'26-level proficiency limit removed. This is insane.'
The Dragon Knight class grants a sword proficiency limit of up to 26 levels, which is a ridiculously overpowered class.
Without a related class, weapon proficiency can typically only be raised to level 10. Even with enhanced equipment, it cannot exceed level 10.
This is precisely why I didn't bother raising my sword proficiency until now.
With two Ultimate Iron Swords, it was impossible to raise it beyond level 10 anyway!
With a related class, proficiency can usually be raised to level 15.
Classes that allow proficiency to be raised to level 20 are extremely rare.
They do exist, but obtaining them is incredibly difficult.
Beyond that?
'Classes that can raise proficiency beyond level 20 are only those that have been inherited.'
To increase the class rank, one must inherit from a unique weapon, a transcended human, or some great being.
A 26-level proficiency limit is the highest among inheritable classes.
To surpass 26 levels, one must transcend by consuming a related star.
"Where did the Azure Radiance go?"
Upon reflection, it was said that the Sword Saint Ralyl used a Unique-grade sword.
The Azure Radiance.
However, the whereabouts of the Azure Radiance were unknown.
"It has been inherited by someone."
"Does this mean the inheritance of the Sword Saint is complete?"
"Yes. The inheritance of the title and rank I held in my human life is complete."
Sword Saint.
Only one person comes to mind.
'Gracia.'
No one else openly called themselves the Sword Saint except Gracia.
If Gracia really inherited the Azure Radiance,
I'm a bit curious about the proficiency limit level of the Sword Saint.
"However, that is a title based on human standards. The Dragon Knight class awakened while facing a Demon King just before sinking into the abyss. Unfortunately, I couldn't fully merge with that shell..."
Indeed.
The Dragon Knight class awakened when I started to control the dragon's blood while facing the Demon King.
Although I ultimately failed and sank into the abyss, the sense of regret suggests that if I had fully controlled it, the outcome might have been different.
That's why I want to face the shell, the Fallen Dragon, myself.
'Somehow, it feels unfamiliar.'
Ralyl was famous as the Sword Saint, but I had never heard of the Dragon Knight.
If it was a class I awakened at the end, it makes sense that I wouldn't know.
《20 seconds later, the basic maintenance function of the 'Throne of Radiant Light' will be removed.》
But I can't give in.
To inherit the Dragon Knight class, I need Ralyl's recognition.
"The Fallen Dragon should not be underestimated. This dragon is pure evil, driven only by the instinct to destroy. Only someone with my experience can handle it."
My soul and body are separated.
The Fallen Dragon is a shell driven only by the instinct to destroy.
Yet, it is still a part of me, pure evil.
"Master of the Throne, I hope you make the right choice. It's not that I'm underestimating you, but this vessel is too heavy for someone who hasn't walked the path of the sword."
I understand Ralyl's feelings, but I ignored them and slowly stretched my body.
《5 seconds later, the basic maintenance function of the 'Throne of Radiant Light' will be removed.》
My body trembles.
Each cell feels like it's waking up.
How far can I go?
The memories inherited from Wilhelm.
How far can this body reach?
One of the six greatest heroes of the old kingdom, the Sword Saint Ralyl.
I'm very curious about the limits I can reach with his abilities.
I held the sword in both hands.
After a slow deep breath.
《'Throne of Radiant Light' basic maintenance function removed.》
I moved forward, walking through the light.
*
A rain of magic orbs.
Each one had the power to destroy walls.
But the most challenging were the abyssal arms rising from the ground.
Attacks filling every space, leaving no room to stand.
Physical attacks are ineffective.
While I can cut them with sword energy, it's inefficient.
"The shell has become even stronger after sinking into the abyss. Be careful of those abyssal arms."
It seemed Ralyl was not familiar with the Fallen Dragon's attack patterns.
These arms did not exist before.
They appeared out of nowhere.
While sitting on the Throne of Light, I identified the nature of these arms.
《The Fallen Dragon's mystery 'Deep Abyss' has been destroyed.》
The numerous abyssal arms disappeared instantly.
Indeed.
Occasionally, there are monsters that hide their mysteries and act like abilities.
The reason for making it difficult to distinguish between abilities and mysteries is to hide something.
To make it look like the ability of the maze itself, like the walls of the maze.
'The troublesome arms are gone. Now...'
Without the arms rolling on the ground, movement is free.
I deflected the raining magic orbs with a sword barrier and looked at the Fallen Dragon floating in the air.
'Let's fly.'
*
"..."
Ralyl stared blankly at the man.
Not only was he using the Dragon Knight's abilities as if they were his own,
but he destroyed the Fallen Dragon's mystery obtained from the abyss, deflected countless bullet patterns without missing a single one, found an opening, and stepped on the maze wall to fly.
Kiaaa!
... and left a long sword mark on one of the Fallen Dragon's wings.
The entire process was so fluid and natural that Ralyl was momentarily speechless, just staring.
"..."
It sounds easy, but it's far from it.
In just under two minutes.
Adapting to the physical changes, blocking the Fallen Dragon's attacks, and planning a counterattack route in that time is an impossible task.
Normally, one would be overwhelmed and destroyed by the physical changes.
Out of ten thousand, all ten thousand would end up that way.
There are no exceptions.
...There shouldn't be.
Kiaaaa!
The Fallen Dragon, falling to the ground, let out a roar of rage.
A circular flame spread from the center of the Fallen Dragon, covering the entire space.
The flame, spreading with a shockwave, tears apart both the inside and outside.
It cannot be blocked simply by cutting it with sword energy.
Randolph held the sword in both hands again.
And.
"Huuup-!"
He struck the approaching flame with a large downward swing.
However, the shockwave and flame were not destroyed.
They just passed through Randolph.
Seeing this, Ralyl couldn't believe it.
"Resonance...?"
Resonance with the sword!
He became the sword itself, deflecting the attacks.
But this resonance with the sword is a technique beyond just generating sword energy.
How could someone who hasn't walked the path of the sword use it?
The following scene was also overwhelming.
Randolph became a sword.
And a dragon.
The form of the Fallen Dragon appeared all over his body.
I didn't missee.
The form of the sword energy began to resemble the Fallen Dragon.
"Resonating with the Fallen Dragon...?"
He was resonating not only with the sword but also with the Dragon Knight's disposition.
The Dragon Knight class, which Ralyl barely awakened to while facing the Demon King.
But he couldn't complete it.
To complete the Dragon Knight class, one must become one with the dragon.
To complete it, one must resonate perfectly.
But is that possible?
To achieve what he couldn't in such a short time.
Is it really possible?
A talent that even the Sword Saint, one of the six, couldn't surpass.
'This isn't talent. This can't be called talent.'
But this was beyond just talent.
It was like walking a path I had already walked.
Not creating or pioneering, but running the known path faster.
The path I had just started to create.
Already knowing and completing it.
...Is that really possible?
End
The relationship between the Sword Saint Ralyl and the Fallen Dragon.
It was like the relationship between me and Wilhelm.
Though I raised the character, it wasn't me.
It was an indistinct existence.
The way Ralyl called the Fallen Dragon a shell and spoke about it might be similar.
'Am I Wilhelm, then?'
This isn't a philosophical question.
It's just a curiosity about whether I can call the Wilhelm I raised and inherited through the star's memory a complete 'me.'
The sense of disconnection from reality.
Ralyl must have had the same thoughts.
But Ralyl rejected the Fallen Dragon and defined it as evil.
'...What does it matter?'
I put aside my thoughts.
I am not Wilhelm.
But I can become Wilhelm.
Anyone can become anyone.
And I will surpass that.
'Interesting.'
Right now, it's just enjoyable to move my body and swing the sword.
There's no time for such thoughts.
Movements I couldn't even imagine before.
The enhanced body allows me to recreate everything I've only imagined.
Combining my gameplay and Wilhelm's memories, I became Wilhelm.
《Recreating the 'Earth' of 'Heaven and Earth'》
Resonating.
Resonating with everything on the earth.
The 'Earth' of Heaven and Earth.
A sword technique that resonates and deflects all attacks.
I neutralized the Fallen Dragon's attacks as naturally as breathing.
'More.'
With each step.
My heart cheered as if it would burst.
But it's not enough.
'A little more.'
I want to push beyond the limits.
This isn't enough to fully realize this encounter.
So, push me harder.
'Push me harder.'
Push me with all your might.
The more you push, the more my limits will expand.
At least from 'Earth' to 'Open'.
If I can reach that domain, the fog in my mind will clear.
How long have I been swinging the sword in a state of no self?
There was a giant dragon in front of me.
The Fallen Dragon.
The shell that was defined as evil and destroyed everything had stopped attacking.
'Why?'
Why did it stop?
The thirst hasn't been quenched yet.
Eventually, I met the Fallen Dragon's eyes.
The Fallen Dragon was looking down at me.
Not just a shell, but a living being capable of expressing intent.
"It can't be..."
The Sword Saint Ralyl said, disbelieving.
Because the dragon, hungry for blood, had stopped attacking.
The Fallen Dragon, which had never stopped its destructive behavior, had never paused.
It had never given such a steady gaze.
This phenomenon is unbelievable.
《The Fallen Dragon is looking at you.》
And the Fallen Dragon is looking at me, not the Sword Saint Ralyl.
Then I understood.
The reason Ralyl could awaken as a Dragon Knight.
The blood of the Fallen Dragon. Ralyl's cursed half had reached out to him countless times.
But the Sword Saint Ralyl, as a human, could not accept the Fallen Dragon.
He saw the dragon's blood as a curse and could never consider the Fallen Dragon, which freely destroyed, as part of himself.
He was one of the six.
A great hero.
"Ralyl. Do you think your awakening as a Dragon Knight in the final moment was just a coincidence?"
Awakening by pouring everything into the battle against the Demon King?
That's something you see in manga.
Ralyl just accepted it in that moment.
The Fallen Dragon.
He wanted to stop the Demon King, even if it meant using the power of the cursed blood.
"Was I the problem?"
"Because you rejected it, your other half had to accept the world in a different way."
Even though it wasn't a problem as clear-cut as light and darkness.
Ralyl had always defined his other half as evil.
The split blood, the split self.
Once split, it couldn't learn properly.
It could only accept everything in opposition to Ralyl.
In human society, dragons are always a source of fear.
Without guidance, dragons naturally become beings that feed on human fear and bring terror.
In other words.
'The Dragon Knight was also a half.'
The Dragon Knight.
A class that uses the Sword Saint's techniques through the dragon's blood.
This also means it is a half.
Ultimately, Ralyl couldn't properly use the dragon's blood.
He couldn't fully accept it.
This half-awakening.
I slowly extended my hand and touched the Fallen Dragon.
After countless exchanges, I was resonating with the Fallen Dragon.
Even if it was a half-awakening, the Dragon Knight's disposition was enough to resonate with the Fallen Dragon.
"Is this...?"
But this time, Ralyl was also included in the resonance.
I used my body as a medium to connect Ralyl and the Fallen Dragon.