Guardian Knight Clope couldn’t believe his eyes. A black bone dragon and a black-haired swordmaster barred his path, guarding the city.
Now there’s even a swordmaster?!
How could such a nonsensical place exist? The fact that none of these forces bore Rowoon’s royal crest suggested they all belonged to the Henituses.
As Clope’s expression hardened, one of his subordinate knights approached him. It was the same man who had addressed him when the flying skeleton brigade first appeared; he was the only person permitted to speak to Clope directly.
“Captain.”
Clope didn’t tear his gaze from Choi Han. “What?”
In a voice full of trust, the knight replied, “A man like you, destined to become a legend, will always have towering walls to climb.”
Clope’s face slackened, fear and greed rising to the fore. He then ordered his subordinate, “Devote all of our strength to destroying the shield.”
“Yes, sir. Understood.”
The armored knight fell back as Clope raised his sword into the air. Clope’s dazzling white aura shot even higher into the sky than the black one from Choi Han. An aura was a swordmaster’s identity; it reflected the wielder’s personality. The Guardian Knight trusted his own strength over that black-haired punk’s. His white wyvern roared as well.
Raising his voice over the snarl, Choi Han shouted, “Come at me!”
“Ha! What an arrogant whelp!”
Clope’s white aura condensed into a ball, which launched at Choi Han. At the same time, the black bone dragon darted forward. Boom! It felt as if all of heaven and earth were shaking. Black light clashed against white with an earsplitting screech.
“Roooar!”
The white wyvern’s claws scraped against the dragon’s skeleton. It attempted to bite down on one of the dragon’s wings as well, but to no avail.
“Graaaah!”
Its claws couldn’t scratch the dragon’s ebony bones, and the skeletal wings didn’t snap. This entity lorded over all others. The race of whale beastfolk, the sovereigns of the sea, as well as the bear and lion beastfolk, who sought dominance on land, were all referred to as “tribes.” Only dragons were collectively called by their name alone, not the Dragon Tribe. This distinction had nothing to do with their superior size or strength; they simply occupied a different echelon of existence.
The white wyvern shrieked as one of its claws broke off, its foot bleeding from the wound. This creature was a mutant, more powerful than the other wyverns. Clope’s knights had initially believed it could defeat the bone dragon. While a living dragon might have proven challenging, only bones remained of this one.
Unfortunately, no monster could break a dragon’s bones. The wyvern was a lower-level life-form—and it wasn’t alone in its inferiority. Choi Han easily deflected Clope’s white aura with his sword, studying the Guardian Knight’s expressions.
Clope’s wyvern refused to give up. It body-slammed the skeleton full force, trying to bash the bones to dust. On impact, the two swordsmen clashed once more. Clope was wily; his white aura hissed and slithered like a snake as it charged toward Choi Han. Choi Han’s black aura shot zipped straight ahead, instantly cutting off the head of the writhing white aura.
“You’re not too bad!” Clope jeered, still confident in his brighter and more expansive aura.
Choi Han remained stoic, unbothered by the provocation.
His lack of response made Clope frown. “I guess even I need stepping stones like you to pave the way for my legend!”
This time, Choi Han’s brows twitched as their beastly mounts separated once more. When Clope saw he’d gotten a reaction out of his foe at last, he smirked.
“I was going to take care of you quietly, since you’re so annoying,” Choi Han said. “But now you’re just spouting nonsense.”
“…What?”
Choi Han’s blatant disdain had the Guardian Knight at a loss for words. The dark-haired swordsman was looking down on him for being an arrogant bastard. Choi Han’s aura became a consuming void, its black depths growing vast and dim enough to swallow the light.
As with any aura, his matched its wielder’s personality. A lightless void was the true essence of darkness, as well as the true nature Choi Han had developed in the Dark Forest. Thanks to a certain someone, Choi Han had since chosen to accept this aspect of his character. His aura continued to darken.
After hearing the drivel this clueless man was spewing, Choi Han couldn’t sit still. He thinks he’s the one who’ll create a new legend?
Choi Han pointed the darkness at Clope. “You’re not the author of this legend. That role is reserved for someone else.”
A legend. A new history. The history Choi Han would write in his second home, with his second family. That narrative already had an author—and he was the only one who deserved that right.
“Excuse me?” Clope asked in disbelief. Then he felt a sudden icy sensation on the back of his neck.
Only the slightest amount of light remained on Choi Han’s blade. This was his current limit. He knew that on the day he could make his sword go completely dark, the next stage in his journey as a swordsman would begin.
Choi Han shared the future he had in mind with Clope. “I’ll pave the way for him to get there.” He would pave that man’s path to become a legend with his own two hands. That was his resolve.
The only one who overheard this conversation was Mary. The necromancer’s face was ashen as she manipulated the bone dragon, a creature on a higher tier of existence. A dragon’s bones changed colors based on its attributes; these bones were special, which made it difficult for her to control them. Yet Mary had managed to use her dead mana to dye the dragon’s skeleton—the same form upon which the white crown had sat, prior to bestowing the Dominating Aura upon Cale. She had succeeded.
Now that she had a unique connection to the remains, she listened as the dragon’s ears. And through that, Choi Han’s voice had reached her loud and clear. “I’ll pave the way for him to get there.”
Mary fixed her gaze on Cale, who stood before her. While he kept the shield in place, he muttered under his breath, “What the hell are they prattling on about instead of fighting?”
He spoke so quietly that only Mary caught his words. Although his comment made him sound unreliable, Mary had a front-row seat to what he was going through. Sweat soaked his back, and his shoulders trembled. Mary knew Cale was struggling more than anyone right now. He was always like this.
Cale was, in fact, having a hard time holding this position with his arms outstretched, pretending he was forcing himself to keep the shield active. As his weakened arms throbbed with pain, he felt like he was being punished.
Watching his hands shake, Mary remembered what he’d told her when he activated the shield three days ago. “Don’t leave our side. The number of people who wish you harm will surge the moment you use your powers for our territory.”
Even so, Mary had already made up her mind. She was more than willing to do this much for the people who’d shown her the beautiful world on the surface. Besides, shielding her presence and hiding was her specialty.
But what Cale had said next changed her perspective. “No need to worry, though. You don’t have to lurk in the shadows forever. I’ll let you live however you want.”
Cale’s words had touched her heart.
With a flick of her wrists, Mary’s black-latticed hands moved again. Hwoosh. A strong winter breeze swept past, fluttering the hem of Mary’s black robe. It felt as if the wind might blow off her hood, but she didn’t reach up to secure it. She had something more important to do.