Chapter 2
The Flower That Bears a Sword - Chapter 2
Translation: godsn
Echinacea Roaz was a once-in-a-generation genius.
To be more precise, she possessed talent so extraordinary that even one such individual per century would be considered rare—and this applied to both swordsmanship and mana affinity.
Yet she had lived until the age of twenty without ever realizing she was a genius. After all, Echinacea was the sheltered young lady of a count's family who had never so much as held a sword.
'I wish I'd never found out.'
That was what Eki thought.
The sensation of thick, sticky blood clinging to every inch of her body was horrifying. A feeling she couldn't have even imagined before turning twenty—now, she was more than accustomed to it.
'I never wanted to learn I was a genius like this.'
Echinacea stared blankly ahead. Or rather, she was made to stare ahead. Her body was no longer under her control. She had surrendered it to the demon sword clutched in her right hand.
A blade as transparent as glass, forged from human malice.
A hilt as black as pitch, wrought from human wickedness.
The energy radiating from that sword had stained her right arm black, leaving dark blotches across her pale skin. Her pink hair—the reason she was named Echinacea—and the violet eyes inherited from her father were both dyed in the same inky darkness of pure malice.
Bulging veins, bloodshot eyes, the grime of blood and dust caked onto her—her appearance was utterly ruined. Even those who knew her well would struggle to recognize her now as Echinacea Roaz.
Eki was the only daughter of an imperial count's household, with a younger brother set to inherit the title. Though not among the most influential families, hers was wealthy and steeped in tradition. There were no scandals—no illegitimate children, no affairs. The siblings got along well, and the count and his wife were happily married. All they wished for Eki was to marry well and live happily.
Eki had no major complaints about her circumstances. She cultivated her beauty with marriage in mind and learned the appropriate social graces. She adored pretty things and detested anything that made her sweat. Crude language was vulgar to her, and she carried herself with demure elegance. She was somewhat lazy and disliked anything unbefitting of nobility.
At least, that was how she had been—until she turned twenty.
Valdergiosa, the Demon Sword.
That was the name of the blade she now held. The reason she discovered she was a genius. The culprit that had completely overturned her life and birthed a tragedy.
Valdergiosa steals its wielder's body. Then, using that body, it commits slaughter and destruction. There had been multiple such massacres, and because of them, Valdergiosa earned its epithet: the Demon Sword.
The Demon Sword's power was immense. Even a human with no talent for the blade could, once possessed by it, face off against Masters—those capable of channeling mana into their weapons to wield Sword Energy.
But the Demon Sword could only exert its power through its host's flesh, and thus had an obvious limitation. Eventually, the body would break down, unable to endure, and the sword would lose its vessel. The sword itself seemed aware of this—whenever overly powerful individuals approached or its host began deteriorating, it would flee and hide.
Yet with Echinacea's body, the Demon Sword was different.
'How is this happening? No one can stop it?'
Her insane level of mana affinity kept her body from collapsing under the sword's corrupting energy. Though completely untrained, her natural physique, once saturated with mana, instantly optimized itself for the sword's techniques.
The result was utterly, utterly horrific. Eki was forced to experience just how strong she could become.
Mercenaries of renown, the captain of the Royal Guard Knights, the court mages—and even her own family. All fell to the blade, reduced to corpses. Everyone collapsed before her. So easily. So absurdly, laughably simply.
"I didn't need to be this much of a genius."
Eki thought this not out of arrogance, but with genuine sincerity. A talent discovered only after slaughtering countless people, including those she held dear. If she hadn't been a genius, things wouldn't have come this far. She never needed this kind of talent. Even if she had it, it would've been better to live her whole life never knowing.
Contrary to the tears welling inside her, her face was smiling. Dust, blood, and filth clung to her hair and skin, matting together so thickly that no one would likely see that smile—a small mercy. Eki, who had bathed twice a day, had now grown numb to the grime.
Corpses surrounded her on all sides. She kicked aside an unidentifiable head with the tip of her foot and walked forward. There was no destination. The Magic Sword only sought more lives to slaughter.
Then, a group of knights blocked her path.
Their pristine white uniforms, too conspicuous for actual combat, the blue cloaks, and the emblem on their chests—a golden hawk spreading its four wings within a white shield.
Though Eki had been a sheltered noble lady ignorant of the knights' world, even she recognized those who bore such insignias and wore those white uniforms. The strongest, most renowned knight order on the continent. Those who belonged to no single nation. The Azure Sky Knights. That emblem left no doubt—these were the Hawks of the Blue Sky.
Three men and one woman. Among them, one man took a step toward her.
"O you who are tainted by the Magic Sword."
He had long silver hair loosely tied and draped over his shoulders. His eyes, as blue as the sky the knight order was named after, fixed on her. Echinacea knew exactly who this man was.
Yurien de Harden Kyrie.
The third prince of the Kyrie Empire, to which she belonged. A man who had renounced his claim to the throne early and joined the Azure Sky Knights, becoming their youngest Captain.
The Azure Sky Knights were an organization unaffiliated with any nation. Strictly speaking, Yurien was no longer royalty, nor even a citizen of the empire—but the world didn't divide things so cleanly, like a blade severing cloth in one stroke.
The empire's people took pride in the fact that the Captain of the Azure Sky Knights was one of their own royals. Of course, Eki had felt that pride too. At the tea parties she attended, Yurien had often been a topic of conversation.
She had even seen him in person once. At the Emperor's birthday banquet, which she had also attended, Yurien had visited to celebrate his father's birthday.
Back then, she had secretly flushed at the sight of a man even more beautiful than the rumors suggested. Though she never got to dance with him, she had been content just to see the famous Azure Sky Captain in the flesh. After all, he lived in a world so far removed from hers.
She had imagined, like in a romance novel, a chance encounter where she would fall in love with the Azure Sky Captain. It wasn't anything unusual—most noble ladies of the empire had probably entertained such fantasies. Dreaming was free, and he was an attractive, unmarried man.
But she had never dreamed she would face him like this. Tainted by the Magic Sword, meeting the Azure Sky Captain who had come to exterminate it—who could have imagined that?
A pressure emanated from him as he approached. The sensation of a cold blade being leveled at her. Among the four, he was the strongest. Of course, the Azure Sky Captain was chosen by merit alone—but seeing him in person made his strength unmistakably clear. A perception sharpened, ironically, by the damned Magic Sword.
"As the Azure Sky Knights, guardians of Giosa, we shall purge you."
Yurien raised his white sword as though delivering a verdict. The Holy Sword Langiosa—as much his symbol as his own self. Echinacea did not respond. Her body silently pointed Valdergiosa, the Magic Sword, toward him. Kill. Kill. Kill. A vicious echo reverberated in her mind, corroded by the sword.
The attack began with her. The jet-black magic sword clashed against the white holy sword.
Echinacea didn't want to win. She wished for the knight captain she had once admired to triumph over her, the villain.
This is impossible. Damn it, I'm absurdly strong.
Three years had passed since she had been tainted by the magic sword. In that time, she had fought countless battles. The Empire, unwilling to seek help from the Azure Sky Knights, had sent numerous knights to subdue her. And Echinacea had killed every single one of them. With each battle, she grew stronger—not just her body, but her mind as well.
That experience spoke to her now. Yurien would last longer than anyone she had faced before, but in the end, she would be the one to win. She was simply too exceptional.
And Yurien seemed to realize it too. He deflected her blade and leaped back in a swift retreat.
"Magnificent. Truly a pity."
His blue eyes darkened.
"Had you been a knight... we could have crossed swords in earnest."
"Captain Yurien."
One of the three waiting knights clicked his tongue and called out to him. The man responded with a bitter smile.
"I know. This isn't a duel—it's an extermination."
"Shall we join in now?"
"Yes."
The remaining three knights drew their swords. They were all Giosa Owners—the strongest Azure Sky Knights.
From then on, the battle grew fiercer. Four against one. To withstand their combined assault, the magic sword pushed Echinacea's body to its absolute limit, scraping the very bottom of her potential and wringing it dry.
But even a once-in-a-generation genius wielding a magic sword couldn't prevail against four Giosa Owners, including the captain of the Azure Sky Knights. Fighting an entire army would have been easier.
At last, Echinacea was defeated.
Yurien pinned her down, pressing his blade against her throat. Covered in wounds, she thrashed like a trapped beast. Instinctively, the mana wrapped around her neck kept the blade from cutting through—for now. As the standoff dragged on, the exhausted knights muttered around them.
"Chillingly strong, really. To hold out this long against all four of us... I can hardly believe it."
"You're seeing it right in front of you and still can't believe it? Something wrong with your eyes, Teresa?"
"Shut up, Dietrich."
"And here I thought knights were supposed to speak honorably... Teresa does as she pleases. That's part of her charm, though."
"Dietrich Sarua. I told you to be quiet."
"What a waste. Like the captain said, with that talent, she would've made a fine knight. To think she'd resort to a magic sword..."
Ignoring the bickering pair, the burly knight muttered under his breath. Echinacea wanted to refute him. She wanted to scream, to howl, to spit blood and cry out.
Do you think I wanted this? If I'd known it was a magic sword, do you think I'd have been insane enough to pick it up? I—I just—!
"...Do you think she wanted to wield this?"
Yurien spoke. His breathing was rough from restraining her thrashing form, but his words were clear.
......It was exactly what she had wanted to scream. The words no one had spoken—or could speak—before her, the slaughterer.
Echinacea stared up at him in a daze. Even as her body convulsed wildly, her gaze remained fixed on him, allowing her to study him closely. Just as she observed him, he too stared straight back at her.
None of the fear, disgust, anger, resentment, or pain she had seen in others was present in his eyes. Instead, there was a faint trace of pity. Not a gaze directed at a mad demon wielding a magic sword, but at the person trapped within.
"You didn't want to do any of this, did you?"
Softly, so softly only she could hear, he spoke.