#490. ââ¦Goodbye, my old friend.â
* * *
âI honestly donât know.â
âwhat?â
âThe reason you stay as a mere swordsman.â
âWhat kind of joke are you talking about out of the blue?â
âCanât you overthrow such a small oriental country at any time and become king?â
âSo you want me to play war like you?â
âIt is not a war game. If you were born as a man from ancient times, it is only natural that you have big ambitions.â
âMy master is rising from the grave and making the sound of throwing a knife.â
âSeriously think about it. If I rule the west of the world and you occupy the east, wouldnât it be easier to deal with the Seven Dragons?â
âIn short, Iâm afraid to fight black one-on-one, so please take care of me instead, is this?â
âEvery time I fight a black one, I always win.â
âBut in the end, you were the one who was kicked out without conquering Jerusalem.â
âThatâs because the mean guy avoided confrontation with me and only targeted the weak.â
âWasnât it you who said that being called mean by an enemy general in war is the highest compliment for a general?â
âAnyway, isnât it too naive for a sword master to surprise you?â
âI always ambush when I catch the Seven Dragons.â
âKeah, thatâs different.â
âStop talking nonsense and fight in moderation. If you have already failed more than 10 times, you should know how to give up.â
âThis war is not waged out of my own greed. It is Europeâs desire to reclaim the Holy Land.â
âIt is not the desire of Europe, but the desire of the aristocrats in your country. Donât you know that every time you go on an expedition, there are songs from other countries?â
âAs long as you capture the Holy Alliance, they will repay you.â
âI donât think itâs something to say about starting a war against France to supply money and soldiers.â
âIt was Philip VI, King of France, who promised to cooperate with the Crusades if he helped him succeed to the throne. I just got paid for it.â
âI let you go because there was a justification for that. If you donât, youâre a friend and Nabal, and youâre dead in my hands.â
âWhoa, if you want to kill me, ask for a duel anytime. Of course, youâll have to fight to find out who dies.â
âDonât be pretentious, and if youâre a king, build up some virtue like a king. If you live like that, you will be stabbed by someone else.â
âIt is the fate of a swordsman to be killed by a sword.â
âAnyway, you speak well. Be a Mouth Master, not a Sword Master.â
âHmm, you really have a rough mouth. Is it because the operation of the sword tower is not working well?â
ââ¦The operation of the Tower of Scares is going well, right?â
âDonât force yourself to give up. Hundreds of years have passed since you built the Tower of Swords, but there is no disciple who eventually became a sword master.â
âThatâs because my teaching method was incomplete.â
âIt is not a matter of teaching law. In the end, only those determined by heaven can become sword masters.â
âThen what am I?â
âIsnât your teacher a very special person?â
âDonât interfere and just watch. Soon you will be able to see the Sword Master from the Sword Tower.â
âYou said that 100 years ago.â
âThis time it is real. I found great talent.â
âIf you can say that you are a talented person, you must have made some pretty good disciples.â
âWell, a little bit of patriotism is a problem, but the talent is pretty good. Her character is good enough to be called a saint.â
âPatriotism⦠isnât that child from France?â
ââ¦How did you know?â
âI think you, who donât interfere in political affairs, are nagging you today.â
ââ¦â
âTo think that they even gave such consideration just because it is a country of disciples of Huhu. It seems you liked this disciple quite a bit.â
âDonât get me wrong. Because that has nothing to do with it.â
âFor that matter, the treatment is very different from the disciples so far.â
âBecause you have that much talent.â
âItâs not because of his talent, but maybe itâs because he likes him as a man?â
âwhat?â
âHmm, deliberately accepting and raising a bride as a disciple. Iâve felt it since a long time ago, but you guys are really great too.â
ââ¦.â
âAnyway, good luck. I wondered if it had withered a little since there had been no scandals in the past hundred years, but you still look livelyâ¦
â
âHey, come out.â
* * *
Someone says.
A dungeon is like a separate world.
In that sense, this moment.
The world of Indy Jonesâ dungeon was facing destruction.
Kugung Kurrureung.
Debris falling from the ceiling crushes the pyramid.
Gold and silver treasures spilled from a broken safe flow down a waterfall and are swallowed up by lava.
The monsters running around fall into the abyss along with the collapsing passage, and the fragments of the relics that bounce up get stuck in the ceiling.
That look is truly the end.
Made by Indy Jones.
Dungeonized by Labyrinth.
The majestic and beautiful ruins of the city were terribly collapsing.
But at this very moment.
The cause of the collapse was quiet.
Limon, who collapsed the dungeon just by entering, had his arm shattered and stiffened by the recoil of using the sword.
Richard accelerated the collapse with just a swing of his sword, and eventually collapsed on Limonâs shoulder with his chest pierced.
The afterglow that shook the world as the two sword masters collided made only that place enveloped in silence even in the chaos where everything collapsed.
So it was.
That voice came out so clearly.
âHuh, I guess you canât win either.â
Iâve been listening for such a long time
Still familiar and missed.
Hearing that voice that hasnât changed a bit from 600 years ago.
Limon quietly opened his mouth.
ââ¦You ignored me when I talked to you, but now youâre thinking of talking to me?â
âI didnât ignore it because I wanted to ignore it. Itâs because I couldnât speak even if I wanted to until this spell was broken.â
Black tattoo on ear.
And even the broken black armor.
A man with a rich beard who glanced at the remnants of the spell, which began to scatter little by little from the moment his heart was pierced.
Looking at the Sword King Richard, Limon said sullenly.
âAre you proud of being a puppet after being a sword master?â
âDonât be so sarcastic. This, in my own way, is the result of resisting with all my might.â
âHe cuts his friend and talks about it well.â
âYouâre better than you who pierced your friendâs heart.â
Do you think he told a witty joke?
Seeing Richard let out a low laugh, Limon remained silent.
It was because he knew that the fact that he devoted all his energy to fighting himself was the result of resisting the spell in his own way.
Donât just focus on Limon.
If you were aiming for Charlotte or Yuna-Kyung or She-Ra.
No, even if it had only spread the shock wave in all directions without focusing it entirely on Limon.
Limon would have worked harder to protect the others.
I didnât know that my life could be in danger.
Fighting while protecting someone against the same sword master was something that even Limon could not guarantee, even risking his life.
In that sense, it was thanks to Richardâs consideration that Limon was able to settle the matter so easily.
Of course, I didnât have the heart to thank him for that.
âLimon, Iâll be honest.â
knowing that fact.
Richard laughed quietly.
And he spoke softly.
âI resented you a lot in my life.â
Limon was not surprised by the candid words he heard from a friend who died over 600 years ago.
I just asked quietly.
âYou mean you raised the sword?â
âHer work doesnât matter. As you said a long time ago, the sword painting came about because of my own work.â
Richard laughed bitterly.
Heâs done everything for hundreds of years to make the British Empire immortal.
As the king of a country, it was a natural thing to do.
But thatâs why he couldnât resent the swordsman Joan of Arc.
Originally a meek character, the cause of her becoming a slayer and causing the advance of madness was in herself after all.
âThen it seems that you resent me for being a hindrance to your success.â
âI wonât deny that thatâs one of the reasons.â
After the death of the Sword Emperor.
There were four sword masters active in the early days of the Age of Heroes.
Limon and Sword Demon, who were disciples of the Sword Emperor.
And it was the sword king and the sword who had mastered swordsmanship on their own.
Among them, the sword demon who caused the massacre died, and for about hundreds of years, the world was ruled by three sword masters in balance.
But thatâs just the appearance.
He too, the king of the British Empire.
The black sword that was the old man on the mountain.
In reality, I always cared about Limon and had to be careful not to cross the line he had set.
The same sword master, and thatâs because he didnât have the confidence to survive against Limon, who had defeated the Sword Demon in a one-on-one duel.
After all, to Richard, Limon was also a wall he couldnât overcome as an absolute being before being a friend.
âOf course I understand that blaming you for that is pointless.â
However, he is the Sword Master.
If there is a wall to overcome, all you have to do is fight and win.
He was not a weak and naive person to the point of resenting the opponent just because he was stronger than himself.
Nevertheless, there is one reason why he resents Limon.
âBut I resent you for not fighting me wholeheartedly even once in your life.â
ââ¦Sword masters wielding their swords with all their heart, is that what someone who knows that one of them will die?â
âI am also a swordsman after all.â
If it had been the enemy, I would have been able to fight with all my might, even if the odds were low.
The problem was that they were friends.
Thatâs why Richard only sparred with Limon.
We couldnât seriously fight for each otherâs lives.
In the end, he always regretted not being able to even get a chance to challenge Limon, even though he regarded Limon as a wall in his heart.
âThatâs also a swordsman who has never found a worthy opponent in his life.â
Itâs not just Limon.
A sword that thoroughly avoided a duel.
Sword Demons, etc.
As a king, he couldnât compete with other sword masters even if he had to fight with all his heart.
It was a deplorable situation for a single swordsman who longed for a match against a formidable enemy.
The reason why he lived in war all his life was to quench his thirst as a vicarious satisfaction and to compete properly even with black fruit.
Of course, Black avoided confronting him head-on until the end.
âThe reason I stepped forward even though I knew I would lose the fight with your disciple was not to protect the country, but also to satisfy my own greed.â
In that sense.
It wasnât only because Limon bought 10 days to come across the continent that he was able to laugh even after being defeated and dying by Swordfire.
It was because I was able to fight with all my might against the same sword master for the last time in my life.
Others may say that his death, which was murdered by a friendâs disciple, was a tragedy, but for Richard, it was a rather happy outcome.
He eventually became the Sword Master.
Because he was a swordsman who lived by the sword and died by the sword.
âBut even though I was satisfied the moment I died, it became my regret that I couldnât fight you sincerely.â
ââ¦.â
âAnd that time was taken advantage of.â
If it hadnât been for that, I wouldnât have been so easily hooked.
Richard lamented briefly.
âThanks to that, Iâm sorry that I caused you trouble even after death.â
âBut Iâm not sorry, Iâm glad I did.â
âI canât give you any material reward anyway, so why donât you speak at least flattering words?â
With a smile, he brushed off Limonâs sarcasm.
Richard continued.
âAnyway, thanks to that, I can finally tell you this now.ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âWhat do you mean?â
âThank you, Limon.â
ââ¦â
âFor protecting my country many times.â
Even 600 years ago when sword fire invaded.
Even 70 years ago when the Demon God descended.
And also during the London crisis.
I express my gratitude to my friend who ran first and protected the British Empire.
âAnd anotherâ¦â
ââ¦â
âTell meâ¦â
Hearing Richardâs erratic and ominous words, Limon frowned.
âAre you just trying to pamper me because Iâm dead anyway? Or are you cursing?â
âWhoa, whoa. Isnât it also a friendâs right to make a friend suffer?â
Parss.
Is it because the mana that formed the body is scattered?
A body that gradually turns into ashes following the disappearance of all armor and tattoos.
âMy friend, the trials that will come to this world in the future will be severe.â
âTo the extent that even you canât stand it.â
âBut stillâ¦â
âPlease win me over.â
It seems to be sad.
Or maybe youâre worried.
Leaning on a friendâs shoulder.
Richard ended his speech with a low but heartfelt wish.
âGoodbye my old friend.â
Clink.
therefore.
Richard is completely reduced to ashes.
Instead, a broken crown appeared in that empty spot.
Slowly picking up the belongings he had collected along with Richardâs remains in the distant past.
Limon closed his eyes.
He said goodbye to his only friend in his life.
ââ¦Goodbye My old friend.â