Chapter 11: Blade of Merciless Honor
Kage fixed a grim and merciless glare at the fallen Purist. Master Shinro’s actions were expected and understandable, but they were out of line.
’Tsk... how irritating...’
The world worked in vicious ways—things like respect and honor only mattered when power was concerned. The Great Lineage wielded so much power that even a bastard couldn’t be disrespected on any grounds.
And this wasn’t just about the Ironstorm clan; it was simply how the world worked.
Kage slowly moved forward. He had a massive bundle of rope slung across his torso, so he set it down first and slowly gripped the gluttonous sword strapped to the sash binding his ensemble.
Master Shinro spared it a brief glance and carefully extended the curved blade in his hand toward the Prince.
Kage was infuriated—that act alone was vicious blasphemy!
"Master Shinro, I give you my final warning. Anything from here on, I shall act strictly by the honor codes of the clan."
The man’s gaze settled coolly on Kage, like a predator dead-set on its prey.
Kage sighed, and that breath was the last of his mercy washing away with the air.
He casually unsheathed the sword and used the blade to mark the ground.
Then he turned his head to Master Shinro, his gaze cold and stripped of any emotion. In that moment, Master Shinro felt the razor-sharp fangs of pure death.
His eyes faltered as they stared at the frigid light in Kage’s eyes.
’How can a child...’
It was the only kind of look that cold-blooded killers possessed—pure killing intent that spoke of a deep and malevolent will toward death.
Still, the fallen Purist shook it off. Master Shinro must have lost an arm in battle, but he was still a Stage 6 Earth Realm Purist with considerable experience.
He wasn’t a man to be underestimated.
But he was still severely disadvantaged. Not because he had only one hand... but because Kage was the person he was facing.
Both moved. Master Shinro was fast, reaching Kage in a heartbeat. The boy shoved himself to the side and let Master Shinro’s sword slice across the edge of his own blade.
He stumbled to the side and swiftly turned. Master Shinro also made a swift turn and, without hesitation, dashed forward. Kage moved as well, switching to follow the direction of the man’s sword path instead of exploiting his obvious weakness of imbalance.
This strange habit puzzled Master Shinro. It made him wonder—was Kage being pitiful, or did he not see the obvious?
He knew Kage to be a brilliant child, so there was only one answer: the young master was reluctant to use his obvious weakness against him.
He gritted his teeth in annoyance.
’You won’t survive out there... if that’s how you want to be.’
Master Shinro drove his sword forward again, but Kage twisted, rolling his body through the air with razor-sharp speed.
It was astonishing how he could execute such a movement. Master Shinro had been his teacher from day one and had never taught him such a thing, so the man was surprised. Still, he didn’t let the shock cloud his judgment. He followed Kage through, slashing at him, but Kage kept twisting to the right, forcing the man to drive even more fiercely toward his left.
Master Shinro grew increasingly annoyed as he threw his hand back and slashed forward again.
"Young master! Is this how you want to protect yourself? By running like a sewer rat?"
Kage’s frown twisted venomously, and he suddenly stood still as Master Shinro brought his sword hand down.
Seeing that Kage had suddenly stopped moving, the man wanted to halt his movement, but it was too late. He wasn’t accustomed to his left hand. He was right-handed, and worse, there was a strain in his blood flow. Just as he tried to halt his hand, he discovered that the flow of qi essence in his body—especially in his arm—was not as it should be.
’Qi reversal?!’
For a moment, it seemed he had lost control of his own hand.
And the young master?
Kage stood there... an evil light blazing in his eyes.
In that moment, Master Shinro realized... but it was too late.
As the sword fell, Kage effortlessly swatted it away with his own blade, then leaned forward, preparing his hand for an upward strike.
"Any part of your body that doesn’t obey you should be severed."
He sent the obsidian blade flying in a vicious arc. Blood arced through the air, a severed hand following in its wake.
Kage’s face remained cold and expressionless as the blood from the fallen Purist’s severed arm splattered across his features.
The scene shook Taro and Lady Renka to their core. She clenched her trembling hands and stood frozen, ensuring she wouldn’t move at any cost.
Taro’s expression was one of sheer disbelief. When this battle started, he’d assumed Kage would lose and be sent back inside. But from the beginning, watching how the young master moved, his mouth had hung wide open.
Seeing Kage coldly slice off Master Shinro’s hand wrenched his heart and made him press his lips together. But he knew his place—aside from witnessing the effort Lady Renka was putting forth to stay still, he wouldn’t dare interfere.
Kage was a son born of Iron and Storm, legitimate or not. It was wise not to give him any more reasons to be vicious, so Taro also stayed put.
Meanwhile, Kage retrieved his sheath from the ground and slid the sword back in. Master Shinro dropped to his knees, right where Kage had drawn the line with his sword before the battle began.
Master Shinro laughed bitterly, his eyes hollow as blood trickled from his severed stump.
"Qi reversal... how?"
Kage picked up the bundle of rope and slung it over his torso before responding with cold indifference.
"Every Severance art has its weakness. Yours was easy to exploit because you lost your arm."
Master Shinro, confused, raised his bloodied face to Kage and asked with the tone of a humbled student—his pride shattered but still eager to learn.
"How? You didn’t even exploit my obvious blind side."
Kage’s frown deepened with irritation.
"That was an obvious trap only a fool would fall for. You’ve been one-armed for fifteen years—it’s only natural that you would have refined your Severance art to compensate for the imbalance and shift focus to your left hand. But the left hand cannot compare to over twenty years of wielding with your right. All I had to do was deceive it into a pattern of movement that would strain it, causing qi reversal since you were constantly circulating your body with qi..."
Master Shinro was confused, at what point did he miss the young master’s growth? How could he be exploited in such a manner by a fifteen years old boy who had never even been to war!
He was confused and devastated.
At the same time, he was glad... glad that he was wrong about the young master. This was the kind of ruthlessness a bastard needed to survive in a Clan like Ironstorm.
Kage sighed and looked at him with icy detachment before walking past him.
"At least you won’t bleed to death, since the hand was severed during reversed blood flow."
With that, Kage walked through the gate and descended into the forest.
Master Shinro wore a faint smile on his face, muttering softly.
"Young master... you won’t survive if you keep being like that."