The Demon's Unyielding Blade
“This... this is what...”“LT__/p>
I wanted to protest, but I couldn't.
Before my voice could even form, the man was faster.
To speak, I first had to survive the attack.
He aimed straight for my vital points exactly as he'd threatened.
That very precision made it surprisingly easy to dodge.
My first swing was to twist my body aside, but the man followed through without pause, slashing at the spot where he'd stabbed.
It was an unavoidable strike.
I had no choice but to block it with my own sword.
Clang!
Our blades met.
From that clash, we began dueling with endless fury.
If I were still the me from back then, I'd already be dead from the first blow.
But thanks to my master's gift, my body moved exactly as my will commanded.
By every measure of vitality, I was far stronger than at death.
Moreover, the man wasn't using mana to bolster his frame.
I had no intention of killing him, so I simply held on, but the man inexplicably used none either.
He attacked me with nothing but raw physical might and skill.
Yet every thrust and swing was fatal.
Thanks to that, I managed to endure without much trouble.
The man kept launching attacks even though they failed every time.
He attacked, I endured.
It was one-sided and excruciating.
I was growing desperate.
He could afford mistakes, but what if I made even one?
The instant I slipped up, even though I'd only been reborn for three days, I'd have to die again.
I refused to die like that.
“No thrusts. I have to time for the swing!”
I waited for the man to swing his blade next.
Since he alternated stabs, cuts, and cuts into stabs, he couldn't hold back long before the next swing came.
“Yah!”
I swung with all my strength, repelling his blade.
He was pushed back by my sudden surge and had to create some distance.
Anyone else would have dropped their sword, but this man held on tight.
“How amusing. Is it Cainz right now?”
“What is Cainz?”
“You don't know what Cainz is? Even after all this time... you don't know the War God Cain?”
The War God?
I'd never heard of such a deity.
The only ones I knew were the Lord Runegran and the five deities who served him.
In this era, the date carried Runegran's name.
“It is currently the year 1371 of the Runegran calendar.”
“Runegran? That wretched...”
“Wretched”?
The Lord Runegran!
Not one of the five subordinate deities, but Runegran himself?
What was the identity of this man who called the Lord of the world a wretched creature?
“Before I kill you, there's one last question.”
“Ask.”
“With skill like yours, what rank would you hold in this age?”
What rank?
Normally I'd have spoken modestly, but not now.
“No one in this era wields the sword better than I.”
“Oh? Really? It keeps getting more interesting. You didn't learn the blade from anyone, did you?”
“I received basic training, but after that I trained on my own, as I willed.”
“Clever. The sword is swung to survive, not to learn what others teach.”
Despite standing at the brink of life and death, a thrill ran down my spine.
The sword is swung to survive.
His thought was exactly what I'd felt when I first gripped my blade.
“Anyway, be gone. Even so, I can't spare someone connected to Merlin.”
“What crime have I committed? Am I taking my master's sins upon myself?”
“Master?”
The man's strength vanished, his eyes turning blank.
His grip on the blade loosened into a mess.
“You say he took in a disciple, do you?”
“Yes. I am that disciple.”
“Haha... haa...”
The man dropped his sword to the floor.
Then he laughed, then sighed, repeating the cycle.
I didn't understand the meaning and was driven to despair.
“Do you know where we are?”
“If I knew, I wouldn't be standing here.”
“This is the border between life and death.”
“Life and death border? What nonsense are you saying? I know it's the place only souls enter.”
“Yeah, that's right.”
The man spoke as if it were the most obvious truth.
“You're dead.”
“Absurd! Stop it. I'm alive and well, aren't I?”
“Why can't you believe me? Look.”
The man picked up the fallen sword, gripped it upside down, and pointed it at his own body.
“What are you doing?!”
I had to stop him.
So I concentrated mana in my legs and pushed off the ground...
Puff.
The moment I tried to run, it didn't work.
The sword pierced straight through his chest.
“Eh?”
But the man's body held its shape.
The blade sank deeper, then pushed back out and fell to the floor again.
“Still don't believe me? You tried using mana too, right? That's because you're nothing but a soul without a body.”
“T-Then why did you keep swinging your sword at me to kill me?!”
“You know what that is? Catharsis. Die! Die! That's what happens when you swing the blade? Because of Merlin, I just vented some anger on you. Now you try it too. Just like I did.”
Half of his words made sense, but the other half didn't.
So I pressed my sword lightly against my palm.
No blood came out.
The blade even passed straight through my palm.
“Aaaah!”
“It looks like you've finally figured out the situation.”
“T-This can't be. Master saved me when my soul was sealed away after death! Why... why again?!”
“Don't try to understand Merlin. That guy isn't human.”
“But you said you'd teach me magic. You said you'd teach me whenever you felt like it.”
Tears suddenly blurred my vision.
I'd fought so hard to stay alive, and yet I was already dead.
“Anyway, pick up your sword again.”
“I can't. If you're going to kill me, just do it. Because I'm already dead, I can't die again.”
“Did Merlin say nothing when he sent you here?”
“He said I needed to fix my slack mind.”
“Who fixes whom? Merlin? Hah...”
A master who freely handled time, form, and perception.
This man openly dismissed such a master.
“I've stayed here for a long time because of my last wish.”
I didn't answer.
No need to worry about appearances when you're dead.
“The greatest achievement of my life, above all else, is the sword. But I never taught it to anyone. So before I gave up completely, I wanted to pass it on to someone.”
“I understand. I had a disciple I wanted to teach, but I died before I could.”
“Then Merlin captured my soul and bound it here. He said he'd bring the right person someday. And here you are, Erewon.”
The man's eyes had lost all murderous intent.
Yet those eyes burned with infinite passion even as a mere soul without a body.
“After sparring several times, I know. You're no lacking in skill compared to me, the greatest swordsman of the Middle World. So, please.”
The man bowed his head deeply and carefully.
“Receive all my knowledge and experience about the sword. Merge it into your sword and forge an even stronger one.”
I couldn't ignore such a solemn and heavy request.
“How can I do that?”
“It's simple. We talk and clash swords right here.”
From that moment, training with the man began.
No need to eat, no need to sleep.
Even no need to go to the bathroom.
Training continued without a single break.
I didn't even notice time passing.
Actually, time didn't matter.
Discussing the sword with the man and clashing blades directly was the most enjoyable and heart-pounding time among all the hours I'd spent training.
My heart raced, but the body that remained was only a shape without soul.
Finally, the moment training ended, the man laughed loudly and freely.
It was the first time he'd smiled so freely.
“Brother, you smile so warmly?”
“Warmly? I didn't just inherit my knowledge. I fused it and made it evolve further. It's all thanks to you.”
I didn't measure time, but quite some time had passed.
Soon the man and I had become older and younger brothers.
“So what now? I'm dead, after all.”
“No. Even if he's a madman who can't control his whims, he's not the type to kill you like that.”
At that moment, the man's expression hardened.
“Look. It's time, isn't it?”
The center of the structure floor began to glow, and the master appeared.
“Disciple, have you come to your senses?”
“Master!”
Of course. I'd thought the master wouldn't abandon me.
No...
In truth, he had given up.
Even now, it felt truly fortunate that tears poured freely.
“Kaylon, did you like my disciple?”
“Like? I brought a truly proper fellow. Thanks to that, there's nothing more I can ask for.”
“Hold on a second. Brother, come to think of it, I never asked your name. Is it Kaylon?”
“Didn't I tell you? Now that I think about it, yeah. I'll tell you now. My name is Kaylon, known as Celestial.”
Kaylon... That name.
Kaylon, Kaylon...
“Your name matches the hero from the legends.”
“What legends?”
“The legend of the hero who defeated the demon hordes with the help of the great mage Merlin and brought order to the world.”
“Another one besides me?”
“What?”
I turned to look at the master.
Then the master smiled brightly and spoke.
“That's him.”