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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
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12 years ago.
Ah, life was so fleeting.
At eight years old, Bell thought this as she held a sword for the first time.
Of course, the now twenty-year-old Bell recognized that such a thought was rather impertinent for a child.
‘Why does Brother Haven swing his sword so meaninglessly?’
Eight-year-old Bell pondered this as she watched a boy train from behind a rock.
A twelve-year-old boy was sweating profusely.
It was her older brother named Haven.
‘Haven said he started learning swordsmanship at five.’
Why?
But why was his sword path like that?
It shouldn’t be swung like that.
The sword path.
Bell could see it.
How to swing when gripping a sword, how to thrust.
The single sword path she had just performed when first gripping a sword.
She could instinctively be certain that this sword path was more extraordinary than the five consecutive strikes Haven had just executed.
Countless seasons passed.
But in the world of the White Night , there was only winter.
White, and white.
Only the time of winter flowed.
Bell could only perceive the change of seasons by the changes in the birds soaring across the sky.
So from a young age, Bell’s hobby was to lie on the ground and blankly watch the sky.
Luke, Bell’s father and the head of the White Night Clan, didn’t know about Bell until the year she turned sixteen.
Perhaps because genius had never manifested in a girl throughout the history of the White Night Clan, Luke paid no attention to his daughters, including Bell.
Bell didn’t want to deliberately reveal her genius nature to Luke.
She didn’t want to become someone who bore the expectations of the entire clan.
So Bell felt a little sorry for Haven.
Because Haven, as the next clan head and the eldest son of the direct line, had to train diligently.
Bell’s second hobby was secretly watching Haven’s training.
From when she first held a sword at eight years old, she had been secretly observing Haven’s training, Haven’s sword path.
Shwing─
A sharp sound resonated through the air.
Twenty-year-old Haven continued to swing his sword even as his hands swelled and his palms split.
Stubbornly and persistently.
‘The sword path is wrong again.’
Haven swung his sword hundreds of times.
And among those sword paths, only one or two satisfied Bell.
It was that winter when her father and Haven learned of Bell’s talent.
A giant orc carrying an enormous axe appeared along the ridge of the White Night .
And behind that giant orc was a horde of thirty-four orcs.
The entire bodies of the orcs invading the land of the White Night exuded the spirit of predators.
The king of the orcs.
The Orc Lord.
It was only natural that an army led by a king of a race would be composed of the most elite of that race.
A clear aura blade flowed from the axe held by the Orc Lord.
It looked like red flames.
Haven did not cower even when faced with the Orc Lord’s army that encompassed an entire race.
For he too was of the great White Night Clan.
Though they were a cursed clan unable to leave this White Night castle for life, they were also a clan of heroes who sacrificed themselves to save the world.
Haven unleashed the White Night Clan’s unique pure white flame in front of the orcs emanating red fighting spirit.
The sword at his waist was drawn.
The crescent moon sword path.
Snow scattered like fragments colliding with the sword path.
The fragments and crystals of snow spread widely through the air.
And the upper bodies of two orcs tilted diagonally.
The bisected bodies of the orcs fell cleanly onto the white snow field.
Red blood painted it vividly.
But, it’s not enough.
That’s what Bell thought.
It was frustrating.
That the sword path could only be displayed like that.
She thought the fundamental approach was wrong.
‘You don’t have to approach with the thought of killing each enemy one by one.’
Haven trying to inflict attacks on each visible orc felt so frustrating to Bell.
‘You just need to cut the space itself.’
Then all the monsters in that interval would die.
Bell had already annihilated multiple monsters that had invaded at night without the clan’s knowledge since last year.
Bell, who had been quietly observing the situation while crouching on a large tree branch, threw herself down.
Thud─
A cloud of snow dust rose up.
The gazes of about 20 White Night Clan warriors, including Luke and Bell, all converged on Bell.
“…Bell?”
The White Night Clan warriors couldn’t help but be shocked when the sixteen-year-old girl suddenly fell from the tree.
They had seen Bell running around and playing very occasionally, but they had never seen her hold a sword.
“Wh-what are you doing here! Bell! Quickly return to the safe zone…!”
The middle-aged warrior who was shouting like that fell silent with his mouth gaping open.
It was because a brilliantly pure white sword energy painted the air from the sword Bell was holding.
It was a sword energy far more radiant than what had just unfolded from Haven’s hand.
“Brother.”
Bell spoke softly as she stood beside Haven.
“If you aim at opponents one by one and extend your sword, it’s too inefficient in a situation like this, one against many.”
Bell stomped the snowy ground with her right foot.
“You need to cut the space itself.”
Bell swung her sword.
Swoosh──────!
A white light revealed its presence, bright even in the pure white White Night .
Crunch!!
A wretched sound of flesh being torn echoed obscenely. The arms, torsos, and heads of the orcs soared into the air.
Seven.
With just one sword strike, the life flames of seven orcs were extinguished.
Red blood sprayed across the pure white snow field.
“Like this.”
Bell turned her head to look at Haven standing blankly behind her.
Haven stood with his eyes wide open, unable to even think of opening his mouth.
And it was the same for Luke beside him.
They had thought she was just a child who liked to think alone.
But with just that one strike, they could tell.
That was overwhelming talent.
Luke’s dry mouth slowly opened.
“…Since when have you been holding a sword?”
“Since I was eight.”
8 years.
Luke swallowed hard.
Before him stood a genius who had reached the level of a high-ranking Sword Expert after holding a sword for just 8 years.
“Then, why have you only now revealed your power?”
“I thought it was about time I should help Father in the subjugation of the giant Ades. And also…”
Bell’s gaze, trailing off, stopped on a young man standing at the very back of the 20 warriors.
There stood Seiyan, a warrior who had turned 19 this year.
He had been shaking violently since the moment they faced the orc army.
Since White Night warriors don’t shiver from cold, it was clearly due to fear.
“My family was trembling. That’s why.”
Bell took another step forward.
Bell’s weapon had somehow changed to a thin sword suitable for thrusting.
A white light burst forth once more.
A thrust.
A streak of light extended as if to push the world away.
Boom
The space distorted.
Boom
Six orcs were instantly compressed as if skewered and flung far away.
The white flash continued to advance without stopping.
Clang!!
The Orc King blocked the thrust of the thin sword with the flat side of his giant axe.
But there wasn’t even a moment’s hesitation in Bell’s movements.
Her feet kept moving.
Crack─!
The axe was brought down and.
Where that axe imbued with flame-like aura struck was merely Bell’s afterimage.
Bell, who had burrowed to the right side of the Orc Lord.
Swish!
Bell suddenly pulled her right hand holding the sword back.
And as she stepped forward, she extended her arm.
Zing!
Four bundles of light struck the Orc Lord’s side directly.
Grooooar!!
The king’s scream echoed.
Whoosh!
The enraged king awakened all the muscles in his body and swung both arms.
The giant axe crossed the air like lightning.
But Bell’s form was once again just an afterimage.
Bell who had already moved from right to left.
Bell swung her thin sword again.
A white haze flowed intensely through Bell’s entire body and thin sword.
‘Quickly.’
Bell extended her arm.
Zing!
Eight sounds of space being torn.
And eight slashes bloomed in the air.
A frost-like sword energy reminiscent of a flower lingered in the air for a while before disappearing.
Though the shape of the sword energy was like a flower, the result it brought was infinitely sharp.
The body of the Orc Lord, with 8 holes pierced through its entire body, tilted to the ground.
Boom!!
Bell’s movements did not stop.
Only after killing all of the remaining twenty or so orcs did Bell finally turn towards the White Night Clan members who were staring at her intently.
On the pure white snow.
A girl with the corpses of numerous orcs at her back.
Luke clearly felt that Bell, though his daughter, seemed very alien.
“…Is that technique the [Frost Flower]?”
“Yes.”
“Who taught you?”
Bell slowly shook her head at Luke’s question.
“No one taught me.”
Bell’s gaze turned to Haven.
“I secretly watched Father teaching Brother Haven and acquired it.”
Luke’s brow furrowed.
“…Acquired?”
Every word Bell said was extraordinary.
“You’re saying you figured it out just by watching with your eyes?”
“Yes.”
The furrow in Luke’s brow deepened.
However, he could not bring himself to shout that it was arrogant.
‘She transformed the Frost Flower into something even more perfect.’
A genius.
And a genius surpassing even himself.
A genius who could see martial arts with just her eyes, grasp everything about that martial art, and.
Create a technique even more perfect than the original.
Bell brought her beautiful face close to Luke, who was staring at her blankly.
“I won’t be the clan head.”
Bell looked at Haven again.
“The position of clan head belongs to Brother Haven.”
Bell approached Haven.
“…Bell.”
Haven blankly called the name of his youngest sister, whom he often played with when they were young.
“Yes, Brother.”
“…With that skill just now, wouldn’t it be right for you to be the clan head?”
“No, Brother.”
Bell slowly shook her head.
“I’ll become your sword, Brother. You be the clan head.”
Bell swung her sword once on the ground to shake off the orcs’ blood and flesh.
“I’ll start participating in the subjugation of Ades from tomorrow.”
No one could dismiss Bell as a sixteen-year-old child.
Anyone could see that she had already achieved the realm of a high-ranking Sword Expert.
Luke swallowed dryly.
‘It will be soon.’
It wouldn’t be long before she reached the realm of Master.
With that level of talent.
Bell walked alone into the White Night castle.
Bell was slightly worried.
Would Haven fall into despair?
Would he put down his sword?
And it took only a day to realize that was a completely unnecessary worry.
Shwing─
Whoosh─
Haven began to swing his sword again.
Bell blankly watched that scene.
The figure of a swordsman who did not despair in the face of talent.
Bell stood beside Haven.
And began to swing her sword alongside him.
The thing called effort.
The thing called training.
She was just beginning to realize that sensation.
Bell and Haven stood side by side and swung their swords.
Bell came to know the reverence of effort.
She was able to shake off the arrogant thought that Haven’s actions were in vain.
The siblings created countless sword paths of the White Night .
Seasons passed.
It was three cycles of seasons.
Even with the combined strength of the powerful Bell and Luke, they could not break through the giant king’s regenerative ability.
It was hopeless.
Bell even began to think that she might really spend her entire life unable to leave this cage of the White Night .
But thanks to Haven, who did not crumble even in the face of such despair, she was able to relieve that sense of helplessness.
Winter came again.
The genius who had learned about effort achieved growth very quickly.
“…Oh, I did it.”
A brilliant white sword energy blossomed.
It was a white sword energy different from any seen before, as radiant as a jade bead.
The proof of a Sword Master, an Aura Blade.
A pure white star bloomed on the sword.
“Congratulations.”
Haven smiled and congratulated Bell on her achievement.
It was the year Bell turned nineteen.
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Twenty-year-old Bell felt Yuma’s gaze.
And she also felt the gaze of the mage, Cloney, behind Yuma.
More precisely, she felt an unidentified resonance echoing in her head.
‘What’s this?’
As she narrowed her brows, the unidentified wave echoing in her head soon subsided.
What was important now was not the resonance she had just heard.
Dealing with the giant king Ades at the bottom of the cliff was most important.
Boom!
Bell landed in front of the giant Ades, emitting white energy from her entire body.
“Bell.”
Luke’s stern voice was heard.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you coming?”
Bell moved forward.
She instantly shook off her doubts about Yuma and Cloney.
What was important now was not those people, but dealing with the giant king Ades in front of her.
The white light extending from Bell’s waist and the white light extending from Luke’s hand simultaneously shot across the ground towards Ades.
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