Amelia took her stance. Slightly walking forward with an air of discontent all around her. Far too many things had gone awry for her to even make sense of it. At first, it was Miyamoto’s appearance, that caused her protective charm to be shattered, rendering her will to fight null.

Next, was her master suddenly gaining Sval’s favor by immediately talking about a little girl. From what she could gather, it was clearly related to the Lower Rank 10 sword had caused quite a stir before. Even then, the envoy she had sent there didn’t say anything at all.

Now for her master to suddenly disregard her without hesitation meant that this matter was related to something that was completely beyond her. At this point, she was nothing more than a sacrificial lamb. And the butcher came prepared. This was completely unjust.

Her being thrown aside was par for the course, she had already understood that going under Dolores was something that was essentially forfeiting her life to another. Even so, she believed that she would regain her strength and be someone who would be valuable. Valuable enough to be kept by her master’s side.

Even if that wasn’t the case then so be it, she would be sacrificed as a soulless pawn. This, she could at least understand. But the situation in front of her was just far too wild, far beyond her expectations to make any sense of it.

From the trembling annoyance of seeing everything all around her fail time and time again, her discontent slowly reformed as another emotion, anger.

She was angry. She was furious. She was… mad.

Amelia’s porcelain-like appearance shifted, as her previously calm and emotionless face finally showed a hint of unbridled rage towards her opponent. She very well knew, and she very well understood that no matter what she did, she would falter.

In this barren landscape with nothing but scorched earth and burning sand.

“Was that little girl really that important?” Amelia wanted answers at the very least. Something concrete.

“All I can say is that she’s an eccentric person. Suddenly forcibly selling me a sword during a duel that I would die in.” Sval did not hold this point back. Seeing that Amelia was unrestrained in letting her emotions flow now it no longer mattered.

“Then… is that sword as terrifying as the sword as he has?” Amelia pointed at Miyamoto, emphasizing the terrifying pressure Miyamoto exerted on all of them just moments ago.

As Amelia clearly noticed that Sval wasn’t affected at all, there was some evidence behind her claim.

“Only one way to find out.” Sval raised and held his sword with one hand, similar to how an expert of the sword would handle it. Without any tricks or gimmicks, Sval authentically moved as his heart told him to. His motions showed no hesitation, flowing freely as if he had properly met his match. Everything felt right.

“Raahhh!” Amelia screamed, all her pent-up frustrations were unleashed as she used up all the mana she had in this one attack. Countless threads appeared from thin air, coming from an amorphous blue blob levitating above the ground. It was no longer calculated and prepared, it was fully erratic and chaotic.

These threads were not stronger nor weaker from her initial state, the only thing that changed was the sheer amount of threads that were being created and controlled at this very moment. Now that Amelia's fate was sealed, there was no point in trying to hold back.

The previously roaring typhoon that caused severe trouble to Sval earlier was now much more threatening. A raging wave of countless threads, acting like a tsunami, all converging onto Sval’s position. It forced him to stand his ground and handle everything that came his way.

“Hah! As expected!” Amelia looked at Sval’s expression and was further convinced of her belief.

Within the depths of the countless swarming threads all around him, Sval wasn’t perplexed at all. In fact, he seemed somewhat expectant of what would happen next. With his sword, following the path that was laid before him, he swiped in front of him.

Though nothing happened.

He then slashed all around him, forming a complete circle. His composed expression showed that this was completely intentional.

Yet nothing happened.

Amelia was getting confused, “Are you playing with me?! Just end it already!” She didn’t know why Sval was doing this at all. She could already foresee her defeat, being toyed around like this was too far.

Sval didn’t listen to her. He merely continued on his next stance. After forming a complete circle around him, he pointed his sword forward and slashed behind him, forming an arc with his trajectory.

Still, nothing has happened.

This even confused Dolores who peeked at Miyamoto’s expression trying to gauge just what Sval was up to. She tried to understand what his facial features said yet as an experienced veteran, Miyamoto hadn’t left any gaps for her to exploit.

“No need to try and spy on me. I’ll tell you what’s happening right now.” Miyamoto’s face might’ve not shown any kind of gaps but the tone of his voice clearly indicated that something wonderful was happening.

As the absurd amount of compacted threads started to lean in even closer, Sval kept on doing his basic sword stances. He felt no fear nor agitation, as calm as a piece of leaf atop a stable pond. There was no hastiness or rush, everything was flowing as it were. Naturally.

“Do you have the concept of Awakening in your world?” Miyamoto asked a basic question. This was a simple yes or no question, something that wouldn’t give anyone trouble answering. Yet there was something fundamentally different, the generational gap between a person who does and does not know.

“Awakening, may I ask you to clarify it better? Definitions are the most important aspect of understanding if they truly are one of the same. What I may understand as Awakening might be completely different from what you envision.” Dolores didn’t rush either, smoothly talking with the proper etiquette of her home world.

“Perhaps a short story would be enough to explain what an Awakening is.” Miyamoto didn’t even bother caring about what the outcome before him would be. Sval would be the already-decided winner. There was no suspense.

“There was once a young girl, who catered to the livestock in her farm. Every day she would feed, bathe, and play with them. Her life was bright when she woke up and gloomy, when she laid down. ‘Oh, how I wish I could play with them forever!’ she said.”

This story… was completely unexpected from Dolores’ view. As odd as it seemed, there seemed to be an inherent lesson in all this.

“Yet with no magical capabilities, she grumbled and cried, feeling the loss of being unable to play with her friends forever. Her parents they yelled, the townsfolk they mocked, she was called but a fool with delusions plaguing the mind. ‘Play with pigs? She’s filthy. Play with cows? She’s no mother. Play with chickens? No one would embrace her.’ Everyone else said.”

Dolores didn’t understand. What was the lesson for all this? This was just seemingly turning into more and more of a tragedy of a crazy child.

“She cried and bled, she ran ahead. To set her friends free, who were locked in their shed. Her mother, she came and took her wrist. Branding the mark of a devil, escaping into the mist.”

“A poem?” Dolores felt as if her ears were playing tricks with her. “A tragedy in the form of a poem?”

Miyamoto smiled, continuing his poem, “Years had passed as the fires all burned. The mark of the devil has now returned. Her friends are now dead, eaten, or old. She came back feeling… very uncontrolled.”

“Sir Miyamoto, this is no longer appropriate!” Dolores felt something within her snap. The words Miyamoto spoke seemed to contain some sort of... truth. Something that he had learned from his experience in the vast beyond.

“A smile with glee as the effigies were set free. A pyre so grand her mother no longer needed her knee. Chop, chop, chop. Pop. Pop. Pop.” Miyamoto then glanced at Sval who was still experiencing his own epiphany.

“Please, stop! Such a story means nothing at all! There’s nothing to gain from it!” Dolores had still retained her coldness yet cracks were showing.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Corpses around had already been consumed. Their bodies were aged, and their village was doomed. On top of the slaughter of mindless violence. Was a girl with power that was only met with silence.” Miyamoto had finished and no longer needed to continue.

“Stop it! Sir Miyamoto, this cruel story has no meaning behind it other than for revenge! Such a meaningful story of violence does not lead me to an understanding of what an Awakening is!” Dolores… finally showed emotion.

“My, it seems as if your world was turned upside down.” Miyamoto looked and gazed, well beyond what his eye could see. “An Awakening… makes no sense. That’s it. It’s senseless, it’s violent, it’s gruesome, it’s cruel. But do you understand what happens in the story?”

“Sir Miyamoto, as much as Master wishes for me to treat you as I would him, your words are far too much.” Dolores had no idea what Miyamoto was after yet the story he just told her caused her to feel something very desolate within herself.

“You gain power. You gain enough power that you would have no equal. I’ll take this little story apart for you piece by piece.”

“Sir Miyamoto, if that was the case then why didn’t you lead with that? I don’t see how hearing such a terrible tragedy would ever be relevant.”

“Nothing? A little girl who only wanted something pure was shunned by everyone else around her. Despite that she followed her dreams, she did it despite everyone putting her down. To the point that she was branded so that even if she no longer wished for that dream, she would still be shunned.” Miyamoto pointed out each vital point.

“I see…” Dolores could finally see it. Hidden in that cruel and vicious tragedy truly laid a lesson.

“Now with her hand forced, she had no other choice but to grow strong in order to protect herself. She needed to live for every single being in the world desired to survive. This story is designated to be cruel, to be evil, to show you what you truly needed to see.”

Dolores didn’t even answer anymore, left to think about what this story truly had.

“Now that you have calmed down, there’s still more. One last part, the finale. Would you want to hear it?” Miyamoto calmly asked, quietly waiting for Dolores to answer.

“... Yes.” Dolores gave him her answer.

“The greatest devil of all time had finally appeared, and the strongest hero was fully geared. They will now face against each other until the end of time. Yet a discrepancy appeared, as the hero’s hand pierced the devil’s heart, ‘It felt sublime.’ Now with kingdoms filled with rife. Boredom filling her mind, she took her own life.” Miyamoto ended it off with an extremely odd passage.

Despite sounding so off, it somehow made sense. It was the feeling of a story needing that final few words to complete everything. It was a questionable answer to a confusing situation. It explains why the girl became strong but that adds even more questions. Even so, there was one answer for that.

“Fate,” Dolores uttered one word and this one word was the only thing that could come up after hearing all that.

“I was ready to slowly explain it all to you but it looks like you got it. That’s what an Awakening is, it’s fate.”

“You control your own actions but your place in this world will never change. Yet there’s one way to circumvent this, and that is called… Awakening. Defying fate, defying the path laid before you, and through your own actions, you take what was yours and you mold it into something you desire. That is Awakening.”

“Seeing your own path and refusing it. Searching across space and time to choose one that you could call your own, your very own path. So, Dolores, does this answer your question? Do you have people who defy their own fate?” Miyamoto’s solemn expression turned into a slightly warm smile.

Finally, they circled back to Miyamoto’s original question, whether or not there was someone that Awakened in her world.

“I guess, we really do have different understandings of what an Awakening is. It’s not as gruesome as your story, fortunately. It’s merely a barrier that lets us ascend to a greater state of being. Beyond a mortal, yet weaker than divinity. An odd middle point, if you will.”

“That is what we call, Ascension. I suggest you redefine your words soon to fit the common vocabulary.” Miyamoto stated as if it was a matter of fact.

“As you wish.” Dolores had reverted back to her initial state. Her cracks reformed and everything seemed normal once again.

As much as Dolores wanted to receive more information from Miyamoto, the unnerving feeling of earlier prevented her from doing so. This resulted in them staying in silence for a prolonged time.

The wave of interlaced threads was finally about to reach Sval when he raised his sword. He had completed his Awakening.

His action of choosing to wield a sword was one of great significance. This was truly a history-changing moment. For a genius to play to one of his strengths, he would completely and utterly be one in the field.

As for his fate? The accumulation of the events here had changed it. He was initially supposed to die here due to his own pride yet Helena’s appearance changed it. A simple transaction was enough for Sval’s fate to completely turn around.

Finally living his own life, he chose to put down his pride and follow the way of the blade. As he was no longer tethered, he was now free to finally reign as he wished.

“Wrathful Blade First Form: Sweeping Edge.”

With one motion, Sval slashed in front of him, his sword resonated with his motions. Despite such a weak and casual strike, a resounding force boomed from within.

The countless threads that surrounded him were cut apart. What previously seemed like an impenetrable entrapment was suddenly slashed apart. Tightly coiled threads of immense power were torn apart without much resistance.

Yet this was not all, Sval’s slash spanned beyond the mere wave. It slashed out in all directions, tearing apart the landscape and shaping it in his own image. Not grass, not dirt, not even the air was spared from Sval’s equalizing power.

Such power even caused Miyamoto to personally unsheathe his cracked sword by half in order to block it. As for Dolores, an innate dark substance formed itself in front of her, stopping the slash in its tracks, and preventing the area behind her from suffering from Sval’s strike.

With only one person left to deal with Sval’s strike, Amelia finally had to face it head-on. Yet with her threads unable to even hinder the shockwave, there was only one outcome, death.

As much as they refused to believe it, the very expected truth was happening before their very eyes. With one normal slash, Amelia was cut down, unable to even fight back. There was no tense moment here. Everything occurred as it should, naturally.

Seeing that his mortal enemy had finally been by his own hands, Sval sighed. He then turned his body, directing it towards Miyamoto, and bowed, “I wish to be your disciple. Please accept me.”

“I accept.” There wasn’t any fancy ritual nor was there any special power that was unlocked. A simple understanding between two people was all there needed to be bonded like this.

Seeing Miyamoto accept him, Sval felt tired, unbelievably so. His vision turned hazy and his body heavy. Unable to even take another step forward, he collapsed where he stood.

“Seeing as you don’t know about Awakening, I’ll let you know something in advance. The power you gain from Awakening varies from person to person, the greater the disparity from your initial path, the more powerful you become. This is why heroes turned villains and demons turned angels have supreme strength.” Miyamoto opened up his spatial ring and took out a red ceremonial blade, he cut his own palm and let Sval drink it.

“Living when you should’ve died, taking another’s body, finding a rare treasure, all these events change your fate. These things happen constantly to the point that the power you gain from these Awakenings is powerful yet still subpar when you take into account just how much potential there is.” He then took Sval’s body and grabbed him by the waist, dragging his hulking body.

“As you saw, this was one of these kinds of Awakenings, he gained power beyond what he should’ve had for his skill and talent. Yet at the same time, you could also say it’s his luck, haha.”

Dolores quietly listened.

“Do you know why I’m telling you all this? Your master definitely knows. He wants to keep a leash on you, he’s… taking your fate. The bounty that was yours, he keeps, the power you gain, he keeps, the freedom you are owed, he keeps. That slave seal is extremely troublesome to the point that only you could remove it yourself. And your only way to do so?” Miyamoto stopped talking and disappeared from Dolores’ eyes.

“Awakening…” Dolores shook her head and regained the murky look in her eyes. “Master is waiting for me. It’s… time to head back.” She didn't even care about the matter relating to Helena. Her mind was filled with something else.

No one knew when word spread out but one thing was certain, the demise of the current guild masters of the top echelon was something that restructured the world’s forces once more. When one tyrant falls, another takes its place.

Some guilds opted to have their vice guild master take the reins while others chose their strongest combatant to represent them. As for the more unruly guilds… they all slaughtered each other.

Except for Epitome and Dominion’s guild masters, everyone else was gone. This shifted the rankings except for these two guilds. Dominion was now publicly considered as the current top public force while Epitome was a close second.

For Sval to face an entire army of guild masters by himself clearly showed off just how powerful he was. Looking at the battlefield even further solidified this belief. Rumors even stated that he was a much better combatant than Epitome’s guild leader.

The only problem was that although Sval was clearly alive, he hadn’t made any moves. Letting his guild mind their own territory and slowly form their own maps. Though managing his own territory without expanding is understandable, Sval’s sudden interest in creating a map of the dungeons took everyone by surprise. This sudden change made everyone think that Sval might've been possessed.

Inside Epitome’s headquarters, a young blonde man was playing with a small ball in his hands. He skillfully prevented the ball from touching the ground using his body, without directly using his hands or feet. Telekinesis was a simple form of mana manipulation. Covering an item with mana to force it to levitate.

“Boss, they said you’re weaker than that ape.” Felix snickered. He had a thick stack of documents in his hands. Taking out a document from the stack he showed it to the young blonde, “There’s even someone saying you wouldn’t even last a single round.”

Despite Felix stating such rumors, the young blonde kept playing around, “So? Did they attack my people? I don’t really care. Tell me about the people who’re actually a threat.”

Felix shifted through the other documents in his hands and picked a black one, “Well, as it turns out, there’s quite an interesting bit of news. You want to hear it?”

“Interesting, you say. This better be good.” He grabbed a hold of the ball with his hands and squeezed tightly. As it turned out, it was completely made out of a dense material, the weight equaled to a small mountain. He then jumped into his couch, his eyes filled with curiosity.

“Remember the little girl who sold Nensho Miyamoto the Lower Rank 10 sword? Apparently, she sold another one of her wares to Sval, letting him undergo Awakening.”

“Awakening this early on. Now that’s really interesting. I wish I had your eyes, if this was what you’re telling me, think of all the things you aren’t.”

“Haha, there’s probably a good reason why you didn’t get blessed with the ability to seek the truth.”

“Oh, why’s that?” The young blonde smiled, showing off his innocence.

“You would probably rule over it as well, haha.” Felix laughed self-depreciatingly.