[Comment and give me power stones...making these chapters in an internet cafe isn't easy at all! Please, I know we can reach 300 power stones and 100 comments before the day is over! I believe in you...or if not, just prepare yourselves for an NTR story!!]
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That day, the Sacred Land of the Sword and the kingdom of Asura forged their first alliance, one that would last for millennia. Although the conditions for this alliance were initially controversial, all the swordsmen involved ultimately accepted them, having no other choice. These conditions were:
*All swordsmen of the Sacred Land of the Sword would become Knights of Asura and would be prepared to defend the nation from any danger that might arise.*
*Ghislaine Boreas Greyrath would become the new Sword God after claiming the position of sixth world power by defeating Gull Farion, and she would be accepted into the position by all swordsmen.*
*The Sacred Land of the Sword would become a protectorate of Asura, with the kingdom having the right to reclaim the territory whenever they wished.*
*Leadership of the Sacred Land of the Sword would pass directly to Ghislaine Boreas Greyrath and her husband, King Rudeus Boreas Greyrath.*
*The Sacred Land of the Sword would swear absolute loyalty to the Boreas Greyrath Royal Family.*
With these conditions, the alliance between the two territories began, the most powerful union seen since the Second Human-Demon War.
...
Obviously, a considerable number of people opposed this change, mainly the older Sword Saints, those who had become stagnant with the title and whose lack of talent prevented them from advancing.
But once again, they were silenced by the younger, more intelligent swordsmen.
"Anyone who opposes this will have to deal with me!! Is that clear?!" Timothy suddenly shouted, and with that, the opposition to this agreement died.
Obviously, Ghislaine wouldn't stay here unless I came to live with her, which would mean bringing my entire family here, something I wasn't going to do.
Therefore, I opted for the easiest and most accessible option, which would be to leave a representative.
In my previous "fight" with Clint and Timothy, I could see that the latter was almost as fast as Gull, and in Sword God style, speed is everything. Therefore, the most logical option is to appoint him as the interim Sword God for the rest of his life. He would be in charge of protecting this place while Ghislaine and I were away, which would be almost all the time.
In fact, forming an alliance with these guys turned out to be much more complicated than I imagined. With all these barbarians and the like, I felt my classism growing stronger with every minute I spent there.
Timothy obviously refused initially, but after I said it was a direct order from the Sword God, he reluctantly agreed.
So, with that matter finally settled, I could turn my attention to what really mattered. The swordsmen began to disperse and resumed their training as if nothing had happened, until only I, Ghislaine, Reida, and Isolte remained in the main dojo. Isolte had been silent for a few seconds... Oh, and I could see Nina in the corner, looking at me with a complicated expression, unsure what to say.
So I simply approached her and could see that she was sad, so I used my best moves to comfort her... Well, that's what I tried to do, since unlike the other girls who look at me, she looked at me with slight suspicion, but without the lust that accompanies the other girls when they see me.
Besides, thinking back, her affection for me had only increased by 10%, so she must see me now as just a coworker and not as the damn sexiest man in the world, although honestly, it was somewhat refreshing.
"Are you still in shock about your father?" I asked her, but she shook her head sharply.
"No...not my father, it's...ugh!!, that damn coward!" She gritted her teeth, but I could more or less guess who it was.
After all, I could still feel Gino's presence moving at high speed as he descended the mountain.
"Is it because of the boy who was with you?" I asked, and her eyes widened.
"H-how come you...!" she exclaimed, completely surprised. In her mind, she had completely hidden herself and hadn't been exposed at any point.
"It's nothing, I just sensed their presence inside the dojo when I arrived, and one of them running away," I said, shrugging, but she shuddered with fear.
'He can sense my presence...not even a surprise attack will work then!' she screamed in her mind as her face went completely white.
But outwardly, she had only paled slightly and avoided my gaze before coughing uncomfortably. "Yes... he's my cousin, and we've never been apart, but... I never thought he'd be such a damn coward! And who knows where he went!" she shouted in frustration, then crossed her arms and sighed in exasperation.
"If you want, I can help you find him," I said with a slight smile.
In response, she simply raised an eyebrow and stared at me, then sighed deeply.
"I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" she asked.
"I never said that," I replied with a mocking smile, and she gave me a light punch in the chest in response.
Ding!
[Nina's Affection increased to 15%!]
[This kid doesn't seem so bad after all...]
My smile froze slightly, then widened at the system notification, and I left the dojo.
Ghislaine returned to Asura first, while Reida and Isolte went off to talk. I left with Nina diligently following behind.
Using my Superd Eye, I was able to locate Gino about 8 kilometers down the hill. He had been running nonstop the whole time, which I found incredible, but I pushed those thoughts aside.
"Walking will only slow us down, I'll use my magic," I told her, and before she could react, I lifted into the air and used gravity magic to pull her down with me.
"W-what?! Waaaah!" she screamed in panic as I shot down the mountain.
"Nooo!! Put me down!!" she yelled in panic, but I ignored her.
I closed the distance between Gino and me in less than two seconds and found him running frantically through the forest.
The guy was fast, as fast as a Sword King, and Nina realized this because she stared at him in surprise for a few seconds before her expression turned to one of confusion and anger.
"Haaaa!...Haaaa!...Haaaa!!" Gino panted heavily as he ran through the mountains. The trees forced him to zigzag, and the snow slowed him slightly, but he never stopped running, pushing his body to its limits. His instincts told him only one thing: "Run!" And that's what he did. Nina, his father, and the dojo were all gone from his mind. All he thought about was simply surviving, no matter the cost.
He knew he would regret it later. He could vividly see the great dojo and the entire Sacred Land of Espada destroyed in an instant, with no one able to stop it. But even so, he didn't dare turn around and help.
"Better a coward alive than a brave man dead! Better a coward alive than a brave man dead!" he screamed in his mind as he continued running without stopping.
"You damned cowardly bastard!" But then it snapped Gino out of his trance completely.
A voice he'd heard hundreds of times, with those same words, but this time laced with a hatred he never thought could emanate from that person.
"Wahhh!" Gino screamed as he lost his concentration and became entangled in the snow, falling face-first and tumbling through the forest until he crashed headfirst into a tree.
"Put me down..." Nina said, her eyes fixed on Gino, and I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
So I simply did as she said and lowered her to the ground, about fifty meters from Gino.
"Ginoooo!!" The moment Nina's feet touched the ground, she lunged at him with tremendous speed that even surprised me. She didn't have a sword in her hand, so I could already imagine what was going to happen next.
"Gah!...Nina?! How could you...aaagh!!" Gino immediately tried to stand up, but he couldn't. In a split second, a fist slammed into his face, sending him crashing back into the tree.
"Uuurgh!" he groaned in pain as he fell to the ground, but Nina wouldn't let him rest.
"Graaaah! You damned bastard!!" *pow!!* "Why did you do that?!" *pow!!* "After everything we've been through!" *pow!!* "Bastard! You're a disgrace to the Sword God style!"
Nina screamed in fury as she pummeled Gino's face, which lay on the ground like a mere abandoned rag doll.
Not even his disfigured face or his groans of pain made Nina stop hitting him.
"Bastard...ughh!...bastard!" she whimpered weakly after 30 minutes of relentlessly beating Gino until she simply stopped from exhaustion.
Even I couldn't help but shudder a little and genuinely worry about Gino's safety for the first time, since he hadn't moved or breathed for twenty minutes.
"Haaa!! Bastard! Our friendship is over from today on! I never want to see you again!" she screamed, then stood up and walked back to the sacred land of the sword without even looking at me.
I just sighed softly at this and approached Gino, placing a hand on his chest.
"Hah! This damn bastard is dead!" I said, annoyance in my tone, as my eyes transformed from their usual green to a purple hue with circular black lines—the Rinnegan.
"Hmmmp! Rinne Tensei!" I invoked softly, and a green light flooded Gino's body. I immediately felt 25% of my mana being drained in an instant.
"Tch...too much mana cost..." I couldn't help but complain aloud.
"..." I remained silent for a couple of seconds as life returned to Gino's body. He immediately let out a terrible groan of pain as he tried to get up, but the damage Nina had done was too much, even for me. So, out of pity for this poor fool, I used advanced-level healing magic to heal his internal injuries, like the bleeding in his lungs and his stomach, which was pierced by his ribs. Don't ask me how that happened.
"Aagh!!" But even so, the damage to his face and his fractured bones remained. Maybe that would make this guy reflect on what he'd done.
"Ugh...graaah!...W-where's Nina?" he groaned as he staggered.
His eyes were so swollen and his face so deformed that he couldn't even see me properly.
I did that because I was sure that as soon as he saw me again, he would simply run away again.
"She's already back. The man who came to the dojo wasn't dangerous, but you still ran away like a coward, so she said not to look for her anymore and that your friendship was over," I told him, and he immediately spat blood, falling to his knees.
"N-no...that's not possible! Where is she?! Nina? Nina?!" he screamed pathetically, but to my surprise, he started walking uphill toward the Sacred Land of the Sword, though I seriously wondered how long it would take him to climb 6,000 meters in this state.
"It's not possible, is it? She couldn't have said that, could she?" he asked, anxiety visible on his face, but I just remained silent and started climbing the mountain as well.
Only the sound of my boots crunching on the snow could be heard as he stayed put, trying to process what had happened.
"...P-please! Wait! Aaggh!" He tried to run, only to crash into a tree again and writhe pathetically on the ground.
This time I didn't even bother to look at him as I took off towards Nina.
It didn't take me long to reach her since she was only about a kilometer away from us, running quickly through the forest.
The Touki of this world is simply something else...
"Hey, do you need a ride?" I asked with a friendly smile, but she just clicked her tongue and picked up her pace until she stopped and looked at me.
"...but don't take me so fast," she said softly. I could see she was slightly terrified from last time, which made me burst out laughing.
"Hey! What's so funny?!" she shouted indignantly.
"Hehe, it's nothing, hold on tight," I said before grabbing her by the waist and using the ring to teleport to where Reida was.
"W-what?!" Nina didn't even have time to blush before she was shocked to see that we had already arrived at the dojo.
"H-how did you do that?!" she shouted in surprise, still clinging to me.
"Magic!" I replied with a smile, and she blushed immediately.
Ding!
[Nina's affection increased by 30%!]
[Maybe this alliance isn't so bad after all...]