Grand Return System

One Sword to End It All [Part 2]

The battle was already decided.

But for some reason, no one seemed to be willing to take it.

They had believed Gareth was invincible.

He’d been the father of the Sky Breaker Academy. To them, he’d always been a mountain. As long as Gareth existed, the academy would stand with him.

But now-

He had fallen.

And with his fall, the last ounce of hope in their hearts appears to have gone along with him.

Everyone understood what this meant.

With Gareth defeated, that was the end of Sky Breaker Academy.

And if they were to destroy the academy, not a single one of them would escape their death.

The thought spread silently through the crowd.

No one needed to say it aloud.

A few disciples lowered their heads.

Their hands trembled slightly.

Regret slowly appeared in their eyes.

They had thought at the time they were doing the right thing.

They had thought that they were selecting a mighty legacy. They had thought that by chasing Gareth, they could stand taller than all the other cultivators of the Fallen Leaf Domain.

They had longed to be that high up.

Power, fame, and glory – that’s what they had dreamed of.

But now, looking at the fallen remains of their own academy, they knew what that choice had cost.

There were a few that already started to regret having ever been part of the Sky Breaker Academy.

Others regretted taking part in this dispute.

If only they had known this was going to be the result, would they have done the same?

Nobody knew.

Maybe they’d have run off long ago.

Maybe they had already forsaken Gareth once it had come to this.

But regret was useless now.

They had already chosen their path.

And there was no turning back.

"Urgh..."

Then out of the wreck of the mountain came a low groan.

Several disciples froze.

Their heads snapped toward the sound.

Among the broken rocks, something moved.

This blood-spattered hand was struggling to get back on the ground.

Then another.

Gareth emerged from the crater.

His movements were painfully slow.

His clothes were shredded and covered in blood, and dust matted his face and hair. There were a number of visible wounds over his body, and every breath sounded ragged and laboured.

He was in no way as big as the energetic patriarch that had been on the platform a moment ago.

He looked as though he had only just dodged a bullet.

Gareth planted one hand on a fractured stone and pushed himself up.

His arms trembled.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

His legs nearly gave out beneath him.

He gritted his teeth and steadied himself.

Even standing was becoming difficult.

Each effort to put his broken body straight once again, was met with a fresh wave of agonizing agony.

Nevertheless, he would not stay grounded.

Slowly-Painfully-

Gareth managed to stand.

Barely.

His chest heaved up and down. The air felt like shards of glass in his lungs. Blood pooled in the corner of his mouth before beginning to trickle down his chin.

For a moment, he simply stood there.

Everything on the field of battle was destroyed about him.

The stones were broken and scattered across the floor. There were cracks running through the ground beneath his feet. Dust was floating, refusing to settle.

Gareth’s body swayed slightly.

So he rolled his eyes. Then he slowly turned his head to the side.

"Pfft!"

A large quantity of black blood gushed out of his mouth.

His body convulsed.

He tottered into a forward stumble and managed to arrest himself by bracing one hand on the floor.

Pain tore through every part of him.

It wasn’t a pain that one could grit one’s teeth through.

It was deeper than that.

Every bone in his body felt shattered.

It was a laceration across every meridian.

Even breathing hurt.

He could only start to breathe again, only continue to live, by not moving a finger for fear of the sickness within him multiplying.

The strike of the Supreme Demonic Sword went even deeper than stabbing him.

It had reached his soul.

That was what frightened Gareth the most.

And even now, he was still able to recall that horrifying sword intent.

All that is before him had been vanishing the very moment he swung his sword.

There had been no battlefield.

No disciples.

No ancient orthodoxy.

No escape.

Only that sword.

Gareth had come face to face with death, if only for a moment.

...And he’d knew something he’d refused to accept all his life.

He couldn’t resist it.

He couldn’t escape it.

He wouldn’t even delude himself into thinking that he had a real chance.

The sword had simply descended.

Cold.

Absolute.

Unavoidable.

All that you depended on was shot down in flames before your eyes.

Gareth’s fingers slowly dug into the dirt.

His nails pressed into the earth.

He tightened his grip.

Then loosened it.

Minutes later, his fingers closed once again into fists.

His shoulders trembled.

Not from fear.

From frustration.

From humiliation.

From the heart-breaking moment he realized his entire identity had been destroyed in a split second.

He had refined the Dark Body.

He had endured countless years of suffering.

He had progressed through darkness that would have shattered most practitioners.

He had given up more than anyone would ever understand.

And yet...

He was so weak just being here in front of Leon.

The thought was almost unbearable.

Gareth lowered his head.

His breathing became heavier.

His eyes lost their previous sharpness.

His heart felt like dead ashes.

He had sacrificed too much.

Far too much.

He had suffered through years of loneliness while the rest of the world had gone about their normal lives.

He had renounced all attachment that might cause him to falter.

Family.

Friendship.

Comfort.

[Even] [the] modest dream of living an ordinary life.

He had thrown all of it away.

Most amusingly, he had reportedly murdered millions of living creatures to build the Dark Body!

He had talked himself into the belief that each and every sacrifice was indispensable.

Every death had a purpose.

Every drop of blood had been part of a larger purpose.

All for the inheritance he kept safe.

All of this had been for the ancient orthodoxy standing behind him.

He had thought that someday, it would all be worth it.

He had thought he could bring back to the orthodoxy its previously held glory.

He thought he was finally going to prove himself.

He thought his name would be forever overshadowed by that of Zeon.

Yet in the end...