Anime: Passive Inheritance System

Swing. Swing. Swing...

Under a blood-red sky with no day or night, Kai had no idea how long he'd been trapped in this place. He simply kept repeating the same motion—swinging his sword.

That impossibly strong black-robed man had kept his promise. He never once used more power than Kai. And yet, Kai was defeated again and again.

A sword is a weapon, and when two swords cross, the loser pays with death.

Dozens of times? Hundreds? Thousands?

The repeated cycle of failure and death had nearly numbed Kai's senses.

Clang!

Their blades clashed, sparks burst between them as they passed one another. But a fresh, narrow wound now stretched across Kai's throat.

{Kai, do you know why you keep losing?}

Turning back, the black figure shook the blood off his sword and charged again.

Kai clenched his lips, refusing to answer. He lifted his blade and continued to fight. No, not fight—more like slaughter, just as the man described it.

Same power. Same weapons. The reason for his failure could only be one thing.

The gap in experience.

Kai had no idea how long the so-called Sword Saint had trained, but compared to him, Kai wasn't even a novice.

The man's strength was suffocating.

Maybe he really was what he claimed—a true Sword Saint.

So then what did that make Kai, standing here with a weak body, raising a defiant blade?

Does it even matter anymore?

Clang! Clang—

He drew his left hand back, blocking the incoming attack, while lunging forward with his right. But his strike was once again casually deflected.

Kai panted lightly. Even though he couldn't die here and all non-lethal wounds would heal quickly, his stamina still drained.

Across from him, the black-clothed man was also breathing hard. Clearly, even he was using a lot of energy.

But even then, Kai didn't stand the slightest chance of winning.

As Kai paused to catch his breath, the man frowned, seemingly annoyed that Kai didn't attack him during his rest. He raised his blade and snapped, {Hey, Kai, can't you show a little courage?}

Courage?

Kai grinned at his words, a mocking smile forming on his face.

{Tch! You're really starting to piss me off!}

Seemingly provoked by Kai's disdain, the man rushed in again, sword flashing.

Limbs severed, intestines shredded, heart and lungs torn open… Horrific, fatal wounds rained down on Kai. But as long as he waited, he would recover.

The body could heal, but the pain never faded from memory.

What kind of grudge or hatred must one have to go this far? Killing someone once wasn't enough—why subject him to this endless torment?

Hadn't the man said it himself? That he looked down on Kai's weakness, and wanted to engage in a real fight to the death?

Then why hadn't he landed a fatal blow yet? Why keep torturing him, relishing in this abuse?

After being struck down yet again, Kai finally couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Why...?"

{Hah?}

"Why won't you kill me?"

Lying on the ground, blood gushing from his abdomen, Kai stared at the man's face, as if trying to pierce through the darkness and see his expression.

{Why should I kill you?}

"No, it's not about whether you should…"

Recalling everything the man had said and done, Kai clutched his half-healed gut and used his sword to push himself up.

"You can't kill me. You don't dare."

{Hah! Why the hell wouldn't I kill you, Kai? Did I knock your brain loose?}

Though his face was hidden, the man's voice turned noticeably tense. Then, as if trying to sound threatening, he added, {I just think it's fun to mess with you, so I've been humoring you. Don't think I won't do it!}

Listening quietly to the obvious overcompensation in his words, a bold thought suddenly flashed through Kai's mind.

"Fine then. Kill me."

He let go of the sword in his hand. The dark blade dropped with a clang. Kai stepped forward slowly, then reached out and grabbed the man's sword.

Blood immediately flowed from his palm, but he didn't even flinch. He lifted the blade and pointed it at his own forehead.

"Do it."

He uttered those two words with complete calm, then stood perfectly still.

If his guess was wrong, he'd just die. So what?

But if he guessed right…

"..."

Locked in eye contact with Kai's calm gaze, the man in black trembled as he held his sword. It was clear he really wanted to drive it straight through Kai's head, but in the end, he let out a long sigh and, just like Kai, released the blade.

Clang—clang—

As the two swords fell to the ground, Kai let out a relieved smile.

Just as expected… he was right.

"So, should I call you Sword Saint now… or Light of Resolve?"

Facing Kai's proud smile, the man in black—Light of Resolve—spoke in a muffled tone from the shadows covering his face.

{…When did you realize it?}

"If I had to say, probably from the very beginning."

Thick-skinned, Kai praised himself with a halo of genius as he continued, "Even the gods can't detect the system's presence, yet you managed to pull me into this bizarre place without triggering it. I've been suspicious of you since then."

{…Just because of that?}

"Of course not just that." Shaking his head, Kai looked around at the surroundings and continued, "This world feels vast but lifeless, filled with a suffocating stench of blood and killing intent. It's enough to make someone want to vomit. And no matter the injury, it heals instantly. That's completely unnatural. That's why I concluded this whole world is fake."

{Even if the world is fake, how do you know I'm not real?}

"Because you said something unnecessary."

"Unnecessary?"

"Yes." Kai nodded, recalling the tone of Light of Resolve earlier. "You said, 'My relationship with the system runs deeper than yours, but in terms of authority, I'm not even one ten-thousandth of you… sounds ironic, doesn't it?' That line was your biggest mistake."

{But… what's wrong with that?}

Completely unable to see what was wrong with his statement, Light of Resolve took a half step back, voice shaken.

Seeing the once-overpowering black-robed man suddenly turn passive after being seen through, Kai didn't hold back and explained directly, "If you claim to have a connection with the system, the first possibility I considered was that you're a former host. But the system only changes hosts when a host fails a trial and is erased. Yet you clearly exist, so that possibility was out. Which left only one conclusion—you're the current host. In other words, you're me. You are Takashina Kai."

"..."

Though Kai's deduction was flawless logically, it sounded absurd in practice. Light of Resolve found himself speechless.

Who the hell thinks their enemy is actually themselves?!

This kind of deduction was basically pathological.

If Kai knew what he was thinking, he would have shown an unreadable expression and responded with a certain little detective's favorite catchphrase:

"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."

"Also, judging by your tone of jealousy, it's not hard to guess that your relationship with the system is one of subordination. And the only thing that the system could possibly dominate… is the profession being passed on."

Finishing his deduction, Kai exhaled and smiled. "It was all just my speculation, without any evidence. So when I volunteered to die earlier, it was a gamble. But it looks like I was right."

{Yeah… not wrong at all…}

His voice full of frustration, Light of Resolve slumped his shoulders and turned to walk toward the crimson-drenched world.

{You saw through me this time. I admit defeat… I'll return the power to you.}

As he spoke, a low rumble echoed through the world. A realization dawned on Kai.

This world was formed by his sword will.

If that's the case…

Kai stretched out his right hand thoughtfully and snapped his fingers.

"Sword, come."

The words were quiet, but they rippled through the space like thunder.

A moment later, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, even millions of sword energies surged like a tidal wave, washing over the entire world.

{Kai!}

From a distance, Light of Resolve's voice rang out.

{Never lose again! Don't show that pathetic, ugly side! If you do, I'll never acknowledge you!}

As he shouted, his black-robed figure began to dissolve into light and scatter into the world.

"..."

Kai silently watched his end, suddenly curious—what face had been hidden in that shadow all along?

Sensing his curiosity, Light of Resolve, whose body had nearly faded to nothing but a head, turned back.

What appeared was a plain, ordinary male face.

His name… was Takashina Kai.

…

"AIOOOOOOO!!!"

A deafening roar blasted nearby, the ground trembling under a monster's steps.

Lying on the stone floor of the 17th level of the dungeon, Kai opened his eyes.

A flicker of confusion passed through them. Then, he suddenly widened them and jumped to his feet.

His body screamed in pain with every movement—bones shattered, stamina and HP drained—but Kai moved without hesitation.

Compared to the torment of being endlessly killed in the sword will realm, this was nothing.

"Sword, come."

He opened his hand. Sword intent flickered and swirled. The light-blue sword lying nearby let out a clear chime and flew into his grip like a returning swallow.

"Good girl…"

Gripping the hilt, feeling the unity between sword and will, Kai looked up at the charging strengthened Goliath. He raised his sword and set it to strike.

Come—give me all your strength!

Clang—

As Kai moved, silver sparks began to gather around the blade.

As they multiplied, they coated the sword in shining silver light.

From a distance, people noticed their clothing and hair lightly drifting toward the battlefield.

Gravity.

When power reaches a critical point, it can bend the magnetic field.

The sword's glow intensified until it was no longer a blade, just a mass of shimmering brilliance.

Everything—air, dust, debris, stones—was drawn toward Kai. As they entered his sword intent's domain, they didn't get sliced or cut. They were pulverized into dust and swept around him like a storm.

"Incredible… this brilliance is unbelievable…"

Watching from afar, Hermes was genuinely impressed by what Kai had unleashed—even after living for hundreds of millions of years.

At the center of the storm, Kai felt surprisingly calm despite the overwhelming, transcendent power surging from his will.

He raised his blade high like lifting a newborn star.

Then brought it down.

A river of light crashed down, drowning the towering red Goliath.

BOOM BOOM BOOM—

The moment the strike landed, the entire 17th floor trembled.

When the light faded, the Goliath lay still on the ground.

"Ma… ma…"

Its dazed eyes stared up at the ceiling as it murmured. The last glimmer in its eyes faded.

There were almost no visible wounds on the beast, but the attack had destroyed its soul.

This was Light of Resolve—the force that severs the soul.

"He… he won?"

"What was that? A unique skill?"

"Is he really just Level 2?"

From afar, the onlookers were stunned. Before they could recover, voices came from the elevator leading to the 18th floor.

"…This way, hurry!"

As a familiar girl's voice rang out, Asfi stepped into the chamber. She stopped dead when she saw the scene before her.

"Geez, it's just a Goliath. Did we really need Ais for this?"

"Shut up, Bete. Go help the wounded."

"Tch…"

Following Asfi, several adventurers in light armor entered.

They too froze at what they saw.

"That… that's the Goliath?"

Staring at the massive red-scaled monster over ten meters tall, a silver-haired beastman with a purple lightning tattoo on his left cheek muttered in disbelief.

"Yeah… that should be the Goliath."

He turned toward the speaker—a plain-looking adventurer holding a thin sword, dressed in a simple black coat.

"What happened to it? Who are you?"

"If you mean how it died, I killed it. As for who I am…"

Memories of Light of Resolve's arrogant voice flashed through Kai's mind as he grinned.

{Then let me say this—I am—}

"A swordsman. Takashina Kai."