I Was the Strongest Sword God in My Past Life

part 23

Whoosh.

Fire engulfed Isabelle’s hands.

Where the fire passed, red gauntlets remained. Although not a 5th-class Saber like those guarding Yubel, Isabelle’s innate talent made her stronger than a 3rd-class Saber. Among first-years, she was unrivaled.

“Such carefully groomed eyebrows. Would it be alright if they burned?”

“Hmm—so confident? I like that~, but…”

Cloa pulled out a bead from within her bosom. The bead, a mass of mana, seemed to forcibly contain dark clouds within, and its mere sight was ominous.

Clang.

The bead fell to the ground, and the mana it contained began to erode the surroundings.

“You can’t use mana now, can you?”

Cloa’s words were true. Isabelle’s gauntlet, Blaze, vanished as if the mist had cleared. No matter how much she tried to summon mana, it only swirled within her body.

“Uh, oh? It’s true…”

Isabelle was undoubtedly strong. Her mana potential was unparalleled. That’s why she never felt the need to train her body.

Without the buff from mana, her physical abilities were the lowest. She couldn’t guarantee victory even in a fight against a civilian.

“Ah, sorry, our lady relied too much on mana and got carried away… Did I go too far?”

Thinking she had the upper hand, Cloa approached Gian with a confident demeanor.

“Without mana. Now you can’t use magic devices, magical tools, stigmas, nothing. It’s a sad day for kids who only rely on their abilities.”

Cloa licked her index finger seductively, taunting them.

“So, what’s left here? Just two frail students, right?”

At Cloa’s signal,

Ten members of the direct guard unit, the Geum-ah (金釛) Squad, quickly surrounded Gian and Isabelle.

Geum-ah.

Like their nickname ‘Iron Molars,’ these non-magic users honed their swordsmanship in District 3 to possess combat abilities ranging from first to second-class Sabers, despite lacking mana within. It was a considerable feat for the non-gifted.

“Hey, kid. If you speak now, I can spare your life…”

Kloah whispered into Gian’s ear. Her sweet voice and breath clung to his earlobe.

“This woman is irrelevant, take her away. That will suffice. What do you say? Life is too precious, isn’t it?”

Kloah liked the scornful expression on Gian’s face. The taste of overpowering a strong opponent was truly…

‘That disdainful look… Ah~ I could get addicted~’

Kloah imagined the scene where Gian’s scorn turned into submission or humiliation. The thrill that arose from mere thought.

‘I’ll kill him anyway… but playing with him to the fullest…’

However, Gian’s actions were far beyond her expectations.

“Weak because I lack mana?”

In an instant, Gian snatched the sword from a Geum-ah squad member standing before him.

“In my view, that’s…”

Gian, holding the sword, sneered. Although he couldn’t use mana, one sword was enough. Among the many aliases Gian had in his previous life, one was Sword God (劍神).

Kloah’s strategy to abandon mana and fight with swords was clearly…

“A bad move.”

Gian pointed his sword at Kloah.

Clang! Clash!

‘…He’s winning.’

Isabel couldn’t believe the scene before her eyes. Of course, having fought him directly, she knew he was skilled with a sword. But that was when mana use was possible.

Even without mana, Gian dodged the sword by a hair’s breadth and stabbed at the enemy’s vital points. Isabel couldn’t help but admire his miraculous agility.

‘It’s not that the opponent is of low level.’

Even as non-magic users, the Geum-ah squad honed only their swords.

To the novice Isabel, their swordplay seemed quite sharp.

“What are you doing! Ten of you can’t handle one kid?”

Kloah screamed like a banshee, but the response from the masked man was also a scream.

“Aargh!”

“To commit such a crime using the Stigma. You won’t be getting out of prison. Death might be another matter.”

Provoked by Gian’s mocking challenge, Kloah couldn’t hide her rage and ground her teeth.

“That insolent brat…!”

Chloa charged with a dagger in hand. It was a fierce strike, but if it came to a pure sword fight, she had no chance of winning.

A different class of opponent. The swordsmanship of a hero who dominated an era with his blade shone just as brightly without mana. In fact, it shined even more.

Swoosh!

Zien’s sword harshly grazed Chloa’s side.

“Argh! It hurts! You b*stard! Damn it! Damn you all! I’ll tear you to pieces. Do you think you can leave the Tower of Magic alive? Don’t even dream…”

Thud!

Chloa’s head spun around as she was struck by something while she cursed.

“Quiet! What was that about being fragile earlier?

Hey, say it again.”

It was Isabelle’s punch. Struck squarely in the center of her face, Chloa fell, blood streaming from her nose.

“Heh, hehehe… It would have been better for you to go with me. Hehe, hehe… The guy who came with me is no gentleman at all.”

Chloa, out of her mind, threw a piece of paper. As it fell upon her body, she was sucked into it, turning into paper.

“Ah! Missed it!”

As Chloa disappeared, Isabelle exclaimed as if it was a pity. On the ground lay ten members of the Kuma Squad, groaning in defeat.

“Are you okay? If only mana had worked, I could have done something…”

Isabelle trailed off, seemingly guilty for just watching.

“Yeah, it was a good call. A Saber’s judgment should always prioritize efficiency.”

Zien’s words were no empty talk. If Isabelle had intervened without being able to use mana, she would have only been in the way.

“Let’s head downstairs.”

Zien pointed to the emergency exit.

Now that they knew Isabelle was the target, joining the guards downstairs was the priority.

* * *

“Uh… Is this an artifact too?”

Isabelle’s complexion worsened as she looked at the staircase.

Pitch black. The stairs that had been used to evacuate the citizens were cut off. As if the upper floors of the Tower of Magic had been transported to another dimension, half of the staircase was shrouded in darkness.

“It’s the Eastern Barrier. Probably an artifact containing the sorcery of District 3.”

“Does that mean we’re trapped?”

“At least for an hour.”

“Phones and ear mics are all dead… Ugh, to be marked by Desire of all people…”

Isabelle sighed.

“Desire?”

“Don’t you watch the news? They’re the villains who robbed Stealth Bank recently. That mask is a symbol of their leader.”

“So they’re abusing the artifact.”

They hid in a storage room for necessities.

An awkward and long time.

Isabelle took out a hard cookie and crunched it. Then she gulped down some water.

“They must be after me because of my father, right?”

Isabelle crouched down, hugging her knees, and sighed.

“…The fools have got it all wrong.”

Uncharacteristically, Isabelle’s voice shrank.

“I’m not even worth taking as a hostage.”

“Why would you think that?”

Jien’s reply was dry.

“It’s true. My father doesn’t even make eye contact with me. It’s strange that you don’t know.”

Jien just listened to the story. He didn’t respond.

Isabelle preferred that to clumsy sympathy or consolation.

Thump. Jien sat down next to Isabelle. Ignoring the light dust, Isabelle muttered with a defeated look.

“I’m so annoyed.”

Isabelle buried her face in her knees.

Ubel Blitz. A father who is old-fashioned and values discipline.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember his smiling face. According to the butler, he used to smile a lot in the past.

‘I’ve never seen it, so what do I know.’

On the day Isabelle was born, Ubel wept. Those were not tears of joy at seeing his child, but of sorrow for losing his lover.

Ubel’s laughter began to fade from that day. The very day Isabelle was born.

“……”

Isabelle put down the cookie bag. Time slowly passed. Maybe about three minutes.

With an expressionless face, Jien said,

“How many years ago was that?”

Perhaps a hundred and ten years more?

“There was a girl I always used to spar with.”

“You sparred with her?”

“Yes. I always lost.”

Isabel’s ears perked up with interest. Behind her curious gaze, Gian bit into a cookie.

Crunch.

“She was truly a genius.”

Gian paused, then continued softly,

“As a child, my goal was always to beat her.”

“That girl?”

“Yes. Since the village was so small, it was just the two of us.”

I continued to train and became stronger. Time passed, and eventually, we could no longer spar.

And the reason I had to become strong had changed.

“But later, I realized that winning or losing wasn’t what mattered.”

“…Then what does matter?”

At Isabel’s question, Gian recalled an old memory.

A past that remains clear even over time.

[If you don’t speak, you can’t understand.]

Eyes the color of river water, still pure, unforgettable.

“By the time you regret, it’s already too late.”

A meaningful tale. Yet, after finishing, Gian simply gazed silently at Isabel.

* * *

The tower’s corridor. A dark space where the fire had been extinguished by an accident. A man in a mask walked through. That day, with his mask on, he acquired a new name: Illusion.

“Kloa. To unfold the Cheonrajiwang at will. It wasn’t supposed to be left to her…”

The binding barrier Cheonrajiwang is a consumable artifact, saved for an important moment that may come.

“If such bleeding doesn’t secure the target, the damage is significant.”

Yet, the tower is as vast as its reputation.

“Only about 20 minutes left. I’d rather not have the government’s hounds come crashing in.”

Still, he did not hurry his steps. He walked leisurely, like a drifting dark cloud.

Step by step.

Illusion stopped in front of the storage warehouse. Although he couldn’t feel the mana due to the barrier, he could immediately sense something was off. The area in front of the door was filled with the scent of perfume.

“Idiotic.”

A smile curved within the mask. Taking two steps back, Illusion charged. With his hand wrapped in mana, he smashed the door like a mace. As the door shattered, the inside of the warehouse was revealed.

“…Glass?”

The warehouse was covered in broken glass shards. The floor was barely visible. The pungent perfume scent stabbed at Illusion’s nose.

“Perfume… It’s a trap!”

He realized too late, already inside the warehouse.

“Wow, he really went in?”

A woman’s voice came from outside the door.