Chapter 75
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Prologue's Epilogue, Here Lies the Fake Hero (1)
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Year 1698, December.
Following the ‘concert’ by Eos, the Fourth Sun, and Douglas Page, the remnants of the Central Army all surrendered.
“Since this is a class on military history, we will not be covering the miraculous concert that took place on this day.”
The head of the Central Army, Duke Saion, had vowed to fight to the death to avenge his wife, Luxeria Ludwig, but his court officials and the people dragged him from the throne at swordpoint.
Setsunen of Thunderous Fragrance mended the rift between the Central and Southern Armies, integrating their command structures.
“With the unconditional surrender of the Central region, the allied forces of the three provinces—South, Central, and East—gained access to the transcontinental railroad. The path to the North, to the Elite Knight, was now open.”
At this time, the number of available troops for the three-province allied army had reached 700,000 through new conscription.
“The influence wielded by Tarsiyo and Kaisen was simply immense. They only accepted the able-bodied as new recruits, and even then, the competition was said to be fierce—what more needs to be said?”
Setsunen formed a northern expeditionary force with only 300,000 battle-hardened soldiers.
The powerful families of the Empire's South, Central, and East, along with talents from the Magic Tower and the One Star Seven Swords, gathered under that banner.
The 417 trains that connected the Empire by rail also assembled at the central transfer station, [Rainbow Garden], to transport these troops north.
“Akirea of Crimson Flame and Ria Alter Tassalpo were holding the eastern front, but the line was repeatedly forced back. A major offensive had begun, aimed at breaking through before humanity could unite.”
All fronts of the ‘Red Summer’ were entangled like a skein of thread, and everything was a race against time within a limited window of opportunity.
“Humanity had to unite the Empire as quickly as possible and focus its strength on the front against the demons. To this end, Kaisen Alter Aradamanthel once again led the vanguard of the northern expedition.”
The history we learn today is the hero's end.
Right here, in the battle for [Snow Ridge Great Wall].
Because it is here that Kaisen Alter Aradamanthel's legendary life comes to an end, and he is killed in action.
Prologue's Epilogue,
Here Lies the Fake Hero (1)
The locomotives bound for the North departed from [Rainbow Garden] at dawn on December 21, 1698.
The train pushed northward, cutting through the river fog of the great Eleanor River that separated the Central and Northern regions.
The engineers all agreed it would take fifty-seven hours to reach the edge of the North, the [Snow Ridge Great Wall].
[The Northern Army has sent a griffin rider to deliver a report on the war.]
As the train passed through countless tunnels and over iron bridges, the voice of Julius Page pierced my mind.
[A large-scale Western expeditionary force has invaded the North by sea, and in five months, the entire North, with the exception of [Snow Ridge Great Wall], has been occupied by the Western Army.]
Beyond the massive, curving tracks that reeked of rust, the trains sped through the northern wasteland.
The northern summer was desolate and white.
White snow had piled atop the burnt, collapsed villages, creating a stark black-and-white contrast.
Surviving children fled at the sound of the train, and masterless stray dogs barked at its passing.
The uninhabited world visible beyond the window was terrifying and pitiful beyond measure. Kaisen felt the sorrowful cry of the holy swords propped up in the cabin.
[Elector Ian Duren of the North has retreated with his remaining soldiers and refugees to [Snow Ridge Great Wall] and is mounting a counterattack, but they are overwhelmingly outnumbered and are not expected to last long.]
“Is there any other information?”
[We've also received reports that the Western Army commands bizarre summoned creatures. Their identities have not been confirmed.]
It had to be the power of the Outer Universe.
Drawing a breath deep into my lungs, I gripped my mother's sword tightly.
The chill emanating from the northern edge was sharp. A blizzard raged, swallowing the land.
‘Even for the North, this weather is unnatural…’
After forty-seven hours, the locomotives broke through several northern strongholds and headed for [Snow Ridge Great Wall].
The [Snow Ridge Great Wall] was a barrier constructed by the White Dragon Legion to cut off the civilized world from the power of one of [The Forgotten Kings], the Spider Lord Ashron.
If not for the blizzard, the shadow of the great wall would have been visible from a day’s journey away.
The sounds of battle grew closer, and through Setsunen’s power, the screams of those fighting and dying connected to my mind.
Kaduel spoke.
[Converting the abstract consciousness coordinates from the Thunderous Fragrance Soul Resonance Formation into spatial data via triangulation. Shall I display a rough map of the [Snow Ridge Great Wall] front?]
Tarsiyo, sitting across from me, nodded.
“Show me, Kaduel.”
[The Western Army's amphibious assault is concentrated on a gap in the [Snow Ridge Great Wall].]
“A gap?”
[It's a section of the wall that collapsed during the Ashron Incident in the 15th century. Their forces number 400,000. The Northern Army, despite allying with the wall's guardians, the ‘White Wolves,’ is outnumbered more than two to one.]
Soon, not just screams and groans, but distinct voices began to fall under the influence of the Thunderous Fragrance Soul Resonance Formation.
[…This is Johan Wolf Frost. Your Excellency Setsunen, the railway is too dangerous! We will launch a preemptive strike from our side to open a path for you.]
At that name, a heart-wrenching pain surged through me, and memories of distant days surfaced behind my eyelids.
Johan…
Johan Wolf Frost…
You’re alive. Yes, since you’re alive, we can meet again like this…
[Negative, Johan! Wait on the wall! Relay to all northern commanders that they are to hold their positions until we arrive via spatial transfer.]
[Yes, Your Excellency.]
Kaduel spoke.
[Strange. If the Apostle of the Sword can use the power of the Outer Universe like an Apostle of Magic, the [Snow Ridge Great Wall] defensive line should have already collapsed.]
Before I could ponder Kaduel’s question, the urgent cry of a Northern Army officer rang out.
[Your Highness, the enemy is scaling the wall! They’re beastmen soldiers. There are so many of them!]
The beastmen, who possessed physical abilities comparable to demons, served the Ducal House of Eijin.
This was because, during the Great Migration of the Beastmen in the 15th century, the Ducal House of Eijin had accepted them into the Empire.
Even through the long history of discrimination and persecution that followed, House Eijin had repeatedly shown them favor.
The beastmen, who valued honor and debts, eventually became the private army under the command of House Eijin, leading to the present situation.
They were now a formidable, asymmetrical force for the Western Army, distinguishing themselves on various fronts.
Tarsiyo said, “Kaisen, they’re just being deceived. We have to find the Elite Knight. These people, human and beastman alike, have no reason to die.”
I know that all too well…
Even now, my childhood with Eltram, the polar bear beastman of the White Bone Corps, and his final moments are so vivid.
I took a deep breath to calm the heat rising within me.
[What is that…?]
It was then that the locomotive engineer’s bewildered tremor reached me.
The first car shot into the air like a toy, froze solid… and then shattered into pieces.
Dying screams echoed through Setsunen’s connection before vanishing.
“What’s happening?”
Screeeeech…!
The sharp shriek of the emergency brakes assaulted my eardrums, and sparks flew outside the window.
Kaisen shattered the window with his elbow and vaulted onto the train’s roof. Kaduel, who followed, spoke.
[Library data confirmed. A familiar of Ikillas, Rubuktulle.]
“A familiar? A king’s familiar?”
[It seems the Apostle of the Sword can wield the power of the Outer Universe more freely than anticipated.]
If terror could take the form of a snow-capped mountain, would it look like that?
Within the blizzard…
That horror, emerging from the haze…
It crushed the second car with one of its dozens of legs, but the train didn’t explode. Instead, it froze white and shattered into a thousand fragments.
[The chill of the Pale Star Ikillas is said to freeze all things, concept and all.]
Far above, in the sky where its eyes glistened, violet lightning flashed.
‘A familiar from another world. If Beherik, the Gluttony Duke, was a moving volcano, then this thing is a moving mountain of snow.’
A powerful sense of déjà vu made me dizzy.
I remembered the Gluttony Duke that had swallowed the plains whole, and Isla’s smile as she died killing it.
A cold ache spread through my chest as Gaumris emitted an urgent light.
“Your Excellency Setsunen! I need to get inside its body. Please teleport me!”
“No, there’s no need for that.”
Tarsiyo, who had followed me onto the roof, gripped the hilt of the True Holy Sword Sharrilion.
*Zing…* Sharrilion began to glow.
Was the voice of the swords, inaudible to humans, carried on that light? The Supreme Holy Sword Scherpang emitted a resonant glow.
“Sharrilion told Scherpang to help. Scherpang agreed.”
“Help? How?”
“Sharrilion’s ability is Trait Absorption. Kaisen, use Scherpang’s power on me. Sharrilion will amplify that power and pierce that thing.”
For a moment, the worst-case scenario sent a cold sweat running down my palms.
[Theoretically, it is possible. Sharrilion’s power was used a total of 122 times in the hands of Eldia Kata (5) during the old war, and it inflicted a fatal wound on the target every time.]
“But if she uses that power, her body will…”
“It’s fine. We don’t have time to argue.”
Sweat beaded on my forehead.
Whipping up the blizzard, Rubuktulle was extending its twenty-seventh leg toward the third car.
The trembling of Scherpang on my back shook my entire body, as if urging me on.
“Damn it, whatever happens is on you!”
A single line.
As if drawing a stroke on a canvas with a brush.
As I drew Scherpang, the line I etched along the horizon, calm yet firm, caused a crack in the dimension, and fissures began to spread from it.
“Let’s go, Sharrilion.”
Of course, standing in the middle of that fissure was Tarsiyo herself.
Gripping the hilt with both hands.
Holding the blade before her face and murmuring something, she looked as sacred as if she were praying.
“Swallow it.”
In an instant, the power that had been cracking the dimension was sucked into Sharrilion’s blade, concept and all.
Sharrilion's blade trembled, its wondrous black steel becoming coated in a faint white light.
The white light intensified into a radiance that blinded the eye, so bright that our armor glinted dazzlingly.
‘So this is Sharrilion’s special ability… to think it can even swallow Scherpang’s power of severance.’
At the same time, the blade grew to a colossal mass and brilliant luminosity, seeming to touch the sky.
Tarsiyo moved.
She shifted her right heel back, breaking her own center of gravity. Simultaneously, she pulled Sharrilion back deeply, twisting at her side.
“Pierce through—!”
By stepping forward again with her right foot, she focused and unleashed her shattered center of gravity in a single burst, thrusting the sword’s tip with all her might.
“—Sharrilion!”
Pure white, a festival of pure white.
The power that tore through dimensions was amplified and unleashed as a transcendent flare, punching a hole through the center of the world.
The otherworldly blizzard, and the otherworldly beast that spewed it, had its heart pierced by that wedge of flame.
Conceptually, I already knew.
I had learned it from the Codex of the Majestic Sword.
All True Holy Swords were forged from Luminous Steel and possessed the ability to isolate beings from the Outer Universe from this world.
Simply put, they contained the power of sealing.
A massive hole was torn in the otherworldly beast’s chest. Even from this distance, the hole that pierced its enormous body looked gigantic.
—The power of a True Holy Sword targets not only the flesh, but the soul itself.
Soon, its body…
Swept up in the runaway torrent of light that shattered dimensions, it began to twist, melt, and burn, losing its original form.
Amidst a world-shattering, rending scream.
[Whoa, whoaaaaaah!]
[Tarsiyo Yere Sharrilion and Kaisen Alter Aradamanthel have defeated the otherworldly familiar!]
[So this is the hero’s power… truly incredible.]
It’s like a scene from a fairy tale. The hero's feat of valor shines a light of hope into the depths of despair.
But fairy tales don’t record this part.
They don’t show the hero who, as the price for wielding a transcendent power with a mortal body… coughs up blood and convulses.
“See, you idiot…”
I said, suppressing the feeling of a thousand needles stabbing every muscle I’d used to swing Scherpang. My smile felt like it would break at any moment.
Tarsiyo replied.
Twisting her blood-soaked lips into a strained smile, she raised a finger in front of them.
“…Our little secret, okay?”
Her expression and gesture resembled the shy yet resolute air of my sister from childhood, the one who used to wet the bed.
Because it was such an ordinary, everyday kind of smile.
*Ahaha,* a laugh escaped over my ragged breath. Tarsiyo also let out a puff of white air and laughed brightly.
We just laughed.
On the final road of a life that had little time left.
Even as we exchanged laughs that weren’t quite laughs, the train continued to advance toward the [Snow Ridge Great Wall].
The final battle of my life was about to begin.