Chapter 145
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: Seven Arcs
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When Rimon suddenly picked up the violin.
The Dark Dragon Squad members couldn't understand it, but they didn't find it strange or puzzling.
No matter how outlandish it seemed, if it was something Rimon was doing, there had to be a good reason for it—that's what everyone thought instinctively.
He was the Sword Duke.
The Sword Master whom even their ancestors, who had been his rivals for centuries, could only revere.
A sword that could even fell gods.
Giiiiing...
"...!"
But once the performance actually began.
They forgot every ounce of the awe they held for Rimon.
It wasn't because the melody was so beautiful it sent chills down their spines the moment they heard it.
They were the Black Dragon Clan's strongest enforcers.
Whether gazing upon peerless beauties,
sampling exquisite delicacies,
or acquiring mountains of treasure,
they had been trained to control their emotions completely. To them, any music was just sound.
In fact, they had felt nothing from the melody Rimon had created earlier by playing the violin in harmony with their ensemble, drumming on his avatar.
And yet, in this moment.
The reason the Dark Dragon Squad members were struck with such shock that their minds went blank was singular.
The performance carried an overwhelming weight that choked the breath from their lungs just from listening.
'W-What...'
A beautiful melody?
Techniques difficult to imitate?
Such things were nothing compared to the history embedded in that performance.
If sound had color, it was a gallery of every hue in the world.
A flood of colors infused with hundreds of shades of memory, thousands of tinges of recollection, and tens of thousands of gleams of emotion.
Giiiiing...
There was the regret of what could not be attained.
The longing for what could not be met.
The pain of betrayal.
The remorse of what was lost.
The lament of what had passed.
Emotions so profound and heavy that even a lifetime couldn't contain a single one washed over them endlessly like waves, only to recede and return.
And among them, the one that pierced most sharply was solitude.
The hollow emptiness of a lofty absolute being who had lived an eternal life alone forcibly tore open the gates of their emotions.
Drip...
The Dark Dragon Squad members tried to deny it.
This wasn't real.
Their senses, stirred by the emotions soaked into the melody, were merely mistaking it for their own.
But despite their efforts, they ended up shedding tears.
And it wasn't just the Dark Dragon Squad.
Even Yuna Kyung, who was used to Rimon's playing, or Youin the old master, or even Lee Cheongi—they were all the same.
It tore at their hearts like they were being ripped apart, suffocated them breathless, swelled within them ready to burst, and rendered everything futile. It was a deluge of memories.
The immortal Sword Master who had lived a more tumultuous life than anyone in history.
Nearly a millennium of Rimon Asfelder's distant years was manifesting as melody, swallowing them whole.
Only two endured it.
'This is... really... too much.'
Li Chingwei clutched her chest as if she wanted to rip out her own heart, her face etched with sorrow, yet she refused to let a single tear fall.
And Yujin, watching Rimon without missing a moment, as if she couldn't bear to look away, wore an agonizing smile.
'...Partner, you liar.'
Unlike the others drowned in that profound emotion, she was focusing on Rimon's melody itself.
That's why she knew.
The playing she had believed was the pinnacle of technique wasn't the real thing.
The centuries Rimon had accumulated.
Compared to this insane melody that contained them wholly without addition or subtraction, everything before had been mere play.
'You said you don't get soul, but it's overflowing.'
The fantastical melody exploded their emotions, and the overflowing timbre seeped into their minds like poison.
It was a performance only possible for one person: Rimon, the Sword Master with superhuman physical abilities who had lived through eons.
So beautiful.
So ecstatic.
Rhythms she had never even imagined made her feel as if she could die without regret just from hearing them.
'You're so... cruel.'
But that's precisely why, in this moment.
Yujin's misery, forced to listen to that beautiful soul, was all the more heartbreaking.
If she could sing now.
If just once.
She would offer even her soul.
No matter how many times she died and was reborn, she'd never get another chance to sing to such a performance.
But Yujin couldn't.
She had sold her soul long ago.
Drop.
The fact was so infuriating and heartbreaking that Yujin finally shed a single tear.
Even if she were tortured to death in the most gruesome way right here, she would have just laughed it off and died.
Yet Rimon's performance planted the first regret in her heart, where she thought none existed.
She shouldn't have made that contract back then.
No matter how desperate she was, she should have chosen her constellation more carefully or found another way to regain her voice.
But it was impossible.
Players were chosen ones, after all.
Actors of the stars had no freedom to choose their own constellations.
She knew that better than anyone, yet her despair ran so deep she couldn't help harboring such regrets.
'I didn't want to realize that my life had all been wrong, like this.'
She had lived solely for song.
Yet in the moment she needed it most, her inability to sing negated her entire existence.
As she floundered in grief that crushed her like her vanished heart was shattering, unable to turn away from the inescapable melody, Yujin shed another tear.
That's when the change began.
Giiiing.
Rimon, playing the violin.
The moment his body seemed to glow faintly, streams of light formed around him.
Like a lake pooling with the Milky Way.
Or a furnace melting stars.
Stellar light flowing from Rimon's body, swirling through the air following the melody, passing through the violin, and being reabsorbed.
Watching the glow purify with each cycle, Yujin realized the time had come.
Like a great fire devouring a small breeze.
The faint remnants of power that had filled the void of her heart until now were turning to grains of light and drifting away in response to that majestic flow.
'Ah.'
Was what leaked out attachment?
Or reluctance?
Even though she had anticipated this outcome, as she let out an involuntary sigh,
Yujin closed her eyes.
To savor this melody just a little longer.
How much time passed like that?
Finally, as the violin performance ended and all the starlight completed its cycle—save for the tiniest final fragment not even the size of a fingernail—a low voice spoke.
"I've done more than enough for your request, don't you think?"
It was more than enough.
So much so that it bred resentment.
But she wasn't shameless enough to voice resentment after such a performance.
And above all, knowing her time was nearly up,
she asked.
[Partner, do you have anything precious?]
"What nonsense is that?"
[It's important. Is there even one thing you absolutely want to protect?]
"...Not none."
Perhaps because she was squeezing out her final life,
Rimon answered the abrupt question, and she sent a faint thread of will.
[Then, find it.]
"Find what?"
[Seven... Arcs.]
"Arcs? You mean arks?"
[Yes. The seven arks hiding the secrets of the stars.]
The Liberation Brigade's utmost secret, not even to be mentioned, let alone leaked.
Only possible now as she died, bereft even of her constellation's power, bypassing the taboo. Yujin revealed it softly.
[No matter what it takes, don't let 'us' take it. Collect them, protect them, awaken them.]
As her final life faded her consciousness, Yujin slowly turned only her eyes.
[Like that.]
The artifact that had forced Velloso to accept constellation power and fully digested the star fragment in Rimon's body.
An item tied not just to the constellations' power, but to the origin itself.
The Liberation Brigade's top priority.
One of the hidden seven arks.
Taking in the sight of Rimon holding the Heartblack Violin one last time, Yujin whispered.
[It'll be... hard, but...]
With pure hope and encouragement.
Squeezing out the last of her life's strength.
[If it's you, partner... you can do it.]
With that smile on her lips.
Yujin bowed her head.
The final handful of starlight that had lingered in her heart quietly flowed out right after, seeping into the violin and Rimon.
The berserker who had committed countless crimes as a specter of the Liberation Brigade.
Yet to the very end, she couldn't abandon being her partner's friend—an foolish criminal's final moments.
This is a problem, he thought sincerely.
What was the issue?
Honestly, it was harder to find what wasn't a problem.
The 'Giant,' who possessed top-tier combat ability among all constellations thanks to the trait allowing him to temporarily don divinity, had been erased.
Likewise, the 'Great Tree,' unrivaled in vitality with its countless roots, was nowhere to be found.
He hadn't even secured the target 'Ark,' and had lost three vessels to boot.
Considering how rare vessels capable of holding them were right now, it was an enormous loss.
And the culprit behind this mess was obvious.
Rimon Asfelder.
Humanity's Last Sword Master.
The only human capable of slaying immortals who should be eternal constellations.
Without his interference, things wouldn't have tangled this badly, making him a headache that absolutely had to be dealt with.
But in this very moment.
The trouble he felt had nothing to do with Rimon.
Where was he?
What was this thick darkness?
How could he escape?
Not knowing any of that was his greatest dilemma right now.
Something that shouldn't be possible.
But after the fierce battle and overexerting himself in various ways, even finding a path in this darkness was no easy task.
Especially since he was suppressing his own power to avoid detection.
But even that had limits.
Having wasted time without vessels, as his existence began crumbling beyond the saint relic's capacity, he grew anxious.
Finally, unable to bear the anxiety, the moment he tried to force through the darkness by unleashing his power.
"When things get tough, you use your contractor and allies as bait and run away? Isn't that a bit too pathetic?"
He froze.
The sudden voice.
At the same time, the figure of a white-haired man stepping out from the darkness shocked him.
"Those who brag about making the laws are always the ones slinking through the backdoor with dirty tricks... but you picked the wrong opponent."
Rimon lightly raised his sword.
And, cleverly using Sacrifice Ritual and Incarnation of Rage to fill his own vessel with another constellation and flee alone,
he smirked coldly at the lawbook floating in the air.
"Impartial Arbiter of Law."
As if snapping out of the shock belatedly,
the lawbook hurriedly flung countless pages to block Rimon and flee to the opposite side.
It was pointless.
Before it could even move the saint relic that had held it, Rimon was already stepping forward.
"Remember this as a parting gift on your path to defeat."
One step crossing the darkness.
One step brushing past the pages.
One step swinging his sword at the lawbook.
In just three steps, he cleaved the floating lawbook in two.
Then, amid the exploding fragments of starlight, as he sheathed his sword, Rimon quietly concluded.
"Laws can be broken by dogs and pigs alike, but no one escapes the Sword Master."