Fiore headed toward Francaise alone.
When his vassals told him to take troops with him, Fiore replied,
"If you disappear, the Empire will notice something is wrong and attack, are you saying we should hand over Bezos? I'll just go quickly on my own."
From the beginning, Fiore was not the kind of person who listened to others.
Even the fact that, as a king, his own safety was tied to the survival of the nation was not particularly important to him.
He simply did what he wanted to do.
Perhaps, he was a man unfit to be a king.
No matter how much he was praised as the strongest swordsman, there was no way the many vassals and knights could feel at ease letting their king depart alone.
But Fiore shook them all off with force.
"You're of no help."
Without hesitation, Fiore left Bezos.
And when he arrived in Francaise, what he saw was dark clouds and pitch-black fog blanketing the region.
It was as if only the territory of Francaise had turned into another world.
Fiore stepped into it without hesitation.
Then, a viscous atmosphere, as if it had substance, brushed over his body.
Fiore raised his sword and surrounded himself with sword aura.
The darkness was pushed back.
Fiore murmured,
"Cedric."
He was his father.
But just as he was lacking as a king, he had been lacking as a father.
Even though he suspected that Cedric, his son, might not be as gentle as others claimed, he simply overlooked it.
To Fiore, that too was unimportant.
"Father."
Beyond the fog, Cedric was standing there.
Looking at him, Fiore recalled the past. Though an indifferent father, he remembered how his son had grown up.
That truly small and tiny child had gradually grown more mature, until he became someone whose thoughts even Fiore could not understand.
Fiore thought,
It must have gone wrong from a very young age.
Cedric, from an early age, quickly learned to speak and observed the world. He would watch the attendants, eavesdrop on their conversations, and analyze their behavior.
And one day, he asked him,
'Father, what should we do if there are too many foolish people?'
At that time, Fiore was still enthralled by the sword, and had no interest in anything but swinging it.
So, he answered Cedric's question half-heartedly.
'Well, nothing you can do.'
'Shouldn't someone fix it?'
'I suppose that would be good.'
'If we kill them all, wouldn't the traits of foolish people disappear?'
He did feel a sense of dissonance, but thought it was an innocent slip of the tongue born of a child's purity.
Still, Fiore put on a stern face and exuded pressure, intending to teach him a lesson.
'What nonsense is that.'
Then Cedric stepped back.
Looking up at him, he seemed to fall into thought for a moment.
Believing it was lesson enough, Fiore turned away. After that, Cedric never asked such questions again.
He only ever kept a smile on his face, saying things the other person would like to hear.
Cedric hadn't been corrected, he had simply learned.
Would things have been different if he had paid more attention?
Thinking such thoughts, Fiore raised his sword.
"No."
Cedric replied,
"What do you mean, no?"
"I mean the thought you're having right now, Father, it's wrong."
"What am I thinking?"
"You know."
Cedric smiled faintly.
"Just as you are that kind of man, I was simply born this way."
"Are you trying to comfort me?"
"No, I'm done pretending now."
Then suddenly, a man in black appeared beside Cedric.
Fiore raised his sword.
"You wouldn't be surprised, Father. You might even sympathize."
"No."
"Liar."
Cedric stepped back.
Then, the man in black stepped forward with his sword drawn.
The aura he gave off was extraordinary.
"Father, you've thought the same as I have, haven't you?"
"And what thought is that?"
'Why are humans like that?'
"No."
'Why can humans only wield a sword that poorly?'
Fiore fell silent.
It was as Cedric said.
He was a genius of the sword, from the beginning wielding it as naturally as his own limbs. To him, the only things that stirred his interest were related to the sword.
So, there were times when he could not understand the swords other humans swung.
"I'm the same. The difference is, I try to correct it directly."
"I see."
"Using black magic to exploit the Empire is simply the most efficient method. I hope you understand."
Fiore nodded.
"Alright, let's see how well prepared you are."
With those words, the man in black stepped forward in earnest, sword in hand.
He spoke,
"My name is Dan So-cheon."
"Fiore Briol."
Fiore fixed his gaze on his opponent.
Judging by the name Dan So-cheon, he seemed to be from the East. Fiore could sense an aura comparable to the Ten Strongest. He was probably the Shadowless Sword.
Unconsciously, Fiore smiled.
It had been a long time since he had faced a worthy opponent.
Fiore began to slowly reveal his own aura. A sharp, all-cleaving energy surrounded his entire body.
Within a certain radius, no other aura could intrude.
Dan So-cheon swallowed nervously and murmured,
"As expected, the greatest under heaven in the West…"
Fiore moved.
His figure vanished, and in the next instant, he appeared before Dan So-cheon and swung his sword.
A sound of the air splitting rang out.
"Kh!"
Dan So-cheon staggered back.
"This is all you've got?"
"No."
Dan So-cheon drew up his aura, and a dark energy began to flow from him.
The two men's sword auras clashed.
Thunder roared.
Fiore began to laugh.
He had always swung his sword alone, always feeling a lack. There had been no opponent capable of truly receiving his sword.
But Dan So-cheon was different. Though pushed back, he did not break.
"Good."
Muttering thus, Fiore heightened his aura once more.
His clothes fluttered. The sword aura he had amassed soared high into the sky. Dan So-cheon's face turned pale.
"As expected…"
Fiore swung his sword.
With a single strike, the entire area was swept away.
The terrain collapsed, leaving a deep crater in the surroundings, save for where Dan So-cheon stood.
Blood dripped from Dan So-cheon's mouth.
"Unbelievable…"
"It's not going to end with just this, is it."
Dan So-cheon's eyes widened.
"You really are a monster. But…"
His eyes turned black.
"I, too, am a Heavenly Demon."
Dan So-cheon raised his sword. Then, dark sword aura began to flow out like waves. It gathered together, and soon became a massive lump of power that circled around him.
But it did not last long.
Fiore swung his sword.
A thin line was drawn over the world, and the energy Dan So-cheon had created was split clean in two.
The immense energy collapsed, and an explosion erupted.
Dan So-cheon was flung back.
"What in the world is that…"
On Fiore's sword, a thin halo of light was coated.
That was no mere sword aura.
Dan So-cheon could sense it — a realm close to a miracle dwelled within it.
A sword that cut through everything.
It was, quite literally, a sword that could cut even the uncuttable.
Fiore was already a martial artist of a dimension higher than him. For the first time, Dan So-cheon felt something called helplessness.
"You bastard!"
Dan So-cheon raised his inner energy again. He was about to use the fiercest technique he knew.
Dark energy flared on his sword like black flames. His pupils turned red. It was an attack that abandoned even his own safety.
"Uaaaah!"
But after only a few exchanges, his sword shattered.
He did not even have the strength left to feel shock.
"Dan So-cheon."
Cedric, who was standing behind, spoke.
"At this point, you're not going to tell me not to interfere, are you?"
"…"
Dan So-cheon could not answer.
To set one's fighting spirit, the opponent must at least be within reach.
At first, he had confidently thought to defeat the greatest under heaven in the West and prove himself stronger. Even if he lost, he believed he could at least make it a good match.
He was completely wrong.
No matter what he did, he could never defeat Fiore.
He had seen many renowned martial artists from the East, but never had he seen a swordsman who had climbed this high.
No matter how desperately he struggled, Fiore merely cut it down with an indifferent expression.
"Now I'll step in."
"…Alright."
Dan So-cheon nodded.
"That's a monster."
Father and son were both the same kind of monster.
Cedric let out a low laugh, then stirred up black magic. The fog filling the surroundings thickened. It grew darker and darker, until Fiore, who had been standing ahead, could no longer be seen.
"This is my poison, created by offering up all of Francaise."
Something was moving within the darkness.
Soon, an anomaly occurred.
The darkness began to draw toward one point. Because of that, the surroundings suddenly cleared.
Fiore's body was shrouded in darkness.
"Take this."
Cedric handed Dan So-cheon a new sword — one better than the previous.
"Understood."
Dan So-cheon took the sword and approached Cedric, who was wrapped in darkness.
He knew well what dwelled inside that darkness.
It was the materialized grudge and resentment of all the humans sacrificed by Cedric's black magic. The moment one touched it, tens of thousands of screams would echo in one's mind.
No human could endure it.
In an instant, Dan So-cheon stepped forward and thrust his sword toward the darkness.
Clang.
But then, an unbelievable thing happened.
"Huh?"
Fiore should have been caught in Cedric's black magic, unable to see or hear.
He should have been defenseless, and died from Dan So-cheon's stab.
Yet, from within the darkness, came the sound of swords clashing.
And something even more shocking happened.
The darkness split, and from within it, pure white sword aura flew out.
"Gah!"
Unable to dodge in time, Dan So-cheon was cut, blood flowing as he sank to the ground.
He had avoided a fatal wound, but the bleeding was considerable.
Dan So-cheon looked up.
From the dense darkness surrounding Fiore like a coffin, a blade protruded.
It then moved up and down.
Fiore's body emerged more and more clearly from within the darkness.
He was smiling.
"Cedric!"
But the black magic Cedric had conjured was formidable. Twisting as it wrapped around Fiore's body, it tormented his flesh.
The darkness opened and tore repeatedly.
Like an insect shedding a cocoon, Fiore tore through the darkness and stepped forward.
"Hoo…"
Yet soon, the darkness wrapped around him again, dragging him back inside. Once more, Fiore's figure could not be seen.
Cedric shouted,
"Keep going!"
"R-right."
Dan So-cheon raised his sword again.
This time, he did not simply swing it. He gathered his inner energy, infused sword aura, and with the martial arts of the demonic sect, aimed to directly strike the darkness that held Fiore.
Kaaang.
A part of the darkness burst outward like an explosion, and from within it, a sword blade protruded once again.
Then Fiore's face, stained with darkness, emerged as he stepped out.
With each step he took, the darkness clung to him.
Yet he did not stop, continuing to walk forward.
Fiore seemed like an immortal who could not be killed no matter what.
"Cedric, do something."
"Wait."
Cedric began chanting again. Words not of the human world spilled forth.
Dan So-cheon looked back.
Cedric, who always seemed relaxed as though he knew everything, for once looked urgent.
As he continuously formed hand seals, the energy of black magic intensified.
"Hoo…"
The moment Dan So-cheon turned his head back, Fiore's attack came flying in.
He barely blocked it.
The darkness shifted form into the shape of human hands, blocking Fiore's path. Countless black hands shot out, gripping his limbs.
Fiore now commanded darkness far greater in size.
Yet he did not stop.
Bearing all of it on his body, Fiore moved forward.
One step.
One step.
As he approached, Dan So-cheon retreated.
"Was the calculation wrong."
Cedric's hollow voice came from behind.
"Seems even sacrificing all of Francaise wasn't enough."
"Just do something."
"I'm doing it."
Once again, thousands of hands rose to hold Fiore down.
Fiore ignored them and raised his sword.
In the pitch-black darkness, only the pure white blade gleamed.
Shaking it all off, Fiore swung his sword.
[You can buy paid chapters or support me on any platform below:
☕ Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/punisher87
💎 Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/reaper87
🔥 Patreon: patreon.com/Punisher87translation
📘 Payhip Store: payhip.com/revengerscans
For latest Updates VisitOfficial Website: https://revengernovel.com/
Choose the platform that works best for your country. Thank you for your support!]