Reunion (3)
The mist hung so thick that even human silhouettes were lost in the haze, and the towering mountains visible in the distance lost all perspective, flickering in and out like illusions. Fragrant flower scents drifted on the gentle breeze, while the fresh piney fragrance of the forest tickled the nose, cool and invigorating. Yet here stood a small palace-like teahouse, incongruous amid this natural beauty.
Inside, the Rainbow Woman sat sipping her tea and spoke in her usual poetic tones.
They say the eyes are the window to the soul.
“No matter how much you change the exterior, a mere artifact cannot alter the color of the soul it holds.”
“And I, myself, made it possible to store that unstable soul inside.”
“So it’s only natural that you couldn’t tell. There was no room for unease. How could one feel displaced when the original soul had always resided in the original body? That was all there ever was to it.”
A soft smile curved the woman’s lips. At the end of her gaze, the golden sunflower blazed with radiant light, burning away its final petals.
“It was the only qualification you could have earned while you were still here… but if you vanish too, I wonder whether that boy will manage to carry it through.”
Now the woman turned her head to the silver lisianthus placed on the opposite side of the table. So fragile, so delicate, yet it seemed it would soon bloom under the moon’s gentle caress, blocking the path of the youth who sought her.
“Perhaps it will bloom soon.”
Within that enchanted atmosphere, she waited, listening for the exact moment the boy would come to keep his promise.
Solaris
At least three hundred of them should have been brought. Was I wrong? Or had that idiot simply failed to overcome the terror of death and lost his mind?
The arrogant, childish arrogance in Bifrons’ every word and gesture made me want to spit. I refused to voice it aloud.
“Huff… hah…”
His presence was so overwhelming that even drawing a full breath felt impossible; the only way to stay focused was to keep my eyes locked on him.
While the other named demons stared in silence, the boy suddenly reached toward the empty air and spoke—rather, called.
“Solaris.”
“What the hell do you think you’re—?”
Thud.
Before Bifrons could finish his sentence, the boy’s hand had already grasped a pitch-black greatsword larger than his own body, stained with fresh blood. The three named demons standing in its path vanished in a single clean stroke.
Yet even as Bifrons stared in disbelief, something else happened.
Clang!
Phorath showed no hesitation whatsoever. Despite the sudden shift in the boy’s movements, he lunged forward with the black sword Heuk-ya, swinging with everything he had.
Of course the blow was not a true kill, but Phorath still staggered back, his hand trembling violently.
It was not fear. The man was far beyond such petty emotions. It was simply that the shock transmitted through the boy’s blade had left his grip useless and his arm shaking.
“That bastard not only has raw power but speed as well. No more carelessness from now on!”
“Y-yes…!!”
“I understand, Lord Phorath.”
‘His level had to be higher than this… and with that sudden change in personality, it has to be an artifact of possession.’
If that was the case, victory was still possible. Possession artifacts summoned legendary power in an instant, but the window was tragically short.
“Everyone, do not move carelessly! Hold on until the possession ends! No front attacks!”
Phorath’s order made the boy realize the other named demons had instinctively created distance around him. Then the boy began muttering to himself, as if speaking to someone else.
“Why can’t your sword reach the realm of mastery?”
Crack.
The moment the boy gripped Solaris, the dull blade began to transform, revealing its true nature. The nicks and scars shone and filled, the color of deep time burning away to reveal a pristine edge that sang with absolute sharpness. Sacred, overwhelming sunlight poured from hilt to tip, bathing the entire sword in radiant warmth. The sun’s symbol was carved into the crossguard in countless patterns, proclaiming that this blade had been blessed by the sun itself—the only knight who had ever worshipped the sun.
“Your sword possesses only one will,” the boy whispered. “A sword means nothing unless it swings with a single, unbreakable purpose.”
He swung his blade toward his right side. The will he carried. The sword born from the desire to protect his master even at the cost of his own life.
Then red and golden sunlight ignited along the swing path like a fuse. Without touching the boy’s body, the blade still reached every named demon in its path. Their forms flickered once, then burned away from the cut wounds outward, reduced to ash in the blink of an eye. No screams emerged. A named demon’s wretched cry was not worth hearing; the sun that rose from their bodies erased them completely.
“Stop trying to play cheap tricks like ‘drawing the soul with leftover words.’”
Before the boy could finish muttering, Phorath shouted frantically at Bifrons and the others.
“R-retreat!! Retreat…!”
Before the words were even out, the named demons turned their backs on the boy and girl and tried to flee the arena.
But I had no intention of granting them the means to survive.
“Who dares turn their back on the imperial princess in her own domain?”
The boy slammed Solaris into the ground and poured mana into it. A perfect circle of radiant sunlight encircled every named demon, turning the arena into a blazing sun.
“Whether you draw a sword picture or show off flashy footwork, it changes nothing. The real problem is that you never truly held a will when you swung it.”
Step.
The boy advanced toward the named demons who staggered back, blocked by the retreating sunlight. His left eye blazing with golden fire.
“My sword.”
The boy swung Solaris toward his left side. The named demons who had been frozen in terror disappeared without a trace.
“My sword was born with the will to protect its master even when it could not.”
“Even if you have experienced death…!!”
Clang!
Phorath charged with full power, Heuk-ya raised high in anticipation of death. The path was blocked by the sun, so he could not simply lie down and accept his fate. With only four named demons remaining around the boy, Phorath poured everything into his final strike.
Clang!
The boy received every one of Phorath’s desperate blows without flinching and continued speaking.
“My sword was born with the will to protect its master even when it could not.”
“Clang! Slashed.”
“And it continued thinking of the master it failed to protect.”
“And then…”
The boy stared at the girl who had sunk to the ground, tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked back at him. Finn smiled at her with a brightness that could only mean one thing.
—No, rather, my longed-for death! Not the pathetic, cowardly end of rolling around in the battlefield, but an honorable death I could offer to my master!!
“My sword will end here.”
“By protecting my master, its final chapter will be written!”
Solaris rose high toward the heavens. Then it slashed downward, tracing a line of pure sunlight straight from sky to ground. This time the line carried the unbreakable will to protect his master at all costs.
The ceiling of the arena.
Numerous magic circles.
The walls.
The night sky that had covered everything.
The earth itself cracked open.
Everything burned brilliantly, and following the blazing flames, Phorath vanished without a trace. Like every other named demon who had faced Solaris, he did not even scream in his final moments—only astonishment remained in his eyes before he turned to ash and scattered into the wind.
For a moment the boy watched the divine power he himself had unleashed. Then he turned toward his master.
“…Finn?”
One word from the girl, filled with every possible emotion toward the boy.
But Finn could not answer. He dropped to one knee before the girl and spoke the words he had to leave her with before he vanished.
“Please forgive this lowly servant who has finally begun to repay the grace your Highness the princess bestowed… My one and only sun.”
“T-that what…?”
Before the girl could finish, tears of sorrow and joy glistened at Finn’s eyes. The words died in her throat.
Then.
The golden light in Finn’s eyes shifted to crimson. His left eye turned into glittering golden dust that drifted away.
At the same moment, the boy’s body lost strength and tilted toward the girl.
“Fi-Finn? Finn?! Finn…!!”
Could the blow from moments ago have truly taken his life?
Alarmed, the girl grabbed the boy’s body and shook it desperately.
“Please… don’t do this, Finn… This can’t be right. This is…!”
Plop.
A tear from the girl landed on Finn’s cheek and split into multiple paths across his face.
“What the hell…?”
The words were not spoken by the girl.
Nor by Finn.
They came from the only named demon still maintaining a complete lifespan—the one who had watched from within the blazing flames.
“…So the possession has finally ended.”
Swallow.
The girl clutched Finn tightly to her chest, refusing to let him go even if she had to die herself, and glared at Bifrons who watched them from afar.
“I will make sure all of you vanish without a trace as well.”
As if to prove the words, thick dark mana gathered in Bifrons’ palm. At the same moment, Finn’s body shuddered violently.
—Do not spare that bastard Bifrons. He is beyond me. You will want to cut his throat yourself.
Finn’s final words rang in my ears as I watched him disappear.
Recalling those words, the boy opened his remaining single eye and spoke.
“…Thank you for that.”