Luxelion’s left arm, still clutching the great shield, thudded onto the ground.
A surge of exhilaration and triumph raced through me. To think I could so easily shatter the legendary shield of Luxelion, the man of the Iron Wall!
But my joy was short-lived.
I couldn't possibly maintain that level of extreme power, fueled by such a massive sacrifice of mana, for long. The crimson-black energy coiling around the Blood Sword dissipated into a mist. The blade itself reverted to liquid and hit the ground with a wet splat.
My knees buckled. My entire body felt like lead. This was the price for pouring everything into a single strike.
As the pain forced me back to reality, I looked up—and saw the Black Knight King’s massive hand closing in on me.
I had no time to dodge.
He seized me by the neck and hoisted me into the air with terrifying strength. He did it effortlessly, dangling me like a kitten. My feet left the ground, swinging uselessly.
Even after losing an arm, he still possessed this much power?
I grabbed at Luxelion’s right arm and forced the words out.
"Hey... My... majesty... Is it still... not enough to satisfy you...?"
I had shown him plenty of majesty. Stop being a sore loser, Black Knight King!
"I acknowledge your strength," he rumbled. "To shatter my shield is a feat worthy of marvel. However!"
Suddenly, the world tilted.
Before I could even gasp, Luxelion hurled me away. My back slammed into the ground with bone-shaking force. The impact squeezed the air right out of my lungs.
"Gah...!"
I couldn't move. Luxelion retrieved his morning star and strode toward me. Then, he placed his massive foot directly onto my left arm.
A sickening, creaking sound echoed. He wasn't even putting his full weight down yet. If he moved just a few more inches, my arm would be pulverized in an instant.
"This is not the answer I seek."
Not the answer?
You were the one who kept demanding I show my majesty! If that wasn't the answer, what was?
"Why do you seek power so desperately?"
The pressure on my arm intensified, and the pain spiked.
"I told you! I have a responsibility! Because of me, that man manifested. If he's left alone, the world will be destroyed. I have to do this!"
I would defeat him. It was my responsibility. Was there any answer more righteous than that?
The Black Knight King let out a derisive snort.
"Then I shall repeat myself. I wish to hear your Soul’s Cry."
In that instant, agony exploded through my body.
Luxelion shifted his full weight, ruthlessly crushing my left arm.
"Gah... aaaaaggghhhhh!"
It wasn't just a break. The bone was shattered, pulverized into the surrounding flesh.
As my mind began to haze over, my consciousness drifted back through the past—back to the heavy, suffocating emotions I harbored for Verdict, etched into the very depths of my soul.
Initially, I had trusted Verdict. I had looked up to him as a mentor and felt a strange sense of kinship. But it had all been a setup.
He had betrayed me.
The moment I turned Klaus into my kin, Verdict had hijacked his body. I would never forget that sight—the way Verdict’s eyes had glared out from Klaus’s face. He had been waiting for the exact moment I used the Blood Covenant.
He had used me.
The bitterness was impossible to describe. To be told that everything—every moment of trust, every ounce of gratitude—was a lie.
"I shall become the first to create two pieces of Ancient Magic! And then, I shall destroy the world once more!"
His arrogant declaration still rang in my ears. He had trampled all over me and then thrown me away like trash.
...Ah. I see.
I finally understood.
Polite words like "responsibility" or "duty" didn't fit. The magma-like rage boiling in my gut couldn't be expressed with such clean language.
The raw, savage impulse to hunt that man down and kill him...
Luxelion lifted his foot from my left arm, which was now little more than a bag of blood and crushed bone. He raised his massive morning star high.
"This is the final question."
The shadow of the iron ball loomed over my head.
"Show me your Will."
...So that was it.
Now that I had finally confronted my own emotions, I realized my mistake. He hadn't been asking for my majesty—he wanted my Will.
Not might or intimidation. Not majesty.
But my willpower. My stubbornness. The true "Will" buried at the bottom of my soul.
I get it now, Black Knight King. Your explanation was seriously lacking!
What I needed to spit out wasn't some noble sense of duty. It was something far more primal.
"Because I’m bitter!"
The words exploded out of me, fueled by pure rage. The dam broke, and everything I had been suppressing came flooding out.
"I was weak, and he took everything from me! He played me like a puppet, used me, and then laughed in my face!"
I could still see that mocking grin burned into my retinas. Those eyes that looked at me as if I were nothing more than a speck of dust.
"I want to wipe away this humiliation with my own two hands! That's why I need power! I’ve already found the blade to slit his throat! Now, I want the shield that can stop his every attack!"
I glared up at Luxelion, my voice raw.
"Lend me your strength, Luxelion! So that I can trample that man with my own Will!"
I had emptied myself. Everything was out in the open.
It was a strange sensation—as if I had finally voiced the words carved into my very soul. A deep sense of satisfaction washed over me. Even if Luxelion killed me now, I felt I could accept it.
The morning star fell.
With a thunderous crash, the iron ball buried itself in the ground right next to my head.
"At last, I have heard it. The truth within your gut. Your essence is the wrath of the trampled. That is reason enough to slay another."
He stood tall.
"I shall lend my strength to your path of Hegemony."
With those words, the world began to shimmer and dissolve.
The desolate ancient battlefield lost its color. The corpses, the wasteland, the leaden sky—everything blurred and faded like watercolor paint washed away by a flood. Every outline softened and melted into nothingness.
When I opened my eyes, I was sitting at the table in the Forbidden Library.
The Book of 'Steel within the Heart' lay open before me.
There was no pain in my left arm; it was perfectly fine. Luxelion must have restored me.
But passing the test had left a permanent mark. I could feel it—a new Ancient Magic lying dormant within my consciousness, ready to be called upon.
Verdict. Shiunin. Florina. And now, Luxelion.
I had finally obtained the Strongest Blade and the Iron Wall Shield.
"Verdict... I’m ready for you."
I stared at the book, my voice cold.
"Next, it’s my turn to trample you."