Chapter 281
Chapter 281
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Farewell
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The sword spirit dwelling within the holy sword.
It was a welcome presence, but I couldn't exactly rejoice in the current situation.
Because...
[Maaasssteeeerrrrrr!!!!! You're really back!!!!!!!]
"Ughhh."
This ego was incredibly chatty, and its voice was so loud it rattled my brain.
And worst of all, it had a passive trait that refused use by anyone but its master, making it impossible for anyone else to wield it as long as the ego was present.
[It's been forever!! I barely woke up again, only to hear the world had ended and my master was gone! Do you have any idea how panicked I was?!]
"A lot's happened in the meantime..."
[That Erdel bitch kept trying to do weird stuff to me, so I sealed myself away before she could taint me... And now I wake up to find my master right in front of me? Looking even tastier—no, cooler—than before?]
"I think your pronunciation slipped there for a second."
[Must be your imagination.]
"...Are you female?"
[Well... Yeah, I was made that way, I guess?]
I knew sword spirits were shaped and refined through their user's experiences, but why it turned out female was still a mystery, then and now.
Since it couldn't even manifest physically anyway, it just amounted to a feminine voice and personality.
[But seriously, what happened? You're so different from the master I remember. Looks aside, where'd all your holy power go? Without that, you're basically a corpse, right?]
"It got taken."
The infinite holy power generated through my contract with Erdel had been the foundation of my combat strength back then, and it fueled the holy sword too, so it wasn't unreasonable for the sword to remember me that way.
In fact, it was pretty much accurate.
[How'd you even fight her without a master? She's the type who'd die if you did, or learn necromancy to bring you back!]
"You know her well."
And indeed, that's exactly what she was doing.
Chasing me across worlds and causing chaos.
"Too long to explain... Do you still have that holy power disruption ability?"
[Huh? How'd you know? Ahem. This body of mine could even rival that Mistilteinn now...]
"Okay, confirmed."
Better cut it off here before it started comparing itself to every weapon under the sun.
"No time, so listen up. Erdel's ascended to godhood now, and she's chasing me as an avatar. Plan is to use your holy disruption to drive her off."
[That story's got me dying to know the middle parts!!]
"I'll explain after it's all over. No time."
"Hah... hah... sob..."
Dang Ayoung, carrying me on her back, was visibly reaching her physical limits.
"...No one else can use you, right?"
[Ego swords can't be used by others. You know that.]
"She let Erdel use her sometimes."
[That was a special case—their souls got tangled. It's contracted to you now, so only you can use it. And that contract with Erdel's ended, so really just you.]
"Tch."
No helping it, then.
It wasn't being stubborn or petty.
Born as a sword usable only by its master, it couldn't be changed without rebuilding it from the ground up.
No choice, then.
I'd have to finish this with my own hands.
Finding divine-slaying gear in the Central Plains, far from gods, at this point? Futile.
-BOOM!! CRASH!!
"Heroooooooo!!!!!!!"
"Damn, that monster bitch...!"
"Don't give up...! If you're not planning to hand him over just like that!"
My masters were struggling just to hold Erdel back.
So...
"You've done enough, Ayoung. You can stop now."
"...! ...!!"
No more running.
Dang Ayoung was too out of breath to speak properly, but she got the message.
"N-no... d-don't..."
"It's fine. Not what you think."
She probably took it as me planning to sacrifice myself before more damage occurred.
Considering the guilt trips I'd laid on her, it wasn't a stretch to think I was that self-sacrificing.
"I'm more selfish than you think."
I'd never lived that altruistically to begin with.
Always prioritizing my own safety over others'. Why assume otherwise?
If I were, I'd have fallen for Erdel's lies and gone back to that world ages ago.
"...You have to come back."
-Thud.
With those words, Dang Ayoung stopped and collapsed. I gently set her down and steadied myself.
[You sure you're okay, master? Erdel was crazy before, but she looks even more unhinged now.]
"I'm good."
Parting with an ex demands a clean break.
Being vague led to all this mess.
...Though technically, we never dated.
-Hummm.
[What's that?]
"Gotta do this much for her to listen."
[Boo-hoo... The master I knew wouldn't drive a nail into a woman's heart like this...]
I channeled the faint holy power from the holy sword to set up the device, then turned toward Erdel's approach.
"Ahh...!! Hero!!!!! My hero!!!!!"
"Have you finally lost it?! Run, now!! I didn't raise you to send you off like this!!"
Erdel's face lit up noticeably, while Master's rare fury suggested they were all thinking along similar lines.
Don't worry, Master.
I...
"Stop. Erdel."
-Shing.
"...Hero?"
"What are you...!"
I knew Erdel better than anyone.
The holy sword in my hand.
No sheath, so it was already drawn—a natural state—but where the blade pointed was anything but.
"H-Hero? You pulled that stunt before, remember? N-Not funny. Not... that..."
Right at my own heart.
"What? I'm not really gonna stab. Unless you come closer."
"E-Even if you say that..."
"It's just for show anyway."
"Huh?"
-Hummm...
I projected the device I'd just made with the holy sword into view for Erdel.
Her reaction...
".........Hero?"
Staring blankly, as if she couldn't believe her eyes.
[Haha! See that, stalker? Master hates you this much!]
"Rings a bell? The ritual you made yourself. Tweaked it a bit."
The ritual I'd used back as the hero.
Detonating all holy power in my body at once for a wide-area blast or focused strike.
"A-Are you insane? Using that now..."
"I'll die. Obviously."
Just as Erdel said, without holy power, activating it meant certain death for me.
Vessels bursting, blood spraying, agonizing end.
"Don't worry. Won't trigger if you stay back."
"...Ughhh."
"No trigger now, but holy power contact sets it off instantly. You get what that means."
The sword's holy power maintained the ritual, so it was exempt.
In this world, the only source of holy power that could touch me was Erdel.
And I knew her.
Better than anyone.
Maybe even better than she knew herself.
"You want to take me back, not kill me."
"......"
"If I die here, I'll get pulled into reincarnation... And our link to this world will strengthen, making tricks like this impossible later. Right?"
-Grind.
I could hear her teeth gnashing from here.
"...Even then, it's not impossible. Close to it, but I could find another way. Or my summon might trigger first—not zero chance."
"...I know you, Erdel."
"Eek..."
"How loneliness hits you hard. How 'bringing me back' was the sole pillar holding you up in that hopeless world."
"...You let me go once before."
I remember now.
Back then. After defeating the King Who Wouldn't Die, as I lay dying.
Erdel could've saved me then.
[Hero!! Stay with me!! You can still live! Please...! Please...!!]
[Er...del...]
[J-Just hold on! It's badly damaged now, but I'll give you half of me again! No, all of me...! So please...]
[...Enough...now............. I want...to rest...]
I'd stopped her as she prepared to rip out the very roots of her holy power to save me.
Exhausted as I was.
No will or desire to keep going.
Her expression at my one sincere plea to her—first and last in centuries—I'd never forget.
[........Fine! Go! If you hate me that much, leave again! After all that time waiting...! For an answer like... this...]
[...Sorry.]
[...Even a 'I hate you' would've let me... give up cleanly...]
Maybe my attitude forged her into this.
Assuming words wouldn't matter anyway.
"You... without a hero. Without other life. In a world without even death. You know what kept me going."
"...Yeah."
"And for me... who sacrificed everything to grant you—the protector of that world—the utmost peace... this is your answer."
My heart wasn't light either.
But...
"You were the one who summoned me as the hero to that world."
"...When did you figure it out?"
"Varshutain told me. Verified it after."
The reason a sorry excuse like me got summoned as hero.
Because Erdel—the human closest to the goddess—desperately wished it.
"Wondered when you'd fess up. You never did."
"...Ahh. Guess a love starting on lies ends like this."
I approached Erdel, sword in hand.
It'd trigger the moment she raised holy power, but the ritual waited quietly.
-Shing.
"...If I back off now, will you forgive me?"
"Too much damage for that."
Innocents suffered far too much.
Couldn't forgive with mere words.
"Least you can take a sword to the chest."
"...Feels like I've already got a hundred in my heart."
"Pathetic. Your sins aren't paid yet."
-Stab.
True to its renown, the holy sword pierced Erdel's chest smoothly.
Where a human heart would be. Straight into the avatar's core, unleashing its power fully.
-Crack!
"...Hero. I loved... you..."
"...Goodbye."
This time, I nodded and let go of the sword.
-BOOM!!!
White shards of light scattered.
No trace of holy power remained.
"..."
-Scrape.
"I-is... it over?"
"What just... happened?"
"I-is it really... over?"
I turned to my precious people approaching with bewildered expressions, smiling.
"It's over now. Thanks for everything."
"N-no way... It ended this easily? That woman?"
"That's how it goes. In love fights, the one who falls first always loses. That's what this was."
Mindset was key in the end.
Erdel could never beat me.
Even in this lie-riddled world, my life-threat shook her sincerely.
"Erdel'd never pull 'if I can't have you, no one will.'"
-Griiiip...
"...Why're you looking at me?"
"Talk with So-yeon later."
"...Huh?!"
"...So-yeon?"
"N-no, Master... that's not..."
Leaving the flustered woman—addressed that way after so long—I approached Master.
"...You feel different from the disciple I knew."
"Gotta grow after seeing the world."
"So. Satisfied with this mess you caused?"
"Ahaha..."
"Tch. Well, no need to retreat to the mountains again, then."
"Nothing left to gain there anyway. Live a human life—enjoy your limited span."
Yeo Sochen, butting in...
"...Pardon?"
Wait. Human?
"That's how it is."
"Wh-what did you do?! Why human..."
"Quiet. You want me watching you wither away?"
"Be honest? Humans growing old and dying together is so beautiful... Kyaa!"
...Master and Yeo Sochen vanished amid flames.
Saw blue lightning at the end—they probably escaped fine.
Then...
"...Ayoung?"
"Ahhhh... W-wait. G-good, but... heart can't take it... Mine's already weird... Just act normal for now..."
"Hate me calling you Ayoung?"
"Aggggh..."
Dang Ayoung clutched her chest and sank down.
Looked risky—time to stop joking.
"What if you got hurt coming all this way?"
"...You saying that?"
"...Hold on. Feels like I forgot someone important."
Someone crucial...
"...You all look awfully cheerful."
-Chill!
Oh shit.
The room's air turned icy instantly.
How'd I forget?
"After fighting that weird skeleton, getting trapped somewhere even weirder... Finally breaking out to find my husband cozying up with giggling women—what's that feel like?"
"Hea-Heavenly Demon? It's not..."
"I didn't permit you to speak. Tang wench."
This was bad.
After reaching here, no way I'd game over now.
Swallowing my shame, I rushed to the Heavenly Demon and...
"Hey!"
-Smooch!
Clung to her shoulder and kissed her.
She was tall already, standing ramrod straight—no way to reach without tiptoes.
"I'll explain later... For now, shall we sit and talk, dear?"
"......"
"Others are people too... but I'm beat. Wanna cuddle up somewhere warm and nap in your arms... Aren't you tired?"
The clincher.
"...I was feeling weary myself."
-Hug.
"Guests must be exhausted too. Details tomorrow. I'll have someone show you rooms."
"Y-yes..."
Lucky those two prideful ones vanished during the chase.
We headed off to rest safely.