“How… how could it be you?! How could you possess Pride?!”
Leon’s voice rang out in shock. But the one most stunned by those words was Ian.
Woong!
The change was coming from Faith, the power that glowed within his body. The power that had always radiated with virtue now pulsed with a strange, dark glow. Ian narrowed his eyes and questioned the helt.
‘What the hell is going on? Pride? I thought this power was Faith!’
[So, it has co to this at last.]
The helt’s voice remained calm, as though it had anticipated this all along.
[Faith and Pride—they are only a step apart. When faith becos excessive, it turns into pride. That is the nature of the world.]
Its voice gradually grew firr.
[This was the First King’s final gambit. He feared the Seven Sins would one day reunite, so he took asures.]
‘What are you saying?’
[He transford Pride, the leader of the Seven Sins, into a Virtue—Faith. In doing so, he created a new balance between the Seven Virtues and the Seven Sins.]
‘!’
Originally, the Seven Virtues and Seven Sins were ant to be equal. But in the final days of the First King, the Sins had begun to outgrow the Virtues in power. So the King imbued Pride—the most dominant Sin—with the light of virtue, thereby weakening the Sins’ influence.
The helt turned its attention to Leon.
[Look at the greed in that man’s eyes. The First King was right.]
Without that precaution, the world would have once again plunged into chaos. And truthfully, Ian had long harbored doubts.
‘Back when I fought Leon… the Seven Virtues didn’t empower . They suppressed Faith, almost as if they feared awakening its true form.’
Even then, he had sensed it—Faith held a secret he hadn’t yet understood. That’s why, when Leon tried to absorb Sloth, Ian hadn’t been particularly worried.
Because he had Faith.
‘I was sure he wouldn’t get what he wanted anyway.’
If Leon absorbed Sloth, it would destroy him from within. And if he didn’t, Ian’s Faith would simply stop him. And his judgnt proved correct. A faint smirk touched Ian’s lips.
‘So the power Leon has been chasing his whole life… was with all along?’
[Indeed. He will never succeed. As long as you carry Pride—no, Faith—he cannot unite the continents or fuse the Seven Sins.]
Ian released the power of Faith and stared down Leon.
“So this is what you were looking for? You could’ve just asked.”
“Y-You bastard!”
Leon’s face contorted in rage. He had spent his entire life searching for that power—killing his followers, betraying his siblings, even his own parents.
“And now so lowborn scum like you gets to have it? That’s absurd!”
Worse yet, Leon’s body was crumbling from within. Greed, Lust, Sloth, and Gluttony—each Sin inside him now vied for dominance. He coughed up blood as he shouted.
“Hand it over! That… that is mine!”
Leon lunged at Ian. Unable to properly wield the Seven Sins anymore, he grabbed a fallen sword and charged.
“Give it to ee!”
“Try to take it if you can…”
Ian, too, raised the royal sword. There was no need to rely on Virtues or Sins.
‘No. I won’t use them. With the power I’ve gained through my own efforts… I will sever all ties to both the past and present.’
Ian believed in his swordsmanship. In his previous life, he had trained in solitude. In this life, he had sharpened his skills more than anyone else. He would not lose to Leon.
Their swords collided.
Clang!
Leon gritted his teeth, twisting his blade.
“Even without the Seven Sins, crushing a weakling like you is nothing!”
Leon’s sword moved with dazzling speed, flawlessly controlling the space around him and leaving Ian with nowhere to escape. His blade cut through the air, aiming straight for Ian’s neck—a technique reserved only for kings and crown princes.
“Die!”
But that was only the beginning. As the forr crown prince, Leon had countless opportunities to master a wide range of sword techniques. He now unleashed them one after another—the Lavaltor style taught directly by Duke Lavaltor, along with the refined sword styles of Bahara and Cantum—each one a trophy from King Eloin’s conquests.
“Can a lowly bastard like you even withstand this?!”
For a brief mont, Leon unleashed dozens of techniques simultaneously. Ian’s eyes glead.
‘Indeed… among all crown princes, Leon was the most skilled.’
But Ian raised his sword calmly. Unlike Leon, who wielded many styles, Ian had only one.
From a distance, Nathan—still fighting monsters—recognized the stance.
“That’s… royal ceremonial swordsmanship? That won’t work! Leon was the forr crown prince. He knows it inside and out!”
It was true. Leon had mastered the ceremonial sword technique long ago. Using it against him was dangerously predictable. But Galon, fighting nearby, shook his head.
“No. It’s fine.”
“What are you saying, Galon? Leon knows how to counter ceremonial swordsmanship!”
“That’s not just ceremonial swordsmanship. Don’t you rember, Nathan?”
“Huh? Rember what?”
“The final form of the ceremonial technique. When pushed beyond its limits… it becos sothing new. He showed us once, rember?”
“Ah… no way…”
Nathan’s mory snapped into place. Just once, Ian had shattered Nathan’s sword and placed his blade at his throat. The impact had been so great, Nathan had buried it deep.
“You’re saying… he’s using that now? The ultimate ceremonial swordsmanship?”
“Yes. His Highness is pushing beyond his limits.”
Just as Galon said, Ian raised his sword high as Leon’s dazzling strikes closed in.
Hoo…
Taking a deep breath, Ian’s eyes glead with resolve. As Leon’s sword moved with intricate precision toward him, Ian brought his blade down decisively.
Clang!
Leon’s sword, which had filled the space with relentless pressure, shattered. A scream of disbelief tore from his lips.
“H-how?! How could a lowborn like you break my sword?!”
But Ian didn’t stop. He pressed forward.
Clang, clang, clang…
The royal sword trembled softly in his grasp. Ian’s movents continued with the ceremonial form—a simple yet precise style that slowly choked the breath from his opponent.
Leon gritted his teeth.
“Don’t be ridiculous… ceremonial swordsmanship? That old legend about ruling the world once mastered? It’s just a fairytale!”
The only reason Leon had practiced ceremonial swordsmanship in the past was because of his ambition to inherit the First King’s legacy and beco Emperor of the continent. He had no choice—mastering that technique was the only way to access the hidden power known as the Royal Roader.
“I’m the one who perfected it! You think your shallow imitation can surpass ?!”
Leon’s swordsmanship shifted. He mirrored Ian’s stance—the exact ceremonial technique. The two clashed midair, both using identical moves. However—
Clang!
It ended in an instant. Leon’s sword, broken in half by Ian, flew through the air. Frustrated and flustered, Leon couldn’t even properly grasp his sword.
“W-what?! That was ceremonial swordsmanship?!”
It was a form of swordsmanship Leon had never even imagined—sharper, more rciless than any technique he had spent years mastering. It felt like a legend had truly co alive. At that mont, Ian’s eyes glead.
‘Now’s the ti!’
Without hesitation, Ian slashed.
Slash!
A long, diagonal gash tore across Leon’s body. He collapsed, disbelief written across his face.
Thud.
“This… can’t be. I was supposed to succeed the First King… to beco the new ruler…”
Blood spilled from Leon’s body—a hollow end for the man who had brought Ian so much pain across his past and present lives. From within Leon, a surge of black energy burst forth.
Woong!
They were the Seven Sins Leon had absorbed:
And now, those powers turned toward Ian, ferocious and hungry—as if Leon was no longer worthy. Ian didn’t resist. In monts, the Seven Sins were drawn into him, uniting in a single vessel.
Woong!
At last, all Seven Sins were one. Their power surged violently—and then, a transformation began within Ian’s body.
Swoosh…
The Virtue of Faith began to split. One side white, the other black. Faith… and Pride. Eventually, Pride rged with the other Sins.
Woooong!
A massive force erupted from Ian. He could feel it—clearly, undeniably.
‘Such overwhelming… power.’
With this strength, it felt as if anything were possible: becoming king of Kaistein, unifying the continent, even conquering the Kingdom of Magicians and beyond. Just then, the helt’s voice rang out.
[Get a hold of yourself! Don’t give in to that power!]
The Seven Sins were dangerous. They amplified desires, pushing their host to act on them. And with only four of the Seven Virtues at hand, their influence was hard to suppress.
[Rember your goal, Ian. Rember what you’ve already achieved!]
“!”
Ian’s darkened eyes suddenly cleared. He hadn’t forgotten.
“This… isn’t a place I should claim with soone else’s power. My place—I’ll claim it with my own strength!”
A fierce inner struggle began. The Seven Sins pushed, but Ian resisted. The Four Virtues, which had been suppressed by the Sins, began to rise and lend their strength.
< Compassion>
And alongside them, Ian’s own will.
As he fought back, the Seven Sins roared and released their power.
Bang!
With a violent explosion, darkness engulfed everything.
***
Snap.
Ian, now enveloped in the darkness of the Seven Sins, opened his eyes. But sothing felt… wrong.
‘Where… am I?’
Just monts ago, he had been fighting in Cantum’s Imperial City. But now he was surrounded by pitch-black void—completely empty. And then he noticed sothing odd about his perspective.
‘My field of vision… it’s low? Am I on the ground?’
His eye level was strange—he felt as if he were looking up from the floor. And he couldn’t move his body.
‘No, it’s not that I can’t move. It feels like I’m being restrained by sothing.’
Yet, there was sothing oddly familiar about this place. The feeling was recognizable, and the more he thought about it, the more unsettling it beca. Suddenly, Ian rembered a specific mont.
‘No way… Is this the mont Duke Garcia betrayed in my past life?’
Yes. It was the exact sa mont. Lying helpless on the ground, he heard a man’s voice in his ear.
“If only I had t His Majesty a little sooner… perhaps things would’ve been different. But it’s too late now.”
Ian’s eyes widened in shock. This was the final mont of his rembered past life.
“Garcia… Duke Garcia!”
Enraged, Ian shouted, but the Duke did not respond. Instead, he rely looked down with cold disdain—like gazing at an insect. Then—
“That vermin still lives?”
Another voice sounded in Ian’s ear. It was not part of his past mories, yet it felt strangely familiar.
‘Leon? That’s Leon’s voice?’
The throne where Ian should have sat—Leon now occupied. The great hall was stained in blood, and only two n remained standing. Duke Garcia didn’t spare Ian a glance as he turned to Leon.
“My apologies, my lord. I failed in my duty.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s not a bad way to pass the ti. Watching a re illegitimate—soone aiming for my throne—die painfully… I look forward to seeing it.”
“As you wish, Lord Leon… no, Your Majesty.”
Duke Garcia bowed deeply—a gesture Ian had never seen from him in his past life. At the sight, sothing deep within Ian ignited.
“Leon…! Duke Garcia!”
At that very mont, dark energy rushed into Ian’s heart. It was the power of the Seven Sins.
Thump-thump.
Ian’s heart began pounding fiercely.
Author's Thoughts
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