The Flower That Bears a Sword - Chapter 58

Translation: godsn

The child examined the woman crouching before her in the flickering light that seeped through the broken window. The woman was dazzlingly beautiful. An ivory dress adorned with frills, vivid violet eyes. Hair cascading past her shoulders in a sweet candy-pink hue.

The child had never seen anyone who looked so pretty and precious before. She resembled one of those exquisite dolls displayed behind city shop windows. And this very person was now gently smiling while cradling her feet.

She came to rescue me? Me? She's asking for my name. Am I already dead? The pungent stench of oil still feels vividly horrifying.

It felt like dreaming. The child stared blankly at her before mumbling a response.

"Shai......"

"Shai? Your name is Shai?"

The child gave a tiny nod. Eki noticed the trembling in the girl's body had lessened. Feeling relieved internally, she extended her other hand toward the child.

"Come with me, Shai. Let's get out of here."

"Wh-where to......?"

"Somewhere safe. There's too much oil here—it's dangerous. We need to leave quickly."

"B-but outside... there are people. Everyone's so angry......"

Shai whispered tearfully. Eki smiled in response.

"It's alright. I'll protect you. You don't need to be afraid of anything."

Her tone was casual and matter-of-fact. The words that flowed so naturally somehow carried an unshakable conviction. In this decrepit barn reeking of oil, flickering ominously under the torch's crimson glow, her immaculately groomed appearance seemed utterly surreal. That very surrealness lent an odd weight to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her words. It felt as though simply being by her side would bring peace no matter what happened.

As if entranced, Shai reached out. Eki clasped the small hand that groped hesitantly through the air toward her. The moment light returned to the tear-streaked girl's eyes—

Space distorted. Split apart. Made contact. The gray tips of hair first. Then soon after, the child's entire body was sucked in as if pulled. The hand she'd just been holding slipped away.

Eki's eyes widened as she reflexively reached out. Too late. The spatial distortion that had appeared right behind the child swallowed her whole in an instant. The warped space, now resembling a glass marble, expanded rapidly. Having grabbed nothing but empty air where Shai's hand should have been, Eki swore violently as she retreated beyond its range.

"Damn spatial node!"

Of all times for one to appear! Frustration at losing her target surged uncontrollably. It seemed Rakia-giosa had detected the change when she tried to save the Saintess who had burned to death in her previous life. Just as Valdergiosa had speculated—the more she tried to alter events, the higher the probability of a node forming.

The node expanded at terrifying speed. It had already consumed nearly the entire interior of the building. Given that this place was an oil-drenched barn where they'd tried to burn an innocent child alive, the scene inside must have been horrific. Pressed flat against the wall to avoid the swelling distortion, Eki wrestled with her dilemma. What should she do?

'What do you mean what? I have to go in. I promised to protect her.'

Her hesitation ended in an instant. She wouldn't die easily. That node on the battlefield hadn't been a problem, right? But that Sol tribe child—Shai—would definitely die if left alone inside.

Eki looked down at the hand that had held Shai's. The girl had been so small and thin. The owner of Elgiosa, the Saintess. Was it even possible to hate no one after being driven to such extremes? Cutting short her thoughts, Eki adjusted her grip on Amethyst. But before she could leap in, Yurien poked his head through the broken window.

"Echinacea? What's going—!"

He recognized it immediately as a spatial node upon seeing the refracted interior like something viewed through water. His face paled. Eki hesitated. She couldn't let him see her voluntarily entering a node. Should she pretend to stumble in again? A brief conflict arose within her.

But her hesitation quickly became meaningless. In the span of a single breath, Yurien took in the node, the vanished child, and Echinacea pressed against the wall—then braced one arm against the windowsill and vaulted over it in a single motion. Their eyes met briefly. Azure irises locked onto her. A blink. A bitter smile flickered across his face for the barest instant. And before Eki could react, he plunged into the node.

"Yu—!"

Eki choked back his name, her voice dying in her throat. Her blood turned to ice.

Are you insane?Do you have any idea what's in there?!Even if you're a Master and a Giosa Owner, the inside of a node operates on completely different laws from the rest of the world!No one can predict what might happen!You could die in there—and you just walked in on your own?!Do you not value your life?!Are you out of your mind?!After everything I did to keep you alive—!

A scream of thoughts whirled violently in her head, so intense it made her skull throb. Even as the storm raged inside her, she placed two choices on the scales of her heart:

Risk exposing herself as the Demon of the Magic Sword to save him and Shai—

Or stay quiet outside the node, safe and undiscovered.

The scales tipped instantly, so decisively it almost felt absurd to have hesitated at all. Echinacea stepped into the node.

The node, having swallowed three Giosa Owners, rapidly expanded its boundaries. The distorted space greedily consumed the torch-bearing villagers crowding the canyon, then the entire gorge itself—before vanishing without a trace.

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠moment she crossed the threshold, a wave of scorching heat slammed into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her. Eki shielded her face with her forearm and cracked her eyes open just enough to see.

"...Expected as much."

[Hell yeah!]

The node, though separated from the canyon, had replicated its terrain—albeit in a grotesquely altered state. The trees inside had swollen to three, even four times their original size. Their crowns stretched into dizzying heights, their trunks thicker than temple pillars. They rose like a dense forest of obsidian monoliths, blocking paths and obscuring sightlines until the interior resembled a labyrinth.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

Every trunk and branch had turned pitch-black, as if charred to coal. The leaves had transformed into living flames. The canopy above was nothing but fire. The oppressive, searing heat radiating through the air? Undoubtedly from those burning leaves.

Eki dodged a falling ember—a leaf-shaped flicker of flame—just before it hit the ground. The moment it touched the earth, it rolled, caught onto something slick, and burst into a fresh blaze. A pillar of fire erupted with a whoosh.

"There's oil too?!"

Horrified, she scanned the ground. A narrow rivulet of oil snaked through the dirt like a creek. The fire from the leaves clung to it, feeding, spreading—transforming the stream into a burning trail.

Gigantic, pillar-like trees. Flammable oil rivers ready to ignite at any moment. No monsters in sight, but the terrain itself was a nightmare.

We won't last long here.

Eki grimaced at the thought. Even without monsters, surviving until the node opened would be hell without food. Normally, some provisions would've been dragged in with them—something to sustain those trapped inside. But this node? Nothing. The trees were just towering pyres of flame, the ground crisscrossed with oil creeks. Even if there had been supplies, they'd have burned to ash by now. Water was probably nonexistent too.

If enduring inside was impossible, then like in White Crow Canyon, her only option was to locate the Starting Point and stab it with a Giosa. At least she knew exactly where to look—the corner behind Shai, where the node had first manifested inside the shelter.

The one saving grace is that even if I don't draw Valdergiosa, Yurien has Langiosa and Shai has Elgiosa.

For now, all she could see was a maze of fire, with no sign of monsters or grotesque creatures—so it seemed she could conceal both her status as a Master and the cursed sword. She'd made the right choice coming in. If she hadn't, Yurien or Shai might have died not from monsters but from starvation and thirst.

The surroundings were silent except for the crackling of fiery leaves. Echinacea drew Amethyst and stepped forward, sharpening her senses as much as possible to detect any presence. After wandering inside for a while, she realized this Node was far more dangerous than she'd thought.

'This really is a maze.'

Dead ends kept appearing. The trees stretched endlessly high, and the sky was the same sea of flames—she couldn't even tell where she was. Even though she'd spent over a week observing the terrain inside the ravine, she couldn't distinguish one place from another.

[Master, I feel like we've been circling the same area over and over. Or is it just me?]

"It's not just you."

What was she supposed to do? Echinacea stopped in place, momentarily lost in thought. Then, a faint sound reached her ears—a scream. A young girl's scream. The only child in this Node was Shai. Startled, she jerked her head up. The scream had been brief, cutting off abruptly.

"Shai! Shai! Where are you?"

She called out the girl's name loudly as she moved toward the direction of the scream, expanding her senses as much as possible—but nothing registered. No, rather, her detection range felt narrower than usual. It was like wearing a blindfold that narrowed her vision. She couldn't tell if it was because of the charcoal-black, iron-like trees or if it was just the nature of this Node.

No answer came. Anxiety crept in. The direction the scream had come from was blocked by a massive, pitch-black tree. Echinacea pressed her hand against it, straining to listen.

"Ugh—!"

She yanked her hand away immediately, but it was too late. The thin glove burned away in an instant, and her palm turned a searing red. A burn. What had appeared to be just a tree coated in Sword Energy was, in reality, so scorching hot that touching it would sear flesh. Normally, she should've sensed the heat before contact, but she hadn't felt anything until her skin made full contact. This was a space governed by laws separate from the normal world.

"Damn Node, full of nasty tricks."

[Hey, you can't use your left hand now, can you?]

"I can manage if I have to."

Gritting her teeth against the pain, she let her burned hand hang limp. Thankfully, it was her left. Using her right hand, she tore a strip from the voluminous petticoat beneath her dress and wrapped her left hand roughly. All the while, she kept straining her ears ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and senses, but everything remained pitch black.

"Shai! Can you hear me? Shai!"

She called out again, but there was still no response. If it were Yurien, he'd be in no real danger inside this Node aside from starvation—but Shai was just a helpless child. Surely nothing too serious had happened, right? A deep unease settled in.

There was no time to waste retracing her steps. Echinacea raised Amethyst in her right hand. Just in case, she swung it—but as expected, the blackened tree trunk didn't even chip. Normally, with her skill, she could slice through even decent metal with a single blade.

Left with no choice, she channeled mana. A violet glow flickered along the sword. True to its reputation as a custom-made masterpiece, Amethyst accepted the mana readily. She swung the blade, now sheathed in Sword Energy, toward the tree trunk.

Unlike before, the trunk split apart as smoothly as soft tofu. It was cleaved so cleanly that the severed part didn't even topple, simply remaining in place. She kicked the upper half away with the heel of her shoe—thankfully, the high heel spared her foot from burns.

Even after stepping past the fallen trunk, Shai was nowhere in sight. Echinacea repeated the process two more times before finally spotting her.

"What the hell is that?"