Chapter 235
Chapter 235
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 235
Chapter Title: Reality Realization
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The moment Krash collided with Glenn.
In front of Sigrin.
A girl with jet-black hair was reflected there.
The Sword Saint, Charlotte Valheim.
To those who had faced her, that name was a symbol of terror.
Countless geniuses had doubted their own talents before her, crumbled, and been broken.
And among them.
The Sigrin of the past had been one such person.
Sigrin Epania, born amid praises from the moment she drew breath.
She believed herself to be the center of the world, and that confidence made her always bold.
And in the midst of her radiant life, she encountered Arthur Gramalte.
The Hero King who protected the world.
The center of the Generation of the Sky.
Becoming his partner, Sigrin realized it once more.
Ah, I truly am special.
But there was just one.
One person who shattered all of her so-called specialness.
The pinnacle of talent.
A figure even Arthur hesitated to clash with deliberately.
Charlotte Valheim.
Her.
KABOOOM!
A ferocious explosion roared out.
The floor tiles laid by Raheln Academy had long since shattered, sending dirt spraying upward.
The surrounding gardens were left with nothing but heaps of soil.
Amid the rising dust clouds.
KABOOOM!
Another identical explosion echoed.
Between those blasts, two women came into view.
One was the Sword Saint, Charlotte Valheim, her jet-black hair whipping about.
The other was the Empire's Third Princess, Sigrin Epania, her sea-blue hair streaming.
Their battle was so ferocious it sent chills through even those watching from afar.
Charlotte's sky-blue aura crushed the air like the firmament itself.
Sigrin's pure white aura crushed the air like a white dragon.
The clash of their swords unleashed another wave of destructive force, laying waste to the surroundings.
Charlotte's eyes narrowed.
Sigrin's incoming power had made her arms go numb.
"You seem to be hitting your limit soon?"
In contrast, Sigrin was smiling.
With an air of leisure, she poured even greater power from her body.
The innate physique and aura called the bloodline of the white dragon.
Plus the Sword of White Flash, one of the Ten Heavenly Swords.
And on top of that, the former Sword Emperor's secret art, Sword Light.
The result was that Sigrin possessed a ridiculous strength closest to the title of strongest.
If the Fourth Princess Sizzly Epania had reached the pinnacle of intellectual talent from the imperial bloodline.
Then Third Princess Sigrin Epania had reached the pinnacle of physical talent.
KABOOOM!
The two swords clashed once more, erupting in explosion.
Crack!
The cracks already forming on Charlotte's sword from the clash deepened further.
Proof that her sword was nearing its limit.
Sigrin's eyes curved into crescents before it.
Before her regression.
On the day she first met Charlotte, Sigrin had been shocked.
A prodigy born loved by everything in the world.
She had always believed that was her.
But the moment Charlotte stood before her, all those thoughts shattered.
"You? The empire's sword?"
Sigrin, always revered by all, faced a gaze looking down on her for the first time that day.
The moment she, unable to accept it, raised her sword before Charlotte.
"So this is all you've got."
She confronted herself, pathetically rolling on the ground.
Even back then, Sigrin had run at the end of talent no one could casually look up to.
No one at Raheln Academy except Arthur could defeat her; she always reigned from above.
She thought she was the center of everything.
But that day, Sigrin realized who the world loved most.
So she hated Charlotte.
Her own talent always felt shabby before this peer born the same year.
She hated her, hated her, hated her.
Yet even that pinnacle of talent, Charlotte, had eventually died.
But even that heroic death turned her into a legend.
The Sword Sovereign, World Erosion entity called the current strongest.
Before her who single-handedly crushed even the Generation of the Sky, Charlotte raised her sword.
And she slew the Sword Sovereign, only to reach her own limit and breathe her last.
The entire Generation of the Sky trembled and was overwhelmed by that sight.
Even Arthur had said it.
"If Charlotte had lived, the outcome might have been a bit different."
Before the end called destruction, Arthur stated flatly.
Regretting that this was all he could do with Charlotte each time.
Thus Charlotte remained a legend.
The world's greatest prodigy defeated the current strongest and fell asleep where no one could surpass her.
Sigrin hated that fact insanely.
Charlotte seemed to always erase her existence.
But now.
The world where Charlotte became legend no longer existed.
Because she had regressed following Arthur.
'Even you, who were so special.'
Vanished from this world without enjoying the special right of regression.
Just like back then, the current Charlotte still possessed brilliant talent.
Watching that dazzling talent brought back old memories, to the point of nausea.
But what Charlotte had was merely that radiant talent.
For Sigrin, regression had been added to her own.
And now, with that specialness added, she was overwhelming Charlotte.
Sigrin had considered the possibility that Charlotte had regressed by some means as well up to now.
She hadn't fretted over it just once or twice, wondering what if she had regressed too.
Because the fake Arthur acting in Arthur's stead had said as much.
But now, in battle, she knew.
'This woman didn't regress.'
The situations revolving around her had been suspicious.
But clashing directly today made it clear.
Charlotte hadn't regressed.
She was the only one who returned.
Then were all the changes centered on Charlotte mere coincidence?
Unfortunately, no.
But that didn't matter now.
Charlotte hadn't returned.
And she had.
It pointed to an insurmountable wall erected between her and Charlotte.
'I am the one who returned from the world's end.'
Crack!
Another crack formed on Charlotte's sword.
'You couldn't return.'
Crack crack!
The cracks deepened, eventually covering the entire blade.
'Charlotte, all the fame and glory you build from now on is mine!'
And then.
Shatter!
The sword, unable to withstand Sigrin's power, broke into pieces.
The fragments of the shattered sword scattered, glowing white and blue along their auras.
In that momentarily beautiful scene.
Charlotte's and Sigrin's eyes met squarely.
In Charlotte's empty hand.
The stray blue aura dispersed.
Meanwhile, fiercer white aura poured from Sigrin's Sword of White Flash.
In that single opening.
Sigrin didn't miss it, thrusting her Sword of White Flash at Charlotte.
White membranous wings unfurled from Sigrin's back.
The white aura on her sword froze everything around it, extending in three streaks of white light.
Before Charlotte's eyes.
The moment they filled with three streaks of white light.
White Dragon Heavenly Subduer
Three Forms
White Dragon Three Fangs
The three streaks of white light engulfed Charlotte and everything else.
Kraka ka ka ka kag!
The sword fragments utterly pulverized, blowing away the surroundings.
Within the surging condensed white energy.
Sigrin stood there with a leisurely smile, her sea-blue hair shining.
Meanwhile, Charlotte was hidden in the smoke, nothing visible.
"The Sword Saint, was it?"
The smoke began to clear with the blowing wind.
And as the wind faded.
Jet-black hair fluttered quietly.
"But that's all it amounts to."
The exact words Sigrin had heard that day.
The moment Sigrin uttered them, Charlotte finally came into view.
Two sword wounds marred her chest and body.
The blood flowing from them looked dangerous at a glance.
Anyone could see it was Charlotte's clear defeat.
Yet Sigrin felt slightly displeased by the situation.
Even with her sword broken, Charlotte had somehow blocked one of the three fangs of White Dragon Three Fangs.
But it didn't matter.
If she blocked one, she'd just carve another.
White dragon energy surged once more from Sigrin's sword.
Charlotte's eyes followed Sigrin's Sword of White Flash upward.
"Don't worry. I'll end it quickly."
Sigrin raised her sword for the final strike.
"Ha."
Charlotte, who had been staring blankly, suddenly let out a scoff.
As Sigrin furrowed her brow, not understanding the meaning.
Despite the wounds on her body, Charlotte staggered to her feet on both legs.
"I didn't want to use it since it was a gift from my little brother."
"What?"
Just as Sigrin wondered what nonsense this was in the current situation.
Charlotte tapped her waist pouch.
The lid of the pouch at her waist popped open.
At that instant, Sigrin realized what it was.
A sub-space artifact.
A very expensive item.
"What futile struggling."
Before Sigrin could even narrow her eyes at it.
Chill!
She felt something was wrong.
And the moment she sensed it, Sigrin thrust her sword without hesitation.
This feeling always brought the worst results.
Her extended sword scattered white energy, launching the final strike at Charlotte.
Sigrin's sword, layered with countless Sword Lights—the former Sword Emperor's secret art—was beyond what Charlotte could block.
No matter what she pulled out, Sigrin would win.
The sword charged at Charlotte with that conviction.
Clang!
Something met the tip of the Sword of White Flash.
As Sigrin questioned what had touched her sword tip, she felt her own sword being slowly pushed back.
"Ugh!?"
Immediately after, she faced a massive surge of holy power.
Thump—
Sigrin felt her heart pounding fiercely.
She knew the source of this sensation.
It was an ominous feeling engraved deep in her bloodline, not her conscious self.
"W-Why do you have that!?"
Before Sigrin's shout.
Charlotte held a single sword.
A sword with white gold ornamentation that superficially resembled the Sword of White Flash.
But the holy power surging from it proved it was entirely different.
The holy sword.
The treasure of the Holy Kingdom Freeman.
The very sword Freeman had foisted off on Krash, now gripped in Charlotte's hand.
"Because my little brother gave it to me as a gift."
Charlotte spun the holy sword casually.
The holy power rising from it absorbed into her body, forcibly repairing her wounds.
As it did, Charlotte looked at the holy sword with regret.
"I was trying to save it since it was a gift. But with my sword broken, no choice."
She had given it specifically to use against Sigrin in this matchup.
Yet Charlotte had been treating it like a treasured gift and sparing it—a ridiculous situation.
Meanwhile, Sigrin gnashed her teeth at the ominous feeling welling up in her body.
The imperial bloodline reacted every time to the holy sword.
At the same time, fury boiled in her eyes.
Arthur's sword—the center of the world, which should be flawless—was in her hands.
This was utterly unacceptable to Sigrin.
"That's not yours!"
Arthur Gramalte.
Only he should wield the holy sword.
Because the holy sword belonged to Hero King Arthur.
"Hand it over!"
Sigrin's eyes turned pure white.
The energy pouring from her grew far more intense than before.
Crackle!
Sparks visibly flew as the surging energy dominated her surroundings.
Faint white scales seemed to emerge on Sigrin's face.
Her eyes sharpened like a lizard's.
Clang!
But something repelled that energy from Sigrin.
It was none other than Charlotte's own aura.
Charlotte's surging aura was different from before.
The holy sword's added effect, the power of divinity, had amplified her strength further.
Sigrin's eyes widened.
Charlotte wielded the holy sword as freely as if it were her own.
This sword only Arthur should wield.
Denying Sigrin's past before regression, Charlotte handled it nonchalantly.
"What are you saying."
Charlotte glared at Sigrin with extreme annoyance.
"This is a gift from my little brother."
As if she had touched the one thing she absolutely shouldn't.
Sigrin saw the most irritated expression Charlotte had ever shown in her life.
"Then."
Amid the explosive aura, Sigrin's eyes turned icy cold.
"I'll take it."
And the moment Sigrin swung her sword again.
Ruuuumble!
With the sound, Sigrin and Charlotte froze.
As the two turned with displeased faces, what they saw.
There stood a golem of enormous size.
A giant golem whose head reached the clouds.
It had approached right before the White Sun Hall building, raising both fists.
"Huh?"
The moment Sigrin let out an incredulous sound.
The golem's fists came down on the building without hesitation.
KABOOOOOM!
With the descending fists, the building collapsed utterly, devastating the surroundings.
The moment Sigrin and Charlotte vanished into the smoke from the aftermath.
Whoosh!
Sigrin's erupting energy instantly crushed and dispersed the smoke.
Sigrin's face was distorted like a demon's.
Because the White Sun Hall building reflected in her eyes lay in ruins.
"Who dares!"
And as she shouted, she noticed no one around.
Charlotte had already vanished.
That woman had fled.
The reason Charlotte left was simple.
Not because she thought she'd lose.
Simply because she didn't want to dirty the holy sword Krash had given her.
"This!"
Sigrin, her thoughts reaching that point, boiled with rage and tried to pursue Charlotte.
But the golem was raising its fists again.
She was the student leader of White Sun Hall.
The fight with Charlotte was important, but she couldn't let White Sun Hall be destroyed.
More than that, something weighed even heavier on Sigrin's mind right now.
'Krash Valheim.'
As she moved, Sigrin recalled Charlotte's little brother who had given her the holy sword.
'Did becoming Freeman's hero all lead to obtaining the holy sword?'
Sigrin's mind was in turmoil.
She had suspected Charlotte might be a regressor.
That was why she had willingly clashed directly with her today to confirm.
The result: she was certain today that Charlotte was not a regressor.
Then who had orchestrated all this up to now?
Her suspicions were gradually, unknowingly, turning toward Krash.
Because events stemming from Krash outweighed those from Charlotte.
'...No way, that cursed wretch? For real?'
Yet apart from the doubts, Sigrin couldn't accept the fact.
For good reason: Krash Valheim had died before her eyes, wailing Arthur's name amid the world's destruction.
How could a dead man be here?
She couldn't readily acknowledge it.
Preconceptions from memories before her regression.
Even as all evidence pointed to Krash, her heart denied it.
Krash's actions so far had been utterly groundbreaking.
Even Arthur hadn't shown such moves at this point.
Yet Krash was producing achievements surpassing even Arthur.
In truth, the world was changing far too much due to Krash's actions.
But to Sigrin, Krash was the eternal cursed wretch.
A foul-tempered man with no talent beyond stealing curses.
Those preconceptions kept dismissing and belittling Krash's changes.
It was a defense mechanism for her.
The cursed wretch she had ignored her whole life.
If he somehow prevented destruction.
Wouldn't that make her, who failed to stop it, lower than the wretch she despised?
If it were Charlotte, maybe.
But if Krash, always beneath her at the bottom, prevented destruction.
Sigrin couldn't bear that fact.
So even as circumstances steadily suggested Krash had regressed, she denied it subconsciously.
'No way!'
She was the center of the world.
Sigrin had lived her life without doubt in that belief.
Even as cracks slowly formed in that belief, she ignored it and kept proclaiming herself the center.
Krash Valheim couldn't have regressed, nor could he save this world from destruction.
Because she couldn't do it.
'Lord Arthur, where on earth are you?'
For some reason, Arthur still hadn't revealed himself.
Her lover, the one who could elevate Sigrin's self-esteem most.
The sword he wielded was now in the hands of Charlotte, the person Sigrin hated most.
And Charlotte, chosen by Krash at that.
This fact kept making her and Arthur seem unnecessary in this world.
A deeply ominous, vicious sensation stirred from the depths of her heart.
"Ugh."
She felt her mind grow hazy for a moment.
Some massive event she didn't know was unfolding.
As if she were a detached figure unable to intervene in this world.
Before she knew it, she felt abandoned.
'No.'
Denial filled Sigrin's eyes.
She was the center of this world.
That unchangeable fact... yet somehow, it felt increasingly distant.
'No...'
Perhaps Sigrin had already broken long ago.
Back when she watched the destroyed world, powerless to do anything.
She had doubted herself, the center of the world, and Arthur, the same center.
The reason she, who loved Arthur more than anyone, wasn't actively seeking him now.
Perhaps it was to turn her own doubts into conviction.
Krash was perceptive.
His ability to pierce through what people thought subconsciously was exceptional.
And that perceptiveness accurately pierced Sigrin this time too.
She wasn't normal.
She had long been rotting from within.
I'm the center of the world, so it's fine!
Forcing that thought forward.
"No... No..."
Sigrin, who failed to protect the world, couldn't emerge unscathed from the trauma of destruction.
The sight of everything she owned burning had shocked even her.
Today's battle had violently shaken her already fragile mind.
And shaking it was none other than Krash.
She suppressed her anxiety and moved forward.
She needed to divert her mind elsewhere quickly.
Thus, Sigrin was breaking down.