Chapter 80
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Prelude to the Tarhye Rondel War
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‘What is this place...’
The darkness ended, and a space unified in pure white overwhelmed my vision.
The floor, the ceiling, the walls... all were obsessively marked with diagonal lines at regular intervals, dividing the sections.
That pristine white expanse and a silently flowing black mist held dominion over the space.
[This is a relay space, constructed on the border between life and death, for the purpose of cultivating Eldia Omec (06).]
A familiar light—the silver glow of the True Holy Sword—could be seen flashing within the mist.
Sharrilion...?
But it wasn't Sharrilion.
What emerged from the mist was a floating object. A silver sphere was embedded in the center of its pentagonal surface...
In other words, it had the form of a guardian, resembling Kaduel.
[I am Eldia Kata (05), Enuel. By Lord Karenden's command, I oversee this facility.]
I felt my body flinch.
Enuel?
Eldia Kata, Enuel...?
The former master of the True Holy Sword Sharrilion? His tale of valor is renowned even today, two thousand years later.
[The Eldia Project is the process of creating the sixth Eldia. Time flows infinitely here, but it is but a fleeting moment compared to the physical world.]
"Are you saying time has stopped?"
[Thus far, there have been 423 candidates for the Eldia Project, but all were eliminated, failing to even reach an 80% aptitude score. You, however, have passed with a phenomenal score of 1377%. You must now enter an ancient war and be reborn as an Eldia.]
1377%...
So what I saw earlier wasn't a hallucination.
Overlapping that memory, your final smile surged through my chest as a sharp pain.
"...Is Tarsiyo dead?"
Even without hearing an answer, I knew the answer to that question. I knew it better than anyone.
That time, that final moment...
The smile you wore explained everything. This soul, devoid of any pain, supported that explanation.
And so, I simply laughed.
Was that sound that flowed from my throat, twisting the corners of my lips, a laugh or a sob?
[The goal of the Eldia Project is to cultivate a being with the same skill and experience as the existing Eldias by dramatically nurturing combat ability, experience, and judgment within a reenactment of an ancient war. You have been deemed suitable for this task.]
"A reenactment of an ancient war..."
[You will understand naturally once it begins. I will explain a few precautions, and then we will start immediately. The war reenactment is an internal struggle that occurs within your mind, so as long as your will is not broken, your life will be infinitely restored. However, the pain is real, so you must be careful not to go mad.]
In a corner of the world reflected in my retinas, letters were inscribed.
[Health: 100%]
[Madness Level: 0%]
Startled, I shifted my gaze, but the letters moved with my eyes, remaining in the same spot.
[Furthermore, at the beginning, a 'Synchronization Sample' will be provided. Your synchronization rate will be evaluated based on how perfectly you can imitate that sample.]
Suddenly, Enuel's core flashed sharply, and powerful light particles gathered around it.
An attack is coming...
The moment my body began to move on reflexive instinct, the entire world slowed to a crawl, and a rectangular video appeared in the lower-left corner of my vision.
[Presenting Synchronization Sample.]
It was a violent rush of power.
With minimal movement, the trajectory of the beam is shifted just enough to avoid death, sacrificing the left arm.
At the end of the rush, the left arm, which was directly hit by the beam and incinerated, is instantly regenerated to grab Enuel.
‘This is...’
From that video, a mere fragment of a fight, I understood the fundamental difference between an AuthenticWarrior and a FakeWarrior.
It's not a simple difference in strength and speed. Their fundamental methods are different...
FakeWarriors must inject Dragon's Blood Serum to regenerate lost body parts.
‘A simple fracture might be manageable, but losing an arm means the hand that wields the sword and the hand that holds the syringe overlap, creating a fatal flaw in the heat of battle.’
That's why it was standard to fight while protecting one's limbs as much as possible...
Perhaps because they can regenerate on their own like the Vassals. AuthenticWarriors had no hesitation in sacrificing limbs during combat.
This momentary opening, created in such a way, produces an enormous difference in the same battle.
[If you can complete this entire process, from the beginning of the ancient war to its end, you will be reborn as Eldia Omec (06).]
"Be reborn... How can a person be born twice?"
[Forget everything you have done with your physical body until now and follow the teachings of the spirit. Be aware that you must achieve a synchronization rate of 90% or higher in every battle. If you fail to do so, you cannot proceed to the next.]
The rule was so clear and simple it struck right at the core.
Enuel...
Does this not mean I must become able to perfectly imitate the combat style of the warrior called the strongest of the five AuthenticWarriors?
"Is that what it means to be born again... to be reborn?"
[You cannot be reborn merely by following my martial arts. The bonds of the old era will guide you to your rebirth.]
At that moment, the white sections split apart to both sides.
Like a gate leading to another world.
From the other side, its depths unseen, a brilliant radiance poured in.
That radiance... felt like a lantern of destiny, and my fingertips trembled.
Let's go...
Let's go fight again...
From somewhere in my heart, I heard such a voice from the soul's sword.
After steadying my breath, I took a step forward, and then another, when Enuel's voice sounded from behind me.
[But if you fail—]
"—I absolutely will not."
Tarsiyo died to save me, taking upon herself the entirety of the king's Abyss that was killing me.
I must live.
I must live and fight.
Through all the slaughter and bloodshed, until I end the world's summer and make the green grass of an autumn day bloom across the land.
Then I will be reborn.
Whatever being that may be, I will surely be reborn...
I felt Enuel pause, its core's light seeming to observe me.
[I honor your courage.]
Such was its assessment.
[The time has come to witness the ancient war and be born anew. Go. I shall grant you the key to do so. Time has separated us, so we can neither see nor meet, but this memory will connect us as one.]
The Mythical Era,
Tarhye Rondel · Eldia · Rebirth (1)
The dawn of ages.
Is this what it feels like to become a god?
The truth of the old world is projected into my mind, unfolding with a frightening vividness.
It was mystifying to the point of fear, that such a vast world could feel like a toy at my feet.
This primordial land was called Siron.
Light sprang forth from great fountains.
A land where rainbows bloomed and flowed across the sky.
Until the master of the Abyss, Yotos Yolle Yotiatos, murdered Geldharia, the Mother of Creation.
I was suddenly saddened by the thought of seeing such a view alone.
Tarsiyo...
The world you dreamed of... was it not a landscape like this?
And so now, it is a land where the Abyss, by the name of Valadon, presides over all creation.
The Abyss that is blanketing that world...
The heavens are stained by dark blue storm clouds, and the earth begins to rot hideously, twisting and distorting.
The Abyss has seized the throne, and so the light of creation fades... This is the origin of the myth of the fall that drifts between the starlight of the outer cosmos.
Overwhelming the heavens and earth of the Abyss, beings that force others to kneel and worship in primal fear rose one by one.
Now, the five species who inherited this blasphemous treason were granted the throne of the Abyss, commanded to swallow even the last remnants of light in that land. They were as follows.
The ominously churning sea.
Above its surface, a being reveals its horrifying, ancient form.
It unfurls three pairs of wings, and hundreds of tentacles writhing on its face paint a cosmic nightmare.
The king who rules the ancient sea.
The Whispering Madness, Shu'Yulkula.
An ancient forest where not a single ray of light penetrates.
An echo of madness that makes even the forest's eternal darkness wail.
Weeping and sobbing wraiths squirm like maggots, clinging together in countless numbers to form a body of chaos.
The king who governs the ancient forest.
The Squirming Chaos, Kelek-Shak.
The next was a familiar being...
A crimson desert where lava flows in hundreds of streams. A volcano striding heavily across it...
Innumerable, screaming souls are entangled, forming the shape of that horrific volcano.
The king who reigns over the ancient desert.
The Wailing Ruin, Neigalas.
An unknown mountain range, shimmering and twisting fantastically like a mirage.
A lightning bolt that strikes down upon its peaks, twisting space-time, and in the midst of that twisted space-time, a cackling... twisted and alien being.
That being, which twists everything with a wicked mystique, had no eyes, no face, only a twisted soul.
The king who subjugated the ancient mountains.
The Twisting Scream, Anridal.
Even now, an eternal snowfield where only eerie, primeval myths roam... Harbadonia.
Upon a throne of silent, white, sobbing blizzards, a being reigns with an untrodden silence.
Nine pairs of spider-like legs, its disgusting form roughly constructed from... humans offered as living sacrifices.
The emperor who oversees the ancient frozen lands.
The Blasphemous Mystery, Ashron.
A worldscape with no hope, no desire, nothing at all...
How in the world...
How could one possibly cut down and clear away all of them...
However, to reclaim this lost sanctuary, the remnants of a light not yet extinguished return to Siron.
Then.
Beyond that vast sea of nightmares.
In the modern era, it is the land where fairies reside, but then, a 'light' descended dazzlingly upon the earth of the Idea Peninsula.
One who received the call of Verkensia, the authority of the Creator God Geldharia.
At that light, the soul trembles.
That single ray of light unfolds a scene of thrilling spectacle that shakes the soul.
The last light to illuminate this land.
In that distant, primordial past...
The light said to have appeared when the voice in the story of creation cried, 'Let there be light.'
Precisely for that reason.
This battle must create a new prophecy,
A battle to make that prophecy come true as a prophecy, and that prophecy is this.
The brilliant flames of that light.
Fiercely incinerate the terribly screaming Abyss, gradually spreading across the entire peninsula.
「The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.」
That was as much of the fragment of truth as I could see.
Suddenly.
A liquid filled my lungs and rose to my throat. Amid that indescribable sense of foreignness, my five senses awakened.
"Cough..."
Lying on the cold floor, I painfully coughed it up, fumbling at the slimy liquid all over my body.
‘What is this...’
The surrounding scenery was all drenched in a gloomy green light.
Giant test tubes lined up in rows, and a green culture medium.
Somethings submerged in that liquid, growing rapidly... Before I could even wonder, a string of text appeared in the lower-right corner of my vision.
[Follow the arrow.]
A path of light, flickering clearly along the dark floor...
Is this an indicator of fate?
As I wondered if I should follow it, a pure white apparition overlapped the spot where I lay, in the exact same posture.
"What...?!"
Startled, I scrambled back, and I saw the apparition rise to its feet with disciplined movements.
Without giving me a single glance, the apparition began to follow the path of arrows.
As I just stood there watching, the text string appeared again.
[Synchronization Progress: 0%]
- Follow the apparition of Enuel.
The apparition of Enuel...?
Urged on by the text, I followed after it.
After following the apparition out of the gloomy laboratory, I soon reached a vast, spherical space.
"...!"
And in the center of that space, the True Holy Sword Sharrilion was embedded deep, emitting light.
[JH-8882, pass the aptitude test.]
The apparition of Enuel advanced without hesitation.
And then, as if unlocking a lock with a key, it made a motion of twisting and pulling out Sharrilion before dissipating into mist.
I hesitated, and with a pain welling in my chest, I walked toward Sharrilion.
‘It's unfamiliar... and just as new.’
The Sharrilion that Tarsiyo wielded had not a single part unscathed; even its steel-like glow was dull and cold.
Not a single scratch on the blade or hilt, and even the mist and sword-light it emitted had a tender, youthful scent.
I was struck by the realization that the bloody era the True Holy Sword Sharrilion had passed through had not yet been carved as a pattern onto its blade.
My chest...
My chest aches...
I couldn't stop Tarsiyo's smiles and movements from superimposing themselves over Sharrilion.
[Synchronization Progress: 0%]
- Follow the apparition of Enuel.
I had to follow the apparition's movements.
I had to grip Sharrilion's hilt with both hands. I had to exert so much force that the tendons all over my body stood out.
The moment I finally twisted and pulled the noble blade from the ground, as if lifting a heavy iron gate.
Wuuuuuung...!
The floor began to part, opening to both sides.
And from that open gap... an immense being of steel descended, exuding a metallic dignity.
As I blinked, a string of text appeared above its magnificent form.
[Chapter Prologue: Proof of Existence.]
- Chapter Boss: Eldia Primoa.
As saw blades spun on Primoa's four outstretched arms, sparks flew, blanketing the entire space.
Simultaneously, its chest plate opened in four directions, and a cannon barrel emerged with a flash.
‘A battle right off the bat?’
Amidst the surging tension, I gripped Sharrilion with both hands and took a step back.
The combat environment was unreasonable.
The ground, the very foothold, was unstable.
‘On the other hand, my opponent...’
...had its long legs planted on the distant floor below, its center of gravity firmly established. I swallowed dryly.
‘If I don't end this in a single clash, this fight...’
If that cannon spews a shell, even the remaining ground will vanish, and then there's no chance of winning.
Should I create a foothold with mana and leap high? But while airborne, I'd be completely exposed.
If that happened, those heavy saw blades would dominate the entire space, fly at me, and my entire body would be torn to shreds...
[Providing Synchronization Sample.]
Such tactical confusion was merely the anguish of a FakeWarrior.
At that moment, the directive of 'kill' indicated by the synchronization video's example was so beautifully resolute that my body thrilled.
Was this test a process to empty out all the 'combat judgment' I had built up as a FakeWarrior and be reborn anew?
‘This is the only way.’
I kicked off the ground and leaped.
‘There is no other way.’
Simultaneously, light gathered dazzlingly at the muzzle of Primoa's cannon, and a light shell was fired.
As if in prayer, I grip Sharrilion's hilt with both hands.
And reverently, I thrust the sword's tip forward and issue the 'release command' to the True Holy Sword.
"Swallow, Sharrilion—!"
The release command was a concept that encompassed both the 'prayer' and the 'plea' of the Supreme Holy Sword.
However, the nature of the power drawn by praying and the power drawn by commanding was as different as heaven and earth.
The rushing light is sucked into an intangible force swirling at the sword's tip. Simultaneously, the blade's form changes into a wave of light.
The True Holy Sword Sharrilion absorbs power and takes the form of the same substance as the power it absorbed.
Instantly reborn as a blade of light, Sharrilion's strike shatters two of the saw blades.
The two saw blades I didn't have time to shatter.
I break through them by 'sacrificing' my left arm and right shin. Give the flesh to take the bone.
Gushing blood.
A pain that makes my mind go white with shock.
Before that blood can even scatter, new muscle, sinew, and blood vessels sprout and form.
This is the way to use power.
The way absolute beings who can wield high-speed regeneration use their bodies.
Just before the two saw blades intersect, I slip through the gap by a hair's breadth and steady my posture.
And.
With the path to 'kill' now wide open, I pierce the space with the flaming tip of my sword. Along with a second release command.
"───Pierce, Sharrilion!"
The power absorbed earlier was released as a runaway torrent of light so bright it seemed to burn my retinas.
This is the True Holy Sword Sharrilion's special ability, Form-Material Absorption.
A surreal authority that enhances absorbed power sevenfold upon release.
[─────!]
Within that torrent of light, a dimension-distorting typhoon rages.
When the tempest subsided, a massive hole had been punched through Primoa's chest.
The rim of the hole... electricity sparked endlessly from its blackened interior.
[Aptitude test... complete... operation... ceased... .]
Finally, as Primoa's body tilted forward and collapsed, dust and metal fragments flew fiercely.
[Eldia Primoa Subjugated.]
- Synchronization Progress: 100%
My heart pounds violently at this use of power, something I can hardly believe myself.
At a glance, it's a power that far surpasses Scherpang's Spacetime Flash. Still, the physical strain seems the same, as my whole body is convulsing...
As I was panting for breath, Primoa's core flew to my chest and attached itself.
[Equipment Acquired: Primoa Armor.]
The core's light pulsed brilliantly.
Then, the core components from Primoa's parts were drawn by the light, flying over and beginning to attach to my body.
Before long, the individual components unified, connecting into a single suit of armor that radiated a noble, black light.
‘It's this light...?’
It was surprisingly light.
Not just light, but so perfectly designed to fit the human body that every movement was absurdly comfortable.
The 'discomfort' that must inevitably exist in the concept of armor meant to envelop and protect the body was nonexistent.
To put it without exaggeration, I could feel almost no difference in any of my movements compared to moments before, when I was bare-bodied.
[The durability of the Primoa Armor is affected by the wearer's regenerative ability.]
- Current wearer's regenerative ability stability: 100%.
What does that mean?
Does it mean that when the body is damaged and regenerates, the armor regenerates with it?
Is it unified with my very soul, like the Dragon Scale Armor that Setsunen gifted me?
[Synchronization Progress: 96%]
- Follow the apparition of Enuel.
Beyond the destroyed Primoa, its duty done, the laboratory entrance it had blocked with its body was opening.
I could see the apparition of Enuel walking toward it, Sharrilion slung over its shoulder.
There wasn't a speck of hesitation in Enuel's movements as it advanced toward its place of duty.
‘Right, so this is the beginning...’
Those unhesitating movements felt like the pull of fate.
I took a deep breath.
And following that path, I began to move, tracing the footsteps of courage's vanguard.
[Chapter Prologue: Proof of Existence.]
- Synchronization Rate 100%.
That was the prelude to the 'Tarhye Rondel War,' recorded in later ages as the Mythical Era.