Ch.165First Corner, Alderan Basaglia (5)

Najin’s sword strike unleashed a blade aura from its tip. Though it couldn’t split the world like Alderan’s, nor cleave heaven and earth, nor shatter everything it touched…

Nevertheless, it was unmistakably the sword technique of the Triumphant Sword.

No one who witnessed this strike could possibly consider Najin a mere Sword Seeker-level warrior. The blade aura Najin released cut through the ground as it charged toward Alderan. This was no technique a Sword Seeker could possibly wield.

A strike approaching Sword Master level.

A strike infinitely close to transcendence.

A human who hadn’t transcended challenged transcendence itself. He hurled himself against a wall that couldn’t be overcome. As the price, Najin received the full backlash of the technique.

Blood vessels burst, turning his vision red. Wounds across his body reopened, spraying blood. His feet, bearing his weight on the ground, made a cracking sound as they broke, and from the arm that swung the sword came the sound of tearing muscles.

Taking all that as payment, Najin’s blade aura charged forward. Opposite it, Alderan’s blade aura crashed like a wave, shattering everything in its path.

Finally, the two straight lines collided.

The technique’s name was Triumphant, meaning “returning victorious.” As these victory-symbolizing techniques clashed, naturally both couldn’t emerge victorious. When one wins, another must lose.

And the result was, of course…

Crack.

Najin’s defeat. The deadlock created when the blade auras collided didn’t last even a second. Najin’s blade aura cracked like glass, then shattered into pieces.

An utterly predictable outcome.

Though infinitely close to transcendence, Najin hadn’t reached it. He couldn’t inscribe laws into the sword he wielded, nor did he fully understand the weapon. A vast gulf lay between Najin and Alderan.

Even borrowing the power of mana, starlight, and blade aura couldn’t bridge that gap. It couldn’t, and yet…

Crack.

He could at least build a bridge across it. Najin’s blade aura had created a flaw in Alderan’s. It had degraded a perfect strike into an imperfect one. Though it couldn’t shatter everything it touched like Alderan’s blade aura, Najin’s had successfully created a small gap in the transcendent’s sword technique.

And, as always…

Tap.

Najin didn’t miss that opening.

With the sound of breaking glass, Najin took a step forward through his own shattering blade aura. He put strength into that step, then used his second step to kick off the ground and leap. Najin charged toward the wave rushing at him.

His reaction speed, at least, was faster than Alderan’s. From the beginning, Najin had prepared for a second strike. Unlike Alderan, who intended to end it with one blow, Najin had the next move in mind.

The surging wave.

A massive obstacle blocking his path.

By chance, Najin possessed a technique to break through that obstacle. In his path lay a spear he had thrust into the ground before the battle began—the Cross Star Spear he had received from Krinbel, the Knight of Silence.

Boom!

Najin stomped the ground with the momentum of his charge. The spear embedded in the ground sprang up, flying toward Najin. He caught it with one hand while spinning in place. He channeled that rotation into the spear tip.

He recalled the Knight of Silence, Krinbel.

Remembering the storm Krinbel had demonstrated, Najin thrust the spear forward.

Charging Horn.

The horn at the bow of a ship cuts through waves. The storm erupting from the spear tip violently struck the small crack in the blade aura that surged like a wave. The existing fissure spread with a loud crack.

In that moment, Najin’s star shone.

Penetration, the star that breaks through by collision. The star he had obtained by surpassing Krinbel shone even more fiercely when he borrowed Krinbel’s technique.

Crash!

With the sound of breaking glass, a portion of the blade aura broke away. Though not completely shattered, a gap large enough for a person to pass through had formed.

A path had opened.

Najin ran along the path created by Charging Horn.

2.

Najin ran, but as always, he couldn’t run quickly.

He staggered with his twisted leg. He couldn’t properly plant his broken leg on the ground. He nearly fell several times, barely maintaining his posture. Najin ran while practically dragging his limping foot.

His charge was pathetic. Even to a Sword Master, even to Najin himself as a Sword Seeker, it was pitiful.

It couldn’t be helped. He had imitated a Sword Master’s technique and a transcendent’s spear technique with a body already at its limit. Without Excalibur’s recovery ability, he would have collapsed long ago.

But in battle, physical condition is always relative.

Alderan was no different. His body wasn’t normal either. If anything, it was worse than Najin’s, not better. Whether it was Alderan, whose body crumbled to dust with every movement, or Najin, who spat blood with every step, their speeds were comparable.

Both were in tatters. Both had long since reached their limits.

Yet the duel remained undecided.

Clang!

Najin, who had finally closed the distance, swung his sword. He began a sword fight, crossing blades with Alderan. At such close range, there was no room for grand techniques. In the brief moment between exhaling and inhaling again, they had to clash swords multiple times.

At this distance, what determined the outcome was pure swordsmanship.

Clang, clang-clang-clang!

The swords rushed at each other as if trying to devour one another.

Normally, it would be impossible for Najin to defeat a Sword Master in such a technical domain. Naturally, the Sword Master’s technique would be superior.

But since the duel began, Najin hadn’t been overwhelmed in close combat. This would be impossible against any other Sword Master. It was only possible because his opponent was Alderan.

After all, he had learned directly from him.

Alderan had already taught Najin everything. How to face him. What his weaknesses were. How to receive his sword and how to penetrate his defense—he had passed all of this knowledge to Najin.

Clang!

When receiving those teachings…

Or perhaps even before that, Najin had sensed it. That his journey with the Helm Knight would end this way.

Clang, clang-clang-clang!

This was training between master and disciple.

A journey between knight and squire.

“Kuh, ugh!”

And simultaneously, it was a funeral. Alderan had prepared for his own end by passing on what he possessed to Najin. He had given him Krinbel’s spear, taught him the Triumphant Sword, and told him about himself.

Now Najin knew the being called the Helm Knight.

He remembered Alderan Basaglia, the Empire’s hero.

What remained was to end this duel so that Alderan wouldn’t become a mere corpse, but could die as a knight. Hoping that Alderan would remain a knight until the end, Najin swung his sword.

Clang…

His body was heavy. The world seen through his wide-open eyes was narrow. The sound of clashing swords echoed like a distant call. In his fading consciousness, Najin’s body moved on its own.

Parrying, deflecting, penetrating, retreating.

This one must be dodged, this one blocked…

Every moment was a series of choices. Receiving the Sword Master’s blade, Najin advanced. As always, he moved forward without yielding before an overwhelming opponent. Heaven recognized this as a great deed.

His fourth star, on the verge of completion, shone.

Unyielding.

What was needed to complete this star was one step. What filled that step was, ironically, not Najin but his opponent clashing swords with him. Alderan’s fallen star shone fiercely one last time.

The star that never retreated.

The star that never yielded to anyone.

The star that Alderan had possessed but lost the day he knelt before the Empress of Bliss shone again. That star’s name was also Unyielding. A fallen star is drawn to a rising star. A dead star becomes nourishment for a new one.

Drinking in that starlight, Najin’s star was completed.

Unyielding, the star that never yields.

Boom.

Najin planted his foot firmly. The starlight supported Najin’s body that seemed about to collapse, forcibly pushing his body beyond its limits. The difference created by this starlight wasn’t great.

Just one step.

But that one step decided the match.

Najin was one step ahead of Alderan. His suddenly accelerating sword reached its destination one step before Alderan’s. The sword, trailing a constellation, swung in a long arc.

Slash.

Najin’s blade tip cut through Alderan’s heart and passed through. The constellation that followed burned Alderan’s body.

3.

The duel was over.

The winner and loser had been decided.

Najin dropped his sword and caught Alderan’s collapsing body. Following the sword wound Najin had inflicted, Alderan’s body was crumbling. His body, burning white, was light. Surprisingly light in Najin’s grasp.

“…Ah.”

Alderan’s mouth opened.

Though it was impossible to read the expression on his monstrous face, the breath he exhaled was light.

“I lost.”

The one speaking now wasn’t the Helm Knight who had traveled with Najin. With his consciousness fading, he had no memory of Najin. Only memories of his time as a knight remained.

“I have lost.”

The knight, Alderan, spoke.

Despite acknowledging his defeat, his voice was light. As if putting down a burden he had carried for a long time, he muttered with a slight smile.

“Well done. Excellently so.”

With those final words, his body went limp.

Death had caught up with Alderan. For a while, Najin silently held Alderan’s corpse. Though victorious in the duel, he couldn’t rejoice. Najin gritted his teeth.

Gritting his teeth and looking up at the sky, he saw his own four stars. With Alderan’s end, Najin had gained a star. And it didn’t stop at one.

Beside the four stars, another light was gathering.

In one battle, Najin had achieved two great deeds. One was Unyielding, and the other star had not yet risen, but… Najin could vaguely sense the name of that star that would soon rise.

Mourning.

Since setting foot on the Outer Continent, Najin had consistently brought death to the dead. The Knight of the Sacred Host Shulein, the Knight of Silence Krinbel, and now the Empire’s First Horn Alderan Basaglia. To them, Najin had given the end they desired.

Those who had forgotten themselves, or were forgetting.

It is never easy to fulfill dreams that even the dead themselves have forgotten. It is an incredibly difficult task. Najin’s path of accomplishing this difficult feat multiple times deserved to be called a great deed.

A fifth star on the verge of completion.

With just one more catalyst, the star would be complete.

Thus, much was gained from this battle. One star and another nearly complete, a Sword Master’s swordsmanship, the Triumphant Sword technique, and numerous other skills. Through this single battle, Najin’s swordsmanship had advanced several levels.

Though he had gained much, Najin couldn’t rejoice.

Because what he had lost was just as great.

Najin slowly laid Alderan’s body on the ground. Then he untied the Golden Horn Knights’ banner, which had been most firmly secured among the military flags Alderan wore, and held it in his hand.

“…”

After exhaling a long breath,

Najin knelt on one knee before Alderan.

“His name was Alderan Basaglia. His title was the Empire’s First Horn, his star was named One Horned Star, and he belonged to the Golden Horn Knights.”

Najin recited a eulogy.

“He was the commander of the Golden Horn Knights, a knight who knew pride and honor. He never yielded to anyone, and even 150 years couldn’t bring him to his knees. Until the end, he was a hero of the Empire.”

Najin doesn’t know much about eulogies. He doesn’t know how to praise someone’s achievements or how to frame those achievements. He doesn’t know elegant rhetoric or how to properly structure sentences.

But despite this, Najin awkwardly recites a eulogy. Recalling the eulogy Alderan had spoken, he continued. After a moment, Najin fell silent.

No. This isn’t right.

I don’t want to decorate your final moments by imitating others. Najin, gripping the Golden Horn Knights’ banner tightly, said:

“Until your final moment, you wanted to be a knight.”

Najin smiled slightly.

“Until the very end, you were a knight.”

Therefore.

“Rest in pe—”

Rest in peace, master.

That’s what Najin tried to say. But those words were never completed. Not because Najin couldn’t speak, but because his voice was drowned out by a loud noise.

Hahaha, hahahahahaha.

Laughter echoed.

Squeak, rattle, thud! Crash! Zing! Hee, heeheeheehee! Ha, hahahahaha! Ah, ahahahaha!

The laughter of jesters echoed. Instrument sounds came from somewhere. The sounds created by these instruments were incredibly noisy, closer to noise than music. The dissonance echoed in Najin’s ears.

And then.

Sparkle.

A star shone in the sky.

Like a bursting firework, a colorful star’s radiance dyed the sky. In the sky stained like spilled paint, no other stars were visible.

Only one constellation shone.

A constellation of ten stars.

The Empress of Bliss.

The paint-stained sky tore open.