The matches for the semis were decided. There were 128 swordsmen who would be responsible for the future of the continent, participating in this tournament.
The brightest stars ultimately came from the Western and Central parts of the continent.
“In the end this is it?”
“I thought it would be different this time…”
“Tell me about it. Devan Kennedy and Inashio Karahan were good right? But the Sword Masters in their 20s is so strong…”
“The swordsmen of Krono prove it yet again. That they are the best on the continent.”
“The Macan Kingdom will be bittersweet now. Jarrot was a mess and Zakuang…”
“Shhh. The man there is from the south. Quiet.”
Right. Although Camrin Ray was a contender for the first place it was a competition that showed the worth of East and South swordsmen.
And young people were the ones who overturned the expectations that the people had.
From the standpoint of other regions they had to be disappointed. However if someone asked if the semis would be boring then the answer would obviously be NO.
“I look forward to it. It will be great.”
“So. If possible I would like to see one from central part and one from the western part go up…”
“That would be the best. There are a lot of people who want the young side to win. For Airn to win the semis and reach the finals that would fit for the purpose of the contest but honestly it seems unlikely.”
“Well I think it is worth the fight…. Everyone will have their own opinion. So I just look forward to it.”
“Right. I have nothing to say.”
“As a native of the West I want Camrin Ray and Ilya Lindsay to go against each other.”
“Me too”
“Me too but… wouldn’t that be tough?”
The atmosphere of the capital city was of excitement and the public opinion was moving more towards the recognition of power from the central part than the western part of the continent.
In terms of gambling odds Ignet Camrin Airn and Ilya Lindsay were close to winning…in that exact order. According to this it meant that the finals would be between the central region participants.
“Huhu sorry. There was a time when the western part of the continent had ranked swordsmen…”
“Right.”
Some old men had bitter expressions. Right. With Legendary hero Dion Lindsay who beheaded the Demon Dragon King the western world dominated swordsmanship for 400 years.
No matter how deep the history was for the Holy Kingdom and paladins it was difficult to overcome the five great swordsman families from the West.
But not now.
Ian was now the best teacher on the continent.
And his rival Khun was strong.
And Julius Hul was revered as the greatest paladin of all time.
From the moment that these three had come into prominence along with the fact that they came from the central part of the continent people couldn’t see the swordsmanship of the West as pridefully as they did in the past.
In addition to that Ignet Crescentia was also showing a great performance so the old swordsmen who recalled their past glory were feeling bitter.
‘It won’t be easy.’
Such a thought was running around the heads of the five great swordsmanship families of the West.
No they knew this a lot earlier. It meant that the status of the Black Knight Commander was beyond their imagination.
Unlike the general public they knew this once they looked at the Round of 32.
It was because that was the time when she changed her style.
‘… even if nothing had improved since that round she wouldn’t have a problem winning.’
Joshua Lindsay recalled what had happened earlier.
The image of the black-haired swordsman preparing to climb a higher mountain than him who ruled the sky was vivid in his mind.
It wasn’t just his thoughts.
All the five swordsmanship families of West who faced Ignet looked at her growth rate.
But they weren’t discouraged.
They didn’t feel depressed because their generation was over.
Instead they looked at the genius of the West rising as steeply as the Sun of the Holy Kingdom.
Right.
Why were all the heads of those families gathered? What was the reason they were so enthusiastic about this?
It was because they were teaching none other than Ilya Lindsay.
Bang! Bang!
Kwang!
“Get yourself together! Your left is open!”
“Kuak Yep!”
Swish!
“Where is your answer to get yourself together? I don’t see a change!”
“Uh…!”
The head of the Clifford family famous for his aggressive onslaught shouted as he swung his sword.
His appearance which resembled a massive tree was even greater than the pressure emanating from Airn who was famous for his greatsword.
And it wasn’t just him. There were two other people.
The head of the Preston family who was known to have the fastest swordsmanship after Khun’s was also moving while observing Ilya Lindsay’s movements.
“Do not be bound by the restrictions in this place. Don’t be bound by gravity. What you deal with is winning. Think of it as a space rather than ground which is constantly changing for you improvising. That way you can have more space for your movements.”
And that wasn’t all. Paige was constantly teaching from a distance. He was a person who was known to have never been defeated in his knowledge of swordsmanship.
It wasn’t outdated knowledge of just theory or of the one focusing on some kind of breakthrough.
His guidance which came out without a break was sharp and on point along with the heads of the two families helping Ilya.
However Ilya listened to everything. There was no sign of suffering or desperation on her face.
It was an unusual thing for her who was sweating. She turned her head and awakened her instincts. It was a special thing that even the heads of the 5 families who were called geniuses rarely felt.
Alan Ray the head of the Ray family said.
“She broke the wall.”
“Right.”
“It is similar to when I saw Ignet. It is difficult for us.”
“Sad for you but I could always do that.”
“You are as cocky as ever.”
“But it is true. Come fight me if you don’t accept it.”
“How about you treat me as a senior if I beat you?”
“I really don’t understand where you get such an idea…”
“Enough. Talk more and I will go to your wife and tell her about this.”
“…”
“Calm down now.”
Lord Ray let out a soft sigh.
Joshua wasn’t silent because of the quarrel. But because he was looking at Ilya whom he hadn’t seen for long and her growth.
The growth wasn’t just with her swordsmanship.
‘She grew as a human.’
Carl Lindsay and his disappearance.
The fact that the young man who was known to be one of the most talented people to lead the West disappeared from the world brought despair to their family.
And that event had shut the heart of Ilya Lindsay the second genius of the family and at times it seemed like she was declining too. However it was slowly passing.
Now she looked ahead with a clearer gaze.
Clearing the darkness caused by Carl Lindsay and freeing herself from the obsession with Ignet. So Joshua looked at Ilya Lindsay his daughter who came out of her shell completely.
And he wasn’t just looking at her present state.
He was looking at her past present and future.
It was when a faint smile was forming on the face of the father who was looking at a true genius who might surpass Dion Lindsay.
“But can you stay here too?”
“Um?”
“My daughter isn’t the only one who made it to the semis. Sir Camrin Ray will be sad…”
“Hm he will be fine.”
Lord Ray looked at Joshua. He had always been an expressionless person and it was the same now as well.
However was it an illusion to feel some kind of confidence in the midst of this?
“… I see something.”
“It must be his achievements.”
“Tell him to not be careless because Airn isn’t an easy one.”
“Haha you are you openly taking care of your son-in-law now?”
“…”
“Uh? Why are you looking at me like this?”
“…he isn’t… son-in-law… yet…”
“Well okay then.”
“….”
“I am glad Ilya doesn’t look like you.”
Alan Ray mumbled that softly and Joshua Lindsay clenched his fists as he heard it.
Even though it was left unsaid they knew that Ilya Lindsay would do her best in the match.
“Wowwh!”
“Ignet! Ignet! Ignet Crescentia!”
“Ilya Lindsay! Adan Kingdom’s pride!”
“Incarnation of Dion Lindsay! Woah!”
“Show us the pride of West!”
“Glory to the Holy Kingdom!”
‘I’ll go then.’
The silver-haired swordsman mumbled and Airn smiled brightly as he lightly kissed her.
He stroked her cheeks slightly and Camrin Ray mumbled. It was looking good.
This was the last time one of them would see the waiting room.
As they made their way to the stage where the cheers were coming in Ilya mumbled.
‘I have grown up now. Quite a lot.’
‘I wasn’t alone.’
She was stating it as it was. If it was her former self she wouldn’t have been able to say this.
She wouldn’t have slept a day before the match and worried herself to exhaustion and would have had a cold expression on her face in the waiting room.
She wouldn’t have asked for the help of the 5 lords and wouldn’t have kept her composure like now.
‘… If I had to correct it it is fair right?’
Facing her opponent Ilya thought that.
Right. It seemed that they weren’t equal. But she didn’t have any negative thoughts like she did in the past.
The burning obsession caused by her pride that had fallen to the ground had disappeared and a healthy sense of competition was shining from her body.
Is that why?
Ignet was also looking at her.
Thus it was different from the past. In the past Ignet never looked at her. It was as if she had no interest in Ilya.
‘Let’s do my best.’
Phew the silver-haired swordsman sighed and swung her sword.
A cool breeze blew around her.
Right now it was a breeze but it had the potential to turn into a huge typhoon and devour her opponents at any moment. With such an aura she was ready to let the sun fall.
And the other party didn’t stand still.
Ilya was thinking of the aspects in her head while looking at Ignet shining like the sun.
Wheik!
“…”
“…”
“…”
Something felt strange.
It was the energy of her opponent and Ignet’s eyes that were getting hotter. It wasn’t energy. It was as if she wanted to destroy the hateful beings in front of her by giving out fear.
It was a strangely desperate feeling.
‘What? Suddenly? What?’
Ilya was shocked.
It was said that they were bound to have a bad relationship with each other but in reality it was an unfortunate accident. There were no ill feelings between them.
At least Ilya thought so but seeing how Ignet was looking at her without reason it was…
But.
It was all Ilya’s thoughts.
“Love is…”
“…?”
Ignet mumbled softly.
Until then Ilya hadn’t noticed.
What the hell was she talking about before the fight? That too while staring at her eyes!
But the moment she heard the next thing she realized.
“Couples in… love… are unpleasant.”
“…”
“I will break you. Both.”
“…!”
It felt like the affectionate act that she and Airn shared in the waiting room had provoked someone.
