Three days after the War Armament incident.
The critically injured magical girl had fully recovered.
In her eyes, she had been gravely wounded by an extremely powerful monster and then rescued by the passing Magic Association President, Xing Yao.
She had no idea she had walked right up to death’s door.
Even her parrot contracted beast had its memories of the event altered by one of Xing Yao’s subtle techniques.
The middle-aged man who had been caught in the crossfire and nearly killed had also been saved by Black Dragon.
More precisely, Black Dragon had placed the man’s soul inside a certain device, repaired his original body, and then returned the soul to it.
This kind of resurrection would be hailed as a miracle anywhere else, but to Black Dragon it was nothing more than a trivial trick.
To the nameless man, he had simply been watching a duel between monsters, gotten accidentally hit, suffered a minor injury, and passed out for a few days.
After suddenly evolving in the middle of battle, Dark Fang had claimed he was sick and stayed shut inside his house for the past few days, refusing to come out.
He blamed himself.
Because of his carelessness, an ordinary person had nearly lost their life to an anti-human.
The whole incident had settled back into calm.
Except for one person—White Lion.
For the past three days he had trained like a madman.
He hadn’t slept for three full days and nights. His sword never stopped swinging, not even for a second.
His once-neat hairstyle was completely ruined by sweat.
His short black hair clung to his forehead like a damp cap.
The skin between his thumb and forefinger had been rubbed raw over and over. Before the wounds could heal, the training tore them open wider each time.
Only when his hands could no longer grip the blade did this self-torturing training finally pause for breath.
White Lion panted heavily as he stabbed his sword into the ground. He stared at his trembling hands.
Blood and sweat had fused together completely—red mixed with yellow, yellow mixed with white.
Realizing he couldn’t keep going, White Lion finally allowed himself a short rest.
He dropped to the floor and leaned back against the training sword, staring blankly at the ceiling of the training hall.
Li Chi felt guilt. White Lion felt fear.
Three days ago, during the fight against the War Armament, Dark Fang’s lifeless bones had appeared right before his eyes.
Although Dark Fang had ended up fine—and had even grown stronger—the image had struck White Lion like a physical blow.
In that instant, he had finally understood.
Battles could kill people…
For as long as he could remember, Black Dragon had protected him perfectly.
Maybe he himself hadn’t noticed it, but while he had always craved battle and longed for a worthy opponent, when he truly faced a life-or-death moment, he had been so weak, so powerless.
If Dark Fang hadn’t been the main attacker in that fight, if Black Dragon and Xing Yao hadn’t been there to back them up, how far would things have gone?
White Lion was confident he could have beaten that anti-human.
No matter how many bullets it fired, he could have handled it easily.
But if he had been alone… if he had dodged those bullets, what would have happened to the innocent people behind him?
Dark Fang’s skeletal remains and the corpse of that unlucky middle-aged man kept stabbing into his mind without pause.
He didn’t dare think about it, yet he couldn’t stop thinking about it.
After witnessing his comrade’s “death” for the first time, White Lion felt the string called reason inside him snap completely.
At that moment his only thought had been to kill the anti-human in front of him at any cost.
But could he really abandon everything for that cost?
White Lion lacked the cold resolve to make such a ruthless decision.
Although the thought had flashed through his mind in the heat of battle, looking back on it later filled him with lingering dread.
He glanced at the Ice King Sword that lay discarded in a distant corner and felt a wave of confusion.
As an S-rank magical tool officially rated by the Magic Association, the Ice King Sword’s true nature was not actually a product of magic.
Even Black Dragon didn’t know its origin.
Black Dragon had given him the Ice King Sword when his sword skills reached perfection.
But every time he used it, his body and mind had to endure tearing pain.
At the same time, inexplicable emotions would worm their way into his brain.
Inferiority. Despair. Fear. Resentment. Cowardice.
That was why, except in the most desperate situations, he refused to use the Ice King Sword at full power.
Although he usually hid it well, every time he drew on that power his mind was affected.
White Lion hated the feeling.
Before Black Dragon had recently insisted he keep the Ice King Sword with him at all times, it had stayed sealed in his office as nothing more than a collector’s item.
He hated the feeling, yet he understood: while his strength made him untouchable to most magical girls and mages, when he truly faced monsters from beyond the world, he could clearly feel just how weak he really was.
All fear came from the awareness of one’s own weakness.
Because he was weak, his comrade had “died.”
Because he was weak, an innocent person had nearly died.
Because he was weak, he felt this overwhelming terror.
Do I… really deserve the Ice King Sword?
***
Li residence.
Li Guang carried a steaming bowl of porridge to the door of Li Chi’s room.
She knocked gently and asked in a soft voice,
“Brother, is your cold getting any better?”
When no answer came from inside, Li Guang assumed her brother was still asleep.
She decided to go in and leave the freshly cooked porridge on his desk.
The moment she opened the door, she saw Li Chi standing shirtless by the window, gazing out.
“Brother, why are you up? You’re not even wearing clothes—hurry back to bed! You’ll make your cold worse!”
Li Guang said worriedly.
Her brother had suddenly come down with a terrible cold three days ago and had kept himself locked in his room ever since, terrified of passing it to her.
Although Xiao Guang’s tone was a little stern, her concern for her family was genuine.
“Don’t worry, Xiao Guang. I’m already better.”
Li Chi didn’t turn around. Li Guang noticed that her brother’s hair had been cut short at some point.
A flash of crimson passed through Li Chi’s golden pupils.
He yanked open the thin blackout curtains, letting the morning sunlight pour over him.
“And not just better… I’ve never felt better!”
***
Crimson Dark Fang (Amazon Omega Variant)
