The Academy’s Sashimi Sword Master

The people who lived on this island were used to natural disasters.

No, rather, they had to get used to them. Time and again, without warning, tsunamis and earthquakes struck mankind.

Not even heroes could escape them. Even though they fought supernatural phenomena like magic, they didn’t rebel against nature.

Because it was different from demons.

Demons acted out of the mission to “exterminate humanity.” Their desire was to wipe humans off the fertile earth of the mortal world and take it for themselves.

But natural disasters had no malice. Whether an earthquake or a tsunami.

They claimed countless innocent lives every time, and yet people didn’t blame nature. It was part of the planet’s cycle, a self-regulating mechanism.

…That’s how it should be.

Saki Haruto.

The man who had risen as the true authority of the Saki family.

With a shaken gaze, fixed his eyes on a man.

That black, intense stare was locked on him with overwhelming calm.

‘How can a human…?’

How long had it been since the skin on the back of his neck stood on end like this?

‘Are you… nature itself?’

He could feel it on his skin.

That black-haired man was too deeply merged with this ecosystem. Nature, which never submits to human emotions, was reacting in sync with his feelings.

Rumble rumble rumble—

That earthquake.

Kang Geom-Ma’s small anger was being seconded by nature, which seemed to shake the entire region in an attempt to appease him.

Saki Haruto felt his mouth go dry and cracked.

Nature, the universe, which lacked emotions and had always been an object of fear and reverence, now took shape and sent him a direct warning.

‘I can’t read his mind.’

Even if he tried to use his specialty. Even if he tried to peer into him with his Blessing.

Only a dull pain, like a hammer blow to the brain, struck him instantly.

‘What are you really?’

What kind of being was this man with whom his sister had decided to share her life?

Saki Haruto made a silent resolution.

‘I must separate them.’

From the moment he heard that Ryozo would return to the family home, he had unconsciously decided.

His younger sister was far too valuable to wither away in the director’s office at the academy. She must have been trapped there only by the pressures of her environment.

‘No one knows you better than I do.’

If Kang Geom-Ma was her life partner.

He was her closest confidant.

‘And most of all, if you stay by that predator’s side, you’ll be devoured.’

‘I’ll save you from him.’

***

The rumble that shook the city showed no signs of stopping. So much so that even the members of the Saki family began to tremble with anxiety.

They were “used” to earthquakes, yes, but to a phenomenon that was truly impossible to get familiar with.

A tremor that lasted this long could only mean alarming consequences.

“Mr. Haruto!”

One of the people from the Saki family, now reduced to the rank of servant, suddenly burst open the door.

It was the room where two guests and the true head of the family were present.

“Y-you must evacuate…!”

Flinch!

The moment her eyes caught sight of the scene in that spacious room, the woman froze.

She had expected to hear heated shouts, but—

Despite the suffocating summer heat, what flowed through the air in that room was a sharp, glacial chill.

Saki Haruto spoke to the servant who had turned stiff as a totem.

Without taking his eyes off the Heavenly Sword.

“It’s fine. Leave us.”

He, gathering his scattered composure with difficulty, ordered in a composed voice.

“S-still…”

“Do I need to repeat myself?”

The authoritarian tone made the servant furrow her brow.

She barely restrained the insults bubbling on her tongue and swallowed them down deep.

‘That weakling who didn’t even dare make eye contact before…’

She too was a daughter of Saki.

Once, she had wielded some influence within the family.

Not because she had shown ability like Ryozo or Haruto, but because she used to stir up the discontented siblings to marginalize those two.

That’s why the current reality was all the more bitter for her.

Those two, who once hovered on the margins of the family, now dominated not only Japan but the entire world with their power.

“…Understood.”

With a lump in her throat, she closed the door.

She pressed her forehead against the wood and knocked it softly a few times before turning around.

Fine.

If this earthquake were to sweep everyone away, so be it.

If that happened, she would take over the Saki family.

A twisted smile formed on her lips.

Rumble rumble rumble—

She crouched low and began to crawl slowly to safety, with no idea what was being said inside the room.

***

Amid the commotion, Saki Haruto bowed his head toward me.

“It seems I made a mistake.”

A man of quick judgment.

“I believe you mistook disrespect for a mistake.”

“……”

Saki Haruto slowly raised his gaze. In those hard-to-read eyes, I felt a déjà vu.

‘Where had Kojima’s blood gone?’

It ran through this man’s veins.

Suddenly, I turned my gaze to the wide-open window.

In the city, sirens wailed with an ominous roar. Soon after, evacuation alarms blared.

‘It’s better to stop here.’

I couldn’t allow civilians to be harmed. I withdrew the blessings I had spread widely. And as if it were a lie, the earthquake stopped abruptly.

I opened and closed my fist without reason. I realized I could use my blessings this way too.

Just moments earlier, I had manifested the Blessing of Regeneration and the Blessing of Transfer. Both, spread throughout the city, had stimulated underground energy currents through the earth.

The Chief had once told me—for the Earth, an earthquake is nothing more than a slightly rough breath.

With the Blessing of Regeneration, I had intensified the planet’s vitality. It was an experiment, and I hadn’t been wrong. Had I failed to control it, several of Japan’s exquisite historical palaces would have collapsed into the ground.

It was a method I’d never have thought of back in the old days, when I relied solely on magic.

‘Ever since Lycan recovered lightning magic and I focused on blessings…’

Their versatility is astounding.

I set that thought aside. At that moment, Saki Haruto corrected his words.

“I apologize, Heavenly Sword.”

“This time, you truly slipped. But not with me. The one you disrespected was your sister.”

“…Haha.”

He let out a forced laugh, just like before. Then he turned to my wife to apologize.

“I suppose seeing her after so long made me act like in the past. Forgive me, Ryozo.”

With a look, I demanded he correct himself.

“…Go-eun. I’m sorry. It’s just… hard to get used to saying it.”

“……”

Ryozo remained silent. She observed him quietly and then stood, ready to end the meeting.

Just before reaching the door, she slightly turned her head and shot him a cold glare.

“You treat me like in the past?”

She spat it out harshly.

“You weren’t like this before.”

And she left, leaving behind a frigid air.

I had no reason to stay alone with him either. I rose, pressing my knee, and walked toward the door. As I passed, I glanced sideways at Haruto. It was still impossible to know what he was thinking.

‘Is he plotting something dangerous?’

Kojima was like that too.

Throughout my life, I had made many enemies. Of all of them, Kojima was definitely the most troublesome.

Well—until the new emperor showed up.

Whatever the case.

Saki Haruto was a man who, for some reason, strongly reminded me of Kojima. Leaving him unchecked was risky. I had to be cautious.

I opened my mouth.

“My wife is the most precious thing I have.”

“……”

“She’s one of the people who’s always been with me, through good and bad. And she’s the one I trust the most.”

“……”

“That’s why, I hope you never harbor improper intentions toward her.”

“……”

He remained silent, as if organizing his thoughts.

But I knew, from experience, that with people like him, a clear response had to be forced. Words weren’t enough—it had to come from deep inside.

Clink—

A cold sound of steel echoed. I hadn’t unsheathed my sashimi. It was my heart’s sword—a mental projection brought into reality. Yet the name of the sword rang so real, it was impossible to distinguish it from an actual blade.

‘He’s been bothering me for a while now.’

Behind Saki Haruto, I saw the vision of a shark. What kind of thoughts were churning in his mind for such a beast to manifest?

‘I’ll cut it.’

The illusory sashimi rose like drawn arrows and surrounded him from all directions. Haruto seemed to sense the killing intent.

Too late.

Slash slash slash slash!

The sashimi tore into him again and again, shredding the image of the shark. Finally, even its master’s throat was ripped apart with a choked scream.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Though it wasn’t real flesh being torn, Haruto writhed in pain.

To cut.

Maybe nowhere in the world is it legal to mutilate your brother-in-law at the first meeting, but—

To cut.

He was the one who showed disrespect first.

To cut.

Besides, falling out with your brother-in-law is a cliché far too predictable.

The only thing that mattered to me was my family.

The only thing I needed was Ryozo.

Her family—whatever they were—meant nothing to me.

If anyone ever dared to hurt her, physically or emotionally, I’d cut them down. I’d cut them all.

I’d erase them from existence and grant them an ending, an apocalypse.

To me, family is everything.

And if anyone tried to hurt her, I’d cut them, no matter who or what they were.

The world, the universe, the timeline itself.

And if that someone was me—

“Ghhk!”

I brought my hand to my eyes and staggered backward. Behind my eye sockets, I felt a piercing pain. It was as if my frontal lobe had been anesthetized and suddenly awakened.

I leaned against the wall, gasping heavily.

Saki Haruto had already fallen unconscious. Even passed out, his handsome face looked like a painting.

‘…Let’s go.’

I left the room immediately.

‘I need to see Go-eun.’

If I returned to her, maybe this pain in my chest would ease a little.

My mental circuits had twisted—no, they’d been damaged.

Looking back, I had overdone it with the earthquake. I had let my rage toward Saki Haruto sweep away innocents as well.

‘Why did I react like that so suddenly?’

I questioned myself, but found no answer.

I walked forward. It felt like walking on a knife’s edge.

In the hallway, a mirror had fallen and shattered.

The shards of glass, sharp as blades, reflected my image—broken into pieces.

‘…….’

Even so, I kept going.

The creaking of the wood beneath my feet reminded me this was reality.

***

At that very moment, at Joaquin Academy.

A dormitory shrouded in thick blackout curtains, not allowing a single ray of light to enter.

The earthquake that had originated in Kyoto had reached Korea as a distant ripple.

From beneath the sheets, swollen by breathing, a few fingers emerged. The blanket slid down gently, and in the dimness appeared a face so beautiful it hurt the eyes.

“I warned you.”

Chaerina sat up, supporting herself with just her torso.

With her ebony hair, she could sense the cold and the vibrations in the wall.

It was the breath of that man.

He didn’t let a single signal escape.

“No matter how much you try to block it, in the end, everything runs its course. And at that end…”

Chaerina bit her delicate lips. Saying more would mean revealing the secrets of the heavens.

It could hasten the shadows that loomed.

That, deep down, was what she wished for.

But then, he would be saddened.

So she held back. Instead of saying more, she whispered a title she had always longed to say.

“…Oppa.”