As Kail stood up to prepare for a duel with Glaymore, the First Princess watched his movements and suddenly burst into an awkward laugh, stepping between the two.
“Are you two planning to fight without me? Ignoring me completely?”
At Princess Ludmira’s words, Kail glanced at her… but his eyes quickly shifted to the swordsman standing behind her.
A rare outfit in the Empire—something that hadn’t been seen since centuries ago in Earth’s Joseon Dynasty. This guy must be the wandering swordsman from the Eastern lands they’d heard about.
Kail scanned him from head to toe before nodding lightly.
“I’ll fight twice.”
“…Kail Meyer, right? You students still don’t get it, huh? Here, the winner fights consecutively—it’s the rule.”
“That’s why I said it.”
“…??”
The First Princess tilted her head, clearly confused, as Kail turned back to Glaymore.
“Is it okay like this?”
“Hmph… quite arrogant for someone so young.”
“Not as arrogant as my skills.”
“Heh, we’ll see about that. Princess, I’ll fight this student first, then the winner will face your representative. Is that fine?”
“…Well, I don’t mind.”
No matter what, she realized neither the First Prince nor the Third Prince would exclude her from their schemes regarding this policy.
So, when exactly she fought wouldn’t really matter. In fact, fighting later might even be advantageous.
After all, whoever expended stamina first would be at a disadvantage.
With the Princess’s approval, Glaymore ordered his subordinates to clear away the scattered furniture, creating a small dueling area with the royals and their knight escorts as spectators.
“The rules are simple: admit defeat or appear obviously beaten, and you lose.”
“Easy enough.”
“You can freely use Aura if you want, but injuring your opponent is allowed—killing them, however, counts as automatic loss. There are some penalties too, but we don’t need to go into those now.”
Glaymore extended a practice sword with a blunted edge—a meaningless tool for Masters capable of wielding Aura Blades.
Confused by this, Kail cautiously asked,
“Can I use Aura?”
“Of course. Go wild.”
With that, the Knight Commander immediately drew his Aura Blade, causing gasps among the surrounding knights.
Even though it was supposed to be for teaching purposes, wasn’t pulling out an Aura Blade against a student a bit excessive?
But their thoughts vanished instantly when Kail did the same.
“What… is that?”
“An Aura Blade?”
The knights muttered in disbelief as Kail grinned mischievously and approached the commander.
The commander moved toward Kail with a stern expression, clearly unsure how to handle this young Master.
Kail showed him. His Aura Blade darted swiftly toward the commander’s neck—an efficient strike worthy of an Aura Master.
But the commander anticipated this move. Being a Master himself, he effortlessly blocked the attack and countered using advanced swordsmanship techniques, seemingly ending the match.
“—Huh?”
Suddenly, another Aura Blade sprouted from Kail’s empty right hand, targeting the commander’s throat.
Having no idea such control over Aura was possible, the commander could only stand there helplessly.
After all, drawing an Aura Blade in one hand didn’t mean losing control over the other. Facing two Aura Blades was akin to fighting two Aura Masters at once.
“…I concede.”
“Thank you for the match.”
Kail retracted his Aura Blades and respectfully bowed before turning his gaze to the next opponent.
The wandering swordsman from the East, who had been nervously stroking his sword hilt, now stepped forward eagerly.
Kail beckoned him with a finger, prompting the swordsman to walk past the princess. The still-present Knight Commander hesitantly asked,
“How did you do that?”
“What?”
“Summoning an Aura Blade from an empty hand…”
“Just tried it, worked.”
Upon hearing this, the commander stared at Kail incredulously. But Kail simply shrugged and redirected his attention to the swordsman.
The swordsman revealed his curved blade and announced himself.
“I am Myeongwol (明月) of the Infinite Illusionary World Style!”
“I’m Kail Meyer of the Meyer Style.”
“Alright, Meyer. Draw them.”
“There’s no need,” Kail replied casually.
“…Provoking me? Not bad.”
In the next instant, a sharp flash shot toward Kail—a lightning-fast draw technique that was nearly impossible to track even if expected.
Kail blocked it with his pre-drawn sword and retaliated instantly, showcasing the pinnacle of simultaneous defense and offense.
Had it been an ordinary swordsman, they’d have been skewered without reaction—but none present were ordinary.
“Sheath!”
The moment Myeongwol spoke, his sword disappeared back into its scabbard as if by magic. Kail stared blankly, realizing only then it was some kind of magical artifact.
Myeongwol unsheathed his sword again using the same swift technique. It was dazzling and almost impossible to counter.
Kail leapt back several steps, narrowly avoiding another strike before watching the sword vanish once more.
“Isn’t that cheating?”
“You can use it too. No rule says you can’t.”
“Haha.”
So that’s how it is. Kail frowned slightly, understanding the situation. Myeongwol was clearly a master of combination techniques—without his draw skill, he wasn’t much. However, he had honed this single ability to perfection, making it overwhelmingly powerful.
‘He can’t use it unless the sword is sheathed… That’s the problem.’
Myeongwol bypassed this limitation through magic—allowing him to draw his sword anytime, anywhere. Essentially, it was like having infinite ammunition in a gun. To beat such a cheat-like ability, Kail would have to resort to similar tactics.
“You started it.”
“—Come on.”
He readied his stance again, likely expecting Kail to draw both his Aura Blades.
Kail suppressed his grin and slowly raised his hand.
Everyone here, including Myeongwol, underestimated him. Achieving mastery at such a young age was already unbelievable—they couldn’t imagine further growth.
But that’s the thinking of commoners. Ordinary people’s imagination.
Geniuses aren’t just faster than others—they do things others can’t even conceive.
“Aura Light Beam!”
“Wh-!?”
A beam of Aura shot from Kail’s raised fingertips—an ultimate technique achieved by pushing external Aura emission to its limits.
Expecting Kail to draw two Aura Blades, Myeongwol reflexively drew his sword to block—but Kail raised his opposite hand.
“Hold—”
“This is the Thousand Demon Death Beam!”
Before Myeongwol could sheathe his sword, the second Aura beam struck, piercing his shoulder. Losing an arm during a sacred duel between swordsmen was devastating.
Only then did Kail comply with Myeongwol’s earlier request, drawing two Aura Blades.
The wounded swordsman glared fiercely at him.
“Scared?”
“…I concede.”
Myeongwol clenched his lips tightly as he admitted defeat. Kail nonchalantly sheathed his sword and gave a thumbs-up to Bellion, who had been staring at him dumbfounded.
‘I did it, buddy.’
However, Bellion’s expression darkened inexplicably, leaving Kail tilting his head in confusion.
