# Chapter 134
—
Arthur’s mouth fell open.
At the far end of the white space.
A man stood there—his face strangely familiar.
“Ah… Father?”
He blinked, wondering if it was some illusion.
But nothing changed.
The black hair that symbolized House Bayern.
Eyes slightly raised at the corners, giving him a sharp, refined look.
Distinct features, the kind that must have earned him praise as a dashing young man in his day—even now, faintly preserved despite the wrinkles.
The man Arthur had only ever seen in portraits.
His father, Leo Bayern, stood before him.
‘But how…?’
Arthur knew well—his father had fallen ill with an incurable disease and died when Arthur was only three years old.
His voice trembled as he asked,
“Are you… really my father?”
Leo Bayern’s lips curved into a faint smile.
\[*I may have failed as a father, but biologically—I am indeed your father.*]
“……”
\[*This is the first time we’re meeting like this, isn’t it, son?*]
Arthur collapsed onto the ground with a thud.
The sight of him sitting there in shock made Leo burst out in laughter.
\[*Is meeting your father really that delightful?*]
Arthur stammered, answering vaguely.
“Uh… not really?”
\[*Hm?*]
“It’s not exactly pleasant. I mean, this is the first time we’ve ever met, isn’t it?”
Leo blinked.
\[*Then why are you so surprised?*]
“Because someone I thought long dead is suddenly standing alive in front of me, that’s why.”
\[*You brat! When your dead father shows up alive, you should be glad!*]
“…But you vanished before I could even have the time to like you, so what are you talking about?”
\[*Why you—!*]
“But… are you truly my father?”
Arthur’s cautious question drew another smile from Leo.
\[*Shall we walk a little?*]
Arthur hesitated, then slowly stood up.
But he did not approach, lingering at a distance, uncertain.
It was too surreal to believe easily—doubt still gnawed at him.
‘Even this figure before me… could it be Sir Whitebeard’s curse at work?’
It was possible.
That man was a black magician who had lived for a thousand years. Even in death, who was to say he could not conjure such illusions?
As Arthur wavered, Leo stepped forward and extended a hand.
\[*What, do you dislike shaking hands with another man?*]
Reluctantly, Arthur grasped it.
Leo smiled faintly, pulled him closer, and began to walk.
Arthur, caught off guard, had no choice but to follow.
\[*Your hands are rough. You must have held a sword for a long time.*]
Arthur answered after a beat.
“I suppose I have.”
\[*For how many years?*]
“Hmm… about forty?”
\[*What!? Forty years? Then my son is older than me!?*]
Arthur explained.
“It can’t be helped. This is my second life.”
\[*…Second life?*]
“Yes. I nearly died, then came back and returned to the past. That’s why I can be older than you.”
Surprise flickered across Leo’s face.
\[*Second life… I see. So you, too, walked the road of the dead, just like I did.*]
“…The road of the dead?”
\[*That’s what people beyond the sea call the path the dead walk.*]
“Oh… really? That’s fascinating. But Father—”
\[*Hm?*]
“You don’t seem very surprised that I died.”
Leo shrugged.
\[*What’s so remarkable about dying and coming back? The real miracle is that we are able to meet like this now.*]
Arthur blinked, murmuring,
“…Is that so?”
\[*Of course.*]
“You’re… quite the unique man, Father.”
\[*That’s rich, coming from someone who’s died and lived again.*]
This time Arthur shrugged.
Leo chuckled and continued.
\[*This form you see is a memory imprinted in the blood you carry from me.*]
Arthur blinked again.
“A… memory, not you?”
\[*Yes. To be more precise—*]
He trailed off and fell silent.
\[*Hmm. The memory cuts off here. Unfortunately, I can’t explain further. In any case, what you see now is my memory.*]
Arthur thought to himself.
‘A memory carried in my father’s blood…?’
It both made sense and didn’t.
After all, he was Leo Bayern’s son, so he did carry his blood. But how could dormant memories of blood manifest into something like this?
It was beyond his common understanding.
Then Leo spoke again.
\[*Is Yonel doing well?*]
Arthur’s eyes widened.
“Mother?”
\[*Yes—my wife, your mother. The most beautiful woman in the world, Yonel.*]
As he said this, Leo turned his head, a dazzling smile lighting his face.
Arthur, dazed by the brilliance of it, barely managed to answer.
“Uh… yes, she’s doing well now.”
\[*Which means she wasn’t well before.*]
“Yes. She struggled a lot.”
\[*May I ask why?*]
Arthur hesitated.
Should he tell his father about the Dormunds? That Prince Khan Madrid was threatening House Bayern?
He wasn’t sure.
As the silence stretched, Leo suddenly stopped walking.
\[*Ah, time is short.*]
“…What?”
\[*It seems we must part soon. I’ll hear about Yonel another time.*]
Arthur’s mouth fell open.
“Part? So suddenly?”
\[*Meetings and partings are always sudden. Listen carefully now, Arthur.*]
Leo bent slightly at the waist.
Arthur wasn’t small, yet Leo was still much taller—only now did their eyes meet squarely.
And in that gaze, Leo spoke.
\[*To break the curse on you, you must become a Sword Master.*]
Arthur tilted his head.
“…Father, what nonsense is this?”
Leo ignored the question and pressed on swiftly.
\[*Sword aura can cut anything—but to cut what cannot be cut, you need a higher realm of sword aura. That is called Sword Force (Geomgang).*]
“……”
\[*When you manifest Sword Force, you will be able to sever the black magician’s curse. So once we part, you must become a Sword Master.*]
Arthur frowned slightly.
“I understand the theory, but just telling me to suddenly become a Sword Master? Even I can’t do that.”
Leo chuckled.
\[*It will be difficult, yes. But you can do it.*]
He patted Arthur’s head.
\[*Because you are my son.*]
“……”
\[*If you’re my son, you will succeed. The sword is your true gift.*]
At the touch, Arthur unconsciously lowered his head.
“I don’t understand any of this, Father.”
\[*You don’t need to. Just focus on becoming a Sword Master.*]
Leo lifted Arthur’s chin, making him look into his black eyes.
\[*Time is short, Arthur. That curse was cast by a black magician who made a pact with a demon—it is extremely vile.*]
“……”
\[*If you fail, you may be trapped in that place forever. And if you miss the right moment, you may never see your loved ones again.*]
Arthur’s eyes widened.
“What do you mean, Father?”
\[*Even if time flows differently there and here, time always moves forward.*]
“……”
\[*If you escape too late, you may be parted forever from your mother and sister.*]
Arthur’s mouth fell open.
Leo smiled faintly at his reaction.
\[*Now do you understand?*]
“…Yes.”
\[*Good. That’s enough.*]
“…May I ask one thing?”
\[*As much as you like.*]
“How is it that you and I were able to meet?”
Leo explained.
\[*Because of a very special miracle.*]
“A miracle?”
\[*Yes. The blood of mine within you—and your unbroken sanity.*]
Arthur’s eyes widened.
“My unbroken… sanity?”
\[*Yes. That impossible miracle gave rise to another miracle: this meeting. Do you understand?*]
Arthur muttered.
‘I don’t really get it… but I feel like I sort of do.’
Unbroken sanity—did that mean the peace he had just felt was proof that he had not yet lost himself?
Then Leo’s hand began to fade.
Startled, Arthur turned—and saw his father’s body becoming translucent.
He shouted desperately.
“If I keep my sanity, will I be able to see you again, Father!?”
Leo smiled.
\[*Yes, we will meet again. And then, it will not just be memory…*]
As his voice trailed, the white world crumbled away.
At that very moment Arthur’s eyes snapped open wide.
\[*I will embrace you with my real body.*]
Arthur’s eyes went even wider.
“Y-your real body? Father, then—you’re alive!?”
Leo did not answer.
Instead, he gently pinched Arthur’s cheek and whispered:
\[*I love you, my son. Take care of Yonel and Irene for me.*]
—
—
Arthur opened his eyes.
“……”
Above him stretched a pitch-black sky.
Or perhaps not a sky at all, but a black ceiling.
Staring up at it, Arthur understood.
“I’m back?”
He rose and looked around.
Just like the ceiling, everything was cloaked in darkness.
A faint shiver passed through him.
That crushing solitude—once again left all alone—wrapped around his body.
A feeling he had rarely ever experienced in life, yet now it pressed so heavily that he muttered:
‘Being alone… it’s harder than I thought.’
Perhaps Whitebeard’s curse was not this space itself—but this very emotion.
‘Or maybe it just feels worse after meeting Father… this loneliness cuts deeper now.’
The isolation gnawed at him, dragging his consciousness downward.
Arthur whispered in the dimness:
‘Could seeing Father… have been nothing more than a fantasy born of my longing?’
Looking back, none of it made sense.
How could his dead father’s memories be sleeping in his blood, only to awaken now?
Leo had said it was a miracle. But perhaps—it was just *wishful thinking*.
‘An illusion born of my desire to see Father…’
Judging by how things played out, that explanation seemed more likely.
A heavy sigh slipped from his lips—
When suddenly, a strange sensation stirred in his right hand.
“Hm?”
Arthur gasped softly.
Unnoticed until now, a streak of light gleamed amidst the pitch-darkness.
His heart pounded furiously as he looked at it.
“This is… the Meteoric Iron Sword?”
Blinking rapidly, he closed and opened his eyes again—but it remained.
Holan Leverkusen.
The keepsake of his father, once entrusted to him by his godfather.
That very sword now shone like a single beam of light within the dark.
The realization sent a thrilling shiver down his spine.
‘So it wasn’t an illusion. I truly met my father.’
His sunken consciousness surged back upward.
Arthur found himself smiling faintly as he whispered:
“Thank you, Father.”
Because it wasn’t a lie. Because it was real.
Swallowing the rest of the words, Arthur stood.
“Hoo…”
Exhaling deeply, he gripped the Meteoric Iron Sword in both hands.
A sensation both familiar and strange tingled at his fingertips.
With his mind settling into calm focus, he swung the sword down.
From top to bottom.
Whoosh—
For just a moment, the darkness split.
The Meteoric Iron Sword, glowing with light, had carved through Whitebeard’s darkness.
Arthur’s eyes gleamed at the sight.
‘Father said it. To cut what cannot be cut, I need something greater than sword aura.’
And that something could only be—Sword Force.
‘The final secret art of those who stand at the very pinnacle of the sword.’
Sword aura could cut anything—but Sword Force could cut what could not be cut.
‘Which means… if I wield Sword Force, even this curse can be severed, just as Father said.’
The problem was—could he truly become a Sword Master capable of unleashing Sword Force?
Arthur smiled faintly to himself.
“Why not? Who says I can’t?”
The sword was not a talent stolen from someone else, nor a gift of lineage.
It was Arthur Bayern’s own inborn gift.
And that gift had never once betrayed him.
With that conviction, Arthur swung again.
Swoosh—!
Once more, the darkness split. The sword’s light grew just a little stronger.
And within that radiance, a now-familiar voice whispered at his ear.
\[*That’s right, my son.*]
A smile spread across Arthur’s lips.
—
