In a dense, snow-covered forest, two men walked side by side. Snow fell softly between the tall trees, muffling the sounds of the surroundings.
Both clearly had the build of swordsmen. The one walking behind spoke excitedly, while the one in front walked in a calm, composed manner.
This was a dangerous forest in the North of the Central Continent, territory known for harboring Snowbucks — giant deer-like beasts — and also Ice-Claw Tigers, predators that could even camouflage themselves in the snow.
Still, neither of the two men showed any concern about the presence of those monsters.
"Come on, man!" the young man behind complained. "You got lucky last time! You won't beat me again if I'm serious!"
He wore a tattered brown cloak. A huge sword was strapped to his back; it looked like an impressive blade, incongruous with the swordsman who carried it.
The young swordsman's hair was black, his eyes red, and he appeared to be about twenty years old.
"You already said that when you lost the second time," the man ahead replied without changing his pace, "and also the third and the fourth."
He wore a serious, sinister expression, and his face resembled a skull. His skin looked sickly, slightly deforming around the cheekbones and jaw, creating a somewhat strange appearance.
The young man snorted, frustrated:
"You're not using real fencing! Since when do you have a Demon Eye?!"
"I have a Demon Eye," the cadaverous-faced man replied impassively. "And you have the strongest sword in the world. Where is the injustice in that?"
The black-haired youth ground his teeth. Silence hung for a few moments, until he complained again:
"Let's fight one more time when we find that guy you mentioned! Also… why is he in this place, after all?"
"Don't ask unnecessary questions. We just need to go there and recruit him."
The young man smiled scornfully.
"You… besides getting weaker, have you also become a dog, Randolph?"
"I've already said more than once, Randolph Marianne is merely the body I'm possessing at the moment. My name is Vita."
The youth snorted again.
"And who cares? You're still him anyway. His whole body and his memories are under your control. Isn't that the same as you being him?"
The man turned his head just enough to stare at him.
"No."
Nothing more was said for a while. They continued walking among the frozen trees.
No monster dared approach them; to creatures of that forest, the two men were simply too threatening.
The young man was Aleksander Ryback — the current North God — also known as Kalman III.
The man in front of him was Randolph Marianne, the Death God. However, at that moment, his body was under the control of the Nether King Vita.
Months ago, Randolph had deserted the Kingdragon Kingdom, now dominated by Vita.
Following the advice of Hitogami, Vita used his new body to find the Third North God and challenge him to a battle with a bet at stake.
The loser would have to follow the winner and complete three missions.
Aleksander, impulsive and confident, accepted without hesitation.
In his youth, he and Randolph had trained together under the old North God. Both were promising candidates for the title, and their rivalry was fierce.
However, after a fight with the Second North God, Randolph abandoned the dojo and went out into the world, where he faced powerful enemies, created his own style, and eventually received the title of Death God, becoming the Fifth World Power.
Aleksander, for his part, was now the North God and held the position of the Seventh World Power. Defeating his former rival would be a golden opportunity to advance among the Seven Great World Powers.
But, to his shock, he lost.
Vita was not particularly surprised by the result of that battle. Following the advice of the Man-God, he had already known in advance that he would win.
But Kalman was deeply shaken. To him, it simply made no sense.
In his mind, defeating him should have been impossible. With the Dragon King Kajakut's Gravity Sword in hand, he believed himself invincible.
And, in a way, he was not wrong: the current Randolph really could not beat him.
Perhaps at his peak — when he had defeated the former Death God — he might have achieved victory, but with his level of skill at that time, even possessing the Eye of Absolute Void and his Sword of Bewitchment technique, he would lose against the force of the Gravity Sword.
But the man Kalman faced was not just Randolph.
At that moment, he was Vita, the slime, the Nether King. With his powerful Miko abilities, Vita put Kalman III into an illusion and decisively won the battle after some resistance.
Normally, this would be impossible — Vita would never be fast enough to place the North God in an illusion. He didn't have that kind of ability.
But, while controlling the Death God's body, he could. Using Randolph's unpredictable fencing techniques, touching the opponent just a single time was simple.
And it was all Vita needed — one touch.
Moreover, the ease came from another crucial point: the young North God was especially vulnerable to Vita's illusions.
Vita's Miko power could read the target's memories, visualize possibilities of alternate futures, and mix them with the victim's deepest desires — plunging them into an endless mental prison.
And there were few people in the world as dreamy as Aleksander Ryback.
To simplify, Vita just told Alek that those illusions were "powers of the Demon Eye." It was easier than explaining the true nature of his powers.
Naturally, the arrogant youth did not accept the defeat.
He challenged him again and again — and lost all four times. Vita's illusions were a natural nemesis for someone like Alek.
Before he could fully unleash the powers of the Kajakut Sword, he was captured by new illusions, and was constantly frustrated because of that.
Even so, he followed the result of the bet. Of course, he also had ulterior motives; he would accompany Randolph until he could eventually defeat him.
Furthermore, Randolph's three missions — or rather, Vita's missions — piqued his interest.
After all, Alek aspired to become the greatest hero in the world. And what Vita was trying to accomplish… was something unprecedented in all of history.
The two kept walking through the silent forest until they reached a ravine. A freezing wind blew through it, sharp as blades.
The cliff walls were completely covered in ice, and blocks of ice floated in the river that ran at the bottom.
Following the bank, they finally found their target.
The man was sitting beside a huge rock, holding his sword rested on his knees.
In front of him, a fire burned while a piece of meat on a spit roasted slowly, fat hissing against the flames.
Just behind the man, stretched out in the snow, lay a gigantic carcass. Covered in scales white as ice, with colossal claws and long fangs — a Snow Dragon. A rank-S monster.
These creatures were recent mutations of the rank-A White Drake, but twice the size. They exhaled blasts of ice and had access to high-level water magic.
Technically they were not true dragons, but they were much closer to that than a simple White Drake — and they were that strong.
The man looked up at the visitors and immediately exuded a dense murderous intent.
But, to his surprise, young Alek responded with an equally powerful battle intent.
His lips curved into an eager smile as his hand slowly went to the great sword on his back.
"Hey, hey, is that the guy?" he asked, excited.
"Yes," Vita replied, activating the Eye of Absolute Void at the same moment, raising around him an impenetrable barrier.
He did it just in time.
The man drew his sword like lightning, attacking without asking a single question.
But Alek was the North God.
Gravity fluctuated around him as he moved, dodging the opponent's decisive blow from the Sword God Style — the Longsword of Light.
A swordlight cut the ground, leaving a deep trench where Alek had been a second before.
Without exchanging even a greeting, the two began a fierce battle.
Watching from afar, Vita was not surprised. Everything was happening exactly as Hitogami had said.
---
POV: Gall Farion
When I was a boy, I fought a Snow Dragon.
I was foolish and arrogant back then… and I barely escaped with my life.
That day, I vowed that one day I would kill it. But, when I finally became strong enough, the damned thing never appeared again.
Until a being called the God Man began to appear in my dreams, promising to grant all my wishes.
Hah! Who did that miserable creature think he was?
Naturally, I ignored him and cursed him.
My most promising pupil — the one who defeated me in the Sword Sanctuary — had already warned me about that malicious god.
I didn't know much about him… but I knew that that pupil was rarely wrong about anything.
I soon realized that, just as my pupil had warned me, he was trying to manipulate me into doing something for him.
So I asked that God Man directly what he wanted.
He told me where I could find that Snow Dragon. Where I could take revenge for that old defeat.
Isn't it interesting? I knew I was being manipulated, but I went ahead anyway.
Why? you ask.
What did I have to lose, after all? I was already so strong that any scheme he had wouldn't work.
Am I walking into a death trap? Well, let's go!
Am I being manipulated into fighting a powerful opponent? That's even better!
It so happened… after losing my title many years ago, I shed my restraints.
Leading the Sword Sanctuary? Not for me.
Training disciples to defeat me? I have no interest.
And yes… I even abandoned my daughter and my wife.
It's not something I'm proud of… but hey, a man needs to make some hard choices in life, right?
Anyway, I dedicated myself again to improving my strength.
I was defeated by the absurd talent and will of my pupil, that is a fact.
But as he himself once told me:
"A man's life ends when he no longer has ambition."
Those words rekindled my old flame.
I will kill the Dragon God Orsted.
And I will do it before my crazy pupil does.
Live only for the sword.
Live only to become stronger.
Glimpse the next stage of power each day.
My pupil was capable of casting swordlights with his blade. Reida could cut anything that moved in her domain.
Well… if they could, why couldn't I?
I became stronger. More than I ever imagined.
I believe I owe it to my monster pupil — he had such a unique vision that it made anyone see life from another perspective.
Who would've thought? Here I am now, fighting against another young swordsman.
This one wields a sword that controls Gravity… very problematic.
Could Orsted do something like that…?
Well, it doesn't matter. After fully understanding his strength, I stopped the fight.
The brat seemed surprised:
"Huh? Hey, old man, don't you want to fight anymore? You're giving up?!"
For a moment, I was stunned. Then… I began to laugh.
"Hahahahahahahaha!"
The boy watched me, confused. But I could only think that this guy… he is just like I was when I was young.
Then I looked at the other fellow. He looked like a dying man, pale as a corpse.
I shouted:
"Hey, you! The white guy told me you had a way for me to get stronger. What is it?"
That was the content of the God Man's last dream.
Rygar had warned me about him, and I was on the lookout for traps… but so what? He couldn't do anything to me.
What made me stay and listen was simple.
The God Man said he had a method to further improve my swordsmanship.
Who knows? It might work.
If it didn't… I'd simply turn my back and leave.
The skull-faced man finally spoke:
"Old Sword God, you managed to fight against the Gravity Sword up to that point? Impressive."
"Stop wasting time! How can I get stronger?"
I wasn't interested in conversation at all; all I cared about was how to get stronger.
I had been stuck at a bottleneck lately; any means that allowed me to overcome it was welcome.
The skull-faced man then said:
"Straight to the point then, we can arrange for you to be taught by the best; they say this man even taught Orsted."
"Hoh? Taught Orsted, that's an impressive title… and what do you want in return?"
"Nothing that goes against your own goals; we want you to fight the Dragon God and his subordinates."
"Hahaha... and here I was thinking you'd make me fight my own disciple..."
I was saying that more as a test, to be honest.
The guy I was fighting earlier snorted:
"And what about this guy? He just became famous, he shouldn't be that strong."
I smiled as I looked at the brat who said that.
"I may not know exactly, but I'm sure the Beast God already far surpasses your strength, even with that sword you have there."
The young man seemed to get irritated when I said that and was about to start a fight, but the skull-faced man interrupted.
"Alright, we don't have time to waste with this, you need to make a decision. Indeed, this group we're assembling also has the Beast God as a target, but it is also true that we want to kill the Dragon God. You can keep training alone, and you can even go train with your disciple at the Combat Temple of the Kingdom of Gaia. But you will not be able to get stronger alone, and you certainly will not defeat the Beast God or the Dragon God. Are you coming with us, or staying?"
Dude, this skull-faced guy was pretty arrogant… but he wasn't entirely wrong.
I had realized for some time that my individual growth would not reach my goals, but I would never ask to be trained by my own disciple.
The only alternative is to find someone stronger than the Dragon God and the Beast God, and learn from him.
"All right, I'll come with you, let's see what you have to offer."
-----
Hello! If you want to support my writing, check out my subscription P@treon
By subscribing, you will get access to up to 20 advanced chapters of the Webnovel and polls to decide various things about the story.
Your support will encourage me to continue writing more chapters! Check it out here: pa treon.com/DaoistJunkYard