I Became the Teacher of the Imperial Family’s Bastard

029. The Unsetting Sun (3)

Specialness is a proposition that only reveals its value through comparison with others.

The same was true for my eyes.

Once, I had such a question.

-But Your Highness, why do you teach me the Imperial Swordsmanship? Isn’t this swordsmanship only passed down to the royal heirs?

Even though I was in prison, I couldn’t understand why this man was teaching me the Imperial Swordsmanship.

Wasn’t it so? If this fact were to spread elsewhere, it could lead to execution, not just imprisonment.

A question I asked because I couldn’t understand, to which the prince replied.

-You have good eyes. Even if I didn’t teach you, you would have stolen and learned it. In that case, it’s better for me to refine it with my own hands.

At that time, I couldn’t understand those words.

How could swordsmanship be something that could be copied just by looking?

In my common sense, swordsmanship was a profound art that could only be understood through decades of consistent training and experience.

Especially the Imperial Swordsmanship.

The terrifyingly difficult divine skill that no one except the first emperor had mastered.

How could I copy that just by looking?

So I denied that fact, but the prince just chuckled.

He only used it as an excuse to commit various terrible things to me.

-Observe the flow of mana.

-See the flow of mana and avoid it.

-Cut off the flow of mana.

“If you see it, make use of it.”

That damned ‘flow of mana’.

The Crown Prince wanted me to fully see and utilize it.

He wanted me to help complete the ‘New Imperial Swordsmanship’.

He was a relentless man.

In the end, people grow through hardship, or so they say.

He would trap me in the waves of mana, saying that my field of vision would expand in a crisis, and shoot at me with sword techniques that could kill with a single strike.

But that dreadful process certainly helped.

Until I reached the level of Sword Master, the things the Crown Prince showed me drastically shortened my period of enlightenment.

Of course, I didn’t lack feelings of resentment.

One day, I would punch that man’s face.

That was my only goal at the time.

I only realized the true function of my eyes after going to the battlefield.

“Why can’t you dodge that?”

“Magic is subtle…”

“Subtle, my foot. You can see the trajectory it’s flying in. You can even break it by just placing your sword along its path.”

“Sir, what are you talking about?”

My first battlefield.

I was frustrated seeing the formation collapse under the barbarians’ magic, so I said that in a command meeting.

It was only after feeling the reactions that I understood the Crown Prince’s words.

“Not everyone is like you.”

“`

So it was.

My eyes were different from others.

I thought others could see the mana flowing through the air like I did.

When I focused, I thought I could see the color of mana, its texture, and its structural intricacies.

I even thought I could see the warmth each mana possessed.

I thought it was natural to use or avoid it.

But that wasn’t the case.

Even in the battlefield where all the remaining talents of the empire were gathered, there was no one with eyes like mine.

As I said before, the value of uniqueness is revealed through comparison.

After that day, my role on the battlefield was greatly overturned.

– The prisoner unit will be organized into a special unit. Assassinate the enemy commanders and sorcery troops.

Erilda knew how to use me.

And the Crown Prince knew how to complete me.

– I didn’t expect you to see even the sorcery. You’re more amazing than I thought.

– Stop talking nonsense and think of a way.

– What other way do we have?

I am a swordmaster.

The Crown Prince is also a swordmaster.

We wield the same sword and walk the same path.

Just as the Crown Prince had his own weapon, I also had my own weapon.

The Crown Prince wanted to refine it.

“`

– I shall add one more sword technique to the Imperial Swordsmanship.

– What is it this time?

– The name is… yes, how about ‘Sorcery Slash’?

– Why not name it something like this or that technique?

– I won’t. This is an exclusive technique that only you can handle.

The prince seemed quite excited that day.

When I explained the world as I see it, he devised various applications to match.

I complemented the prince’s theory with practical experience.

Combining the essence of Imperial Swordsmanship and the nature of mana, I finally wove it all together into a sword technique.

Even before I became a Swordmaster, I was handling sword techniques under the prince’s harsh training.

Creating one more sword technique wasn’t that difficult.

– I have captured it.

This is the background of the birth of ‘Sorcery Slash’.

The demon’s eyes widened.

[How…?]

“Because I can see it, I slashed it.”

I take the stance again.

I tense all the muscles in my body.

I enhance my vision.

Thus, the world returns to monochrome once more.

The one sword technique I am most confident in, the one that has killed the most sorcerers.

As long as I have Sorcery Slash, I gain a clear advantage over all supernatural acts.

In the end, that’s what it means.

*Crackle!*

[This is it!]

No matter how fierce the current, no matter how hot the flame, sorcery cannot defeat me.

The only one who has ever held a superior advantage over me, then and now, is a single person.

“I can see this too.”

It was only the Crown Prince, whose swordsmanship was perfect in itself.

*Slash!*

He cleaved through the lightning.

* * *

Heaven’s Eye.

Beatrice, entangled with Amorio and consciousness, read that word in her thoughts.

The demon felt bewildered.

It was none other than his eyes that revealed it.

[That still remains?]

The intrusion of another’s consciousness is unpleasant.

But Beatrice did not stop.

**”Hold on to your sanity.”**

Yuren said so, for there was no one else to clean up the mess she had made.

So she faithfully followed those words, looking for an opportunity.

Beatrice was desperate.

Now that she realized the cause and effect, all that remained within her was regret and guilt.

There was not even a sense of betrayal.

What she had done was too horrific to feel such a thing.

It was at that moment.

**[Ha ha…!]**

She felt a sense of joy blooming within Amorio.

**Boom!**

Magic was being unleashed wildly.

Amorio was frantically implementing the high-level spells she could use… and had intended to use someday.

Her computational speed far exceeded the normal range.

It was showing why demons were called transcendent mental beings, and why a demon possessing a wizard’s body was so terrifying.

Yuren approached, steadily breaking such magic.

She tried to close the distance, and when that didn’t work,

**Bang!**

She deflected the magic in an incomprehensible way.

Before long, Yuren was right in front of her.

Amorio’s arm formed a seal.

Then, a bud-shaped barrier covered Beatrice’s body.

**Kwaaang—!**

The bud of Aedria.

It was a barrier that reflected physical impact.

But it wasn’t a perfect reflection.

Although it blocked the substantial attack, Beatrice felt her mana twisting from within.

The spell broke during casting, causing internal injuries.

Yuren spoke.

“You’re annoyingly persistent.”

Yuren frowned and shook his hand.

Beatrice felt hope.

‘…I’m overwhelming him.’

Amorio was barely managing to block, wasting mana without landing a single effective hit.

She knew because it was her own body.

Even if the vessel expanded and the hierarchy was pulled up, it was still just the body of a mage.

She didn’t know how high Yuren’s level was, but it seemed sufficient to gain the upper hand in this battle.

What did that mean?

‘I won…’

I won.

That was the moment I thought so.

[Phuuh…!]

Amorio sneered at that confirmation.

She opened her mouth.

[What a delightful sight. This is why the lower world is fun! There are so many amazing things to play with!]

One thing was clear.

To her, all of this was just entertainment.

Neither panic nor disadvantage.

Nothing could shake the demon.

But was Yuren unaffected?

“Let’s end this now.”

[Hmm, that’s troublesome.]

“What will you do if you’re in trouble?”

Screeeech!!!

A rough metallic sound that tore through the ears echoed.

It was the sound of mana exploding from Yuren’s body.

Beatrice flinched.

‘That is…!’

That feeling.

The moment he spoke of breaking the engagement, the aura that emanated from him.

It felt like being inside the mouth of a beast.

The feeling of fierce fangs looming over the entire space.

“Gulp…!”

[Oh my, you’re overdoing it.]

Yuren coughed up blood.

And with eyes full of rage, he glared at Amorio.

They were the eyes of a predator eyeing its prey.

But,

[Well, then I should play along too.]

Amorio, as if delighted by the fact, began to change.

Crack!

“Ah, aah…!”

Beatrice already felt a burning pain from her right eye, which had been consumed by her.

She was horrified by what came into view immediately after.

‘…What is this?’

[It’s the color of emotions. Look, can you see? That red blooming over there is the color of murder.]

From her right eye, a world of vivid colors unfolded.

The most intense among them was the red wave directed at her.

It was Yuren’s killing intent.

[This makes it convenient. Even if it’s not as good as those eyes, it allows me to read. Anyway, what a dreadful killing intent. Seems like a kid with a pretty nasty personality.]

It was dangerous.

In a state where consciousness was mixed, it was clear.

[Seeing is not the end.]

Boom―!

Yuren shot out.

Precisely, along the path his killing intent had paved.

Amorio leisurely reached out and touched the killing intent.

Then Yuren’s posture faltered.

“?!”

[Why do you think we are demons?]

A magic circle unfolded.

Amorio infused it with colors.

The color of the magic circle turned sunset red, then flickered blue.

[Emotions originally came from us.]

A spine-chilling magic.

Beatrice involuntarily shouted,

“Josh···.”

The words came too late.

*Pishoot!*

He barely turned his head to avoid it, but a long gash appeared on Yuren’s cheek.

Yuren’s eyes widened as if they were about to tear apart.

It was Amorio’s first effective strike.

Just by looking at it, it was clear.

Yuren hadn’t seen the previous attack.

A crisis had arrived, but it wasn’t the end.

[Shall we get more serious?]

It was the moment Amorio said those words.

“···!”

Beatrice was losing control.

Her mind, too, felt like it was slowly sinking below the surface.

“An···.”

Her vision was gradually turning black.

She gritted her teeth.

“Be careful···!”

Somehow, he tried to move his lips.

But, after the warning words, no more words came out.

The rising sense of despair strengthened Amorio’s power.

[Yeah, keep doing that, will you?]

Whoosh!

The twilight deepened.

When Amorio tapped the air, ripples emerged from that spot.

The ripples transformed into a spell.

Spell auto-completion.

It was a system that Beatrice had personally developed and was in the process of refining.

It even began to mimic visions.

The formation flickered red and blue.

It wasn’t just one.

There were seven of them.

Seven spells were being computed simultaneously.

If it was an attack that couldn’t be read or avoided like before, Yuren would die.

Beatrice felt her breath catch.

It was then.

“Ah, damn it.”

Yuren cursed.

Beatrice flinched.

His eyes were not on Amorio, but on himself.

“Hey.”

He spoke like that.

His lips moved, but no answer came out.

Amorio cast the completed spell.

Seven chains, each imbued with a different aura, fell from the sky.

The sixth rank, Chains of Divine Punishment.

Shrrrrk!

The omnidirectional attack was something Yuren could not block.

As much as he was tainted by the demon’s power, he could not break it.

So he thought.

Bang!

Yuren stomped the ground so hard it cracked.

He approached Amorio, coming towards himself.

The chains blocked his path.

‘Blocked.’

In that moment of thought, Yuren swung his switch.

Screeeech―!

The chains shattered.

Beatrice’s eyes filled with astonishment.

Yuren approached right in front of her.

He stepped on her shoulder and brought the switch to her protruding horn.

Beatrice could feel it.

[Ah… ?]

The demon was feeling a sense of crisis for the first time.

[This… can’t be seen…]

“It was blurry, but if I focused, I could see it.”

[What is that…]

“Doesn’t matter.”

Yuren wrapped mana around the switch.

Crackle!

[Kyaaa!!!]

Pain spread from the horn.

It felt like her whole body was burning.

Beatrice felt a sensation as if her vision was flashing.

It was then.

“Hey.”

A whisper full of irritation.

Immediately after, what Beatrice saw was just that.

“Didn’t you hear me say to keep your wits about you?”

Yuren, pale and fraught with nerves.

And burning with a ferocity that was almost monstrous…

‘…Aura?’

How could someone who isn’t a Swordmaster use Aura?

There was no time to voice the question.

At the urgent words, Beatrice hastily disrupted the flow of Amorio’s mana with all her might.

It was immediate.

Crack―!

Along with a spine-chilling sound,

Snap!

The horn broke.

End

ⓒ papapa.

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