I, holding a long sword in my hand, only know one move

Damn, this guy is so fast! How on earth can we hit him! ?

Although Master has demonstrated it to me once, but I have never practiced throwing the scabbard!

Even if you have enough power, you are not completely sure

and accuracy, rashly using interference attacks that you are not sure about may disrupt the rhythm of the attack.

The opponent is an experienced swordsman who kills many people. Maki can clearly feel in several fights that she always lacks a lot compared to Veneno.

"By the way, Veneno has not mastered the 'Sword Power'"

But the gap between "killing experience" and "combat experience"... is too big!

The oncoming slash changed direction instantly, and Veneno's figure disappeared from Maki's sight. Maki let out a soft cry and quickly glanced behind her.

Empty.

"Not here...!?"

"Dimensional Sword Technique·Mystery——"

The light above the head was blocked by shadows, and Maki's pursuit was always slower than this.

And at this step, Veneno seized the opportunity to win.

"...!"

Is the gap in strength disparity insurmountable? !

He raised his head, and saw the sword light all over the sky weaving into a web of death and attacking overwhelmingly. This blow was unavoidable for him.

"Ten-dimensional chaos."

Why!

Maki roared in her heart unconvinced, staring at the falling sword light, trying to move her already stiff legs.

despair...

And then——

die.

Dying again.

"..."

I hope it won't hurt too much.

The roar echoed throughout the neighborhood, echoing from building to building.

Cheng Rang shook his head regretfully. Maki's figure in front of him was once again torn apart by the sudden falling sword light. Even the asphalt road at the intersection was shattered, showing a huge deep pit filled with gunpowder smoke.

Taking off his sunglasses and throwing them aside, Cheng Rang got up from the chair and slowly walked towards the intersection that was riddled with holes.

In the deep pit, he saw the girl lying on the ground, holding her arms tightly and crying loudly.

"I can not do it!!"

Maki cried in frustration.

"I never won... even once!"

For two and a half months, I relied on desperate efforts to catch up and countless deaths, and I learned to take advantage of the situation.

But before this joy could even let her get over the previous pain, she was severely shattered by reality again.

She was only sixteen years old and was despised by the Chanyuan family. She came to the Conjuration College on a gamble and wanted to become stronger and make those guys who looked down on her speechless.

He likes to eat junk food, go shopping with good friends, and is very stubborn in doing things.

"I... don't want to become stronger!"

He spoke big words in front of his master, but was still killed by an enemy he had fought against several times without any resistance.

Once, twice, three times.

When the sword light, as dense as a rainstorm, fell head-on, the last thing Maki did was not to resist and survive, but to look at Cheng Rang, her master.

In his eyes, Maki could see clearly even if it was blocked by sunglasses.

There was a look of helplessness and disappointment.

"Tsk..."

Like those who live in Zen monasteries, like my father and mother.

[Twins without magic power. 】

[Why do you still work so hard? Wouldn't it be better to fall with me? ! 】

Stinging my heart severely.

"...I hate myself."

Blow after blow, fear of death, regret, pain, sleepless nights for such a long time.

Maki's spirit almost collapsed. She sobbed hard and raised her mud-stained sleeves to wipe away the uncontrollable tears again and again.

Cheng Rang walked down the pit step by step, and the gravel rolled down along with the soil. He walked to Maki.

"Are you giving up?"

In my opinion - you are strong enough.

But Cheng Rang held the second half of the sentence in his throat and swallowed it.

Maki was still sobbing softly, but remained silent.

"If you give up, you can return your [Mingxin] to me."

Maki subconsciously clenched the knife in her hand, hugged it in her arms, and sniffed hard.

Cheng Rang sighed softly: "I admit that I have strict requirements on you, and I also know that the idea of ​​asking you to fight with me against a powerful enemy is very selfish."

"But I admitted my confusion, and the things and reasons I wanted to find back. In front of you."

"The path of kendo must be full of pain and sweat. It is normal to regret, cry, or want to give up. Otherwise, a normal person will go crazy if he persists."

Cheng Rang squatted down and reached out to Zhenxi.

"I've experienced everything you're going through...alone."

Holding the only long knife in his hand, he cried in the empty night, wanting to give up, not wanting to continue, wanting to go home.

Don't want to be here.

Without anyone by his side, if he stopped wielding his knife, stopped fighting, and stopped crying, everything around him would seem as silent as death.

You can hear the blood rushing through the blood vessels and the sound of the heart beating again and again.

Maddening.

All he can do is continue to wave the knife in his hand and become stronger.

Becoming stronger meaninglessly, even without knowing the end.

No matter who you are, there will always be moments of confusion, times when you want to give up, times when you don’t know what to do.

"But you still have me and my companions.

The teacher who cares about you, the sister who is a blood relative... and the Zen family who looks down on you. "

Maki took a few deep breaths, then raised her head and looked at Cheng Rang's hand reaching for her.

"It's okay even if you don't want to continue to become stronger. Unlike me, Maki. You have the most precious power for [me at that time]... called [giving up]."

Maki did not hold Cheng Rang's hand, but asked softly in a hoarse voice: "Master, what you mean is... At that time, did you not [give up] the right to become stronger?"

"....Yes."

"At that time, when did you mean?"

"When I was still a normal person."

"Can you tell me in detail? Master, your story..."

Cheng Rang withdrew his hand and scratched his head with an expression on his face.

"Well...this is a long story."

Maki simply sat on the ground holding her legs and raised her hand to rub her cheek again: "But we have plenty of time now, don't we?"

Her eyes were red, staring at herself with watery brown eyes.

"Do you want to hear it?"

"Of course...I still know nothing about you, Master."

"But I don't want to tell those stories anymore." Cheng Rang raised the corner of his mouth and slowly shook his head.

"Tch..." The girl turned her head away angrily, obviously disappointed.

"Maki, how do you think we can defeat [The Strongest]?"

"The strongest!?" Maki looked up and down at Cheng Rang, "I've already said that I'm the strongest, how can I beat..."

"It's not about me, it's about a concept: the strongest."

Cheng Rang continued to explain: "It's like in a world where countless races are engaged in an unprecedented decisive battle, but the ruler who created a certain race has the strongest concept. That is, no matter what opponent he encounters, he will Be able to become stronger and stronger than your opponent.”

"They are a race with wings that can fly in the sky. They can tear apart space and move. They can even launch powerful attacks that change the planet's landscape and weather with just a few movements."

"Did the guy you said have the strongest concept create this kind of race?"

"Well, other races, either weaker or more powerful, are all on the same planet riddled with holes, fighting long and endlessly for the prop [Star Cup] that achieves [The Only God]. "

"Then how long will the fight take to end? Speaking of that guy who is the strongest, why don't he defeat all races and get the Star Cup? He is the strongest anyway." Maki questioned the obvious loopholes in this story. .

"That's right, because the [Star Cup] didn't appear, the Star Cup will only appear in front of the most powerful energy on the planet, or an individual of the race."

"The place where the strongest god species was born on the planet is where the most powerful energy is. Because it is the source of the birth of the strongest, even the strongest cannot destroy it. Or rather, it is impossible to destroy it."

"After losing the activated [Divine Essence], which is what the planet needs to give birth to gods, he is no longer the [strongest]."

Maki sighed: "It was such an awkward war...it felt pointless."

"Yes, I think so too. But after such a meaningless war, guess who is the final winner?"

"How could I possibly guess this? I don't even know how many races I don't know are participating in the war."

"It's human."

Maki half-opened her eyes helplessly: "So how strong are the humans on that planet? Are they all superhuman...?"

Cheng Rang smiled and shook his head.

"No, they are all ordinary human beings. They don't have any super powers, nor any magic or spell power. They are not even considered among the races participating in the war. They are equivalent to insects that can be crushed easily. Survive in the cracks where the planet is tortured and riddled with holes."

"Even the weakest race, any individual can cause a devastating blow to a human settlement."

"Then how did they win?! Is this a fairy tale?"

"Fairy tale?" Cheng Rang's eyes seemed to be lost in memories.

"Even if it is a mythical story, it is the only myth that no one knows and no one tells."

"There is a human boy who can be called a fool but a genius leader. He leads the desperate mankind to [victory]."

"Oh, of course, there is also his lover, an Ex-Machina...which is what we call a robot."

"....The story of defeating [the strongest] to win the Star Cup begins when the two of them meet."

Chapter 116 Climbing

Changing his position and sitting side by side with Maki on the ground, Cheng Rang waved his hand and the scene on the training ground changed drastically.

The sky was obscured by thick dark clouds, the deadly blue light fell like snowflakes, and the rolling thunder was mixed with hot iron red.

The earth was lifeless and riddled with holes, and even the air was mixed with a hard and iron breath.

"This is the planet that has gone through thousands of years of war, and it is also the continent where a small human stronghold is located, the Lucia continent."

Maki couldn't help but take a breath of cold air and looked around. The empty and whimpering plain gave her a small feeling of fear.