Bang!

The golden bowl on the table toppled over, and all the fruit inside scattered across the floor.

Driven half-mad by one message after another, the king slammed his palm on the gilded palace table and roared.

“What the hell is going on?!”

He jabbed a finger at the ministers seated below, cursing them out.

“You’re all a bunch of useless freeloaders! I didn’t feed you so you could sit there doing nothing all day. Now even the Third Army’s commander at the northern border, Larna, has… has—ugh!”

The crown on his head slipped and rolled onto the floor. He didn’t even try to pick it up. Instead, he slumped weakly back into his throne.

Recently, the beastkin had launched their first large-scale assault on the northern border. The empire had sent eleven SS‑class generals. Not a single one had come back.

Most of the northern cities were almost completely occupied by the beastkin.

“Your Majesty… Your Majesty, please calm your anger.”

The Minister of War and State, Rasov, hurriedly picked up the crown for him. He carefully wiped it clean with his sleeve, then placed it back on the king’s head.

“Even if I calm down,” the king sighed, “who can calm this already-ruined war situation?!”

“No, Your Majesty is simply too anxious. Leave military affairs to this old servant. As for Your Majesty’s true duty…”

“What is it? Don’t play coy with me. If you have a plan, spit it out!”

Rasov’s slow, dragging tone only piled on top of the king’s irritation.

“Your Majesty, don’t be impatient. At this point, the only option is to beg the empire’s four SSS‑class beings to act. Only they can stand against the beastkin. However…”

As he spoke, Rasov shot a meaningful look at the other ministers.

One particularly fat minister caught the hint and chimed in.

“Your Majesty, the Minister of War and State is right. But the empire can’t directly command them. Whether they’ll answer our summons is another matter altogether.”

“Yes, I know what you’re getting at… You want me to go to Durma myself, don’t you? Fine, I’ll go. Is that what you want?”

The situation had already been forced into a dead end.

There were only twenty‑eight SS‑class sorcerers left. Compared to the beastkin’s army, they could barely put up a fight. If the Four Supremes didn’t move, the imperial forces could be wiped out at any time.

“All we can do now is grit our teeth, swallow our pride, and go in person… Meeting adjourned!”

Among the Four Supremes, the paladin king was still in the divine realm attending the Eight Kings Conference and hadn’t returned. The Ancestor came and went like a ghost.

So that left just two: the Night Queen and that newly joined one.

But the Night Queen had never involved herself in the empire’s war with the beastkin. This time would be no different.

“That means the only one left is that new instructor.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I believe that lord’s name is Tsubaki Juxi. It might be worth a try.”

The minister was racking his brains to cheer the king up, but the king still didn’t hold out much hope.

After all, that man had apparently been recommended by the Night Queen herself. If he shared her stance, he might not care about this war at all.

However… the king thought, even if he couldn’t beat back the enemy, at least he might scare them enough to make them retreat.

“Ah, Your Majesty. Daydreaming a thousand times won’t make it real. What matters is actually doing something.”

Finally, under the ministers’ prodding, the king drew in a long breath. He took two generals with him and gave the order.

“Move out. Destination—our neighbor, Durma Academy!”

Meanwhile, deep beneath the Imperial City, I’d already lost track of how many days and nights had passed. Every day I just trained until I was completely exhausted, slept, then got up and started again.

“Hah! Haa!”

Lan suddenly pulled back her weapon, then aimed the tip straight at my abdomen.

“Heh, that move again? I don’t make the same mistake twice!”

“Same here. I’m not using the same trick twice either.”

“What?!”

This time she didn’t rush me. She retreated instead. At the same time, a cold smile appeared on her face, one that sent a chill down my spine.

The green runes on her spear flared with blinding light. A thousand blades through the heart!

Several green, willow‑leaf‑shaped blades exploded out from the spear, swirling wildly. My heart instantly panicked. Her strikes came with no pattern at all; I had no time to think about which blade to block.

“Hehe, looks like you lost again…”

“That’s not a sure thing yet, senpai!”

Sensing something was off, her gaze snapped behind her. She clenched her spear and blocked my sneak attack just in time.

Even with a fake Magic Sword, I could still draw out a decent amount of yuan‑energy, shift the air, and then use that energy to launch an Air Slash from above.

“Your speed’s not bad. But you’re lacking a real killing blow.”

She blocked my full‑power strike with nothing but the yuan‑energy from one hand behind her back.

She caught a Magic Sword strike with her bare hand. Like it was nothing.

Yeah, I knew my Magic Sword was only a replica and nowhere near the real thing. But blocking my full‑force attack without even breaking a sweat? That’s just broken.

“Hehe, you’ve improved. You can barely reach my heels now.”

She chuckled and stuck out her pinky at me.

Still acting like I’m beneath her.

“So you’re saying before this, I wasn’t even at your heels?”

“Pretty much. Right now you’ve only got the basics down. Next time then.”

She turned and walked off without looking back, leaving me alone by the Twilight Valley beside the Nether Blood Palace, vanishing without a trace.

…Do all experts love this damn trope? Just disappearing whenever I start to have questions.

I couldn’t help suspecting she’s afraid I’ll ask something she can’t answer and she’ll lose face… haha.

Speaking of Twilight Valley—this is the only place in the Netherworld that has a sun. But it’s always stuck at dusk. The sun hangs just above the horizon like a gem that refuses to sink, hovering on the surface of the sea.

I’d only recently heard that what shines here isn’t the sun at all, but the core of the world itself… Legend says the first Shadow King gave up fighting and submitted to the rule of the divine realm just to protect this crimson core of life.

In the War of the Gods, the Shadow King declared his defeat to the mortal world with his own mouth, and swore that his descendants would never betray the gods.

The Ancestor is the thirteenth successor of that Shadow King. The shadow blood in his veins is the thickest of his generation, so he rightfully became their ruler.

And his Magic Sword, the Blood Ritual Sword—

No one knows where it came from. Even the previous Shadow King was baffled by it.

At least, that’s what later generations say. Whether he was truly baffled or just pretending, that’s another story…

As for me right now, I had no idea I’d already stepped onto a path of no return.

Forget it. Better think about me and Qiu Caolan instead.

Somewhere along the way, I’d started calling her by that casual, intimate nickname without even realizing it.

I stared at the can of lemonade she’d only half finished and left on top of a rock. Just looking at it made my throat feel dry.

“She’s gone already, so she’s probably not coming back for it… It’d be a waste to leave it here. I’ll just help her finish it.”

I grabbed the half‑empty lemonade and gulped it down, draining it in one go.

I was just about to toss the empty can when—wait.

My eyes locked onto the opening of the can. That was where Lan‑senpai’s lips had touched. Drinking from there meant I’d just…

My face started heating up before I knew it.

“Ehh… so Paroni, you’re into indirect kisses with girls? What a perv.”

While I was busy drowning in my own delusions, I had no idea when he’d shown up. In a whoosh, a head popped out from behind my back.

“W‑wah—Ancestor‑sensei… When did you get here?!”

“Hehehe, no need to be nervous, Paroni. I’ve been watching you for quite a while.”

I didn’t know how many days and nights of battles it had been. I’d gradually gotten the hang of fighting. Only… the Magic Sword was still the same as ever.

“Did I mess something up in the process?”

“No. You’ve simply never noticed that step.”

“Never noticed it?”

“Yes.”

For some reason, there was a trace of sorrow on the Ancestor’s face. A lingering sadness that wouldn’t fade.

“Think about it. The Magic Sword has a will of its own. You just don’t want to touch her heart. When I said she’s like your lover, I didn’t mean you should pamper her. I meant you need to understand her—understand why she ended up with a tragedy she never deserved.”

“A tragic end? That’s…”

“I don’t know.”

This time the Ancestor shut me down outright. His tone turned ice‑cold.

“That’s your own problem. You should have already met your Magic Sword face‑to‑face, right?”

“Met… her? I don’t understand a word you’re saying. Met her?”

“Yes. If you hadn’t made some unresolved promise with her, you never would’ve gotten this Magic Sword in the first place.”

His palm slammed into my back. Right where my heart was.

In that instant, aside from the Ancestor’s voice, one more person surfaced in my mind.

My little sister—Nana.

If anyone else lived in the deepest part of my heart, it would only be her… my sister I once loved more than anyone, the only sister whose big brother once swore to protect her forever.

“It’s her…”

My voice trembled with disbelief. My legs gave out, and I collapsed to my knees.

“She never left… She just won’t let me go, will she?”

“It’s not that she won’t let you go. It’s that you won’t let her go.”

While I was muttering to myself, the Ancestor cut in sharply.

“You’re the one who tied a knot around her soul in this lifetime—a knot that can’t be undone. That knot is probably the real reason you can’t summon the Magic Sword.”

“I see… so I’m the one who did this to her…”

Tears of pure fear leaked from the corners of my eyes. This was the first time I’d ever been hit by something I truly couldn’t handle.

“It’s me… it’s all my fault…”

Everything around me started to blur. When I blinked, the twilight valley where the sun sank behind the mountains vanished like mist.

In its place was a quiet, elegant lakeshore. Grass swayed gently in the breeze.

By the river stood a simple two‑story wooden cabin, unadorned. Beside it, my little sister was playing with a red‑haired boy.

“Nana… and me?”

Just as I was about to reach them, their figures scattered like illusions, and I grabbed nothing but air.

“Gone?!”

But the house, the forest, the lake—they all remained, penning me in from every side. It was such a beautiful place, so why… why did it feel so familiar?

I frantically combed through every memory in my mind.

Digging, digging through that part of my past long buried by time…

At last, it hit me.

“No wonder it looked so familiar…”

Everything here was something I’d once had.

This was the place I used to call home.