It was simple, really. My power was impossible to beat, in the most definitive sense imaginable.
Infons. With them, I could control the very blueprint of existence.
The particles of information that wove together reality's truth, law, and form.
With this ability, I could manipulate them without restriction.
There wasn't a single law I couldn't surpass. Time, gravity, motion, fate, none were outside my reach.
However, that power came with a caveat. A cruel one.
I didn't yet possess the cultivation to exert my full control.
In essence, I could see how to break the chains, but I lacked the strength to shatter them. That was the price of understanding.
Still, I was an honest man.
Uhana arched her blade toward me with a grin that dared me to flinch. I didn't.
My Regalia gave me more than raw dominance over infons. It gave me heightened perception, instantaneous processing, predictive reflex.
In combat, I became untouchable. Before she moved, I had already seen the outcome.
My mind wasn't just fast, it was layered. I could analyze her footing, breath, tension in her muscles, and compare it to every move she'd made before.
In less than a second, I could simulate her next strike and create a hundred possible counters.
Then I picked the best one.
I sidestepped, turned, and angled my blade so precisely that hers was launched from her hand in a flash of steel.
Before she could react, I grabbed her wrist, twisted under her guard, and spun her around, bringing her crashing to the ground with a thud.
Dust kicked up from the floor as she coughed, glaring up at me with mild irritation painted across her face.
"Is that any way to treat your wife?" she muttered, clearly trying not to smile.
I raised a brow and smirked. "It was only two days ago when you did the exact same thing to me. You even kissed me after."
She grumbled something unintelligible and pushed herself up, dusting off her clothes with exaggerated effort.
"Ah, I really didn't mean to," she said in a voice that tried to sound cute but landed somewhere between insincere and smug.
I reached out and cupped her cheek with one hand. "Sure. And I didn't mean to either. Complete accident."
Her frown deepened, barely, but she couldn't hide the smirk creeping through.
She retrieved her blade as the surge of power from my Regalia faded. That told me the Inheritance was spent.
Temporary activation. Temporary advantage. That's the balance of caution and power.
She took a few steps back, her eyes narrowing with mischief.
"Alright, now that you're drained…" she whispered, her stance shifting.
I cursed under my breath as she charged. "Again!"
Her blade came down, but I raised mine, parrying the blow as I stepped to the right.
Then I pivoted backward, deflecting her quick thrust before spinning and swinging downward with force.
She flicked her blade behind her with a casual grace and blocked me, then retaliated with a swift kick aimed at my legs.
I jumped, pushing off her descending blade mid-air and landing several feet back.
Just as I caught my footing, she flashed to my left and lunged.
I shifted back and thrust my hand toward her chest, only for her cheeks to flush pink as she twisted away, creating a brief opening.
I swung again, but she twisted her body unnaturally and reappeared at my side.
"Using magic?" I muttered, barely blocking the sharp arc of her blade.
She scoffed. "You tried to assault me!"
The force of her strike pushed me back.
I flipped mid-air, landed on my feet, and brought my blade down to dismantle her next thrust.
"Just don't be embarrassed. You're my wife now, aren't you?"
She didn't answer. Instead, she stepped in close and aimed a clean strike at my neck.
I parried and lunged for a counter-thrust, but she deflected and reached out with one hand.
I couldn't move.
Her palm pressed firmly into my chest, and my body folded under the pressure before I was launched backward.
I skidded across the floor, dust rising in my wake.
Before I could recover, the cold edge of her blade touched my neck. Her smile was smug, a mirror of her irritating confidence.
"Seems like you still can't win without that power of yours."
I fully lowered my sword and let out a long sigh. "I suppose so."
She lowered hers and rubbed her neck. "I think I'm done for today. I have to go fulfill my queenly duties."
I chuckled. "Is my mother pestering you too much?"
She waved it off. "All can be ignored except for the heir thing."
I sighed. "It's really unavoidable, though I'll wait until we both feel comfortable enough."
She gave me a soft smile. "Thanks."
She walked over, took off her gear, and carefully set her sword aside before leaving.
Really, it is important. Who knows what might happen soon, but there's no point in rushing.
Between two beings of our caliber, strong magic users, conception isn't just a matter of timing. She has to actually want to give birth for it to occur.
If not, then her body will actively reject it, even if we do have intercourse.
Not to say we don't, Uhana insisted we do so at least once a week.
So it really did come to a surprise she couldn't handle things like a kiss when I've seen her body unclothed.
I looked down at my sword and sighed. "It seems I'll need to try harder."
I walked to the middle of the room, closed my eyes, and began to visualize.
Around me was a raging fire, a rampaging storm, a mad light, and crazed thunder.
An army surrounded me, charging from all sides with madness and hatred burning in their eyes.
They carried cannons and swords, guns and bows, spears and axes. But they all had one thing in common.
They were committed. They all wished to kill me. To slaughter me.
I moved, striking them down, shifting and gliding along the sounds of clashing steel, flying bullets, and soaring arrows.
It was all-consuming, mesmerizing, as if it were the only reality that existed.
Then I spun, swinging, parrying, blocking, dodging, evading. I tore through the army infinitely.
I didn't stop, not even for a breath. Using my mana as fuel, disregarding any notion of stamina, I continued.
My sword trembled with each clash, until finally, when the vision ended, the scene vanished.
I stood in silence as my sword, now in hand, began shaking with a violent force. Moments later, it shattered.
I looked down at the splintering wood and sighed. "I was aiming for disintegration."
I looked up. I'm still far too weak. I need more power.
There is more I wish to accomplish, despite my current weakness.
My kingdom is lacking in new technologies. It is short on manpower, short on resources.
All of these things shall be granted under my rule.
And the one thing I will contribute? Might.
If I am to be a king, I must not fall to my knees in the face of death, or even the divine.
I must raise my sword, raise my strength, and scream out to this world.
I am the sole hero of this kingdom, the final bastion against ruin, the sole statue that will not be carved from nostalgia, but from the blood of triumph and the steel of accomplishment.
I will stand before the world with my kingdom on my shoulders and my power blazing along the edge of my blade.
And when the world can no longer look away, when the heavens and the abyss alike bow in recognition, I will rise beyond even that.
I will shatter the mold they tried to force me into. I will become something greater. Something real.
I will become my true self.
This is my conviction.