The hero team drank until late into the night, after the tavern closed.
Ailiya refused the helping hand her teammate extended and walked alone down a quiet street.
“Good evening, Great Hero!”
“It’s Lady Ailiya!”
The citizens who hadn’t yet returned home stopped in their tracks to bow to her when they saw Ailiya.
In the eyes of all these people, she was the most dazzling genius in the Sword Saint Family, a myth who had reached the peak of Diamond Rank at the age of 20.
But Ailiya just lowered her head, her steps unsteady as she passed through the crowd.
Glory? Myth? Hah…!
They didn’t know that this so-called mythic sword of hers could no longer be drawn.
Her family, the Blazing Flame Sword Saint Clan, was an honor carved into the monumental history of this world.
In this nation, and even in every corner of the continent, as long as one heard the name Blazing Flame, whether noble or commoner, they would instinctively hold their breath and cast a look of reverence.
Because no one who had come from her family was weak.
Her uncle was the captain of the Imperial Royal Knights, guarding the Northern Frontier for 30 years without letting a single magic beast cross the Defense Line.
Her second uncle was the Free Mercenary King, and his twin blades were the code name of the Death God in the Underworld. Even her gentle-natured cousin was the chief Magic Swordsman of the Magic Kingdom’s court.
This was her family.
Every family member trained from the starting point of Silver Rank, and with a little effort could touch the threshold of Platinum Rank.
They were all born warriors, with a craving for battle and a tenacity for victory flowing in their blood.
And she, Ailiya Blazing Flame, was the most dazzling anomaly in the family in the last hundred years.
At the age of 6, while other children were still playing in the mud, her battle Qi had already broken through to Silver Rank, and with one swing of her sword she cut through the refined steel pillar in the family training ground.
At the age of 12, she single-handedly defeated the family instructor of that time and advanced to Gold Rank.
At 19, it was the most glorious day in the family’s history.
When she entered the Holy Sword Hall, under the gaze of all the clan elders, she grasped the dawn holy sword that had slept for 300 years.
At that instant, the holy sword resonated, and light burst into the sky.
Her father, a man who had been strict all his life, looked at her with red-rimmed eyes.
He said, “Ailiya, you have surpassed the ancestors. You are the only supreme genius in this clan in a thousand years.”
At 20, she stood at the peak of Diamond Rank.
At that time, she thought the entire world was beneath her feet.
She thought there was nothing her sword could not cut.
Until…
Three months ago.
That battle that was supposed to be an epic hero-versus-demon-king showdown turned into a complete farce because of that silver-haired brat who barged in.
She remembered it clearly. She was locked in a fierce battle with the Demon King.
Then that silver-haired little girl wobbled in.
“Wow, you guys are having so much fun fighting, and you didn’t take me along?”
That was her first sentence.
She recognized her. She seemed to be the little princess of the silver dragon clan that the Empress had mentioned.
She was confident that even if she was a dragon prodigy, she couldn’t be a match for her.
After all, she was the legend of the Blazing Flame family, the strongest hero.
She unleashed the family’s secret technique—Blazing Flame: Red Sky Slash.
And then…
Her sword was caught between two of her fingers.
Not deflected, not blocked, but so casually… caught?
“Huh?”
“Is this the so-called hero?”
That face, as delicate as a porcelain doll, was full of boredom and disdain.
“Your strength is as weak as a newborn slime, and you dare to point this piece of scrap metal at me.”
Then she was toyed with by that silver-haired little demon for three whole days and nights.
The most humiliating part was that in order to end that inhuman torment, she and the Demon Queen both cried and called her “Mommy.”
“AH…!”
Thinking of that scene, Ailiya suddenly covered her mouth, leaned against the wall at the street corner, and dry heaved.
She had heard that the silver dragon little princess had been cursed by a god and lost all her power.
She had become a weakling who could only be carried, taken away by the Holy Virgin Seraphina.
How ironic.
‘That monster who once ground me and the Demon King into the dirt is now a brat who can’t even walk steadily.’
‘If I went to take revenge now, it would be easy. I wouldn’t even need to draw my sword.’
But…!
Ailiya straightened up and looked at her own trembling hands.
‘If I kill a child who has lost her power and has no ability to resist, just for revenge…’
‘Then what difference is there between me and the monsters I’ve slain?’
‘I, Ailiya, even if I die, cannot sink to such a level.’
‘I didn’t pick up my sword to kill a child.’
With such complex feelings, Ailiya finally arrived in front of her family’s magnificent mansion.
The huge oak door slowly opened.
“Big sister! You’re finally back!”
A little girl about 10 years old with twin tails rushed out like a joyful bird and hugged Ailiya’s leg tightly.
It was her little sister, Yileina.
“Sister, you’ve been drinking again!”
Her little sister wrinkled her small nose, looked up, and her clear eyes were full of concern, but even more of that near-fanatical adoration.
“But it’s okay! Father said that only heroes with a generous heart drown their sorrows in wine!”
“Father he… he’s waiting for you in the hall!”
The little sister pulled her hand and tugged her inside excitedly.
“And your portrait has been hung right in the center of the Family Ancestral Hall! Grandfather said you are the pride of the family!”
Ailiya’s footsteps froze completely at the words “center of the ancestral hall.”
She was forcibly dragged into the hall by her little sister.
The family ancestral hall was solemn and dignified.
On the center wall, the portrait of the First Sword Saint used to hang.
But now, that portrait had been taken down and replaced with a full-body portrait of her wearing hero armor, holding the dawn holy sword, full of vigor and ambition.
In the painting, her eyes were firm, radiant, as if she were the embodiment of a god.
That was her three months ago.
That was her before she was shattered by the silver dragon little princess.
“Look, sister! How handsome!”
Her little sister cheered beside her.
“Grandfather said that from now on, all the younger generations of our family must take you as their example! You will become the guardian deity of this continent!”
Guardian deity…!
Ailiya looked at that unfamiliar version of herself in the painting, and her heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly by a giant hand.
‘Can I still protect?’
‘Facing that former nightmare, I can’t even hold my sword steady.’
‘If one day that silver-haired brat regains her power, or if the curse was fake, and she appears before me again…’
‘What will I use to protect my family? My country?’
‘Do I have to tell them that this hero they worship is actually a coward afraid to even draw her sword?’
“Sister? Your face is so pale.”
Little sister Yileina finally noticed something wrong and cautiously tugged at her sleeve.
Ailiya snapped back to reality. She took a deep breath and squeezed out a smile that was uglier than crying.
“It’s nothing, Yileina. Just a little tired.”
She didn’t dare look at the portrait again, nor did she dare meet her little sister’s adoring gaze.
She was afraid that if she stayed one more second, she would break down and cry.
“You go to bed first. I want to be alone in the yard for a while.”
After coaxing her little sister away, Ailiya stood alone in the courtyard.
Moonlight spilled over her.
She gazed at the dawn holy sword that symbolized glory.
The blade was dull and lusterless, like a piece of scrap metal.
She sighed helplessly at the moon.
‘I didn’t set out to take revenge on a child.’
‘I, Ailiya Blazing Flame, am the pride of the Sword Saint Family and the hero of this world.’
‘That silver dragon little princess… Yisela Frostscale.’
‘If my nightmare was born from you, then this inner demon, I must cut it down myself.’
‘Not for revenge, nor for killing.’
‘But to… face myself.’
‘To face your former strength, and my current weakness.’
‘To confirm one thing: whether I, Ailiya, still have the right to stand at the peak of this world.’
“The Holy Kingdom Border…?”
Ailiya raised her head and looked into the distant black night sky, as if crossing thousands of mountains and rivers to see that silver dragon little princess.
Her eyes gradually cleared from murkiness.
Without alerting a single person, without even packing any luggage, she slipped out of the family’s high wall under the cover of night.
At the royal capital’s gate before dawn, the guard yawned and watched a red figure carrying a sword, with steady steps, set off on the road to the Holy Kingdom Border.
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