At the outskirts of Swardani City, near the border, there is a high-rise building that is about to be completed.
Whether due to funding issues or some other reason, construction on the building had suddenly halted. Gone was the bustling activity of the daytime, and by night, the place was devoid of any signs of life.
The entire construction site was eerily quiet, with hardly a passerby in sight.
At the entrance of the construction site, only a few security guards stood watch.
Looking from the security booth toward the building, one could vaguely sense an overwhelming aura of gloom.
At this moment-
Deep within the building, shrouded in darkness, a figure stood before a load-bearing pillar.
This figure was none other than Pariston.
He held a phone in his hand.
In the darkness, the faint glow of the phone screen was strikingly conspicuous.
A rough, heroic male voice came through the phone.
"It seems Nasubi can't wait any longer. The ant that came from the Dark Continent might even have some connection to him."
The owner of this voice was none other as Netero's son, Beyond Netero.
Pariston informed Beyond of what happened today.
But Beyond couldn't care less about what Nasubi had done behind his back.
What proved this was his calm tone, devoid of even the slightest fluctuation.
Pariston leaned against the load-bearing pillar and reminded him: "But this debt... will be placed on your head."
"It doesn't matter."
Beyond's tone remained as carefree as ever.
A misunderstanding?
Or even a frame-up?
So what?
Such trivial matters weren't worth wasting his energy over.
But if someone dared to use this as an excuse to pick a fight, then whether they're human or ghost, Beyond would crush them all with his fists.
Right now, only the Dark Continent was worthy of Beyond's attention.
As for what Nasubi was thinking or what he intended to do-
Beyond wouldn't encourage it, but he wouldn't stop it either.
Everyone had the right to make their own decisions, himself, Nasubi, and even that old geezer who kept scheming to stop him from going to the Dark Continent-
Right or wrong didn't matter. Doing what one wanted-
That was the freedom humans deserved!
Pariston understood Beyond's methods and personality, and he also knew that further reminders would be pointless.
Anyway, he has already informed the 'relevant situation', which can be regarded as fulfilling his responsibility.
"I understand, but... never mind. That's all for now."
Pariston had initially considered mentioning that Nasubi might not let things rest, but when he thought of Beyond's attitude, he didn't bother to say more.
After ending the call, Pariston's right hand holding the phone slowly dropped.
Crack.
With just a slight exertion of force, he crushed the phone into pieces.
"It's about time."
Pariston loosened his grip, letting the shattered remains of the phone fall to the ground, and murmured thoughtfully into the darkness.
Tap, tap, tap-
He suddenly turned and walked forward some distance.
In this deathly silent environment, the sound of his footsteps echoed far into the distance.
Suddenly, there were other sounds in the darkness.
A sharp, whistling sound, like something slicing through the air, coming from behind Pariston's left side.
Hearing the sudden noise, Pariston's expression remained calm, as if he had mentally prepared for this.
Or, to be more precise-
He had anticipated this exact scenario.
Faced with the attack, Pariston suddenly turned sideways and narrowly dodged the unknown object hurtling toward him from behind.
There was only a sharp sound of slicing the air that passed by his ears in an instant, and in Pariston's dark vision, he could vaguely see several thin, crimson streaks of light flashed from close range into the distance.
"Sword?"
Having adjusted to the darkness, Pariston barely managed to make out the shape of the thing that had attacked him.
It appeared to be a sword.
The exact outline was hard to discern, but he could confirm that the mysterious sword was emitting a reddish glow.
"Hmm?!"
Pariston watched as the crimson streaks of light faded into the darkness, only to suddenly reverse course and come flying straight back at him.
With no time to react further, Pariston moved sideways several body lengths to dodge the unknown sword flying towards him.
'Manipulation-Type…?'
Pariston glanced sideways at the retreating red streaks, silently analyzing in his heart.
He originally thought it was an Enhancement-Type Ability, utilizing thrown swords, but judging from the fact that the sword suddenly turned around in mid-air, it was almost certainly Manipulation-Type...
As his thoughts raced, the crimson thread-like light representing the unknown sword came again in the darkness, and its speed was obviously getting faster and faster.
Pariston narrowed his eyes slightly and focused his Aura on his feet.
Boom!
Pariston's feet slammed into the ground, cracking the concrete.
Taking advantage of the momentum generated when he stomped on the ground, Pariston lunged sideways again, and then stared closely at the unknown sword as it whizzed past him.
'An illusion…? No, it has definitely gotten wider.'
As he retreated, a hint of surprise appeared in Pariston's eyes.
The visibility was poor, but Pariston had long since adapted to the dark.
And just now, he had noticed that the attack area of the unknown sword had become wider.
This means that the size of the sword has changed.
At the same time, it also made Pariston's judgment that it was a Manipulation-Type ability become confusing.
"Huh?"
Just as more questions arose in Pariston's mind, a bright moonlight suddenly shone into the building from outside.
The thick clouds had parted, allowing the full moon's silver glow to spill across the land.
As the pale moonlight penetrated the building, Pariston finally got a clear look at the thing attacking him.
It was indeed a sword.
But it's weird.
The blade was about four to five meters long, but its width was at least two meters, which is disproportionately broad.
There is no visible hilt, and the weapon consisted solely of the blade itself.
And across that absurdly wide surface, molten, vein-like streaks of light pulsed, resembling the dense network of blood vessels within a human body.
'What… is that thing?'
There was a trace of astonishment flashing in Pariston's eyes.
A strangely shaped, hiltless sword hovered in mid-air, its crimson glow flickering ominously.
It did not give Pariston much time to think. Suddenly, the blade adjusted its angle and shot towards Pariston like an arrow, propelled by no visible force.
The sharp sound of breaking through the air echoed through the floor.
Pariston suppressed the turmoil in his heart and quickly moved his body sideways, getting out of the attack path of the strange sword.
But at this moment, the strange sword that was flying towards Pariston suddenly expanded.
To be more precise, it becomes longer and larger, instantly spanning the entire floor space in the blink of an eye.
And Pariston, who had just retreated to a safe distance, was suddenly bisected by the blade as it sliced horizontally across the room.
The upper half of Pariston's body remained standing atop the now gigantic, steel-plate-like sword that filled the entire floor.
His face was frozen in stunned disbelief.
…
Meanwhile, on the top of a tall building.
Moses looked at the unfinished building bathed in silver moonlight.
"You're a grown-up sword now. You should know how to cut people on your own."