226th Episode
In the fourth match, Ray had become thoroughly disgruntled.
Completely upset, Ray entered the fifth match without changing his weapon, wielding a broken straight sword.
The match began, and Ray’s fifth opponent, examinee number ’45,’ fought desperately to preserve their pride.
No matter the skill gap, one simply could not lose to a “broken straight sword,” right?
As 45 received Ray’s broken straight sword, they shouted with all their might to maintain momentum.
“Kraaat!!”
“Huh?”
Ray frowned.
Already completely disgruntled, Ray struck 45 with the hilt of the broken sword.
Despite trying to hold out, 45 collapsed after being struck on the collarbone by the hilt.
“Ghhk…!”
It hurt.
Not just physically—it was more painful emotionally.
Tears streamed down 45’s face due to the rising sense of humiliation deep within their chest.
No matter how great the skill gap, losing to a broken straight sword was… different from anything else.
Having been hailed as a genius all their life by their family, 45 experienced an unprecedented sense of failure for the first time.
Ray looked down at the sobbing 45 and said something.
“Stand up, 45. It is not shameful for the weak to lose to the strong.”
“…!”
With their mind in chaos and forgetting the pain, 45 lunged at Ray but was subdued by the examiners and dragged away.
After 45 was taken away, the jeers directed at Ray reached their peak.
If the examiners hadn’t controlled the situation, the others would have likely rushed in with weapons in hand.
The disgruntled Ray waved at them. The jeering grew even louder.
Now only the final match remained.
Naturally, Ray’s sixth opponent was Johanna.
Johanna had defeated Delun in the fourth match and easily won the fifth match, advancing to the finals.
She stood out overwhelmingly among the candidates, who were considered the empire’s talents.
Finally, the examiner called out Johanna’s number from atop the arena.
“Number 26, step forward.”
Johanna stepped onto the arena after her number was called.
Immediately, the candidates began chanting her name.
“Johanna!! Johanna!! Johanna!! Johanna!! Johanna!!”
Johanna had merely answered when asked for her name, yet now everyone knew it.
Johanna was the candidates’ last hope.
Having demonstrated overwhelming prowess in all five matches, the candidates firmly believed that Johanna would defeat that detestable villain.
Only Johanna could now restore justice and resolve the grievances of those who had fallen in tears.
Whether Johanna was a commoner or a noble no longer mattered.
Everyone united in heart, continuously chanting her name.
Surrounded by excessive attention, Johanna’s face subtly turned red.
At that moment, the examiner spoke again.
“…Number 60, step forward.”
Jeers immediately erupted.
“Uuuuuuuuugh!!”
The disgruntled Ray waved at the jeering crowd as he ascended to the arena.
By now, it was hard to tell if this was Izhise’s sacred entrance examination or a Colosseum flowing with blood, tears, and madness.
Johanna looked at Ray with utter disdain.
For a moment, Ray bristled.
Even if everyone else cursed him, weren’t you supposed to be on my side?!
Ray turned around, looking for Delun among the candidates with such feelings.
However, Delun also wore an expression similar to Johanna’s, leading Ray to realize it was all his own fault for being a “Spatial Blade one-tool idiot.”
At that moment, an examiner asked Ray.
“…Are you not going to change your weapon?”
“Yes.”
Ray twirled the broken straight sword.
Johanna couldn’t use her personal dual-sword style in this match.
Ray wouldn’t use Harshia’s main two-sword technique in this match, nor would he use Sword Energy or any other skills like Overdrive.
And he held the broken straight sword. In truth, this much was necessary to balance things out.
Johanna, with a dull expression, understood this fact and silently picked up her sword.
Finally, the last match began, and Ray clashed with Johanna.
Chheeeeng!!!
Sword Auras collided fiercely, shaking the air.
Johanna stopped conserving her strength after the fifth match and swung her sword with full force.
Because she trusted Ray and understood the gap between them, there was no hesitation in her swings.
The examiners were extremely tense.
If an ‘unexpected situation’ occurred, they honestly doubted whether they could stop the duel in time.
The expressions of the candidates watching the duel naturally hardened.
Johanna was undoubtedly at the Expert Level. All the candidates here were at the Expert Level too. However, something was different.
In every aspect—movement, application of sword techniques, mana control—Johanna was different from the other candidates.
The candidates felt an indescribable gap from Johanna.
Not exactly experience or the perfection of techniques… but a pure gap in ‘talent.’
Everyone watching this duel felt it.
Ray clearly understood how Johanna’s talent manifested compared to the other candidates.
Johanna’s mana, compared to the stable mana of other knights, had strong mutability.
While having highly mutable mana makes it difficult to manifest Sword Aura or higher-level abilities,
Johanna compensated for this weakness using her innate mana control and sense.
And at the necessary moments, she fixed her mana to the desired properties, threatening her opponent.
Johanna’s swordplay was free.
To explain it from the opponent’s perspective, it meant the number of scenarios to consider with each sword clash increased exponentially.
Once caught by Johanna, it was hard to recover.
Someone with talent comparable to Johanna, like Speira, might manage to regain balance somehow, but others couldn’t.
Ka-ga-chang!!!
Johanna pressed Ray sharply, accurately, swiftly, and freely. Her swordplay was beautiful.
Although the candidates felt the gap in talent with Johanna, they frowned seeing Ray, holding a broken straight sword, opposing her.
Ray was beyond their comprehension.
Crack!
Ray heard his sword being worn down as he blocked Johanna’s attack.
The broken straight sword was nearing its limit and would surely shatter soon.
Then he’d really have to fight with just the hilt, which, even for Ray, was impossible against Johanna.
“Hmm…”
Just as Ray pondered whether to bet on a decisive move,
Johanna closed the distance suddenly and delivered a spinning kick.
The martial arts Ray had taught her long ago came out of nowhere, surprising Ray, who bent his waist sharply.
Hiss! Johanna’s leg grazed past Ray’s nose, cutting through the air.
After dodging the kick, Ray immediately swung his sword.
Though momentarily startled, the closer distance favored Ray with the broken straight sword.
However, at that instant, Johanna switched the positions of her left and right hands gripping the sword.
The sudden switch drastically changed Johanna’s swordplay.
In reality, it was just a mirror-like reversal of left and right, but from the opponent’s perspective, it wasn’t so simple.
Short, sharp clashes of sword strikes met as they were close enough to feel each other’s breathing.
Ray, feeling himself drawn into Johanna’s rhythm, smirked amidst it all.
As Johanna’s swordplay transformed, creating chaotic trajectories,
Ray was compelled to thrust.
Without resisting the flow, Ray stabbed Johanna with his sword.
Johanna, as if waiting for it, leaned her sword to the side, grabbed the hilt with her left hand to stabilize it, and pulled her right hand inward while using the blade as a lever to push forward.
Crack!!
Towards the unusually deep crack where Ray’s broken straight sword was already unstable.
Johanna’s sword edge precisely aligned.
Ray’s unstable Sword Aura wavered.
At that moment, Johanna’s sword edge mercilessly split the broken straight sword in half from the tip.
He couldn’t hold on any longer.
As the broken straight sword shattered into pieces, a powerful shockwave hit Ray.
Trying to resist the shock would only result in greater injury, so Ray went with the flow of the shaking impact.
Chheeeeng!!!
Together with the fragments of the shattered broken straight sword, Ray’s body tumbled.
Ray roughly swatted away the fragments heading towards his face and rolled, eventually collapsing onto the ground.
All that remained in Ray’s hand was a halved sword hilt.
Attempting to rise, Ray fell back down.
A brief silence followed.
Cheers erupted from all sides.
“Woooww!!”
“She won, she won!!!”
“Johanna!! Johanna!! Johanna!! Johanna!!”
Excited during the match, Johanna momentarily forgot her shyness and raised both hands high.
An even bigger cheer erupted.
“Wooowwwwwwwwww!!!!!”
Realizing her embarrassment later, Johanna covered her face.
Amidst the continuous immense cheers, Ray, sprawled on the ground, belatedly justified himself.
“The villain role… I’m used to it.”
Rubbish talk.
*
“…”
Inside the Prislan Clan Fortress,
Ernst quietly observed Ray, who had returned triumphantly after completing the entrance exam.
After a long silence, Ernst finally spoke.
“Why don’t you just go pull out the Sacred Sword right now?”
“…”
In truth, Ernst rarely used such teasing language.
It was simply that the situation was so absurd that those words naturally slipped out.
What was the reason Ray refused special admission and decided to take the entrance exam?
Didn’t he say he wanted to disguise himself as a regular student and quietly observe Johanna and Delun living well at Izhise?
Yet, Ray had caused unprecedented chaos during the Izhise entrance exam.
Candidates and examiners are not supposed to casually disclose events that occur during the Izhise entrance process, but since Ray had caused such a ruckus, various rumors were already circulating.
Ernst couldn’t help but think that this guy was doing it because he wanted to challenge him.
Of course, Ernst didn’t know that Ray was a “Spatial Blade one-tool idiot.”
Such an imagination… even the Empire’s Swordmaster would find it incredibly hard.
Watching Ray cautiously, Ernst finally suppressed his anger and changed the subject.
“…His Majesty the Emperor has formally awarded you the Empire Guardian Medal. Due to some complex procedures, it took some time.”
Ernst revealed a small stone box adorned with precious jewels.
Ray, slightly perplexed, asked.
“The Empire Guardian Medal?”
“Open it.”
Ray received the stone box and opened it.
Diamond-shaped… though slightly elongated at the bottom, it was still quite familiar to Ray’s eyes.
An empty circle with a diamond shape above it. On top of the diamond, the emblem of the dragon symbolizing the Empire was engraved.
This was the first time Ray saw the medal in person.
Still, it felt familiar because it was the Empire’s representative medal and always appeared in storybooks read by children.
The Empire Guardian Medal.
This was the highest medal of the Empire and, judging by frequency, might be awarded once every hundred years.
This medal was, without a doubt, the symbolic representation of heroic achievements recorded in history and the greatest honor dreamt of by citizens of the Empire.
Though Ray didn’t feel an overwhelming… emotion,
He still felt a sense of bewilderment.
“Hmm…”
At the end of the medal, Ray’s name and accomplishments were inscribed in small letters.
“…Is this awarded unofficially?”
“It’s officially awarded, but the recipient’s identity will remain undisclosed.”
For a while, the Empire would buzz with speculation about who received the Empire Guardian Medal.
Many would guess it was a Royal Guard or a special agent secretly involved in the Meteor fall incident, but finding the truth would be difficult.
Ernst didn’t bother asking Ray about his feelings regarding the Empire Guardian Medal.
It was something Ray rightfully deserved, so whatever emotions he felt were none of Ernst’s concern.
“When you die, that’s when the identity of the recipient will be revealed.”
This was proof from the Emperor that, whether Ray wished it or not, his recorded history would not be erased or buried even after his death.
Ernst calmly listed the benefits available to the recipient of the Empire Guardian Medal.
Actually, Ray already knew most of it since it was so famous.
There were overflowing special benefits, including pensions and more, but most couldn’t be utilized while the recipient’s identity remained undisclosed.
Anyway, the most famous benefit of the Empire Guardian Medal was related to etiquette.
Everyone in the Empire, except the Emperor—meaning all members of the royal family and nobility included—
Regardless of status and position, must show respect first to the recipient of the Empire Guardian Medal.
Thus, the recipient of the Empire Guardian Medal…
Did not need to bow to anyone other than the Emperor.
Since this privilege was granted only to those worthy, the Empire Guardian Medal was revered as the symbol of heroes.
While fiddling with the Empire Guardian Medal, Ray asked Ernst.
“So, from now on, should you greet me first, Lord Duke?”
“…”
“Just kidding, just kidding.”
Ray maintained a serious expression while laughing ha-ha.
Izhise (1)
