Asmophel was nervous. Recently, he had been anxious that his skills hadn’t improved. Therefore, he was worried that the tower master would tell him he didn’t have talent. He was mistaken.

“I can see the shadow of others in your sword. Perhaps you use the sense of inferiority as nourishment. It feels like you’re trying to get rid of the clot in your heart in the right direction. I appreciate the effort, but it is wrong.”

The strongest number two—Asmophel chose to follow in the footsteps of the number one person. Based on that experience, he recreated the power of the number one person and transcended his limits. The number one person usually meant Piaro, but sometimes it was Braham.

Asmophel once re-created the power of Piaro and gave himself a brief advantage over Kyle during his time as a martial god follower. After being defeated by Braham, he was inspired and used magical insight to prevent terrorist attacks.

Biban denied all of that. “You can’t be a great success through this method. Even if you try hard, there is no way you can be stronger than the person you envy and worship. Now you’ve set limits for yourself.”

Asmophel felt like his weak point was exposed. He couldn’t bring himself to raise his head. The group recalled him emulating Piaro’s skills and had sad expressions on their faces. Singuled criticized it, “This idiot is still like this. Tsk.”

They were harsh words, but it was something that Asmophel had to endure. Asmophel lowered his head and spoke slowly, “Elder, you are right. I still can’t shake off my inferiority complex. This ugly feeling hasn’t changed even after hurting many of my friends and their families. I am a human who wasn’t born good. I probably won’t be able to change for the rest of my life.”

It was better than the past. At least his inferiority didn’t turn into jealousy. As Biban had seen, Asmophel tried to release his ugly feelings in the right direction. He tried really hard. This resulted in him worshipping Piaro with no jealousy. Even when he was defeated by Braham, he was more respectful and inspired than angry.

He silently followed their shadow. If this was what determined his limits, then he had no choice but to accept it. If he tried to break his limitations and lost control of his emotions again... he might fall into the incarnation of ugly jealousy and commit the same sins that he did in the past.

“Asmophel...”

Asmophel became determined and erased his expression. The group saw this and felt sad. This time, even Singuled was quiet. Asmophel’s hard work made his mind complicated and uncomfortable every time.

In this somber atmosphere, Biban spoke, “Inferiority is one of the natural characteristics of humans. You can’t simply draw the line and say that it is an ugly emotion when it is a great driving force. I’m not trying to blame you. I don’t think your current method is that wrong. However, it is wrong for you. Your talent isn’t that bad to be buried like this.”

“......”

“You just need to trust in yourself. Face yourself, not the shadow of others.”

“Ah...” Asmophel suddenly gained a realization. He recalled his journey of atonement when he set out to find the old friends he had betrayed. At that time, he had faced himself in the past. He had to face his sins in order to atone. Therefore, he had no choice but to face the self that had sinned. There were things he felt at that time.

“...I think I vaguely understand your words. I’ll engrave it in my heart.” Asmophel had a hunch that he would grow greatly from this moment on. He seemed to faintly hear the sound of the limitations he had set on himself breaking. It was an obvious opportunity.

Trust and respect were expressed in the way the group looked at Biban. Among them, the one with the most affectionate gaze was Piaro. It was unexpected. He hadn’t even been taught by Biban yet.

“...You are the only one left.” Why was this person staring at him like this? Biban was very curious about Piaro. The most outstanding one among those with star-like talent. He wanted to know the meaning of this person’s gaze.

“It is an honor to be taught by you.” Piaro bowed politely. In fact, he wanted to kneel down and bow to express his heart. He had noticed in the middle that the sword tower master had learned the same Matchless Heart Technique as him. It even seemed much greater than him. He seemed to know where the Matchless Heart Technique that his liege had passed onto him had come from.

Piaro felt like the sword tower master in front of him was a mentor. He wanted to be polite and serve the tower master with all his heart. However, it was still early. Since ancient times, a warrior should talk with a blade and hand plow. For now, it was reasonable to bow after conveying his sincerity through the spar.

“Come.” Biban nodded to accept the greeting and placed his hand on the sword. This was what Amelda had interpreted as preparation for drawing the sword, but Piaro discovered the infinite possibilities of this position. He calmly created his territory without hasty prejudices. First, he sowed the seeds.

“......?” Biban had a dazed look on his face. His enlarged pupils reflected the scene of seeds with the energy of Natural State being scattered. The moment that thousands of seeds fell to the ground, Piaro quickly shot forward. He took out a hand plow and sickle and held it in both hands. Biban came to his senses at this time and he burst out, “Wait!”

“......?”

“......?”

The group was puzzled. The always calm Biban was now showing his agitation. Piaro noticed the reason and smiled.

‘He noticed that I learned the Matchless Heart Technique.’ Piaro didn’t doubt it.

Coincidentally, there was a serious problem with Biban’s misjudgment. He was a swordsman and showed ultimate insight into the sword and swordsmanship, but he was poor in other fields. He wasn’t interested nor able to see the nature of a farmer.

‘A farmer?’

Biban was confused. Today was the first time he saw a farmer trying to fight with a hand plow and sickle as a weapon. The strong farmers he previously saw in the Overgeared Kingdom also wore swords at their waist. There were even traces of magic mastery. Yet the farmer in front of him was trying to fight with agricultural tools. In the last hundreds of years, he often heard stories of farmers holding farm equipment to revolt against corrupt regimes, but...

This was definitely the first time he had seen it with his own eyes. Biban stared at Piaro in silence for a long time. Finally, he couldn’t stand it and asked a question. “Why did a farmer climb the sword tower?”

“It is to greet the tower master and to be taught according to the circumstances...”

“Why do you want me to teach a farmer? Do you think I’m a farmer? Hah! You rascal!”

“......”

Originally, the legendary farmer was a profession that had to fight against prejudice. Piaro was familiar with being misunderstood. But... he never dreamed that the tower master would misunderstand.

‘He hasn’t realized that I’ve learned the Matchless Heart Technique?’

Amelda held her stomach and laughed.

“Our captain is really good. So why did you become a farmer~ kekeke!”

“Hum hum. Piaro, calm down. Your face is so red right now.”

“Piaro?”

The moment that Dante called out Piaro’s name to calm him down, the ears of the frowning Biban heard it. Piaro—the name remained clear in Biban’s memory. It was the name Grid told him. A person who learned Supreme Swordsmanship based on the Matchless Swordsmanship...

Biban also thought it was a fated relationship, so he let Grid teach Piaro the Matchless Heart Technique...

“...You.” Biban briefly recalled the past and slowly opened his mouth. His voice was trembling as he spoke, “Why did you become a farmer?”

Piaro answered proudly, “Because that is my way.”

“...Haven’t you learned the Matchless Heart Technique?”

“Yes, thanks to your favor.”

“Why are you still a farmer when you learned the Matchless Heart Technique?”

“What are you saying...?”

“If you've learned the Matchless Heart Technique, shouldn’t you walk on the path of a swordsman again?”

“Not necessarily. I succeeded in fusing the Matchless Heart Technique with my Free Farming technique and evolved it into the Matchless Farming...”

“Shut up! This...! This damn thing!”

“......”

“I thought you would be a great swordsman. What? A farmer? This rascal! Shit!”

“......”

Sword Saint Biban—he naturally had a certain pride in swords and swordsmanship. He believed the successor of the Matchless Heart Technique would be a good swordsman and cheered for Piaro from afar, but he was a farmer? He couldn’t understand what was going on. He felt like he was being swindled.

“The noble Matchless Heart Technique is used for farming...!”

Biban thought he heard from Grid that Piaro was a farmer. He naturally thought it was a proper hobby. Even if farming was used to make a living, not a hobby, Biban would’ve regarded it as a joke and let it slip in one ear and out the other. There was the belief that even if Piaro had fallen to the wrong path (farming), he would take the right path of swordsmanship again after mastering the Matchless Heart Technique.

The Matchless Heart Technique was created and learned by the Sword Saint. However... what was this? Piaro became the object of resentment without knowing the reason.

“My disappointment in you...!” Biban was screaming while moving, only to suddenly shut his mouth. It was because he felt a great sense of evil from the direction of the empire.

‘A single digit ruler... it is also the ruler with one of the highest authority.’

The appearance of the 4th Great Demon, Gamigin—the transcendent senses of Sword Saint Biban were enough to detect the aura of the great evil that appeared in a faraway place.

‘The scale of this war will be bigger than expected. Many lives will be lost.’

There was no mention of the great human and demon war in the Tower of Wisdom. It was a crisis that humans could handle on their own. This meant it wasn’t comparable to the emergence of dragons. This wasn’t a problem for Biban to care about. But... it was clear that many people would die...

It might be different if he was trapped in the tower as usual and didn’t know about it, but now that he knew, was it right to turn away?

“Hey, Piaro.”

“Yes,” Piaro answered vigorously as he looked in a puzzled manner at the suddenly silent tower master. He really wanted to spar with the tower master. He wanted to prove his skills and show how great a farmer was. Did Biban know his heart?

“Come. I need to check your skills.”

The tower master allowed the spar. Biban tried to maintain his composure. It wasn’t right to be worried in advance when he hadn’t even grasped the current level of humanity. First, he wanted to check Piaro’s skills. Piaro might be a farmer, but he had learned the Matchless Heart Technique. He might be unexpectedly good...

“I’m willing to be taught.”

Piaro used Rapid Growth. The seeds he had sown earlier grew rapidly and the tower of the sword tower turned into an agricultural field. It was a farmer’s domain.

“This fucking...” The expression of Biban, who had become calm, once again twisted.

***

“Hehe.”

In a dark city deep underground...

How long had she been asleep this time? She couldn’t tell at all, but she thought she knew why her dream was so fierce.

Marie Rose slowly rose from the coffin and smiled as she felt intense demonic energy from afar.

“Things are becoming interesting.”

The bewitching body scattered like fog and disappeared. The only inhabitant had left and silence once again fell in the city.