Chapter 4
The Flower That Bears a Sword - Chapter 4
Translation: godsn
"I......"
Eki thought he would say something to her. Whether it was regret, anger, resentment, or even a curse. But he stopped there and quietly drew his sword.
Yurien couldn't defeat her alone. After a long battle, Echinacea pierced his heart.
Eki watched clearly as the pale man drowned in crimson blood and breathed his last. Those blue eyes that had trusted and watched over her couldn't even close as they lost their light. She couldn't even shut those eyes for him.
The magic sword carelessly tossed aside his corpse and left the scene. Something inside her shattered.
From that moment on, Eki stopped even the fantasies she had clung to for survival. She no longer thought about what she would do after winning. Only hatred for the magic sword remained within her.
'I'll kill it.'
At the boundary between unconsciousness and awareness, staring at the dark, swirling silhouette of herself, that was the only thought she had. Now, even amidst the sensations of slaughter wrought by the magic sword, she could focus.
The magic sword moved in search of its next prey. The endless massacre meant her experience grew ceaselessly. She also became increasingly adept at handling mana.
Two years passed since then. It had been six years since she was tainted by the magic sword.
At twenty-six, Echinacea crossed a certain threshold. She knew it instinctively—that she had reached a realm beyond what was known as the Master level. Since she wasn't a knight, she didn't know what to call that realm.
Regardless, she had reached it, and finally, she broke free from the magic sword.
Echinacea regained control of her body in a small fishing village. Of course, there were no living people left there. She flung the magic sword from her hand and moved her body—her own again after six years.
Skin free of black stains. Hair restored to its original color. My hands. My arms. A body that moves as I will.
"Ha."
A laugh escaped her. She collapsed in the middle of a pool of blood.
"It's too late! It's too late!"
She screamed. No one heard. Only death surrounded her, and irreversible deeds clung to her entire being.
Echinacea looked down at the magic sword. With her bare hands—no mana wrapped around them—she struck it down. Even as the blade cut into her, she kept slamming it down relentlessly. Still unsatisfied, she burst into tears.
'What do I do now? What should I do? I......'
Even after finally overcoming the magic sword, nothing remained for her. Not a single person was left waiting for her. She had killed them all with her own hands.
Her blood, dripping from her wounds, mingled with her tears and flowed along the transparent blade, reaching the engraved pattern on its edge. The pattern glowed faintly. That was when she heard the 'voice.'
[Go ahead, try all you want. It won't break.]
A voice that resonated not in her ears but in her soul. She couldn't even tell if it was male or female, young or old. Eki was utterly startled.
"Wh-who are you?"
[Me? Valdergiosa. The sword you're holding right now.]
"What?"
[You're the second person to awaken my consciousness since I was forged.]
For a while, she stared blankly at Valdergiosa. Her frozen mind slowly processed the words as comprehension dawned.
"You...... are the magic sword? You say your consciousness has awakened?"
[You woke me. That means you've finally earned the right to be my master. Congratulations!]
"...Congratulations?"
Echinacea gritted her teeth.
"You damned magic sword—what the hell are you saying now?"
[What do you mean 'now'? You're the one who just woke me up.]
"Yeah, like that matters. I was going to destroy you anyway."
As she glared down at the sword with blazing eyes, a startled voice rang out.
[Hey, hey, calm down. Uh... looks like you've been through a lot.]
"Been through a lot? You say that so casually?"
Blue-hot hatred erupted within her. Her mana seethed and overflowed from her body. She spat out the words as if chewing on blood.
"It was all your doing. Mother, father, Ransel, even Nicole—no, even Yurien! All of them, all of them died because of you! All of them! There's nothing left now! Everything's ruined! They're all dead! By my own hands! Because of you!"
[No, wait, I think you're misunderstanding something. That wasn't 'me.']
"Shut up!"
A Master coats their weapon with mana, layering it with a blade of energy. That is what they call Sword Energy. Even for a Master, creating Sword Energy without a sword or sword-like object is difficult. Yet Echinacea gathered mana into her bare hands and forged it into a blade.
She brought that Sword Energy down upon Valdergiosa. With a thunderous crash, the ground split and dirt sprayed outward. Despite the earthquake-like tremors, not even a scratch appeared on the sword.
[Ah, ah! That hurts! It's not like I'll break anyway! Calm down and just listen to me, Master!]
"Who the hell is your master?"
Her icy retort seemed to make Valdergiosa tremble. With an expressionless face, she brought the sword down again and again. If it wouldn't break in one strike, she would keep going until it did. Echinacea's eyes, burning crimson, no longer looked sane. The magic sword hastily spoke up.
[It can be undone!]
"......?"
The strange words made her pause. The sword hurriedly continued.
[You were consumed by bloodlust and lost control of your body, right? First of all, it wasn't 'me' who did that to you—it was the malice and bloodlust of the humans that were embedded in me. The bastard who made me used malice and bloodlust as materials—hey, hey! Wait! Hey!]
"Useless drivel."
Mana gathered in her hands again. The magic sword screamed.
[There's a way to go back to a time before anyone died!]
Echinacea froze. The mana in her hands dissipated. Her voice trembled as she asked,
"What... did you just say? That it can be undone? To... before everything happened?"
[Yeah, it's possible to turn back time. The guy who woke me up before you also killed way too many people, so after waking me, he turned back time. You could probably do it too?]
"...How?"
The situation was nothing but hopeless despair. She was desperate to grasp at any straw. To her, Valdergiosa's words were the only hope left.
[Of course, it's not easy.]
"Shut up and tell me. How? Can I bring them all back?"
[It's not bringing them back—it's turning back time.]
"I don't care, just tell me how!"
She clutched the sword desperately. The engraved patterns on its surface shimmered. The magic sword spoke obediently.
[Gather the Giosa Series and use Kairos Giosa.]
"...What are you talking about?"
[You know I'm part of the Giosa Series, right? Ever heard the legend of the Giosa?]
Of course she had. It was a famous legend.
Long ago, there was a blacksmith praised as having reached the realm of the gods. The blacksmith was certain that in the art of sword forging, he would not lose even to a god.
One day, a god truly came to visit this blacksmith.
The god lent the blacksmith his divine power—a power that allowed him to forge swords from materials as intangible and untouchable as night and day.
The god spoke.
["I have granted you power equal to mine. With it, you shall create the finest swords. This is my trial for you."]
The blacksmith agonized for seventy days and seventy nights. Then, over the course of a hundred years, he forged ten swords from extraordinary materials. Each was breathtakingly beautiful, possessing abilities unlike anything the world had ever seen—or would ever see again.
Proudly, the blacksmith presented his masterpieces to the god. The god silently observed them before, in a single breath, conjuring two swords from thin air. Though only a pair, each alone surpassed the combined beauty and strength of all ten swords the blacksmith had made.
Only then did the blacksmith fall to his knees, repenting for his arrogance in daring to challenge a god. The god, in his mercy, forgave him and took him to the divine realm.
After the blacksmith and the god departed, the twelve swords left behind in the mortal world came to be known as the Giosa Series, named after an ancient word meaning "trial."
The ten Giosa forged by the blacksmith chose masters of exceptional talent. But the two divine swords created by the god accepted no one as their owner. It was said that these divine blades would lend their power only to one who had claimed all ten of the other Giosa.
This was the legend of the twelve extraordinary swords—the Giosa Series.
Those recognized as masters of a Giosa were called Giosa Owners. Though each Giosa had slightly different criteria for choosing its wielder, it was generally said that one had to at least reach the rank of Master to be selected.
Once, the Giosa were scattered across the continent. But after numerous incidents involving their overwhelming power, an organization arose to oversee them—the beginning of the Azure Sky Knights.
With the exception of a few Giosa whose whereabouts remained unknown, most were now under the Azure Sky Knights' control. And among those lost was the magic sword Valdergiosa.
"Why does that legend matter?"
[It's true—if you gather all ten Giosa forged by man, you can borrow the power of the divine swords.]
"The power of the divine swords? Can that turn back time?"
[Of course. My previous owner succeeded, didn't she? You just need to use Kairos Giosa. Since it was forged from time itself, it can manipulate time. Of course, rewriting the entire world is no small feat—once you use it, you'll never be able to wield Kairos Giosa's power again.]
Hope flickered to life. It can be undone—everything. Her vision swam. Echinacea's lips trembled as she whispered,
"...You're not lying to me, are you? If this is a lie, I'll shatter you."
[Hey, why would I lie about something like this? And breaking me is impossible. I'm Valdergiosa, you know.]
"I don't care if it's impossible. If you deceive me, I'll make you pay—no matter what it takes."
[Wow, look at those eyes. You're supposed to be a delicate little thing—why are you so bloodthirsty?]
Eki ignored the sword's nonsense and racked her memory, dredging up everything she knew about the Giosa Series. Not much came to mind. She could count the Giosa whose names she knew on one hand. It wasn't as if she, not even a knight, would have memorized all ten. The path ahead was murky—how to gather information, how to collect the Giosa. As the sword had said, it wouldn't be easy.
But it didn't matter. Even the faintest sliver of hope was enough. She wouldn't give up. She would turn everything back. She would bring back everyone who had died by her hand.
She resolved to seize this miracle for herself.