Chapter 16: Perfection, Will, and Calculation - One Last Lesson [Final]
[Rael's POV]
"I didn't really hit him, did I?"
I lost myself in thought as I watched my Sensei appear without a scratch. His hair had grown longer, and his eyes shimmered with a primal, beast-like intensity.
"His energy... it feels heavier." There was no other way to describe it.
But I wouldn't hesitate. I clenched my fists and launched forward.
-
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[Sakura Pov]
As the darkness swallowed me, voices echoed in my mind:
"This isn't good enough. You'll never sell with work like this."
"..."
"It's not perfect. Again."
"..."
"Forget what you want to create. Make what people want to buy."
"..."
Art has always been my dream. It carried my fears, my hopes, my joy. But to them, it was never enough.
Was it still art if I only created for others?
-
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"Do you know what art is?" —Yato
"A... human way of expressing oneself?" What was art, anyway? Was it an idea exclusive to humans, where they sought beauty and harmony?
"Close, but no. Art is nothing more than a conscious manifestation of an idea. Perhaps it is something that you humans are too inept to fully understand. A masterpiece must first carry value for its creator, before any other being." —Yato.
"I don't understand..."
"Your will and desires have much more power than you imagine. Just bring them to reality." —Yato.
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[Rael Pov]
*BAM!*
I hit the ground hard, the air in my lungs forced out. My vision blurred. My legs trembled.
'Even after everything... I'm still not strong enough?'
I looked at the man standing before me. His beastly eyes seemed emotionless.
'So this is what true strength looks like...'
I tried to stand again. I had to land that final strike, just one.
But he grabbed my wrist.
"You did well. Unfortunately, it's not enough. You can leave the floor; I won't kill you, " he said as he turned to leave.
"Sensei... you misunderstand." My voice trembled.
"I never planned... to leave this place without completing the challenge."
He paused.
"You were... the closest thing I had to family."
His beast-like eyes seemed to soften.
"I'm not giving up now!"
I tried again to stand, but my body refused.
"Rael... Stop before it's too late."
'stop…'
'I can't stop.'
'Not again.'
'I can fight again…'
[...]
[Don't forget to thank me for this later]
'Axis...? What're you—'
[No need to understand. Just focus]
[Requesting permission: Overclock Activation]
[Permission granted]
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[3rd Person POV]
Sakura's eyes shot open.
[Overclock Initiated]
Her body surged with pure Eternium. Her very veins glowed. Red energy poured from her skin like a supernova beneath the sea.
The pain was still there. So was the fear, the loneliness.
But now—beside them—was something else:
Will.
To live.
To fight.
To write her own story.
Sakura raised her hand to the dark sky above.
[Make it count]
BOOM!
She launched from the ocean like a meteor.
-
Siegfried turned, stunned.
Half of Rael's body had become energy—his sword included. The surrounding pressure warped space, causing gales to erupt across the plain.
"One hit... that's all I need." Rael entered an attack stance.
His voice echoed, overlapping with Axis's.
"There are millions of outcomes in a fight, Sensei. I only need the one that leads to victory."
-
Scheherazade waited above the sea, arms crossed.
Then—
FWOOM!
A pillar of golden-red light burst from the ocean, splitting the black sky.
Out of it soared Sakura, engulfed in ethereal flame. Her wounds were still visible, but her gaze was unwavering.
"I don't need to live in other people's stories, Sensei. I will write my own!" She shouted, her voice now colder and more robotic.
Scheherazade's eyes widened.
"This is..."
Sakura drew Eternium into her hand—this time not as fuel, but as a narrative thread.
Each movement was like a sentence. Each flame, a paragraph. Her soul itself became the pen.
Dozens of golden script-ribbons spiraled around her, filled with fragments of memories, pain, and hope. They formed the shape of an Arrow.
"This is my first masterpiece, Sensei."
She drew the arrow, aiming it at Scheherazade.
"I hope it's perfect enough."
*BOOM!*
-
Siegfried immediately drew his sword and looked at Rael.
Rael fixed his eyes on a single point. Axis calculated millions of possibilities and trajectories, and he would channel his will into a single point.
His blade represented his will, now converted into matter. And the goal was one: to land that blow.
Space distorted for a moment, and in Rael's eyes, a line appeared.
"Here I go, Sensei."
*BOOMM!*
When Rael's blade was about to touch Siegfried, he put his sword up to block the blow.
*BOOMM!*
The collision destroyed everything around them, but Rael's blade did not stop. It continued forward, with no sign of stopping.
After mere fractions of a second, Siegfried noticed that Rael's blade was piercing through his sword. He then put a shield in front of his body, but...
*Slash!*
Rael's blade still passed through, like a ghost.
"He's ignoring all my defenses," he thought in shock.
-
Scheherazade raised dozens of shields. But they shattered as the arrow passed through.
She teleported. It followed.
She created clones. It still followed.
This wasn't just power. It was truth. And truth—when believed with all your heart—cannot be denied.
She smiled.
BOOM!
-
"You've done well, boy," Siegfried whispered, as the blade reached his chest.
*SLASH!*
-
「Challenge Completed」
「Congratulations, Trailblazer. You have cleared Floor 1.」
「Transfer initiated...」
Rael and Sakura smiled faintly.
Their bodies, though broken, radiated peace.
They collapsed in sync.
"I did it..."
"I did it..."
Siegfried and Scheherazade rushed toward them at the same moment, their expressions filled with concern.
-
「Transfer interrupted」
"Huh?" When Siegfried was about to grab Rael, he stopped. Not because he wanted to, but because he noticed a young man holding Rael in his arms.
White hair. Golden eyes. A cat on his shoulder.
"You..."
-
"Who are you?! How did you enter my territory?" Scheherazade asked as she watched the young man holding Sakura.
"If you dare hurt her..."
"...Who would have thought that the Witch of a Thousand Tales would one day have any attachment to a mortal disciple." The young man replied with a creepy smile.