“Wait, wait a minute!”
“Who was it that wanted to give me a bitter lesson again?”
“That was just a polite gesture.”
“There’s no such thing.”
No matter how much Yuri had grown, he couldn’t hold out long against Mo Yongchan.
Dodging attacks, he kept tumbling across the training hall floor.
Even Ena, who was watching, looked disappointed.
“I heard the news and had high hopes, but Prince, you’re really disappointing.”
“This guy’s a top-tier fighter, you know.”
“But how can you just take hits like that?”
“Don’t talk to me.”
Panting, Yuri lifted his sword, Guilty.
“Haa… haa…”
Mo Yongchan furrowed his brow.
“So you really want to settle this once and for all.”
“If I can.”
“I’m going to tell Dad everything.”
Hearing Yuri’s muttering, Mo Yongchan shook his head in disbelief.
“To think they’d let a brat like this be their disciple…”
Yuri shouted back, swinging his sword without backing down.
“To have such a ruthless man as a master—ugh!”
On Guilty, the sword’s spirit flared like a blazing flame. White energy swirled in a vortex, spinning repeatedly.
This was a secret technique Yuri had created himself—the Whirling Tornado Sword.
The fractal pattern repeated infinitely, faintly appearing above Guilty.
Mo Yongchan’s eyes lit up.
“So this is a proper technique.”
He didn’t move even as the whirlwind flew toward him.
A strange Eastern language slipped from his lips.
[You’ve already grasped the endless cycle of history repeating through ruin and rebirth. You’re not just some kid.]
It was praise.
But Yuri, not understanding the foreign words, took it the wrong way.
“Mocking your disciple, are you?”
“You little brat…”
Though the technique was profound, it didn’t faze Mo Yongchan.
He lightly raised his sword and countered Yuri’s whirlwind.
Blue Cloud Red Glow Sword Style.
Reverse Flow.
It didn’t take much. He thrust his sword into a part of the infinite orbit, and like a machine’s gears slipping, the entire whirlwind trembled.
“Too sloppy. Not good enough yet.”
Yuri’s whirlwind was all connected.
That synergy was powerful, but if you caused a reverse flow at the point where the energy concentrated, the whole vortex collapsed.
“No way…”
“You’re just a rookie.”
“Hey…”
Mo Yongchan sneered, and Yuri gritted his teeth, watching the collapsing tornado sword.
“If I can’t win with teeth, I’ll use gums.”
Mo Yongchan had misunderstood one thing.
Yuri wasn’t just a well-bred prince—he was a second-chance man who had lost everything and fallen to the bottom as a mercenary.
If his legs were cut off, he’d crawl and stab a knife into the enemy’s back.
“Die!”
Yuri didn’t abandon the twisting, distorting whirlwind but poured it all onto Mo Yongchan.
As the Whirling Tornado Sword descended into chaos, an even fiercer energy burst forth.
Mo Yongchan was taken aback.
He’d expected the technique to falter when caught in the reverse flow, but instead, Yuri was carrying an uncontrollable force, battered and broken, as if daring them both to die.
He muttered again in the Eastern tongue without realizing it.
[The cycle of history? It was all a delusion. This guy’s just crazy.]
Again, Yuri misunderstood.
“Too late for compliments now!”
The chaotic sword energy, completely broken down and turned to pure chaos, flew straight at Mo Yongchan’s forehead.
Within that chaos, Mo Yongchan suddenly saw something.
Flutter.
Flutter.
A butterfly flapping its wings.
In that instant, he was struck like lightning.
Why was a butterfly flying inside that? And why did the faint flutter of such a tiny creature carry an unprecedented power?
Suddenly, a phrase flashed through his mind.
“The butterfly’s wings beat through chaos and transform into a fierce typhoon.”
Mo Yongchan roared.
“Go!”
A fierce internal energy burst from his body.
Two massive forces collided.
Against Yuri’s unpredictable swordplay, Mo Yongchan countered with a massive net-like sword energy.
Blue Cloud Red Glow Sword Style.
Heavenly Net.
Mo Yongchan’s bluish sword energy wrapped around the chaotic energy born from the Whirling Tornado Sword.
As chaos tried to seep through the net’s gaps, he tightened the sword energy even more.
“Phew…”
A drop of sweat trickled down Mo Yongchan’s cheek.
He twisted his mouth and muttered softly in the Eastern language.
[You bastard, you’re dead today.]
Yuri didn’t understand the meaning but puffed up his chest anyway.
“This is as far as I go.”
“Shut up, kid.”
“That pronunciation sounds deliberate…”
Mo Yongchan fixed the net and swung his sword again.
The bluish energy sliced the air, splitting the chaos in two, scattering it to pieces.
Mo Yongchan caught his breath.
“How do you feel?”
“Try dying today.”
“Oh, your pronunciation’s improved. You only do that when you’re serious. Could it be you got serious after taking a hit from me?”
Yuri was about to reply but fell silent as Mo Yongchan strode closer.
“Hmm…”
He sensed an unavoidable fate.
Being talented was a curse.
When his master looked down on him, he broke through limits and mastered unknown techniques, only to be repaid with beatings instead of praise.
Yuri placed both hands on his waist and looked up at the sky, sighing.
“Beauty and tragedy…”
“Where did you learn that phrase?”
“I read it in a book.”
Of course, a mercenary comrade from the East had told him in his past life.
Either way, he wasn’t going to give up easily.
The moment Mo Yongchan closed in, Yuri struck like lightning.
Their swords clashed.
Their bodies accelerated.
They exchanged blows so fast they were almost invisible. Each clash pushed Yuri back, but he resisted with all he had.
“Wow!”
Ena, watching, gasped.
Yuri exhaled heavily, his heart aching from continuously using the Sword Spirit Slash.
Mo Yongchan attacked without giving an opening, targeting only the exact opposite flow of the Sword Spirit Slash.
Yuri could only defend.
“Ugh…”
He knew Mo Yongchan was holding back.
Just enough to avoid a clean hit, pushing him to the brink of exhaustion by forcing him to respond.
Yuri’s eyes blazed with fury.
Being toyed with, swept along by his opponent’s flow—that was what he hated most.
Though he was drained, he forced himself to squeeze out more mana and spin it.
He felt every single strand of mana coursing inside him.
He expanded his senses.
He perceived countless smaller strands making up each thread of mana.
While sparring with Laurent, he had realized perfect mana control and now intuitively understood the sword path he needed to follow.
In the world of the tiniest things, anything could happen.
“Hah!”
Yuri shouted and swung Guilty aside.
Mo Yongchan’s sword spun up into the sky.
“Wow…”
Yuri stared at its trajectory, momentarily dazed.
It was beautiful.
Not just the flying sword, but the entire process he had created was beautiful.
And the spinning sword at the end took exactly that shape—how wondrous.
The sword, spinning in the sky, descended and landed perfectly back in Mo Yongchan’s hand.
Then he struck with the hilt.
“Gah!”
Yuri barely blocked it with both arms.
But Mo Yongchan’s assault continued.
A double sidekick slammed into Yuri’s chest.
Yuri flew like a paper doll and collapsed onto the training hall floor.
Mo Yongchan approached.
“Ugh…”
Yuri raised Guilty toward the towering Mo Yongchan.
“It’s not over yet…”
Mo Yongchan parried the sword.
Yuri tried to crawl toward Guilty lying far away, but Mo Yongchan stabbed the sword into the ground, blocking his path.
“Master.”
“What is it?”
“Should I surrender?”
“Hmm…”
Mo Yongchan hesitated, then tapped Yuri’s head with his sword.
“Ah!”
Yuri clutched his head, and only then did Mo Yongchan nod.
“I accept your surrender.”
Ena hurried over and checked Yuri’s head. No blood, but a small bump had formed.
As she tried to wrap it with a bandage, Yuri shook his head, refusing.
“I still think you should.”
“There’s no blood.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“…”
“That expression is kind of funny too.”
“Bring me some water.”
“Yes, sir.”
Yuri glared at Mo Yongchan with a sulky expression.
“Is this why you wanted to spar?”
Pushed to the edge, Yuri unconsciously used a strange technique.
It was partly his own insight but also a clever use of the Sword Spirit Slash.
“That’s not exactly it, but close.”
Mo Yongchan looked down at Yuri.
“Now you understand.”
“My exceptional talent?”
“How the Sword Spirit Slash was created.”
“This was from the ancestors…”
“The Fallen Swordmaster combined Western mana methods with Eastern mind techniques to create this divine art.”
“Oh…”
“And…”
Mo Yongchan’s eyes sharpened.
Internal energy surged, his clothes fluttering.
Looking down at the dazed Yuri, he muttered in the Eastern tongue.
[It even contains the martial art of the Heavenly Demon.]
Yuri strolled through the palace garden, recalling the conversation after their sparring.
Mo Yongchan had been vague about the Heavenly Demon, but his expression hadn’t been good.
Yuri pondered quietly to himself.
“You must have been a master from an incredibly powerful hostile sect—one that nearly wiped out Cheongseongpa. Our ancestor didn’t care about affiliations; if the martial art was strong, he absorbed it all.”
Surprisingly, that wasn’t far from the truth.
“Or maybe Cheongseongpa branded Cheonma’s martial arts as demonic and rejected them? But since our ancestor was open-minded, he must have recognized the potential within Cheonma’s techniques and quickly adapted them into the Simhon Slash.”
That, too, was close to reality.
But Yuri had no one to ask, so her guesses remained unanswered.
“Enough.”
She decided to enjoy the rare moment of solitude.
Sometimes, rest was necessary.
From her days as a mercenary fighting on the front lines every day, she’d learned one thing: the human body and mind wear down. Those who keep running without pause eventually break.
“Hmm…”
Yuri lay back on the grass, staring blankly up at the sky.
Suddenly, a face appeared beside her.
“Yuri.”
“Hyung?”
She sat up.
“What brings you here?”
She had sensed someone approaching but hadn’t expected Cedric.
“I was passing by and saw you lying here.”
Cedric grinned, eyes sparkling.
Though less than a year had passed since the Alliance War, Cedric hadn’t changed a bit.
He set down the books he’d been carrying and sat beside her.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. You’ve been doing amazing things, haven’t you?”
“Well, you know…”
“You’re incredible. Are you really my little sister?”
Cedric tousled her hair, and Yuri just smiled.
He was prone to bragging, but around Cedric, she felt shy for no reason. Being with him made her feel like she’d gone back to her boyhood, not living a second life.
“That’s all I can do, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“The rest, you handle it well. I just have to swing my sword and protect Briol.”
“Suddenly, that sounds like a heavy burden.”
“That’s the prince’s fate. How’s the palace been?”
“Same as always. Except Joshua’s been running wild here and there.”
“Causing trouble again?”
“Trouble, yes, but his intentions were good. He’s trying to change things in his own way.”
“Change?”
“For example, he’s been attending meetings and pushing proposals to repair roads or promote commerce.”
“Your second brother?”
Yuri’s eyes widened.
She knew she’d influenced him somehow, but she hadn’t expected him to use his sharp mind for something positive.
Cedric placed a hand on her shoulder.
“It’s reassuring. My siblings are all amazing.”
“The most amazing one is you, hyung. I’m really glad you’re the eldest.”
In both her past and current lives, Yuri had never met anyone like Cedric. He’d never scolded or raised his voice at anyone.
His leadership was exceptional—always making the right decisions, mediating conflicts, and being firm when necessary.
On top of that, he excelled in swordsmanship and scholarship. He was perfect in every way.
If the empire hadn’t invaded, Briol would have flourished under his guidance.
Cedric’s presence was a great comfort to Yuri now. She didn’t have to worry about much; as long as she held the line against the empire, he would handle everything else.
“So, you’re heading to the empire, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Be careful. The empire’s a rough place.”
“Don’t worry. No matter how tough those empire guys are, they can’t be worse than orcs.”
“Hahaha, is that so?”
Cedric laughed, then continued.
“If anything happens, write to me. Just send a carrier pigeon. I’ll help as much as I can.”
“Got it.”
“Also, there’s something I need to tell you…”
“What is it?”
“It’s a secret.”
“You know I’m good at keeping secrets.”
“Don’t tell anyone, okay?”
“Promise.”
Cedric adjusted his glasses and glanced around before whispering:
“I’m in love.”
Yuri blinked in surprise.
“With who?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Cedric spoke.
“With someone from the empire…”
“From the empire?”
“Ekaterina.”
“What?”
Yuri’s eyes grew even wider.