Who Am I? (5)
As the entire Continent watched, Najin declared war upon the Revelry Emperor. Originally this was the emperor’s role, but the emperor willingly yielded the place to Najin, judging it the right course.
The one who gripped the Sword of Selection.
The one who stood with the Staff of Selection.
Najin, lifting Excalibur high, made every onlooker think of the great hero Arthur. Whether they had lived in Arthur’s age or not did not matter. Even if they had never seen her with their own eyes, they had heard the tales.
The legend of King Arthur.
There was no one who did not know that story.
And in this moment, as a tale that had stood still for a thousand years began to move once more, the Continent became one and roared with fervor. Countless knights raised their voices. From every direction the horns announcing the opening of war rang out.
Slay the demons. Sweep away the darkness. Let the demons know that their natural enemy has come. The stars stand with us!
Knights, mercenaries, soldiers, nobles, commoners—regardless of rank or title, the Continent cried out as one. Death to the demons. Only death. The heat they generated set the very air ablaze.
It was a situation in which they could do nothing but go mad with excitement.
The descendant of the hero who had opened the first page of the Empire’s history had appeared. At his side stood Merlin, the great mage who had been King Arthur’s guide and a living legend. The second hand that had stopped was moving again, and the age itself was about to upheave.
Everyone standing at the scene where history and the era were shifting could feel it.
In that still hotter fervor, Najin looked back. The arena the mages of the Magic Tower had created was rising into the air. Najin climbed the stairs leading toward it. From the opposite side, Yuel was ascending as well.
A duel unfolding before the eyes of all.
It was a promise made with Yuel, and at the same time an opportunity to declare something to the entire Continent. What? Najin asked himself. The answer was simple.
What it meant to have drawn Excalibur.
And whether he possessed strength enough to declare war upon a demon who held eleven stars.
“Yuel Razian.”
Executioner of the Church. Great champion of the Martyr of the Bramble.
Sword Master.
“Najin.”
Pillar of Dawn. Free Knight. Master of Excalibur.
Sword Master.
With the gaze of the entire Continent fixed upon them, the two leveled their swords at each other.
The duel began.
While the rare spectacle of transcendents colliding was relayed through the mages’ magic, the spectators held their breath and watched.
Battles between transcendents were not so uncommon in the Outer Land, but on the Continent the story was different. On the Continent, transcendents clashing was so rare it was almost unheard of.
And then—
Kaaaaaaaaang!
The roar that began in the arena shook the plaza.
No matter how carefully they controlled their power, no matter that they held back lethal techniques and left room for mercy, this was still a duel between transcendents. Every time their blades met, a thunderclap of sound rolled out and winds howled.
Shaaaaaak.
After a light exchange, Yuel was driven back. She felt the corner of her mouth trembling. She covered her lips with her palm, yet she could not hide the excitement dripping from her eyes.
Indeed. So you have become a transcendent.
The vibration that climbed through her grip the instant their swords met made Yuel’s body shudder. Different. Completely different. The Najin she knew—the youth she had seen only about a month ago—and the young man before her now were not the same person at all.
She had first met Najin barely two years earlier.
On the day she had said, “I would like to duel you someday,” Yuel had estimated it would take ten years at the earliest. Even that had been an extremely generous assessment. She had been prepared to wait twenty or thirty years if necessary.
But looking at him now—
“······.”
There stood a youth who had reached transcendence in a mere two years. Not ten years—two. An unprecedented genius who had become a Sword Master in that time. The corner of Yuel’s mouth twitched.
“Ah… ha.”
In the end she could not hold it in. Yuel burst out laughing.
A youth who now stood in the same place as herself.
She felt no shame or jealousy at having been caught up to. Instead she rejoiced that a worthy opponent had appeared. The moment she had longed for had finally arrived, and Yuel could not contain her excitement.
I want to see it.
How far he could go. How far he could chase her. How far he could push her.
Even if I break the promise… just a little more…
She wanted to see. As Yuel prepared to draw forth sword aura beyond what they had agreed upon, she suddenly looked down at her own hand. The hand gripping the hilt, the hand that had been about to apply more force—was being held fast by her other hand, as if telling her not to go any further.
If I do that, I will inflict a fatal wound on my opponent.
If I do that, blood will have to be spilled.
At the thought circling her mind, Yuel’s eyes narrowed. Was that not exactly what she desired? A blood-soaked duel. A thrilling fight where life and death hung in the balance—that was what she wanted.
Feeling the contradiction, Yuel swung her sword.
She clashed blades with Najin.
Ah… certainly.
She thought. Certainly, if she put more power into it here and a duel of flying blood erupted, she would not be able to avoid responsibility. It had not been discussed beforehand.
Kang!
The emperor, the pillars of the Empire, even the Church itself would hold her accountable. In that case the privileges granted to her would likely be reduced.
Kaaaaaaaaang!
Certainly that would be a loss, would it not? Just as she was about to settle on that conclusion, Yuel frowned. No. Was it not a risk worth taking for the pleasure of the moment? Would it not be more enjoyable to spill blood with the man before her than to cut down hundreds of the rabble?
Contradiction. Sensing that a contradiction had arisen in her always consistent judgment, Yuel’s eyes narrowed further.
Why?
This remarkably rational murderer quickly arrived at the answer. She did not make excuses to herself. She had always lived in a straight line. And so she recognized the emotion she was feeling now.
Yuel Razian could not put that emotion into words.
Most emotions were absent in her, so she did not know precisely what this one was… yet what she felt now was something a child might feel.
A child who had gained a treasured toy for the first time.
Yuel did not understand that she was doing what a child would do—handling a precious toy carefully so she could play with it for as long as possible. She was feeling not only joy but also anxiety in this situation.
What if I break it like this? If I play too roughly and break it…
At the anxiety she was experiencing for the first time, Yuel ground her teeth. Even though the chance she so desperately loved—to duel while shedding blood—had arrived, she instead loosened the strength in her hands. Driven far back, Yuel wore a complicated expression.
Just as she was frowning down at the sword in her grip—
“······.”
Najin leveled his blade at her.
And then—flash.
He raised the output of his sword aura. One level higher than they had promised. Output that might make blood fly, that might leave her with a small injury. Yuel’s eyes widened as she watched Najin’s aura.
“······.”
Najin wordlessly flicked the tip of his sword. He said nothing, yet Yuel understood exactly what he was saying.
This doesn’t seem to satisfy you much.
Najin smiled.
How about it? Shall we raise it a little?
No need to worry. Something like that won’t break me. As if he had read her thoughts, Najin acted, and Yuel laughed. She could not help bursting into laughter.
“Very well.”
Wearing a pure smile that did not suit her at all, Yuel drew up her own sword aura. The anxiety had long since vanished. Yuel charged at Najin.
Blade met blade.
Techniques were exchanged.
And a few drops of blood flew.
An attack that might once have dealt Najin a fatal wound now only sent a few droplets spraying. And it was not only Najin who bled. A bead of blood welled on Yuel’s forearm where the tip of his sword had grazed her.
Through the flying droplets her crimson eyes sparkled—whether catching the starlight of Excalibur or glittering with excitement, it was hard to say.
Perhaps both.
In this moment Yuel was feeling joy. Even though she was not using lethal techniques, even though she was not employing the skills she had polished solely to kill, even though she was fighting a duel her original self would have found distasteful—
It was fun. So much fun that Yuel Razian laughed.
The tones created by the two transcendents rang across the plaza. The sound of swords colliding, faint laughter and the stamp of feet, the friction of sword aura all swirled together.
Countless spectators held their breath and watched the duel.
And then, at a certain moment, the duel ended abruptly. Crossed strikes halted simultaneously just before each other’s shoulders. In a situation where one more handspan would have inflicted a fatal wound, the two stopped as if by prior agreement.
At point-blank range, close enough that their breath nearly touched, Yuel and Najin looked at each other.
This far?
Yes. This far.
Having finished the conversation with their eyes, they lowered their swords at the same time and stepped back.
Then they offered the sword salute.
The spectators who had been holding their breath erupted in cheers. Amid the echoing ovation, the curtain fell on the duel.
“The Holy Blood Church promises unlimited cooperation in the war against the Revelry Emperor. The subjugation of demons is the Church’s dearest wish.”
After the duel, Yuel spoke with Najin as the representative of the Holy Blood Church.
“However, one condition is required.”
“A condition, you say?”
“Yes. In fact, even if it were not the Holy Blood Church, this point must be clearly settled whenever a large-scale war is about to break out.”
One condition. For the great war that was about to begin—and in order to win that war—there was something that had to be done first, Yuel said.
“The moment you head for the Outer Land, countless transcendents will welcome you. The Empire has already taken this into account as well. The instant our forces cross the boundary of the Outer Land, a great war will unfold with that moment as the starting point.”
A war led by transcendents.
The very thing Merlin had once spoken of—“what will happen the moment Excalibur is drawn”—would become reality. Of course, Najin, who had reached transcendence, would be able to endure without being swept away by that current, but that applied only to Najin.
A battlefield where countless transcendents would descend.
There was no guarantee that every ally would come through that chaos unharmed.
“On the day you revealed Excalibur, the Revelry Emperor approached a number of constellations. Constellations that would shudder at anything related to King Arthur. Even if they do not agree with the Revelry Emperor’s ideology, they will gladly cooperate with her if it means killing you.”
Najin nodded. It was the truth.
If half the world had been Arthur’s allies—
The remaining half had been enemies who regarded Arthur with pure loathing.
“And,”
Yuel opened her mouth again.
“In that battle, that one will most certainly appear.”
That one? As Najin tilted his head, Yuel continued. It would be a constellation familiar to him as well.
“The Star of Heaven’s Drift.”
The Star of Heaven’s Drift—Icarus.
“The master of the whales that swallow stars is, of course, drawn to the brightest star. The Revelry Emperor possesses a method of luring Icarus to a specific place. She will certainly station Icarus near the battlefield.”
Hundreds of thousands of star-swallowing whales.
A constellation optimized for chaotic battle, one that held overwhelming advantage in large-scale war—its intervention was now confirmed.
“Unless the Star of Heaven’s Drift is subjugated, the war cannot even begin.”
Otherwise the greater part of their forces would be ground to dust before the fighting even started.
Subjugation of the Star of Heaven’s Drift…
Najin stroked his chin. As he recalled it, the Star of Heaven’s Drift was a transcendent who had lived for at least nine hundred years. Though he was close to a forgotten star, his strength remained undiminished.
How was one supposed to deal with hundreds of thousands of whales?
While he was pondering, someone jabbed him repeatedly in the side. When he turned his head, Merlin had already materialized there. Ever since she had become able to take physical form by borrowing the starlight of Excalibur, Merlin had been coming and going between Najin’s mindscape and reality as freely as if she were walking in and out of her own house.
“What is it, Merlin?”
Najin reacted calmly, but no one else could. The officials of the Holy Blood Church and the bureaucrats of the Empire who were gathered there all widened their eyes. Before the suddenly appeared Merlin they bowed their heads.
We greet the Great Sage Merlin, guide of the great king, archmage of the lake…
Listening to their cries, the corner of Merlin’s mouth twitched, but Najin pretended not to notice. The next words, however, were harder to ignore.
“Who do you think I am? As these children say, am I not the Great Sage who has pierced through the truth?”
Merlin placed a hand on her chest, gave a little “ahem,” and smiled with supreme confidence. And Najin thought to himself, That’s the hundred and sixty-first time.
“A method to subjugate the Star of Heaven’s Drift? I know as many as you like.”
Najin quietly decided to raise both the count and the frequency of the times Merlin would shout “Who am I?” at him.