The world felt strangely quiet.
Not because the crowd had disappeared.
Not because the wind had stopped.
Not because the battle had ended.
The world simply felt different.
Ten crimson swords floated around me.
Slowly.
Gracefully.
Like stars.
Like a constellation.
Like something that had always existed within me yet remained hidden until now.
I could feel them.
Not as weapons.
Not as magic.
Not as Aura.
As extensions of myself.
The sensation was difficult to describe.
When I first saw Kel's Sovereign's Orbit Sword Arts.
I thought it was beautiful.
When I watched the floating swords.
I thought it was powerful.
When I observed them moving independently.
I thought it was mysterious.
Now I finally understood.
The floating swords were never the true essence.
The essence was expression.
A reflection of the person wielding them.
And somehow...
Mine became blood.
My own blood.
I slowly stared at the crimson blades orbiting around me.
Beautiful.
Dangerous.
Alive.
The sight reminded me of something.
Snakes.
Thousands of snakes.
Hundreds of years.
Countless lives.
Countless deaths.
Countless memories.
The blood swords moved as if they possessed wills of their own.
Yet every movement felt natural.
Every rotation felt correct.
Almost as though they had always belonged there.
My breathing slowly calmed.
The wounds covering my body still hurt.
The cuts still bled.
My muscles still screamed from exhaustion.
Yet strangely.
I felt lighter than ever before.
The three Masters remained opposite me.
Their six Aura Swords floated around them.
I could feel their pressure.
Yet something had changed.
Earlier.
Those six Aura Swords felt overwhelming.
Now.
They looked beautiful.
Not terrifying.
Beautiful.
Because for the first time.
I understood them.
The silver-haired knight stared at me.
His eyes widened slightly.
Not because of the blood swords.
Because of my expression.
I realized I was smiling.
A genuine smile.
How long had it been since I smiled like this?
Decades?
Centuries?
I honestly didn't know.
Perhaps the answer didn't matter.
Because this feeling...
This excitement...
This joy...
Was something I hadn't experienced in a very long time.
The cold winds brushed against my face.
The scent of snow filled the air.
My golden eyes slowly shifted.
Toward him.
Kel.
The young Count stood quietly at the edge of the arena.
Watching.
Always watching.
Always observing.
Always seeing something others couldn't.
I used to think he was strange.
No.
He was strange.
Extremely strange.
Who teaches swordsmanship by making someone stand still for hours?
Who negotiates with a giant serpent after invading her home?
Who transforms an entire frozen wasteland in mere months?
Who casually creates Masters while drinking tea?
Only Kel.
Only that absurd human.
The more I thought about him...
The more ridiculous he became.
Yet...
The more I understood him.
My eyes lingered on him.
For a brief moment.
Memories surfaced.
The mana crystal mine.
The first time we met.
A human boy.
Covered in dust.
Standing before me after stabbing my giant serpent body multiple times.
I nearly laughed.
The memory felt absurd now.
At that time I truly wanted to bite him.
Several times.
Maybe dozens.
Then he sat down.
Created a table.
Created chairs.
Started negotiations.
Negotiations.
Who negotiates immediately after a battle?
Kel apparently.
I remembered him asking if those snakes were my children.
My eye twitched.
Even now.
I felt offended.
Those foolish snakes.
They weren't my children.
Never were.
Never would be.
The memory made me sigh.
Then another memory surfaced.
The journey back to Frostbound Coast.
The giant monster.
The two lightning swords.
The first time I witnessed Sovereign's Orbit Sword Arts.
At that moment.
I became curious.
Then fascinated.
Then obsessed.
Eventually.
I demanded to learn it.
And what did I receive?
Basic stances.
More basic stances.
Even more basic stances.
Three entire weeks.
Three weeks.
Three centuries of cultivation.
Reduced to learning how to stand properly.
The memory nearly made me laugh.
I remembered countless moments.
"Wrong."
"Again."
"Relax."
"Your posture."
"Your balance."
"Your breathing."
Again.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The words haunted my dreams.
At one point.
I genuinely considered turning into my serpent form and swallowing him.
Not because I hated him.
Because I hated hearing the word "again."
A faint smile appeared on my lips.
The memories no longer frustrated me.
Instead...
They felt precious.
Because now I understood.
Kel never wanted me to become him.
He wanted me to become myself.
The realization warmed something deep inside me.
For centuries.
I walked alone.
For centuries.
Every decision belonged only to me.
Every mistake.
Every success.
Every failure.
Mine alone.
There was nobody to guide me.
Nobody to teach me.
Nobody to correct me.
Then suddenly.
A fifteen-year-old human appeared.
And somehow...
Started teaching me.
The thought felt surreal.
The battle still hadn't resumed.
The three Masters remained cautious.
The spectators remained silent.
Everyone waited.
Yet my thoughts continued wandering.
I remembered the city.
The glowing roads.
The street lights.
The people.
The laughter.
The merchants.
The children.
The guards.
The warmth.
The life.
For centuries I observed human settlements.
From afar.
Always from afar.
Never belonging.
Never participating.
Only watching.
Yet somehow.
Without realizing it.
I had become part of one.
Part of Frostbound Coast.
Part of Kel's territory.
Part of his dream.
The realization felt strange.
Comforting.
Dangerous.
Comforting because I liked it.
Dangerous because I liked it.
My eyes drifted toward Kel once more.
And suddenly.
A terrifying realization appeared.
I trusted him.
Completely.
The realization shocked me more than the battle.
More than the blood swords.
More than the breakthrough.
Trust.
A simple thing.
Yet for someone who lived centuries alone...
It was perhaps the most difficult thing in existence.
I trusted him.
Not because he was powerful.
Not because he was intelligent.
Not because he was useful.
Because every action matched his words.
Every single one.
A promise made.
A promise fulfilled.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The realization made me strangely happy.
Then suddenly.
The silver-haired Master spoke.
"Miss Lyra."
His voice broke my thoughts.
I looked toward him.
The three Masters had regained their battle stances.
The silver-haired knight smiled.
"I think we've kept everyone waiting long enough."
The second Master laughed.
"Agreed."
The third Master slowly pointed his sword forward.
"Shall we continue?"
I looked toward them.
Then toward the six Aura Swords.
Then toward my ten Blood Swords.
A grin slowly appeared.
A dangerous grin.
A battle grin.
The kind I hadn't worn in centuries.
The snow drifted around us.
The wind howled.
The crimson swords rotated.
The Aura Swords trembled.
And for the first time since entering this battlefield...
I wasn't fighting to learn.
I wasn't fighting to survive.
I wasn't fighting to prove myself.
I was fighting because I wanted to.
Because it was fun.
Because I loved it.
And perhaps...
For the first time since leaving my cave.
I truly felt alive.
My blood swords accelerated.
The crimson constellation expanded.
The three Masters lowered their stances.
The spectators held their breath.
Far away.
Kel watched silently.
And somewhere deep within my heart...
A thought appeared.
Not spoken.
Not voiced.
Only felt.
Thank you.
Not for teaching me the Sovereign's Orbit Sword Arts.
Not for giving me a place in Frostbound Coast.
Not for the position.
Not for the title.
Not even for the trust.
But for showing me something I had lost centuries ago.
A direction.
A destination.
A sky worth reaching toward.
And then.
The battle began once more.