Chapter 124…
KWA-A-A-ANG—!
The moment silver and crimson light crossed, a massive explosion swallowed the battlefield in silence.
No wind.
No screams.
Not even the horrified breaths of the onlookers.
Nothing drifted through the air.
All that remained were the rough scars carved by sword and blade—
straight lines and wild curves etched into the air, creating a fleeting moment of beauty.
Time, which had seemed frozen, began to flow once more.
Silver flashes scattered—
bursting into the moonlight like dazzling petals.
A crimson bolt followed, splitting the sky like a painted stroke.
Beautiful, yet deadly.
The power the two beings had been building toward rapidly swelled—
and after only a short time…
…it finally reached its limit.
KWADDDDDDDDDD—!
The atmosphere tore apart, the ground ripping open.
The sonic boom exploded like thunder, knocking down the warriors behind them, who instinctively covered their ears.
Only Akrasion endured.
Blood dribbled down from his lips, but he did not move—
he simply watched the battle of the one he followed.
PABABABABABAT—!
Dante’s sword path was endless.
Infinite.
One slash connected to the next, and the next—continuing endlessly.
The elegant trail of his blade seemed to transcend time itself.
Barglad’s blade was brutal—
splitting, cracking, shattering—
unrestrained explosions bursting from it in madness.
It was like an unpredictable volcanic eruption.
That overwhelming destructive force was Barglad’s weapon.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!—
Sword and blade clashed without rest.
A shockwave that felt like the world was collapsing spread in all directions.
Fwit—!
Dante’s face split open.
The pressure from Barglad’s colossal blade was so immense that even Dante’s evolved body couldn’t fully withstand it.
Yet he didn’t blink—
he simply lifted Arpeon.
Srrrk—!
Barglad’s leather armor tore, and a shallow wound opened across his chest.
A pity.
Just a few millimeters deeper, and he could’ve torn muscle.
That would’ve hampered Barglad’s movement, opening a chance to strike.
But unfortunately, Arpeon had only grazed the skin.
The strike was perfect.
From the start until now—
everything had gone exactly as Dante intended.
Not once did he deviate.
But now, little by little—
his blade was failing to connect.
As if Barglad had foreseen it, his movements always created the smallest difference.
A monster.
Dante’s eyes trembled faintly.
Truly, this battle demon was no weaker than the Empire’s Swordmaster or even the Sword Empress.
His movements weren’t as refined, but his pure combat instinct surpassed them both.
“Hoo—.”
Dante stepped on Barglad’s charging knee, using the recoil to push himself back and widen the distance.
The monster grinned—
a chilling expression.
This won’t be easy.
He didn’t think he would lose.
A knight does not enter battle expecting defeat.
However—
To defeat that monster…
Dante would have to wager his life.
Nothing less would be enough.
His resolve hardened.
KWAANG—!
Barglad’s blade, a crimson lightning bolt, swung down toward Dante’s skull.
Its overwhelming force made Dante bite his lip.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears—
Thump! Thump! Thump!
I’m going to die.
Had Barglad been waiting for this exact moment?
Or was it purely instinct?
It didn’t matter.
All that mattered was that his blade was impossibly fast—
far too fast to evade.
And Dante lacked the strength to counter head-on.
His evolved body could not yet withstand the raw power of such a monstrous physique.
But he could not simply stand still and wait for death.
Dante pushed his mana to its limit.
BZZZTT—!
With so much force that blood beaded around his grip, he swung Arpeon upward.
KAAAAAAAAANG—!
A metal shriek ripped through the air.
Sword and blade collided vertically.
Ghhhhh—!
A tremendous shock flooded his body.
Every bone felt like it was breaking.
His lungs were crushed—
he couldn’t even breathe properly.
But Dante did not retreat.
He stabilized his trembling arms and glared at Barglad, who still wore that smile.
What would Princess Isabella do?
She did not possess great physical strength.
In fact, she had been even frailer than Dante, who hadn’t finished growing.
And yet—
Dante could not imagine Isabella ever losing to Barglad.
She would’ve found a way—
replacing her lacking strength with something far greater.
For that was what the Sword Empress was.
And at that moment, a memory resurfaced.
—Have you ever heard that the body is the vessel of the mind?
—Yes.
—It isn’t just superstition. Remember it.
A conversation from their carriage ride to the duchy.
He hadn’t thought much of it then.
But now—
The vessel of the mind.
Even if the body breaks—
if the mind does not bend…
Even if the hand holding the sword fractures—
if the sword remains unbroken…
Then the battle is not over.
Will.
Dante seized the sudden clarity—
and hardened his heart.
KWA-AAAAAA—!
Barglad’s descending blade finally broke through.
CRACK— CRACK—!
Bones in Dante’s arms and legs snapped under the pressure.
Excruciating pain rushed in waves—
but Dante did not yield.
He closed his eyes.
Inhale, exhale.
Inhale, exhale.
Even as his heart pounded violently, his consciousness grew calm.
The body is the vessel of the mind.
The sword is the vessel of will.
Mind and will are one—
Thus, the sword is my body.
Sword-Body Unity.
The stigma engraved on his chest ignited.
Not with mana—
but with starlight flowing through his veins.
Broken bones and torn muscles screamed,
but Dante’s spirit did not waver.
He simply—
raised a sword within his heart.
The same blade he had used to cut down the god’s thought on Mount Calotes.
The sword of his mind, infinitely expanding within his consciousness—
manifested into the real world.
“…Huh?”
The first to notice the anomaly was, of course, Barglad—
the one crossing blades with Dante.
He had been certain he would shatter Arpeon and cleave Dante’s body.
But he paused.
Something was changing.
This still-immature child of Zenon—
something within him was transforming.
He didn’t know what it was.
Only that if he allowed it to continue,
he would regret it.
“YOU LITTLE WRETCH!”
Barglad did not ignore his instincts—
he unleashed even greater power.
The Blessing of the Ancestral Spirits.
The same force the Empire called a stigma—
he poured everything into his blade.
He would allow no variables.
He would cut the flimsy silver sword and Dante’s small body in half.
But—
“My mind does not break.”
Dante’s quiet voice slipped out.
“What?”
Before he could question it, Dante opened his eyes.
Deep, sunken eyes.
“My body does not break.”
Dante’s broken frame straightened—
standing firmly on two feet while resisting Barglad’s crushing pressure.
“And thus, my sword does not break.”
An invisible blade rose.
No one knew when or from where it had appeared.
Barglad’s eyes widened in horror.
The unseen sword collided violently with his massive blade.
KWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG—!
The backlash tore the very air.
Barglad, startled, stumbled back a step.
Now!
A single opening.
The monster whose movements could rend the world—
had stopped.
Arpeon cut through the air.
By the time Barglad’s gaze caught up to the sword passing him—
FWOOOOSH—!
One enormous arm burst skyward in a spray of blood.
“You little SHIIITTTTTTT—!”
The roar of the monster who had once reigned over the continent shook the night sky.
For him—
to lose an arm—
was an event that could shake the entire continent.
Barglad glared at Dante with murderous rage.
But Dante did not avoid his gaze.
Or rather—
he couldn’t.
His toes trembled.
Broken ribs were piercing his organs.
Blood kept flooding his throat.
One single strike—
and Dante’s body was ruined.
“I’LL RIP YOU TO PIECES!”
The one-armed monster charged, killing intent exploding—
“Protect the commander!”
“Sir Dante!”
“Trishiel, bind his feet! Sierra, distract him!”
“STOP THAT THING!”
Voices echoed through Dante’s fading consciousness.
Familiar. Reliable.
Knights whose backs he could trust no matter the situation.
Akrasion…
Darkness swallowed everything.
He could no longer see or hear anything.
BOOM—!
He only faintly felt his body collapse onto the battlefield—
unable to support itself any longer.
Ahh…
With his fading mind, Dante whispered softly to Akrasion:
“I did not lose.”
And it was the truth.
