Death Was Inevitable

"So what do you think?"

"About ten thousand probably won't be enough." Bael casually grabbed at the air, and a sword suddenly appeared in his hand. Then he waved it, and the swords turned into a rain of blades amid a fierce gust of wind, embedding themselves in the arena.

"With these added, it should be about right." Bael spoke in a low voice, a strange glint flashing in his eyes.

"Does this count as cheating?" Anubis asked.

"No," Bael said. "Saint Sanming seems to have many unfulfilled obsessions in his heart, so I increased the difficulty."

Amid the smoke and dust that blotted out the sky and earth, Miming charged at the Sword Pillar again and again, rising only to fall, then climbing back up after falling.

His opponents grew stronger and stronger, and every time, the final outcome was Miming being mercilessly cut down.

This was only natural, because every sword in this Sword Domain had been left behind by someone who died on the battlefield. No matter how many people they had killed in life, death was ultimately inevitable. That was the way of life for those who cultivated the sword. Even if they reached the pinnacle, one day they would still die beneath someone else's sword. No matter how many people they killed, one day they would be slain by countless others.

Miming panted heavily. When he climbed to his feet, he began to understand.

For those who cultivated the sword, this was an extremely pure matter. The reason, the opponent, and everything else were irrelevant. Every opponent cut down by the sword was merely a number beneath the whole. One day, even the greatest swordsman would die beneath a sword. He would not have been killed by any single person. Whether it was a thousand people or ten thousand, even a helpless little girl he had once killed—all of them were part of the sword's composition and ultimately guided the result.

A sword burdened by troubles and trapped by the seven emotions was easy to break. All the various causes and effects of the world were stones that tempered the sword.

The truth of this Sword Pillar was that it consisted of ten thousand defeated lingering wills. The remnants of those broken weapons and dead souls had formed such a Sword Pillar within the Sword Domain.

Miming suddenly stopped rushing forward.

A towering giant cleaved down with its sword, and the entire earth was shrouded in sword light. There was simply no way to evade it. The sword in his hand snapped into pieces, and his body was hacked apart.

Miming climbed to his feet and took a deep breath.

More than half the swords in the arena had already vanished, but the feeling in his heart was growing steadier.

He pulled out the next blade. Before the giant's sword could fall, he launched himself into the air and charged toward the giant's shoulder, stepping on the enormous blade. Shadowless gave him the ability to run across sword edges that were swinging at lightning speed. With all his strength, he slashed once and cut the giant's throat.

But the instant he landed, a birdlike streak of sword light skimmed across the ground and struck both his legs without a sound.

"It's not over yet!" Miming gasped. He did not die. Instead, he used Life Return to adjust his injuries. After rolling once, he immediately dragged his half-severed legs upright. The spurting blood quickly stopped flowing under the adjustments of Life Return, and the wounds automatically closed.

A swordsman stood atop a lofty mountain. The instant he attacked, sword light soared down from the horizon like a flying bird.

Miming suddenly saw what was about to happen. After a world-shaking strike, the sword light he blocked was merely a feint. He was then knocked to the ground by a slash descending from the sky.

Miming gave a loud shout, his figure instantly escaping from beneath the blade light. He then raised his sword toward the sky. That fleeting slash aimed straight at his head was the true killing move!

With a clang, the killing move was shattered. But the two streaks of sword light that followed struck Miming in the back like maggots attached to bone. They were not feints at all!

"Three-Sword Style?" Miming, who had died once and climbed back up, finally saw the truth. Moreover, each of the three swords had a different length and curvature, so every slash had different force and characteristics.

Miming picked up a very long greatsword from the ground. A swordsman's attack range meant everything. No matter how many blades there were, they were useless if they could not reach the target.

Haki covered the blade, turning it pitch-black. But that was not enough. It had to continue extending outward. No, it was not a matter of covering the blade, but of penetrating it—condensing Haki into sword energy.

Miming stopped charging wildly and instead walked toward his opponent one step at a time. Birdlike slashes attacked from all directions, but Miming merely swung once and shattered all three streaks of blade light together.

No matter how many blade lights there were, there was only one target. Nothing was impossible to break.

Countless streaks of blade light came one after another from the horizon, growing more and more absurd.

Miming slashed once, knocking his opponent from the mountaintop. But the thought in his heart at that moment was, I really don't need a blade this big.

With a bang, the blade struck the Sword Pillar, and a human face was shattered in an instant. But the blade itself immediately cracked apart.

Miming looked at the Sword Pillar. This was the only damage he had caused. But where there was one, there could be two. He had already passed this trial.

Miming pulled out two blades at once.

The Sword Pillar grew furious. Two enormous auras rose from it simultaneously.

No one knew how much time had passed.

The Sword Pillar suddenly collapsed.

When the smoke and dust dispersed, not a single intact sword remained on the ground.

Miming panted as he carried a battered blade in his hand, its edge broken into something resembling a saw.

"I passed, right?" Miming looked toward the Twelve Gods in confusion. Were they actually applauding? Everyone except Sword God Bael was applauding? Could it be that I did really well?

"Don't get excited. It's not for you." Anubis's expression remained unmoved as he said in a low voice, "We're applauding something else."

Sword God Bael had calculated how many swords would be needed from the moment Miming began, and his judgment had been precise down to the very last blade. Even for the Twelve Gods, that was worth applauding. It was simply too interesting.

It was impossible to tell whether Sword God Bael was happy or disappointed. It seemed that nothing had gone beyond his expectations.

"You're starting to look like a swordsman, and your Observation Haki has also improved accordingly," Bael said. "Now you can begin cultivating 'Vacuum.'"

Bael turned his back to Miming. "Tell me. Right now, can you see the canary?"

Miming stared at the snow-white cloak behind Sword God Bael. There was nothing there, was there?

A breeze brushed past, gently stirring the cloak.

Miming suddenly saw a canary in the hollow fold of the white cloak!

Miming's eyes widened. Golden sword energy had condensed into a canary! And that canary was alive—it began chirping inside the cloak! The folds of the cloak gently billowed in the wind, and the canary flew out!

Every hair on Miming's body stood on end, and he raised his blade to block in front of himself!

With a crisp bang, the blade shattered into powder!

"It wasn't an illusion!" Miming felt his entire body drenched in sweat. His hand still remained in the posture of gripping a sword, but the blade had already flown away. The canary had touched it once and smashed it into powder! The canary flew back again and remained inside the cloak!