"Ready..."
Kai raised his sword.
"Go!"
Kai moved. Before his opponent even got to move a step, his sword slashed down.
The Blind Swordsman's eyes flashed with shock for an instant but it quickly regained its calm.
No, it can't be...
Followed by Kai's sword was a huge gust of wind that forced everyone to close their eyes and the sound of debris falling. After the wind dispersed, the audience opened their eyes to an unbelievable sight. The stage and wall were split in half and Kai's opponent was knocked out with a suspicious puddle underneath him.
It didn't look like he was hit, but his eyes were white and his mouth was foaming.
The announcer who was right next to the stage had his legs turn to mush, he couldn't stand up straight—trembling as he looked at Kai and the damage left behind by a single sword swing.
The attack didn't reach the audience, it stopped just in front of the Blind Swordsman who intercepted his attack. It was just a swing of a sword without any magic power behind it but most of the competitors and the audience felt fear from that one strike.
Though, if the Blind Swordsman hadn't stopped it, let alone the wall, even the arena itself would've been split in half. Although it didn't contain Kai's full power, it was enough to pass the message to the Blind Swordsman that he was being challenged.
In this arena right now, the two greatest swordsmen were these two and without anyone's knowledge, one had challenged the other.
Giving the Blind Swordsman one last glare through his mask, Kai turned his back on him which caused the former to glare.
To the Blind Swordsman who valued fighting honorably, willingly showing your back was provoking him. To him, it held the message of 'you don't deserve to fight me for real'.
Seeing Kai move snapped the announcer out of his daze. He looked at Kai's opponent for a bit and then at Kai himself.
"Participant nine has been rendered unable to battle, participant seventeen wins by a knockout!"
Once the announcer finished, Kai stepped off the stage and back to the waiting room. On the way back to his teammates, nobody dared to block his path and let him through, it was way different from how they usually acted.
When Kai and the others won their first match in a dominating manner, their skeptical attitude turned into one of surprise and caution but now, they were afraid.
These people... aren't going far in swordsmanship.
Looking at the figures around him, Kai made his assessment. Wake had talent, true talent when it came to the sword, he understood it as if it was a part of his body and from that, Kai was enlightened.
To truly become strong, you must be obsessed. Wake and the Blind Swordsman are both obsessed with the sword, any emotions they feel are related to the sword, they live by it, and they trust it completely.
According to their belief, Kai could even be branded as a heretic, not fully devoted to the sword but also used other weapons—attempting to master them all.
But Kai didn't care about that at all, he wasn't a swordsman in the truest sense, the only reason he uses a sword for most of his battles since the time travel is because his scythe is a weapon built to kill while a sword is versatile and can be used to both kill and subdue.
Not only that, Wake had personally taught him the sword so with the exception of the scythe, it was the weapon which he had the most mastery over. Kai had only truly called two people 'talented' in the truest sense, Wake with the sword and his disciple, Angelina with her magic power. One had managed to reach a level of swordsmanship most people wouldn't reach in their whole lives using four months while the other reached A-class from E-class in two years.
Despite having the Supreme Being medallion with him, the proof that he had the potential to surpass Gods, he had no confidence in surpassing those two in their respective categories.
When Kai's departing figure left the Blind Swordsman's view, he quietly muttered to himself.
"Sever the heavens, rule the world, could it really be him?"
He closed his eyes and began to think back.
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"Lord."
The Blind Swordsman had one knee down on the floor while bowing to a man sitting on top of a throne.
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"I told you that I don't like being called a Lord. Elizabeth may be gone but in my heart, she'll always be someone above me."
The man spoke, his expression was apathetic but his eyes were closed.
"I've called you here along with the others for one reason."
Perhaps knowing that the Blind Swordsman wouldn't agree to his words, he continued and several figures appeared beside the swordsman.
"The prophecy has been foretold, my reign has been declared over. Right now, I can't make a move but all of you can, I order you to search the people in the prophecy and bring them to me alive but if you can't avoid it, give me their heads."
"""Yes, our Lord!"""
Although he spoke of killing someone, nobody hesitated to follow his orders.
"Ling, tell them the prophecy given to the Gods."
In response to the man's words, the woman named Ling stepped out from the shadows at the side. She had her hair tied in a ponytail and wore glasses.
"Yes."
Ling waved her hand and words made of mana formed in the air.
'He will sever the heavens and rule the world, anyone who stands by his path is destined to end up beneath his feet.'
The words written in the prophecy sounded like forged words but it was a prophecy that was made known the Gods, it couldn't be false.
"This is only one part of the prophecy, but it is the one we must focus on. He will sever the heavens, meaning that he will remove the control of the King of the Gods and the Devil over this world, including ours and rule the world."
The air of the man's subordinates sharpened as most of them began emitting hostility.
"How dare a mere mortal..."
One of the women kneeling down began trembling in anger.
"Stella, don't forget that the Lord started out as a mortal as well. Like him, it must also be another hero, they're the only ones able to have that level of power among mortals."
"..."
Hearing the man berate her, Stella stopped talking but the killing intent surrounding her stayed wild.
The man on the throne—the former hero, Howard Greylock—looked down at his subordinates.
"He is no hero, he is one who refuses to submit to fate and instead uses it for himself. I can sense it, the power of time."
Howard opened his eyes slowly and accompanying that simple movement was a terrifying pressure. Rumbling sounds could be heard as the very world they were in trembled. It was only for a few seconds but excluding his subordinates, all of the people and beasts in the castle collapsed.
"———, I order you to descend to Gaia, roam the lands, and find the one who's destined to defeat me. When you find him, slay him."
Howard looked at the Blind Swordsman who nodded in response.
"The rest of you, descend to the other worlds, seek those who hold the Supreme Being medallions and make sure it's them that the prophecy tells of. If you find him, slay him, but if you're not sure, don't antagonize them. Supreme Beings, even candidates are not to be taken lightly."
The prophecy didn't say which planet or which race did the boy of prophecy originate from but it was for certain that he held the Supreme Being medallion.
"The three points you need to look for—he must be male, reeks of the power of time, and your instincts will react when you see him fight."
Ling, by the side of Howard, spoke.
"Now, go."
Howard ordered them and right as his orders finished, everyone except the Blind Swordsman and Ling stayed behind. Howard didn't speak as he saw him stay behind and waited patiently. After a few minutes of silence, the Blind Swordsman spoke.
"My Lord, why am I the one being sent to Gaia, the most important of the planets? My power is still sealed and although there aren't many who can be a threat to me there right now, isn't it dangerous to send someone of my level in a world closely guarded by the Gods?"
Howard closed his eyes and spoke in an archaic voice as if he was possessed by something from the ages of old.
"It's destiny."
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As the Blind Swordsman's mind returned to the present, there were already different people fighting on the stage and the damage caused by Kai earlier had already been repaired.
If it's really him, then I have to eliminate him in this tournament.
This day is only the first day that the tournament is held and after two rounds, participants could go back to their inns and rest. All of them had already finished and there were only about two or three more matches left in the tournament. Naturally, the left the arena.
Yoko had already awoken, her wounds weren't fatal but she was still groggy from using her innate ability to that extent for her first use. Kai had told her about her innate ability and that it was related to speed but that was it, he knew neither the effects nor how she used it.
"So an innate ability can even do that..."
Sachiko muttered in surprise. The only innate ability she knew of was her own,『Melody』 and its functions were different from Yoko's. She hadn't gone to the tournament to participate or to watch and she just stayed at the inn with Amelia so after hearing about it from Iori, she wanted to see it personally.
But the user of the innate ability was still half-asleep so using it was out of the question.
"The only backlash I've received from overusing my technique is losing my voice for a few days but Yoko's is... fatigue?"
Kai shook his head at Sachiko's question.
"No, the side effects threaten her body. The only reason she's like this..."
He poked Yoko's head slightly and she began swaying with half-closed eyes.
"It's because of her mind being forced to adapt to that level of speed. If one of her eyes was like my left, then perhaps she'd be able to cope with it but it's going to take her a while to adapt to fiftyfold speed."
Although only Kai's left eye was at that level, if he were the one to use Yoko's innate ability, then even his right eye would be enough. But unfortunately, no matter which timeline, Kai hadn't even gotten close to unlocking his own innate ability.
Memento Mori, Sachiko, Iori, with the exception of Amelia, had already unlocked their innate abilities in the other timeline and so did Anne. It was quite strange seeing as an innate ability is a reflection of the person's soul.
There were several reasons that Kai could think of such as that his ability isn't battle-oriented but he was true to his desires and self which would normally result in his innate ability manifesting faster even if it wasn't battle-oriented.
To date, there were a few matters that Kai couldn't understand. He was born with both ice and darkness but the reason he was born with ice must be because he was part-angel.
But the things that he really couldn't comprehend, why couldn't his innate ability manifest? Why can't he use even the slightest bit of immortal ki despite being used to manipulating life?
Kai thought back to his grandmother's words during the period he trained there.
'Sever the heavens, rule the world.'
How can I sever the heavens and rule the world if I can't even do that?
Kai made a self-deprecating laugh and continued talking with everyone.