The secret to becoming a true Master of the First Form.
“What is it?”
“You already know the answer, don’t you?”
“I have simply learned the survival skills of mere thieves.”
“Yes, perhaps that is so.”
Laila burst into a pleasant laugh as she looked at Sien, who was nonchalantly feigning ignorance.
“Still, I have no choice but to allow you to undergo the Confirmation.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
“Be prepared. The trial you will face in the Confirmation will be nothing like this child’s play.”
Child’s play. Even though Sien had just broken Laila’s ‘Posture of the Wraith’ by recalling the sword mantra, nothing had changed. To her, this was merely a test to see if Sien possessed the minimum qualifications to undergo the Confirmation.
“While it is certainly wondrous, this alone is not enough to earn my full consent.”
“I suppose so.”
“Still, it is worth testing the inkling of enlightenment you have grasped.”
The mother of assassins, said to have perfectly mastered the First Form of the Nightwalker style, the Posture of the Wraith.
Even if Sien had caught her off guard in her own way, this was, as she said, nothing more than child’s play.
“There is enough time left until the family gathers.”
However, it was the same for Sien, who had merely been playing along with the child’s play.
“Come closer, Sien.”
Laila, who had approached Sien before he knew it, whispered softly.
“To you, who seeks the end of the Posture of the Wraith, I say—” It was at that moment.
“Everyone, close your eyes and cover your ears!”
Realizing the meaning of those words, the Shadow Knights hurriedly covered their ears in shock.
They instinctively sensed that if they were to overhear even a single syllable flowing from her lips, or even catch a glimpse of the shape of her mouth, they would never be able to survive.
The Shadow Knights, the Children of the Night including Tia, and everyone except Sien and Laila also hurriedly covered their ears, closed their eyes, and turned their heads.
It was as if they were trying to see and hear nothing.
“This world is made of dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, dew, and lightning.”
Laila whispered softly.
Dream, illusion, bubble, shadow, dew, lightning.
It was the sword mantra that reached the ultimate principle of the First Form, left behind long ago by the Father of Night, the progenitor Kassan Nightwalker.
That sword mantra did not even exist in the family’s underground archives, and even Consiglieri Luna did not know it.
It was a single-succession enlightenment passed down only from mouth to ear by the head of the Nightwalker family.
The most valuable enlightenment possessed by the Nightwalker family.
When Sien first heard those words, they had been her last words.
And on that day, Sien Nightwalker became the new head and the father of assassins.
But it was not like that now.
She was not wearing her armored dress, nor was she covered in blood on a battlefield piled high with corpses.
Suppressing her agitation, Sien struggled to feign composure. Dream, illusion, bubble, shadow, dew, lightning.
In the characters of the Eastern Continent where the progenitor Kassan was born, it was called the Dream and Illusion Bubble Shadow Dew.
From the moment she heard this sword mantra, there was nothing more to hide.
Rather, it would be the perfect justification and setup for Sien to reveal her true realm without reservation.
“Preparation is now complete.”
Sien, who was relatively close to the Ducal territory, was able to arrive quickly as soon as she received the summons, but it took quite some time for all the family members scattered across the continent to gather.
The time was more than sufficient.
No, in fact, time was not necessary in the first place.
There was only the waiting. And the long wait had finally come to an end. It was time to show the most perfect ‘Posture of the Wraith’ in front of everyone.
***
At that time, in the territory of the Grandel Grand Duchy within the Holy Empire.
Another Sacrament was taking place right there.
“I wish to confess an unforgivable sin, Holy Mother.”
The confessional of the Cathedral in the Grandel Grand Duchy.
The voice of a young man could be heard from the confessional there.
“I thought in my heart: ‘I shall ascend to heaven through my talent in swordsmanship. I will set my throne above the stars of God and sit upon the mount of the assembly of the gods at the end of the north.'”
The person making the confession was Oscar Grandel, the third son of the Duke of Grandel family, who was once believed to be the greatest swordsmanship genius on the continent.
“Pride is the most terrible of sins committed by humans, Brother Oscar Grandel.”
A kind and loving woman’s voice was heard from beyond the confessional.
“And you have committed a sin of pride so great that it is irreversible.”
“Can I be forgiven?”
“There is no sin in the world that cannot be forgiven, Brother Oscar.”
The gentle woman’s voice said.
“It is merely a question of whether you can wash away the sin or not.”
“Then what must I do to atone for my sin?”
“Kill the humans of the Nightwalker family.”
The voice was now devoid of any mercy or affection, and not a trace of emotion could be felt.
“Even if you commit considerable evil in the process, God will willingly forgive that evil.”
“Because the small evil you commit will prevent the much greater evil that those who walk the night will commit.”
“Yes, that is exactly it.”
At Oscar’s words, the Holy Mother beyond the confessional burst into a joyful laugh.
“Kill Sien Nightwalker.”
After laughing, the woman continued.
“That is the only salvation… that can wash away the sin of the young lord, who committed the mortal sin of pride and uses the demon of pride’s ‘Posture of Lucifer’.” —It was as if she were whispering a hit list to an assassin.
***
Some time after that, Sien’s Sacrament began.
The location where the test was held was not even the underground chapel of the Duke’s mansion.
Northern Nightwalker Duchy, the border zone blocking the way between the Republic and the Holy Empire — the Nightsky Mountains.
It was because the test was held at a place called the Moon Temple, located at the peak of the mountain range said to be the most rugged in the entire continent.
Usually, when heading to the Moon Temple, people used the aerial tram of the mages that went directly to the summit, known as the orbital transport device.
However, a family member undergoing the Confirmation must climb to the summit of these Nightsky Mountains on their own two feet, not by an orbital vehicle.
At that point, the test to become a Master had already begun.
In the past, Abel Nightwalker died while climbing this mountain to undergo the Confirmation.
Because these Nightsky Mountains were by no means an ordinary mountain range.
It wasn’t just that the terrain was rugged.
There was no way a member of the Nightwalker family would die miserably while climbing a mountain for such a trivial reason.
The northern part of the Nightwalker Duchy, the border mountain range that blocked the way between the Republic of Veneto and the Holy Romanus Empire.
Therefore, this place was not just a natural wall that had blocked the Empire’s invasions for generations, but it was also inhabited by a very powerful curse.
“They’re here.”
Halfway up the snowy mountain, where everything was covered in pure white snow.
Along with the dusk of the fading sunset, the true form of the curse revealed itself.
It was the curse of undeath. The dead, reduced to nothing but bones, were armed with swords and full-body armor.
On the rusted armor, the emblem of the double-headed eagle symbolizing the Holy Empire was faintly engraved.
Clang! The undead sentry kicked off the ground toward Sien, swinging its rusted iron sword while emitting the aura of its entire body.
Even though it had become a rotting corpse, it cried out with the ‘will of human triumph’ to overcome its own flesh, blood, and bones.
At the same time, the black and dark blade of the Kingslayer was unsheathed from beneath Sien’s sleeve.
The blades clashed.
Immediately after, a chilling cold ran behind Sien’s back.
—Kieeeeeek!
There, a wraith in the literal sense, with not even a rotting body left, was rushing in.
However, even while clashing swords with the undead in front of her, Sien skillfully flicked her fingers encased in black leather gloves.
Crackle!
The artifact ‘Thunderbolt Gloves’ she had bought for a large sum from a Thief Master.
Lightning bolted out. A lightning bolt, its power enhanced by the artifact’s strength, struck the wraith.
At the same time, Sien’s blade slid again, parrying the blade of the undead she was struggling with.
The Kingslayer drew a sharp trajectory, wrapping around the rusted armor and limbs.
Slice!
—Kiiiik!
The wraith behind her burned up, and the undead in front of her collapsed pointlessly.
Phew.
The ambitions of the Holy Empire, which had tried to invade the Republic by crossing the Nightsky Mountains several times in the past.
The countless imperial soldiers who fell, unable to cross this mountain each time.
The undead garrison that would remain in the Nightsky Mountains until the end of the world, harming everything in sight.
This place was a twisted dungeon in itself.
A labyrinth where danger lurked to the point that even those who walk the night could lose their lives if they were careless.
Reaching the top of these Nightsky Mountains, where the Moon Temple was located, on one’s own two feet was the beginning of the test to become a Master.
“It still hasn’t changed.”
Of course, Sien was someone who had climbed the mountain several times on her own in the past, to a sickening degree.
The scenery here was nothing new to her now.
At the same time, Sien realized poignantly how many strong men of the Empire had fallen, unable to cross this place.
Even the current Sien could never be careless.
She simply moved forward, carving footprints into the white, piled snow.
***
Around the time Sien began to climb the summit of the Nightsky Mountains alone.
The brothers and sisters of the family began to gather one by one before the mother of assassins, Godmother Laila Nightwalker.
“Donna Nightwalker. Our head, the revered mother of assassins.”
“Welcome, Don Luciano.”
An elderly man with graying hair respectfully kissed the back of Laila’s hand.
“I am very sorry about Abel.”
“My son’s sacrifice will not be in vain.”
That man, Don Luciano, was the godfather of ‘Abel’, who had died in the Holy Empire long ago.
“Just as all our sacrifices are.”
“Was there any other harvest?”
“The Virgin of Death has made contact with the third son of the Duke of Grandel family.”
Holy Mother of Death.
At that name, a slight agitation appeared on Laila’s face.
“That’s unexpected. To think the Duke of Grandel family would welcome ‘her’.”
“It must be proof that the third son’s sword was so thoroughly broken that he had to reach out to that woman.” “Still, he reached out in the end.”
“He must have been cornered to that extent.”
Don Luciano continued calmly.
“Especially for a Grand Ducal house that values the pride of the sword more than life itself.”
At those words, the mother of assassins, Laila, gave a bitter smile. She thought of her son, who would be climbing toward the end of the night sky alone, without anyone’s help, at this very moment.