“Meow!”

The White Tiger, finally recovering from the pain, happily bounded straight toward its mountain of Star God Iron.

That left Xiaobai and the scruffy old man where they were.

“Young friend, I gave you the stuff, so put away your pressure.”

“Okay.”

Xiaobai’s heart stirred, and one pressure vanished in the blink of an eye.

“Y-You...”

“What about me? If you’ve got something to say, spit it out...”

“Young friend, why haven’t you put away the other pressure?”

The scruffy old man had planned to turn and run the moment Xiaobai put away the pressure, escaping this “demon’s lair.”

But then he suddenly noticed another pressure, faint and almost imperceptible.

This pressure was peculiar. Aside from stopping people from even thinking about moving, it had no other effect.

It was as if it had pinned someone in place—and that person even seemed to be willing...

“Why should I put it away?”

Guessing what the old man was planning, Xiaobai smiled.

“Star God Iron? What am I supposed to do with this junk? It’s no use to me... It’s compensation for my Kitty, and it has nothing to do with me, okay?”

“So, where’s my share of the compensation? Fighting you was exhausting. My hands are sore.”

“You must have some other good stuff, old man. Hand it over on your own, and make sure it’s something that suits me. Otherwise, heh—you know what’ll happen.”

“Pwah~”

Another mouthful of blood.

“Y-You’re robbing me...” the old man said, pointing at Xiaobai in outrage.

“That’s right, I’m robbing you. Come on, hand it over.”

Xiaobai admitted it.

“Of course, once I’m satisfied, I’ll let you go. I keep my word.”

“You...”

“Take it, take it.”

With a flick of his sleeve, a sword shot out.

The scruffy old man had no choice. He couldn’t beat Xiaobai, and he couldn’t escape, so he could only do as Xiaobai said.

And he couldn’t afford to act cocky, either.

Otherwise, the pressure he felt next wouldn’t be this gentle.

“Whoa, this sword...”

Xiaobai held a slender sword that glowed red from end to end, with strange golden patterns engraved along its blade.

“How does this sword feel, kid?”

“It feels like it’s brimming with power.”

“And it looks a lot more pleasing to the eye than that pitch-black sword in your hand, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

Xiaobai glanced at his black sword. Even with its night-like glow, it still didn’t look as good as this red one.

“Then I’ll give you this sword. You’ll put away your pressure, right?”

“I... Wait...”

“Young friend, is there a problem?”

“I need to test this sword and see how good it is,” Xiaobai said.

“Young friend, I’m not bragging, but everything in my collection is top-notch. The quality is guaranteed.”

The old man thumped his chest as he spoke.

“This sword isn’t just sharp. It’s also forged with feathers from an eight-star Sacred Beast, the Infernal Demon Phoenix. It’s the supreme sword among fire-type swords—a holy sword.”

“A holy sword? That sounds super awesome.”

“Of course. Except for Divine Swords, every sword of the same element is trash compared to it.”

“By the way, old man, swords have elements too?” Xiaobai voiced his confusion.

“Swordsmen have elements, and swords do too. What kind of stupid question is that? Wait, y-you... You don’t know that Swordsmen have elements either, do you?” the old man guessed.

“I didn’t know. I only knew Mages had elements. Swordsmen have them too?” Xiaobai was a little dazed. As far as he could remember, his master had never told him that.

“You...” The old man stared at him in disbelief, frozen in place.

Xiaobai shook his head.

“Forget it. I’ll learn about it later. First, let’s test the sword.”

With that, Xiaobai held the red sword in his left hand and prepared to bring it straight down on the black sword held horizontally in his right.

Just as the blades were about to meet—

“Young friend, wait!”

Hearing the shout, Xiaobai stopped his left hand and looked at the old man.

“Why?” Xiaobai asked, puzzled.

“Think about it. My sword is incredibly powerful. If you do that, you might break your sword—and then you’ll make me pay for it again, won’t you?”

The old man suddenly felt very clever. He’d almost fallen for Xiaobai’s trick again.

“You don’t need to pay. I keep my word,” Xiaobai said at once, catching on.

“You said it, kid?” The old man grinned from ear to ear.

“I said it!” Xiaobai replied.

Seeing how sure Xiaobai was, the old man stopped trying to intervene and got ready to enjoy the show.

Xiaobai resumed the motion he’d just made.

“Whoosh~”

His left hand swung so fast that it even made a sound as it cut through the air.

“Clang~”

The swords collided.

“Th-This...”

“???”

The red sword in Xiaobai’s left hand shattered completely, while the black sword in his right hand was completely unscathed.

“Old man, didn’t you say your sword was some kind of holy sword?”

Xiaobai turned to look at the scruffy old man.

The old man was staring in utter shock.

“N-No way!”

“How could my holy sword lose to an ordinary sword that looks like a lump of soot?”

“Old man, could my sword actually be a Divine Sword?”

Xiaobai guessed, looking rather pleased with himself.

“Dream on!”

“There’s only ever been one Divine Sword, and it and its owner have both perished. I’ve seen it before, too. Leaving aside the details, your sword’s the wrong color.”

“No! I refuse to accept this!”

“Again!”

“Swish~” “Swish~” “Swish~”

“Swish~” “Swish~” “Swish~”

The old man was worked up. He flung six more swords of different colors from his sleeve, and they were all beautiful, too.

“Wow, old man, you’ve got a lot of swords.”

“This one should be pretty good too, right?”

Xiaobai picked up a green sword. The moment he gripped it, a comfortable feeling welled up inside him.

“Of course. It’s a wind-type holy sword,” the old man answered at once.

“This one’s a holy sword too? Old man, you saw how powerful my black sword is. Are you sure you still want to make them clash?”

“Tch. I’ve used that red sword who knows how many times. It was probably a little damaged, so an accident like that is perfectly normal. But these six swords? I’ve barely used them since I got them.”

The old man had calmed down. He nodded.

That had definitely been an accident. How could a holy sword have quality issues?

“Then I’ll test this one too?”

“Go ahead. It’ll be fine—as long as you’re not afraid your own sword will break...”

And yet...

Xiaobai made his move.

“Clang~”

The two swords met. Just like the red sword before it, the green one shattered, while Xiaobai’s black sword remained completely unscathed.

“???”

“...”

“Ha ha, old man, your swords are no good!”

Xiaobai turned to look at the old man and laughed.

“No!!! This can’t be...” the old man said, unable to believe it.

“What do you mean, it can’t be? The truth is right in front of you,” Xiaobai said.

“I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it!!”

“It must be because the elements are incompatible. Yes, that’s it.”

The old man’s eyes were bloodshot.

“Again! This one’s ice-type.”

“Clang~”

Ice-type sword: dead.

“Here, this one’s earth-type.”

“Clang~”

Earth-type sword: dead.

“This one’s lightning-type.”

“Clang~”

Lightning-type sword: dead.

“Dark.”

“Clang~”

Dark-type sword: dead.

Before long, the ground was covered with sword fragments, and only one intact sword remained.

“N-No... I don’t believe it... How could this happen...”

The old man was utterly crushed. His eyes were almost vacant.

He’d carefully collected those six swords—six “holy swords”—for over a hundred thousand years. And just now, every last one of them had been destroyed.

Meanwhile, Xiaobai’s black sword was completely fine.

“Old man, do you... want to keep going?”

Seeing how pitiful the old man looked, Xiaobai asked.

“How about I take a different item instead of the sword? You can give me something else. This is your last one, so keep it as a memento.”

Xiaobai even felt a little guilty.

“N-No... I don’t want to.”

“What did you say, old man?”

“Th-This time, I... I want to test it myself...” The old man had taken such a beating that he could barely get the words out.

With a trembling left hand, he picked up his final sword.

In his mind, this one was... a light-type holy sword.

It had to be right. This time, it wouldn’t fail again.

It was definitely because the elements had been different.

The sword in that kid’s hand had to be light-type. His own was the strongest light-type sword, so there was no way the kid’s sword could escape destruction this time.

He took the black sword Xiaobai handed him in his right hand.

Then, with all his strength, he swung his left hand toward the right.

“Clang~”

That despairing sound rang out once more.

Light-type sword: dead.

“Aaaaaah!!!!!!”

“Why!!!!!!”

“This is impossible!!!”

“...”

As he spoke, he fainted on the spot.

“Clatter~”

The black sword in his hand fell to the ground, too.

“Sigh.”

“Old man, you really can’t take a hit.”

“There’s no mystery to it. I think it’s pretty easy to explain.”

Xiaobai had no choice but to bend down and pick up his black sword, which had survived all those fierce collisions without a scratch.

Xiaobai gave the black sword an affectionate pat, kissed it once, and returned it to its sheath. Then he looked at the old man, who had fainted, and sighed.

“If my sword isn’t a Divine Sword, then your swords... I’m not trying to be mean... The truth is right here... Their quality... is really awful.”

“What kind of elemental holy swords? They were probably all just made up with a lot of boasting.”

Holy swords, huh? Compared to my black sword, they weren’t worth a damn.

“Old man, I think you’ve been swindled...”

“And you treasured them like they were priceless... Tsk, tsk, tsk...”