Absolute Regression
Chapter 44: With a More Relaxed Face Than the First Day
Day/Night Mode:
Change Font Size:
TL: FoodieMonster007
Unfortunately, my wish did not come true.
"What just happened, Second Young Lord?" The Flower Sword Supreme's voice trembled, but she kept her composure.
Her plan was likely to concede the first three moves, toy with me for twenty or thirty exchanges, and then win. Instead, she lost in just three moves.
"Didn't I tell you? I said to be careful. This is the Black Demon Sword."
I spoke as if the Black Demon Sword was the reason I won, but she was not weak enough to use it as an excuse for her defeat.
"Even with the Heavenly Demon Sword, not the Black Demon Sword, it was a fight I shouldn't have lost."
She knew better than anyone that she had lost to skill, not the sword.
"I'll let you in on a secret. I've already achieved complete mastery of the Soaring Sky Sword Art."
She looked stunned for a moment.
"You've already achieved complete mastery? I can't believe it."
The Soaring Sky Sword Art was a martial art comparable to those mastered by the Demon Supremes.
Her disbelief was natural. I had claimed to have mastered such a high-level martial art.
"Do you know my father? Would he make me the Sanzu Hall Director just because I'm his son?"
"Even if you've achieved complete mastery of the Soaring Sky Sword Art, Second Young Lord…"
"You think my inner arts are lacking? Didn't I take the Celestial Divine Pill?"
"Ah!"
I did not mention that I had also obtained the Demonic Essence Pill from the Little Heaven Cave.
"I've won this duel. Do you concede?"
"……"
She could not accept it.
"If I'd known your skill was at this level, Second Young Lord, I wouldn't have been so careless."
She had been unaware of my true skill and had conceded the first three moves. Her sword was also knocked away the moment she tried to speak. For her, several unfortunate circumstances had overlapped.
"So you're saying you can't accept it? If word gets out that the Sword Supreme broke her promise, you'll be labeled a coward for the rest of your life, Senior."
"Shut up! There's no need to provoke me. I keep my promises. What do you want, Second Young Lord?"
"You said you'd give up your life if you lost."
"This duel was!"
She started to make an excuse, then shut her mouth. A loss was a loss, whether from carelessness or weak martial arts. She was the one who had arrogantly offered to concede three moves.
"Is it my life you want?"
"Of course not. Elder Blade Demon has called me a madman many times, but I'm not that crazy."
"Then what do you want?"
"Please accept my apology."
The Sword Supreme looked stunned for a moment.
"I apologize for being rude to you until now, Sword Supreme. This is a sincere apology, so please forgive me."
She stared at me, completely uncomprehending.
"Are you mocking me?"
"No. I was rude to you today, Senior. I shouldn't have summoned you to that place."
"Why are you apologizing to me when you won?"
"Should I be honest?"
"Of course!"
"I want to apologize and win your favor, Senior. I want to make you genuinely support me."
"Genuine? Sincerity in a succession battle? I'm disappointed if you think that works in this world. I didn't know you were so naive, Second Young Lord."
"It depends on the opponent. If someone throws dirt at me, I'll push them into a mud pit. If they splash water, I'll douse them in sewage, but with you, Senior, I want to compete with sincerity."
"Why? Because I look naive?"
"No. It's because you have a noble character. You're the most respectable of the Eight Demon Supremes."
Considering her future, everything I just said is a lie.
But those events haven't happened yet. If our meeting changes her fate, maybe that bloody future will disappear. Maybe a new life can unfold. Maybe I can make flowers bloom in the desolate wasteland I see in her eyes.
"Do you really think I'm like that?"
"Yes. You are noble and elegant."
She bit her lip slightly. The compliment seemed to please her, but her heart looked complicated.
I walked over, pulled the One Flower Sword from the ground, and handed it to her.
"Then, I'll see you next time."
I bowed politely and entered my residence.
I went inside and fell asleep immediately, so I did not know how long she stood there before she left.
The next night, the Flower Sword Supreme came to see me again.
Her eyes and face were swollen, as if she had not slept all night.
"I'll accept your apology, Second Young Lord."
"Thank you."
"But I have one favor to ask."
"What is it?"
"I lost yesterday's duel. I admit it, but let's fight again today."
I refused at once.
"I refuse."
"Why do you refuse?"
"Because I could never win a second time. If you hadn't been careless, Sword Supreme, if you hadn't conceded the first moves, I never would have won."
"But you've achieved complete mastery of the Soaring Sky Sword Art, Second Young Lord. Your internal energy is sufficient too. You can win if we fight again."
"I can't win."
"Why are you so sure?"
"It was the kind of luck that comes once or twice in a lifetime. I'm not arrogant enough to mistake that for skill."
"I won't set any conditions if I win. Instead, if I lose, I'll grant whatever you wish, Second Young Lord."
This was purely an attempt to restore her pride.
I felt I understood why she became the Cult Leader, only to cause a storm of blood and then collapse.
What is that damn pride worth? How can she know what I might demand? Truly foolish and naive.
"Senior, I won't tell anyone about yesterday's match. You don't have to insist on defeating me. No one will know what happened."
"You never know with people. You might blurt it out while you're drunk."
"That won't happen."
I did not rush. As long as I held the initiative, I just had to slowly draw her to my side.
"Please get a good night's sleep today. Your face looks worn."
As I turned to go inside, she suddenly spoke.
"It was humiliating."
Her words stopped me.
I turned back to her.
"Didn't I tell you? My victory was pure luck."
"It's not just because I lost the duel."
The source of her shame was something I had never expected.
"That phrase, 'Not the face.' The more I think about it, the more humiliating it feels."
Those were the words she had shouted when my sword flew at her.
Not the face!
"That's understandable. It's your face. Even as a man, I wouldn't have been any different."
"A normal person might do that, but the Sword Supreme can't. I would rather have been stabbed in the face."
She seemed to find spitting out those words incredibly damaging to her pride. It was humiliating.
I understood why she said it. Her pride in her appearance was as strong as her pride in her honor or her title as Sword Supreme.
After all, she preferred being told she was pretty and youthful over being told she was a good fighter.
"Do you understand now why I came back?"
"……"
"Then will you fight me?"
She was full of desperation, but my answer did not meet her expectations.
"I refuse."
As I turned away, I heard her shout from behind.
"Second Young Lord!"
"Can't you just let me enjoy this one stroke of luck?"
Then, the Sword Supreme said something unexpected.
"I made a promise. To never lose."
"With whom?"
"To never lose to anyone except him."
Him? The person the Sword Supreme refers to as 'him'?
"Could it be?"
The person who flashed through my mind was the one she named.
"I made a promise with the Cult Leader."
The moment I heard those words, I recalled what my father had told me.
"The Sword Supreme is a person with many scars."
I could tell there was some deep bond between my father and the Sword Supreme.
"When did you make that promise?"
Instead of answering, the Flower Sword Supreme revealed her respect for my father.
"The only person I respect is the Cult Leader."
I could not believe her words.
A person who respects my father this much caused a storm of blood to take the Cult Leader's seat? But why?
"I don't want to break my promise with the Cult Leader."
She quickly added, as if worried I might misunderstand.
"If you're having any irreverent thoughts, let me be clear. Don't insult my pure respect for the Cult Leader."
"No, I wasn't thinking anything like that."
"That's a relief."
"Why do you respect my father so much?"
The Flower Sword Supreme only smiled faintly and did not offer any details.
Bringing up my father was her last resort. I could no longer refuse.
"Very well. A promise made to my father must be kept."
The Flower Sword Supreme was delighted. She laughed with genuine joy, making all her previous smiles and laughter seem like a facade.
"Are you that happy?"
"I am."
"I'll do my best this time too."
"That's what I want."
I also fought the second match with all my might.
I was even more excited than during the first duel. The Flower Sword Supreme was not careless this time. Her eyes filled with an unconcealable passion.
This was not a fight to the death, of course, but a duel only to determine a winner.
A dozen exploratory moves passed. Then a hundred moves to warm up. Then three hundred moves passed as we unleashed brilliant techniques.
The longer the duel continued, the more we moved beyond the idea of winning or losing.
We lost ourselves in the pure fun of competing with martial arts. Who would win became a secondary matter.
I was surprised by how she linked seemingly impossible techniques. I was even more surprised by her sense for quickly finding my openings.
Ah! Truly amazing! This person truly deserves the title of Sword Supreme.
Normally, there would be no time for such thoughts, but as if by agreement, we retreated to rest when we needed to.
We were completely absorbed in the pure competition of martial arts. We mulled over the techniques we had exchanged.
This pure competition of martial arts gave me more pleasure than any thrill I had ever felt on the brink of death.
Just as with my father and Lee Ahn, I had to admit I had misunderstood parts of her.
Her desire for honor and her pride were not a struggle to fill a desolate spirit. They stemmed from her pride in her martial arts.
At least with swordsmanship, she was more serious, sincere, and genuine than anyone in the world. Her attitude toward swordsmanship was enough to remind me of my father's own attitude toward martial arts.
We had both spent our entire lives learning only swordsmanship. We became deeply engrossed in a conversation held with our swords.
The match was a draw. In a fight without killing intent, we were evenly matched.
"You must not have used your killing intent moves, so I've lost this match."
"Isn't it the same for you?"
"No. This is the full extent of my skill."
The Flower Sword Supreme gazed at me silently, then suddenly spoke.
"Second Young Lord, thank you."
She turned and left with just that one remark.
What was certain, however, was that she left with a more relaxed face than on the first day.
I still did not know how she would act. Since she promised my father she would not lose, she might return tomorrow. Or perhaps today's duel was the absolute last.
The duel with her stirred my emotions. What meaning did it hold for her? I could not know if it was enough to moisten the desolate wasteland of her own emotions.
In any case, my investment in her starts now. Making one person my own is this difficult.
Subscribe to Updates via RSS, Discord, Telegram, or NTFY!
If you enjoyed reading Absolute Regression, try reading Absolute Warrior by the same author, and follow the adventures of Agent Crimson Tiger as he carries out Mission Impossible in murimland!
Please buy the Novel Raws and support the author! If you can't get Naver ID verification, consider buying one of the author's completed novels at Ridibooks!