Chapter 57: Buried Resolve (3)

It seemed her hatred toward Ethan had only grown stronger now.

Earlier…

He had sent a message to the Forest Witch, requesting that she dispatch a mage capable of using healing magic to treat the wounds he sustained from his relentless training.

It was no small request.

But Ethan had promised to repay the debt.

Fortunately, Vanessa held enough fondness for him to grant his wish. Yet the other mages remained wary of Ethan, unwilling to involve themselves with him—especially after learning of his curse.

And so, Luna had become the only option.

She could not refuse her teacher’s orders.

She had no choice but to come.

Against her will.

“You’ll regret this.”

That was all she said to him.

Standing across from her and the others inside Asterion’s training hall, this was the first time Ethan had seen the two sisters together.

He knew how deeply Luna loved her sister Moon.

Yet contrary to his expectations, their relationship was not warm.

It was not affectionate.

It resembled something else entirely.

A formal relationship.

One defined by restraint, respect, and distance.

’Moon… does she wear her mask even before her own family?’

The realization unsettled him.

More than he expected.

Because it meant … he had seen sides of her that even her sister had not.

The happiest person present was Asterion.

The old man was overjoyed to see his other granddaughter, brought here thanks to Ethan’s training.

What Ethan had expected to see between sisters ..

he instead saw between grandfather and granddaughter.

Asterion was close to Luna.

Unlike Moon, she was not cold toward him.

She endured his antics without resistance.

She even seemed…

happy.

Happy to be with him.

Asterion and Luna sat off to the side.

Meanwhile, Ethan and Moon stood facing each other.

The training was about to begin.

“What a family…”

He smiled faintly.

Envious.

Envious of something he had never possessed.

Then without ceremony …

their duel began.

After what had happened the previous day, Asterion no longer rejected Ethan.

He had accepted him completely.

Which meant the burden now rested entirely on Ethan’s shoulders.

If he wanted to learn the sword—

he would have to survive it.

This time, Ethan endured for over an hour.

But the outcome remained unchanged.

His body became a canvas of wounds.

Blood flowed endlessly.

A pool of crimson formed beneath him.

The sight terrified Luna.

Now she understood what had happened to him before.

But healing him was her duty.

So she cast her magic immediately.

It was difficult.

Painfully slow.

Despite her efforts, the healing progressed sluggishly.

Had it not been for his demonic body …

he would not have recovered nearly as quickly.

The healing process condemned Ethan to a night of hell.

He would writhe in agony.

Groaning.

Suffering.

Until morning came …

and he awoke whole once more.

Then he repeated it.

Digging like a madman with Raiden throughout the day.

Sword training at night.

Healing.

Then starting again.

Over.

And over.

And over.

Days passed.

Then weeks.

The first week ended.

Then the second.

Ethan began to settle into his new world in the worst possible way.

His life had become hell.

No human was meant to endure such a thing.

The perceptive ones had begun to notice.

Especially Asterion.

The old man saw more than he let on.

Yet he never forced Ethan to explain himself.

Instead, he became his drinking companion.

Their relationship formed naturally.

It was not that of master and student.

It was something far stranger.

Absurd.

Yet grounded in mutual respect.

Then the third week passed.

Bringing with it more suffering.

Maria’s reckoning duel drew closer.

And Ethan was approaching his limit.

What he was doing placed immense strain upon him.

Though he had begun to grow familiar with the sword …

Though he learned faster than ordinary men …

The damage accumulated.

Even a demonic body had limits.

—One week until the duel—

That morning, Ethan and Raiden dug as usual.

From time to time, young Chai came to help.

But the majority of the work remained theirs.

After more than three weeks of digging …

the landscape had changed completely.

The pit was no longer what it once was.

It had become monstrously deep.

So deep its bottom could no longer be seen from above.

They required ladders to descend and climb back out.

They began alternating roles … one digging below,

the other hauling sand and stone upward.

After all this effort—

even Raiden, despite his unwavering faith on him … began to doubt.

Especially as he watched Ethan grow tired more quickly than before.

“Ethan… how long are we going to keep up this madness?”

With Raiden’s immense strength,

and Ethan’s inhuman endurance,

they had dug deeper than anyone should have been able to.

But they had found nothing.

“Only one week remains until your duel…”

Raiden said, his patience beginning to fracture.

“And aside from your sword training… you’ve made no progress at all.”

Raiden spoke, his patience finally nearing its breaking point.

“Your opponent can use Aura Armor. With your current strength … even if you surpass him in swordsmanship your weapon won’t be able to wound him!”

Aura Armor was overwhelmingly powerful.

Someone at Level Five like Ethan could never hope to penetrate it.

Yet Ethan remained unmoved.

He kept digging.

A slow smile formed on his lips.

There was something strangely familiar about this moment.

Every day, Raiden tried to stop him.

Just like his followers once had—

when they begged him to stop playing Ordeal.

His position had never changed.

Not then.

Not now.

He never stopped.

“The easy paths… don’t lead anywhere worth going.”

He said quietly, driving the shovel into the earth again.

“The hard path may be cruel… but the result is worth it.”

He continued.

Unwavering.

Unbreakable.

Three days remained until the decisive battle.

Nearly a month had passed.

A month Ethan had never truly felt …

because he had spent every moment consumed by digging and training.

As the final days approached, everyone grew visibly worried.

His companions began to lose faith.

They had seen no results.

No proof that his madness had meaning.

He alone remained certain.

Even as his body weakened … his eyes never lost their resolve.

Then, on the twenty-seventh day—

everything changed.

That night, he did not attend sword training.

Instead, he dug … Alone.

Through the darkness.

Through exhaustion.

Through pain.

He dug deeper.

And deeper.

Until his shovel struck nothing.

Empty space.

And from beneath—

light emerged.

His smile widened.

Relief washed over his face as he stared downward.

“Finally…”

He whispered.

After all the suffering … he had reached it.

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