Chapter 60
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Ready to Slay the Old King
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- Well, well, to think three pretty little Warriors have come to slay me. And the great Yoshar, too.
With that unwavering goal, Arthur reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship in his mid-to-late twenties.
He slew eleven yellow dragons, forcibly fusing their spirits with his own soul.
From their bodies, he forged armor and a spear, and came to wield the legendary secret sword art, the Flying Sword Technique.
- Ha, hahahahahaha! Look at these wings of swords, you fake Warrior bitches who grovel before dragons! Don't I seem far closer to the pinnacle of power than you? These wings are power itself!
Witnessing that absolute swordsmanship, my body trembled with a thrill.
This is the sword.
This is the martial way.
To think one could reach such a level with a single sword…
- Once I devour you, Yoshar, right here! And after I kill all you fake bitches! I'll have grown several times stronger by the time I show this technique to my master!
Until his final moments, Arthur died dreaming only of the day he would meet his master again.
Thoughts were irrelevant.
I burned every single one of Arthur's combat movements into my memory, down to the slightest twitch of his fingers.
‘The operation of his mana chain.’
‘The shift in his center of gravity when switching between offense and defense.’
‘And even the way he freely commanded ten flying swords.’
That was my only chance to see the Flying Sword Technique, a secret art of the sword that had appeared only once in its long history.
The memory Arthur had displayed.
And the memory my master had shown me as a taste (for he had made it look so deceptively easy).
‘Wait, Tarsiyo told me before…’
The master of the True Holy Sword Yoniullan.
She said AuthenticWarrior Ryukael was the originator of the Flying Sword Technique.
Then was Arthur Brius’s master that same Ryukael? No, that can't be. She died during the War of the Gods.
‘Stop, this isn't the time to be thinking about that.’
Only one memory remained, the largest tumor of all.
What that tumor revealed was also a memory of battle.
Within that memory, the second pinnacle technique that Arthur had conceived and finally perfected on his own was revealed.
- I'll give you a special demonstration of what a real lightning strike is!
The lightning of a yellow dragon, tearing apart all the darkness in this world.
A world of lightning constructed by channeling that power to its absolute limit through a mana chain—a true Realm of Thunder.
A vortex of lightning strikes sweeping across heaven and earth with every slash, burning, melting, twisting, and reducing all creation to ash.
- This is Dragon Lightning Flash Slash!
This was it… A shiver ran down my spine, a thrill from witnessing the pinnacle of the sword.
No, was it a tremor of hope?
If I could use this power and the Flying Sword Technique, if I could manifest these powers not with the spirits of ten mere wyverns, but with the wish-granting jewels of True Dragons and Divine Dragons.
‘It’s possible. It might just be possible to land a fatal blow on The Forgotten Kings.’
I prayed it would be so.
It had to be.
Setsunen of Thunderous Fragrance must have hoped for it too, perhaps showing me this because she believed it could happen.
I swallowed hard.
Had his opponent been any other FakeWarrior, the fight would have been over long ago, but this memory of battle was quite long.
There was only one reason for that.
His opponent was…
a legendary being before whom even Arthur Brius had to concede.
‘The Dragon Sage, Rain Ludwig.’
The very man who brought such nostalgic smiles to the faces of Setsunen and Mirngadia was right before my eyes.
What was I to learn?
I knew nothing of magic.
And yet, the battle he waged had something incredible that captivated the soul.
‘A mage in close quarters combat with a swordsman…?’
With Arthur Brius, the greatest swordsman in history, no less?
Was that all?
While Mirngadia had condensed the power of the Chant of Creation into his sword because its holy words were too long to be practical in a real fight.
‘But this man…’
was reciting those holy words one by one in the middle of melee combat.
Of course, he did have help from the legendary adventurers, Bart and Rem.
And… the help of a baby dragon.
- Dah-dy, Aki's here!
Akirea of Crimson Flame.
Still in her juvenile stage, her frame was as small as Isla's.
Ah, Isla… That fool who died first kept overlapping with her face, and I couldn't bear to look any longer.
- No, it's all over.
At the end of the battle, the Chant of Creation liberated the wyvern spirits from Arthur Brius's body.
And those spirits wove together as one to become the being known as Setsunen.
That was why Setsunen cherished even those cruel memories, the ones from before Rain Ludwig took her in.
「Looking back now, I wonder if all those events were not the will of the gods…」
When I was released from the memory, Setsunen of Thunderous Fragrance was there before me.
A smile graced her lips.
Sad, yet happy. Bitter, yet desperate.
「Throughout this long history, I have always been a bystander. The virtues I have cultivated are trivial compared to my sister and brother. I have only ever known failure.」
“Your Excellency…”
「Look. Even now, at the very moment Mir is about to fulfill his calling, I lack the strength to fight myself.」
“That is not true.”
「No, it is. And so, to push you onto that painful path in my stead… this selfish, powerless heart of mine… it grieves me. It truly does. I have failed yet again.」
I lacked the years to dare refute the life Setsunen of Thunderous Fragrance had walked or the words she spoke.
But in that moment, for some reason…
I sacrilegiously dared…
to superimpose the image of myself crying on the day my mother died onto her weeping, helpless figure.
“If, as you say, Your Excellency, everything is guided by the gods…”
「…?」
“Then wasn't I surely made strong for this very moment? So that you would not have to grieve.”
Everything, from failing to house the wyvern spirits to obtaining the souls of a True Dragon and a Divine Dragon.
To be here, in this moment.
Wasn't it all so I could inherit the final flame? If the gods truly have a will in all things…
“If I can slay Neigallas and ensure that His Excellency Mirngadia succeeds in what he sets out to do.”
If my mother, Camilla, or Roveris were here instead of me, wouldn't they have said the same?
“Then His Excellency Mirngadia, Your Excellency Setsunen, and all those who have died until now…”
I'm sure of it.
Yes, they would have said this.
More eloquently, more impressively, perhaps. But I will say the same.
“Will it not mean that you have not failed?”
It was still awkward, and I was far from enough, but I spoke with sincerity and reverence.
When my mother and master died, I was weak and could do nothing but cry.
But now, I am a Yongsa, just like them.
「Ah…」
The trace of tears deepened in the eyes of Setsunen, who was staring blankly at me.
That trace soon wove into a single warmth and flowed down as a tear.
Like the gentle morning sun, Setsunen's hands wrapped around the young warrior's back in an embrace.
Kaisen…
The child of miracles, born of Raminea's love and raised by Camilla's love…
That those children guided you into my life is surely a miracle of the gods…
She did not say it aloud, but the thought was conveyed to me. Perhaps because I had partially inherited her power.
I don't know.
Even then, I could not be sure.
Instead, that profound love, the sincerity of one who had truly loved and cherished my mother and master, flowed into me on a current of endless tears.
“Your Excellency, I will go now. I will go and end this hell.”
A stepping stone of blood and corpses,
The Battle to Subjugate the Forgotten King Neigallas (5)
Neigallas…
The Howling Ruin…
A terror lurking behind the world of perception, a being who became king through the profane blessing of a fallen star…
[Roro, respond! Roro! Your life signs are critically weak! Roro!]
In the Age of Gods, the records describing Neigallas's appearance were simple, yet all the more powerful for their simplicity.
[Get to my position for emergency treatment! Please, respond!]
Its form is vaguely reptilian…
But what reptile from what world weaves countless sobbing souls into its flesh to form an outer skin…
The being itself is madness, screams, and chaos, and no mortal tongue can describe the distortion of the order of life and death that the king exudes…
The Violet City, <Aurelinople>.
Imperial Calendar, Year 1698, March 30th.
Each time Neigallas stretched its maw wide and let out a cosmic cry, a malevolent change settled over nature.
The mountains sobbed in crimson and spewed forth lava.
The earth, robbed of all moisture by the king's tyranny, withered and cracked.
Krrrrrrrrrrrrrgg…
…Kuuuuuurrrrrhhhh…
…Kuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
…Kikikikikikiki…
The souls that formed the king's body also wailed in unison, and the waves of that lamentation swept through the bodies of all who heard it.
“Kh, khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…!”
“Hee, heehee, hihahahahaha…!”
The terror of that moment.
An absolute terror that twisted space-time.
Dozens of Iron Cross squires and their warhorses following in the rear died, their heads exploding from the horror.
Crack, cra-crack, shaaaaaaatter!
What consumed that terror,
what dared to touch the king's sacred body, was a rift created as space-time shattered.
[A fourth space-time slash? Commander, what's your position?]
As if the sky were closing its mouth.
As I watched the torn fabric of space-time slowly knit itself back together beyond my holy sword, I heard Mern's urgent cry.
“I don't know how much longer I can swing this thing. Consider me out of commission. All of you, support Lady Akirea with everything you've got.”
[Commander! Cut the nonsense! I'm heading your way, just give me your coordinates!]
“That's an order!”
A rebuke as sharp as a blade.
Only trembling breaths followed for a moment, then came voices of submission, words of farewell.
[…Understood.]
[…Commander, it's been a pleasure running with you all this time.]
“It was a pleasure for me as well, being with you all. Alidona, you too. Don't look for me. Go.”
[Alright… Roro, we'll see each other again soon. Go on ahead and wait for me.]
“If you're too late, I'll leave without you, so you know.”
[Oh? Guess I'd better hurry then.]
Roveris coughed up blood as a pain that felt like lightning striking her entire body threatened to black out her consciousness.
Her whole body felt like it was on fire.
It was the first time her body had felt so distant, so remote. The only sensation that felt as certain as fate was her right hand, gripping Scherpang.
‘Kaisen, I will pour everything I have into this fight…’
Their Excellencies Mirngadia and Setsunen chose you.
Before them, Senior Camilla chose you, and the Five Lords Yoshar and the Light Dragon Haraderiman chose you.
And now, I too, upon this burning desert, at the end of this long mission…
choose you, and entrust my flame to you before I depart.
[…Senior, are you alright?]
“It's chaos everywhere. I'm fine. You just focus on keeping the objective safe. Has Kaisen woken up?”
[Unfortunately, not yet…]
As I painfully spat out the blood filling my lungs, Alidona's urgent scream rang out.
[E-Emergency! Neigallas is ignoring Lady Akirea and all of us and just charging in a straight line! Seira, it's heading your way!]
“Stop it, no matter what! Don't let it get there!”
[Fucking hell, we can't stop it!]
[Target is accelerating! How fast is it getting! How is that bastard so fast?]
“Seira, take Their Excellencies and Kaisen and get out of there! There's no time!”
[I will defend this position. Even if we retreat, it'll catch up at that speed.]
“How do you plan to defend it?”
[There is a way.]
What.
What did that way mean?
Every FakeWarrior knew exactly what that way meant.
“…Right. You did well.”
Right now, what was pouring from Neigallas's maw was not crimson lava.
It was the Simyeon, the Abyss.
A primordial abyss, the very form of the authority Neigallas had received. Its abyss seeped deep into the flesh, melting away skin and bone, and even the soul beyond.
[I'll go on ahead, Senior.]
Before that red, savage power that devoured not just form but the very factors of existence, the Supreme Holy Sword Solang radiated light.
Solang's shield absorbs the power of an attack and transfers it to its blade.
This power is transferred via the wielder's mana chain, so if their body cannot withstand the immense force, the condensed, surging energy will cause them to explode from within.
Therefore, for the successors of Solang, the ability to accurately gauge the amount of power their body could handle was an essential talent.
In this regard, Seira's talent was the most outstanding among all of Solang's successors.
[The survivors of the Iron Star are now to follow the orders of the Iron Cross.]
But now.
Now, as a power transcending the limits of her physical body swelled and burst her blood vessels, spreading like fire through her entire being.
She did not stop absorbing, even as the abyss melted, burned, and incinerated her body and soul.
[That is all.]
When the torrent of lava ceased, a semicircular island floated upon the lava lake where everything was distorted.
At the island's edge, a masterless suit of armor, a holy sword, and a shield lay scattered like a gravestone.
As if representing the lives of the FakeWarriors who vanished nameless into the stream of history.
[Captain…!]
[Ah, Seira…!]
A lament that could not be fully formed.
Just then, Akirea, who had been illuminating the sky as a single flame, finally caught up to Neigallas.
Her body, directly above Neigallas, erupted in a burst of fire and took on the form of a dragonoid.
A heroine with red hair that burned as alluringly as a flame.
Akirea wielded a power no True Dragon in history had ever possessed.
The overwhelming immensity of a dragon that could burn and sweep away multitudes of enemies, and the nimble agility of a dragonoid that could deftly deceive and finish off a few.
The power to perfectly draw out the strengths of both, no matter the situation.
Pinnacle.
Multi-Point Ignition.
The king's sacred body was covered in countless embers.
The moment Akirea's fist struck one of those embers, they ignited and exploded in a chain reaction.
Multi-Point Ignition amplifies received damage into power. The explosion of the first ember, amplified by the fist's impact, transfers its power to the next ember, which then further amplifies that amplified power, and so on…
creating an Avici Hellfire.
The dimension-distorting nightmare let out a scream of agony as its body was incinerated in the raging inferno.
「Now! Move them somewhere else, quickly!」
That was the extent of the miracle she could perform.
The price for using power beyond her limits with an already overtaxed body was steep.
Akirea, too, collapsed to her knees, spewing blood from her entire body, just as her younger brother had done.
[We of the Iron Star will transport the top-priority protection target.]
[Alidona. Lady Setsunen and Kaisen are in memory resonance! You can't move them. There's no telling what might happen.]
[Are you telling us to hold this position? How?]
[Iron Star, this is Roveris. I'm sending a unit. And Mern, you take two Iron Cross squads and protect Lady Akirea as your top priority!]
[Underst— Commander! Large-scale enemy appearance from the southeast! Looks like the outer perimeter has been breached!]
[Ha! I'll take care of those small fry! Don't any of you follow me! I'm hogging all the glory!]
Tval swung his dragonbone spear again and again against seven thousand reptilians before he was pierced through by a scimitar flowing with lava poison and died.
Even at the moment of being impaled, he was still swinging his dragonbone spear.
His final act of valor was not recorded in detail in history.
[This is Mirngadia of the Blue Star…]
[Your Excellency!]
[Setsunen's preparations will soon be complete… Contain Neigallas's movements for just a little longer… Soon, all… all of this will be over…]
[Your Excellency… Lady Akirea can no longer fight… Is that even possible…]
[I ask you to fight hard… This is your last battle, and mine…]
[Iron Cross, I am issuing your final mission. Latch onto that lizard bastard and don't let go until the end.]
The chaotic situation of that day.
That uncontrollable vortex of confusion, screams, wails, and hatred.
Is not recorded in any history book. It cannot be dared to be woven into words and recorded.
[Son of a bitch, landed a hit!]
[Move now! Get moving!]
[This is for Tval!]
[It's over on this side! Stay away!]
[Enemies from the south, too!]
[What's that? An ogre? But fuck, it looks like some kind of lizard!]
[That bastard's spitting lava again! Evade!]
[Mern? Mern! Respond! Mern!]
[Enemies from the west, too!]
All those screams reached a crescendo before slowly fading away…
In a moment of silence upon the burning desert, when even the screams had died down and only the cackling of the king and his minions grew louder…
Kaisen Alter Aradamanthel opened his eyes.
“What's the current situation?”
Once again, the desolate wasteland before me was shrouded in a sandstorm.
“Following His Excellency Mirngadia's orders, while trying to stop Neigallas's rampage, everyone…”
a soldier reported, clutching Solang and sobbing quietly. Where had Solang's official proxy gone? There was no need to ask.
Biting my lip, I pushed myself up.
The sacred light particles that had been hovering around me coalesced, weaving themselves into the form of dragonscale armor upon my body.
Then, the Yongsa spoke.
“Your Excellency Mirngadia, Kaisen Alter Aradamanthel has completed his preparations to slay the old king.”