Chapter 457: Epilogue, New Days (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 457: Epilogue, New Days (1)
Deep within a cave untouched by human footsteps, a shirtless man swung his sword. His only companion was a single, solitary beam of light.
Whoosh.
Whoosh, whoosh.
It was intense.
Every strike that cleaved the air was terrifyingly precise. With each swing, the muscles across his entire body writhed, looking as though they might explode. He appeared to be in his late forties or older. The harsh passage of time was etched deeply into his face, barely visible beneath a thick, overgrown beard. If the people of the Cairo Kingdom heard his name, their eyes would widen in sheer disbelief that he was still alive.
Ballon.
That was his name.
He was once a master who stood right on the heels of Count Nicholas, the First Sword of Cairo. People had even dubbed him the "Next Nicholas." A decade ago, he was already a 4-Star Swordsman, but he had suddenly vanished without a trace. While the world endlessly speculated that he had died, Ballon had, surprisingly, not taken a single step out of this cave since the day he disappeared.
Rumble.
Aura flared violently from his blade.
Staring into the blinding light, Ballon recalled the architect of his despair.
'Kronos. I will never forgive you.'
Ten years ago.
He lost his younger brother—his only living relative—on the Western Front.
Watching his brother perish in a sudden ambush by Kronos forces, Ballon felt his entire world collapse. From that moment on, he resolved to tear Kronos apart. Knowing he could not rely on the power of Cairo—a weak, insignificant nation—his only option was to cultivate his personal strength and assassinate the Emperor himself.
He entered Closed-Door Training.
Stockpiling enough rations within a sub-space, he immersed himself in frantic, maddening training from that day ten years ago until this very moment.
Finally, his efforts bore fruit.
He reached the 5-Star Realm—a stage that had seemed so distant when he was out in the world—and just a few days ago, he stepped into a realm even beyond that. Count Nicholas had once given him advice. He’d said one needed to be at least a 6-Star Aura Swordsman to even face Kronos. Thus, Ballon had set that realm as the absolute baseline for his revenge.
Boom!
His aura amplified explosively.
A 6-Star Aura.
It was a magnificent sight.
As the radiant energy illuminated the cavern, Ballon gripped his sword, his expression feral.
'For this day, I haven't neglected my training for a single moment over the past ten years. I may not be able to face all the monsters of the Kronos Empire with just the 6-Star Realm, but having waited a decade, I will tear down everything Kronos has, piece by piece, starting now. And when I finally stand before the Emperor, I will carve into his very bones just how precious the life of an ant—one he wouldn't even remember—truly is.'
He was consumed by venomous spite.
The time had finally come.
It was time to step out into the world and unleash the rage he had suppressed for so long.
"Just wait, Kronos."
Crash!
Rumble.
He shattered the cave entrance, bringing it down behind him.
As the rubble settled, burying all traces of his seclusion, the man driven mad by revenge stepped back into the light.
* * *
"...Excuse me?"
Ballon reacted with a dazed expression.
They say even rivers and mountains change in ten years, but he simply could not process the words coming out of the tavern owner's mouth.
"My good man, have you been living under a rock for the last ten years? The Kronos Empire you're talking about fell a long time ago. The Emperors of both Kronos and Valhalla died in the war against Dmitry, and the entire continent's power structure has shifted to follow Dmitry's banner. What a strange fellow you are. Ever since His Majesty, Emperor Roman Dmitry, successfully completed the Conquest of the Demon Realm three years ago, every nation and citizen has recognized him as our true leader."
Ballon's head spun.
Continental Conquest.
Conquest of the Demon Realm.
He couldn't wrap his mind around any of it.
Back when Ballon was active, Kronos and Valhalla were the two great pillars of the continent, while Dmitry was nothing more than a frontier barony. And who on earth was Roman Dmitry? He could guess the man hailed from the Dmitry family, but hearing that he had ascended to the throne of an Emperor left Ballon's thoughts in a tangled mess.
For now, he held his tongue.
Listening quietly to the tavern owner, he learned that the world had changed drastically since the Conquest of the Demon Realm.
"It was truly magnificent. Crossing over to a world no other hero could ever reach, His Majesty accomplished the great feat of conquering the Demon Realm. But what makes him truly incredible is what he did afterward. Instead of ruling with tyranny like Kronos, His Majesty implemented policies that allowed the citizens of all nations to prosper together. Of course, anyone who dares to violate Dmitry's laws is severely punished, regardless of their status. Anyway, look over there. See that man?"
Ballon turned his gaze.
It was a man with a prominent beer belly, boisterously chatting away as he raised his glass.
"He's a veteran who fought in the Conquest of the Demon Realm. As far as I know, he didn't have a penny to his name before the war, but he received a massive payout and now lives a life of leisure. That's the kind of world Dmitry aims for. Clear rewards. A world where those who bleed and sweat receive their due compensation. I don't know what on earth you've been doing all this time, but I've never lived in a better world than the one we have right now."
The more Ballon listened, the graver his expression became.
The past ten years.
He had struggled desperately, clawing his way out of hell for the sake of revenge.
Yet, the moment he finally stepped back into the world, his vengeance had already been carried out by someone else, and the continent had become a literal utopia.
The tavern owner's words might not all be true.
However, the bustling city he had witnessed on his way here, the bright expressions on the people's faces—all of it proved just how well this Roman Dmitry ruled. Ballon's emotions were a tangled mess. In the world he remembered, inequality was a given. No matter how hard one worked, they were never rewarded. Kronos, in particular, never hesitated to trample over the weak for their own gain.
The world had changed.
The happy faces of the people.
The sounds of laughter and chatter.
He had lost the target of his revenge.
As Ballon struggled to accept reality amidst his immense confusion, the tavern owner's voice pierced his ears once more.
"That guy over there just passed the selection for the Dmitry Royal Guards. He's originally from Cairo, but he managed to get into the Royal Guards, which he wanted so badly. It's truly amazing. Since you didn't even know Kronos fell, you probably don't realize what that means. The Dmitry Royal Guards are currently the ultimate dream of every swordsman on the continent. Getting in means not only wealth and honor, but possessing a level of skill that doesn't even need to be proven through the rankings. And... wait, where are you going?"
Ballon stood up abruptly.
Regardless of what the owner was saying, he needed to clear the suffocating confusion cluttering his mind.
If everything he had heard so far was true...
Then someone who had passed the selection for the Dmitry Royal Guards must possess the skill to match.
And no matter how strong his opponent was, Ballon did not believe for a second that he—a man who had trained so relentlessly for revenge—could possibly lose.
He stopped in front of the recruit.
As the man looked up with a puzzled expression, Ballon tossed a heavy pouch of gold coins he had been saving onto the table.
Thud.
"Duel me. If you win, I will give you all of this gold."
* * *
They stepped outside.
The man who had been accepted into the Royal Guards readily agreed to the challenge. With a crowd quickly gathering around them, Ballon and the man stood facing each other.
There were no rules.
The moment they agreed to fight without taking each other's lives, Ballon immediately charged at his opponent.
'I'll end this quickly.'
Boom!
Rumble!
A swift battle for a quick conclusion.
He had no intention of dragging this out.
Since a 6-Star Aura was on par with the top continental rankers, he refused to believe a swordsman who had merely passed the selection for the regular Royal Guards could block it. A single strike would be enough. Closing the distance in an instant, Ballon launched a devastating attack, only to witness a sight he could not believe.
Flash!
Clang!
A powerful recoil rippled outward.
Even though he had manifested his 6-Star Aura—albeit not at full power—he felt himself being pushed back in raw strength.
'What on earth?!'
His mind fell into disarray.
There was no time to analyze the situation.
The Royal Guard grinned, and before Ballon could even gather his senses, the man began to press him relentlessly.
Clang!
Clash, clash, clash!
Ballon was pushed back helplessly.
He wasn't lacking in aura, nor was he inferior in raw skill.
Yet, something was incredibly strange.
The swordsmanship the man displayed followed a clear, terrifyingly precise system. Merely reacting to it forced Ballon into unfavorable positions before he even realized what was happening. Irritation flared within him. He hadn't trained in isolation for a decade just to be defeated by a run-of-the-mill swordsman. Parrying the man's relentless strikes, Ballon seized a momentary opening and detonated his mana.
'This is it.'
Rumble!
A single strike.
He intended to end it here.
But just as he raised his aura to crush his opponent, Ballon felt as if heaven and earth had flipped upside down.
He stumbled.
Whoosh.
His body was launched into the air.
Struck cleanly in the legs, he crashed and rolled across the dirt before he could even attempt to recover.
Thud!
"...Ugh."
It was miserable.
More than the pain surging through his body, Ballon could not believe he had been defeated so helplessly. What baffled him most was that his opponent wasn't overwhelmingly stronger than him. Ballon clearly possessed the raw power to defeat the man, yet somehow, he had ended up rolling in the dirt before he could even display his true strength.
From above, the man's voice drifted down.
"I see there are still people who cling to such outdated styles these days. Good fight. If you had even a slight understanding of Dmitry's style, I wouldn't have won this easily."
At that moment, Ballon had no choice but to admit it.
Dmitry's style.
The world had changed.
And it had changed completely.
* * *
The day was drawing to a close.
Arriving at the national cemetery, Ballon stared at a well-maintained grave with a complicated look in his eyes.
[Count Nicholas]
"...Count. What on earth happened?"
His mind had cleared up a bit by now.
He finally understood that an unprecedented hero named Roman Dmitry had appeared, founded the Dmitry Empire, and brought peace to the world. It was a complicated feeling. He could neither rejoice nor grieve over the fact that his life's sole purpose had already been accomplished by another.
One thing was certain.
His revenge was over.
His goal was gone, and Count Nicholas—a man he had deeply respected—was no longer of this world.
"I still find it hard to believe. The fact that the two great pillars of the continent, which seemed absolutely indestructible, knelt in just a few years. The fact that a mere human conquered the Demon Realm. If every single one of the hundred people I spoke to hadn't said the exact same thing, I would have thought Cairo had fallen prey to some cult. On the day my brother died, you told me, Count Nicholas... You told me never to give up. That nothing in this world lasts forever, and that Kronos would not last forever, either."
He smiled bitterly.
Now that he had lost his purpose in life, all he could do was lament to a tombstone.
"You were right, Count. Kronos collapsed, unable to bear the weight of its own karma. Even though I didn't do a single thing, the natural order of the world drove Kronos to ruin. But how on earth am I supposed to live now? I have no reason to exist in a world where neither my family nor the target of my revenge remains."
He felt completely hollow inside.
He had survived ten agonizing years with only one goal in mind, yet all his desperate efforts were now utterly useless. The mere fact that Kronos had been destroyed was not enough to soothe his empty heart.
It was then.
He sensed a presence behind him.
Turning his head instinctively, Ballon's eyes widened as he spotted a group of people approaching the gravesite.
"...Ballon?"
It was a jarring dissonance of memory.
Daniel Cairo, who had been nothing but a mere boy ten years ago—a fragile, helpless child—now stood before him, radiating the undeniable dignity befitting a king.