‘W-what did he say?’
The watching knights were astonished. Ikael had brought not one of Denta's treasures, but several cartloads.
‘Until now, none of Recrit's Young Masters has ever managed this.’
‘And he says he will offer them to the family head!’
Kairon silently furrowed his brow.
Denta's treasures were not particularly surprising. With a single personal letter from Kairon, he could obtain as many as he wished.
‘But to think Ikael obtained them.’
Denta served Kairon alone.
That meant he would not bestow more than necessary, no matter if the recipient was a child of Recrit.
That was why Bakuba Volcano was the perfect place to test his children.
Those who obtained a sword were his children, and those who failed to obtain one ceased to be his children.
And Ikael was a child who was not even qualified to take the test.
Until very recently, that was.
‘Ikael, something has changed.’
Kairon thought.
The expression on Ikael's face was unmistakably that of a master.
“Did you receive the Demon Sword properly?”
Without a word, Ikael untied the Demon Sword from his back.
The tip of the Demon Sword struck the carpet with a soft thud, producing a heavy resonance.
As the cloth wrapped around the Demon Sword came off layer by layer, everyone held their breath.
Even the knights under Kairon, who were like statues, had shining eyes at this moment.
Amid everyone's anticipation, the Demon Sword was fully revealed. But.
“N-no…!”
Everyone who saw Ikael's Demon Sword was flustered.
Unlike the dazzling treasures, the Demon Sword itself was only a lump of iron.
It looked more like a piece of scrap metal than a sword.
Even so, Ikael did not have two lives to joke about before Kairon.
‘Young Master Ikael, what in the world has happened?’
Just as everyone's eyes wavered with disappointment and unease.
“Hahahahaha!”
Everyone was startled by the sudden burst of laughter.
Beyond the dark glass of the Central Hall, even the sunlight seemed to bow its head, while the hearty laughter rang out.
The one who had burst into laughter at the scrap-iron Demon Sword was none other than Kairon.
‘The Family Head is laughing…’
Kairon was usually difficult to see, even slightly raising the corners of his mouth, let alone laugh aloud.
It was a rare sight even for the knights under his command to see him laugh like this.
Kairon stopped laughing and turned his gaze to Ikael's scrap-iron Demon Sword.
“I see. So this truly is the seventh Demon Sword?”
“Yes, Father.”
SHING—
Kairon seemed to touch the sword at his waist.
“Then take this.”
CRASH—
With that brief utterance, Kairon brought down his sword.
Its aim was precisely at Ikael, his youngest son.
“Hup!”
As Kairon's sword energy descended, even the knights could barely breathe.
CRASH!!!
Kairon's sword energy flew onward and shattered the window of the central entrance.
In the wake of the sword's energy, chilling air descended as though it would take their breath away.
It was Kairon's characteristic Dark Aura.
“N-no!”
The servants panicked at the sudden event.
The carpet burst apart, and the stone floor was crushed.
‘To this extent with a single blow.’
As expected of the Genesis Sword, it was power befitting Kairon.
But the situation was too urgent to be surprised.
Confirming Ikael's safety came first.
“Y-Young Master Ikael!”
“Are you all right?!”
But in the next moment, the servants were stunned again.
Ikael was completely unharmed, without a speck of dust on him.
Before him stood the scrap-iron Demon Sword.
“Th-that…!”
“Did he block it with that sword?!”
This time, not only the servants but even the knights could not hide their astonishment.
To think he had blocked Kairon's sword energy with a piece of scrap metal that looked ready to snap at a touch.
If it was not truly a Demon Sword, it was impossible.
When everyone had frozen, Kairon opened his mouth.
“To endure my sword energy. It is indeed Denta's workmanship.”
Kairon's voice was gentle.
As though he had never drawn his sword, a kind smile rested on his face.
To someone unaware of the truth, he would have looked like a father comforting a son who had returned from a long journey.
But.
SHIVER—
Goosebumps rose along the back of Ikael's neck.
It felt as though the energy of Dark Aura still raked against the blade.
‘If what I was holding hadn't been a true Demon Sword, I would've died just now.’
The sword energy Kairon had fired was not merely a show of martial force.
Had it struck him properly, it would have killed him instantly.
Ikael could remain unharmed only because the thing in his hand was truly a Demon Sword forged by Denta.
In his previous life, Ikael had served Kairon for a long time, so he knew.
Kairon's laughter was not laughter, and his kindness was not kindness.
Kairon's action just now had also been thoroughly calculated.
Kairon was confirming once more whether his youngest son had properly completed his test.
Of course, only Ikael, who had received the sword energy head-on, realized this.
‘What terrifying childrearing.’
A strange smile, mixed with emotions he could not tell were anger or awe, appeared on Ikael's face.
“Well done, Ikael.”
Kairon spoke in a voice everyone could hear.
To the others, he looked only like a father praising his child.
***
The rumor that Ikael had died vanished in an instant.
In its place, the story of Kairon and Ikael spread on the north wind of Bronze Castle.
“The Family Head laughed? No way.”
“I'm telling you, he did. They say he praised Young Master Ikael.”
“Come on. I have been in the Knight Order for ten years, and the Family Head has never laughed even once.”
“I have been in the Knight Order for ten years as well, and this is the first time I have seen Young Master Ikael achieve anything.”
The knights argued over which was the rarer sight.
The knights were not the only ones who had begun to pay attention to Ikael.
Recrit's siblings were the same.
“Is it not strange? That brat Ikael.”
“I heard long ago that Ikael had been making waves in the Lower Training Hall, but this time, it is strange.”
Recrit's siblings had also heard the rumors that Ikael had been making a name for himself while moving through the Lower Training Hall.
But it was only the business of a Lower Training Hall where those around One Star and Two Star gathered.
The Lower Training Hall was a place where even an Aura Blade was a spectacle.
They had merely dismissed it, assuming that the news of Ikael swinging his sword a few times had been wildly exaggerated.
Moreover, most of Recrit's siblings had achieved four, five, or even more stars, so even if the rumors about Ikael were true, he was no threat to them at all.
‘But Father personally praised Ikael. This is different.’
Every Recrit sibling agreed on this point.
‘Ikael has changed.’
All of Recrit's siblings felt calm before the north wind swept in.
‘But was he not the sickly Ikael? How could he change as though he had become someone else in an instant?’
“Isitor, do you know anything? You seem to have been spending time with him.”
“Ah, I don't… I don't know!”
Isitor avoided them, clumsily evading the question.
He did not want to know anything more about Ikael.
THUMP. THUMP.
‘Why is that bastard Ikael becoming more and more like a monster?!’
While Ikael was away, Isitor clenched his fists and prayed.
Please let Ikael return as a corpse.
‘But far from returning as a corpse… he came back with tremendous treasures!’
What he could not endure even more was that Ikael had gained Father Kairon's approval.
‘That bastard Ikael… I can't forgive him! Who the hell are you?!’
But there was nothing Isitor could do.
Other than clench his fists and rage.
***
The entire Bronze Castle was abuzz over the new wave called Ikael.
Even days after Ikael's return, the wave showed no sign of settling.
Meanwhile, Ikael, at the center of the rumors, remained secluded in his palace.
There were even speculations that Ikael had entered secret training, but that was not true.
“Grrr…”
Ikael had fallen ill and was groaning in bed.
‘Damn it. To suddenly fall ill.’
It felt as though all the fatigue from before had come rushing in at once.
Ikael himself knew the reason best.
He had constantly practiced aura cultivation in fiery Bakuba Volcano, putting a tremendous strain on his eleven-year-old body.
‘Now that I've gained an Aura Circle, I have no regrets.’
WHOOO—
Even now, the Desert Aura was surrounding his heart, tracing a fiery circle.
That alone made Ikael satisfied.
“Young Master Ikael, are you all right?”
The maids and servants, who had no way of knowing the circumstances, made a great fuss as they carried medicine and food into his room.
They were all rare things, but Ikael felt as though none of them could go down his throat.
“Forget the food. Brew this for me instead.”
“What is this, Young Master?”
What Ikael held out was a paper bag.
Inside it was a strangely shaped bone.
“It is a demonic beast crow bone.”
“Eek!”
The maid nearly dropped the precious bone that Volcanic Blacksmith Denta had gifted him.
“I-I will brew it right away, Young Master.”
The maid hurried out of the room.
After confirming that he was completely alone, Ikael sat up in bed.
“Phew, now I finally have time.”
In Ikael's hand was a long lump of scrap iron.
‘The seventh Demon Sword.’
It was time to check the Demon Sword's true form.
*
STEP— STEP—
By the light of a single lamp, Ikael walked down the corridor.
He was searching for the hottest place in Bronze Castle.
There, he would be able to see the true form of the seventh Demon Sword.
‘It was good that I made a map for times like this.’
Drawing on memories from his previous life, Ikael had recorded the forbidden zones and secret passages of Bronze Castle on a map.
The venerable Recrit family held secrets beyond the reach of the public, and Ikael had recorded as many of them as possible.
‘In my previous life, I stood beside Kairon as a Seven-Star Knight, yet there are still many secrets I don't know.’
If that was true even for Ikael, it was no exaggeration to say that others did not know even a tenth of Bronze Castle.
Ikael arrived at the Aura Tower Room.
It was a room where the Auras of major kingdoms and swordsmen were stored in towers.
It was another place that others would never visit in their entire lives.
But it was familiar to Ikael.
CREAK—
When he opened the door, he saw an expanse as vast as a garden.
In this room with its dizzyingly high ceiling, many towers stood in rows like monuments.
Passing the ash-gray tower, the tower of vegetation, and the frozen tower, Ikael stopped before the Burning Tower.
The Burning Tower had been erected after the conquest of the Ragaita Kingdom, which had been famous for using fire-element Aura.
Beneath the tower, the crown of the King of Ragaita was buried. Though its owner had been dead for several decades, it still emitted hot Aura.
Ikael intended to borrow this Aura for a moment.
‘In any case, I can hold only as much Aura as my vessel allows, so it doesn't mean much. Still, it's enough to briefly check the Demon Sword's form.’
Ikael held the seventh Demon Sword and closed his eyes.
HISS—
A warm sensation spread through his hand.
The Burning Tower and the Demon Sword were resonating.
FLASH—
The moment the Aura reached its peak, Ikael opened his eyes.
And he saw the true form of the seventh Demon Sword.
“Wow…”
An exclamation escaped Ikael's lips.
The red glow of the Demon Sword dyed Ikael's eyes.