I Received The Holy Sword By Dawn Delivery (4 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 12
4:30 a.m. the next day.
“Ta-ran ta-ra-n. Ta-ran ta-ra-n. Ta-ra-ra-ra la-la-la-la la-la-la-la.”
An extremely loud alarm echoed inside her head.
Every day at this exact time, the Holy Sword rang its alarm just like this.
Lucena buried herself under the covers and stuffed her ears with a pillow, but no pillow could block the mental link.
“Master? Even though I’m ringing this alarm so diligently, will you really just keep lying there like trash?”
‘Why on earth are you ringing that alarm? Can’t you let a person sleep!’
Even in her past life as Kim Ha Yoon, she could proudly claim to have been extremely diligent—so much so that she’d died of overwork.
But even then, she hadn’t pushed her body this hard.
‘At this rate, I’ll die of overwork again!’
Lucena shot upright and pounded her fists into the blanket.
The wall clock in the dim room, as expected, pointed precisely to 4:30 a.m.
“Did you sleep well?”
‘Like hell I did.’
“Master, who clearly didn’t sleep well, it’s chillier today than yesterday. You have six minutes and thirty seconds to reach the training grounds.”
‘I’m already exhausted just trying to survive school life—do I really have to drag myself to the training grounds at the crack of dawn?!’
Lucena thrashed about on her bed like a freshly caught fish.
Ever since enrolling in the academy, Lucena had been forced into daily predawn training sessions—all thanks to this damned Holy Sword.
Apparently, she needed to master the basics if she wanted to survive.
She’d gone along with it for a few days, knowing there was some truth to it, but the intensity was just too much.
Granted, thanks to the Holy Sword’s absurdly overpowered effects, her stamina and swordsmanship had grown far faster than anyone else’s.
But at this pace, she’d surely meet the Grim Reaper far sooner than others.
‘I’m really worn out, Vizbi. If anyone challenges me to a duel, I’ll just dodge it myself—so can we stop now?’
“Yes, Master. Then would you please revert me back into sword form?”
‘Why?’
“So I’ll stand out clearly to people. That way, even after you’re pitifully murdered, Vizbi can find a new master.”
‘……Fine. I’m going, I’m going.’
What kind of curse was this, wishing for her murder? Lucena leapt out of bed.
Immediately, the pendant glimmered, and a faint light swirled around her entire body before vanishing.
“I’ve enhanced your physical abilities, Master. You now have four minutes and twelve seconds to reach the training grounds.”
‘Damn it! Even if I sprinted like my life depended on it, it’d still take four minutes just to get to the northern training grounds!’
Lucena bolted out without even properly fastening her shirt buttons.
If she missed the deadline, that ill-tempered Holy Sword might just increase her training load again.
Panting heavily, Lucena located the deserted northern training grounds and began her exercises exactly as the Holy Sword had ordered.
From push-ups to endless laps around the yard.
And on the day she hit her one-month streak of relentless daily training—
A shadow flickered in the far corner of the usually abandoned training ground.
‘Isn’t that Matian?’
His shirt was so thoroughly soaked from early-morning practice that it had turned nearly transparent.
The outline of his broad upper body beneath the clinging fabric was striking.
His densely packed muscles were carved to perfection, like a masterfully sculpted statue.
‘I feel like I shouldn’t run into him. I’ll use a different training ground today.’
As Lucena tiptoed away carefully—
“Who’s there?”
Though Matian had clearly been standing far off, his voice sounded right behind her.
A cold metallic sensation brushed against her neck, sending a chill down her spine.
‘Could that possibly be a sword touching my neck right now?’
She was terrified—any wrong move might cost her head. How precious her life was! She couldn’t possibly die so absurdly.
But her tongue had gone as stiff as her limbs, and no words would come out. Then a thought struck her.
‘He should’ve recognized me just from the back of my head—so why is he asking?’
In this entire academy, she was the only one with such a small frame and platinum hair.
Yet Matian still pointedly asked for her identity without lowering his blade.
The prickling sensation at the back of her neck confirmed he was glaring at her with icy eyes.
“Oh, um—hello, Matian.”
Her tongue finally moved, uttering an awkward greeting. Her head turned with a creak like a broken tin can.
Checking his expression felt like a survival instinct—
She had to show him a harmless face, like foreigners extending empty palms to prove they held no weapons, just to stay alive.
“So it’s you, Lucena. You’re up early.”
His gentle greeting finally came, as if only now recognizing her.
He smiled kindly as usual, though his motion to sheathe the sword pointed at her neck seemed oddly delayed by a beat.
“What brings you here at this hour?”
Even his gentle tone couldn’t ease Lucena’s tension.
“This has always been my usual training spot.”
“Training? You?”
Matian’s previously blank expression widened into round-eyed astonishment, as if hearing an unbelievable confession.
He muttered quietly, “I thought your soul might’ve been swapped—but you’ve actually been training consistently?”
His expression now made sense: this explained how she’d gained enough strength to defeat Hans’s gang.
“I just wanted to escape being the perpetual last-place graduate. It’s embarrassing, you know.”
“What about the last magic exam too?”
“I studied so hard I got nosebleeds. I’ve been giving it my all—haha.”
At the word “effort,” Matian’s eyebrows twitched. Right—she should ride this momentum and solidify her image as a diligent student.
That way, suspicion would fade. Lucena pressed on.
“With graduation approaching, I finally snapped out of it—but nothing’s easy. I hate getting up at dawn, yet I drag myself here every day and feel like I’m dying.”
She meant it. Every morning, she could practically taste blood in her throat.
Her words seemed to reach Matian; his previously dry, dawn-wind-cold blue eyes softened into gentle arcs.
“I never knew you were this diligent, Lucena.”
His accompanying smile carried a sharp, unreadable emotion.
Involuntarily, her limbs trembled. Why was this happening? It felt as if he’d stolen control of her body—and that sparked an odd defiance in her.
So she refused to look away.
“Lately, it feels like I’m learning something new about you every day.”
Simultaneously, Matian swiftly struck Lucena’s left side with the scabbard at his waist.
‘So suddenly?!’
Whoosh. Even just the scabbard cleaved the air with a menacing sound.
Lucena ducked her head right just in time to evade it—a moment where a month of training finally paid off.
Though she lost her balance and tumbled onto the dirt with a thud.
“Ugh! What was that for?!”
Now she understood why the Holy Sword had trained her like a stray dog—to handle exactly these sudden ambushes.
Had she skipped even one session, she might’ve been knocked unconscious by that strike. Matian’s attack had been that powerful.
“You dodged well. That’s impressive, Lucena.”
Seeming convinced she hadn’t slacked off, Matian praised her with a bright smile.
What was this—giving her poison then the antidote?
Still seated on the ground after landing hard on her backside, Lucena brushed the dirt off her hands and stood up.
Just as she was nearly upright, he extended a hand as if to help—but she pointedly ignored it.
“How can you swing a scabbard at someone out of nowhere?”
“If I’d done it properly, you wouldn’t have dodged. Since duels are permitted here, I simply initiated a quick spar. Sorry if it startled you.”
It didn’t sound apologetic at all—was she imagining things?
“That was a duel?”
“All duel conditions were met.”
He ticked off the rules on his fingers:
The venue must be an approved training ground with a judge.
Both participants must carry weapons and enter the grounds.
Mutual consent is required.
He added, by the way, that he himself was the judge.
“How can one of the duelists also be the judge? That’s unfair.”
“Unfortunately, the rules don’t specify any qualifications for judges—so technically, anyone can serve.”
Matian exploited a loophole in the academy regulations to justify his own logic.
“That’s only because it’s so obvious they didn’t bother writing it down!”
“What’s obvious in this world, Lucena?”
Matian tilted his head with a sweet smile.
Who ever called this guy an upright, model student council president?
She wanted to argue immediately, but lacking solid grounds, she challenged another condition instead.
“I never agreed to a duel.”
“You did—by meeting my eyes.”
He pointed a finger, alternately indicating his own eyes and hers.
“Normally, people look away at moments like that.”
That wasn’t wrong either.
Whenever Matian smiled with killing intent, opponents would lose their nerve and avert their eyes in fear.
Just now, Lucena had stared directly into that lethal gaze—knowing full well the danger.
But that still didn’t equate to consenting to a duel—it was sheer nonsense.
“If locking eyes once counts as consent, then you’d be married to every woman you’ve ever held hands with.”
Frustrated, Lucena muttered under her breath.
But Matian’s reaction was odd. His composed, relaxed expression twisted slightly.
His eyes, previously steady, now flickered with unguarded panic—as if she’d struck a nerve.
‘……Nah, surely not.’
Despite his innocent-seeming reaction, no noble as prestigious as a Grand Duke’s heir would be raised so naïvely.
Nobles constantly held banquets and mingled to preserve their influence.
Those exquisite noblewomen surely wouldn’t have left such a handsome man alone.
‘He didn’t grow up in some remote mountain village only seeing men, so stop pretending to be so innocent.’
Brushing off the last bits of dirt from her pants, Lucena turned to leave the training grounds.
“Wait.”
Matian caught her wrist.
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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