Chapter 152

In fact, Sword God’s teaching skills weren’t actually bad. No, to begin with, it was impossible for them to be bad.

When a person can clearly see exactly what someone is doing wrong, how to fix it, and what needs to be done to step up to the next level, it would be much harder to be a poor teacher.

And realistically, ever since Sword God had met them, he had consistently provided that kind of step-by-step, customized education. Thanks to that, their skills had been improving by leaps and bounds.

However, what the two women desired right now was a rapid leap forward.

Because of this, instead of taking his time to kindly break down the problem‑solving process step by step, Sword God had shown them the correct answer first in reverse order. He intended to let them substitute the intermediate steps with their own sudden flashes of enlightenment.

It was a method that required an inherent level of talent from the students to even be possible, but Sword God believed in their potential, and the teaching method was actually yielding significant results.

The only problem was… the results fell far short of what Sword God had anticipated.

To put it in perspective, it was like someone presenting a problem and saying, ‘Hey, if you just use differential equations, this gets solved in a flash. It’s so fucking easy. Just try it, try it.’ Meanwhile, the students are left staring, going, ‘Uh… diff… erential equations? W-what is that?’ as they frantically struggle to comprehend limits and infinite series first.

Of course, in terms of sheer talent, the two women possessed nationwide, elite-level potential—the kind that would compete for first or second place in an Olympiad. But from the perspective of Sword God, who could casually whip up a Fields Medal-level thesis just by looking at a math textbook’s table of contents, even their level was bound to feel incredibly frustrating…

And the ultimate result of that frustration was this special lesson, which was thoroughly turning the two women’s stomachs inside out.

“Wow… you guys are seriously slow…”

A surge of irritation welled up inside them.

“Is it really that hard to deliver a mere twelve thrusts in a single second while ensuring every single one hits the exact same pinpoint spot?”

Another surge!

“The target is moving, you know!”

“What about it moving? Do you think enemies in real life are just going to stand completely still and let you hit them? That’s exactly why you guys are still stuck at Blaster rank.”

Irritation, after irritation, kept bubbling up!

“Oh? Look at you. Are you gonna punch me? You haven’t even reached Master rank yet, and you actually have the luxury of sleeping soundly at night? Huh?”

…There was a reason people always said that if you want to ruin a relationship, you should try teaching that person how to drive.

‘I seriously want to beat him to a pulp.’

‘I want to bury him in the dirt with only his skull sticking out and smash it with a bat about a thousand times.’

‘I know he’s purposely acting like an obnoxious prick just to stimulate our growth, but still…’

‘Wait, is he really acting like an obnoxious prick on purpose? Isn’t this just his actual personality?’

Even so, they… simply couldn’t bring themselves to hate him.

Because the things he occasionally demonstrated for them, and the lofty, sublime boundaries of his realm that they caught glimpses of through those actions, were just too breathtakingly beautiful and brilliant.

“Forget it. Chel. Instead of just picking out specific techniques, I’ll demonstrate the entire Merina-style spear and halberd routines scaled up to the Grand Master level from start to finish. I’ll have a Recording Artifact set up, so just keep watching it and study from morning to night.”

“……!”

“……!!”

“If there’s any discrepancy between what you know and what I show you, follow my way. I don’t care about the founders or whatever; I am unconditionally right. Even if that founder person had survived until now and trained the entire time, they wouldn’t match up to me.”

“…W-wow.”

“W-wait a moment. There’s no such thing as a halberd routine in the Merina-style. What I use is something I arranged on my own using the spear techniques as a base…”

“I just created it right now, using what you do as the foundation.”

“…What?”

“I mean I just formulated it in my head just now. Took about five minutes, maybe? Derived styles are fine and all, but from now on, try your best to follow this version.”

“…….”

And with that, he literally snatched the spear and halberd away from the two of them and strolled out onto the surface of the lake, his footsteps lightly splashing as if he were walking on flat ground. Then, right there on top of the water, he began to delicately trace out the spear and halberd routines he had completely overhauled and founded.

“Ah, aaah…”

At that exact moment, not a single person could utter a word.

The group of houseguests who had been thoroughly enjoying the spectacle of Chel and Kelly suffering under Sword God, the maids who were interestingly listening to the lecture from the sidelines since they all possessed a decent amount of skill themselves, and even Professor Talos, the Tiger Calamity, who had dropped by out of pure boredom and sat down with a liquor bottle, thinking he had stumbled upon a great show—every single one of them was left utterly speechless.

Without any distinction between the beginning or end of a movement, the spear and halberd flowed continuously and seamlessly. One moment, they seemed to suddenly call forth lightning and violent gales, only to descend the next moment as quietly and softly as flowing water deep within a mountain.

Even when a storm seemed to brew overhead, the surface of the lake maintained an absolute, unbroken tranquility from start to finish.

Even when the halberd spat out lightning toward the sky as if it would cleave the very clouds, it merely rippled out gentle waves across the water, looking like nothing more than falling raindrops.

Everyone froze their movements, stopped their thoughts, and ceased their words, staring blankly at the spectacle as if their souls had been stolen away.

Since the primary objective was to teach, his demonstration was performed slowly and meticulously… but regardless of their inherent talent or rank, everyone watching knew.
They knew that this was by no means just a beautiful dance.

The very instant that man at the center of the shifting forms willed it to be so, those movements would transform into actual lightning and storms, capable of erasing everything from existence.

Those who held particularly high ranks felt a shudder run down their spines, falling into a state akin to Stendhal syndrome.

‘How can something be so breathtakingly beautiful?’

‘How can it be so flawless and absolutely perfect?’

And then….

Rumbleeeee….

Merina-style, Heaven-Cleaving Mountain-Shatter.

An ultimate halberd routine that Sword God had custom-arranged, adapting Mountain Ruin—one of the hidden ultimate techniques of the Merina-style spear arts—to fit the halberd.

The halberd whirled. As if the weapon were the baton of an orchestral conductor, the water of the lake whirled along with it, piercing straight toward the heavens.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

“Phew…”

As the torrential flood of water that had soared into the sky completed its duty and cascaded back down into the lake, Sword God slowly steadied his breathing, concluding his demonstration.

Splaaashhhhh…..

“…….”

“…….”

That final scene, which served as the crowning touch to the entire demonstration… was an absolute masterpiece in its own right.

And Chel and Kelly, who had witnessed that spectacle closer than anyone else, directly right in front of their eyes, felt the scene burn itself like an imprint into their completely blank, bleached minds.

The very realm they had pursued as their lifelong ideal… no, a distant, unfathomable realm far beyond even that, was alive and breathing right before them in human form. How could they possibly feel any other way?

Chel sank to her knees, her jaw trembling violently.

‘I… I lived my entire life just to witness this today.’

A profound sense of awe and reverence swelled deep within her chest.

‘Ah… If it’s like this, I really won’t be able to leave his side for the rest of my life… Haha, I’m completely doomed.’

As for Kelly, she held her breath, clutching her chest tightly.

‘…This is the pinnacle of martial arts. A miracle named martial prowess.’

Her heart throbbed erratically, as if she had taken some sort of illicit drug.

Previously, she had heard from Chel and Elizabeth about how much the doppelgänger possessing her form liked and clung to that man, Go Geom-shin. When she first heard that story, she simply thought a doppelgänger was nothing more than a doppelgänger. She had been absolutely certain that she would never behave in such a manner.

But she was wrong.

‘…It makes sense that she fell for him. Witnessing something like this, how could anyone not fall for him?’

Today, she realized it with absolute certainty. She would be no different from that doppelgänger.

With every throb of her heart, Kelly hid her increasingly flushed face behind both hands, desperately trying to steady her ragged breathing.

‘They said that doppelgänger called that man Orabeoni, right? …Maybe I should try calling him that too.’

Boom! Craaaack! BOOOM!!

In an instant, three distinct variations of aura clashed, erupting in a blur of flames and lightning before parting once again.

Simultaneously, the figures of the three women were pushed back in opposite directions.

“Pant, pant…”

Carmen steadied her breathing, her eyes wide with astonishment as she looked at Chel and Kelly, who were both struggling to catch their breath.

“Pant, pant…”

“Inhale, exhale…”

‘They have grown remarkably stronger.’

Yes. Unlike before, the two of them had put up a proper fight against her today. They had managed to match her pace to a fairly impressive degree.

‘Seven to three.’

Of course, she was still overwhelmingly stronger. The wall separating a Master and a Blaster remained fully intact.

Yet, that very wall had become incredibly thin over the span of just a few days. It felt as though it could tear at any moment, given the right catalyst.

‘Naturally, the story would change if I altered the quality of my aura and unfolded the Rose Garden… but it felt as if they were holding a final card up their sleeves as well.’

Involuntarily, she turned her gaze toward Sword God, who was standing a short distance away giving the two a thumbs-up—the man she had firmly resolved to serve as her lord.

Watching the two Elves flash brilliant smiles at a single word of praise from him while still in the middle of combat, a dark flame of jealousy flared up deep within her chest.

‘As expected, I absolutely cannot leave his side. I will cling to him no matter what. I will never let go.’

‘And… to achieve that… I will need to take one step back to advance two steps forward.’

“Phew…”

Lowering the spear she had been leveling against the two, Carmen placed her index and middle fingers over the left side of her chest. It was a formal military salute of the United Kingdom style.

“I offer my apologies.”

“…What?”

“For disparaging you earlier, calling you nothing more than pretty eye-candy dolls meant for serving him in his chambers. I acknowledge it. You are powerful warriors worthy of respect.”

When she, who had been limitlessly haughty, bowed her head first, Chel and Kelly could no longer maintain their fighting intent. The two lowered their weapons and flashed bitter smiles.

“…Well, if you put it that way.”

“…I shall accept the apology.”

And just when it seemed the sparring session was concluding on a heartwarming note, Carmen dropped another bombshell on the two—no, on every single woman present.

“Furthermore, I intend to install a gate in this mansion that connects directly to my bedchambers back in the Count’s main castle. Ah, and while I am at it, I shall also take charge of serving him at night, a duty which all of you seem to avoid(?). I trust no one has any objections?”

The women of the mansion fell into a brief silence as they processed her words, but an instant later, they bared their teeth with palpable murderous intent and gripped their weapons.

“Are you insane? You absolute bitch.”

“This crazy bitch is begging to die…”

“…Forget talking. Just kill her.”

Yet, completely unbothered by the torrent of murderous intent directed at her, Carmen merely spread both arms wide toward the rest of the women.

“Everyone, please, why don’t you grant me just one hour to persuade you?”

“What is this crazy woman even talking about?”

“Ah, could it be that you are avoiding this because you fear my martial power? If that is the case, I shall leave my spear right here. If even that is insufficient, you may bind both my arms and legs. What do you say?”

And her provocation worked flawlessly.

“…Bring her inside. Let’s at least hear what kind of nonsense she wants to spout. After that, we can decide whether to burn her to death or electrocute her.”

While I stood there blinking in utter confusion, Sodin, Kelly, Chel, Ailet, Elizabeth, Illeia, and Selan—all seven of them—surrounded Carmen and swarmed back into the mansion, leaving me entirely abandoned by the lakeside. Shia followed them while snickering, and Sparks, who went wherever Shia went, tagged along as a bonus.

And surprisingly…

“Sword God. We are planning to install a gate in the mansion that connects to the Count’s domain…”

“I approve.”

“I approve as well.”

“You have my approval.”

What kind of sorcery that fox—or rather, that dragonkin Carmen—had pulled, I had no idea. But when they emerged about an hour and a half later, they had become close enough to make it unbelievable that they had been threatening to rip each other apart just moments ago.

They weren’t quite at the level of acting like best friends, but their dynamic had progressed to being comfortably familiar with one another.

“No… what on earth happened? What did you guys even discuss to make you all agree to installing a gate?”

“Orabeoni. Why are you acting like a total loser trying to pry into a conversation between women?”

“A-A loser…?”

I turned my eyes toward Shia, practically begging for salvation.

Right. If it was Shia, she would understand my plight and break down everything that happened from A to Z in meticulous detail.

However, Shia merely burst out into a fit of laughter as if she were about to die of amusement, completely averting her gaze from me.

“Ah, it was nothing major. Do not trouble yourself over it.”

“Even you…”

And… exactly an hour and a half prior, the very first sentence Carmen had spoken to the rest of the members who were practically radiating murderous intent was this:

“Let us make my Lord the Emperor of the Baran Empire.”

“……!”

“……!!”

“……!!!”

“No, strictly speaking, it would not be the Baran Empire, but rather the Empire of Sword God. What are your thoughts on my proposition?”