Ch.155300 Years of Essence (5)

Bernstein is a Royal Guard.

Now unable to bear the surname bestowed by the imperial family, forgotten by all with no one remembering him, Bernstein still considers himself a Royal Guard. Because that’s all he has left.

Bernstein brought his sword against the blade rushing toward his chin. Clang! The blades collided with a harsh sound. Bernstein deflected Najin’s sword. Defense and counterattack followed naturally.

Bernstein gritted his teeth.

He was feeling irritated by the current situation.

In his mind, what he had said wasn’t an insult to knighthood but a statement of facts. And who would call that monster a knight? An insult only stands when the recipient has honor and pride to be diminished.

An empty monster.

A fugitive who was no longer a knight.

He had the right to curse that coward. Now, with that right infringed upon, Bernstein felt displeasure. His sword swung irritably. The sword energy rippling from its tip blazed like the sun.

The swordsmanship permitted only to exceptional knights among the Royal Guard unfolds at Bernstein’s blade. It was the Sun Sword, modeled after Sir Gawain of the Round Table’s technique. In the dark lands of the Outer Continent, Bernstein’s blade shone like the sun.

“What do you know?”

Bernstein swung his sword with bulging eyes. The blazing sun struck Najin’s sword.

“You say I insulted you? I was merely exercising my rightful privilege. What do you know about that monster? Don’t meddle in affairs you know nothing about……”

“Ah, fuck.”

“What?”

Najin cursed with a frown. Bernstein’s eyes widened. He was surprised not only by the offensive language but also by how easily Najin had received his sword.

“Why are you talking so much?”

CLAAANG!

Najin violently pushed away Bernstein’s sword. The startled Bernstein stepped back but couldn’t widen the distance. Because Najin followed right behind him as he retreated.

“This is a duel. A duel, not a debate to determine right from wrong.”

With their swords pressed together in a test of strength, Najin thrust his face close to Bernstein’s. His platinum eyes stared intensely into Bernstein’s.

“I didn’t draw my sword to chat with you. Or are you suggesting you can defeat me while being so leisurely?”

Techniques followed the test of strength. As techniques intertwined, Najin gained the upper hand. Najin advanced, pushing away Bernstein’s sword.

“If that’s the case, talk all you want.”

I’ll shut that mouth of yours.

Najin didn’t voice the latter part. Instead, he swung his sword, letting his actions speak. Najin’s fierce sword strikes were difficult even for Bernstein to handle.

Bernstein gritted his teeth again.

In the end, he had to shut up. With closed lips, Bernstein received Najin’s sword and counterattacked. In the silence, only the sound of clashing swords echoed.

2.

Najin had recently reached the stage of Sprouting. Having climbed one of the three steps toward becoming a Sword Master, this brought not just changes to his sword energy. His senses had become more sensitive and precise.

Additionally, Najin was learning swordsmanship from a Sword Master. Though he had learned a bit from the Star of Sword, this was the first time he was learning so thoroughly and for so long. The Helm Knight often muttered that he “wasn’t confident in teaching others,” but Najin disagreed.

He was an excellent teacher. Not just because Najin learned well, but because his teachings were intuitive and easy to understand.

It was time to show the results of those teachings.

To himself, and to his master who might be watching. Najin didn’t know, but behind his helm, the Helm Knight’s eyes were wide open. He observed Najin’s sword with wide eyes.

‘Really.’

The Helm Knight groaned.

‘What an infuriating youngster.’

Najin’s sword carried the Helm Knight’s swordsmanship. Looking at his own sword reflected in Najin’s, the Helm Knight could only sigh.

CLAAANG!

A sword swung with righteousness. A sword that symbolized knighthood. The scene evoked memories of days always victorious, always returning in glory. It was a glory the Helm Knight could no longer possess.

Humans desire what they cannot reach.

Just as that boy had said. The Helm Knight yearned for glory. He longed for his brilliant past. All the more because he could no longer have it. Watching Najin wield his sword like his past self, the Helm Knight groaned.

“Ugh…!”

The Helm Knight wasn’t the only one groaning.

Bernstein, recognizing Najin’s sword, was the same. Not because the sword was sharp and powerful, but because he recognized whose sword it was. Perhaps it was also a lament.

Why did you pass on your swordsmanship to someone else?

This sword is meant for only one person.

Wasn’t this swordsmanship reserved only for the Empire’s hero?

You know the meaning of this swordsmanship better than anyone.

After rejecting countless others with such words, after refusing to pass on his swordsmanship to anyone, do you now have regrets? Bernstein’s mind boiled with anger. The sun on his blade blazed as if about to devour Najin.

He wanted to raise his voice and spew words, but Bernstein had no leisure for that. The relentless sword blocked his words. The anger he couldn’t express was channeled into his sword.

CLAAANG!

Deflecting Najin’s sword, Bernstein rammed his shoulder into him. He intended to push him back, create distance, and then swing his sword. The Sun Sword was most effective when there was distance.

Bernstein had reached the stage of Blooming and was a swordsman on the verge of Full Bloom. In other words, he was a man close to becoming a Sword Master. At least, he was 150 years ago.

For 150 years, his mental image had not reached Full Bloom.

Because that mental image had been tainted.

And the man who had tainted it was none other than the one beyond that boy. To Bernstein, Najin was an obstacle. He decided to remove that obstacle.

He gripped his sword tightly.

He didn’t intend to kill the boy outright, so he didn’t activate his sword energy… but he planned to take an arm. In this land, such an injury would be enough to teach a lesson. Bernstein held his sword vertically.

A sword embodying high noon. Though there was no sun in the sky, a sun hung at the tip of his blade. As he brought down his sword, a beam of sunlight energy shot straight toward Najin.

CHAAAAAAAK!

Against the oncoming sword energy, Najin held his blade at an angle. Compressed to its limit, the sword energy replaced the blade. Just as the Helm Knight’s sword energy had done, Najin’s sword energy coating the blade dyed the longsword white and gold.

The white blade had golden stars embedded in it.

It resembled Excalibur.

The cutting power of the sword energy compressed to its limit was not inferior to Bernstein’s. Najin swung not the energy but the sword itself. With a splitting sound, the sunlight energy was cut in half.

As heat spread from the split energy, Najin kicked off the ground and rushed at Bernstein. Breaking through the heat generated by the sword energy, Najin closed the distance and suddenly threw his sword.

“…!”

Startled by this unexpected move, Bernstein swung his sword to deflect the thrown longsword, and in that moment, Najin, who had closed the distance to point-blank range, swung his fist.

THWACK!

The fiercely swung fist struck Bernstein’s jaw. With his jaw twisted, Bernstein staggered. Barely regaining his balance, he glared at Najin with wide eyes.

“What are you doing?”

“I told you. That I’d tear that mouth of yours.”

Najin pointed at Bernstein’s mouth.

His lip was indeed torn.

“I considered tearing it with my sword, but since you seem to be an acquaintance of my master… and he seems to prefer I don’t do that, I’ll stop here.”

Najin raised his hand.

The sword that had been deflected by Bernstein’s swing and was spinning in the air fell toward Najin’s raised hand. With perfect precision, without an inch of error.

“But if you want to continue…”

Najin’s nose was unharmed.

Bernstein’s lip was torn. The outcome was clear. It was even a humiliating defeat. He could have made excuses—if I had fought properly, it would be your neck flying off, not just your nose—but that would only make him look worse. He wasn’t even confident he could do that.

The sound of teeth grinding was now audible. Bernstein’s jaw muscles tensed from how hard he was clenching his teeth. He trembled in place, then exhaled deeply.

“Why.”

He glared at the Helm Knight.

“Why, why……”

He muttered as if groaning.

Najin seriously considered taunting him with “The loser should remain silent,” but he didn’t. Because the Helm Knight walked forward.

“Bernstein.”

“……”

“If you have something to say, say it.”

A humiliating defeat, and now the opponent showing mercy. In this pathetic situation, Bernstein couldn’t bring himself to raise his voice and condemn the other.

“Why did you do it?”

In the end, he spoke as if groaning.

“Why did you end up like that?”

3.

Royal Guard Bernstein admired a certain knight. That knight was a hero of the Empire. He was a pillar of the Empire and the captain of the knightly order representing the Empire. Not just Bernstein, but countless knights admired him.

Because he was a hero. Because he was the savior who brought peace to the chaotic Empire.

Those who lived in the same era as that hero—Bernstein and countless knights, as well as aspiring knights—admired him even more than King Arthur. While King Arthur was a hero of the distant past, this knight was a living hero before them.

That’s why when that hero announced he was leaving for the Outer Continent, Bernstein gladly joined the expedition. Though he still had leeway, he wanted to be with the hero. The Emperor also gladly permitted Bernstein’s journey to the Outer Continent to aid the Empire’s hero.

Help the Empire’s hero subjugate the Empress of Bliss.

Show the greatness of the Empire to the demons of the Outer Continent.

Only victory. Glorious victory.

But there was no victory. There was no glory there. But that was fine. What Bernstein couldn’t bear wasn’t those things.

“Why did you end up like that?”

He looked at the knight standing before him.

“You were a hero. A hero, I tell you. I, the knights with me, the Empire’s soldiers… we all idolized you.”

Looking at the worn-out idol, he groaned.

“I can’t remember your name. I can’t remember what achievements you made, which knightly order you belonged to, or what name was given to the sword you wielded. I’ve forgotten everything.”

“……”

“In the past, you were a shining hero. A savior of the nation, a knight who always won gloriously. But what about now?”

In Bernstein’s mental image, there stands a hero. That hero was a symbol of the Empire, and the sword he wielded carried the weight of the Empire. A hero who seemed to shine eternally was there.

But what about reality?

Bernstein looked not at the hero in his mental image but at the hero in reality. Rusty, broken armor. Clothes no better than rags. How could this person be called a hero?

“I’ve forgotten all your achievements, but I remember clearly the scene of you kneeling submissively before the Empress of Bliss, bowing your head. To that damned demon! I only remember the scene of the Empire’s hero submitting, crumbling, pleading. You shouldn’t have done that. You of all people shouldn’t have…”

Beyond groaning, he cried out.

Covering his face with his hands, he shouted at the Helm Knight.

“It would have been fine if we all lost. Because dying with a hero would have had meaning. Even if that hero was defeated, that battlefield would have had meaning. It would have had meaning for my dead comrades, for your subordinates.”

But why.

“Why didn’t you remain a hero until the end?”

“……”

“Why did you kneel? You were the Empire. Why did you show us the scene of the Empire submitting to a mere demon?”

Bernstein finally dropped his sword.

Why, he said weakly.

“Why did you become the jester of bliss?”