Chapter 484: Why We Draw the Sword!!!

Why We Draw the Sword!!!

Looking at the crazy massacre in front of her, Rias only felt her hair stand on end.

The battlefield had become almost unrecognizable.

The once-proud grounds of the Sky Breaker Academy were covered in broken weapons, shattered stones, and dark stains. Mana still drifted through the air in chaotic strands, mixing with the cold wind that swept across the mountain.

Everywhere she looked, figures were falling.

Some Sky Breaker Academy students had already thrown away their weapons and fled.

Others had chosen to resist until the very end.

The clash of weapons continued in the distance.

A sharp cry would rise.

Then silence.

Another figure would collapse.

Rias stood frozen.

Her long red hair moved gently in the wind, but she seemed completely unaware of it. Her large red eyes remained fixed on the terrible scene before her.

She had fought before.

She had seen blood before.

But she had never witnessed a massacre on this scale.

Her fingers slowly tightened around the edge of her robe.

A faint tremor passed through her shoulders.

She shook her head.

Once.

Then again.

She seemed to be trying to drive the sight from her mind, but there was nowhere for her eyes to escape.

After a while, however, something inside her gradually settled.

It was not acceptance.

Not completely.

It was understanding.

The world of cultivation had never been as peaceful as she once imagined.

Power decided life and death.

A single mistake could destroy an entire household.

And when two powerful forces became enemies, there was rarely room left for mercy.

Rias swallowed quietly.

Then she turned toward the charming man standing beside her.

Leon stood calmly amid the chaos.

His long, shoulder-length black hair moved gently behind him. His purple eyes remained deep and tranquil, without the slightest trace of panic.

His midnight-black robes were decorated with thin amethyst embroideries that shimmered faintly whenever the surrounding Mana passed through them.

Compared with the bloody battlefield, his composure seemed almost unreal.

Rias stared at him for several breaths.

Then, finally, she spoke.

"Teacher, is this what you meant by eliminating the roots?"

Her voice was soft.

There was still a tremble hidden beneath it.

Leon turned around and looked at her.

The moment his eyes fell upon Rias’s pale face, his expression softened slightly.

He understood.

This was not fear of death.

Rias had already experienced enough battles to understand what death meant.

What frightened her was the sheer scale of it.

There were too many bodies.

Too many lives ending within the span of a few breaths.

Leon did not immediately answer.

He looked toward the battlefield.

Then back at Rias.

"Yes, student, you have to understand a principle."

His voice was calm.

There was no anger in it.

No excitement.

Only the quiet certainty of someone who had already seen too much of the cultivation world.

"If you want to survive in the Fallen Leaf Domain, you have to be ruthless."

Rias lowered her eyes.

Her fingers remained tightly curled.

"Ruthless..."

She quietly repeated the word.

It felt heavier than she expected.

Leon nodded.

"The conflict between the Celestis Academy and the Sky Breaker Academy had reached an irreconcilable stage."

His gaze moved across the battlefield.

"If we were the ones who lost today, then the people lying here now would not be them."

He paused.

"They would be us."

Rias’s body stiffened.

She looked toward the fallen figures again.

For the first time, she tried to imagine the battlefield from the opposite side.

What if Leon had lost?

What if Selena had fallen?

What if Rias herself had been lying among those corpses?

What if the people surrounding them now had been the ones celebrating their victory?

Her lips parted slightly.

She could not find an answer.

Leon continued quietly.

"Being kind to your enemy is being cruel to yourself."

The wind passed between them.

Rias remained silent.

She knew what he meant.

Kindness was beautiful when there was peace.

But on a battlefield where one side intended to destroy the other, kindness could become a weapon pointed directly at one’s own throat.

Still, Rias struggled with it.

She looked at Leon again.

"Teacher..."

Leon glanced at her.

Rias hesitated.

Her voice became even softer.

"Does that mean... we can never show mercy?"

Leon was silent for a moment.

Then he shook his head.

"No."

His answer came without hesitation.

"Mercy and weakness are not the same thing."

Rias looked surprised.

Leon continued.

"You can show mercy when you have the strength to bear the consequences."

His purple eyes became slightly colder.

"But when your enemy has already decided to destroy everything you cherish, blindly showing mercy is simply gambling with the lives of those standing behind you."

Rias slowly lowered her gaze.

She understood.

Not completely.

But enough.

Leon looked toward the battlefield again.

"The Celestis Academy’s motto has always been to either not do it or do it to the end."

His voice was steady.

"We must remove the roots."

The words were simple.

Yet they carried tremendous weight.

Rias looked at the battlefield once more.

The horror in her eyes had not completely disappeared.

But something else had appeared beside it.

Resolve.

She had always thought cultivation was about becoming stronger.

Now she understood that strength also meant carrying the consequences of every decision.

Her hands slowly relaxed.

Then she asked quietly, "Teacher... will I eventually become like you?"

Leon glanced at her.

Rias immediately realized how strange the question sounded.

She hurriedly shook her head.

"No, I don’t mean that you are cruel."

A faint embarrassment appeared on her face.

"I mean... will I eventually be able to face something like this without trembling?"

Leon looked at her for a long moment.

Then he smiled faintly.

"You don’t need to become someone who feels nothing."

Rias froze.

Leon continued.

"If one day you can look at death without feeling anything at all, that may not be strength."

His voice softened.

"Remember why you draw your sword."