Ch.1142Grandfather Heyrek’s Old Tale

Demian couldn’t bring himself to trust this old man Heirek, but he judged that his story itself was worth hearing.

After all, a demigod who had lived for thousands of years wouldn’t have dragged his weakened body all the way here just to spout meaningless nonsense.

Information about the era before Carlos the Great was precious knowledge that even Haschal, who knew surprisingly many things, didn’t know much about.

To begin with, wasn’t the revelation that Caliburn’s true identity wasn’t a sacred artifact of Elpinel but a relic left by an ancient god something he’d never heard before?

Information that would turn the Church of Elpinel upside down the moment it was made public.

If such revelations were coming out from the start, it would be a tremendous loss not to listen.

“…Continue talking.”

Of course, since he couldn’t distinguish what was truth and what was falsehood, he needed to carefully filter whatever was said.

“What did you say earlier? The duty bestowed upon Caliburn’s owner…? Start with that.”

“Hmm… where should I begin… it’s a long story, yet also short in some ways.”

Tired of standing, Heirek plopped down on a tree stump beside the bushes and began his story with a faint sigh.

“First, let me ask you this. Have you ever heard the name Xanten?”

“Xanten? I think Haschal mentioned it once… that ancient empire that collapsed thousands of years ago, right?”

“A collapsed ancient empire… Yes, that’s correct. Xanten’s glory has already become a distant tale of the past, so it’s fitting to call it that now…”

Heirek nodded slowly, his eyes unfocused as if gazing at something far away.

The sorrowful gaze typical of an old man reminiscing about the past.

His face was so gloomy and bitter that Demian, despite himself, felt unexpected sympathy rise within him, unconsciously softening his hostility and wariness.

“Then, have you also heard about the cause of Xanten’s downfall?”

“The cause? …No, I haven’t heard about that. It was just mentioned in passing, and I didn’t particularly ask for details.”

The story Haschal had told Demian only included the name Xanten and the extremely brief fact that it had fallen long ago.

Demian himself had no interest in ancient empires that had collapsed long ago, so he never thought to inquire further or investigate separately.

As a result, those two pieces of information were really all he knew.

“…Then I’ll start explaining from there.”

Heirek clicked his tongue softly at this fact and continued with a more detailed explanation.

======[ Heirek’s Story ]======

It happened four thousand years ago.

The great unified empire of Xanten, blessed by the primordial gods and ruled by demigods under their command, fell after a great war that swept across the entire continent.

Was it a civil war? No, it wasn’t.

There were certainly conflicts between factions and races, but nothing serious enough to burn the entire empire to the ground.

What destroyed Xanten wasn’t such trivial conflicts… but the beings we worshipped and the weapons we created.

Biological weapons created by carving rune inscriptions into beast flesh to mutate them, and corpse weapons created by the death cult that worshipped Bellona using the goddess’s power.

Lunadir and Aftgangg.

We believed we had perfect control over these two weapons… but that was nothing more than a careless and arrogant delusion.

These two weapons, deployed throughout the empire, were suddenly possessed by a strange energy without any warning and went berserk all at once.

A power similar to the death energy bestowed upon Bellona’s followers, but with a more fundamental and far more sinister malice.

By the black mana that you call dark mana.

Those weapons—Lunadir and Aftgangg—possessed by that power, dark mana, soon mutated into terribly grotesque and violent monsters, endlessly multiplying and sweeping across the entire continent.

Additionally, fragments of gods that had grown in the void descended to the earth, causing even greater chaos as they rampaged.

…Yes, you’re right. That’s the origin of the monsters you call demons.

The void species weren’t our creation, but the hybrid and undead species were clearly disasters we caused. About half of them.

The other half of the responsibility lies with the culprit who contaminated them with dark mana.

With Baltyr, the evil god of slaughter who descended in his true form using the souls and bodies of those who died in war as sacrifices, and led Xanten to destruction.

He invaded Xanten leading an army so vast it filled the horizon, and we fought back with all our might… but tragically, we suffered defeat after defeat.

Fallen soldiers rose again as undead on the spot to join the demon army, and even demigods were consecutively defeated, either stripped of their divinity or corrupted to become his subordinates.

The Valhallian Crusaders, Zarem Holy Spirit Knights, Vanirgand Cavalry, Night Mage Corps… none could stop Baltyr’s forces.

Even Emperor Sigmund, who resisted until the end… fell to that evil god’s hand along with Xanten’s treasure, the Sword of Barnstock, and died during the retreat.

Yes, I’m talking about the Caliburn you’re holding now.

That sword was originally a national treasure passed down through generations to the emperors of Xanten.

Since the broken sword was melted down and reforged from scratch, not only its shape but also its name and powers are vastly different from the original sword.

Goddess’s Wrath, Caliburn.

A divine slaying sword forged with hatred by Gemina and Elpinel to destroy Baltyr, the evil god who destroyed Xanten.

—-

For convenience, I’ve been calling him Baltyr so far, but in truth, that evil god had another name. A name even we didn’t know at first.

…No, it’s not that we didn’t know, but that we didn’t recognize it.

It was a name known to every citizen of Xanten, yet no one associated that name with Baltyr.

So who am I talking about? You’re impatient, I was just about to tell you.

His true name was Alfodhr. Once worshipped as the supreme god of Xanten, called the Father of All.

The god of war who bestowed the knowledge of runes to humanity, power and miracles to warriors, and countless victories to Xanten.

By the time we realized that all those blessings were merely to fatten his livestock… it was already too late.

Wasn’t Wodanaz the ancient god of war? Well, like the name Nerthus, that’s just a name the northerners made up on their own.

Anyway, Alfodhr, having descended in his true form, killed countless imperial citizens beyond counting and returned to his domain.

Thus, Xanten was destroyed, leaving only a tiny number of survivors.

At least Princess Elphine escaped death by ascending with Gemina’s help, inheriting her power to become a new god—Elpinel of Grace.

That happened four thousand years ago.

—-

Alfodhr’s massacre didn’t end there.

Two thousand years after Xanten’s destruction, he tried to descend to earth again to carry out another great slaughter.

His purpose? Well, who knows.

Elpinel might know, but I’ve never heard of it. Even Gemina didn’t tell me.

Anyway, Alfodhr, who descended like that, tried to summon a great demon army to start another great war just like four thousand years ago… but seven demigods stood in his way.

Sigurd, the strongest demigod of that era whom Elpinel chose as Caliburn’s owner and bestowed generous blessings and protection upon, along with six other demigods.

They fought a mythical bloody battle against the descended Alfodhr… and finally won, banishing him from earth and blocking the passage itself so he couldn’t descend again for a while.

Originally, they had intended to completely annihilate him rather than just banish him, but things went terribly wrong, and expulsion was the best they could manage.

I don’t know the details of what happened then since I didn’t witness it myself—it’s just what I heard from Elpinel.

Anyway, Sigurd died that day, the six demigods ascended, and Elpinel reclaimed Caliburn.

And then, twelve hundred years later, she bestowed that sword upon a human born then, making him the second owner.

It was to revive humanity, which had declined and fallen into slavery after Sigurd’s death, and to reclaim Sigurd’s legacy—the Holy Grail—which had been divided among different races.

I heard she wanted to use the power of those grails to completely eliminate the means for gods to descend to earth… but this too failed.

Yes, that’s right. The story of Heaven’s Wall and Carlos the Great.

If that plan had succeeded, there would have been nothing more to worry about… but unfortunately, he failed. Heaven’s Wall was never completed.

Hundreds of years since then. The incomplete Heaven’s Wall has been breaking one after another, and now only two walls remain. Even one of those is on the verge of collapse.

What do you think will happen when both walls break?

…You know well.

Alfodhr will descend again.

And once more, he will try to slaughter all humans on earth. Just as he did four thousand years ago, just as he tried to do two thousand years ago.

…However, this could also be seen as an opportunity. The only moment we can destroy him is when he descends to earth in his true form.

Therefore, Elpinel prepared a third plan to destroy him, spending most of the divinity Gemina left her and her own divinity without reservation.

You ask if that’s you?

Hmm, well, that’s not entirely wrong, but… isn’t that a bit too self-centered? There’s clearly a more suitable candidate right beside you.

Yes, I mean her.

A sword forged with Elpinel’s divinity, divinity achieved by gathering fragments of Ausrine, an earthly god who obtained the legacy of the abandoned Twilight Plan.

That woman is the dagger and flame in which Elpinel has placed her final hope, created to kill Alfodhr.

Ah, then what are you, you ask?

Well… in one word, you could call yourself insurance. Insurance against the risk factors that woman carries. That’s the reason you were born.

What do I mean?

…Well, I don’t know the details either, but Elpinel said so.

In the unlikely event that woman becomes corrupted by the evil star and goes berserk, you must kill her and take the star’s divinity to fulfill her role instead.

I came here for this purpose. To give you the power to kill her—

…No, no, that’s not telling you to betray her! So please put down that holy sword! Don’t swing it!