“Control over the body…?”
I could feel it through that will.
It grew interested.
No, it wasn’t just interested; it was showing a violent reaction.
“Rumble!”
It was as if an earthquake had struck this mental realm.
“Yeah. Control over the body. Don’t you miss it? You’d be able to kill whoever you want, just like in the past.”
That wasn’t mere bait.
It was an inevitability that the thing had to bite.
“In here?”
“Of course.”
I nodded at the question of where the fight would happen.
In the past, the bastard had been tricked by me and forced to fight in a disadvantageous location.
The result was what I saw now—with its control over the body stolen, it was sealed in a corner of the mental realm.
Unlike the past, it was stuck at the edge of the subconscious where it couldn’t manifest any claim, purpose, or will.
Sealed away in loneliness, it had to spend its time in boredom.
“If you use a dirty trick like last time…”
It expressed its rage as if it wouldn’t be caught off guard again.
“Roar!”
That rage became a threatening storm of killing intent that swept over me.
‘The same as ever.’
I could feel it—its strength.
It was incomparable to the past.
That was only natural.
I am it, and it is me.
Just as I grew stronger, it grew stronger as well.
That was why I had to be on guard.
In the past, this bastard was the strongest among the personalities split from me.
Dealing with it now, after it had grown alongside my own development, was clearly not going to be easy.
“I’ll smash everything, including the main body.”
A threat?
No, the bastard was speaking with genuine sincerity.
If it went on a rampage and turned this place into a mess, I would be in danger, too.
Of course, it would be annihilated, but if it could ruin me along with its rage, it was more than capable of doing so.
That was why the promise had to be kept.
“And one more thing.”
But my conditions hadn’t ended yet.
“I knew it. Another dirty trick…”
“The one who loses this match must be absorbed by the winner.”
“…What?!”
The bastard was quite shocked by my words.
“Ab-Absorption?!”
“Yeah. Absorption. The scattered personalities will finally become one.”
Sealing it away had only been a temporary measure.
Because of that, my body and my mind were in an incomplete state.
No matter how much I sealed it at the edge of my subconscious, it was still a part of me.
Forcing that part to stay sealed consumed a massive amount of mental energy.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t draw out 100% of my power.
That was why I prepared the stage to absorb it now, ahead of the match with Taecho.
“If that’s the case…”
Was it hesitating?
“…That makes it even more interesting.”
There was no way it wouldn’t be.
This bastard was desperate to push me aside and take control of the body by any means.
It wouldn’t miss such a golden opportunity.
“Should we get ready right away?”
“As you wish.”
The preparations were finished anyway.
Since I was pressed for time, the faster we could do this, the better.
“Okay!”
With that, the bastard began to shift the mental image.
-Shhhhhh!
A specific shape began to take form, as if sculpting the surroundings.
It was the Knight training ground I had often seen in the past.
A place of blood, sweat, and effort where martial arts were perfected through sparring.
It seemed it chose this training ground because its range of activity was stuck in the past, on the Gritia Continent.
“Finished!”
The bastard, having completed the training ground, finally revealed itself.
-Slide
Of course, it looked just like me.
However…
“Drip, drip—”
Blood droplets flowed along the blade of the sword in its hand.
It was a gruesome sight, with someone’s fresh blood splattered all over its body.
It was another me that boasted the appearance of a murderer, no matter how you looked at it.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Indeed.”
“How does it feel? Thinking about getting beaten to a pulp just like before, doesn’t it just make you want to die of joy?”
In a moment of crisis, I had handed over my body to this bastard.
Afterward, I fought it to take the body back again.
I couldn’t remember exactly how many times I challenged and lost to it.
It wasn’t in the hundreds—it was 1,000, maybe even in the 10,000s.
If you only looked at the record, it was like winning barely once after 10,000 matches.
But someone once said that if you win once and don’t fight again, the final winner is the one who ultimately won.
That was actually the case.
I lost 10,000 times and won once, yet I was able to regain control of the body.
That was why the bastard was so triumphant; it thought it had lost the body through a mistake or a scheme.
“Unlike you, I haven’t prepared anything. Only this!”
It waved the swords held in both hands.
“I’m going in relying on only this.”
It was true.
The only thing the bastard relied on was the sword and the thing I coveted was that very sword—swordsmanship that unleashed wildness to one’s heart’s content, an incredible realm of senses that could cut even a god.
I had proposed this dangerous spar to get my hands on that.
“Thud, thud”
We both stepped onto the square floor of the training ground.
“I don’t know what sudden whim made you propose a duel to me, but you’d better start praying for your soul today.”
It was the same as always.
Its behavior was like an infant’s.
It couldn’t be helped, as the only thing filling the bastard was killing intent.
Pure killing intent to kill someone could even seem innocent at times.
Looking at such a creature, I slowly closed my eyes.
-Slide.
“Snort!”
Suddenly, the sound of a snort pierced my ears.
“Why? Now that you think about it, is it too much to handle? Are you just giving up?”
Sarcasm and a shallow provocation followed.
But I was not shaken by those words.
‘Clear Mirror, Still Water.’
I achieved peace of mind, creating a core that would not be shaken by any turbulent waves.
“Well, if dying like that is your wish…”
The bastard had been wondering what trick I was playing.
But perhaps it sensed that it couldn’t get any answer from me since I had achieved a state of meditation and remained unmoved, so it stopped talking.
However…
-Shhhh!
I could feel it.
The bastard took a stance.
And then…
“Boom!”
With explosive elasticity, it folded the space in an instant.
In a flash, the bastard approached me.
That was pure physical strength without using any Authority.
It had to be, because no Authority could be exercised in this world of mental imagery.
It was truly body against body—a life-and-death battle between sword and sword.
That match was unfolding now.
-Swish!
Though my eyes were closed, I could feel it—the bastard’s movements and the trajectory of that sword.
That was possible because it was him, and because it was me.
Through tens of thousands of sparring sessions, I had learned to draw the bastard’s trajectory in my mind.
This killing intent is another me.
Therefore, I thought: ‘How will I attack? Like this here, and like that there.’
Through 10,000 spars, I became able to read the bastard’s movements and thoughts.
But once I opened my eyes, I would be deceived by those wild movements.
Feints that struck where I was vulnerable were things you were bound to fall for even if you knew they were coming.
That was why I had blocked all of that in advance by closing my eyes.
It was a bold choice to block out the world because I couldn’t grasp it.
That was something I could do because I believed in the person I had been until now, and because I believed in the harsh training I had undergone.
“Clang!”
I blocked the bastard’s attack aimed at my lower right.
However…
‘Second strike!’
The bastard used dual swords.
The second attack came from the upper left.
“Clang!”
I blocked two attacks, but I didn’t let my guard down.
“Clank, clash, clash, clash!”
The primary characteristic of the bastard was its infinite chain of attacks using dual swords.
Therefore, I couldn’t let my guard down even for a moment.
The moment I allowed even a single gap, I would lose to the bastard’s attack targeting my vitals.
Killing intent.
Even one of the bastard’s attacks led to a fatal wound.
That was why I had no choice but to keep losing to the fellow until now.
Even if I succeeded in an attack, and even if I chose to take it down with me, I was always the one who lost.
The bastard’s killing intent was a [Certain Kill].
That will had reached a point where it could kill even a god.
Since even a small wound caused the inevitability of death, allowing an attack from the bastard immediately led to defeat.
I did not let my guard down.
“Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!”
The consumption of mental power was immense.
However, as a price for that, I was able to defend against all of the bastard’s continuous attacks.
“Hoh?!”
An exclamation came out.
“You’re definitely different than before.”
Different than before.
That was the highest praise that could come from the mouth of a fellow who didn’t acknowledge me.
“Closing your eyes altogether and looking with your Insight Eye so as not to be deceived by my attacks… That’s an idea that no one with ordinary skills could even attempt. But do you know something?”
Was it trying to shake me?
No.
The fellow was certain right now.
“Many guys who used the same trick as you ultimately failed to overcome me.”
At that moment…
-Shhhhhh!
My orderly mental image turned chaotic.
The trajectories turned into a mess, as if someone were scribbling randomly.
‘This is…?’
It was a surprising fact.
It was a feint that could even deceive the [Insight Eye].
It was a trajectory that could be left not in one’s vision, but in one’s mind.
“Try taking this as well!”
A voice full of confidence cried out.
But…
“Clang!”
The bastard’s attack was blocked.
“Huh?!”
A sound of leaking air came from the mouth that had been certain of victory.
“How?!”
This time, it seemed truly flustered.
Of course, it would be.
Executing transformations and illusions that could even deceive the Insight Eye was not something just anyone could do.
Clearly, that wasn’t in a realm that could be grasped.
However…
‘You are me.’
I realized that fact anew.
‘And I am you.’
We were one.
Of course, we had been separated into completely different personalities like this, but we were originally one.
If so, couldn’t I become that bastard as much as I wanted?
Beyond simply reading the fellow’s thoughts, I would be able to become the fellow and implement those movements myself.
At that moment…
-Shhhh!
The boundary between you and me blurred, and information seeped in.
That was…
“Wild Sword…”
It was the very swordsmanship that the bastard had been manifesting.
“Crazy!” the surprised bastard shouted.
Only then…
-Flash!
I opened my eyes.
At that moment, I could see it.
The bastard’s body was becoming faint. That’s right.
Without the need to decide the winner of this spar, I was absorbing the bastard’s existence while understanding it.
An existence is bound to be eaten by a larger existence.
The fellow could not reject my existence, which had understood it and thus grown even larger.
“No! This, this isn’t what I want!”
The fellow struggled with its existence using all the killing intent it could muster, but…
“Clank, clank!”
There was no way the fellow’s attacks, which were gradually fading, would work on me.
Enlightenment.
The moment I obtained that, the fellow was no longer a personality separated from me.
‘We are…’
“One!”
I spat it out, but those were also the words spat out by the killing intent.
At that moment…
-Whoosh!
The boundary of the mental image blurred.
The boundary of the subconscious, which I had worked so hard to divide, collapsed.
“Dammit!”
The fellow, who was now almost formless, spat out a curse.
Standing alone in that collapsing mental image, the fellow spoke, “Since it turned out like this, you’d better succeed.”
He knew what kind of final battle I was preparing for, and that it was a path where I was bound to die.
“As long as I’m you, we can’t lose to anyone.”
The fellow’s form, as he said that, completely disappeared.
And I could feel it, the powerful weapons that the fellow had possessed…
[Wild Sword]
[Certain Kill]
Those abilities, which were originally meant to be mine, were once again fully transmitted to me.