Xun Shiwu parried a sword flying from left to right with his greatsword.
Immediately, he drew a dagger to block another sword that lunged at his chest in a surprise attack.
With swords in both hands, he crossed them to withstand a sword that seemed to aim to split his head in two.
The fluid succession of strikes was as swift as lightning.
There was no room for a counterattack between the attacks.
Despite being able to freely sheathe his swords, he was immobilized by the relentless onslaught from a single sword.
In the midst of this one-sided attack and desperate defense, a moment of intense combat left him breathless, momentarily dazing his mind.
At that moment, a blinding flash of white light appeared.
A sword pierced his chest, a strike so fast it was hard to follow with the eye.
Xun Shiwu's body crumpled, and he fell to the ground.
The one who pulled out the white sword embedded in his fallen chest was a beautiful woman with hair as white as the sword, flowing down to her waist.
She caressed Xun Shiwu's fallen cheek with her pale, delicate hand.
Then, she smiled slightly and slapped his cheek, saying,
"Shiwu, are you tired? Seeing you this exhausted makes me think I should increase the intensity from now on."
"No, Lucy! I'm not tired! I'll get up right now!"
At the thunderous voice, Xun Shiwu jumped up and shouted.
He was already struggling to keep his wits about him, and the thought of increasing the intensity was terrifying.
Looking at Lucy, who had the same white hair and eyes as him, his only family and swordmaster, Xun Shiwu shivered.
Lucy, who had the Holy Sword of Humility, observed Xun Shiwu, whose wound from the sword had already healed, and said,
"You said you wanted to become strong enough to protect everyone, didn't you, Shiwu? Since you're not really dying here, you won't become as strong as you want if you keep complaining like this."
"No, even so, this is already the seventh time today. No matter how many times I come back to life, dying is a terrifying experience... Besides, I haven't had a proper rest for days, with this happening every night..."
"Don't worry. Your body is getting proper rest even while you're here. And if you don't like dying to me, try to stop me by killing me."
How could he say that to someone who hadn't even managed to land a single counterattack...
Xun Shiwu grumbled to himself.
This place was a mental space created by the ability of the Holy Sword of Guidance, one of the Holy Swords Xun Shiwu possessed.
Here, he could train while his body rested, and his physical strength would improve to some extent with the training.
Using this, Xun Shiwu had been growing stronger under the guidance of the materialized Lucy.
Lucy, who had been a strict yet kind teacher since he was young, had lost all kindness after a new contract was made a few days ago.
On the night the contract was made, Lucy said that if he became stronger, he would naturally be able to use the true abilities of the Holy Swords.
She also said that the fastest way to become stronger was to fight a strong opponent to the death, and she swung her sword at him.
Determined to become the strongest, she cut him down mercilessly.
Since then, he had been desperately struggling to survive Lucy's attacks, his mind being worn down by the continuous deaths and pain.
Lucy pushed him to his limits every day.
As a result, while he could barely last a few seconds on the first day, he could now block some of her attacks after a few days, but this was still a crazy endeavor.
He glared at Lucy in protest, but it was futile.
She raised her sword and forced him to get up, her kindness from before nowhere to be seen.
"Shiwu, is your resolve to become stronger only this much?"
Seeing a slight waver in his determination, Lucy smiled cruelly and said,
"Damn..."
Hearing this, Xun Shiwu, trembling, grabbed his sword and stood up.
Thinking of the girl who, despite losing her left arm, refused to bend and wanted to protect people, and the day he resolved to become strong enough to protect everyone in her place.
"Since tomorrow is a weekend and we don't have school, we have plenty of time. Let's do it 20 times."
"Damn...!!!"
With a joyful laugh, Lucy swung her sword, and Xun Shiwu shouted as he charged at her.
The training only ended after Xun Shiwu experienced 20 deaths.
*
After the grueling training, he went outside to get some fresh air, but feeling mentally exhausted, his body felt heavy. He decided to go to the supermarket.
Thinking that eating something delicious might help, he went in, but lacking the motivation to cook, he left empty-handed. On his way out, he saw Scarlett entering the supermarket.
"Hi, Scarlett? Are you here to shop?"
When she saw him, Scarlett took a step back and nodded with a stiff face.
Though her response was cold, at least she acknowledged him. Xun Shiwu thought this was something.
A gem casting an illusion spell was attached to her left arm.
Thinking she might have difficulty shopping with one arm, he offered to help, but she refused.
Even if he offered to help, she would likely refuse.
The only thing he could do was become stronger and protect people in her place so she wouldn't get hurt anymore.
Even if he trained to the point of death and she never acknowledged his efforts, he would continue.
Feeling a bit sad, Xun Shiwu smiled bitterly.
Just as he was about to leave the supermarket after saying goodbye, her voice stopped him.
"Can we talk? Can you wait a moment until I finish shopping?"
She had initiated the conversation.
It was a surprising situation, but he couldn't refuse, so he nodded.
While waiting for her to finish shopping, Xun Shiwu's mind was filled with thoughts.
When she first spoke to him, he had heard her say, "Please don't pay attention to me."
He was afraid that if she said something similar this time, his resolve would be shaken, but he couldn't give up the chance to talk to her.
After she finished shopping, she led him to a nearby park and sat on a bench.
They were close enough that only a small envelope separated them.
Xun Shiwu suddenly remembered a time when he had watched her from a distance as she sat on this park bench.
Now, the physical distance between them was much closer, but the emotional distance felt much greater, leaving him conflicted.
She glanced at him and asked,
"Why is your eye like that? One of them used to be black, right?"
"Oh, this... this? Well, it's because of my ability... Ahaha, it just turned out this way..."
I made a contract to become stronger so you wouldn't get hurt anymore.
He couldn't say that, so he stammered and tried to brush it off.
At least she noticed the change in his eye color.
Honestly, he had thought he was just dust on the street to her, so he felt more joy than embarrassment or surprise at her words.
"Shiwu..."
Lucy's sigh came from somewhere, but he ignored it.
He wanted to focus on the conversation with Scarlett.
She looked at him, thinking for a moment, then said,
"You look very tired lately. Is something bothering you?"
"It's nothing. I've just been training hard, that's all..."
Feeling embarrassed that his exhaustion was so noticeable, he answered.
Inside, he was happy that she had noticed his struggles.
Thinking that this alone would give him more motivation to train, he was suddenly interrupted by Scarlett's soft murmur.
"...I'm worried, you know. Even if I say that."
It's the truth.
Xun Shiwu doubted his ears.
Worried? Scarlett is worried about me?
It was a statement he would naturally think was a lie, but the Holy Sword of Truth confirmed it was true.
She looked into his eyes and continued,
"I may not show it, but I care about you a lot." It's the truth.
This was also true.
Hearing Scarlett's kind words, which he had only imagined, Xun Shiwu's heart raced.
He had thought that even if she didn't acknowledge him, silently protecting her from the shadows was enough.
But now, her words were incredibly sweet to him.
Looking at her, who was telling him she cared and was worried about him, he couldn't help but imagine.
Maybe, just maybe, they could become closer.
She looked at him with genuine concern and said,
"If you have any troubles or worries, tell me. I'll listen." It's the truth.
Xun Shiwu turned his head away to hide his joy and the blush on his face.
He had troubles and worries, but now he couldn't tell her.
A thought had occurred to him that there might be a possibility for him.
A man doesn't want to show his weaknesses to the girl he likes.
"Next time, I'll tell you next time."
So, he said he would tell her next time and ran home.
He was overwhelmed with happiness.
His body, which had been exhausted, felt full of energy.
He didn't have time to waste.
He needed to become stronger.
Strong enough to stand by her side.
Strong enough to be a man she could trust and rely on.
*
"Please, do your best, Lucy."
As soon as he finished dinner and entered the mental space, Lucy said to Xun Shiwu,