Chapter 202

### Episode 202: After that day.

Logan, who no longer wanted to catch the emperor’s eye, stayed inside the detached palace and did not step out. Hoping for the festival to end soon, he concentrated on training. At some point, he realized he had reached his limits and let out a hollow laugh. More precisely, it wasn’t a limit…

“A good thing, this is definitely a good thing. Ha…” A deep sigh escaped from Logan, who stood alone in the center of the training ground of the detached palace.

Whooong.

The force core in his heart surged more violently than usual, and the auspicious golden light blooming in his hand was eager to cross the critical point and move on to a new realm.

His body quivered with euphoria, sensing the moment of molting and rebirth. It was as Luther Kyle had predicted. The moment Logan fully understood the aura and applied it to his body, he instinctively realized he would become a superhuman.

It was a completely different situation from the usual case where one typically awakens as a superhuman during training. Yet, even though Logan could control the moment of awakening, he had no choice but to give up on that desire.

“No, I can’t. The moment I become a superhuman in Huangdo, I will truly be caught.”

Even in his current state, he had already attracted too much attention from the emperor. If word got out that he had become a superhuman, the emperor might even risk diplomatic troubles to hold onto him.

Logan suppressed the surging desire to evolve as he thought about the emperor’s eyes, which flickered with subtle brightness.

Whooong.

The force core in his heart vibrated as if protesting this unreasonable restraint, but Logan carefully subdued the force.

“At least, after I leave Aserian! Not now! Absolutely!”

Whooong.

As he soothed the vibrating four-star force core and forcibly gathered strength, the anticipating force spread throughout his body, leaving behind a trace of regret.

And at that moment, Logan realized that this situation was not merely disappointing.

“This is… actually a good thing.”

Having briefly experienced the moment of awakening, he clearly recognized the state of his body evolving beyond human limits and the power he would obtain. If he spent the remaining time preparing, he would achieve a more perfect evolution when the true awakening came.

“It’s not a delay. It’s preparation for a bigger leap.”

The concept of awakening design that Luther Kyle had dreamt of was taking concrete shape before his eyes. Not a vague hope, it had a perfect form.

“With the time remaining, I will prepare, and after I leave Huangdo…”

He would realize his dream.

Logan’s fists trembled.

After wrapping up a pleasant training session and exiting the training ground, Victor, who had been waiting outside, approached him quickly. His expression was far from good.

“What’s the matter?”

“…A guest has arrived.”

“A guest? I thought I told them to be ignored.”

“That wasn’t possible.”

“What?”

Logan asked with a bewildered look, and after hearing Victor’s answer, he let out a long sigh and nodded in understanding.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Since the last party, the pile of gifts in the corner of the detached palace had grown more extensive. Some lesser nobles even visited Logan twice a day, and even the counts and higher-ranking nobles had started to knock on the palace doors, having never moved in person before.

A count Logan had reluctantly met in this overly crowded situation had said:

– Since you have caught the eye of His Imperial Majesty, one day you will become a top noble of the empire. I’ve never seen him so eager for talent. So naturally, we want to establish a connection early.

It was an unbelievable statement as if everyone assumed that he would naturally immigrate to the empire.

That’s why Logan did not show his face outside the detached palace and focused solely on training.

However, this guest could not be ignored. It was neither someone whom his retinue could persuade nor someone the imperial force guarding the detached palace could easily handle.

Creeeaak.

As the door opened, an impressive knightly figure with white hair and a beard caught his eye—a seasoned knight reaching the end of his days despite being a superhuman.

The current top swordsman of the continent, Tris Hornsby, had been dismissed from his position as the head of the Imperial Knights due to an incident with Jerome not long ago.

“It’s the first time we’re formally introduced. I’m Logan MacLaine.”

“Tris Hornsby. Jerome’s teacher.”

The old knight’s introduction was succinct, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

Reading those emotions, Logan asked bluntly:

“Have you come for revenge?”

Pfft.

“Revenge… Would such feelings even be fitting after His Majesty has forgiven?”

The old knight’s expression shifted more peacefully.

“So, why have you come to see me?”

Logan would have felt more at ease if the visit were about revenge. His face unwittingly hardened, but the old knight waved his hand dismissively.

“Don’t be so tense. His Majesty’s orders are sacred, and I wouldn’t harm a guest of His Majesty.”

“Then…?”

“His Majesty is worried about you. Saying you’ve been reclusive and not leaving, he ordered me to show you another ‘vast world’ myself.”

“What?”

Before Logan could finish his sentence, a flame-like aura burst forth from Tris Hornsby’s entire body. An aura visible like actual flames, not just a metaphorical expression.

“Materialization of the aura. There are less than five in the empire who can do this. It will be a good experience for you.”

It was the first time Logan realized that it was possible to manifest a simple force to the point of being visible to the eye. As he stared in shock at this miracle, the old knight’s calm voice came with the engulfing flames:

“If you’re not careful, your soul might be damaged.”

In an instant, everything around him vanished, and he was engulfed in flames. It felt as if he had leaped into a fire, with unbearable pressure and a burning sensation throughout his body.

The pain was so realistically intense that it felt unreal.

‘Augh! What is this?!’

Was this really possible with just aura, without even a touch from the knight?

For Logan, who stood on the brink of becoming a superhuman, the thought that a mere knight without magic could put him in such a predicament was unheard of in any of his previous lives.

‘This is impossible!’

Then, the intense shock awoke a spirit of resistance within him that helped him endure the pain.

Whooong.

A power surged from the force core in his heart, swirling around his body and beginning to resist the penetrating aura.

However, the constraining pressure and searing pain did not subside.

“Eeeugh.”

Despite the force flowing through every corner, he could not control his restrained body.

Only the fact that his physical condition remained unchanged despite the pain allowed Logan to stay conscious.

‘It’s not a physical attack. How, then?’

It wasn’t a low-grade trick like an illusion spell. At his current level, there was no way he could be fooled by simple magic.

Then, maybe…

‘Do they attack the mind, the soul directly? A knight?’

It was an unexpected technique, but as soon as he guessed its nature, Logan also thought of a solution.

‘Slicing the flame.’

A golden line began to trace from Logan’s head downward. The force that helped him endure the aura, break barriers, and left wounds that not even divine powers could heal was now approaching maturity, capable of being applied just as a concept.

Following Logan’s will, the golden force split the ‘unknown force’ binding the soul directly in two.

Whoosh.

The red space was instantly cut and separated.

‘Done!’

The glowing surroundings returned to normal, and the surprised face of the old knight appeared before him.

“Ha…?!”

You dare to do this?

As Logan was about to smile at the emotions clearly etched on the knight’s face, the old knight slightly frowned and pointed his right index finger downward at him.

A simple gesture of pointing at something.

But the moment that fingertip drew down from above, there was a sound as if the world was splitting apart, and the line seemed to divide the world in two.

Moreover, his body felt as if it were being halved.

‘No!!’

A scream that couldn’t escape whirled inside him as his consciousness crumbled along with the disintegrating world.

‘To die like this?’

An unforeseen death.

The painful realization gnawed at his soul.

No, I can’t end things so absurdly.

In the bottomless abyss, rage and defiance surged from deep within him, pulling his soul up from the ever-deepening abyss.

Then…

“Gahawk!”

Suddenly, sensations rushed back, and his vision shook dizzyingly, as if the broken world was reshaping itself.

Despite the overwhelming dizziness, he collapsed but continued to retch.

“Bleargh!”

“Your Highness!”

“My Liege!”

“How dare that man!”

A strange dissonance.

The surrounding furniture and buildings seemed intact, which he couldn’t comprehend, and the fact that the knights had rushed in only after he had fallen was too odd.

Logan raised a hand to stop his approaching subordinates and forced himself to stare at the old knight’s face—the culprit behind all this chaos.

“What is this…?”

He could hardly speak properly due to the aftereffects.

As he lifted his head with difficulty, tears and mucus streaming down his face, a calmer voice than expected filled his ears.

“Soul Blade. A sword stroke that cleaves the soul. It’s a vision that aura users attain when they’re close to the ultimate level.”

“Soul…?”

“Yes, that’s right. This is the ‘vast world’ that the empire’s pinnacle shows you. You can take pride in it for life.”

Damn it!

To attack someone out of the blue and end up like this!

He wanted to curse, but he was in such bad condition that he could hardly utter a word.

Observing him, the current premier swordsman of the continent casually turned his back.

“If you want to learn, come to the empire.”

Leaving behind that oh-so-arrogant statement…

* * *

Deep in thought, Tris walked along when a shadow was cast in front of him.

“Did things go well where you went?”

He looked up to see the face of his disciple, at least a head taller than him.

The face of his disciple, who had lost an eye in disgraceful circumstances.

“Jerome…”

“You don’t seem to be in high spirits.”

It was more than just the loss of an eye.

The power of his trait, which felt almost divine, was also halved.

However, his disciple’s voice was serene despite it being just a few days since the tragedy.

‘Indeed, he has a broad vessel.’

He chose to overcome and grow stronger rather than succumb to hardship.

That was the disciple before him.

Yet…

“… He withstood even the materialization of the aura. And he’s not even an aura user.”

“So, he did. He must be worthy to face.”

The one who took his eye seems to be appreciated by the disciple for his strength, as he smiles like it’s a satisfactory outcome.

The disciple’s firmness was heartening, but the impression left by Logan, compared to the current sight, seemed lacking.

‘He withstood the Soul Blade. That man…’

It was a technique that Tris hadn’t even intended to use.

When Logan easily overcame the materialization of aura, Tris, feeling a dent in his pride, used an excessive technique, but Logan survived a skill that could have left him half dead.

“Truly a genius worthy of His Majesty’s notice.”

A genius surpassing you.

‘If only he would come to the empire, I might be able to forge a real masterpiece before the end of my life.’

Holding back words he couldn’t say to his disciple.

Tris Hornsby simply sighed.

A man who withstands the Soul Blade sober will not be swayed.

So, he kept pondering, over and over.

‘Your Majesty, if you don’t capture him, you must kill him.’

Whether to deliver this message to the sovereign to decide whether to kill him or, as a senior knight, to expect the brilliant talent to make history and hold his breath for a while.