The Villian Who Broke The Story

The shattered arena rebuilt itself once again.

Broken stone rose from the ground.

Collapsed pillars stood upright.

Cracks sealed themselves until the battlefield looked untouched, as though the previous battle had never happened.

Kael stood alone in the center.

His breathing had already steadied.

Although sweat still clung to his forehead, his eyes remained calm.

The sixfold gravity still pressed against his body.

The black restraint bands around his wrists and ankles remained firmly locked.

Yet neither hindered him anymore.

Kael slowly rolled his shoulders before tightening his grip around his sword.

"So..."

"...Big Brother."

The mechanical voice echoed throughout the simulation room.

『Preparing Opponent... Rank 2.』

A pillar of silver light descended from above.

Unlike every opponent before...

The figure that emerged didn’t carry a hammer.

Nor a spear.

Nor magic.

He carried only a single sword.

The silver-haired youth stepped onto the arena without making a sound.

His posture was straight.

His breathing perfectly controlled.

His expression emotionless.

The simulation of...

Zion Crawford.

Outside the battlefield—

The real Zion folded his arms.

His expression remained unreadable.

Lyra glanced between the screen and Zion before speaking.

"They even copied your breathing."

Raphael nodded.

"The simulation doesn’t just recreate appearances."

"It recreates habits."

"It recreates instincts."

"It recreates experience."

"At this moment..."

"...that’s Zion."

The real Zion never replied.

His eyes remained fixed on Kael.

Inside the arena—

Neither moved.

The silence itself became heavy.

Kael slowly raised his sword.

The simulated Zion mirrored him.

Same stance.

Same grip.

Same angle.

Kael smiled helplessly.

"...Seriously?"

For the first time since entering the simulation room...

He felt genuine pressure before the fight had even begun.

The countdown appeared overhead.

Three...

Neither blinked.

Two...

Neither shifted their footing.

One...

『Begin.』

The instant the signal sounded—

Both disappeared.

CLANG!

Two silver flashes collided in the middle of the battlefield.

Neither had used brute force.

Instead...

Both had drawn their swords with identical speed.

The collision produced a shower of sparks.

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

"So that’s how fast you really are..."

The simulation gave no answer.

It simply attacked again.

Its sword swept horizontally.

Kael answered with the exact same motion.

Steel met steel once more.

Clang!

The sound echoed endlessly.

Neither gained an advantage.

Inside the observation room—

One operator blinked repeatedly.

"Did..."

"...did they just use the same attack?"

Raphael smiled.

"No."

"They used the same timing."

Lyra folded her arms.

"Watch closely."

"Their feet."

Every movement matched.

Every step.

Every pivot.

Every adjustment.

It looked less like a duel...

...and more like one man fighting his own reflection.

Kael attacked.

The simulation countered with the identical movement.

The simulation attacked.

Kael answered in exactly the same manner.

Not a single unnecessary strike.

Not a single wasted breath.

Kael suddenly accelerated.

His mana flowed smoothly through his body.

"First Form..."

His sword flashed.

"...Guiding Light."

At the exact same instant—

The simulated Zion used the same technique.

Two silver arcs crossed.

BOOM!

The shockwave erupted outward.

Neither swordsman moved.

Kael immediately transitioned.

No pause.

No hesitation.

"Second Form..."

His body twisted gracefully.

"...Falling Comet."

The simulation mirrored him perfectly.

The two sword trails intertwined like twin shooting stars.

Again—

Neither landed a hit.

The collision shook the arena.

Outside—

The real Zion finally spoke.

"...His execution improved."

Lyra looked toward him.

"You noticed?"

"He used less mana."

"But produced the same output."

Raphael smiled.

"So he finally figured it out."

Back inside—

Kael’s expression slowly changed.

At first...

He had smiled.

Now—

His face had become completely serious.

"This isn’t imitation..."

He parried another strike.

"It’s mastery."

The simulation pressed forward.

Its attacks became faster.

Sharper.

Cleaner.

Kael immediately matched the increase.

Steel rang continuously throughout the battlefield.

Neither swordsman spoke.

Only swords did.

Without warning—

Both stepped backward simultaneously.

Exactly five meters separated them.

Neither had planned it.

It simply happened.

Kael exhaled slowly.

"...Then let’s keep climbing."

His mana surged.

The familiar rhythm of the Celestial Star Art flowed naturally through every muscle in his body.

The simulation answered in kind.

Two identical auras rose into the air.

Lyra quietly smiled.

"Now..."

"They’re finally getting serious."

Kael’s grip tightened around his sword.

His eyes sharpened.

Without another moment of hesitation—

Both launched forward again...

This time preparing to clash with the Third Form.

The distance between them vanished in an instant.

Neither Kael nor the simulated Zion hesitated.

Both swords traced identical arcs through the air.

"Third Form—Falling Star."

Two silver crescents collided.

BOOOOM!

The explosion tore apart the center of the arena. Stone slabs were hurled into the air as cracks raced across the ground like lightning.

Kael slid back three steps.

The simulated Zion slid back three steps.

Even the distance they traveled...

...was identical.

Kael let out a quiet breath.

"So even our control is the same."

The simulation remained silent.

It simply raised its sword once again.

The next exchange began before the dust had settled.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

The battlefield became a blur of silver.

Neither tried to overpower the other.

Every strike sought the smallest opening.

Every parry became the beginning of another attack.

Watching them was like watching two masters perform the same sword kata at full speed.

---

Inside the observation room, nobody spoke.

Even the operators had stopped whispering.

One finally broke the silence.

"I can’t tell which one is Kael anymore..."

Raphael nodded slowly.

"That’s exactly what makes this fight terrifying."

Lyra folded her arms.

"Against the dwarf, Kael could rely on adaptability."

"Against Zion..."

"...there’s nothing to adapt to."

"The opponent already fights the same way he does."

The real Zion’s gaze never left the screen.

"He copied more than my techniques."

"He copied my rhythm."

---

Back in the arena—

Kael suddenly shifted first.

His footwork became lighter.

His body almost seemed to glide across the battlefield.

"Fourth Form..."

His sword vanished.

"...Starfall."

Dozens of precise thrusts burst forward like falling stars.

The simulated Zion answered with the exact same form.

Their blades became impossible to follow.

Only showers of sparks proved their swords were colliding.

Neither fighter landed a decisive blow.

Instead...

Every strike canceled another.

The audience wasn’t watching two swordsmen.

They were watching one sword style collide with itself.

---

Kael narrowed his eyes.

"So that’s how you see this form..."

For the first time, he noticed something.

The simulated Zion always entered the Fourth Form with the slightest shift of his left shoulder.

Almost invisible.

Almost impossible to notice.

Yet it was there.

Kael smiled faintly.

"I finally found one."

He attacked again.

The simulation responded exactly as before.

But this time—

Kael adjusted his angle by less than an inch.

The blades scraped past one another.

A shallow cut appeared on the simulation’s sleeve.

The first clean hit.

---

The operators collectively gasped.

"He landed one!"

"No..."

Raphael corrected quietly.

"He read Zion."

---

The simulated Zion showed no reaction.

It simply stepped forward again.

Its sword moved.

"Fifth Form..."

The air itself seemed to ripple.

"...Meteor Sever."

Kael’s pupils contracted.

He answered instantly.

"Fifth Form..."

"...Meteor Sever."

Two blinding sword flashes crossed.

The arena disappeared beneath a storm of slashes.

Every collision echoed like thunder.

The pressure alone shattered the remaining pillars around them.

Kael’s sleeve tore.

The simulation’s collar split apart.

Tiny cuts appeared across both swordsmen.

Still...

Neither yielded.

---

The real Zion finally spoke.

"...He’s stopped copying."

Lyra glanced toward him.

"What do you mean?"

"He isn’t following my sword anymore."

"He’s reading it."

Raphael smiled.

"And that’s the difference between a student..."

"...and a rival."

---

The two fighters separated again.

Their breathing had become slightly heavier.

Kael rested his sword on his shoulder.

His eyes never left the simulation.

"So this is why..."

"...you were Rank Two."

The simulated Zion lowered his stance.

Mana gathered around his blade once more.

Kael immediately recognized it.

The Sixth Form.

He smiled.

"Good."

"I was getting tired of warming up."

The instant both swords began glowing—

They disappeared once more.

This time...

The force of their collision shook the entire Virtual Simulation Facility.

Even outside the room, students walking through the corridor stopped.

Someone frowned.

"What in the world is happening inside there?"

Inside the observation room, the screens flickered violently under the pressure of the clash.

Raphael’s smile slowly disappeared.

"They’ve reached the limit..."

"...of the first six forms."

Across the battlefield, Kael and the simulated Zion remained locked together.

Neither could overpower the other.

Neither could outread the other.

For the first time since the battle began...

Kael realized something.

If this continued...

The fight would never end.

Then...

He noticed it.

A strange change in the simulated Zion’s breathing.

Mana gathered differently around its sword.

The stance...

...was unfamiliar.

Kael’s smile slowly faded.

"...A new form?"

Outside the arena, the real Zion quietly closed his eyes.

"So..."

"...it reached that point already."

Kael’s expression grew solemn.

The simulated Zion slowly lowered his center of gravity.

For the first time since the battle began...

Their stances were no longer identical.

The simulation’s sword rested slightly behind its body.

Its left foot shifted half a step backward.

Its breathing slowed.

Everything about the stance screamed danger.

Kael frowned.

"...The Seventh Form."

The simulated Zion vanished.

No—

It didn’t move faster.

It simply disappeared from Kael’s sight.

His instincts exploded into action.

Kael twisted his body.

A silver slash narrowly missed his neck.

Before he could counter—

Another strike arrived.

Then another.

Then another.

Each attack came from impossible angles.

Not because they were faster...

But because every movement flowed seamlessly into the next.

Kael blocked one.

Parried another.

Dodged the third.

Yet shallow cuts slowly appeared across his arms and shoulders.

His breathing grew heavier.

"So that’s the difference..."

He clenched his teeth.

"...The Seventh Form."

---

The observation room remained silent.

Even Lyra had forgotten to speak.

The operators watched with wide eyes as Kael was gradually pushed backward.

The real Zion finally broke the silence.

"I lost to that form over a thousand times before I completed it."

"He won’t copy it..."

"...not in one battle."

Raphael nodded.

"He doesn’t need to."

"He only needs to survive it."

---

The simulated Zion attacked again.

The Seventh Form flowed like a river.

No wasted motion.

No unnecessary strength.

Each slash naturally became the beginning of the next.

There were no pauses.

No openings.

It was the perfect continuation of the previous six forms.

Kael felt as though he wasn’t fighting a swordsman...

He was fighting the sword art itself.

Another cut opened across his shoulder.

His sleeve was stained with blood.

His grip tightened.

"I see..."

"...so this is your answer."

He suddenly smiled.

Instead of retreating—

He stepped forward.

---

The simulated Zion swung.

Kael answered with the First Form.

Another slash came.

He responded with the Second Form.

Third.

Fourth.

Fifth.

Sixth.

One after another.

He chained the first six forms together without interruption.

Each transition became smoother.

Cleaner.

Faster.

Although none matched the perfection of the Seventh Form...

Together...

They created something unexpected.

The simulated Zion’s relentless offense finally slowed.

Just slightly.

One heartbeat.

One opening.

That was enough.

Kael’s sword slipped through the smallest gap.

Clang!

The simulation blocked.

But not perfectly.

For the first time—

Its footing shifted.

---

Outside...

Zion’s eyes widened.

"He..."

Lyra smiled.

"He isn’t trying to imitate your Seventh Form."

"He’s forcing it to fight his rhythm instead."

Raphael chuckled.

"Typical Kael."

"If he can’t climb the wall..."

"...he’ll tear it down."

---

The battle reached its climax.

The arena had become almost unrecognizable.

Broken stone floated in the air.

Sword scars covered every surface.

Kael inhaled deeply.

His mana surged through every pathway in his body.

The simulation mirrored him.

Both swordsmen raised their blades.

One final exchange.

The simulated Zion entered the Seventh Form again.

Kael answered with everything he had learned.

The First.

Second.

Third.

Fourth.

Fifth.

Sixth.

Each form flowed into the next without hesitation.

Their swords collided dozens of times in a single breath.

Then—

Silence.

Kael suddenly stepped inside the simulation’s range.

Closer than any swordsman should.

The Seventh Form relied on uninterrupted flow.

By entering that space...

Kael shattered its rhythm.

His sword rose.

One clean strike.

A simple downward slash.

Nothing flashy.

Nothing overwhelming.

Just...

Perfect timing.

SHING!

The battlefield froze.

The simulated Zion stood motionless.

A thin line appeared across its chest.

Its sword slowly slipped from its hand.

For several seconds...

Neither moved.

Then the simulation shattered into countless particles of light.

---

『Rank 2 Defeated.』

『Simulation Complete.』

Kael remained standing.

His chest rose and fell heavily.

He looked at the place where Zion had disappeared.

"...I still can’t use the Seventh Form."

He lowered his sword.

"But now..."

"...I know the path."

Outside the arena, the real Zion quietly smiled.

It was a small smile.

Barely noticeable.

But it was genuine.

"He won."

Lyra blinked.

"I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile before."

Zion ignored the comment.

His eyes remained fixed on Kael.

"...Next time."

"I won’t lose."

Before anyone could say another word—

The simulation system chimed once more.

A new pillar of light descended onto the arena.

Unlike the previous ones...

This one carried a suffocating pressure.

A tall figure slowly emerged.

Long silver hair.

A black scythe resting calmly at her side.

A pair of mysterious eyes hidden beneath a blindfold.

The arena temperature seemed to drop.

Kael instinctively tightened his grip on his sword.

He knew...

This would not be another battle of skill alone.

This was Rank One.

Auriella Voss.

And unlike Zion...

She possessed the Eye of Ruin.