Chapter 9
Chapter 9
What Is Courage
Evelyn forced her mind to understand the situation.
Even so—
She couldn’t.
Why was a blade sticking out from Luka’s stomach?
Why...?
“Ah... ahh...”
Luka had collapsed to the ground, groaning.
She still couldn’t understand.
But even so, Evelyn knew what she had to do.
Flash!
Light burst from her holy mark, and a sword leapt into her hand.
The Holy Sword, Furens.
The Holy Sword of Restraint, the one that had chosen Evelyn as its master.
Evelyn still couldn’t fully draw out Furens’s power.
But there was one thing she knew.
This sword was sturdier than any other sword.
And it was perfectly shaped for her hands.
That alone was enough.
Her first strike went toward the one holding the blade lodged in Luka’s abdomen.
His eyes were still wide with surprise.
Violent emotions stormed through Evelyn’s heart.
But her sword did not waver.
Coldly, precisely, it followed the path it needed to take.
Slash!
Furens passed across his neck.
And slowly—
His head fell.
Thud.
The sound of a head hitting the ground was far lighter than it should have been.
Evelyn’s first kill.
And yet—
She felt nothing.
It was something she had always known she might have to do one day.
And she had been raised with that kind of education.
It made it easier.
She only looked at the face of the bastard who had stabbed Luka.
“Hah.”
It was a familiar face.
A knight of the Aurelion family.
A knight belonging to Count Rogermund’s faction.
Virhan’s faction.
Then that meant—
The knights surrounding them were also Aurelion’s men.
Luka was still groaning, the blade stuck in his stomach.
She wanted to pull it out immediately.
But in a situation where treatment wasn’t possible, removing it seemed like the worse decision.
For now, it stayed.
Dragging this out would only make things worse.
“...Young Master.”
One of the knights stepped forward.
The one leading those targeting Evelyn.
“Derek.”
It was Derek.
A knight Evelyn had met before.
Not surprising.
He was one of the few standout sword experts in Aurelion.
“I didn’t think Sir Derek would do something like this.”
“A knight is a sword. A sword’s role is to obey its master’s command.”
“So you’re just trash trying to justify yourself by saying you’re not the bad guy?”
“Young Master. I came out here as a representative. If you would simply come with us—”
Derek glanced toward Luka, collapsed on the ground.
“That boy will remain safe.”
A hostage.
An old trick.
A painfully cliché one.
But clichés existed for a reason.
Luka’s safety.
That alone shook Evelyn’s resolve for a moment.
If nothing happened—
She might have followed them.
But—
“Eve... lyn. Don’t... go.”
If Luka hadn’t spoken.
“Urgh.”
Luka held his breath—
And pulled the sword out of his own stomach.
He had avoided the truly fatal areas.
But being stabbed in the abdomen was already a near-fatal wound.
Even so—
He pulled it out without hesitation.
Rip—
Luka tore his clothes and wrapped them tightly around the wound to apply pressure.
He honestly doubted something like this would stop the bleeding.
But he trusted the recovery ability that came with aura.
And if it didn’t—
Well.
Then I die.
But if I don’t stand up now—
I’ll regret it more than dying.
That instinct screamed inside him.
“Lu-Luka.”
Evelyn’s trembling voice pushed Luka up even harder.
Even if he stood—
There was no way he could fight properly.
No.
It was impossible.
And yet—
He stood.
“Tch.”
Derek clicked his tongue.
Things had become troublesome.
He gestured to the others.
And one by one, the knights stepped forward.
At least dozens.
Five of them were sword experts.
And the rest—
Even if they weren’t sword experts—
They were well-trained knights.
No matter how talented Evelyn was—
This difference in numbers was impossible.
And yet—
Evelyn didn’t lose her fighting spirit.
Because she was starting to understand how to use Furens.
And—
Because Luka had told her not to go.
Furens was the Holy Sword of Restraint.
“I restrain.”
A Holy Sword was like a contract.
Fulfill the condition—
Receive power in return.
That was how Evelyn understood it.
The more restraint—
The greater the power.
And Evelyn decided to offer the most valuable thing she had.
“Love.”
“Ah.”
What is this place?
I looked around in confusion.
Or at least—
I tried to.
My body wouldn’t move properly.
Everything around me was black.
A place so dark I couldn’t even tell where I was.
Space?
That was what it felt like.
Space.
Not that I had ever seen it properly.
Maybe it was closer to a night sky.
Because bright lights were scattered throughout the endless blackness.
Stars.
As I looked at them—
For some reason—
I felt sadness.
Something like longing.
Hm?
One star suddenly shone brighter than the others.
Its light fell on me.
It felt like—
Out of all the stars—
This one was the most compatible with me.
And then—
That star swallowed me.
And I saw something else.
A man.
Swinging a sword in a world where nothing remained.
The man looked unbearably lonely.
Honestly—
My first thought was—
What the hell is he doing in a world like that?
“Ah.”
The man spoke.
His voice was rough.
Like he hadn’t spoken in years.
Or hadn’t had water in just as long.
...Wait.
Is this a world after destruction?
If so—
That guy’s probably Evelyn’s future.
I could only see his back, so I couldn’t be sure.
But if someone survived in a world like this—
Evelyn was the first person that came to mind.
The man kept swinging his sword.
At endless monsters.
Creatures with strange bodies.
Liquid-like.
Solid-like.
Impossible to define.
They looked like beings born for one purpose only.
The destruction of the world.
Creatures without will.
Things that sought only death.
Crack!
The ordinary-looking sword finally broke.
It had looked decent enough.
But in this kind of world—
Maintenance would be impossible.
So of course it broke.
“Tch.”
Even in danger—
The man only clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Then he raised his hand.
As if grabbing something from empty air.
“Grant me courage. Ris.”
Flash!
The wing-shaped mark on the back of his hand lit up.
And a sword appeared.
He swung it down.
The monster split in half.
And vanished, leaving behind only a disgusting aura.
...I realized something.
That man wasn’t Evelyn.
Then who?
The sword in his hand was clearly a Holy Sword.
That mark—
That holy mark—
And the weapon summoned from it—
That could only be a Holy Sword.
And yet—
The sword looked pathetic.
Covered in cracks.
Like an ordinary damaged blade.
“...Ris has exceptional durability among Holy Swords. People might ask why durability matters if Holy Swords don’t break. But the truth is—they do break. They just recover afterward. That’s why people think they’re unbreakable.”
The man spoke as if explaining something.
To someone.
To me.
He couldn’t see me.
But he knew I was watching.
“Convenient, really. They break, but they restore themselves. So in the end, I suppose they are unbreakable.”
He seemed used to talking to himself.
Speaking.
Answering.
By himself.
And I was starting to realize who he was.
A disgusting answer.
One I hated.
“Durability isn’t Ris’s only ability. If you possess courage—true courage—it will become sharper than anything. But me? I lost courage. Lost everything. Haha.”
The man flicked the sword lightly with his finger.
And it shattered into light.
“Even though it breaks this easily.”
He kept talking.
But I couldn’t hear him anymore.
Like something refused to let me hear more.
As if saying—
That would be cheating.
But I heard the last words.
“So this time—save the world, you damned hero.”
For the first time—
The man turned around.
And our eyes met.
Or at least—
It felt that way.
His dull golden eyes met mine.
And beneath the robe—
I saw black hair.
Only then did I admit it.
That man—
Was me.
Me in a ruined world.
One of countless possible versions of myself.
A man who might become my future.
And for the first time—
I could speak.
I threw words at him.
Words that meant nothing.
Words that would never reach him.
“How the hell am I supposed to do that, you bastard?”
Evelyn felt it.
The feeling of love being restrained within her.
As if something huge was disappearing.
As if she was ceasing to be herself.
It wasn’t unpleasant.
It felt—
Familiar.
Like she had done this many times before.
At the same time—
Power surged through her.
A feeling of absolute power.
Like she could do anything.
Though compared to what she had offered—
This power felt insignificant.
Had love really occupied this much of her heart?
It felt like her emotions were drying up.
She couldn’t hold this power long.
At most—
Five minutes.
But that was enough.
Enough to kill everyone here and escape.
Like a lion killing smaller animals.
Natural.
The moment she raised her sword—
A familiar weight landed on her shoulder.
“Luka?”
It was Luka’s hand.
The moment she saw him—
The emotions that had been drying up began returning.
Crack!
Luka flicked her forehead.
The moment he did—
The power born from offering love to Furens scattered.
Luka silently stared at Evelyn.
Then looked forward.
The wound in his stomach—
Somehow—
Had already healed.
No blood flowed anymore.
Everyone around them held their breath.
An unknown pressure weighed down on them.
It felt like even swallowing would break something.
So they kept their saliva in their mouths.
Silent.
Still.
“Follow the contract, Ris.”
The wing-shaped holy mark on the back of Luka’s hand began to shine.