Chapter 270: Flash (4)
Chapter 270: Flash (4)
Translation: Godtl
Aster stared at the sword revealed before him.
The Lady of the Lake, known among users as the Witch of the Lake, Nimue, wore a proud expression.
"No need to be so surprised. Frondier never directly mentioned your name."
Frondier had not explicitly told Nimue and Merlin Aster's name. He had only said they would recognize him when they saw him.
He had deliberately concealed Aster's name, hoping they would judge for themselves whether Aster was worthy.
"And you proved it."
Nimue spoke.
"When everyone was trembling in fear, you showed unwavering resolve through your own strength. A Hero is one who inspires hope in humanity. You have earned that right."
Whether he was listening to Nimue or not, Aster remained silent, his eyes fixed on the sword.
Even if he seemed indifferent to her words, his reaction satisfied her.
'Hoho, he's completely entranced by the sword.'
For any swordsman on the Palind Continent, this was the ultimate treasure coveted by all.
What Nimue had handed him was worthy of that reverence.
[Excalibur? Beta]
• Grade: Legendary
• Description: The second sword King Arthur received from the Lady of the Lake. If the sword in the stone tested the worth of a hero, this sword proves their completion. Among the weapons wielded by Heroes, it is the closest to Divine Authority.
Detailed Abilities >
- Legacy of the Lake: By bestowing this sword upon King Arthur, the Lady of the Lake declared him a Hero. The wielder of this sword shares mana with the lake. As long as the lake does not dry, the wielder's magic will never be exhausted.
"Take pride in this. You may very well be the last to wield this sword again."
Aster accepted Excalibur and stared at it blankly.
He checked its horizontal balance, examined the blade, and gripped the hilt.
Then he spoke.
"It's a good sword."
"......Huh?"
Nimue awkwardly blinked at his response.
The sheer obviousness of Aster's remark sent a sudden wave of unease through her.
"It looks very sturdy. The blade is extremely sharp."
"Huh? Wait, hold on—"
Something about Aster's words felt off.
Meanwhile, the Minotaurs, swept away by the waves, resurfaced. Though pushed back by Nimue's magic, they appeared largely unharmed.
Aster acknowledged them and stepped past Nimue to face the Minotaurs.
"If the sword is this good..."
Aster raised the sword into a mid-guard stance.
Nimue, dumbfounded, spoke up.
"Hey, don't tell me you don't even know what this sword—"
Swoosh!
In an instant, Aster closed the distance between himself and the Minotaurs.
The bull-men, expecting Aster to unleash Single Flash, raised their weapons and braced for defense.
Yet despite his speed, no slash came.
For the Minotaurs, Single Flash was currently their greatest terror.
And Aster, more than anyone, knew that—which was why he deliberately refrained from using it.
......Besides, Aster didn't even know what this sword was, so he was worried about his remaining mana.
In the brief moment the bulls stiffened, Aster leveled his blade horizontally at their center.
'Earlier, I had to be careful with every swing, afraid the sword would break.'
When he had cut down one of the bulls with his first Single Flash, Aster had realized just how tough their hides were.
A reckless strike would only damage the blade.
Even after conserving his swings as much as possible, his sword had ultimately shattered.
But this one was clearly a masterpiece at first glance.
So—
"Even if I swing it a little carelessly..."
It shouldn't break.
Evans Swordsmanship
Spinning Slash
Aster pivoted on his foot and swung the sword in a full rotation.
No matter how skilled one was, this technique made it impossible to maintain perfect stability, preventing a flawlessly clean cut.
And yet—
Schlick—
"Huh?"
The Minotaurs' legs were severed. The sword passed through every obstacle in its path as if they weren't even there.
Calves, shins, muscles, tendons—some were sliced clean, others had bones shattered, and one unfortunate Minotaur simply lost an entire leg.
Aster himself was surprised by the effect of the Sword Essence technique.
"Uwooooh!!"
The bulls rampaged. When his original sword passed beneath them earlier, it had hurt but was still bearable.
But not this time. Wherever the sword passed, everything was cleanly severed. Not only did some lose entire legs, but all those whose tendons were cut collapsed to their knees.
The bulls' heads lowered to the height where Aster's sword could reach.
And another spinning slash.
Thud!
Crash!
This time, necks and faces were severed, causing the terrifying heads of the minotaurs to tumble from their bodies.
With just two sword strikes, exactly five minotaurs had died.
"Whoa."
Aster let out a dry exclamation. He looked at Nimue.
'This sword is seriously amazing!' Aster's eyes seemed to shout.
Nimue read his expression perfectly.
"......"
Her face twisted into an extremely displeased expression as she squinted her eyes.
Belphegor remained seated in his chair, receiving reports.
The battle situation wasn't favorable. The Barrier was holding stronger than expected—none from the Shepherds of Manggot had breached it yet.
Particularly at Tyburn, they had barely inflicted any damage on the Empire's side.
"Wouldn't it be better to force some personnel through? Even if just one gets past the Barrier, we could use shadow transference to infiltrate from that point," Hagley suggested.
Belphegor sighed in response.
"I'd do that if I could."
"Then why not—"
"Don't assume all the Shepherds are as rational as you. This war may appear fueled by the Shepherds' vengeance, but beneath it all lies greed."
"...Are you saying the Shepherds refuse to cross just any Barrier?"
"Precisely. At least the Shepherds all think that way."
Shadow transference isn't something every Shepherd can use.
To be exact, while most can utilize the transference itself, establishing the connections required to do so is difficult.
Since not just anyone can form those connections, critical decisions ultimately fall to the privileged few who can.
And by "few," it's literal—aside from the Shepherds and Hagley, there are barely any left. Among Hagley's successors, only Selena qualifies.
Even Selena needs Hagley's permission to establish new shadow links.
'We were prepared to die, but not to die meaninglessly...'
The Shepherds are the Empire's Karma Fire.
To the Empire, this is terror. To the Shepherds, it's shackles.
The Shepherds must become the Karma Fire.
To destroy the Empire's most critical foundation, to become the flames that consume the entire Empire—
Every Shepherd desires their death to serve that purpose.
'And someone has seen right through that intention.'
The current Barrier deployment leaves no other interpretation.
The Empire isn't defending every Barrier point. They're boldly abandoning some, despite knowing the threat of the Shepherds' shadow transference.
In other words, whoever arranged these defenses has pierced through the Shepherds' "greed."
"The preparations are excessively thorough."
Belphegor muttered quietly.
Is this truly Osprey's doing?
Can the wisdom of the so-called Sage really foresee things to this extent?
It's as if they knew something from the very beginning.
"The Shepherds will understand. If we contact them now—"
"No, it's done."
Belphegor shook his head at Hagley's words.
"I don't want to force the Shepherds to bend their will now. That would break morale and undermine our original purpose of becoming the 'Karma Fire.' I won't sacrifice the greater plan for minor gains."
"Are you certain?"
"The Empire's morale seems high now. That's just how sieges work—the attackers always start at a disadvantage."
Belphegor leaned back heavily into his chair.
"But the Empire is vast."
"......"
"Unlike the Empire, which must defend every Barrier, we only need to break through one."
From what Belphegor had observed, the Empire's troop distribution was exquisitely balanced—yet still slightly undermanned across the board.
Just like Manggot, the Empire also has its greed. The greed of not being able to surrender every region. Belphegor read that in the Empire's troop deployment.
"No matter how high morale is, reality alone isn't enough to cover it."
No matter how much they dream of ideals, defending this entire Empire isn't realistic.
"What will you do when that time comes, strategist of the Empire?"
THUD!
A figure collapsed onto the Barrier.
One of the Zodiacs, Medart de Thevenet.
Though the oldest among the current Zodiacs, his aged body still seemed as vigorous as his prime.
Yet decay was unmistakably gnawing at him.
"Phew, what a stubborn old man."
Cohen, the Shepherd of Manggot, steadied his ragged breath.
Unlike the other Barrier situations, Cohen had charged in with his troops from the very beginning. He judged that the initial Raid from a completely different direction than the Outside Monsters would deal the greatest damage.
And that judgment had paid off so far.
"To wield a warhammer like chopsticks with that old body of yours."
Cohen lightly flicked the serrated blades gripped in both hands. Each time, the blood coating the blades scattered.
His own body wasn't unscathed either. His left shoulder had taken a solid hit and collapsed, and bruises covered his entire body. Though he tried not to show it, his body trembled faintly.
Yet victory was his. Though Cohen wasn't one to typically enjoy battle, he couldn't help but honestly admire Medart's fierce vigor.
Could he, Cohen, still unleash such ferocity when he grew as old as Medart? He had no answer to that, and that silence bred caution.
"But."
Cohen glanced to his left.
"What the hell are you?"
"......."
Sybil stood there, gripping her rapier with cold sweat dripping down. She had been assisting Medart from his side. The fact that Cohen had suffered such hardship in his fight against Medart was undeniably due to Sybil's contributions.
But the strangest thing was—
"Why the hell are you completely unharmed without a single scratch?"
Cohen looked at Sybil with a gaze more disgusted than wary.
It wasn't that Cohen had underestimated her. In fact, he had initially decided to eliminate Sybil first. Fighting Medart alone was hard enough—having some woman interfering was unbearable.
Yet, in the end, Sybil was still standing, while the Zodiac Medart had fallen first.
"You don't even seem that strong, yet every time I think I've got you, you somehow slip away."
"......."
Sybil didn't answer, simply staring back at Cohen.
Cohen's eyes darkened.
"Every single one of you Constelle brats is a pain in the ass."
Cohen had previously monitored Constelle's students under Belphegor's orders. Aside from those already known to Hagley and Belphegor, he investigated students who could pose a threat to Manggot.
Sybil had stood out the most on that list.
But not because she was strong.
"Rumor has it you're some shining talent of Constelle, blah blah blah."
Cohen tilted his head.
"During the investigation and even now, you just don't seem like that level."
Cohen glanced at Sybil's weapon.
He had never seen someone bring a rapier to the battlefield before. Moreover, she used it more for slashing than thrusting with Aura. Unique, sure—but effective? Hard to say.
"Hmm, I don't get it. I just don't. How can someone this weak be so famous? Is it that face? Or if that talent was real—"
Cohen's lips curled into a vicious smirk.
"—maybe the nickname 'Human Sloth' suits you better, doesn't it? Sybil Forte."
"......!"
Sybil's eyes widened sharply.
In that instant, Cohen's twin blades shot toward her like lightning from both sides. Cohen wasn't taunting her out of arrogance. He had provoked her with words solely to create an opening.
Swish!
Sybil twisted her body backward, narrowly avoiding the sword strikes flying at her from both sides. The blades came slashing down from above as if chasing her retreat.
Sybil's rapier twisted to deflect them, and amidst the clamor of clashing metal, she slid back, extending her left foot behind her.
Clang!
Her rapier aimed for Cohen's ankle, but he blocked it lightly and retaliated with a kick. Even without a weapon, his kicks were threatening.
Thud!
Sybil stretched out her free hand to block the kick and used the momentum to lift herself into the air. Suspended mid-air by Cohen's force, she became an easy target. His twin swords swung relentlessly again, but Sybil, while descending, extended her rapier to parry every strike and landed safely.
'It's like fighting a white sheet of cloth.'
Cohen's eyes narrowed.
No matter how he slashed, stabbed, or kicked, Sybil moved like a fluttering white cloth—just as an unskilled blade couldn't cut through fabric, Cohen's attacks failed to deal any real damage.
"Hmph. There's always a way in situations like this."
Cohen muttered to himself before—
Thud!
—suddenly charging straight at Sybil.
"Ghk!"
Sybil thrust her rapier to stop him, but—Crash!
Cohen blocked the rapier with his forearm and continued his charge.
'?!'
A long gash opened on his arm, but Cohen only pushed forward more aggressively. A bold move, judging that Sybil's attacks weren't a real threat.
Whoosh! Craaash!
Securing the perfect distance, Cohen brought his twin swords down in a crushing overhead strike.
Sybil's slender rapier intercepted them.
"Ugh... Grrr...!"
"Hahaha! If you keep dodging, I'll just tear you apart!"
Forcing a contest of raw strength, Cohen pressed down as Sybil struggled to hold her ground, her hands trembling under the strain.
"Hey, a runt like you doesn't belong on the battlefield. You should've run away long before getting this far!"
Screeeech!
Their blades screeched against each other, and Sybil's stance gradually lowered, her strength faltering.
"......Run away."
After a long silence, her lips finally parted.
'That was the right choice.'
The word had echoed endlessly in her mind.
Run away.
If she had been lucky, she could have escaped the battlefield safely and survived somehow.
Even if Manggot burned the Empire to the ground, she—somehow, in some way she couldn't even imagine—would have lived.
'That was the right choice.'
But Sybil was a villain.
The kind who betrays humanity's greatest hopes in its darkest hour, fleeing or deceiving the Empire to secure her own safety before vanishing without a trace.
Her sudden disappearance forced the Empire to fill the void with massive sacrifices—bloodshed far worse than the petty killings of amateur murderers.
A villain so beautiful and shameless in her selfishness that she didn't even realize she was one.
'That was the right choice, so why—?'
Sybil was a villain.
A villain favored by fate.
The kind who survives alone—at the cost of everyone around her.
"......Now I understand."
Her eyes darkened with resolve.
A chill ran down Cohen's spine.
It wasn't that her Aura had grown stronger or her power more violent.
Yet, for some reason, Cohen felt an urgent need to kill Sybil—right now.
'Now!'
One of Cohen's twin swords disengaged from the deadlock and slashed at Sybil from the right.
With only a single rapier, Sybil had no way to block it.
"If no one else is to die in my place..."
Then I must stand at the forefront, ahead of anyone else.
Clang!
"!?"
Cohen, mid-swing, recoiled in shock.
......The sword he had been pressing against Sybil's rapier had snapped. Without any warning.
Cohen stared at the broken blade in disbelief before shifting his gaze back to Sybil.
'......This bitch is dangerous.'
He shouted,
"6th Division! Rally to me immediately!"
Without giving the Manggot troops a moment to question, he barked,
"Kill Sybil Forte here and now! She's Manggot's greatest threat!"