By Zephyria 
Ku-gwa-ga-ga-gang!
The world turned upside down.
Fiery boulders rained down, targeting me one after another. They didn’t just fall; the moment they hit the ground, they erupted into massive pillars of flame. If I tried to cut them with my sword, my body would surely be crushed, so I dodged left and right.
It was the first time I felt grateful for having swallowed a piece of God. Thanks to raising my Protective Qi to its maximum, I was able to avoid all the pouring magic without taking a direct hit. Still, it felt as though I had thrown my entire body into a raging furnace. I didn’t even have the leisure to check if my limbs were burning.
It was fortunate, at least, that the bizarre magic wasn’t manifesting at such close range.
As soon as I thought that.
“…Krugh!”
“You’re enduring Meteor? You’re really interesting.”
The ground began to boil.
They were really trying to burn me to death.
Where had the one who said he’d take off just one arm gone? His eyes were already half-mad. Everything around me flashed with golden light.
As soon as I crossed the mountain of fire, confetti rushed at me. Shapes I couldn’t tell if they were butterflies, flowers, or fairies bloomed and fluttered towards me. Each time I swiped them away with my sword, they exploded with a ‘poof’ sound.
It had been the first time since kissing Ruben that my entire body’s senses felt this thrillingly sharp.
If my breathing had been off by even a fifth of a breath, my head would have been gone. They called him the God of Dreams, and every spell he cast felt like a dream. Formulas I couldn’t recognize appeared in an instant, obscuring my vision. To strike with my sword, I had to get close, but I couldn’t find a path forward.
Should I gather a great power, like when I parted the sea?
But my opponent was a Dragon. It possessed a human-sized physique. It wouldn’t stand by and let me gather such great power, nor would it give me the leisure to draw forth enough External Qi.
There was nothing I could see. The only thing I could trust was the Qi sense that had guided my life. If not for my practiced footwork, I would have lost my ankles already. I ran. I stepped and dodged over the flashing traps, spreading my Internal Energy like a coating.
Boom!
I parried five arrows of light that rained down simultaneously, but I missed one. Mimicking the Dragon, I extended my left arm, but I couldn’t block it. In an instant, I lost an arm. The face of a crying child flickered into my vision and then faded. A laugh escaped me. Like that day, or perhaps even more so.
Sweat beaded on my forehead, clinging to my eyelashes. Even that felt heavy. The drop of sweat that slid from my cheek down to my chin evaporated from the heat before it could even hit the ground. My teeth ground together with a grind sound from my tightly shut mouth. My arm burned as if it would explode.
For the first time in a very long time, my body ached. With every sword strike, the blade wailed as if it were awakening.
Now,
I felt alive.
I had no room to think. Naturally, I forgot myself.
It was a state of non-self, but not formless.
My feet felt light. My vision blurred white. My lungs felt tightly constricted. The blue and red lights that usually made me dizzy now divided clearly into two. My Hundred Meeting Point, heated to a burning point at the boundary between life and death, drew a single path.
Before I could move, my sword moved first.
Though the sword in my hand was one, the sword I wielded was no longer singular.
Three swords, five swords, ten swords danced around me, drawing the Azure Sky formation. I danced following the Imperial Swordsmanship. The Plantz Style and the Siren sword technique were fully imbued in each sword. With each Magic Formula that filled the surroundings being deciphered, my blurred vision cleared.
All these swords were me.
A hundred swords flew, finding their targets.
Crackle.
They pierced the Dragon’s body repeatedly.
The Dragon didn’t budge. Before her eyes, her nose, her entire body, the swarms of Qi Force threatening to impale her were entirely blue.
The Dragon swiped her hands a few more times, but though the materialized Qi Force swords might break, they did not disappear. I made the Qi Force dance, as if urging surrender, to press closer to her.
A metallic taste of blood surged up my throat.
My entire body still felt like it was burning. From pain, from heat, from excitement.
The Dragon grasped one of the Qi Force swords impaling her body and slowly pulled it out. My gaze lingered for a moment on the sword crushing in her hand. Not a single drop of blood was visible from the God’s body. The pierced holes also healed in an instant.
The next one, and then the next.
As she slowly pulled out the things stuck in her body, I took a slow breath. The swords of light hovering in the air, aimed at her, scattered like the wind, carrying my will.
“I called you a demigod.”
“…”
I couldn’t reply. Spiritus let out a loud laugh.
“You can just be called the tenth from now on, kid.”
“I’ll pass.”
As I answered immediately, Spiritus laughed again.
The Magic Formula she drew with her fingertips was a very familiar shape. I willingly exposed my wounded areas.
The arm that had disappeared grew back, and the wounds I hadn’t even realized were there healed. My ankle, which had been twisted 180 degrees and was quite uncomfortable, returned to its original state. I tapped the ground twice with my feet to check my condition. Indeed, a god is a god. I was amazed that I had healed completely without any lingering effects.
At the same time, a loud cheer shook the ground.
It was the Knights, who I had forgotten were even present. Those behind the shields were pounding them as if to break them with their fists.
However, the Dragon did not lower the wall she had erected. Fierce Mana still leaped around us like frightened frogs and raged like a mountain stream breaking against boulders. If I were to lower the shields now, it could cause great harm to those Knights. Thinking that, I felt grateful again.
As the sizzling ground cooled, I cleared my throat. I swallowed the blood rather than spitting it out rudely. Before I could say anything, Spiritus spoke first.
“You won. In any case, I was the one who became unable to fight first. Where did you pick up something like this…”
“I know you showed me consideration. Your blood vessels were not like those of ordinary humans. I was surprised to see you move as if nothing had happened even after being pierced.”
“Is this sincere, or are you teasing me? Never mind. You used quite a few unfamiliar sword techniques. Do swordsmen from other worlds all use those?”
“No. It’s a secret technique of my family. …Thank you for the compliment.”
I sheathed my sword and offered my hand for a handshake. The woman clasped my hand in return, following the etiquette of the continent.
Her hand was very rough. I laughed again, feeling as though I had been recognized by a true martial artist.
I prepared to leave immediately, without rest.
Shayden, who came to see me off, had a strangely unfamiliar expression. He looked at me, half-dazed, then touched his cheek, and blinked. I stood still and waited, watching him rub his face with both hands.
After standing like that for about a quarter of an hour, he let out a hollow laugh.
“…Mika. Is it really you?”
“If not me, then who?”
“No… I knew you would get stronger, but…”
Shayden couldn’t finish his sentence.
The Knights, who didn’t know the original me, might have just thought I was amazing and moved on. But Shayden had seen me since I was a high-level Sword Expert. I didn’t want him to lose heart seeing me.
“You have plenty of talent, Shayden.”
“…I know. I know… but.”
“I’m just on a different level, and you are a genius that everyone who matters knows.”
These were words Shayden had once said to me himself. He burst into laughter. Only then did color return to his pale face. He remembered that? His voice, muttering to himself, regained its vitality, and only then did he seem like Shayden.
“Stop talking nonsense and get tense.”
“Tense about what?”
“Anything.”
“…Hmm.”
I nodded obediently and finished.
Shayden said he would identify the Knights and guarantee their identities before sending them to the capital.
All the rescued Knights would first have their identities restored, and then they would decide for themselves whether to return to their families, stay in the Imperial Palace, or come to support the Grimsvein front line.
Ideally, I hoped they would remain in the Imperial Palace to be Rubel’s backing, or help the Grimsvein front line, but I couldn’t force them. Many of their relatives were staunch supporters of the First Prince.
Still, having come back from the brink of death, perhaps the Knights who were impressed by me would not let their family’s wishes sway them.
…Or perhaps not?
After all, I was the same. No matter how strong the Number One Sword of Wudang was, I had absolutely no desire to climb Wudang Mountain. You can’t coerce people’s hearts with force, so I let them do as they pleased.
Naturally, those who had ascended the Magic Territory with me all decided to follow me.
Hugh Benson grumbled that he’d have to wander the entire continent because of me. Leon smiled cheerfully as always, and Elvin had a stoic expression as usual. Mage Boulder was so mesmerized by the Dragon that he couldn’t even squeak, just circling the same spot like a tethered goat.
Benjamin also acted as if his feet weren’t on the ground, just like Boulder. He only snapped out of it and glared at me when I teased him about telling Marianne everything. Still, I wasn’t scared at all.
Shayden and Andy Spooner came to see off the departing party.
“We meet just to say goodbye.”
“What, we’ll see each other again soon. Don’t overdo it, and take care of yourself.”
“Yeah. …When you get a reply from Your Highness, please pass on where you’ve gone.”
“Alright. Also, tell them to inform Valentia if they need anything from me.”
“Uh… you’ll probably do it yourself, but, well.”
Shayden let out a hollow laugh and lightly touched my forearm.
“I hope your family matters are resolved well too. Next time, let’s have a meal together, the three of us, with Spooner-kyung.”
“Alright.”
“It is the honor of a lifetime.”
Andy Spooner greeted me with a respectful bow. It felt a bit awkward being treated as a senior by someone my age, but all in all, I felt deeply proud to have recovered the Knights I had almost lost.
“Are you ready to go now?”
Spiritus, who had been standing askew with a sullen expression, asked from my side. I nodded.
I thought I would be flying on the Dragon’s back now. The thought that I might be able to show the real Dragon to the injured Asdel made me feel a strange excitement even amidst the heartache. However, instead of inflating her body, Spiritus made a gentle gesture, drawing a circle in the air.
Then, slowly, space opened. In a very… familiar way.
Everyone stiffened, unable to move.
Spiritus blinked her large eyes a couple of times, looked around at the children, then at my expression, and then at the God of Records. All of them stared at the torn void in astonishment. Her voice was filled with bewilderment.
“Why are you so surprised? I’m the God of Magic, do you think I can’t open a two-way portal?”
“…”
“You can’t really fly with a human on your back, can you? Even if I sped up enough so you wouldn’t fall off… no, wait a minute. What’s the problem?”