The doors of the hall were flung open with force. The Imperial Guards entered, their bodies burning with tension. In their midst were Emperor Sora and the Great Guardian. The Guardian looked at the scene with intense focus.
The man sheathed his sword calmly, and everyone present stood up. Sora raised his hand to the guards: "Stop." He and the Guardian stepped forward quietly, gazing at the scene.
Jin rose calmly and stood before them, then dropped to one knee, performing the salute: "I request permission to depart, Your Majesty."
Sora looked at him for moments. Blood was trickling from Jin's neck, his clothes were stained with gore, and his jaw was trembling violently. The Guardian spoke telepathically to the Emperor: "It is fine. Let him go."
Sora glanced at the Guardian, then back at the boy. He closed his eyes for two seconds and said quietly: "Rise. You may leave."
The youth stood up. He moved forward, his eyes fixed on the ground. The guards stood on either side, and the young man walked through the crowd in total silence. Sora looked at the ministers and the heads of the families—a heavy gaze that carried only one thing: a total loss of trust.
Jin exited and walked through the palace courtyard, gazes piercing him from every side. He stopped at the nearest shadow and slowly descended into it, as if stepping into a pit. It was a shocking sight; no one expected to see such a level of Shadow Magic. And just like that, the youth vanished completely from the place.
"Close the doors," Sora said with an unsettling calm.
The youth emerged in a nearby forest. He slowly raised his hand, then wrapped it in glowing tongues of fire, passing it slowly over the wound until it sealed from the heat. He drew an ordinary sword from his storage ring.
He paused for a moment, then placed the sword aligned with the center of his grief-stricken face. He clenched his fist, extended his index and middle fingers, and aligned them in front of the blade. He closed his eyes peacefully and moved.
Lesser Heavenly Demon Sword – Absolute Mastery – Chapter One: Rage.
The blood aura glowed. The sound of the movement was clear; it didn't sound like a sword cutting the air, but like a furious scream. This wasn't one of the twelve movements of the Lesser Heavenly Demon style; it was the absolute mastery of the art that relied on understanding gloomy emotions. This was the first movement of Absolute Mastery, Chapter One.
He followed it immediately with the next.
Lesser Heavenly Demon Sword – Chapter Two: Sorrow.
It was radically different from the second movement he had performed many times before, even though the appearance of the movement was the same. A dismal aura emanated from the sword. Nothing could be heard but a single note—a distorted sound of weeping emerged from the sword's swings. It was the sound of emotions, not a sword art at all.
The youth performed it a second time, a third, then... he raised his sword, and his hand fell. He tried again, but his heart lacked the strength to lift it once more. He almost transitioned to the third chapter, but he stopped.
His hands shook violently; his entire body trembled. He walked forward slowly, stopping after every step. He stood before a tree and placed his palm on it, then leaned his forehead against it and looked at the ground.
Why? Why do they say such things? They didn't see how I was born.
...Why did he leave us? Why did that man abandon his wife? Why am I subjected to a situation like this because of him?
Tears streamed from his eyes.
What did I do to them for them to do this?
Can't I even defend my right?
Why did that person interfere and stop me? Does he have no feelings?
Why did I never have a chance against him from the start? Was all I did for nothing?
I trained daily until my veins nearly burst. I danced with the sword until I lost the ability to stand countless times. Hordes of monsters upon which I unleashed everything I had... thousands... thousands of souls I extinguished with my own hands...
His tears poured onto the ground as he whispered to himself in a broken voice.
Is this the result? Am I not even capable of silencing those bastards?
The sword fell from his hand.
"Why?" His nose ran as he uttered the word.
"Why is this happening to me?"
"I never mocked anyone for anything, I never broke anyone's heart, I never wronged anyone."
"Why am I subjected to everything I loathe?"
He fell to his knees, pressing his forehead against the tree.
"Why did that man leave my mother? He didn't even give me his name..."
He scratched the tree forcefully; the bark peeled, and his fingers, which were like claws in that moment, began to bleed. He screamed: "Why am I being insulted because of him? Why do I roam this world lost because of him?"
His eyes turned bloodshot, and his tears exploded. He collapsed to the ground, screaming in sheer, crushing grief. He continued to claw at everything—the tree, the earth, even his own clothes and body. He cried like a small child, not suppressing the sound of his pain, letting it out with his tears.
Jin failed to understand his life. He failed to understand the minds of people. The knowledge he learned did not help him, the strength he gained did not help him, and the humility he showed to everyone did not help him.
He had had enough. He wanted nothing from life; he wanted none of this. But... what is the use of wailing without even understanding the reason?
And despite all that, the youth did not know that nothing would get better.