Black Immortal Steps.

A secret technique I had accidentally thought of while fighting the black mage and the magical beasts he had brought with him.

In other words, it was a secret technique of a higher level of movement art that allowed one to walk on air.

They say great ideas come in moments of crisis.

It was a technique I had instinctively thought of to somehow escape the aftermath of the disaster I had dropped on the ground myself, the Heaven-Reversing Light.

The process was quite natural.

The shortest and most efficient path to escape the aftermath of the Heaven-Reversing Light was through the air, and to escape there as quickly as possible, I had hastily summoned the Night Sky Spear and used it as a foothold to soar up.

But summoning the Night Sky Spear every time I used the Black Immortal Steps consumed a lot of internal energy.

How could I defeat an enemy if I used that much internal energy with every step I took?

It wasn't efficient.

This was a matter of efficiency.

Therefore, I had been engrossed in finding a way to use the Black Immortal Steps more efficiently and freely.

I constantly pondered, researched, and repeated my training.

As my level of movement art increased, and my research and training on the Black Immortal Steps progressed, the size of the disc became smaller, and the amount of Night Sky needed for it decreased.

As the amount of Night Sky needed decreased, the time it took to summon it instantly also decreased.

The Black Immortal Steps became smoother and faster.

In the process, how many times had I stumbled and crashed to the ground? I couldn't count.

There were countless attempts, and countless failures.

As a result, I minimized the use of Night Sky to only what was needed to walk on air. In the shape of a small disc. Just enough to barely rest my toes on.

And so, by using only this minimal amount of Night Sky, I was able to run freely in the sky.

Unless one had exceptionally good eyesight, they would not be able to see the small, disc-shaped Night Sky that I stepped on.

It was formed for a very short moment, just before I stepped on it.

And even then, the moment I stepped on it, the condensed Night Sky would scatter and spread like black mist...

To others, it would look like I was running through the sky, leaving a trail of black storm clouds.

The black mist would remain like an afterimage, confusing the eyes of the beholder.

The Black Immortal Steps was, once again, a very difficult and tricky high-level movement art.

In the first place, the Night Sky Spear was an extreme condensation of the wind of the Fleeting Shadow Steps and the Night Sky of the Night Sky Star and Moon Art.

Because it was that light, it could float in the air, but conversely, because it was that light, I couldn't stand on it.

All I could do was lightly kick off it, with a feeling like running on leaves floating on the water.

If I put even a little more weight on it, it would scatter into black mist like stepping on a cloud, and I would plummet.

So, once I started, I couldn't stop in mid-air. That was the Black Immortal Steps.

In any case, I trusted myself, who had been trained through countless practices and failures, and I was confident in my skills, so I threw myself over the dizzyingly high barrier without hesitation.

Whoooosh!

The blizzard raged fiercely.

The wind was originally my friend, but the wind beyond the barrier was a different beast from the northern wind I had grown accustomed to.

It was so rough and fierce it felt like it would tear my clothes.

I still needed time to get used to the wind of the snowy plains beyond the barrier.

It was difficult to maintain my balance in the strong wind, but I considered this a trial as well and unfolded my movement art into the blizzard.

I walked into the white, snowy landscape.

Perhaps my training was still insufficient, as I was slower than when I ran on the ground.

I still had a long way to go.

I had to repeat it thousands, tens of thousands of times, practice and get used to it.

That's how I had to make it truly my own.

Then, wouldn't I be able to bring the battlefield to the sky?

The so-called aerial combat.

If I mixed the Black Immortal Steps into combat, much freer movements would be possible.

This is why movement art is not just a technique for running fast.

The moment I thought that.

Whoooosh!

The flow of the wind suddenly changed, and a strong blizzard blew, causing my foot to slip.

"Whoa!"

The Black Immortal Steps was a delicate and dangerous high-level technique where even a slight slip could cause you to fall.

It required immense concentration.

At the exact moment and point of stepping, I had to create a small disc made of Night Sky, my toes had to land precisely on it, and at the same time, I had to kick off it lightly and rhythmically.

The disc made of Night Sky was the result of pursuing extreme efficiency, so it was very fragile.

So fragile that it would scatter with even a small impact.

Once you stepped on it, it would scatter, so mistakes were not allowed.

But, I made a mistake, didn't I?

And at an altitude of several hundred meters?

"Heh heh."

[Pathetic fool.]

It is only natural to pay the price for one's mistakes.

As I lost my balance and fell, the pure white land approached me at a frightening speed.

Whoooosh!

But I didn't panic. I entrusted my body to the wind for a moment, grasped its ever-changing flow, and then spun my body.

Then, I created a black disc, a foothold, at a suitable point.

This time, it was somewhat thick and large, as it had to withstand the force of the fall.

This kind of organic manipulation of the foothold according to the situation was also part of my training.

Thump!

I immediately kicked off the foothold again and continued the Black Immortal Steps.

The Heavenly Demon nagged.

[What will you do if you are shaken by such a small variable? You still have a long way to go.]

"But I overcame the crisis and regained the flow."

I could hear the Heavenly Demon clicking his tongue.

[It would be impossible to mix it into combat yet. Keep training.]

"Yes, Master."

I did not try to resist the fierce wind beyond the barrier, but rather tried to adapt my body to the wind.

I entrusted my body to the flow of the wind, memorized the rhythm, and ran through the blizzard.

I ran lightly through the white, empty space.

The world beyond the northern wall was a world of blizzards and nameless mountain ranges that faintly revealed their shapes in the distance.

As I continued, the land that had been all white began to show sparse trees.

Soon, a forest covered in white snow unfolded.

Now that I couldn't just rely on my eyes to survey the ground below, I slowly lowered my altitude.

After descending low enough for the tops of the tallest trees in the forest to brush against my feet, I focused my internal energy into my ears.

"Where could this guy be..."

There was someone I was looking for.

What was there to hide? The Two-Faced Demonic Swordsman was the main character.

I had heard that the psychopath went out beyond the northern wall every day and beat magical beasts to death until his anger subsided.

As if he were venting his anger.

What was he so angry about?

As someone who was always as calm as the surface of a tranquil lake, I couldn't understand it.

[...?]

In any case, this time he was going to be the target of my anger, so there was no need to understand.

How dare he tease me, calling me weak as a bug.

This time, it's my turn.

If he still hasn't calmed down, I'll beat him like a dog.

From ancient times, this was the medicine.

As I was repeatedly making that promise and searching for him.

—Kuo-oh-oh!

The roar of a magical beast was heard from a distance.

I immediately shot my body in that direction.

After going some distance, I came to a place where a noisy sound was spreading, as if a battle was in full swing.

In case I was discovered, I raised my altitude further and watched the battle taking place in the nameless forest.

"Found him."

A man was slaughtering magical beasts.

He had slightly bluish-black hair tied back roughly, and he was surrounded by magical beasts, swinging his sword in a trance.

Even though he seemed to be swinging his sword carelessly, a fearsome sharpness was imbued in his strikes.

It was a fierce sword strike.

Every time he swung his sword, crimson blood splattered on the white snowfield, and the body parts of the beast-like magical beasts fell off as if by magic.

—Kuo-oh-ohng!

The magical beasts let out cries of what could be pain or anger and charged even more ferociously, but the man only returned their attacks with an even more vicious sword strike.

Chwaaak!

A magical beast with the head of a bull that was charging was split diagonally, and blood splattered.

The Heavenly Demon, who was watching, gave his impression.

[He's like a beast.]

It was an appropriate one-line review.

The man was a beast himself.

A very rough and fierce beast.

A single beast was rampaging with a sword in its hand.

In other words, a fight between a beast and beasts was taking place.

The magical beasts surrounding him were not just one or two, and there were some that instinctively aimed for openings and charged, but every time, he would summon blue ice with his non-sword-wielding left hand to check them.

No, it wasn't just checking them. He would instantly create a spear the size of a person and pierce them in return.

Thwack!

—Kieek!

A magical beast with its neck pierced cried out in pain.

To perform magic so quickly without any incantation.

Even I, who knew little about magic, could see that he was undoubtedly a considerable expert.

And yet, the sword he wielded was not weak either.

He was not a mage, nor a swordsman.

But at the same time, his magic surpassed that of most mages, and most swordsmen could not receive his sword.

A mage and a swordsman at the same time.

He was a demonic swordsman.

Originally, demonic swordsmen were usually treated as half-wits who were neither here nor there.

People who were not particularly outstanding in anything, just ambiguous.

Their swordsmanship was so-so. Their magic was so-so.

It was better to just call a skilled swordsman and a skilled mage.

A demonic swordsman who was ambiguous in both was not welcome. They were given the cold shoulder.

But this guy was different.

His magic far surpassed that of mages who had trained in magic their whole lives, and his sword also lightly surpassed those who had practiced it for a lifetime.

How was this possible?

The secret lay in his two different personalities...

[How strange.]

"What is?"

[The way he pours out blue ice. Is that really magic?]

"That's right."

[Every time he uses magic, for a very short moment, his atmosphere changes. As if he's a different person.]

As expected of the Heavenly Demon.

His eyesight was amazing.

To notice his secret just by watching him once.

He had two personalities.

One was a beast-like swordsman, the other a cold-headed ice mage.

In other words, he wasn't using sword and magic at the same time, but the two of them were each honing their own specialty.

So, without getting in each other's way, they could share a body and learn and use sword and magic at the same time.

I don't know how that was possible, but anyway, that's how it was.

And so, without being bound by each other's limits, they were able to reach the pinnacle of both sword and magic.

The Heavenly Demon muttered with interest.

[Hoh. How fascinating.]

Because of his peculiar constitution, the Mage Tower, unable to overcome its curiosity, had once kidnapped him...

[And then?]

"Master, do you know this?"

[Know what?]

"Originally, there was one more Mage Tower in Maia."

Meaning, the number of Mage Towers had decreased by one since then.

In other words, that madman had destroyed the Mage Tower and escaped.

I watched him fight from above for a while, killing my presence as much as possible.

If I had my way, I would have crossed my arms, struck a pose, and looked down on him arrogantly.

But my movement art training was insufficient for that.

It didn't look very cool, but I circled quietly above him and watched the fight.

Certainly, he was strong.

But so what?

I was strong too.

I had also killed an A-rank magical beast, a Hydra, and become the proud owner of a Platinum Badge.

'There's a guy who came back after getting beaten by a thirteen-year-old kid?'

'Kekeke! Kakaka!'

'If it were me, I'd be so embarrassed I'd go and die.'

'Oh? He's not leaving even after hearing this? He's tough, tough!'

The voice of the guy who had viciously teased me and his vile sneer were still vivid in my ears.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

'I'll kill him.'

I steeled my resolve, created Night Sky in one hand, and covered my face with it.

The Heavenly Demon asked.

[Why are you covering your face?]

I answered in a low, sunken voice.

"Master."

[What.]

"Sometimes villains wear masks. Do you know why?"

The Heavenly Demon answered in a nonchalant tone.

[To hide their identity, I suppose.]

"That's right. But there's another reason."

[What is it?]

"When you hide behind a mask, you see. Bad things become natural. It feels like the mask is doing the bad things instead of you, so you lose your hesitation."

The Heavenly Demon snorted.

[What a pathetic reason. You mean to say you hide behind a mask for such a trivial reason?]

"What's the big deal."

I touched the black Night Sky covering my face and grinned.

"I'm about to do something bad, too."

The moment he finished off all the magical beasts that had swarmed around him and was catching his breath.

The very moment he felt safe, let his guard down, and relaxed his vigilance.

I, holding the Night Sky Sword, fell toward him like a star.

"You son of a bitch!"

I brought my sword down, filled with all the sorrow, anger, joy, vengeance, exhilaration, refreshment, resentment, happiness, excitement, blame, suffering, cheerfulness, and hatred I had felt until now.

The man flinched in surprise and quickly raised his sword to block my strike.

CLANG!!

A shockwave burst out in a circle.

(End of Chapter)