The Holy Sword of Banishing Evil (3)
Before I knew it, three full days had already slipped by since I'd gotten stranded in the dungeon.
If I let this chance slip away, there was no telling when I'd next run into another living person.
That thought flashed through my mind.
There was no more time to hesitate.
Thud, thump-thump—
I tore across the ground, racing toward the direction where the screams were ringing out.
As if guiding my path, the holy sword floated ahead and pointed the way.
"That way," Justitia said.
"So I just head over there?"
I followed her lead. Even while showing me the way, she couldn't resist adding a short remark.
"There's a familiar stench coming from that direction."
A familiar stench.
I turned to Justitia, who was saying something I couldn't quite grasp.
"What kind of stench are you talking about?"
"It's similar to the one the previous wardens used to give off."
"What…?"
The answer she gave me was pretty serious.
A stench like the previous wardens'.
Didn't that mean the monsters that had created the Holy Sword Prison might be over there?
Gulp—
I stared at Justitia with a face tight with tension.
"So one of those monsters is over there?"
"I don't think so."
"…"
"There's no way those monsters would have a presence this small."
Justitia denied it flat out. Whatever was causing those unidentifiable screams, it wasn't one of the monsters that had ruled the Holy Sword Prison.
"Then…"
"Probably some subordinate or monster that fed on the residual power they left behind."
A subordinate that had consumed the monsters' power.
Hearing that, I looked at the holy sword. The memory of the catastrophic arc I'd once carved through empty air flashed through my mind.
The Purification of Light that had shredded a banshee to pieces with a single strike.
Just remembering it made the fear filling my chest settle in an instant.
"If it's only that level, I should be able to cut it down."
I was an F-rank hunter, but a single blow with the holy sword was anything but weak. As if to prove the point, Justitia added an explanation.
"As long as you land it properly."
Justitia had spent ages fighting those monster bastards. If she was willing to say that much, it wasn't completely impossible.
I trusted her words and kept running.
Thump-thump-thump-thump—
Before long I came upon the ruined landscape of a forest.
"■■■■—."
Trees smashed and scattered in grotesque heaps. People collapsed in pools of blood. The ground gouged out in massive craters, shattered hunter gear lying everywhere.
And right in the middle of it all, a shadow the size of a house was writhing.
"That thing…"
Pitch-black darkness, swollen to the bulk of a building, was scattering a hideous aura in every direction.
Above its head floated a translucent name I had never seen before.
Contaminated Thought Aggregate.
The moment I confirmed the name, I was reminded once again that this was an undead-heavy field. Still, the writhing shadow in front of me had something peculiar about it.
No rank was displayed next to the monster's name.
"Kyaaaaaah—!"
Right in front of that shadow, a woman was fighting for her life, swinging a staff and firing magic.
"Why—why won't you die?!"
Fwoosh! Fwoooosh—!
Fireballs kept blasting from the hunter's staff. Searing spheres of flame that burst violently every time they struck the shadow's body.
"■■■■—."
BOOM! Hissssss—
But none of the attacks produced any real effect. The melted remnants of the shadow simply restored their form before long.
"…"
It was a formless monster. One with serious regenerative power that could shrug off ordinary magic damage in an instant.
"D-die! Please just die…!"
BOOM! Bang! BOOOOM—!
She squeezed out every drop of mana she had and poured attacks into it. While she kept throwing meaningless spells, the thing closed the distance on her even further.
Hissssss—
The rippling shadow could apparently generate physical force whenever it wanted; wherever it passed, clear scars were carved into the ground.
"■■■■■—."
The massive shadow moved. It fixed greedy eyes on the helpless hunter. Clear malice surged forward to swallow her whole, and she wrung out every last scrap of mana to keep attacking.
"Ugh…!"
At last, the mage who had pushed her magic to the limit felt the first signs of mana exhaustion and started to collapse.
Shudder—
The giant shadow's form hardened into claws and came crashing down on her.
Or rather, it tried to.
"If you don't want to die, snap out of it!"
"…"
CLANG—!
The holy sword Justitia shot in and blocked the shadow.
CLANG! Screeeeech—
Even a formless body couldn't fully stop the light of banishing evil. The part of the shadow that collided with Justitia was flung away.
"Ah…!"
A gasp escaped the hunter's lips at the sight of the holy sword.
In the brief opening while the flying sword shoved the shadow back, I slipped into the gap and snatched the hunter the thing had been eyeing.
"W-who are you…?"
"No time for explanations."
Thud—
I scooped her up with everything I had and bolted from the spot at top speed.
Right after, the massive shadow slammed into the place where the hunter had been standing.
BOOOOM—!
A tremendous impact shook the ground.
"…"
Beneath the roar and the thick cloud of dust, I retreated while still holding the hunter.
"How the hell did you end up running into that thing?"
I was about to press her for details when—
"I'm alive… thank goodness…"
Thud.
The hunter in my arms fainted from mana exhaustion.
"Ah, for fuck's sake… I saved her and she's completely useless."
I gritted my teeth and kept running. From this point on she was dead weight. She hadn't been any help in a fight to begin with, but now she was basically a penalty.
"Hah, hah…!"
Wind rushed past. Clear sounds of impact rang out through the gusts.
CLANG—!
The holy sword was knocked back as it blocked the shadow.
"Be careful. It's heading your way."
But a single holy sword couldn't permanently stop a shadow that size from advancing.
Rumble-rumble-rumble—
Soon the roaring shadow locked onto us and started closing in.
"■■——!"
With things like this, I no longer had a choice.
Run, or stand and fight.
Of course, outrunning a shadow that moved that fast was basically impossible. Unless I was going to throw out bait and flee, I had to settle it somehow right here.
"…"
I scanned the thick undergrowth around us. Then I let out a long sigh and set the woman down behind a clump of bushes.
Swoosh.
I couldn't just leave her to die, so I went with a man's way of solving things.
"That should keep her from getting found too easily."
The moment I finished hiding the unconscious hunter in the brush, I took off running again.
Thud, thump-thump—
As I sprinted the opposite direction with my cloak flapping, the shadow locked onto me and rapidly closed the distance.
"Are you planning to lure it?"
Justitia's voice rang inside my head. Apparently we could still talk even when she was in sword form and the distance grew.
I shouted loud enough for her to hear while I tore through the forest.
"I can't outrun something like that anyway! If that's the case, of course we settle it!"
"…You're going to use Purification of Light?"
"Yeah!"
BOOM! Rumble-rumble-rumble—
Dust billowed thick along every path the shadow advanced. I could see it chasing me. Its formless, rippling body was generating physical force and sweeping everything around it.
I can't just keep defending forever.
Between those thunderous noises, the occasional sound of blocked attacks rang out.
CLANG, clang—!
The light-filled holy sword darted this way and that, intercepting the swollen shadow's blows. But this standoff couldn't last forever. Both Justitia and I knew that perfectly well.
We had to end it somehow before things got worse.
"Justitia!"
CLANG—!
After colliding with the shadow once, Justitia spun like a ricochet and flew straight toward me. She had taken the enemy's force and converted it into acceleration.
I quietly stretched out my hand toward her.
"You can do this properly, right?"
Before long the holy sword settled into my grip and asked the question.
To that voice that seemed to doubt me, I answered with the full spirit of a real man.
"Of course. It's me."
Hoo—
I let out a deep breath and looked ahead.
Right in front of the sword I held, the giant shadow monster was charging at me with ferocious speed.
Rumble-rumble-rumble—
In the face of the thing advancing while scattering thick dust, I raised the sword while meeting its savage aura head-on.
"…"
The moment I gripped the holy sword, a familiar sense of mission shook me to the core.
—Evil must be destroyed.
A feeling of omnipotence swept through my entire body. A lofty, noble, and therefore great ideal guided me.
—Wickedness must be punished.
I couldn't tell whether this vast will was entirely my own. Amid that sense of alienation, I confidently raised the sword and took my stance.
"You don't even know swordsmanship," she said.
"…"
I didn't argue. I simply fixed my eyes on the enemy coming toward me.
Gulp—
With a gaze soaked in tension, I faced the shadow.
"■■■■■——!"
The howling shadow advanced. Watching it, I swung the sword at the thing.
Whoosh—
Right after that somewhat clumsy sword stroke cut through the air, a clear Purification of Light began to sweep the surroundings along the arc of the holy sword.
"…"
Or rather, it should have.
If only the thing charging straight at me hadn't split apart the moment it saw my clumsy swing.
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble—
Darkness divided into three surged forward like runaway trains.
"Ah…!"
A voice thick with panic burst out. At the same time, the light that had lost its power sliced through empty air and nothing else.
In the slowing flow of time, the shadows drew closer and closer to me.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Thoooom—!
The moment the flying shadows gained physical force, my body was struck and sent flying far away.
Countless landscapes blurred past my spinning vision. Strong wind scraped my cheek, delivering clear pressure.
"Gah…!"
Thud, roll-roll—
My body tumbled across the ground while scenery flashed by. Then, before long, I felt my consciousness fading as I slammed into a tree.
"Kehek, keheuk…"
The sound of blood-tinged breath spilled out. My mind, swallowed by darkness, sank.
"Snap… out… of it…"
Justitia spoke to me. Her voice spread out one syllable at a time, growing fainter. With every moment, crushing fatigue blanketed me.
"…"
Thud—
Then my consciousness blacked out completely.
In the deep darkness, what I faced was a dream.
A fragmentary dream. Faint scenery that belonged to no one I could name. Inside it, I was watching someone's entire life unfold.
"I'm counting on you, Justitia."
A woman's voice calling a familiar name reached me.
This was Justitia's memory.
The memories of a sword that had lived for thousands of years were flowing into my mind.
"…"
I watched the scene in silence. I simply faced the landscape unfolding before my eyes with quiet detachment.
There was no grand reason. In a world where only shattered memories drifted past, all I could do was watch.
So I simply watched.
"Coming out to train again today?"
Scenery raced by at high speed. Within it I saw someone swinging a sword.
"Teresa. Waking a sleeping holy sword first thing in the morning isn't a great idea."
"Do holy swords even sleep?"
A female knight with golden hair streaming behind her. Day after day she swung her sword through empty air.
Extremely upright sword strokes. She was chasing her own ideal of the blade with every swing.
"But since it's you, Teresa, I'll make a special exception."
"If you and I fight together, Teresa, we might even be able to beat the Demon King."
Justitia loved watching the knight who swung her sword every single day. And while watching that hero, she nurtured a dream.
A dream of stepping onto the battlefield alongside a valiant knight.
Like that, memories as faint as afterimages brushed through my mind.
"Are you really going to pull back like this, Teresa?!"
"I'm going forward. You were the one who told me that advancing at times like this is what a hero does."
Before long she achieved that dream.
The knight who gripped the holy sword stepped onto the battlefield—and lost so much.
For the sake of the nobility she revered, she drove someone else's life into a landscape as filthy as a gutter.
"The cathedral… the cathedral is burning…!"
"Isn't there anyone who can help us?!"
She lost her precious homeland.
For the sake of the mission she had to uphold, every place she cherished was plundered by the world's evil.
"If the hero doesn't step up, everyone might die."
She was persuaded by someone who treated sacrifice as a given.
"Goddess, please show us the right answer!"
She had to listen to the resentful voices of people desperate for salvation.
"Spirit of the holy sword, is salvation truly never going to come for us?"
She heard the questions of people sunk in despair.
"Help me, Justitia. I want to fight those evil ones who devour the stars."
And she heard someone's resolve.
Countless memories brushed through my mind. Within them, someone had to push countless people toward death every single day.
That was the life the spirit of the holy sword, Justitia, had lived.
"…"
Right after the short memories finished passing, I felt my sunken consciousness rising again.
Blink, blink.
Blurred vision returned and showed me a landscape thick with dust. My whole body creaked, dull pain radiating through it.
"Ugh…!"
And right in front of me, a familiar holy sword was moving, still fighting the shadow.
CLANG, clang—!
The one fighting while radiating light was the girl who had been with me these past few days.
The Holy Sword of Banishing Evil, Justitia.
She was still fighting, shining brilliantly.
"Kehek, keheuk…!"
I groaned and forced my body upright. Only then did I understand that I was still on the battlefield, that I had been flung away while fighting that damn shadow.
This was a battlefield.
And on that battlefield, Justitia was struggling alone to protect me.
"Finally awake, trash hero?"
Justitia's voice, laced with concern. Listening to it, I rolled the taste of blood around my mouth.
The her from the dream overlapped with the one in reality. I could see her throwing her body into danger to save someone, endlessly trying to save her master.
"…I'm the warden."
Just because I'd glimpsed a few of someone's memories didn't mean I understood them. That would be arrogance.
Even so—
I felt like I understood, just a little, the reason behind Justitia's prickly attitude.
Well, with a partner like that, of course nothing else would measure up.
Across her long life she had watched it all. The story of a hero who was noble, pure, more knightly and honorable than anyone.
Someone greedy like me is no hero.
So of course she wouldn't want to admit it. She wouldn't want to face her long string of failures, and she wouldn't want to accept a guy like me as the master of the holy sword.
That was only natural.
I wasn't a noble person. I didn't want to become one, and I'd never once believed I could.
"Hoo…"
Once I managed to hang onto my fading consciousness, the pain finally began to ease a little.
The battle was still going on.
CLANG, clang—!
A single holy sword was thrashing about tirelessly, blocking every attack. Yet for some reason, it felt different from before.
Still… right now I feel like I can actually pull something off.
It was incredibly refreshing. And my body felt light. A baseless confidence had woken up inside me.
So I decided to do what needed to be done.
Swoosh—
I stretched my hand toward empty air.
"Justitia."
"If you're awake you should run right away! What are you still sitting there for?!"
Her scolding voice somehow felt pleasant in this exact moment. Someone's true feelings are always like that.
Swoosh.
I copied the hand motion the hero from the dream had used and spoke.
"I'm not running, so come back."
Fwoosh—!
A clear light burst forth, and Justitia transferred into my grip.
A technique only those chosen by a holy sword could use.
"What are you trying to do, trash hero?"
"…"
Listening to the voice by my ear, I gripped the holy sword once more.
Squeeze.
The sense of omnipotence rising from the hilt seized my entire body.
—Evil must be destroyed.
At the same time, the weight of an irresistible mission poured down on me.
"It's a holy sword, so why does it erode my mind?"
Justitia spoke in a flustered voice.
"What on earth are you talking about?"
"You probably don't know, but you've got that kind of thing going on."
But now I knew it too.
The weight of the mission that swallows those called heroes the moment they grip this sword.
Every last one of them had been driven by a sense of duty into walking toward certain death.
Drip, drip—
Feeling the blood trickling down, I looked at the holy sword. Blood was running along the pure-white blade I had once found so beautiful.
"You already swung it once. We have no choice—let's run."
"…"
"Forcing a fight won't give us an answer."
Listening to Justitia's worried voice, I thought. I thought of the hero named Teresa who had swung the holy sword in the dream.
The method was wrong.
The way to use the Holy Sword of Banishing Evil wasn't simply blasting light around at random.
"Justitia—"
The memories that had brushed past me connected inside my head like film.
The Holy Sword of Banishing Evil, Justitia.
From the fragments of the life she had faced, I understood. I understood what noble mission she had been given, what great ideal she pursued.
"I think I might actually have talent."
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting now?"
"After seeing it once, I feel like I can copy it pretty well."
Of course I couldn't fully accept or empathize with all of it.
She had failed. She had been broken, snapped. She had tasted despair again and again, and struggled again and again.
The ideal world that would fulfill the mission she carried simply didn't exist anywhere.
That was the ending the holy sword Justitia had faced.
"…"
Even so—
Even so, just one thing remained.
The one thing she had tried so hard to protect still shone clearly inside her.
Righteousness.
She had always pursued righteousness.
No matter what she lost, what was taken from her, what she had to set down, the spirit of the holy sword had always tried to uphold righteousness.
"What are you doing?! If you swing it twice in a row you might faint from mana exhaustion!"
"If my gut is right, I'll still be fine."
Squeeze—
I clenched the hilt of the holy sword. At most one more swing and I'd be empty. But I was certain I wouldn't fail.
"I saw an upright sword."
"…"
"The sword stroke that brushed past me once in the dream was so upright I couldn't forget it."
Hoo—
I drew in a breath and took my stance.
"Are you trying to imitate swordsmanship right now?"
"Yeah."
I replayed the single moment of memory that had flashed through my mind. I twisted the legs supporting me on the ground. At the same time I opened my upper body and faced the enemy head-on.
I tried to recreate with my own body the hero's sword I had seen in those fragmented memories.
"I'm going to try it once myself."
I let out a faint laugh and faced the approaching enemy. The spreading shadow surged forward as if it would swallow me whole.
BOOOOM!
The trajectory of something kicking off the ground and charging. Within it, I raised the holy sword.
"There's no way something like that is possible. Do you think you're a genius?"
"…"
"You've never even properly swung a sword before."
It wouldn't work on the first try. That was obvious, and it was arrogant. But that arrogance was what drove me forward.
—This is a holy sword meant to reveal righteousness.
The moment I clearly understood that fact, there was no reason left to hesitate.
"…Believe in me, Justitia."
That single line was the last.
Whoosh—
Toward empty air, the holy sword drew a line downward.
"Don't tell me… Teresa's swordsmanship…"
"…"
"How on earth did you—"
Fwoosh—
Light flashed.
Blue light traced an arc and, within it, connected a clear straight line.
It was light.
Brilliant light.
And yet so upright that it felt like it might blind you—
The light of banishing evil that punishes wickedness.
"■■■■■——!"
The light of pasha hyeonjeong—destroying evil and revealing righteousness—that topples the wicked and sets justice upright upon this land.
Therefore, Justitia—
The power that suppresses and severs all that is impure.
"…!"
In a single instant, all darkness lost its way.
The wandering darkness could not scatter and froze in place.
The sword of banishing evil that cuts through wickedness sliced that darkness apart.
BOOOOOOM—!
The air-rending roar that shook my ears was only the beginning.
————.
A flashing single stroke.
A single line of light that pierced through everything and advanced.
The moment that catastrophic blow was drawn downward, every malice that existed along its path lost all value and crumbled.
Slice—
An upright straight line.
Unwavering light bisected the darkness.
"■■, ■■■——!"
A clear sensation of cutting, as if nothing caught on the tip of the blade, traveled through my hand.
Crack—. Crrrrack.
In a landscape like a fleeting dream, the trajectory that cut through impurity unfolded right before my eyes.
"Haaah…!"
Right after swinging the sword, an excited breath burst from my mouth. Along with the metallic taste, blood filled my mouth. But my eyes never left the place where the shadow had been.
"Hah, hah…"
Hissssss—
As the smoke cleared, the landscape was revealed.
The massive shadow's form was no longer there.
"——, ——, ———!"
Only the traces of crumbling, rotting darkness remained.
Sizzle, sizzle-sizzle—
The giant darkness had been torn apart. In its place, a clear sword scar cutting across the ground told the result of the fierce battle.
"Did I… take it down…?"
The enemy had fallen. The moment I realized that, strength drained from my entire body. Sensing the first signs of mana exhaustion, I immediately tossed the sword aside and leaned against a tree.
Swoosh.
As I dragged my exhausted body down and sat, the result I had just created filled my vision.
"Hah, shit… I'm so tired I could die…"
Fssssss—
The darkness the holy sword's light had cut through scattered. Torn into thousands, tens of thousands of pieces, with no hope of restoration left.
"…"
But the scattered shadow did not disappear. It merely changed form and began to drift somewhere.
Whoooosh—
The finely shredded shadow rode the wind.
"Huh…?"
More precisely, it flew toward me.
Darkness torn into tiny particles instantly enveloped me. I stared in confusion at the darkness that had begun to surround me.
"What the hell is this?"
It paid no mind to Justitia's light and seeped into me as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Ssssss.
Ash-like darkness melted into me.
"Wait, why is this coming to me?"
Ding—
Before long, a translucent window floated up in front of my eyes.
You have recovered the residual power left behind by a Transcendent Species.
A faint dignity befitting nobility is added.
Some stats have changed.
My stats had grown. With the increase in magic, the exhaustion symptoms settled almost instantly.
I was still staring in confusion at the incomprehensible scene when—
"…"
Before long Justitia spoke in a flustered voice.
"Y-you… suddenly I can faintly smell those things on you."
"…What smell?"
I asked her in a weary voice. I was so exhausted I didn't even have the energy to smell anything myself.
Justitia answered.
"The smell of the monsters that built the Holy Sword Prison and brought the world to ruin."
The single line that left Justitia's mouth. At those words I furrowed my brow.
"Wait, that means…"
There was only one thing her words could mean.
"It seems a faint trace of those monsters' power has settled into you."
I had absorbed the power the shadow had possessed.
The power of the monsters that had ruled the Holy Sword Prison—the ones that stood against humanity.