I Was the Strongest Sword God in My Past Life

part 27

“Brother!”

Hwang Sanchul is flustered.

“Have you arrived?”

When Ji-en asked calmly, Hwang Yuseong looked at him with a meaningful expression.

“Yes, I have. Tomorrow is not a historic day?”

“It’s the day the next clan leader is decided.”

“I’ve heard that the clan leader has already been chosen.”

In the uneasy atmosphere, Riza clung closely to Ji-en.

Right now, Ji-en was in a state where even a 9-year-old child couldn’t be assured victory. A mere touch would mean goodbye. Death at the gate meant death in reality. There was no room for carelessness.

“Yes, it’s decided. The next clan leader is Sanchul.”

“Br-brother!”

Ji-en’s expression didn’t change a bit. Hwang Sanchul was just looking around.

Hwang Yuseong’s eyes emitted heat like lava, but his voice was calm, making the temperature difference eerily stark.

“May I hear the reason? Why Sanchul was chosen over me, the eldest son?”

As Hwang Yuseong glared at Hwang Sanchul, Sanchul let out an involuntary hiccup.

Ji-en looked back and forth between the two, then wore a disgusted expression.

“Even beasts know the value of their offspring and family.”

But you don’t.

Ji-en continued calmly.

“Brother, if you do not understand this principle, how can you govern the thousands under your care?”

Silence.

After Ji-en finished speaking, a profound silence ensued. Ji-en thought.

“So, it has come to this.”

Hwang Yuseong muttered to himself like a madman and left the annex.

“Little brother, I, I will also take my leave.”

After the storm had passed through the annex, Ji-en glanced at Riza.

“Are you satisfied?”

“Absolutely… amazing!”

Liza’s fists tremble with excitement.

“It’s so refreshing. But Evan, you really can act.”

“There’s a separate curriculum for acting, you know. And if you study the customs and vocabulary of each area in advance, it’s not that difficult.”

Liza shakes her head at Evan’s words.

“No, it’s beyond that category. Is this your first performance? Even the professor can’t match you.”

“If Huang Chung appoints Huang Sancheol as his successor, the gate will end tomorrow.”

Jien said this, but something felt off.

It was a magic device used by a 5th or 6th-grade Saber. Considering the scale, it’s a technique with significant handicaps. But to end this smoothly?

“Somehow, knowing it’s the end makes me feel regretful. The facilities, especially for the 3rd district, were more than satisfactory.”

“…Right.”

* * *

Thud thud thud thud!

Dozens rush to the annex. Masked warriors line up inside in an instant. Among them, Huang Yuseong emerges.

“Present your neck.”

Huang Yuseong’s sudden move. Liza curses out loud.

“That crazy b*stard!”

Liza’s anger is due to ‘something’ in Huang Yuseong’s right hand.

The head of someone they had just been talking to. That ‘something’ was Huang Sancheol’s head.

Rolling rolling.

The head thrown by Huang Yuseong rolls across the annex. Huang Yuseong’s eyes, having made up his mind, gleamed like a demon’s.

“Kuk, yes. Beasts have their own ways.”

“You killed your brother just for that damn position?”

Jien, forgetting to act, is agitated.

“This is my best. It’s for the greater good.”

Jien shakes his head at Huang Yuseong’s words.

“When I found out you orchestrated the attack, I should have killed you right then.”

I thought too lightly of it.

“I didn’t know you and Sancheol were that close.”

Hwang Yuseong’s sneering.

“A special relationship? What you’ve abandoned is the least of human decency. You’re no longer human.”

Jien signaled to Riza.

Riza, codenamed ‘Sword Flower’ as Number One, plunged into the midst of over thirty warriors, and her sword blossomed.

Amidst the splattering red blood, hers was absent. The golden flower began to soak up the red dye.

“Kill her quickly! Kill that wench, and I’ll give you gold as big as this annex!”

The once proud Hwang Yuseong screamed.

“Mercy…”

The warrior’s attempt to respond was cut short.

Rolling rolling.

The masked head tumbled to the ground.

A scene from somewhere.

The warriors were undoubtedly strong.

Most were assassins with skills ranging from first to second class. But the Golden Gate was not a martial family, and the opponent was formidable.

Riza. She was soon to reach the realm of a fifth-class Saber. A genius with unparalleled swordsmanship in the academy’s history. The mana that emanated with each swing of her ordinary sword, not a magic tool, was what was commonly referred to as sword energy in the third district.

“Argh!”

It was an unprotected confrontation.

Any other student would have hesitated at the moment of truth.

But hesitation in a real sword fight is a fatal mistake. However, Riza’s sword pursued only the correct answer. Because hesitation was not the correct answer, Riza did not hesitate.

She only slashed, blocked, and split.

“What a… monster!”

“Six Directions Fist!”

“We must finish before father arrives. We’re out of time! Kill her quickly!”

Yet, she did not twitch an eyebrow.

This was a clear killing, but in our world, it was salvation.

After three minutes, the battle was over.

“…Please spare me.”

At Hwang Yuseong’s words, Riza wore a sad expression.

“Coward.”

Riza looked around. Beyond the door, marking the annex’s perimeter, was the beautiful pond of Yongcheon Yeon, and inside the annex lay the bodies of several warriors.

“This is it. All because of your greed. And now you beg for your life?”

Hwang Yuseong prostrated himself, begging over and over again.

“I don’t care for the clan leader’s position anymore. I’ve come to my senses. Right? Second brother? I’ll hide away in some quiet place, as quiet as a dead mouse, just hiding, hiding. If I die too, Father will be sad. Please. Please.”

Hwang Yuseong hid his trembling hands within his robes, and Riza looked at him with contempt.

‘His hands…?’

Gien pressed his forehead, tormented by a terrible headache. It was the suppressive power of the illusion magic device. The suppressive force meant to achieve the purpose of a nightmare.

“Argh! Ugh!”

At Gien’s death throes, Riza dropped her sword and turned around.

Complacency.

A saber must never be complacent. Once life is on thin ice, one must maintain a cool head at all times.

Otherwise.

“Riza! Behind you! Look behind!…”

Because the price to pay is too great.

At Gien’s shout, Riza turned around, and she saw a flying dagger in her vision.

“Evan!”

The dagger was not aimed at Riza.

Hwang Yuseong knew exactly who he should be targeting at this moment.

It was then Gien realized. The reason the gate had changed. The physical penalty, and the headache that was now splitting his head.

‘This is…’

Riza had no time to gather mana. At best, a handful.

Thud!

Riza poured that handful into her left foot. Without time to change her stance, her body covered Gien’s.

Swoosh! Thunk!

The dagger struck something.

“Ha, hahaha! Stupid girl! You were fooled, weren’t you? Fooled!”

Hwang Yuseong cackled like a madman and hurriedly fled.

The commotion outside the annex suggested escape was unlikely.

No, that’s not what’s important right now.

“Riza…”

Black blood flowed from the wound where the dagger had struck her back.

“Okay.”

Liza tried not to show it, but her breathing was ragged. The poison smeared on the dagger was eating away at her.

“Why, why did you block it?”

“You’re weak right now… If you get hit and die… What then? We can’t even complete the quest.”

Liza giggled.

‘It was like this back then too.’

To her eighteen-year-old self, the death of a comrade was something vague. She was too young to experience such things, and she didn’t want to imagine it. Gian’s gaze fell on the fallen Liza.

‘It’s all an illusion anyway.’

The fake world created by the illusion magic device. Gian knew well that everything was an illusion, including the Liza before his eyes. But…

“Damn it…”

Through the gap in emotions, the mana of the illusion relentlessly attacked Gian.

“…After all.”

It’s all an illusion. The scene before his eyes was all false.

“Damn!”

But even if he understood it in his head, the opponent was a 6th-grade Saber, and their mana was powerful. The miracle that Gian had held on until now was possible only because of his mental strength. But even that had its limits. Memories of his past life were gradually swallowing Gian.

“Not yet…”

Swallowed by mana, Gian was increasingly assimilating with the emotions of the past. Emotions and thoughts.

“It’s still too early… Didn’t I tell you? I will win. Our 323rd duel…”

“Of course… I will win.”

Liza coughed up blood. The blood was black.

The extreme poison of the Sacheondangmun, known to kill even elephants. Although she looked fine on the outside, Liza’s insides were in turmoil. But knowing that didn’t block the emotions.

“Evan? It would have happened someday… It’s not your fault.”

Contrary to Liza’s calm voice, her hands trembled.

“Liza.”

“Maybe… I should have just given it to Hwang Yuseong like you said?”

“Liza.”

“No, even so… I don’t like that guy.”

Liza’s body, touching Gian’s, was like a ball of fire.

“Liza, I…”

Gian’s thoughts were melting away at a rapid pace. It was a scene he had already experienced, but the emotions were not something one could get used to. Now Gian was truly no different from Evan at eighteen.

“Don’t say it, Evan.”

Liza’s eyes shimmered with a golden light.

“Have you forgotten my magic?”