Chapter 688: Destiny for Two (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 688: Destiny for Two (2)
“My father…”
Jin poured a drink into his glass, his gaze fixed on the distant sky.
A murky turmoil boiled within him whenever he thought of the Black Sea Expedition, an elite force composed of his father, his eldest sister, and the clan’s strongest former Black Knights.
The reason Jin hadn’t set out to find them was simple.
The World’s Best Sword and the strongest warriors of the current era had ventured into the uncharted ends of the Black Sea. Following them was a task bordering on the impossible. Besides, Tikan—no, the entire Human World—could not afford his absence.
Zed had left to find Cyron after resisting Rosa’s tyranny, and Nameless had promised to deploy personnel to the Black Sea once the matter with Yona was settled, but Jin had a strong intuition. He felt that news of the expedition would only reach the Human World when one of its members returned in person.
“The day we first met in the Sota Desert, I got the impression that you respected my father,” Jin said.
“Respect… that isn’t wrong. Though, if I were to be precise, it is closer to awe.”
“Did you ever lose to my father in the Black Sea?”
Hedo let out a short, dry chuckle.
“You state the obvious. Is there anyone who could face Lord Cyron and not suffer defeat? When I first saw him, I couldn’t even exchange a single blow.”
“How long had you been in the Black Sea at that point?”
“About ten years. During those ten years, I fought life-and-death battles not only against monsters but also against countless other warriors who had come to the Black Sea just like me. I chose the Black Sea as a refuge, but there were far more warriors there for training than I ever expected. I encountered over five hundred myself.”
“Five hundred? Were there really that many warriors who chose the Black Sea as their training ground?”
“It is an unparalleled place for training in seclusion. Besides, I only learned this after leaving the Black Sea, but in those days, it was widely believed that the Black Sea was Lord Cyron’s personal domain.”
From his youth, Cyron had frequently left the Garden of Swords to visit the Black Sea. While the fact that he was mapping it with his knights remained a top secret, it was common knowledge that he spent long periods training there.
“In your era, no one dares to challenge Lord Cyron. But those times were different. Not just the Palace Master or the Lord of the Sword Emperor Castle, but renowned warriors and mages from every faction, and even the world’s hidden masters, were all desperate to cross blades with him.”
As Hedo spoke of a bygone era, Jin was suddenly struck by the man’s age. Though his incredibly massive muscles hid it well, he was of a similar age to Cyron.
“It sounds like it was a romantic era.”
“To a warrior of this era, perhaps. But for those who actually challenged Lord Cyron, there was no romance in it. The achievements they had spent their entire lives building seemed like nothing more than trivial hobbies in his presence.”
Countless giants had been turned to dust by Cyron’s sword in the Black Sea—both the famous and the unknown who had reached even greater heights of power.
“For most challengers, it wasn’t even a fight. Even those who managed what could be called a meaningful duel either fell into despair and became husks of their former selves or simply vanished. The ones who survived to the end, biding their time, were people like the Patriarch, the Palace Master, and the Lord of the Sword Emperor Castle… I suppose we could have a drink for the Lord of the Sword Emperor Castle.”
The two raised their glasses to the sky and emptied them.
“You would be included in that group as well,” Jin noted.
“I only realized later that I was standing in the middle of that turbulent era. At the time, I knew nothing of the outside world, nor did I know that the World’s Best Sword was in my place of refuge. I only learned Lord Cyron’s name because warriors who occasionally entered the Black Sea would see me and mistake me for him.”
“They mistook you for my father?”
“Many challengers came looking, but the Black Sea is infinitely vast. Furthermore, the terrain changes in an instant, so those who even managed to meet Lord Cyron were the lucky ones. Many spent a long time searching for him, only to die in the Black Sea because they couldn’t find their way back.”
“I can imagine.”
“You probably haven’t been to the Black Sea alone yet. When you walk that dark land by yourself… it’s enough to drive a man mad. Challengers wandering the Black Sea would draw their swords the moment they encountered anything. They didn’t care if it was a person or a monster. Since I was quite strong among those who visited back then, I was sometimes mistaken for Lord Cyron.”
“Was there anyone among them who defeated you?”
“None. Likely because I never ran into the Palace Master or the Lord of the Sword Emperor Castle. I was clearly weaker than them at the time.”
Though he was a heaven-sent talent, all of Hedo’s achievements were entirely self-taught. He was bound to be weaker than those who possessed similar talent but had also mastered martial arts passed down through generations. Hedo knew this fact better than anyone. There were several times he had struggled against challengers with physiques that were frail compared to his own.
The swordsmanship Hedo practiced at the time was wild and destructive, but it lacked depth.
“However, among those who weren't challengers, there were some who drove me to the brink of death with overwhelming ease.”
“The former Black Knights, my father’s knights, I presume. The first would be Sir Vanessa.”
“Indeed. Until then, I had only happened upon people trying to challenge Lord Cyron and dueled them. But Vanessa came looking for me with a purpose.”
Hedo recalled her words. “The sin of impersonating the Patriarch is great, whether it was intentional or not,” she had said. He had demanded to know who she was, but she continued, “However, if you prove to have a greater use than that, you might live to see the Patriarch.” He had just cursed at her, asking what kind of bullshit she was spouting.
As Hedo recounted the conversation, Jin’s eyes widened.
“It seems my father intended to recruit you, Tower Keeper. Sir Vanessa was likely testing your skills, and if you were someone she could talk to, she would have taken you to him.”
“Most likely.”
Though unknown to the world, Hedo had gained enough fame within the Black Sea to catch Cyron’s interest—a truly peculiar case. If he had been recruited then, Hedo would have become a Black Knight of Runcandel instead of a butler for the Zipple.
“I couldn’t even last ten minutes against Vanessa before I was defeated. It was the first time I’d felt such a shock.”
“For some reason, that makes me feel a bit proud.”
“And then I ran away like a dog. Just like the monsters that used to flee from me, displaying every kind of pathetic behavior imaginable.”
“It’s hard to imagine you acting like that.”
“Think about it. What would a human who had never been educated and hadn't left the Black Sea since the age of fifteen look like?”
Then, it wasn't hard to picture.
“…You must have been like a beast, or a monster.”
The current Hedo, who always wore a crisp shirt and suit and used refined language, was a completely different person from the Hedo of that time.
“I fled while letting out monstrous screams. I threw everything I could get my hands on, and I even soiled myself. I didn’t even think to feel ashamed. My only thought was that I had to survive.”
“What happened after that?”
“I knew the Black Sea a bit better than Vanessa, so my escape was successful. While I hid and focused on recovery, emotions I had never felt in my life began to torment me: shame and the sense of defeat. I experienced those common feelings for the first time then. Along with a desire for revenge.”
From that day on, Hedo devoted himself to training to defeat Vanessa. In truth, surviving in the Black Sea was training in itself, so his lifestyle didn't change much, but he now had a goal.
“I sought out deeper regions to find stronger monsters, and several more years passed as I fought the challengers wandering there. The sword I would come to call Vail…”
Hedo paused for a moment. The original name of the longsword he referred to was not Vail. The real Vail, who was now Sandra’s familiar, called that sword ‘Shakan.’ Hedo had not reclaimed Shakan from him. It was a simple matter that could be settled with a single command from Sandra, but without Shakan, Vail wouldn't be able to exert his proper strength.
“…I obtained it during that period. The one who possessed Shakan was an inner core monster that used the power of chaos. I have no idea why the sword of an Old Runcandel Ten Great Knight was with that thing.”
“Ahem, well, you can just ask Vail yourself. Wait a moment, we’ve run out of liquor.”
Jin went back to the dining area and brought out more alcohol.
“He says he lost it while fighting the former Ten Great Knights in the Black Sea before being sealed. Losing the sword was the decisive factor in his sealing. The inner core monster probably just happened to pick it up.”
Glug, glug, glug… The glasses were filled once more.
“I didn’t expect to hear these stories so suddenly. I’ll make sure to have a new sword made for you, one that you’ll definitely like. My third sister will soon be bringing a magnificent blacksmith from Huphester. A man named Vinn Branche.”
“A name I haven’t heard before.”
“He is the avatar of Picon Minche, so you can look forward to it. So, after you got the sword, did you challenge Sir Vanessa again?”
“I challenged her again, but I still couldn’t win. Not at first. My strength had surpassed Vanessa’s, but my skill was lacking. It was only after fighting her three more times that I finally managed to win once. Since it took about a year each time I went looking for them, I essentially spent several years following Lord Cyron and his knights, constantly launching ambushes.”
“Did you fight other knights besides Sir Vanessa?”
“I probably fought almost every Black Knight who was in the Black Sea.”
“And yet you managed to survive.”
“I survived because Lord Cyron viewed me as something like a charming wild beast.”
“A charming wild beast?”
“In a land that is entirely black and dark, a desolate landscape, a terrible place with nothing but monsters… I was a challenger who didn't need to observe etiquette. Lord Cyron always took the humans who came to that land to challenge him seriously, but he treated me like a stray cat.”
Jin tried to picture Hedo and a stray cat at the same time, but he couldn't find a single similarity.
“A stray cat? Is that even possible?”
“At that time, in terms of raw power alone, I was already approaching the 10-star realm. I cannot believe that Lord Cyron, who viewed someone like me as merely trivial, could have died in the Black Sea. Besides, the White Whale and the Black Knights of that era are all with him. So stop worrying about your father.”
Jin’s eyes widened. He hadn't even realized it, but from the moment Cyron’s story came up, he had been listening with a dejected air.
Hedo had noticed and was trying to reassure him.
“Thank you. But Tower Keeper, why didn't you become my father’s knight back then?”