“The Platinum Knight has arrived!”

With that announcement, I entered the throne room. The ornate walls were covered in elaborate tapestries of the rise of the empire. Ad in the center of this grand hall, was a throne. A golden throne with a deep red cloth atop it.

The emperor was once a powerful hero, possessing a peerless grace and power. But those days had long passed, and all that remained was a frail old man. He was still active on the battlefield when I had become knighted, and he attended the ceremony. His late father was still the emperor then, but he had taken the throne shortly after.

Seeing one of your comrades wither away, a shell of their former self… it was hard to bear. In contrast, my appearance had only aged a few years, due to one of the Skills I had acquired long ago.

“Yan, it’s been too long…” the emperor addressed me before I had a chance to even kneel before him. “I only wish it were under better circumstances.”

“I cannot agree more, my lord.” Bowing my head, I dropped to one knee before the former hero. “So it is true then?”

“I’m afraid so, the Marine Dragon Empress… sister blade to your husband’s Crimson Dragon, has gone missing.”

The emperor gestured for me to rise, so I returned to my feet and looked him in the eye. I could tell from his expression he was telling the truth, though I had no reason to think he would lie about this to me.

“How is this even possible? Was the blade not safely within the royal vaults?”

“Indeed it was, which is perhaps the most concerning thing about this, aside from the blade’s disappearance. There exists no living thief capable of robbing from the emperor’s vaults and living to enjoy his spoils, yet the blade vanished right under our noses without a trace of the intruder.”

“Alone, the blade is certainly valuable, but it isn’t a threat that needs my attention, my lord.”

“Oh? Does it not? If someone has targeted the Marine Dragon, then what of your husband’s blade? One is incomplete without the other, so a likely target next would be...”

“My son is a capable fighter, he has trained under me since he could walk, they wouldn’t take the blade from him easily…” I reassured the emperor, but in truth, I was worried. If anything happened to Yi Zen… he was all I had left. I needed to end my meeting with the emperor quickly, and return to his side.

There were only a few who knew the significance of the Twin Dragon Swords, and any one of them targeting the pair was a world shattering disaster waiting to happen.

“I hope you’re right, Yan, because if both blades were to fall into the hands of outside forces…”

“The empire would surely be destroyed.” I finished his thought, understanding his concerns. “I will prevent that at all costs, this country my husband and I fought to protect won’t fall while I still draw breath.”

I bowed and headed out, there was no more information to be shared between us. My mission hadn’t changed, I would protect my son, no matter the costs. As I walked down the long steps leading down from the castle, my hand fell to the pendant around my neck, a gift from my lost husband.

“Dear…”

“Freezing End!”

The devastating ice storm attack was impossible to dodge, it covered too much range. A normal person would be caught no matter what they did, frozen solid, and then shattered from the force of the Skill.

A true killing blow.

But the attack never reached Xinyi, the storm was stopped by a single swing of a sword, dissipating as if it had never existed. The crowd of gawking students who had been cheering or screaming moments before fell silent, unable to process what they had just seen.

I flicked a few remaining flakes of frost off my father’s unbreakable blade, then returned it to its scabbard. I stood between Xinyi and Jin Chun, who both seemed equally confused.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Yi Zen?!” Jin howled in anger. “Interfering with a sanctioned duel is a serious offense, you could end up in the prison tower.”

“And my mother would have me out by the day’s end, legally or otherwise.” I replied, shrugging my shoulders a bit. “With the top heroic sword as your mom, you’re pretty much untouchable. Even the Emperor wouldn’t dare oppose her.”

Jin finally caught up to the more pressing matter however, the fact that his attack was stopped. Among the strongest heroes of the previous generation, Jin’s mother was the second strongest female fighter, and her Skill Freezing End was an S ranked ability.

I should explain, every Skill is given an ability score, from F to Double S, or SS. Jin Chun is able to act so smugly about his natural talent because he inherited two S rank abilities from his parents, and has his own A rank Skill.

My mother’s Record Skill is, of course, SS. there was once talk of rerating it to SSS, but they didn’t wish to invent a new classification for her alone. Lei’s Analyzer would be D or C, as it doesn’t give much actual advantage in battle.

“You bastard, what trick did you pull?” Jin snarled, his face twisted with rage. “A nothing piece of garbage like you without a Skill couldn’t block the S ranked Freezing End.”

He was right, someone without a Skill had no hope of deflecting an S rank ability. It was the sole reason I stepped into this fight, otherwise Xinyi would be deceased.

“And when exactly… did I ever say I had no Skill?” I replied, closing my eyes.

“What are you babbling about? Everyone knows you’re the Zero Skill loser.”

“It isn’t my fault you failed to understand my words, I told you again and again… I’m not someone with zero skills…” I had a feeling I was going to regret this, but it was already too late.

“I’m someone with Zero Skill.”