Blood gushed from the gash where I had been sliced open.
"Ah… guh!"
The overwhelming pain and the sense of loss as blood drained away sapped the strength from my legs, forcing me to my knees on the ground.
What Master had done was extremely simple. She had canceled my Genmu with an identical Genmu.
But… was something like that even possible?
Due to its nature, Genmu was extraordinarily difficult to perceive visually.
To intercept it with the same Genmu, she would need to launch it along the exact same trajectory with zero deviation.
Master had effortlessly accomplished something far more difficult than threading a needle.
The difference in ability between us was obvious. In skill, power, experience—everything—she was superior. There wasn't a single factor in my favor for winning.
"You can't win." That thought gripped me, and Master's voice rang out.
"Nozomu, release Ability Suppression."
(Huh?)
"You should understand. The only way to beat me is to release Ability Suppression."
(Indeed… if I use that, I might be able to win against Master.)
It was the only way to defeat her. I immediately understood that it was my sole possibility.
But in my mind flashed that dream.
Tiamat in the lake of the dream, and the faint unease I felt then. In the dream, its eyes definitely held will—it was alive.
Perhaps due to the characteristics of spirit species. Maybe even if the body dies, the soul remains.
And Ability Suppression coincidentally suppressed its power—and perhaps even sealed that soul?
(If I release Ability Suppression now… that thing might get released too…)
"......"
...I can't decide. I can't do it. Master is coming at me with killing intent, and to win I need to release Tiamat. Either way, I'll die!
"Are you still hesitating?"
Master attacked again. I raised my sword on reflex to block, but the wound from earlier clearly slowed my movements.
I somehow managed to defend against direct slashes, but Master mercilessly hammered scabbard strikes and kicks into my body during the openings.
"Ugh, kuh, guaaaah!"
Pain shot through my entire body from Master's attacks. Combined with the nonstop bleeding, I felt my consciousness growing hazy.
"Am I going to die here?"
Maybe because it was Master, the intense "I want to live" drive that usually surged in battles didn't rise. Instead, a resignation—"If it's Master, maybe it's okay"—began to take over.
At that moment, Master's face entered my vision. For some reason, her expression was twisted in anguish.
"Why are you making that face?"
The question floated in my mind, and then, with a face on the verge of tears, she declared:
"Nozomu, I'm going to die soon. I don't have much time left."
I'm sorry, she thought, even as she drove attacks into Nozomu.
Sorry for doing this so suddenly. Sorry for hurting you so badly.
But this is the last time, my final selfishness.
She desperately hid those feelings while pounding attacks into him, but suddenly his face caught her eye.
In Nozomu's eyes there was no fierce "will to live" like in past crises. Instead, they accepted the approaching death.
No! That's not it! I want to tell him something. I want him to accept something… I don't want those eyes!!
Her own untransmitted feelings made her want to cry.
I have to tell him… there are things I want to convey, things I want him to accept.
For that reason…
"Nozomu, I'm going to die soon. I don't have much time left."
"Nozomu, I'm going to die soon. I don't have much time left."
Those words froze my thoughts. Die? Master? Why?
"It's Sleeping Death disease. Little by little, ki drains from the body, until finally you exhaust it all and die."
"Wha—! Then get treatment right aw—" "There's no established cure. And my ki will last only one more night at most." "That's…"
"If I had controlled my body's ki a little better, it might have lasted longer."
"Then! Why didn't you!! Even a little more time might let us do someth—" "I…" "Master!!!!"
Ignoring my questions, Master continued speaking. But her next words completely silenced the ones I was about to ask.
"I was betrayed by my family and came here…"
"Huh…?"
"My own older sister framed me, my parents abandoned me, everyone spat on me, and I fled to this continent."
What Master spoke of next was a personal history she had never shared before. I had heard about her family, but she never mentioned anything like this, and I never sensed it.
Whenever she talked about her family, she looked so happy—it was clear how much she loved them.
"You and I are shockingly similar. Both betrayed, mocked by those around us, and fled."
She might be right. I ran to training after Lisa dumped me; she literally fled her country.
"I didn't care if I died anymore. That's why I secluded myself in a place like this."
Master poured out her true feelings. I just listened silently.
"I had nothing left. But then I met you. At first it irritated me—like looking at my own reflection—but unlike me, you never gave up on living. And I felt something in you that I didn't have."
"Nozomu, this is my last selfishness… The one thing I, who kept running, want to leave behind. Because it's you, there are things I want to tell you."
With a face on the verge of tears, she pleaded with me.
"Please… will you grant my final wish?"
...Master's words snapped me awake.
She had already decided her path long ago, facing her own end.
...It would be easy to speak up here, persuade her to live. But wouldn't that just twist her will? She said she was shortening her remaining time just to convey this.
...I admit it. I've been running all this time. From everything surrounding me at the academy.
Running, running… even running from the fact that I ran…
But…
Looking at Master's face—tears about to overflow, like a lost child.
If I run from her wish here, I'll never be able to face her again. Above all, I don't want to see her make that face!!!
I reached for the chains binding me. If I release Ability Suppression, that pitch-black dragon might devour me.
But if I run now, I'll regret it for the rest of my life!!
I tore the chains apart, releasing my true self for the first time.
In the next instant, my vision blacked out.
I was at the lakeside from the dream. Before me stood the black colossal form.
"Extinction Dragon King Tiamat"
It saw me and raised a foreleg to crush me.
I leaped back on instinct, dropped flat to the ground to endure the shockwave. But the next moment, its sweeping tail came hurtling toward me.
Clearly faster than our last fight!!!
No time to dodge—the tail struck directly.
"Gehah!!!"
I was hurled into the air; every bone in my body broke, consciousness fading from the agony.
I slammed into the ground without proper ukemi, the impact jolting me awake, but my brain had exceeded its pain-processing limit—nothing registered.
My body was so wrecked I couldn't even tell if it still existed, yet I forced myself upright through sheer muscle abuse. Tiamat opened its maw, preparing a breath—clearly intent on killing me from the start this time!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"
Roaring, I charged straight at Tiamat!
Considering the ability gap, I couldn't afford to drag this out. Above all…
"You're not welcome here! You're not my opponent!!"
Right now, you don't even register in my eyes!!
Tiamat's breath fired. I twisted to dodge the massive flames closing in, but my battered body couldn't evade fully—my right half disintegrated on contact.
Still, I leaped with my left leg. With the explosion and shockwave at my back, I charged Tiamat—but its open maw waited.
The moment I leaped in, its jaws snapped shut. Fangs tore me apart.
Lower body severed, head half-gouged, body pierced through—I became nothing but a blood-soaked lump of meat.
Yet because this was the mental world, even injuries that should have killed me left my consciousness intact. Fragile as heat haze though it was.
Even as my body was mangled beyond recognition, I looked forward—something shone in my blood-blurred vision.
Black, red, blue, green, yellow—five colors. Small, yet radiating immense power. Probably its core strength.
I reached for the light. My lower body was already gone, organs spilling out.
Right arm lost, left arm half-torn by fangs. Consciousness nearly gone, only groans escaped my mouth.
Still, I reached. My mangled fingers touched the light—and it overflowed. My vision blacked out again.
When I came to, I was back in reality.
"Guu!!!"
Power surged through my entire body. The sheer magnitude scraped away at my mind.
No time. If this drags on, either this power devours me or I lose control and die!
Looking at Master—she gazed at me happily.
I took my stance. Blood still flowed from the wounds she gave me, but it didn't matter.
"Here I come!!!"
"Come!! Foolish disciple!!!"
Master released ki greater than ever before and took her stance.
I resolved to accept everything from her. With that determination, I faced Master once more.
The two of us activated Instant Step – Curved Dance again and clashed. Complex curves traced through the dark night, sword flashes sparkling under moonlight.
Their speed had reached a realm beyond even top-tier warriors' visual tracking.
Their entwined clashes looked the same as before, but the superiority was clearly reversed.
Nozomu's strikes numbed Shino's arms; Shino's attacks were blocked and nearly repelled.
While Shino still held the edge in technique, with Suppression released and nothing holding him back, Nozomu's physical abilities clearly surpassed hers.
Shino gradually fell into inferiority. An unintentional complaint slipped from her lips.
"Kuh! Can't you go a little easier on a lady! You foolish disciple!!"
"What are you saying! There's no frail girl here who needs gentleness!! Consider your age already!!!"
"What nonsense! A woman is a woman no matter her age!! You who don't understand a woman's heart—that's why your lover dumped you, you wimp!!!"
"Wha—! How can you say that!! I don't want to hear it from a shut-in who's holed up here!! If we're talking wimp levels, you're no better!! You worldly-ignorant!!!"
"How dare you say such things! What way is that to talk to your master!! Sit right there! I'll beat that attitude out of you!!!"
"Bring it! I was sick of your tantrums anyway! Throwing ki techniques over little jokes!! How many times did I almost die?!!"
"I held back so you wouldn't actually die! Just enough to barely crawl back from the Sanzu River!!"
"That's not the point—!! Why should a simple retort nearly kill me!!!!"
"Don't sweat the small stuff! You came back, so it's fine!!"
"It's not fine—!!"
They traded utter nonsense while fighting. An exchange of ultra-high-level techniques and utterly trivial banter.
In the high-speed Curved Dance battle, Nozomu held the advantage in physical ability. Realizing this was bad, Shino changed tactics.
"Tch! At this rate I can't purge the brat!!"
"Wait! Did you just say 'purge'!! Are you seriously trying to kill me, old hag!!!"
"Of course!! I said so from the start!! For the crime of wounding a maiden's heart, repent in hell!!"
Shino placed both hands on her hips and compressed ki. Thrusting them forward, she released it.
Ki Technique "Quake Cannon"
A technique that releases compressed ki in one direction to blow the opponent away.
Shino pursued the blasted Nozomu with a follow-up.
"Die! Enemy of maidens!!!"
With words far from maidenly, Shino unleashed her prepared technique.
Ki Technique "Genmu."
The ultra-compressed ki shot out—but Nozomu had already prepared to counter.
"That's my line, you fraud!! Age fraud and violence are crimes!!!"
What he released was the same "Genmu." The two collided midway and canceled each other.
Nozomu had managed to cancel Genmu with Genmu—just like Shino had earlier—thanks to extreme focus.
During his near-death battle with Tiamat, he had achieved concentration so intense that time seemed to slow. That same focus let him completely read the sword flashes of a super-first-class swordswoman like Shino.
Cutting through the scattered ki remnants, the two linked their next techniques.
"Behold the greatness of your master!!!"
"Time for the student to surpass the master!! Natural-born criminal!!!"
Ki Technique "Genmu – Regression –"
The return blades clad in ultra-compressed ki clashed, blooming ki and sparks around them once more.
They chained into the next.
Using the momentum of the return blade, they spun their bodies. Sheathing the sword while directing the scabbard butt toward the opponent, they struck simultaneously with the sheathing motion.
Ki Technique "Shattering Vibration Strike"
A internal-destruction technique that drives ki and shockwave into the opponent's body to wreck them from within. A clean hit would turn organs to mush.
With a deep, gut-resonating "doun," their techniques canceled.
The impact of the clash slightly widened the distance, but they immediately chained into the next.
Both flipped their bodies while channeling ki into the hand not holding the sword.
The amount was incomparable to previous techniques—vast ki poured in.
They slammed their ki-charged fists into the ground. The earth between them exploded, a pillar of light erupting upward.
Ki Technique "Extinction Light Impact"
A technique that drives ki into the ground, releases it at the enemy's feet to launch them airborne, then annihilates with a torrent of light-ki.
Among their techniques, it had the widest area and highest destructive power.
Their Extinction Light Impacts raced through the ground and collided, forcing their way upward.
"Still not enough!!!"
"Of course!!!"
They chained further. Charging while still sheathed, they engaged in taijutsu using all four limbs.
Fists, legs, elbows, every body part used in flowing strikes like a dance. Their forms were identical.
Eventually a change occurred around them. Particles of light appeared, spiraling and gathering toward the two.
In truth, they had already activated a certain technique.
Ritual Taijutsu "Reincarnation Revolution"
There exists ritual magic. As the name implies, it interferes with external mana through ritual performance.
As Norn Alteina explained in magic class, the origin of ritual magic lies in divine ceremonies offering prayers or sacrifices to gods and spirits.
Originally, "dance" was also offered in such ceremonies.
By fusing "dance" and "martial arts," ritual taijutsu was born.
While attacking in set forms, treat it as "dance" to complete the ritual, interfering with surrounding mana to deploy ritual magic.
This "Reincarnation Revolution" absorbs surrounding mana to stack body reinforcement—the longer the dance, the exponentially greater the power.
However, ritual taijutsu is inevitably bound to fixed forms; if the pattern is read, inferiority can come instantly.
The stacked reinforcements led to clashes that eventually shook surrounding trees with shockwaves.
Their uninterrupted dance continued, mana lights gathering around them as if in praise.
Ki drained rapidly; vision darkened.
To match her outrageously strengthened disciple, she had to use every ounce of ki and mana, every technique, to push beyond limits.
Even then, matching him was her absolute limit.
The ki loss exceeding recovery rapidly advanced Sleeping Death. Recovery reversed to deficit—irrecoverable.
Her death was now certain.
(Well… it's fine, I suppose.)
Thinking of the fact almost detachedly, she looked at her final beloved disciple.
...He's become strong. Truly strong. With the chains released, only a handful on the continent could beat him now.
Even those few might fall depending on the circumstances.
This child had now faced the colossal power hidden within him of his own will.
A power vast enough to easily crush someone so small. An ordinary person would go mad from terror—or be consumed by it.
For the sake of this old woman's final request, he faced it and fought.
This is the last time… but...thank you. Nozomu.
Gritting his teeth against power that threatened to burst him apart. He couldn't maintain release much longer. Reason eroded; body rattled from excessive force.
Despite overwhelming ability, he couldn't finish her. Repeated attacks balanced out; only time passed.
Surrounding mana accelerated; the dance neared its conclusion.
Sensing the approaching end, memories from meeting Master until now flashed through his mind.
The chance encounter in the forest.
Hellish training.
Forcing him to confront what he had averted his eyes from.
Saying "welcome back."
Master's place had undeniably been "a place to return to."
It would soon vanish.
So very sad… his chest felt ready to burst with grief… but this was Master's final request!
He couldn't show an unsightly figure.
It's almost the end, but...thank you very much. Master.
The dance finally reached its conclusion. Their limit-reinforced kicks collided.
The shockwave peeled up the surrounding ground and blew it away. Trees bent greatly, creaking in agony.
Reusing the impact of the clash, they spun like tops.
At the same time, they poured full power into their still-sheathed scabbards, compressing to the limit.
Ki Technique "Genmu – Flash –"
A technique that simply unleashes one's fastest iaijutsu. Simply a technique laden with one's feelings.
The blades carrying their thoughts crossed.
Silence returned to the forest.
Nozomu's sword remained only as a hilt.
The unleashed blades had collided at the center—and in that instant, Nozomu's sword shattered.
Immediately after, Shino collapsed on the spot.
"Master!!!"
Nozomu rushed over and lifted her, but her face was pale, devoid of life.
"...Nozomu. You've become strong… It seems there's nothing left for me to teach you with the sword...."
"Master...."
Even without medical knowledge, Nozomu understood. She would die here.
"I was happy. That you accepted this old woman's final request… that you understood my feelings."
Tears welled up. Facing an unavoidable farewell, Nozomu could no longer hold them back.
"Nozomu, remember this one thing."
"It's okay to run. It's okay to stand still. But don't avert your eyes from the fact that you ran or are standing still. If you forget that, you'll end up unable to move forward, just like me."
Her gaze already wandered through the air, perhaps unable to see anymore; her body grew colder by the moment.
"Even if you run, even if you stand still—as long as you don't forget, someday, in whatever form, you'll be able to move forward...."
"...Yes. Master...."
Hearing his words, she smiled as if relieved.
"Good... Now I'm satisfied."
She looked up at the moon. Quiet, gentle, as if watching over them.
"Nozomu. ...I'm tired, so I'll sleep a little.... See you again someday."
"...Yes, Master. ...Good night."
Satisfied, she slowly closed her eyes and fell into a deep, deep sleep.
A sleep from which she would never awaken.
All that remained was the stifled sound of someone sobbing.
One week later, Nozomu had advanced to third year.
The promotion exam was, as always, just barely passed....
Nozomu thought about his current self.
For now, he was still standing still. About Lisa, about the academy. About himself.
He might run again. Might remain standing still.
But he would no longer avert his eyes from that fact.
Carrying his master's teachings and the budding sprout of new resolve in his chest, he stepped toward the gates of Solminati Academy.