Opening Skirmish (2)
The cursed things of the Abyss—beings that had once been human, swallowed by the Witch of Camlann and turned into the dead.
Crunch, crkkkkkkk!
The way they moved in swarms was exactly like a plague of locusts. Billions of insects massing together, devouring everything in their path—the only difference was that these were humans, dozens of times larger than any bug, doing the exact same thing.
They trampled and tore at one another, ramming their heads against the boundary line in a desperate bid to escape the Abyss. With wet, meaty thuds, skulls burst and painted the veil a dark crimson, and the next wave of the dead simply slammed their heads into the same spot.
Thud. Thud. Thud!
Najin had seen every manner of horror while traveling the Outer Land, but even he found this sight genuinely shocking.
But…
What truly seized his attention was something else entirely.
Beyond the boundary, past the hordes of the dead—deep inside—someone was rampaging. The movement was so absurdly fast that even Najin lost track of it more than once.
"…"
Najin narrowed his eyes. Only when he forced strength into his gaze could he finally follow it.
A single man was there.
He dove bare-handed into the midst of the dead. Into a wave of corpses that must have numbered in the millions, he plunged and began to thrash. He crushed skulls with his bare fists, ripped off arms and swung them like clubs, stomped and kicked.
Dark red viscous matter sprayed in every direction.
Chunks of flesh fell like rain, pelting the man's body with wet smacks. He roared and lifted his foot.
With a heavy boom, he stamped the ground.
In that instant the earth heaved.
…The Abyss was a tomb of countless heroes—and also a grave for the warriors of the old generation who had lived even before Arthur's time. Their weapons still stood planted in the ground like headstones.
Spears. Halberds. Greatswords. Longswords. War hammers. Countless polearms of every kind.
The moment his foot struck, the earth bucked, and just as objects leap skyward in an earthquake, the weapons buried in the soil shot high into the air.
Snap.
He snatched one of the flying weapons. The act of catching it and the act of swinging it were indistinguishable. The instant he seized the spear he was already thrusting; the shockwave exploding from the tip pulverized the dead.
When the spear could no longer endure and snapped, he immediately grabbed another weapon and repeated the same slaughter.
Whatever came to hand, he used without discrimination. Spear, sword, greatsword, hammer, halberd—he handled every single one of them with absolute perfection.
And the "perfection" spoken of here was not the kind ordinary knights discussed. It was the perfection of transcendent beings who had devoted an entire lifetime to a single weapon and reached the realm beyond.
…What the hell is that?
For the first time, Najin doubted his own eyes.
He himself could handle weapons other than the sword with considerable skill, but that was only ever in the realm of "I can use them." It never approached the level of those transcendents who had trained with one weapon alone for a lifetime.
But that man was different.
He wielded every weapon perfectly. Far from falling short of those weapon-specialized transcendents, his movements overwhelmed them.
Who in the world was that?
It was Merlin who answered the question Najin had thrown into the air.
"Sword Demon."
Merlin spoke.
"The Sword Demon of the Abyss. Siegfried."
Her expression was complicated as she continued.
"I told you before, didn't I? There was a swordsman who wasn't a Knight of the Round Table, yet accompanied Arthur on her journey until the very end."
"The First Sword Saint."
"Yeah. That's him. That's Siegfried."
Najin's lips moved.
"Wasn't Siegfried a Swordmaster?"
"He was. A thousand years ago."
"Then what is he now?"
Najin pointed toward the depths of the Abyss. There was no way that thing could still be described by the word "Swordmaster."
"Don't know."
"…What?"
"I said I don't know. Strength and realm have already lost all meaning with that one. A few constellations call him a Weapon Master or something, but who'd ever actually reached that level before?"
A being who had touched a domain no one else had ever reached.
Therefore no one could give that realm a proper name. That was what Merlin said.
"Even a thousand years ago he was a peerless human. The only human who could stand equal to Arthur. And that human has spent a thousand years in the Abyss swinging his sword without a single day of rest…"
The one who had once matched Arthur had swung a blade without rest for a thousand years.
"In the end he became a monster and got himself sealed inside the Abyss, but anyway—he's on a completely different level."
Merlin bit her lip.
"This situation just got annoying. I never expected Siegfried to come this close. Normally he rampages much deeper inside. So why…?"
She let out a long sigh and muttered,
"Not that 'why' is the important part. Responding is. Bedivere?"
"Yes, Merlin."
"Hurry."
"Understood."
Merlin gave Bedivere a look. He nodded and raised his feathered spear.
Then—boom.
The moment he drove the spear into the ground, the earth thundered. The murmuring voices of the constellations were swallowed by the vibration. In the temporary silence that followed, Bedivere spoke.
"Everyone, fall back."
Knight of the Round Table, Bedivere.
Even after a thousand years he remained at the Round Table, dedicating himself to humanity. There was not a single star that did not know his name. Everyone had heard the stories of Bedivere at least once.
"Everyone, fall back."
Thus, the moment that Bedivere opened his mouth, the constellations fell silent and focused on his words.
"Is there anyone among you who possesses a legend related to dragons, or who wields a weapon forged from dragon's blood or a dragon's body? If so, raise your hand."
Among the constellations who had stepped back, several raised their hands.
"Those who just raised their hands, please withdraw from the battlefield. We are grateful that you came to offer aid, but the Sword Demon of the Abyss has appeared near the boundary."
The Sword Demon of the Abyss.
At those words the constellations' faces went deathly pale. They all knew that infamous name well.
"The Sword Demon of the Abyss prioritizes anything related to dragons as his target. He is fundamentally bound to the Abyss, yet over the past thousand years there have been occasions—under circumstances exactly like these—when he has 'temporarily' crossed the boundary."
It had happened five times before.
This would be the sixth. And if Siegfried crossed the boundary… his absolute first priority would be those connected to dragons.
"In that case you would have to endure roughly ten minutes while being hunted by the Sword Demon of the Abyss. If you are confident in your strength you may remain, but I strongly recommend withdrawing."
Once Bedivere finished speaking, every constellation who possessed dragon-related legends or weapons left the battlefield.
"Najin?"
While those who remained prepared for combat, Bedivere approached Najin.
"If my memory is correct, you once absorbed dragon's blood."
"Yes. When I slew the Red Dragon at Stonehenge, I was drenched in its blood."
"And you also carry the Star of Dragonslaying."
Bedivere stroked his chin, deliberating.
"What will you do?"
He did not pressure Najin.
He merely asked the question.
"Siegfried will definitely come for you."
Dragon's blood. Dragonslaying. And Excalibur.
Najin possessed every single one of Siegfried's reverse scales. The moment Siegfried left the boundary, he would charge straight at Najin intent on killing him.
"The sealing formula that activates the instant he leaves the boundary will drag Siegfried back to Camlann within ten minutes. Conversely, that means ten minutes will definitely be required."
Siegfried thrashing about, tearing through and throwing off the seals that bound him. If Najin stayed, he would have to hold out against Siegfried for ten full minutes.
At those words Najin fell silent for a moment.
Honestly, he did not yet fully grasp the seriousness of the situation. It was not arrogance—Najin was a constellation of nine stars, and in the Outer Land there were almost no constellations left who could claim superiority over him aside from Lancelot and Guinevere.
Objectively speaking, Najin was strong.
Moreover he was not alone here. At a rough count more than twenty constellations stood in this place, and Bedivere himself was among them.
Siegfried might be powerful, but… surviving rather than winning—wasn't that doable?
By Najin's standards it was a reasonable judgment. But from Merlin and Bedivere's perspective it was not. Merlin, who had been quietly listening to his internal monologue, spoke up.
"We're short on time, so I'll keep this short."
She looked straight at Najin.
"Can you beat me?"
"You right now, Merlin?"
"Not the me standing in front of you. I mean my true body."
Najin recalled the Merlin of her prime he had glimpsed in the Black Spire, and the magic she had unleashed during the Icarus subjugation—magic she herself had said was only half the power of her original self. Remembering that, he answered.
"No. Absolutely not."
If he staked his life he might take an arm, but he could not imagine winning.
"Then imagine I'm standing where that Sword Demon of the Abyss is. Dozens of constellations here are targeting me, and I come charging to kill you. Can you hold out?"
Not easily, Najin thought.
Reading that thought, Merlin added,
"Everything I can do, Siegfried can do as well."
"…"
"On top of that he carries a completely insane sword that can cut through every form of magic and Mystery, so almost nothing works on him. You need something on the level of Excalibur just to block his attacks."
Only then did the gravity of the situation sink in for Najin.
"If I don't face him… what happens?"
"He'll do what he's been doing for the past thousand years."
Merlin said.
"We'll leave him alone for ten minutes. He'll go on a merry rampage for those ten minutes and then get dragged back into the depths of Camlann."
She gauged the distance with her eyes.
"In that case the boundary of Camlann will expand by several dozen kilometers. The Outer Land will expand by twice that distance."
Najin knew exactly what happened when the Outer Land expanded. After a brief silence he spoke.
"In the end, he's someone I'll have to fight someday, isn't he?"
"Probably. The first one to greet you the moment you enter Camlann will be Siegfried."
"Then it would be better to get a feel for him while I have the chance."
If he was an opponent he would have to fight someday—and a wall he absolutely had to overcome—then experiencing him in advance was the right call. Najin made his decision.
"I figured you'd say that."
Merlin sighed and gave Bedivere a look. Bedivere offered no further comment on Najin's choice. He simply nodded, still holding his feathered spear.
One by one, the dead of Camlann who had been ramming their heads against the veil began to cross the boundary. They screamed as if fleeing from the Sword Demon of the Abyss and forced their escape.
First one or two, then dozens.
Dozens became hundreds.
Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions.
Howling, a tidal wave of the dead overflowed. The constellations began intercepting the cursed things of the Abyss as they poured across the line.
Sword strokes flashed. Magic flared.
Dark red chunks of flesh burst and fell like rain. In the middle of that battlefield of crimson rain stood Najin. At the very front line he clenched his empty hand around empty air.
Flash.
Excalibur was drawn, and the moment platinum starlight bloomed in the heart of the battlefield, the dead froze for an instant. The cursed things of the Abyss both hated and feared Excalibur.
Screaming, they charged at Najin.
Even as the constellations' attacks shredded them, they stretched out their hands to bury that detestable light.
Slash.
Of course it was impossible. Who would dare to cover the starlight that even the Witch of the Abyss had failed to hide? The moment Najin swung his sword, the dead were carved apart. Platinum starlight burned the cursed things of the Abyss to ash.
Cutting down the corpses that rushed him, Najin looked toward the far side of the boundary.
There, too, the dead were being swept away.
By none other than the Sword Demon of the Abyss.
"The current Siegfried no longer distinguishes friend from foe. He attacks everything he sees. Normally, deep inside the Abyss, he cuts down the cursed things and keeps them from overflowing."
"So that the seal Arthur left behind will hold."
"Siegfried sealed himself inside the Abyss. He said he would become the existence that suppressed the monsters of the Abyss so they could never flood out."
A thousand years had passed.
Siegfried had forgotten his original purpose and become nothing more than a dead man who attacked everything. Even as one of the dead, he remained a horrifyingly powerful existence.
Perhaps, Merlin had said, he had grown even stronger than in his prime.
Dragonslayer, Siegfried.
Not as many as Arthur's, but there were still quite a few heroic tales about Siegfried. The most famous was the story of dragonslaying—the anecdote of how he killed an immortal dragon.
The very strategy Najin had used to kill the Red Dragon had first been conceived by none other than Siegfried.
A great hero who could stand beside Arthur.
Looking at the end that hero had met, Najin felt a bitter taste. But this was no time to drown in bitterness.
Najin settled into his stance.
And then—
"…"
—…
Across the boundary of the Abyss, Najin's gaze met Siegfried's. The two of them looked at each other. In that instant Najin felt as though the entire world had stopped.
The howls of the cursed things of the Abyss.
The sound of their bodies bursting.
The battle cries of the constellations, the roaring crashes of sword strokes and magic colliding—
All of it felt infinitely distant. It was no illusion. The dark red blood rain falling from the sky and the chunks of earth leaping upward hung frozen in place.
A stopped world. A world frozen into silence.
In that absolute quiet, Najin and Siegfried moved. Siegfried moved first. He released the weapon in his hand. The man who had never cared what weapon he used discarded whatever he held and clenched his fist around empty air.
Around the point he grasped, space warped.
Space groaned. Twisted. Dark red lightning gathered around his hand, and then—
Creeeak, creak-creak-creak.
From within the lightning a sword was drawn.
The one and only blade in the world that stood on equal footing with Excalibur. The name given to it differed slightly from region to region, but most people called it this:
Gram.
A sword whose name meant the wrath of the gods, and thunder.
A blade easily twice as large as any description in the heroic epics was leveled at Najin. In that moment he knew.
He's coming.
The sound of thunder rolled across the battlefield.
The Sword Demon of the Abyss was coming.
