"
Lupe clicked his tongue and took his stance. He leaped from ten paces away and thrust his fist towards Burren's heart. Burren barely managed to raise his sword to block, but he coughed up black blood from the intense impact.
"You struggle to the end. But that will only prolong your suffering."
Lupe frowned in annoyance as he unleashed a barrage of fist attacks. Burren endured Lupe's storm-like fist attacks without lowering his sword or retreating, standing his ground.
"Just die already! I'm tired of this!"
Lupe gritted his teeth, displeased with Burren's tenacity, and poured even more intense demonic energy into his fist attacks.
"...You're right. I am the weakest among the squad leaders."
Burren painfully parted his dry lips.
"But do you know why I'm here alone despite that?"
"What...?"
"Because I earned the Palace Master's trust."
He drew a gentle arc with his blood-soaked red lips.
"To repay that trust, I swung my sword day and night."
Burren's sword began to push back Lupe's fist, sparking blue.
"Every single day since returning to duty. I dedicated all my time to the sword."
From his time in Zieghart after returning to duty until arriving in Montiro. And even while resting at the temporary headquarters, he swung his sword every single day without exception. He couldn't fall, if only to repay the trust of his father and Raon who had entrusted this place to him.
"Why is the wind..."
Lupe's eyes widened in surprise at Burren's increasingly fierce wind.
"I'm the worst at enduring. I can't stand pain either."
In truth, he had been impatient since childhood. He only pretended to be mature on the outside to gain his father's approval, but in reality, he had less patience than even Dorian.
"But today, I cannot back down."
For the sake of Rensia and the other children who had lived more mature and admirable lives than himself, he had to hold out here until the very end.
"Then die right there!"
Lupe pulled his arm back. The black demonic energy on his fist swelled dozens of times, raising a pitch-black astral ring.
"Haa..."
Burren closed his eyes as he saw the astral ring of demonic energy rushing towards him, blocking his entire field of vision.
'No need to look.'
Just feel it. The criticism he heard most often from both Raon and his father was always that he lacked confidence. Being the weakest among the Light Wind division squad leaders had unknowingly lowered his self-esteem significantly. But now it's different.
It doesn't matter if he's the weakest, even if he's at the very bottom. What's important is not wavering in oneself.
Burren swung down his wind-imbued sword. That sword seemed like Raon's sword that had always watched over him from behind, and also like his father's sword that he had admired all his life. The slender sword strike, like a gentle breeze, split the massive astral ring of demonic energy and fell towards Lupe's head.
However, the demonic energy protecting Lupe's body remained unpierced even by the wind sword, raising even more intense flames than before.
"Haaa..."
Burren exhaled a tired breath, his fingertips trembling as if all his strength had left him.
"Th-That was dangerous, but this is your limit!"
Just as Lupe sensed Burren's sudden change and was about to deliver the final blow,
"No. This is the end."
Burren slowly opened his eyes. A clear wind settled in his blue pupils.
'A Grandmaster pursues their own ideal.'
What he had pursued since childhood was pride in his family, and what he sought was an elegant yet sharp sword to protect that family. The conviction he had held since his youth, wearing the Zieghart cloak, blossomed from his silver sword. Frost Wind Sword Ultimate Technique: Wind Spirit God.
Strands of wind unraveling like threads cut through the black demonic energy and penetrated Lupe's body.
Deep cracks opened across Lupe's body, which had remained unscathed by any sword strike. A soft blue light poured out from between the silently passing wind's cuts. As Burren lowered his sword, the sword wound carved into Lupe's chest widened, spewing out deep blue wind.
"You, to someone like you..."
Lupe crumbled to the spot without even finishing his last words. Even the black demonic energy with regenerative abilities faded away without being able to mend his body.
"...So this is what it means to be a Grandmaster."
Burren let out a hollow laugh as he collapsed on the spot.
"It doesn't feel real. I still feel weak on my own. But..."
I kept my promise. Right now, he felt like he could fly from the joy of keeping Raon and his father's trust, more than from reaching Grandmaster level.
"No, it's not over yet."
Burren rose again, gripping his sword. He stood firmly, as if to say he wouldn't let anyone pass this way, and raised his sword. The blue wind blowing from behind seemed to drape the cloak of his childhood over Burren's back.