I spread my shinsu wings and rose into the air.
As if it had been agreed upon in advance, Hon ascended almost simultaneously, matching my height and eting my gaze.
"Co to think of it," he said calmly,
"I never heard your na. What is it?"
Centered on Arie Hon's sword, the flow of shinsu in the surrounding space began to shift.
He was trying to seize control of the shinsu in this area.
When Ranker-class Arie swordsn fight, the one who claims dominance over the battlefield's shinsu flow inevitably gains the upper hand. Knowing that, I resisted in kind—centering the shinsu around Baekya, struggling to claim control myself.
"My na is Arie Hoaquin. Though late, an Arie child humbly pays his respects to the past of the Family Head."
"I see," Hon replied.
"You truly don't seem like an ordinary child."
"Haha. I suppose I am a little different from the average Arie."
At my words, Hon smiled faintly and drew his sword upward in a smooth arc—from low to high—executing an upward slash.
Despite being a single strike, the sheer scale of the incoming blade aura was enough to swallow whole.
I did not remain idle.
Gripping Baekya with all my strength, I swung it hard, cleaving the incoming slash cleanly in two.
The instant our blades collided—
A trendous pressure surged through Baekya, into my hand, and throughout my entire body.
At that mont, I understood.
His blade carried far more weight than mine.
In raw power, we might have been similar—but in understanding, mastery, and the accumulated gravity within the sword itself, Hon stood far ahead.
Which, frankly, was only natural.
After all, the very swordsmanship I was using had been created by this boy—Arie Hon himself.
With an unhurried expression, Hon spoke again.
"Hoaquin. Why did you co here?"
My purpose?
I didn't have a clearly defined one.
I had thought it might be interesting to fight Zahard or Arie Hon—but that was curiosity, not purpose.
The real reason I had co to the Hidden Floor… the reason I had gone so far as to force my way into the Hidden Stage—
"I suppose you could say I ca to see more, travel more freely, and pursue new experiences and enjoynt," I answered.
"If I were to dress it up."
"Hm. An adventurer, then…" Hon murmured.
"You resemble an old companion of mine. At least… the way he used to be."
With that, Hon moved again.
This ti, however—
He charged straight at .
Hon thrust his sword toward my chest.
Once.
Twice.
Three tis. Four.
In less than a few seconds, countless thrusts erupted—and each one transford mid-flight into a razor-sharp shinsu slash.
This was no longer a simple upward cut.
This was unmistakably Arie swordsmanship, imbued with its true principles.
If I was to face an Arie blade—
Then the only answer was an Arie blade.
I swung Baekya rapidly, drawing a massive circular arc around myself.
This wasn't a re swing—it was swordsmanship infused with Shinsu Origin Style.
As if explaining itself, the arc I drew began pulling in the surrounding shinsu.
A massive vortex ford, growing larger by the second.
And I didn't stop there.
Through Baekya, I controlled the shinsu directly, compressing and intensifying the vortex until it beca violently unstable.
By the ti Hon's dozens of silver slashes reached —
They weren't coming straight.
They twisted, curved, and shifted unpredictably as they flew—each one aiming directly for my heart.
But in the end, they were caught by the vortex.
Their trajectories warped just enough to barely miss.
Before Hon could follow up, I rapidly compressed the vortex to its limit and infused it directly into Baekya.
Then—
I swung.
The violent shinsu stored within Baekya erupted outward like a raging waterspout, surging toward Hon.
Hon cleaved it apart in a single stroke.
Exactly as expected.
That was the plan.
The mont the waterspout split, what entered Hon's vision was—
.
While he was focused on cutting through the attack, I had spread my wings and charged directly through the vortex itself, closing the distance in an instant.
"Baekya—partial ignition!"
BOOM!
From a single point at the tip of Baekya's blade, white light blood.
A blinding flash burst forward—a high-output shinsu blast fired directly from the sword.
Hon's blade, which had just been raised to split the waterspout, swung downward to intercept the beam at point-blank range.
At that distance, the blast was too close to evade.
Too close to block.
Or so I thought.
KAGAGANG—
Hon's sword shifted its position instantly, bisecting the beam cleanly in two.
The split blast slamd uselessly into the ground, detonating in a violent explosion.
It had been fired at extrely close range.
I had believed it impossible to block—
But then again…
"…This is Arie swordsmanship."
Launching attacks along impossible trajectories.
Closing distances that should never be closed.
That was the Arie blade—the sword that could do anything.
Still… I hadn't expected him to split it so effortlessly.
Even so, our distance was now zero.
I swung Baekya diagonally, targeting a blind angle.
Normally impossible to defend—
Yet Hon subtly altered the path of his blade and blocked it.
CLANG.
tal rang sharply through the air.
Up until now, we had tested each other through slashes alone—but now our blades collided directly.
The impact transmitted clearly—through steel, through grip, into bone.
Arie Hon's sword—
It was the pure essence of the Arie.
So heavy it inspired reverence.
It felt as though the sword was Hon—and Hon was the sword itself.
As we pushed against each other, I spoke lightly.
"Incredible. You're still only a D-rank Regular, and yet your blade already carries this much weight."
"That's not sothing you should be saying!"
Hon poured even more shinsu into the arm holding his sword, reinforcing it further—then knocked my blade upward.
My sword was flung high, and I was pushed back by the recoil.
At that instant, silver light blazed fiercely from Hon's blade.
"Try enduring this as well," he said.
"I'm curious."
—Arie Hon Style Swordsmanship: Silver Light
The mont he swung his sword, the silver shinsu radiating from Hon's blade solidified into a slash and flew straight at .
Its power was incomparable to ordinary sword waves.
"As much as you want."
I tightened my grip on my sword—still high from the recoil—and swung Baekya with all my strength, straight through the silver slash and toward Arie Hon beyond it.
— Hoaquin-style Swordsmanship: ssenger's Blazing Strike
As I drew my blade, white light burst forth alongside my sword arc.
The slash roared forward with savage force and collided head-on with Hon's attack.
Light devoured light.
Not canceling out cleanly, but repeatedly clashing, swallowing, and overwhelming one another—until it culminated in a massive explosion.
A violent secondary shinsu storm erupted, accompanied by blinding light bright enough to burn the eyes, engulfing both Arie Hon and myself.
Within the raging storm of turbulent shinsu, neither of us hesitated.
We charged at one another and swung our blades.
Impossible trajectories.
Defenses that should not exist.
Swordsmanship bordering on the divine.
To an outside observer, it would look like a perfectly even clash.
But in truth, it wasn't.
As I had already realized—while our raw strength might be similar, the essence contained within our swords was worlds apart.
Even setting skill aside, I had wielded a sword for barely eight years.
Of course there was a difference.
"Hahahaha! It's been so long since I've crossed blades like this!"
Slash—!
"Ghk—!"
Damn it. I got cut.
Hon laughed openly, swinging his sword with wild delight, while I broke into a cold sweat, barely managing to defend myself.
Even so, small wounds were steadily accumulating.
It was fun—but I had no leisure to laugh.
Still…
I glanced briefly at the shinsu storm still raging around us.
....
Arie Hon was enjoying himself imnsely.
Ever since arriving on the Hidden Floor, the idea that his "records" remained here had been interesting—but over ti, the place itself had grown dull.
The only real amusent ca from the Regulars who occasionally reached this floor after clearing the Hell Train, bringing news of the "outside him."
Living alongside his companions was pleasant as well—that was why he had stayed.
Ti passed.
Then one day, for reasons unknown, Zahard's data went mad.
He ca with so strange mirror, attempting to erase them all.
By then, Hon had already grown bored of the people here.
He had been half-inclined to play along—
Until he t this child.
A child who was clearly his own, yet inspired no sense of belonging.
A child who could wield Shinsu Origin Style, which he believed belonged only to their kind.
A child who possessed power rivaling his own.
Curious.
Fascinating.
Interesting.
Fun.
"Hahahaha! It's been so long since I've crossed blades like this!"
Laughing loudly, Hon swung his sword again.
The boy took another hit—but blocked the next strike.
His expression was grim, his focus entirely on defense, yet even that was impressive.
To endure this long against Hon himself—
Perhaps it was ti to show a little more seriousness.
That was when the boy suddenly looked up at the storm.
"…?"
A question surfaced in Hon's mind.
They had been fighting within this storm for quite so ti now.
A storm born from the aftershock of an explosion should have dissipated long ago.
And yet—
It wasn't fading.
If anything, it felt like it was growing stronger.
"…?"
Hon's eyes widened slightly as he looked at the boy.
And just as if confirming Hon's suspicion—
The boy smiled slyly.
....
Clang—
After parrying Hon's strike, I deliberately used the recoil to retreat.
It seed he had noticed as well.
This storm should have vanished long ago.
That was true—until I seized control of it.
I hadn't created this storm myself.
It was born from the aftermath of battle.
Naturally, that ant Hon's guard toward it was lower—especially since he was so focused on .
While fully committing to defense, I had quietly fed shinsu into the storm, making it my own and accelerating its flow until it grew increasingly violent.
"Perhaps it's different for you, Father," I said calmly.
With my palm open, I extended my hand toward Hon.
I admit it—With the sword alone, I can't win.
So I'll change the battlefield.
"But I'm not only suited to being a Fisherman."
I clenched my hand.
At once, the widely raging storm compressed, collapsing inward toward a single point—
Toward Arie Hon.
ROOOOAR—!
At the storm's core was Shinsu Origin Style.
The storm began exerting extre gravitational pull on everything around it—except .
Even Hon found his movents restricted.
The fully condensed shinsu storm surged toward him with imnse force—
But it still wasn't enough.
Of course, Hon didn't stay idle.
He slashed wildly in all directions, trying to carve his way out.
But due to Shinsu Origin Style's nature of continuously drawing in shinsu, every gap he cut was instantly refilled, sealing his escape.
From within the storm, Hon's voice rang out.
"Impressive. Both your strategy and your strength."
"I just saw you perform the miracle of splitting everything in half," I replied.
"There's no way I wouldn't prepare a counter."
It wouldn't last long—but that was fine.
The preparations were already complete.
Outside the storm—or rather, pushed out as it compressed—I revealed my final move.
Fifteen shinsu swords, each infused with Shinsu Origin Style, were arranged in a ring around the storm.
While fighting Hon inside the storm, I had already deployed them.
Now—
All at once, I drove them straight into the storm where he stood.
The Shinsu Origin Style forming the storm and the Shinsu Origin Style contained in the swords had already absorbed shinsu to their limit.
The mont I released control—
A blinding flash erupted from within.
KWAOOOOONG—!
A thunderous explosion shook heaven and earth.
"Haa… haa… ugh…"
Even with constant shinsu supply, I had poured in far too much power.
I never thought I'd say this—but I'm exhausted.
For a while, I just want to live peacefully without fighting…
I'm tired.
....
KRRRRRUMBLE—
A handso boy descended in a bolt of lightning, stepping into the Sword Altar.
"…What the hell? Why is this place like this too?"
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