The sword appeared at a speed my eyes could not properly follow.
Yes.
‘Appeared.’
This was not even within the realm of being able to see the sword’s trajectory or measure its speed in the first place.
All I could do was instinctively raise my sword to block.
CLAAANG—!
‘This is insane……!’
What kind of sound was that for two swords colliding?
After just a single clash, the hand gripping my sword was already aching.
‘This much from one strike.’
But I couldn’t give up here.
‘It’s more bearable than I expected.’
Of course, that wasn’t because I was anywhere near as strong as Father.
It was because Father was only using enough strength for me to endure.
Put another way.
‘Of course I can endure it.’
This entire thing was a test.
I wouldn’t die, but that didn’t mean there would be no pain.
In other words, there were only two things required for this spar between Father and me to work.
‘Endurance. Will.’
Yes.
That was all I needed.
Then I had to endure.
An opportunity to spar with the Greatest Sword of the Empire did not come often.
Even if that man happened to be my father.
The moment I steeled myself, the sword approached again.
SWISH—!
This time was different from before.
If the previous sword had been difficult to receive because of its speed and power, this time it was difficult to properly read its trajectory.
A sword that should have been only one split apart, changing into dozens of different paths.
‘Which one is real?’
In that brief instant, my thoughts raced.
Father was not trying to spar with me on equal terms.
Then he must have left me a clue.
A clue as to which was real and which were false.
And how I was supposed to block his sword.
At that moment, I saw it.
The ‘real’ one hidden among the countless illusions.
I made my judgment immediately and stepped back.
CLANG—!
My sword twisted, knocking Father’s sword path slightly off course.
“Your sword is unusual.”
“Do you mean that in a bad way?”
“No. If anything, I would say it is good.”
With those words, Father twisted his hand.
At that moment, the sword path I had thrown off returned to its original course as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Before I could react, Father’s sword touched my neck.
“Kgh……?!”
“One death.”
Father smiled in amusement as he held the sword against my neck.
“You seem capable of doing better. Why do you deliberately refrain from using it?”
“What are you referring to?”
“Dark Sword.”
“……!”
Father continued without concern for my reaction.
“To properly awaken the Sacred Flame, you must reveal yourself exactly as you are.”
“……I did reveal myself.”
I had used Dark Sword when I fought my sister during the Trial.
“You did not reveal it as ‘Sigmund.’ You merely played the role required of you at the time.”
“…….”
Even now, I secretly used the techniques I had learned as ‘Number One.’
I had used them when I eliminated Number Eight and Number Nine not long ago.
But Father clearly meant something more than that.
“You are unconsciously trying to deny the techniques that are familiar to you.”
“…….”
“You do use them, but you refuse to accept the essence that lies behind them.”
“That is…….”
I couldn’t bring myself to deny it.
I used the techniques from my days as Number One, but that didn’t mean I could affirm what I had done as ‘Number One.’
How could I?
‘Number One’ had been Schubert’s chess piece and slave.
It was a time I did not want to remember.
I had killed countless people on command and, in the end, even stabbed someone who trusted me in the back.
That was why I had separated ‘Number One’ from ‘Sigmund.’
Whenever I used Number One’s techniques, I acted more like Number One than Sigmund.
But Father was telling me not to separate the two.
‘What do you know to say something like that…….’
I had accumulated so many sins as Number One.
How could I possibly……
The moment that thought reached its end.
“Ah.”
A hollow laugh escaped me before I realized it.
I had sinned, so how could I accept it?
Had I planned not to?
After spouting all that about accepting the present Arwin as my family, as my sister, and acknowledging reality?
‘Was I running away again?’
I raised my head and looked at Father.
“Father.”
“Speak.”
“Are you not going to ask why I am so familiar with Dark Sword?”
“Does that matter?”
Father looked as though I had asked an extraordinarily foolish question.
“My blood flows through your veins, and the Sacred Flame burns within your soul. Moreover, your will reached ‘Messiah’ and was acknowledged.”
“……!”
“That is what it means for the Sacred Flame to awaken.”
It was an answer befitting Father.
The moment I heard it, my grip on my sword tightened on its own.
“One more time, please. This time, show me no mercy. Be ruthless.”
Father smiled when he saw that.
“As expected, you take after me.”
“……Pardon?”
“Are you not smiling?”
My hand reflexively went to my lips.
Just as Father said, the corners of my mouth were raised.
Then Father swung his sword at me.
CLANG—!
Sparks scattered as our swords collided once in midair.
Father’s sword was vastly faster than mine.
CLANG—! CLANG—! CLAAANG—!
I couldn’t even dream of finding an opening to counterattack.
All I could do was push my senses as far as possible and somehow block Father’s sword.
SWISH—!
And every time I failed to keep up with that speed, Father’s sword unerringly sought my neck.
CLAAANG—!
‘I can’t block it with my sword.’
“Kgh……!”
I desperately rolled aside to avoid Father’s sword.
The blade passed just over my head.
‘That was close.’
Thoughts accumulated every time our swords met.
‘How do I get out of this?’
‘I’m lacking speed. Strength too.’
‘If there’s a way to overturn all these disadvantages…….’
The conclusion came quickly.
No.
In truth, I had known it from the beginning.
I had merely refused to accept it.
And that was precisely one aspect of ‘Number One’ I had unconsciously turned away from.
A shadow appeared before my eyes.
It was not a real shadow.
The optimal path simply appeared to me in the shape of one.
The moment I stepped into that shadow, darkness wrapped around my body.
I did not reject it.
I accepted it.
Then the heat of the Sacred Flame subsided, weakening to exactly the degree I wanted.
“Ho.”
Father looked at the Sacred Flame I had produced with interest.
“Come.”
Instead of answering, I raised my sword.
The heat of the Sacred Flame had weakened.
In exchange, the stealth and sharpness of my sword had increased.
Without forgetting that sensation, I swung my sword without hesitation.
But what happened next was unexpected.
Father lowered his sword.
FWOOSH—!
The Sacred Flame surged around Father, then wrapped around him like armor.
FWOOSH—!
When my sword struck Father’s Sacred Flame, it was naturally pushed back.
But my Sacred Flame was different from an ‘ordinary’ one.
Like a shadow, the Sacred Flame began stealthily seeking gaps in Father’s Sacred Flame.
And then.
SLASH—!
TAP.
A button fell to the floor.
“…….”
Father stared at the fallen button for a moment before turning his gaze toward his sleeve.
The edge of Father’s previously flawless sleeve had been cut.
“Excellent.”
“……Thank you.”
It was only by a tiny amount, but I had succeeded in cutting Father’s sleeve.
Perhaps because I had pushed myself without thinking about what would come afterward, however, all the exhaustion I had been ignoring crashed over me at once.
‘Ah, damn it.’
I learned one lesson.
If I recklessly manipulated the Sacred Flame without considering the aftermath, my body could not withstand it.
And.
FWOOSH—!
The Sacred Flame that had been obedient until now could also start running wild on its own.
“Kgh, haa…… ngh!”
“Do not worry. What you fear will not happen.”
Through my fading vision, I saw Father approaching me.
***
“……did. …… interfering with this method of education…….”
Various voices reached me through my hazy consciousness.
- ■…… ■■!
“This is …… way.”
I vaguely realized that Father and Noise were speaking.
I still couldn’t understand Noise’s words, but I could at least tell that he was angry.
“Father, what happened……?”
“You are awake.”
Father, who had been speaking with Noise, turned toward me.
“Your sword was quite good.”
“Thank you.”
I struggled to sit up and bowed my head.
“The Sacred Flame…….”
“I calmed it. It ran wild, but it was not difficult.”
- ■■…… ■
Noise’s voice came immediately after Father finished speaking.
I still couldn’t understand him.
‘More importantly.’
I recalled the final moment.
What I had learned as Number One was not limited to swordsmanship and footwork.
I had also learned how to see.
Before losing consciousness, I had used the power of the Sacred Flame together with Number One’s techniques.
As a result, the Sacred Flame took on a unique property and collided with Father’s Sacred Flame……
‘And I cut Father’s sleeve.’
I subtly shifted my gaze toward Father’s sleeve.
The mark was barely the size of a fingernail, but it was undoubtedly where I had cut him.
“Heh.”
A laugh escaped me before I knew it.
Father had obviously gone easy on me, but cutting even the very edge of his sleeve still counted for something.
“You seem pleased.”
“Because I could feel that I had grown.”
Until now, I had never once landed an effective hit on Father.
Of course, that was only natural.
The gulf between Father and me was beyond imagination.
Even so, I had always wanted my sword to reach him at least once.
Even if that strike was nothing more than a complete fluke.
And it had reached him.
So of course I was happy.
“Are you done wrestling with it now?”
“Not completely.”
I understood Father’s intention.
But I still couldn’t give him a definite answer.
There were still parts of my past I could not simply embrace.
But.
“Even so, I intend to keep thinking about it and face it.”
“I see.”
Father quietly nodded at my answer.
He did not insist on asking for the details.
As though there were no need.
Even though he knew what I had done, he simply watched over me and waited.
“After examining it, your Blue Flame is unquestionably different from ‘other Sacred Flames.’”
“Is that so?”
“You will not grow in the same way as I did, or as the first and second did. Everything now depends on you.”
“Father, is my Sacred Flame really the ‘First Sacred Flame’?”
“Who knows.”
Father avoided answering.
“……It may be. Or it may not.”
“Pardon……?”
“That depends on what you do.”
“Do you have any intention of explaining that a little more simply?”
“No.”
His firm answer brought a bitter smile to my lips, but it was very much like Father.
From experience, I knew asking again would not change his answer.
“Understood.”
I bowed to Father and headed out of the room.
Just as I was about to leave.
- Do your best.
A voice suddenly reached me.
I turned around.
Only Father and the wavering Noise were there.
“……Noise?”
- ■?
And once again came the same incomprehensible voice as always.
Had I imagined it?
I tilted my head and left the room.
***
I headed back to my room.
I intended to spend the rest of the day resting comfortably.
Even though I had collapsed and rested for a while, the exhaustion had not disappeared.
But as always, things in this world rarely went according to plan.
My situation was no exception.
“……Elder Sister?”
My sister was waiting for me in my room.
She looked at me sharply and said,
“Raise your sword, Sigmund.”
“Pardon?”
No, why?