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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Holding Her Accountable
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Rimon stared at Li Chingwei for a moment with an odd look as she spoke like she was some kind of savior.
He opened his mouth reluctantly.
"Even if you say that, I'm in the same boat—swept along by the tide of the times until I ended up a traitor."
"But you haven't become the enemy of the whole world yet."
Humanity's Last Sword Master.
The existence that would irk the constellations the most if they were truly hiding some scheme while contracting with players and granting them power.
If Lee Cheongi's movements were the result of constellation intervention, then this wouldn't be the end of it.
The other monarchs and nations would mobilize to paint Rimon as the enemy of the world.
"That's why I said I got lucky."
"...You're talking about the timing?"
"Yes."
Li Chingwei nodded readily.
She continued in a calm voice.
"If people had remembered the Sword Duke's fame just a little longer, I wouldn't have even had the chance to seek you out."
What if Rimon hadn't fallen as far as he had now?
The Black Dragon Clan would have lost majority shares and been forced to halt the World Peace Project.
And as a bonus, Li Chingwei—far from wary of the constellations—would have been sold off to take responsibility for her clan's downfall.
"On the flip side, if people had forgotten the Sword Duke's fame too quickly, the Seven Dragon Society would have come after you first."
What if Rimon had fallen too fast?
Instead of Li Chingwei, the Society's assassins might have come hunting him.
In the current Seven Dragon Society, where Li Chingwei was the only princess wary of the constellations, they would have led the charge to brand him the world's enemy out of old grudges.
If it had come to all-out war like that, more than half the Society would have been wiped out, and Rimon would have lost at least an arm while fleeing as a fugitive.
The constellations alone would have reaped the benefits in the meantime.
"So, being able to meet the Sword Duke at just the right time was nothing short of fortune."
What was so satisfying about it all?
Li Chingwei beamed with a bright smile.
Watching that innocent grin, Rimon shot back sharply.
"Meanwhile, I got screwed over precisely because you showed up at the 'right' time."
Even assuming constellation intervention, his meeting with Li Chingwei had undeniably been the trigger that made the Infinite Monarch resolve to deal with him decisively.
In that sense, her visit itself had been a disaster for him.
Rimon sneered openly.
But she didn't flinch.
She simply nodded quietly.
"Yes, that's unfortunate."
Rimon twitched an eyebrow.
Her voice sounded genuinely regretful.
But her obsidian-clear eyes held regret, yet not a shred of self-reproach.
"Does my answer displease you?"
As if reading his mind.
Rimon answered Li Chingwei's quiet question in a low voice.
"You think it'd please me?"
"No, I imagine it makes you uncomfortable."
Li Chingwei readily admitted it.
Then she glanced down at the sword pressed to her throat and continued.
"Especially if you see me as someone who owes you a blood debt."
"...".
Rimon didn't bother replying.
Keeping his sword trained on her mid-conversation spoke volumes about his thoughts.
Seeing his cold expression, Li Chingwei closed her eyes.
She took a short breath.
And the moment she opened them again.
Everything had changed.
"Sword Duke."
A voice calm and subdued.
Reverence had replaced playfulness.
A summons so deferential it carried weight just to hear.
"Humanity's Last Sword Master, Guardian Deity who protected the world with unyielding will. Ruthless Judge and Fair Absolute."
Her smile and youthful charm seemed vanished.
Only mature solemnity remained on her composed face.
Her unwavering poise only enhanced the elegant beauty of her features.
"I, Li Chingwei, descendant of the Mighty Black Dragon Divine Sovereign, know my impertinence yet dare to ask you."
The beaming girl from moments ago was gone.
In her place was a superhuman no absolute should underestimate—a shadow who had gripped and toyed with the world.
One of the Seven Dragon Society's seven lords.
A noble being inheriting the dragon's pure blood.
Only the Black Dragon Princess remained.
Her bearing, her face, her voice.
Above all, her eyes—so clear they mirrored Rimon like a looking glass—proclaimed it.
Thus, Li Chingwei asked, meeting his gaze.
"Was it wrong for me to prevent wars and safeguard world peace all this time?"
The World Peace Project.
The absurd plot to topple Rimon by denying him chances to shine in preserving peace.
To the man himself, it was unforgivable.
But could it truly be called wrong?
A mission that, intentions aside, preserved peace?
"Was it a sin to deceive the world and enthrone monarchs as absolutes to maintain peace?"
The scheme of artificially triggering dungeon bubbles, boosting players' standing to rake in funds.
Purely legally, it warranted over a thousand years in prison.
But should it be punished as a crime?
For propping up the world economy from collapse?
"Was it an unforgivable error to guard against and prepare for the constellations?"
A suspicion based on scant evidence and vague intuition—little more than conspiracy theory.
To constellation worshippers, it might be the ultimate insult.
But was it truly an error?
To distrust an unknown entity suddenly offering favors?
"Believing the only way to stop the constellations was for the Seven Dragon Society and the Sword Duke to join hands—was it wrong to come seeking you?"
The war with the Infinite Monarch, sparked by Li Chingwei seeking Rimon.
Should she bear that blame?
For clinging to peace amid suspicions of constellations, isolated even from her clan, staking everything on him as her last hope?
"Tell me, Sword Duke."
He merely listened to her questions.
Silent, sword still aimed at her.
Urging the answer he'd withheld.
Li Chingwei posed her final question.
"Do I deserve to pay you a blood debt, Sword Duke?"
"...".
He didn't answer.
No, he couldn't.
That was the heart of it all.
He could only stare at her, lips sealed.
That was why Rimon—who never hesitated to swing his blade—hadn't cut her down yet.
But Li Chingwei pressed no further.
Instead, she gazed at him with quiet eyes before speaking.
"You swore on your sword, Sword Duke. That as long as I don't betray you, you would never abandon me."
A faint tremor.
That instant.
The sword tip fixed at Li Chingwei's throat until now.
For the first time, it quivered—ever so slightly.
A change so minute an ordinary person wouldn't notice, sub-millimeter at most, halting in the blink of an eye.
But Li Chingwei felt it.
The feel of blade against skin, her psychic senses beyond perception.
Above all, the first ripple in Rimon's heart—which hadn't wavered even upon learning of the Society's plot—betrayed his agitation.
"I won't claim all this happened before the oath as an excuse."
A convenient dodge.
A pretext to make him withdraw his sword right then.
But Li Chingwei wouldn't beg for her life with such a half-measure.
She simply reached out slowly.
"If you deem even one of my actions wrong...".
She grasped the blade at her throat.
Her fingers so slender that the slightest twitch would sever them.
But Li Chingwei paid it no mind.
Instead, she lifted the sword naturally, pressing her lips to the tip.
A droplet of blood.
From the too-sharp edge?
Or the faint tremor?
Only after the crimson bead welled from her nicked lip did she pull away.
Then she drew the blade to her heart, positioning the tip for an easy thrust, and smiled faintly.
"Cut me down."
Her smile pure and beautiful, like a maiden offering herself to the dragon.
Li Chingwei concluded.
"If that's your will, I'll gladly accept it."
Like a living statue.
Rimon held his sword to her throat for a long while.
To the woman smiling radiantly before his blade, unafraid.
He asked lowly.
"Are you insane, or just an idiot?"
"Which do I seem?"
"At least not in your right mind."
Rimon shook his head.
Exposing the Seven Dragon Society's plot with mere prodding was absurd enough.
But to top it off, offering her heart on his blade to atone if it was a crime?
Utter madness, in every sense.
"...But clearly not an idiot, either."
"High praise."
"That wasn't praise."
How was her mind wired to take his words as compliments?
Li Chingwei blushed faintly, shy.
Watching her, Rimon sighed softly.
"I was lamenting."
Killing her now would be easy.
No matter her status as Black Dragon Clan princess, she couldn't dodge or block in this state.
But Rimon couldn't strike.
He had no fitting answers to her questions.
Was protecting peace wrong?
Propping up the economy a sin?
Wary of constellations, an error?
'If that's a crime, then I'm the first sinner.'
Called Humanity's Guardian Deity, Rimon had done much to protect the world.
His experience taught him: better save the world by any means than let it perish in self-righteous ruin.
Of course, ends don't justify all means.
But by his standards, the Society's actions were plenty justifiable.
'Wary of constellations isn't foresight—it's common sense.'
For the same reason, he couldn't blame her proposal to ally against them.
If her fears proved true—that constellations manipulated players to harm the world—neither the Society nor he could stop it alone.
He could slay constellations but not fight the whole world.
The Society held all worldly wealth but lacked means to win against them.
In that light, Li Chingwei waiting for his fall to ally was tactically sound.
He'd never have joined the Society otherwise.
He'd even rejected her once.
'Can't blame her for coming after selling off nearly half her clan's shares.'
Already down to 49.9% control.
Just 0.1% more, and the Black Dragon Clan might shatter entirely.
Scold the girl who sought him only after that desperation?
Rimon was called a mad dog for his recklessness, but he wasn't that much of a bastard.
And without clear guilt, he couldn't demand blood debt.
Extracting it from the innocent was mere murder.
So what?
Fine, ignore it.
He could kill her, smash the Society for catharsis.
The world economy would crash, players backed by constellations would rampage, peace shatter.
But heroes are born in chaos.
Show overwhelming power against constellations amid it, and he'd reclaim his absolute status, return as humanity's hero.
But Rimon couldn't.
He knew too well what lay at the end of such a path.
The Heroes Age—when most heroes thrived—was history's bloodiest era.
The reason why, among 13 immortal Sword Masters, he alone became the last.
Thus, he could quit being a hero.
But he couldn't quit being human.
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