Episode 688
Chapter 176. Destiny for Two (2)
“My father…”
Jin poured himself a drink, his gaze drifting toward the distant sky.
Thinking of his father, his eldest sister, and the Black Sea expedition force composed of the family’s strongest former Black Knights stirred a dark turmoil within him.
The reason Jin hadn’t set out to find the expedition force all this time was precisely because the world’s greatest swordsman and the strongest warriors of the era had ventured into the uncharted depths of the Black Sea.
Chasing after them was nearly impossible, and Tikan—or rather, Inse—was not in a position to afford Jin’s absence.
Jade had left to find Siron after resisting Rosa’s tyranny, and Mumyung had promised to send reinforcements to the Black Sea once matters with Yona were settled…
But Jin instinctively knew that the only way news of the expedition would reach Inse was if a member of the expedition returned in person.
“The day we first met in the Sota Desert, I sensed you held your father in great respect.”
“Respect… that’s not wrong. If I were to be precise, it was more like reverence.”
“Did you ever lose to your father in the Black Sea?”
Hedo chuckled softly.
“That’s an obvious question. Who could stand against Siron and not be defeated? When I first saw Siron, I couldn’t even exchange a single stroke with him.”
“How long had it been since you entered the Black Sea at that point?”
“About ten years. During those ten years, I fought not only monsters but countless other warriors who had come to the Black Sea like me. I chose the Black Sea as my refuge, but there were far more warriors seeking training there than I expected. I met over five hundred of them.”
“Five hundred? That many warriors chose the Black Sea as their training ground?”
“It’s the perfect place for secluded training. Besides, I only learned after leaving the Black Sea that back then, the world strongly believed the Black Sea was Siron’s domain.”
From a young age, Siron often left the Garden of Swords to visit the Black Sea.
Though it remained a closely guarded secret that he and his knights had been mapping the Black Sea, everyone knew he had spent a long time training there.
“Nowadays, no one dares challenge Siron in your era. But back then, it was different. Not only the Lord of the Secret Bow or the Sword Emperor, but renowned warriors, mages, and hidden masters from every faction were desperate to cross swords with Siron.”
As the conversation turned to the past, Jin suddenly became aware of Hedo’s age.
Beneath his impressively muscular frame, he was about the same age as Siron.
“A time full of romance, then.”
“To warriors of this era, perhaps. But those who directly challenged Siron back then would find no romance anywhere. Their lifelong achievements were nothing but mere playthings before Siron.”
Countless giants had turned to dust beneath Siron’s blade.
Some were famous, others unknown but even more skilled.
“Most challengers couldn’t even establish a proper fight. Those who managed meaningful duels ended up broken, despairing, or vanished. The ones who survived longest, waiting for their chance, were the likes of the Lord of the Secret Bow, the Sword Emperor… I suppose a drink for the Sword Emperor is in order.”
The two raised their glasses to the sky and emptied them.
“You were among them as well.”
“I only realized later that I stood in the midst of that turbulent era. At the time, I was completely unaware of the outside world, or that the world’s greatest swordsman was in my refuge. I only learned Siron’s name because some warriors who came to the Black Sea mistook me for him.”
“Mistook you for your father?”
“Many challengers came, but the Black Sea is vast. And the terrain often shifts, so those who actually met Siron were lucky. Many spent years searching for him, only to die in the Black Sea, unable to find their way back.”
“That makes sense.”
“You’ve never been to the Black Sea alone, have you? Walking that dark land alone… most people would lose their minds. Challengers wandered the Black Sea, drawing their swords at anything they encountered—human or monster alike. I was among the stronger ones, so I was mistaken for Siron.”
“Did anyone defeat you?”
“No. Probably because I never crossed paths with the Lord of the Secret Bow or the Sword Emperor. I was clearly weaker than them.”
Though born with a divine physique, all of Hedo’s achievements were self-taught.
He was inevitably weaker than those who inherited martial arts passed down through generations under the same special condition.
Hedo knew this well, having struggled against challengers with far weaker bodies.
His swordsmanship was wild and destructive but lacked depth.
“However, there were those who weren’t challengers but still pushed me to the brink of death.”
“You mean the former Black Knights, your father’s knights. The first was Lady Vanessa.”
“Exactly. Until then, I had only fought those who accidentally tried to challenge Siron, but Vanessa came to me with a purpose.”
“You bear a heavy sin for impersonating the Lord. Intentional or not.”
“Who are you?”
“But if you prove more useful than him, you might one day meet the Lord alive.”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
When Hedo recounted his conversation with Vanessa, Jin’s eyes widened.
“It seems your father wanted to recruit you, Top Keeper. Lady Vanessa tested your skills and, if you proved worthy, would have brought you to him.”
“Most likely.”
Though unknown to the public, Hedo had earned enough fame in the Black Sea to catch Siron’s attention—a rare case.
Had he been recruited then, Hedo would have become a Black Knight of Runkandel, not a butler to Ziphl.
“I lost to Vanessa in less than ten minutes. That was the first time I was so shocked.”
“Somehow, I feel my shoulders puffing up.”
“And I ran like a dog. Just like the monsters fleeing from me, I behaved disgracefully.”
“I can hardly picture you like that.”
“Think about it. What would a human who’d never been trained and hadn’t left the Black Sea since age fifteen look like?”
It was easy to imagine.
“…Like a beast, or a monster.”
The composed Hedo, always in crisp shirts and suits with refined manners, was a completely different person back then.
“I screamed and ran, throwing everything I could grab, even wetting myself. I didn’t feel shame—only the will to survive.”
“What happened next?”
“Because I knew the Black Sea better than Vanessa, I managed to escape. I hid and focused on recovery, but a feeling I’d never known tormented me: shame and defeat. I only realized those ordinary emotions then, along with a burning desire for revenge.”
From that day, Hedo dedicated himself to training to defeat Vanessa.
Surviving in the Black Sea was training in itself, so his life didn’t change much, but now he had a goal.
“I ventured deeper than usual to find stronger monsters, fought challengers wandering there, and years passed. The sword I called ‘Veil’…”
Hedo paused.
The sword he called Veil wasn’t its original name.
The true Veil, now Sandra’s servant, called that sword ‘Shakan.’
Hedo never reclaimed Shakan from Veil.
Sandra could have ordered it back with a word, but without Shakan, Veil couldn’t unleash its full power.
“I obtained it then. The sword belonged to an inner demon who wielded chaotic power. Why the sword of the old Runkandel Ten Knights was in that demon’s hands, I don’t know.”
“Hmm, you could just ask Veil directly. Wait a moment, we’ve run out of drink.”
Jin returned to the dining hall and brought back fresh liquor.
“Before being sealed, the sword was lost during a battle with the old Ten Knights in the Black Sea. Losing the sword was decisive in the sealing. The inner demon probably found it by chance.”
Clink, clink… their glasses were refilled.
“I never expected to hear such stories. I’ll have a new sword made that you’ll surely like. My third sister will soon bring a remarkable blacksmith from Huepfester—a man named Vin Blanche.”
“That’s a new name to me.”
“He’s the incarnation of the Pikon Mintze. You can look forward to it. So, after getting the sword, did you challenge Lady Vanessa again?”
“I did, but still couldn’t win. Even with greater power than Vanessa. After three more fights, I finally won once. Each time I sought her out, it took about a year, so I spent years chasing Siron and his knights, constantly attacking.”
“You fought other knights besides Vanessa?”
“I fought nearly every Black Knight in the Black Sea.”
“And yet you survived.”
“Siron regarded me as a cute wild animal, so I survived.”
“A cute wild animal, you say?”
“In that dreadful land—dark, barren, filled only with monsters—I was a challenger who owed no one any courtesy. Sir Shiron always took human challengers seriously, even when they came all the way there, but I was treated like a stray cat.”
Jin pictured both Hedo and a stray cat at once, but naturally, he couldn’t find any real similarity between the two.
“A stray cat? Is that really possible?”
“At that time, I was already aiming for ten stars based purely on strength. I can’t imagine Sir Shiron, who looked down on me so casually, dying in the Black Sea. Besides, Baekgyeong and those Black Knights from back then would all be there too. So you can stop worrying about your father.”
Jin’s eyes widened.
From the moment Shiron’s name came up, Jin had been quietly deflated, almost without realizing it.
Hedo noticed and showed him some kindness.
“Thank you. But Keeper, why didn’t you become my father’s knight back then?”