Genius.

A person who displays creative and unusual mental abilities, exceeding ordinary human expectations, pioneering unknown realms and fields others have never considered, proposing better methods, or producing results that far surpass those of their competitors.

That was the dictionary definition.

But to Liam, genius meant something different.

「Do not get too full of yourself, young descendant.」

This was what he believed a genius truly was.

「Nothing is over yet.」

Someone who found an answer no matter what difficulties they faced.

Just like the heroes of chivalric novels.

* * *

One minute remained.

Sixty seconds, to be precise.

A short time.

But victory was far from certain.

The Black Bride had suffered a shoulder injury from an unexpected, unconventional attack. Put another way, though, that was the extent of the “problem” I had created for her.

And my problems?

'I'm almost out of stamina.'

The strained breathing I had needed to withstand a 「sword walker」's blade had exhausted me. My injured side prevented me from moving with the swordswoman Mary's characteristic suppleness. And with my stamina depleted, my second heart was no longer as hard as before.

In other words, I had lost far too much in exchange for wounding her shoulder.

At this moment, I had effectively been reduced to an ordinary 「sword beginner」.

'Can I really do this?'

Even Needle lay abandoned on the ground. All I had left in my hand was the assassin's dagger. A woefully inadequate blade for facing a true swordsman head-on.

“Huff, haa—”

Of course, no matter the circumstances, I could not give up.

Struggling to steady my breathing, I glared at the Black Bride. She turned very slowly. The eyes visible through her helmet were chillingly cold.

At the same time, countless 「paths」 extended from her.

I backed away, thinking.

'I can't use that 「Fang」 technique again.'

I still did not understand the special technique that had broken through a sword walker's paths. I had not finished digesting 「Fang」. The process was still underway. This sword was more powerful than Needle, but it was not yet complete...

“Huff—”

I fled the Black Bride's 「paths」 as best I could.

But I could not keep running for long.

'How is she that fast?'

The Black Bride was no longer walking. Drawing on all her superhuman strength, she charged at full speed. It was a speed beyond human limits.

The moment I decided it was only a matter of time before she caught me, I turned and aimed Fang at her. To survive, I had to observe her head-on, question what I saw, and predict her movements perfectly.

A single drop of blood fell from the Black Bride's wound.

Before it could reach the ground, her sword came hurtling toward me.

Along a trajectory I had already anticipated.

Sparks flew with a sharp clang.

But the Black Bride's sword did not stop there. Ever since the look in her eyes had changed, her swordplay had grown violent.

Her blade was pushed back slightly, then came flying in again. The long blade slid along the short edge of my dagger, pressing inward. An unpleasant screech of metal grinding against metal rang out.

That elegant, beautiful swordplay was aimed at my wrist.

I twisted my wrist to turn her blade aside and, instead of retreating, stepped in. The moment I was within reach, I thrust my dagger without hesitation.

“...!”

The Black Bride planted her foot as if dancing and spun once to evade the thrust. Continuing the rotation, she swung her sword at me.

I barely dodged the horizontal slash before a straight strike came at me from a blind spot. I thrust my dagger out to block, forced my tense body to move and evade, then rolled across the ground to gain some distance.

The Black Bride swiftly pursued me as I rolled away in an ungainly escape.

I retreated again and again until I struck the opposite wall of the circular ring. A faint pain ran through me, and I bit my lip. Planting the sole of my foot against the wall, I leaped high.

I vaulted over the Black Bride.

Like an acrobat.

She immediately turned around and charged at me again.

It looked like a rabbit fleeing a lion. A tiny creature outmatched by a predator in strength, size, and speed, with no choice but to run to stay alive.

CLANG!

With every exchange, more wounds appeared on my body.

My stamina had now hit rock bottom, and the blood flowing from my body soaked my clothes. I could feel myself growing heavier by the moment.

It felt as though the ground were pulling me down.

Down, farther down.

CLANG!

But I did not lose my focus.

I had to stand against her. Only by watching her to the very end could I resist.

CLANG!

My 「mana heart」 was no longer hard. Deprived of sufficient Mana, my heart of steel was weakening. I thought it might shatter at this rate.

But I had to stand against her.

Then Liam's voice rang out.

「Young descendant.」

I twisted my dagger to knock her sword away. My elbow hurt as though it were about to tear apart.

「Do you know what genius means?」

It was not just my elbow. My knees and thighs felt as though they would break, too.

「I believe a genius is someone who finds an answer no matter what difficulties they face.」

「Let me be blunt. Your talent is not enough to make you a genius.」

Perhaps there was no point in naming individual parts.

In truth, my whole body felt ready to fall apart.

It hurt. It hurt so terribly.

「But listen. Geniuses are not the most celebrated people on this continent.」

Even so, I did not back down.

「Geniuses accomplish difficult things, leave magnificent achievements in history, and earn the respect of many.」

「Yet there are people the world celebrates more than them.」

Even so, I did not give up.

「Those who cannot find the perfect answer to their difficulties, but refuse to give up nonetheless.」

「Those who refuse to back down nonetheless.」

I felt my overheated body cooling to a chill.

The Black Bride's approaching footsteps were distinct.

「All such people have accomplished wonders so incredible that one can scarcely believe a single person achieved them.」

「People call their achievements legends.」

Had that minute still not passed?

Had time somehow slowed?

I drew in a breath.

Instinctively, I knew.

This was my last breath.

And this next stroke would be the last my body allowed me.

「Then do you know what those who accomplish legends are called?」

Could this pitiful stroke, scraped together from the last dregs of my strength, withstand the Black Bride's terrifying violence? I could not be certain. To be honest, nothing but doubt welled up inside me.

「Heroes.」

But I could not back down.

Keeping my dagger aimed at the Black Bride, I said,

“Come.”

Silence settled over us.

「You have the talent to become a hero, young descendant.」

The Black Bride stamped down on the sand and took a step closer.

Her 「paths」 extended in every direction to ensnare me. They were murderous, but not firm. Because of the wound in her shoulder.

Without that wound, my limbs would have been severed long ago.

A small, incongruous laugh escaped me.

The last strength I could scrape together. The final surge my second heart permitted. The last stroke my body could make. Common sense dictated that an action performed with such desperately squeezed-out strength should be feeble and pathetic.

But this stroke shattered my common sense.

My second heart beat with astonishing force. My sinking body rose again, and strength surged through my muscles as though they might burst. My eyes widened.

The world slowed as though it had stopped.

And then I saw a line. In a world hazy as blue mist, a distinct line divided everything in two. As though drawn along that line, I thrust my blade.

The Black Bride's sword, swinging with serpentine grace, collided with my dagger.

SCREECH.

“...!”

Ever since my stamina had run out, Fang had been forced back again and again. But not this time. Instead, it pushed her sword away. Like steel.

Like steel that would never, ever break.

For some reason, Liam's words came to mind at that moment.

A Caravan grows greater with every battle.

Like steel that grows harder the more it is hammered.

Perhaps I, too, had come a little closer to greatness.

“What is—”

The Black Bride's eyes wavered violently.

I was certain. She could not block this single stroke. Fang was harder now than any blade I had ever wielded. It would not break. Never.

And...

「Ah.」

Had he said a genius was someone who found an answer no matter what difficulties they faced?

「You fell a little short. Just a little, young descendant.」

The fighter known as the Black Bride.

The genius finally found an answer amid her difficulties.

「The talent of geniuses is, by nature, a violent thing.」

The Black Bride bent at the waist, dropping her body sharply. Her muscles stretched with a woman's remarkable suppleness. What she unleashed next was, astonishingly, a stroke I had used over and over again.

“... Was it like this?”

A thrust shooting like lightning from a strange, acrobatic angle.

The swordswoman Mary's Needle.

That technique was reproduced in the Black Bride's hands. In a manner far more refined, beautiful, and lethal than anything I had done.

“Ah...”

Once again, my dagger failed to bring down the Black Bride. All it left was a long scratch across her helmet.

Her sword, meanwhile, pierced my lower abdomen. Burning pain filled my belly, and all strength drained from my body. My legs gave way, and I sank onto the sand with a thud.

And—

「But do not be too disappointed, child.」

A deafening roar poured from the stands.

“Time is up! The winner is Liam, the Little Gladiator!”

Liam looked down at me with a broad grin.

「You survived again today.」

「All you need to do is survive. Then next time, you will win.」

Liam's face slowly blurred.

「As I have always told you, the blood of steel flows in your veins.」

I lost consciousness and slumped over.

“From this moment on, Liam, the Little Gladiator, will wear a Silver Medal in the Arena!”

* * *

“From this moment on, Liam, the Little Gladiator, will wear a Silver Medal in the Arena!”

Cheers rang out.

Seolyun, the Black Bride, looked down at the fallen boy.

Had he always been this small? The thought suddenly struck her.

Judging by his build alone, he looked like a girl. Like her.

How, then, had he been so hard?

The girl found herself curious about the boy.

Amid that curiosity, Seolyun thought,

'Just as I thought, I can't be merciful with a sword in my hand.'

She had been that way since childhood. Whenever she held a sword, she committed violence without any sense of moderation, as though the blade had devoured her. Some called it talent; others called it madness.

That madness had not run wild this time, but it had been dangerous.

The boy's final stroke had been especially dangerous. Had she failed to suppress her urge, her sword's point would have pierced his neck rather than his lower abdomen.

'Though it's true that it let me win.'

Evading the boy's final stroke and imitating his peculiar swordsmanship had been matters of instinct. She had not thought them through rationally. She had acted instinctively. As naturally as breathing.

As Seolyun looked down at the boy, a voice rang in her head.

“Black Bride, this is not what we agreed on. We cannot give the Dragon Sword to you after a defeat.”

“But our agreement is not entirely over. Cut off his arm, even now.”

“If you take the fallen Little Gladiator's arm as a trophy, we will give you the Dragon Sword.”

It was the voice of an 「Arena」 organizer.

Resounding forcefully through magical means, the voice was telling Seolyun to violate the rules of the duel and harm a fallen opponent.

Seolyun could not do that.

However much she coveted the Dragon Sword, how could she sully a contest that had already ended?

'This place really is disgusting. So much that I don't want to stay any longer.'

Seolyun bit her lip.

As she stood motionless, the organizer continued urging her on.

And then—

“...?”

Seolyun saw something strange.

Something that had not been there before.

'Am I seeing things?'

Above the fallen boy was an old man with a ghostly, translucent body. He had been gazing down at the boy with kindly eyes, but he slowly raised his head, as though sensing her gaze. Their eyes met.

「Young girl, you can see me.」

「I do not know whether it is because my descendant has lost consciousness or because you crossed blades so fiercely with him, but in any case.」

Seolyun suddenly gasped for breath.

They had merely met eyes, yet for a moment she felt as though her heart had stopped.

「Among the women of the East, there were certain peoples with an unusually strong ability to sense souls. They were said to have been born with the blood of shamans, if I recall.」

「Such people sometimes sensed my presence despite neither inheriting Caravan blood nor being witches of the Heavenly Empire.」

Though the old man was so aged that his hair had turned snow-white, his eyes flashed sharply. Like a lion's.

「With your talent, we will meet one day in the Land of Swords, girl.」

His wavering form resembled a mirage.

But Seolyun instinctively knew that he was no mere illusion.

Because—

「I shall thank you again then for giving my descendant such a splendid duel.」

—she could sense a sword within him.

The symbol of a swordmaster. The mark of a transcendent being who had reached the limits of the sword.

And from what Seolyun could sense—

「I trust that you will not spread word of today's meeting, young girl.」

—the swords she felt within the old man were countless. Truly, countless.

It was a heavenly realm that no swordmaster recorded in history had ever attained.

“... Ah.”

That day, Seolyun glimpsed a fragment of the greatest swordmaster, who had vanished from history.

And then.

“The legend was true.”

The girl no longer coveted the Dragon Sword the 「Arena」 had promised her. Such a thing had long since vanished from her mind. As she watched the Little Gladiator being carried to the recovery room, Seolyun's eyes began to shine like jewels.

“An immortal really did exist.”

* * *

Liam the Little Gladiator's promotion match was over.

It was merely a Bronze Medal gladiator's promotion to Silver Medal, but that day's match became quite the topic of conversation. Had someone who was only a 「sword beginner」 not defeated a 「sword walker」?

An undefeated gladiator, at that!

The Little Gladiator was the most remarkable newcomer the Arena had seen in a very long time, and a valiant fighter who had confronted and shattered the Arena's malice, known as Rookie stomping or an execution ceremony.

Anyone who revered Lepri, goddess of strife, could not help but be excited. Besides, an underdog victory always thrilled the public.

As a result, Liam the Little Gladiator gained considerable fame despite being only a Silver Medal fighter.

That was a good thing, in a sense, but it also had side effects.

For instance.

“... Wait, what did you say?”

“I want to be with you, Little Gladiator.”

Such as Seolyun, the Black Bride, kneeling before Arhan and making an earnest plea.

“You can make my dream come true. I'll do anything if I can stay with you. Truly, anything.”

Having only just awakened, Arhan found himself facing a girl with her head bowed, without the slightest idea why.

He muttered with heartfelt bewilderment,

“... No, what the hell is this?”