Solo Swordmaster

Chapter 40: Charges

After a while of oddly watching Li Chingwei speak of him as some kind of savior, Limon awkwardly opened his mouth to speak.

“Even if you word it that way, I’m still getting cornered by time. I’m a traitor now.”

“But you are not yet an enemy to the world.”

Mankind’s last Swordmaster…

If the Constellations truly had hidden intentions behind dealing with humanity, he would be the most troublesome being to them.

And if the reason Lee Chun-gi had taken action was due to the interference of a Constellation, then they wouldn’t stop there.

They would manipulate the other Monarchs, even entire nations, until Limon became public enemy #1.

“That is why I said I was lucky.”

“…You mean the timing?”

“Yes,” Li Chingwei nodded.

“If people had remembered your renown for even a little longer, I would not have gotten the chance to meet you.”

What if Limon hadn’t crumbled?

The Black Dragon Clan would have had to trade in more of their Leviathan stocks until they went below 50% ownership, and be forced to stop their plan for world peace.

Li Chingwei wouldn’t be able to be cautious about the Constellations when she was getting sold off to take responsibility for her clan’s downfall.

“On the other hand, if you had met your downfall too early, we, the Seven Dragons Association, would have fought you first.”

What if Limon had crumbled too fast?

He would have met with their assassins instead of a princess.

With Li Chingwei being the only person in the Seven Dragons Association suspicious of the Constellations, the rest of the Association would not have stopped at making Limon an enemy to the entire world.

If they broke into an all-out-war, most of the Seven Dragons Association would have gotten annihilated, but Limon would have been a fugitive with a missing arm, at the very least.

And the Constellations would be fishing in troubled waters.

“So, of course it is good luck that I was able to meet the Master of Swords at the right time.”

Li Chingwei had a beaming smile on her face. She seemed overjoyed.

“I’ve been screwed over thanks to your ‘good timing’.”

Even under the assumption that the Constellations did interfere, it was a fact that her meeting with him had made Lee Chun-gi take an active role in getting rid of him.

He’d sarcastically just told her that her visit was a calamity for him.

But she wasn’t bothered.

“Yes, that is a shame,” she quietly nodded.

Despite the genuine sympathy in her voice, her clear obsidian eyes— though sad — did not have an ounce of remorse.

Limon’s brow twitched.

“Is my answer not to your liking?” she quietly asked.

“Did you think I’d like it?”

“No, I thought that you would be anguished,” Li Chingwei said without hesitation.

Taking a peak down at the blade pressed against her neck, she went on.

“Especially if you believe that I am the one who will repay your blood debt.”

“……”

Limon didn’t bother to respond.

The fact he had been holding her sword against her throughout their conversation spoke for itself.

Having seen his cold expression, Li Chingwei closed her eyes.

She breathed in.

And when she reopened her eyes, everything changed.

***

***

“Oh, dear Master of Swords,” a low, tranquil voice spoke.

There was reverence where the cheerfulness once was.

“The last Swordmaster, the guardian who protected this world through his will alone…

Dear cold-blooded judge and fair ruler.”

The vigor disappeared as did her smile.

Only a mature solemnity remained.

Her unwavering stance only added more elegance to her beautiful face.

“I, Li Chingwei, descendent of the Almighty Black Dragon Lord, dare question you.”

The smiling girl from moments earlier was no longer.

The gray eminence who made a fool of the world on the palm of her hand this entire time,

One of the seven masters of the Seven Dragons Association,

And the inheritor of dragonblood.

Not even an Absolute Ruler could look down on her.

Her poise, expression, voice…

Her crystal clear eyes — so clear Limon could see his own reflection in them.

The Black Dragon Princess.

Facing Limon, she asked, “Was it my fault for stopping wars and maintaining world peace?”

“Is it a crime to fool the world and make the Monarchs the Absolute Ruler in the name of peace?”

Taking away any opportunity for Limon to act was a ludicrous scheme to bring his downfall.

Of course Limon deemed it unforgivable.

But could one really say it was a fault?

The end result only brought peace!

It was a plan that caused a Dungeon bubble and elevated the status of players, creating the society they were in now.

Legally speaking, it was a crime worth more than a thousand years in prison.

But was it a crime deserving of punishment?

Because they didn’t allow the global economy to crumble?

“Was being wary of the Constellations and taking precautions a line that shouldn’t have been crossed?”

It was no different than a conspiracy with lacking evidence and vague suppositions.

And to those who worshiped the Constellations, it was a downright insult.

But did that really make it a fault?

To be on guard against an unknown entity doing people favors out of nowhere?

“Should I not have come to you with the belief that the only way to stop the Constellations is for the Master of Swords and the Seven Dragons Association to join hands?”

Was Li Chingwei to blame for Limon’s clash with Lee Chun-gi?

Was she to blame for coming to Limon as a final resort after giving everything in the name of world peace, for taking precautions against the Constellations?

“Tell me, Master of Swords.”

But Limon only remained silent.

“Am I the one who should repay your blood debt?”

“……”

He did not answer.

He could not answer.

He only continued to look at her in silence.

Limon, a Swordmaster who never hesitated when wielding his sword, still had not cut her. That alone said everything.

But Li Chingwei didn’t press him any further. Instead, she watched Limon with her silent gaze.

“You swore on your sword you would not abandon me as long as I didn’t turn my back on you, Master of Swords.”

Tremble.

It was at that moment the blade that had been fixed on Li Chingwei’s neck this entire time finally faltered.

It was only the slightest of trembles.

All in the blink of an eye, that shifted less than a millimeter.

But with her Psionic senses, Li Chingwei could feel the blade move.

The first ever shift in Limon’s heart.

The heart that, although it could feel surprise, never once wavered — even after hearing of the Seven Dragons Association’s schemes.

“I am not going to make the excuse that this was all before I took my oath to you.”

That was an easy excuse, a way to make Limon withdraw his sword in an instant.

But the Black Dragon Princess did not use such stopgap measures to spare her life.

Rather, she reached out her hand.

“If the Master of Swords believes that there is a fault in even a single act I have committed…”

Slip.

She gripped the blade on her own neck.

Her fingers were so frail. It looked like it would get cut with even the slightest movement from Limon.

But Li Chingwei did not care.

She held up the blade to her lips and kissed it.

Was it because the blade was too sharp?

Or was it the slight falter?

Drip.

A drop of blood trickled from her lips.

Only after the hot red blood drenched her lips did Li Chingwei take them off the edge of the blade.

She pulled the sword to her heart, where it would be easier to piece, and she quietly smiled.

“Then cut me down.”

She finished with the beautifully innocent, youthful smile of a virgin getting sacrificed to the Dragons.

“I readily accept your ruling.”

***

Limon held his sword like a living statue.

Rather than fearing the sword held against her, she beamed at the Swordmaster.

“Are you out of your mind or just stupid?” he asked calmly.

“What do you think?”

“I know you’re not sane, at least.”

Limon shook his head.

Exposing all the schemes of the Seven Dragons Association from a little interrogation was baffling enough.

But here she was, putting a sword to her chest as repentance if her scheme was a fault.

It could only be called insane, for many reasons.

“…But it’s clear you’re not stupid, either.”

“Thank you for your high praise.”

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

Li Chingwei blushed.

What was going on in that brain for her to take it as a compliment?

“It’s just deplorable,” Limon sighed.

It would be easy to just slit Li Chingwei’s neck open right here and now.

Blocking or dodging his sword in the position she was in was impossible, even for the Princess of the Black Dragon Clan.

But Limon could not do it.

Not when he couldn’t give a proper answer to a single one of Li Chingwei’s questions.

Was it her fault for maintaining peace?

Was it her fault for preserving the economy?

Was it her fault for taking caution against the Constellations?

‘Calling that a crime would make me a criminal as well.’

As the Guardian of Humanity, Limon had done a lot to protect the world.

One thing he learned from his experiences was that it was better to save the world at the expense of everything than let it burn as it should.

Of course, the means could not justify all methods.

But what the Seven Dragons Association did was justifiable enough in Limon’s eyes.

‘And taking caution against the Constellations is the obvious thing to do, not some premonition.’

For those same reasons, he could not blame Li Chingwei for coming to him to propose so that she could be on guard of the Constellations.

If her suspicions happened to be true and the Constellations could bring harm to the world by manipulating players, neither the Seven Dragons Association or Limon would be able to stop them.

Limon may have been able to pierce the Constellations, but he couldn’t fight against the world.

The Seven Dragons Association may have had all the world’s riches, but they could not win against the Constellations.

In that sense, Li Chingwei had gone with the best solution by waiting for Limon’s downfall so that she could hold hands with him.

After all, he would not have held hands with the Seven Dragons Association if he wasn’t in the state he was in now.

Not to mention, he’d actually rejected her proposal before.

‘I can’t blame her for coming to me after losing nearly half of her clan’s stocks.’

They had already lost 49.9% of their share of Hotel Leviathan.

If they had lost .1% more, the Black Dragon Clan might completely disintegrate.

How could he blame the girl who came to him after being driven into a dead end?

Limon was reckless to the point he was coined a ‘mad dog’, but he wasn’t a bitch.

As long as he couldn’t affirm that what Li Chingwei did was a crime, he couldn’t collect his blood debt from her regarding this matter..

Collecting blood debt from the wrong person only makes it murder, after all.

So what, you say?

Sure, he could turn a blind eye to that.

He could very well just kill Li Chingwei and destroy the Seven Dragons Association to vent his anger.

The global economy would collapse.

The players would become nothing and would run wild as they clung on tighter and tighter to the Constellations.

Peace would be no longer.

In the chaos that ensues, heroes are born.

And if Limon fought against the Constellations in that chaos, he would once again take the throne as Absolute Ruler.

He would display his omnipotent power as he became humanity’s hero once again.

But he couldn’t do it.

He knew all too well of what lay at the end of such a life.

It was the very reason why the Heroes Age, when the most heroes were active, ended up becoming history’s most brutal period.

And it was for the same reason that he had no choice but to become the last Swordmaster among the 13 who reached the point of immortality and eternal youth.

Limon could give up being a hero, but he could never give up being human.

——

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