Just before the starlight tore the night sky apart, a blazing axe blade shot out from the opposite side, cutting through the night sky. The red-hot flames and the brilliant starlight met, creating a massive explosion.

KWAAAAAAAANG!

The aftermath of the explosion was huge. The flashing starlight that erupted engulfed Victor, and the flames that exploded and rose also tried to swallow me, but the wind of the Floating Step wrapped around my body denied the flames' approach.

As I escaped the greedily licking flames and was flying backward, half-lying in the air from the shock of the impact... something pursued me to the very end.

An axe, heavily imbued with flames, pierced through the explosion created by fire and star, and came flying, spinning fiercely. It looked like an axe that had leaped out of the fiery pits of hell.

"...!"

I immediately twisted my body in mid-air and parried the axe, but I only managed to slightly alter its path. The power contained in the axe was incredibly strong.

The axe, along with the wave of fire it brought, embedded itself in my left shoulder.

Thwack!

As soon as the axe blade lodged in my shoulder, the flames erupted as if exploding.

Fwoosh!

The flesh where the axe was embedded burned, and a terrible pain arose.

"Keuk!"

I was sent flying backward by the shockwave, and with the axe still in me, I flew to the very edge of the arena. I was on the verge of being disqualified for going out of bounds, so in the midst of it all, I raised my internal energy and created a large gust of wind.

Hwoooong!

I righted my body with the wind and then stabbed my sword into the ground.

Kwagagak!

When I stopped, my heels were touching the edge of the arena.

"...."

My heart went cold. I had barely managed to avoid going out of bounds.

I looked at the utterly gruesome axe embedded in my shoulder. It was a terrifying force, enough to have thrown me out of the arena if I had just let it be.

Soon, Victor, who had been swallowed by the starlight, appeared from the opposite side, completely scattering the lingering night sky. He wasn't in good shape either. The arm that had received the starlight was hanging limp and tattered, and his armor was scratched and broken all over. It seemed he had squeezed out his last bit of strength to throw the axe before his arm became completely useless. Or perhaps he had sensed his arm would become useless and threw it. Either way, it didn't make much difference.

"...."

I looked at Victor, who was now wearing armor that had become rags without me noticing. One side of his helmet was broken, revealing one of his eyes. He was still emitting a fierce, orange glow that seemed to be burning.

I glared at him, then grabbed the axe embedded in my shoulder and brutally tore it out.

Pwak!

Blood gushed out, but I immediately sealed the pressure point to stop the bleeding. I thought no blood would come out since the flesh was sizzling and burning, but it was unexpected. Fortunately, my arm still moved. Albeit with terrible pain accompanying every movement.

After a quick check of my body, there were no other major injuries. The fire demon that had momentarily exploded when the axe hit my shoulder had tried to swallow me, but fortunately, the wind of the Floating Step had blocked it to some extent. I was only slightly singed all over.

Suddenly, I looked at the ground and saw the axe I had torn out lying there. I looked down at it, then kicked it out of the arena. Then, I declared in a gentlemanly tone.

"Axe. Out of bounds."

"...."

And so, the dual axes became a single axe. The long-awaited one-on-one duel between sword and axe was about to unfold.

My shoulder was struck by an axe, and I was singed all over by the fire that came with it, but I was still in better shape than the guy whose arm was now useless.

"...."

"...."

We glared at each other... then kicked off the ground and rushed at each other. Because we were men who knew no retreat. For today, I decided to temporarily set aside the title of "Captain of Retreat." Because this was a battle of hot-blooded men.

Was I originally the Captain of Retreat and just being whimsical now, or was I originally a man who knew no retreat but had changed my nature to survive all this time? I couldn't tell. But what did it matter? In the first place, it was greedy to think I could win against a man of this caliber without a single scratch.

We fought like wounded beasts, each holding our respective weapons. The fangs of the beasts were the axe blade and the sword blade.

I knew instinctively. That as we clashed swords like this, at some point, the match would be decided by a single big attack.

As I fiercely exchanged attacks, I prepared my ultimate move for that moment that would eventually come. On the outside, I swung my starlight sword, while on the inside, I slowly heated up the moonlight.

As I was preparing to release the moonlight... the clouds covered the sun, and the arena grew slightly dark. It was a good time for the moonlight to bloom.

As soon as I thought, now is the time, I infused the moonlight of the Crescent Moon, which I had been preparing, into my sword.

The sword did not cry out. It just trembled slightly. It was as quiet as the moonlight pouring down in the middle of the night. It seemed to get quieter as it approached the Full Moon.

A faint moonlight enveloped the blade. It was simple compared to the dazzling starlight, but the power it contained was incomparable. Just by infusing the moonlight, the dam of the lake in my dantian broke, and a huge amount of water flowed out.

At the same time as I infused the moonlight, Victor also wrapped his single remaining hand axe in crimson flames. Compared to the flames that had been roaring and making a fuss, it was as quiet as a candle flame, but the power it contained could not be seen as merely quiet. I knew it was a high-density condensed flame.

We confirmed each other's gazes, then simultaneously thrust our sword and axe. I knew instinctively that this would be the final exchange.

I swung my sword with all my might, drawing a crescent moon.

Clang!

The axe and sword met, and then a shockwave erupted, and the sound disappeared.

Time flowed slowly. In the complete silence, the faint sound of something breaking could be heard.

Crack... Clink!

It was the sound of the sword that had clashed with the axe breaking. After being mercilessly beaten by his powerful dual axes, it had finally broken, unable to withstand the power of his condensed flames.

The shattered sword and the moonlight it contained also scattered into pieces.

Seeing this, Victor looked at me with the eyes of a victor. But I looked back at him and raised the corners of my mouth in a grin.

'Not yet.'

The day before, after completing the Ten Thousand Skies Black Rain, I was in the middle of energy circulation. I couldn't tell for sure if it was because I was tired from contemplating my ultimate skill all night, or if I had fallen asleep without realizing it... but anyway, I had a dream in a half-asleep state.

It was a dream I had been having ever since I reached the realm of moonlight. A dream of looking at the surface of a calm lake where the moonlight had settled. At first, it was a thin moon like a fingernail, but now I saw that it had become a crescent moon.

I stared blankly at the crescent moon, whose two ends were as sharp as the tip of a sword. To me, it looked as if someone was smiling at me. I suddenly grinned back in response.

"...."

There was no particular change. As I continued to smile, just as my lips were about to cramp, a whitish hand suddenly shot up from under the lake and grabbed the crescent moon that was floating on the surface.

Pakang!

The quietly shimmering crescent moon shattered in the grasp of the unknown hand. The crescent moon broke into pieces and scattered. The faint moonlight scattered in all directions. It looked as if silver-glowing petals were scattering. The scene reminded me of the martial art of scattering petals that the Heavenly Demon had once mentioned.

One of them flew towards me. It flew very slowly, as if time had been stretched. The moment the fragmented moonlight slowly approached and brushed past my ear, a strand of hair fell with a *sak-* sound.

A shiver ran down my spine. At the same time, a flash of realization shot through my mind. It was a petal that looked ethereal and incredibly soft, but it was a petal made of moonlight.

I named that petal.

'Moonlight Petal Sword.'

The Heavenly Demon corrected me.

[Moonflower Sword.]

'Moon Flower Sword.'

[Moonflower Sword.]

I had no choice but to accept the Heavenly Demon's opinion.

'Moonflower Sword. Its first ultimate skill. Scattering Moonlight Petals.'

The Heavenly Demon sighed and corrected me again.

[Moonflower Sword. First Form. Moonflower Falling.]

I snapped out of my recollection and shouted.

"Moonflower Falling!"

The dozens, hundreds of pieces of moonlight that had shattered along with the sword poured down on Victor with my roar.

Saaak!

It was an attack that was virtually impossible to dodge.

Swish-swish-swish!

The storm of silver-glowing petals instantly brushed past Victor.

"...!"

Victor stared at me with wide eyes... then.

Thud.

He fell to his knees.

"...."

I looked down at the battered Victor. A storm of petals made of moonlight had just brushed past him once. The cold moonlight had sliced him up in the blink of an eye.

Victor looked up at me blankly and said.

"...The name?"

I looked down at him silently... then put away the sword that was now only a hilt and answered.

"Moonflower Sword, First Form. Moonflower Falling."

Victor muttered softly.

"...Beautiful."

After finishing his words, Victor fell forward.

Thud.

"...."

It was too quiet, so I turned my head to look for Aron Hobas. Only after our eyes met did Aron shout into the staff he was holding.

"Waaaaaaah!"

Cheers poured out. When I escaped from the world where only sharp blades and intense gazes were exchanged, the world was so noisy.

"Hoo..."

I let out a long breath and immediately sat cross-legged and began energy circulation. There was no time. The outside sounds began to fade away. I instantly focused my mind and sank into my own world, then began to circulate my energy.

***

As I was engrossed in energy circulation... I opened my eyes at the sound of someone calling me.

A giant had appeared in front of me, blocking the sunlight. Beside me, Aron was calling me.

"Um, Sir Ashuban. Can you hear me? Sir Ashuban."

"I'm up."

"Ah, yes. Will you continue the match?"

I quickly checked my body's condition. Arms. Legs. They all moved well. My body was a little heavy from the previous battle, but that was all. I also checked the state of my dantian.

The amount of water that had flowed out when the dam broke was immense. After using the Starlight Sword, Ten Thousand Skies Black Rain, and then unleashing the Moonlight Sword that had reached the realm of the Crescent Moon, and on top of that, Moonflower Falling. My internal energy was hitting rock bottom. In fact, the state of my dantian was more precarious than the state of my body.

I had hastily sat cross-legged to recover my internal energy as soon as the fight ended, but there was a limit due to the short time given.

But life, does it ever go as planned?

I answered vigorously and got up.

"I will continue."

I took a deep breath and looked at the giant in front of me.

Van Dyke of the Iron Spear. It was like a mountain was standing there. He was incredibly tall, but his build was just as formidable. Just facing him up close was overwhelming. The air around him felt heavy.

A huge two-handed sword that looked as heavy as his heavy atmosphere caught my eye. I couldn't help but exclaim.

"Wow, that's fucking huge."

"...."

Van Dyke stared at me blankly and asked.

"Can you fight?"

I nodded.

"Of course."

Van Dyke glanced at the remnants of the shattered sword at my feet and said.

"Your sword seems to be broken."

"Ah. Just a moment."

I asked for a moment's pardon, then picked up the sword that was now only a hilt and walked over to the Black Prince's side. Then, I threw the shattered sword out of the arena and said.

"Black Prince."

The Black Prince untied the sword from his waist and threw it to me.

Thwack.

I caught it and slightly drew the sword to check its condition.

Shing—

The blade slid out smoothly without the slightest hesitation.

I said to the Black Prince.

"A fine sword."

"Of course. It is my sword."

"Can I use it?"

The Black Prince nodded.

"It doesn't matter. You are my sword too."

"Hey, who decided that?"

"I did."

"...."

He was a guy who left you speechless.

I drew the sword completely from its scabbard, examined it, and asked.

"Can I break it?"

The Black Prince shook his head.

"No."

Then he looked me straight in the eye and said.

"It must never be broken."

"...."

What was he referring to?

I met his black eyes, which seemed to hold some kind of will... then threw him the scabbard and turned around.

I swung the sword in the air and headed to the center of the arena. As I got used to its weight, I was soon standing in front of Van Dyke.

I looked at him and said.

"Adaptation complete."

"...."

"And you?"

Van Dyke also took out the huge two-handed sword slung on his back and swung it in the air.

Hwoooong!

It sounded like a storm was raging. Just the wind from the sword made my hair fly up all at once.

"Wow..."

Van Dyke slung the two-handed sword over his shoulder and said.

"Complete."

(End of Chapter)

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