The blossoms on the branches were in riotous bloom. At the slightest breeze, the boughs bowed their heads, and because they were rooted deep in this land, they sent their petals—white, violet, blue, cherry-pink—off to distant places only the wind could reach. The passing air, as if seeing the flowers off, carried away a breath of clean, heart-soothing fragrance.
Petals carpeted the eaves of the old school building and the flat running field. Even the clouds at the horizon were stained with hues close to the flowers.
Sung Jinwoo didn't even know where he was being taken—Scáthach simply tugged him along—until he saw this scene and froze in place, stunned.
"This is…"
"A graduation ceremony. Or a completion rite," Scáthach said. "Since we're calling it that, holding it in the Land of Shadows would've been a bit too shabby, so I… did some renovations."
She lifted her chin slightly, plainly pleased with her work.
"If it were my previous disciples, they wouldn't care about little things like this. Men or women, they were all battle-maniacs with no sense of romance whatsoever. But you're clearly different from them, so… how is it? I'm pretty satisfied myself."
"Graduation… ceremony?"
Jinwoo was so shocked he couldn't speak. His thoughts wouldn't quite turn over—or maybe it was the nail in his heart making it hard to react to anything she did.
"All right, don't stand there like an idiot." Scáthach—now in casual clothes—sat cross-legged on a picnic blanket with an absurd amount of food laid out beside her. "What do you want? Dango, or ice cream? Sweets tend to rot a warrior's will and make them soft, but today only, you can eat as much as you like. It's your reward for fighting and pushing yourself this far. You've worked hard."
His shishō was gentle in a way that didn't feel like her at all—saying things she normally never would.
Still, Jinwoo didn't suspect she'd been replaced or possessed. He listened, sat down cross-legged on the blanket, and silently stuffed a dango into his mouth.
Was it good?
It was very good.
It wasn't even the first time he'd experienced his shishō's cooking. Cha Hae-In had once said that if Scáthach opened a restaurant or dessert shop on Earth, it would be number one in the world.
The only problem was that if Scáthach actually did it, Cha Hae-In would run there every day and her figure and weight would… become a problem. Cha Hae-In had said her dream was to have Scáthach's perfect proportions—slim where you should be slim, curvy where you should be curvy.
But right now, Jinwoo couldn't find any satisfaction in the dango's deliciousness at all. He chewed like a machine, repeating one dull motion.
"Honestly. Don't you know you're being wasteful?" Scáthach set her ice cream down; seeing Jinwoo like this had killed her appetite. "From raw ingredients onward, those dango went through countless steps and overcame endless hardships just to become delicious dango… and you eat them like that. The dango you swallowed are crying inside your stomach, you know."
She looked at him steadily.
"You've got a question you really care about, don't you? I'm giving you the chance to ask now. If you bottle things up too long, it'll break you."
Ask?
I can really ask?
If the answer was the one he feared most… if all of this was nothing but a lie, then—
"All right. Ask." Scáthach's tone sharpened a little, impatient in that familiar way. "Miss this chance and you won't get another. Don't expect me to be this easygoing all the time."
It was always like this…
In front of those crimson eyes, Jinwoo felt he couldn't hide anything.
Cheating eyes…
"Shishō…" Jinwoo gathered his courage and met her gaze. "In your eyes… am I the vessel of the Shadow Monarch, Ashborn… or your disciple, Sung Jinwoo?"
That was the thorn in his chest.
From Ashborn's memories, Jinwoo had learned many things.
For example… Ashborn had once asked Scáthach to train his vessel.
Which meant Scáthach hadn't met him by chance—her involvement began with the first Shadow Monarch's request.
Scáthach wasn't surprised by Jinwoo's suspicion in the slightest.
He'd questioned the [System] even when he knew nothing. Of course he would question her, too.
"Among the nine Monarchs, only the Shadow Monarch, Ashborn, and the Monarch of Destruction, Antares, were different," Scáthach said slowly. "Their power was too vast. Earth didn't have a vessel that could contain them… and that's when a top-class mage calling himself the 'Architect' approached Ashborn and proposed a partnership."
"Ashborn saw your tenacity and stubborn strength. Despite the Architect's repeated objections, he chose you. The Architect used Ashborn's power to create the 'player growth system' so you could gradually adapt to that power—and he asked me as well, hoping I'd help you become stronger."
"Over the years, Ashborn knew very well that I was always hunting for opponents worth killing—worthy rivals. So he told me… that once you grew up, you would inevitably become a formidable enemy I'd be satisfied with."
At last, the truth Scáthach had kept hidden came out of her mouth.
"So you agreed?"
At that, Scáthach gave Jinwoo a long, meaningful look.
"No. I refused Ashborn's request."
"Huh?"
Jinwoo blinked, thrown.
"I pursue opponents worth fighting," Scáthach said, lashes lowering. Her voice was soft, but unwavering. "But not everyone is worthy of being taught by Scáthach. Whether it's a Monarch's vessel or a Ruler's vessel, their futures are too narrow—you can see the end at a glance. Taking someone like that as a disciple isn't interesting at all."
She refused…?
But his memories clearly—
"However," Scáthach continued, "after I met you, I changed my mind."
Catching the confusion on Jinwoo's face, she spoke with a half-smile.
"In the instant I saw you, I understood why Ashborn chose you. I've known him a long time, so I knew he would, in the end, place the choice in your hands. And likewise, my eyes had already seen… what choice you would make when that moment came."
In that false happiness, Ashborn had handed the choice to Sung Jinwoo.
If Jinwoo chose to stop walking forward, Ashborn would return to the living world using Jinwoo's body—and Jinwoo would sink into false happiness forever.
If Jinwoo chose to keep moving, Ashborn would return to eternal rest, giving all of his power to Jinwoo and letting him become the second Shadow Monarch.
"Because I saw what choice you and Ashborn would make—what ending you would choose—that's why I took you as my disciple." Scáthach picked up a tangerine, peeled it neatly, and offered Jinwoo a glistening segment. "So? Satisfied with that answer?"
Jinwoo didn't answer right away. After a brief silence, he slowly raised a hand and accepted the segment from her fingertips. When the sweet juice burst across his tongue, his expression finally eased.
That was all he needed.
He was satisfied—completely.
A faint smile traced Scáthach's lips. "See? Talking clears up misunderstandings and doubts. Language is something humans made to understand each other, and yet you've made it more and more complicated. The wisdom granted by the gods isn't used to understand one another—it's used to deceive each other. Honestly, it's—"
She cut herself off with a small sigh, then waved her hand.
"All right. If you've put your worries down, eat. The ice cream's melting. It's a pain when it gets on your hands."
With the knot in his chest loosened, Jinwoo could finally enjoy Scáthach's cooking. Ever since the grilled fish she'd made with her own hands, he'd been thinking about her food nonstop. But whenever he brought it up, Scáthach would only say, "Looks like my training's been too gentle if you have the leisure to think about things like that."
Jinwoo asked her another question. If Ashborn was her friend, then now that Ashborn had returned to eternal rest… didn't she feel sad?
"I said goodbye to that guy properly."
"…Just goodbye is enough?" Jinwoo couldn't understand it. When his father had been about to die, he'd cried his eyes out—though his father had later been saved by the protective charm his Shishō gave him.
"Then what?" Scáthach smiled gently, her voice as light as a lake under summer sun. "Someone once told me… when you say goodbye, all you need is 'see you.' If you make a mess of yourself, then if you ever meet again later, it'll be awkward for both sides."
She wrapped her lips around a straw and took a small sip. Warm milk tea, along with springy nata de coco, slid into her mouth. She even made sure to bite every last piece, carefully, like she had a compulsion.
"Ashborn was terrible at making choices," Scáthach said conversationally. "When all the bright fragments decided to rebel against the Absolute One, he alone still fought for it. Later, for revenge, he joined the Monarchs and went mad stockpiling his forces. The other Monarchs feared him and ambushed him—he was betrayed by his companions again."
"For a long time, he kept thinking… where did he belong? What did he leave behind in this world?"
At that, Scáthach lifted her gaze to Jinwoo and smiled faintly.
"But he probably doesn't need to be lost about that anymore. At the very least, he left you behind… and for that alone, perhaps I should congratulate him."
Jinwoo scratched at his cheek. Scáthach beat him half to death on a regular basis, but at the same time he admired her strength. Getting such blunt approval from her made him feel… embarrassed.
Even with the Monarch of Destruction Antares gone, that didn't mean this universe was safe. A creation had resisted and killed its creator—if the Absolute Ones from other universes, those who chased novelty and amusement, learned of it, they would certainly turn their gaze here.
Jinwoo's road was still long. The enemies he would face were still many.
And what she taught him… would surely still be useful, even then.
"Feels like the timing's about right. Let's get to the main event." Scáthach brushed petals from her legs and rose from the blanket. "Consider it post-meal exercise. Come on. Let me test what you're made of."
Visible battle intent surged around Scáthach. She was clearly ready to fight.
"This is the graduation ceremony?" Jinwoo asked.
"That's right. The King of Dragons was supposed to be your prey, but I stole him from you. I've already thought of a way to make it up to you: I'll find you an even better opponent—me!" Scáthach lifted her chin, eyes sparkling with mischief. "Genius idea, isn't it? Heh."
"You just want to fight me," Jinwoo said flatly. He knew her too well by now.
"Well, I won't deny that's part of it." Scáthach didn't look embarrassed in the slightest—she admitted it candidly. "When there's a strong opponent in front of you, of course you want to test them. And that opponent happens to be the disciple I trained. I want to see what you look like after fully inheriting all of Ashborn's power."
"So basically, you saw I got stronger and your hands started itching," Jinwoo said, standing as well, bracing a hand on his knee. Deep, dark violet light ignited in his eyes.
"Don't make it sound so ugly. This is a 'graduation ceremony.' An important checkpoint where the teacher examines the disciple's results over an entire stage of learning. Every disciple—or student—goes through it before leaving their teacher and standing on their own. It's just that this is the first time I've ever made it this grand."
"Will Hunter Cha Hae-In and Esil and the others get one too? A graduation ceremony."
"Of course. It'll probably be even grander than yours, right? Preparing yours gives me experience I can definitely apply next time!"
"So I'm a test subject," Jinwoo said with a helpless sigh.
"Even though you just went through a hard fight, I'm throwing you into the next one… but you ate and drank. You've rested enough, haven't you?" Scáthach held two cursed spears forged from the bones of a demon, their tips spitting chilling light that made the skin crawl. "Need a little more time to brace yourself?"
"Haa… no." Jinwoo bent forward slightly, his muscles naturally tensing as clear fighting spirit gathered around him. "My dad finally made it home. I need to get back and reunite with my family."
"Oh!"
Scáthach studied his posture and expression, then nodded.
"That look's not bad at all…" Her eyes snapped wide, her voice turning sharp. "But a look isn't enough. Whether your skills measure up—my two spears will find out!"
"Ready. I'm going in—!"
Two forces, swollen to their limits, erupted and collided.
Petals that had already fallen were whipped back into the air, and in the surging, chaotic flow of energy, they became a dazzling rain of flowers.
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T/N: phjew no seggs