Chapter 50: One Hour in Hell (1)

At last, the Uncrowned Emperor’s den of debauchery slowly shed its pitiful, disgraceful state, transforming into a proper sword training ground.

Under Moon’s strict command .. who had forced them to clean without mercy ..the three of them finished far sooner than expected.

Standing off to the side, sweeping half-heartedly, Ethan cast occasional glances toward the old man, Asterion, and his granddaughter, Moon.

The latter kept shouting at him relentlessly—like a scolding mother.

Watching them, astonished by Moon’s sheer boldness toward her own grandfather, Ethan found himself growing more and more bewildered.

’Is this truly the Uncrowned Emperor I know…? He has no dignity… no presence, no charisma… he can’t even present himself as a proper knight…’

Ethan let out a quiet sigh, stunned by the contrast between this drunken old man and the terrifying warrior who had once made him experience hell itself.

He knew Asterion .. the peerless swordsman of Midgard.

Not this old drunk who rivaled no one in anything except the sheer volume of wine he consumed each day.

For a while, Ethan simply watched them, silently reevaluating the old man from the ground up.

Once again, Moon’s voice rang out as she scolded him .. he had begun slacking off behind her back, secretly searching for more wine.

“I’ve had enough of this pathetic sight…”

Ethan turned his head, intending to finish quickly and begin his sword training without wasting another moment.

But at the last second, Something caught his eye.

It was Asterion’s expression.

Even as his granddaughter berated him, dominating him without a shred of respect…

He was ..

“…smiling,” Ethan murmured.

And suddenly, his mind was dragged back to the time when he had tried to clear Ordeal.

Back then, he had met Asterion .. not as a Hunter, but as a boss who had already fallen to the Curse.

After fighting him again and again, that face had been burned into Ethan’s memory.

’If I had to describe it… it was the face of a broken man. A man who had endured horrors enough to erase his smile completely. A face that held nothing but severity, sorrow… and rage.’

Compared to that monster…

The Asterion before him now was completely different.

He looked human.

Human enough… to smile like this.

’What exactly happened to you, Uncrowned Emperor? What nightmare could change you so completely?’

He wondered, his gaze drifting toward Moon.

’Was it her? Family? The fall of Ashvarn?’

There were too many unknowns.

And Ethan’s extensive knowledge of the game offered him no answers.

By the time he reached Ashvarn, the city had already been reduced to ash.

He had arrived after the catastrophe—not before it.

There was nothing he could do now but follow the current, concealing his knowledge of the fate awaiting this clan.

A clan doomed, since the dawn of time, to live as slaves.

“Come, Ethan. We’ve cleaned enough.”

Moon’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.

He gave a small nod, set the broom aside at last, and picked up what he had come for.

A sword.

Fortunately, the place was filled with blades of various shapes and sizes. Though they had clearly gone unused for a long time, they were more than sufficient for training.

Ethan chose a standard knight’s sword—a straight, double-edged blade roughly the length of his arm.

It was an appropriate choice. Unlike a knight’s primary longsword, which was meant only for the battlefield, this was suited for training.

Even so, Ethan frowned.

“We’re training with real swords?” he asked, having expected wooden blades instead.

The answer came from Asterion, who had seated himself nearby, watching lazily.

“You’ll face your opponent with a real sword. And he’ll do the same. There’s no point in using wooden toys.”

He paused for a few seconds before continuing.

“What you’re holding is a tool designed for killing. Your opponent will try to kill you with it. So you must grow accustomed to situations where your life is on the line.”

He gestured toward Moon, who stood on the opposite side of the arena.

“Don’t assume, even for a second, that you’ll leave this place unharmed, Ethan Heart. As you can see, my training methods are… different.”

As his words faded, Moon’s expression changed completely.

Colder.

More dangerous.

Then Ethan felt it.

“…Is that killing intent?” he said aloud without realizing, his instincts screaming a warning.

“If you wish to learn my way of the sword, then you will learn it with your body. There will be no instructions. No lessons. Only pain—until your mind understands.”

Asterion smiled mockingly.

“If you endure and learn, congratulations. If you don’t… prepare to lose at least one hand.”

His smile widened slightly.

“You only have one human hand left anyway. Losing the other would be quite unfortunate, wouldn’t it?”

Ethan swallowed hard.

His grip tightened around the sword, reinforced by his Legion Arm .. which granted him a noticeable increase in strength.

’This old man… he’s enjoying this. He wants to see me get beaten.’

Fixing his gaze on Moon, Ethan watched as she stepped forward, gripping a blade identical to his own.

“Let’s begin,” she said calmly, without hesitation.

Ethan gave a reluctant nod.

That was all the signal she needed.

In the next instant ..

Despite the distance between them, Moon’s body leaned forward at an impossible angle ..

And in less than a heartbeat ..

She erased the distance entirely, launching toward him like a bullet.

“She’s fast!!”

Ethan shouted, raising his sword just in time to block the lightning-fast strike descending upon him.

The swords collided with explosive force.

Despite the clear difference in physical build, Ethan was driven several steps backward by a single strike.

“He has good eyes,” Asterion remarked, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

Even at Moon’s terrifying speed, Ethan had managed to track the trajectory of her strike and position his blade precisely where it needed to be.

It was only possible thanks to the Wise Raven’s Insight, which Ethan had activated before the training began.

Yet despite granting him perception far beyond ordinary humans, Ethan was tense now.

“You may possess sharp vision… but will it truly help you here?” Asterion asked with a faint smile.

Moments later, the exact scenario he had envisioned unfolded.

Moon showed the slightest flicker of surprise when her first strike was blocked.

But she did not hesitate.

She struck again.

This time, far faster.

Ethan’s eyes saw the attack.

But his body did not know how to respond.

“It’s… coming from multiple directions…”

Unlike the simple strike before, Moon now attacked relentlessly .. each blow from a different angle.

Though Ethan’s eyes could follow her speed, his body could not keep up.

He blocked the first.

Then came the second. The third. The fourth. The fifth.

Moon shattered his defense completely.

Her blade pierced through his guard and cut into him.

Her strikes were not heavy .. they were not meant to kill or cripple him.

But they were precise enough to draw blood.

Within seconds, cuts appeared across his chest, his arm, and his thigh.

Then, with a sudden sweeping kick from below ..

She knocked him to the ground.

Her blade came to rest against his throat.

“And there you are. Dead,” Asterion declared from the side.

Moon stepped back calmly.

Meanwhile, Ethan rose again, clutching the wound on his chest, pain evident across his face.

“You have to be joking … How am I supposed to learn anything from this?!”

His voice burned with anger.

His hand was soaked in blood .. barely managing to stem the bleeding.

Moon had not hesitated for even a second.

She had driven her blade into him without mercy.

As if he were nothing to her.

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