Ch-82
—
**“Level 26 proficiency limit release. That’s insane.”**
The Dragon Swordmaster was a completely broken class — one that unlocked sword proficiency all the way up to Level 26.
Without a related class, ordinary weapon proficiency could only be raised up to Level 10. Even if one equipped gear bearing the title of *Extreme*, enhanced to the limit, it was impossible to raise proficiency beyond Level 10.
That was precisely why he hadn’t bothered raising his sword proficiency until now.
He already had two *Extreme Iron Swords*. Since he couldn’t go past Level 10 anyway, what was the point?
With a related class, one could usually unlock up to Level 15.
Classes that unlocked up to Level 20 were extremely rare.
They existed, but were incredibly difficult to obtain.
Anything above that?
*“Proficiency limits above Level 20 exist only in inherited classes.”*
If one inherited a class from a unique weapon, from a transcendent human, or from some great being, then the class rank could be elevated.
A proficiency limit of Level 26 placed this among the highest tier even among inheritable classes.
To surpass Level 26 again, one would need to absorb the related star and transcend.
“Where did the Azure Radiance go?”
Come to think of it, Sword Saint Riley was said to wield a unique-grade sword.
The Azure Radiance.
But its whereabouts were unknown.
**「It was inherited by someone.」**
“So that means the Sword Saint’s inheritance is complete?”
**「Yes. The title and rank I bore when I was human have already been passed on.」**
The Sword Saint.
Only one person came to mind.
*Gracia.*
The only one who brazenly went around calling himself the Sword Saint was Gracia.
If **he** had inherited the Azure Radiance…
Then he was curious to see what the Sword Saint’s proficiency limit was.
**「However, that title applies only when measured by a human standard. The Dragon Swordmaster is a class I awakened while facing the Demon King, just before sinking into the Abyss. I could not fully become one with that shell… which is a pity.」**
As expected.
The Dragon Swordmaster was a class awakened when Riley first learned to control the dragon’s blood while confronting the Demon King.
Though he ultimately failed, was defeated, and sank into the Abyss, the regret lingering in his voice suggested that—had he gained complete control—the outcome might have been different.
It also explained why he wanted so desperately to face that shell—the Supreme Dragon—himself.
*No wonder it felt unfamiliar.*
Riley was famous as the Sword Saint, but he had never heard the name Dragon Swordmaster.
If it was a class awakened only at the very end, it made sense no one would know.
**《In 20 seconds, the basic maintenance of the ‘Radiant Throne of Light’ will dissipate.》**
But he couldn’t back down.
For the Dragon Swordmaster inheritance, Riley’s acknowledgment was required.
**「Do not underestimate the Supreme Dragon. That dragon is pure evil, its destructive instinct preserved only by its blood. Without one who has faced it over countless years, it cannot be opposed.」**
His soul and body were separated.
The Supreme Dragon was an empty shell, left only with the instinct to destroy.
And yet, it was also still himself — and Riley was calling that self pure evil.
**「Master of the Throne. I hope you make the correct choice. Not out of disrespect — but because the vessel is far too heavy for one who has not walked the path of the sword.」**
Riley’s sentiment was understandable, but he ignored it and slowly loosened his body.
**《In 5 seconds, the basic maintenance of the ‘Radiant Throne of Light’ will dissipate.》**
His body trembled.
Every cell felt as if it were waking.
How far could he go?
The inherited memories of Wilhelm through the star.
How far could this body reach?
Riley — the Sword Saint, one of the six greatest heroes of the Old Empire.
He was curious to see the limits he could reach while borrowing Riley’s ability.
He gripped his swords in both hands.
Then, after taking a slow breath—
**《The basic maintenance of the ‘Radiant Throne’ has dissipated.》**
He stepped forward, walking upon the light.
—
—
Mana spheres poured down like rain.
Each carried enough destructive force to topple castle walls.
But the real problem was the abyssal arms rising from the ground.
They filled every inch of space, leaving no place to step.
Physical attacks had no effect.
Sword aura could cut them, but doing so was horribly inefficient.
**「The shell has grown stronger after sinking into the Abyss. Those abyssal arms… be careful.」**
Even Riley seemed unfamiliar with these attack patterns.
Those arms were not originally part of the Supreme Dragon.
They were newly formed.
And while seated upon the Throne of Light, he had already identified their nature.
**《You have destroyed the Supreme Dragon’s Mystery: ‘Deep Abyss.’》**
The countless abyssal arms vanished in an instant.
As expected.
There were monsters that hid Mysteries like this, disguising them as abilities.
They concealed them because exposure would reveal their weakness.
They wanted it to appear like a natural function of the labyrinth itself.
*Annoying hands removed. Now…*
With the arms gone, he could move freely.
He batted away the falling mana spheres with a blade barrier and gazed at the Supreme Dragon floating overhead.
*Let’s fly.*
—
—
**「……」**
Riley stared blankly at the man.
Not only was he using the Dragon Swordmaster’s abilities as though they were his own…
He shattered the hidden Mystery the Supreme Dragon gained from the Abyss, blocked every barrage without missing a single shot, found an opening, and used the walls of the labyrinth as footholds to launch himself upward.
*Kiaaah!*
And then he left a long sword gash across one of the Supreme Dragon’s wings.
The entire sequence was so natural, so fluid, that Riley lost all words.
**「……」**
Easy to say, but impossible to do.
Not even two minutes had passed.
To adapt to a transformed body, block the Supreme Dragon’s attacks, and simultaneously plot a counterattack route within that time — it was absurd.
Anyone would explode, unable to endure the bodily transformation.
Ten thousand out of ten thousand, a hundred thousand out of a hundred thousand — all would die.
There should have been **no exceptions**.
There *should* have been.
*KIAAAA!*
The Supreme Dragon crashed to the ground and roared in fury.
Flames burst outward from its body in a circular shockwave.
Those flames tore apart everything, inside and out.
Sword aura alone could not block them.
Randolph gripped his swords again.
And—
“—Hup!”
He brought his blade down hard on the incoming flames.
Yet the shockwave and fire were not destroyed.
They simply passed **through** him.
Riley could not believe his eyes.
**「Resonance…?」**
Resonance with the sword.
He became the sword and let the attack flow past him.
But that resonant sword technique was far beyond merely emitting sword aura.
How could someone who had never walked the path of the sword use such a technique?
And then what followed was even more overwhelming.
Randolph became a sword.
And he became a dragon.
The shape of the Supreme Dragon rose around his body.
He wasn’t seeing things.
The shape of his sword aura was taking on the form of the Supreme Dragon itself.
**「He’s resonating… even with the Supreme Dragon…?」**
Not only with the sword — he was resonating with the nature of the Dragon Swordmaster.
When he faced the Demon King, Riley had barely managed to awaken the Dragon Swordmaster.
But he had never completed it.
A Dragon Swordmaster could only be complete when one became wholly one with the dragon.
Perfect resonance was required.
Was such a thing possible?
To carve out the path Riley had failed to complete — in such a short span?
Was that truly possible?
Talent greater than even himself, a member of the Six Heroes, the Sword Saint?
*“It isn’t talent. That cannot be called talent.”*
This was beyond talent.
It felt more like walking a path one had already traveled.
Not creation. Not pioneering.
As if he already knew the road — and was merely sprinting down it faster.
The path Riley had barely begun to create…
He already knew it. Already mastered it.
*…Is something like that truly possible?*
—
—
The relationship between Sword Saint Riley and the Supreme Dragon.
It was much like his own relationship with Wilhelm.
A character he raised — but not himself.
An ambiguous existence he could not call his own.
Perhaps that was why Riley called the Supreme Dragon a shell.
*Then am I Wilhelm?*
It wasn’t a philosophical question.
He simply wondered whether the Wilhelm he raised, whose memories he inherited through the star, could truly be called “himself.”
A dissonance between game and reality.
Riley must have wrestled with the same conflict.
But Riley rejected the Supreme Dragon, labeling it evil.
*…What does it matter?*
He set the thought aside.
He was not Wilhelm.
But he could **become** Wilhelm.
He could become anyone.
And reach even beyond.
*Interesting.*
Right now, simply moving his body and swinging his swords brought him joy.
There was no room for hesitation.
Movements he could never have imagined before.
This corrected body allowed him to replicate everything he had only dreamed of.
His own gameplay combined with Wilhelm’s memories—
He became Wilhelm.
**《Reproducing the “Earth” of “Heaven and Earth Genesis.”》**
Resonance.
He resonated with everything upon the land.
The *Earth* of Heaven and Earth Genesis.
A sword technique that nullified attacks through resonance.
He casually negated the Supreme Dragon’s attacks as easily as breathing.
*More.*
Every step he took—
His heart roared in ecstasy.
But it wasn’t enough.
*Just a bit more.*
He wanted a limit beyond limits.
At this level, he could not fully unravel this long-awaited encounter.
So push him harder.
*Come at me with everything.*
The harder he was pushed, the further his limits would grow.
If he could reach beyond Earth, into the realm of *Opening*—
Then perhaps the fog in his mind would clear.
How long had he swung his swords in that trance-like state?
Eventually, a massive dragon stood before him.
The Supreme Dragon.
The shell he had labeled pure destruction and evil — had stopped attacking.
*Why?*
Why had it stopped?
His thirst had not yet been quenched.
Then the Supreme Dragon met his eyes.
It simply looked down at him.
Not like a mindless shell, but like a living being capable of expressing intent.
**「That… cannot be…」**
Sword Saint Riley spoke as though he could hardly believe it.
The dragon, ravenous for blood, had stopped attacking.
Not once — not once — had the Supreme Dragon ceased its destruction since becoming a dragon.
It had never gazed so quietly at anything.
This phenomenon was impossible.
**《The Supreme Dragon looks at you.》**
And it was looking not at Sword Saint Riley—
But at **him**.
Only then did he understand.
The reason Riley had been able to awaken as a Dragon Swordmaster.
The Supreme Dragon’s blood — Riley’s cursed half — had reached out to him countless times.
But as a human Sword Saint, Riley could never accept it.
He had viewed the dragon’s blood as a curse, and could not acknowledge the Supreme Dragon — which transformed on its own and wrought destruction — as part of himself.
He was a member of the Six Heroes.
A great hero.
“Riley. Do you truly believe that awakening as a Dragon Swordmaster in your final moment was mere coincidence?”
Awakening from giving everything against the Demon King?
That only happens in comics.
No — in that single moment…
Riley had accepted it.
The Supreme Dragon.
He had wanted to stop the Demon King, even if it meant using the cursed power of his blood.
「…So I was the problem?」
“Because you turned away, your other half had no choice but to perceive the world differently.”
It wasn’t even an issue as sharply divided as light and darkness.
Yet Riley had defined his other half as evil.
A split bloodline, a split self.
Divided so starkly, it had been incapable of proper learning.
All it could do was interpret everything as the opposite of Riley.
From the very beginning, dragons had always been objects of fear in human societies.
Unless someone taught them otherwise, it was only natural that a dragon would feed on human fear and become a bringer of terror.
Meaning—
*The Dragon Swordmaster was also only a half.*
The Dragon Swordmaster.
A class that uses the Sword Saint’s techniques through the blood of a dragon.
And this too meant it was only half-complete.
In the end, Riley had never properly used the dragon’s blood.
He had never fully accepted it.
And that was how he achieved a half-formed awakening.
I slowly extended my hand and touched the Supreme Dragon.
After countless exchanges in battle, I was now resonating with the Supreme Dragon.
Even a half-awakening of the Dragon Swordmaster’s disposition was enough to resonate with it.
「This is…?」
But this time, Riley was included in the resonance as well.
Using my body as the medium, I had bound both Riley and the Supreme Dragon together.
—
I can’t stop reading, he’s uniting them
I see so Riley wasn’t weak he was just a bigot