Sword Devouring Swordmaster-Chapter 64 : Chapter 64

Chapter 64 – The Night Before (1)
“Son, do you know about butterflies?”
My mother once said that to me.
“You only ever see the beautiful butterflies that appear in the garden, but they were once insignificant caterpillars that chewed on leaves deep in the forest.”
“Caterpillars? Don’t butterflies fly from the moment they’re born?”
“That’s right. Those tiny creatures, no bigger than a fingernail, nibble at leaves and slowly grow their bodies while hiding from other insects’ eyes. They live a dull, pitiful existence for a very long time.”
There was a butterfly with splendid wings resting on my mother’s hand.
“When they endure those dull and dangerous days—when they endure them over and over—glory finally comes to them. Wings that everyone envies sprout, and they no longer have to hide from prying eyes. They spread their magnificent wings and soar toward the blue sky.”
Her voice was gentle and kind as she continued,
“Arhan, my dear son. Someday, a hard and sorrowful day may come for you too. The world is harsher and more unreasonable than the fairy tales you love.”
“……”
“The trials that await you might last for a very long time. Like the caterpillars that live hidden in the lowest places, you may have to avoid others’ eyes, enduring long years alone without anyone’s help.”
The sun that day was dazzlingly bright. It was a hot, summer day.
“Such is the life of men in this Iron Kingdom. Even your carefree, dreamer of a father once endured cruel times. So did Demern, that always-smiling blacksmith. Perhaps it’s not only men. Before I met your father, I also suffered through such times. My childhood in Blade City was so terrible that I can hardly bear to recall it.”
“……”
“Maybe it’s not only men who live harsh lives, nor only those who live in the Iron Kingdom. Perhaps everyone in this world does. So, Arhan, my son—one day, you too will face the coldness of this world.”
It had been hard for me to understand back then, but I could clearly feel the affection in her voice.
“Whenever that time comes, remember the butterfly.”
My mother stroked my head. As I leaned into her soft touch, the butterfly on her hand beat its wings and took flight.
“Live without breaking. Don’t yield to the world just because it’s hard now. Endure today for the sake of tomorrow. Look not at the pain of today, but toward the radiant tomorrow.”
The butterfly gleaming in the sunlight was breathtakingly beautiful.
“When that harsh time passes, you too will be reborn as a butterfly.”
Yes, it truly was beautiful.
“A butterfly with wings so splendid that everyone will envy you… able to fly anywhere you wish.”
Why this memory surfaced now, I didn’t know. It rose like a mirage, too warm, too vivid.
I didn’t want to wake from it. I didn’t want to return to reality. I just wanted to remain a boy, safe in the lush lands of my family’s estate, in my mother’s arms.
Just stay like this. Peacefully.
“…Fighter.”
Ah, Mother.
The harsh season that has come to me is too much to bear. Too cruel for someone so young and weak.
I need you.
I need your gentle voice, and Father’s kind eyes as he told his old tales.
I need the clumsy but passionate nanny, and the butler who moved slowly but never erred.
“Li…ttle… Gladiator.”
I’m still too weak to endure this cruel time alone. So please, don’t go. Stay with me a little longer. I’m not ready to let you go. I… I still…
“Wake… up. Lit…tle Gladiator…”
Breathing hurts. It felt like I was drowning slowly underwater.
A faint voice called my name from beyond the surface, desperate.
Yet the water—ironically—felt both suffocating and comforting.
How could the sensation of dying feel so peaceful?
The strength drained from my body. And then—
「Young descendant.」
The tender scenery before my eyes was consumed by flames. Those I longed for turned to ash and vanished, and in their place, countless blades thrust upward from the blackened ground.
They looked like gravestones for the dead—or swords abandoned by their masters.
Among them was a chair made of swords.
No, to call it a mere chair was not enough. It was far too magnificent. If it needed a name, it could only be one thing—the Throne of Swords.
「It is not yet your time to come here.」
“……”
「Did you not swear revenge? Did you not say you would become a Swordmaster? Did you not declare you would be strong enough to kill one?」
Upon that grand Throne of Swords sat an old man with the face of a lion.
I knew that face. But this time, he wasn’t a faint, ghostly image—he had a complete body, a complete presence, and his eyes met mine.
「Go back. To where you belong.」
Agony pierced through me, unbearable and sharp—as if a thousand blades ran through my body from head to toe.
And then—“Wake up, Little Gladiator—!”
The once-distant voice now rang clear.
“Hah!”
I gasped, drawing a ragged breath. When I opened my eyes, I saw countless people standing around me. All of them were watching me. Among the crowd of gazes, I spotted one familiar, sly grin.
「You thick-headed brat. You sure sleep a lot.」
It was my master—once again in his ghostly form.
「The sun’s already high. Get up and do what you must.」
***
The first event of 「Infinite Duel」—the Race Duel—had ended with the dwarves as victors.
But no one was impressed.
After all, what attention could a race led by a 「Sword Expert」 expect to get? Instead of praise, the dwarves were criticized for fielding an overpowered champion.
People grumbled: The tension broke, the balance shattered—it was like watching an epic knightly duel suddenly struck down by lightning. Like reading a chivalric romance only for everyone to drop dead in the last chapter. Like… well, like being interrupted mid-dump.
It wasn’t the first time this had happened. When the orc chieftain once appeared and annihilated everyone, the same complaints flew. So the dwarves didn’t bother to make excuses.
They admitted fault—openly.
Their goal had never been to win, anyway, but to advertise their goods. So they decided to spin the criticism into noise marketing.
The siege weapons 「Thunderbolt」 and 「Explosion Shell」—which they’d flaunted throughout the Infinite Duel—hit the market at discounted prices. And, as always, people loved cheap, high-quality tools.
The dwarves might’ve lost face temporarily, but they sold plenty and recouped their profits soon enough.
Still, aside from all that business talk, one name was burning brightest in the Iron City.
“The Sword Demon, Liam. He’ll become a great man, mark my words.”
“Which academy did he come from? His swordsmanship was extraordinary.”
“I studied his movements—they resemble those of the warriors from the Great Land of the East. Could be a master from there. They say strange geniuses roam that continent.”
The former Little Gladiator—The Sword Demon Liam.
He was the hottest fighter in the Iron City.
“I bet half my fortune on him and lost everything—but I don’t regret it.”
“Ha! It was an honor.”
The reason for his popularity was simple. He had delivered spectacular moments in the Race Duel, but, above all, he embodied everything the Iron City admired—struggle and valor.
“If the Goddess Refri herself had been watching, she would’ve done three flips in the sky.”
“That sounds almost blasphemous…”
“Just a figure of speech!”
A mere 「Sword Walker」—yet he never backed down from a fight.
He dove into battlefields teeming with stronger foes. He outsmarted the orcs with logic, and even when everyone else fled, he—the weakest among them—stood face-to-face against a 「Sword Expert.」
The perfect embodiment of the underdog, and of the “struggle” the Goddess Refri preached.
No wonder people’s hearts burned for him.
At last, a fighter worthy of the name warrior.
“I’ve been a fan since his match against the Black Bride.”
“The Black Bride? Don’t compare that no-name wench to our Sword Demon! You think someone who fought a Sword Expert is some pushover?”
“Sword Demon Liam is a god. No arguments.”
“Ahh, this—this is the hope of mankind!”
And thus, the name Sword Demon Liam spread farther than ever before.
While I, Arhan, lay in the Arena Recovery Room eating sliced apples,completely unaware.
Well—“…Liam?”
As always, fame wasn’t entirely a good thing.
“Why… that goddamn name of all things…”
Anyway, time moved on.
***
“They said it’s not that serious.”
That was the doctor’s .
My injuries weren’t grave.
Dwight hadn’t struck me seriously—had he fought in earnest, I wouldn’t be lying in this bed; I’d be floating somewhere like Liam’s ghost.
I hadn’t lost consciousness from his attack, but from the backlash of forcing 「Gale」 to its limit—and from another force I’d unknowingly awakened at the end.
That searing heat that consumed my whole body…It had burned my heart and mind until I blacked out.
「The omen of wings.」
Liam had explained it to me.
「The path within your body is hardening. Your inner force is beginning to affect the outer world—your Mystery is preparing to awaken. For a moment, that Mystery broke through.」
Yes. For just a moment, I had glimpsed the fragment of a 「Sword Runner.」
「But that doesn’t mean you are a Sword Runner. As I told you before, for a Karavan to reach that stage is a rare ordeal indeed.」
“…Yes, I remember.”
「So don’t get cocky. You’re still worthless—slow, talentless, and your willpower’s rotten.」
“……”
Even bedridden, Liam showed no mercy. Truly, a Swordmaster’s blade was sharp enough to stab even a dying man.
「Remember this: the Wings of Karavan are forged from three blades. You’ve only digested one, young descendant.」
Indeed. The path ahead was long.
Well then—
“One more apple, please.”
“Okay, just a second.”
So maybe resting a little longer was fine.
“Say ‘ah~’.”
“Yes.”
Seol Yoon sat beside me, knife in hand, slicing the apple with surgical precision.
The other fighters in the Recovery Room glared daggers at me.
I’d seen those looks before.
Their faces said it all: What’s this bastard doing with his girlfriend here? Why are we stuck with nothing but sweaty dudes? Why doesn’t anyone visit me when I’m sick?
I just lay there and grinned back at them.
“Cutting apples is kinda fun.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s like peeling someone’s face off. Or maybe carving out their heart? Either way, it’s not bad.”
“……”
I just hoped the others hadn’t heard her—because her innocent face and disturbingly skilled knife-work were terrifying together.
***
After the Race Duel ended, after the name Sword Demon Liam echoed across the city,
after enduring those heated stares in the Recovery Room—time passed quietly. Eventually, the Arena announced the second event of the Infinite Duel—the War Duel.
Thanks to Iron Heart’s resilience, I recovered quickly and attended the announcement with Seol Yoon.
According to the rules, War Duels recreated battles from history—large-scale team matches meant to honor and remember the wars of the Iron Kingdom.
I wondered which historical war would be chosen. But then—
“…A conquest war fought around the Great Land of the East? I’ve never heard of that. Do you know anything about it, Seol Yoon?”
“……”
“Seol Yoon? What’s wrong? You look pale…”
Her face turned ghost-white. She was silent for a moment, then said,
“…My homeland.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s the war that destroyed my homeland.”
Her homeland—caught in that war? That didn’t make sense.
The War Duel was supposed to honor Iron Kingdom history.
Why choose a conflict from the far-off East?
But then—
“…You ask if I know? Of course I know. I’ll never forget it.”
Seol Yoon’s expression hardened with fury I’d never seen before.
“My homeland was annihilated in that war.”
I was still reeling from her anger when the Arena revealed more details—and the prize for the winners. Then I understood why they’d chosen this war.
1. Fighters on the “Defender” side—representing the fallen peninsula—will be provided the relics once wielded by that nation’s warriors.
2. Collectors may recognize them as treasures symbolizing the dragon, including the Dragon Sword.
3. Upon conclusion of the War Duel, these relics will be sold in a public auction. Lovers of glorious struggle under the Goddess Refri’s light are invited to participate enthusiastically!
It was nothing more than a grand marketing stunt—a flashy showcase to sell the relics of a dead nation for the highest price. And then came the final line: One fighter from the winning team will earn the right to claim a Dragon Relic. A golden opportunity for those interested in the spoils of a fallen land!
A trap to lure the greedy.
“Little Gladiator.”
Seol Yoon’s cold voice echoed beside me.And I knew—without doubt— “This War Duel… I’m going to win it.”
Yeah.
This wasn’t going to be an easy battle.