Ch.185Chapter 185: Sword Grave (3)

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…What on earth is going on?

I scratched my head as I calmly tried to recall what had just happened.

While I was wandering through the Sword Tomb to undergo the trial.

After passing through an area littered with broken swords as instructed by Fafnir.

When I stepped into a place overflowing with extraordinary swords.

At the edge of that place, I grasped an exceptionally fine sword and infused it with my fighting spirit.

“The trial of Calidum Iustitia (Warm Justice)….”

As I now repeated these words, I heard that rather alien voice in my ears, and when my consciousness began to blur, I desperately tried to hold onto it.

And then I ended up in a completely unfamiliar place.

It was just a brief moment, but because of that moment, I was in this predicament—one could say I had paid an enormous price.

My body, which had been inside a cave called the Sword Tomb despite the bright lighting, had fallen into an unfamiliar outdoor setting I had never seen before.

Moreover, although I had been wandering in the Sword Tomb for quite some time.

By my sense of time, it shouldn’t have been more than two hours, so even if I had come outside, it should definitely still be daytime.

But judging by how I could barely make out my surroundings by relying on the starlight and moonlight in the sky, the time here was night—and quite late at that.

I had no way of knowing what force had caused this to happen to me, so I felt as lost as my vision was in this dark night.

Well, it was still fine. It was a trial, after all. I had already accepted that anything could happen, so I tried to take it in stride.

But even if I could accept everything else, there was one problem I absolutely couldn’t overlook.

“…Fafnir?”

The problem was Fafnir, who wasn’t responding to my call despite the dragon sword still being at my waist.

It wasn’t just that he didn’t answer when I called.

It felt as though only I had been transported to this unknown place, leaving Fafnir behind.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t sense Fafnir’s presence at all.

I recalled Fafnir’s voice wishing me luck when my consciousness was about to blur—could that be related to this…?

“…Hmm.”

With a faint sigh, I gathered every fragment of my spiritual sense to try to feel Fafnir’s energy, but I felt nothing, confirming that Fafnir wasn’t here with me.

So I needed to consider what to do next and take action, but.

“…Let’s just move forward for now.”

No matter how much I pondered, my options were limited at this point.

I started walking aimlessly.

“I can see what looks like artificial light ahead, though it’s faint. If I head that way, I might find some answers.”

I muttered to myself as I walked toward the light that dimly filled my field of vision.

Since my regression, I’ve been through quite a lot.

Among those many experiences, there were numerous times when I suddenly found myself in unfamiliar places and wandered around until I spotted a light and blindly walked toward it—and this was another such instance.

Could it be… that I’ll face some misfortune again when I meet whoever is at that light?

“…Surely not.”

I shook my head vigorously to dismiss such thoughts and continued walking without pause.

Even though the scene felt blatantly similar, I held onto the primitive belief that the outcome couldn’t possibly be the same.

#

“Holy shit….”

The words coming out of my mouth right now are an exclamation.

What am I exclaiming about, you ask?

I’m about to explain it slowly, so just bear with me for a moment.

But before I explain, there’s one thing I need to say first.

I never thought the saying “assumptions can kill you” would actually come true.

Let me explain.

After setting foot in a completely unfamiliar place and walking toward a faintly visible light for survival purposes for about 30 minutes.

The light that had initially appeared dim became quite clear, and I was momentarily relieved to confirm it was artificially created by someone.

“…!!”

I had to stop in my tracks due to the intense energy I suddenly felt.

It wasn’t forcing anything upon me; it was merely clearly revealing its presence, but.

Gulp…

The energy was so formidable that I unconsciously had to swallow dry saliva.

It was incomprehensible how such energy could emanate from a human body.

…Wait, is it even human?

In that moment, the images of beings who had instilled such a sense of crisis in me with their mere presence flashed through my mind like a kaleidoscope.

The proud king of the vampire clan who had regained his prime power and laughed loudly, vowing to show the might of the night clan.

The ferocious quasi-deity who, after his revered lord’s resurrection, openly expressed his rage at having the proxy position he believed would be his stolen by a human.

And the evil deity, Desire, who controlled twisted divinity itself and commanded those two with a mere gesture.

…The energy I felt from beyond was instilling fear in me to the extent that the faces of these wicked yet undeniably powerful beings naturally came to mind.

So I had to make a choice.

Should I proceed beyond?

Or should I turn back and continue walking until I see another light?

At first, I was about to turn around and avoid this place.

But.

Just as I was about to turn, the word “trial” that flashed in my mind ultimately prevented me from completely turning back.

Right, it’s a trial—whether it’s adversity or monsters or whatever, I have to face it for it to be a trial; avoiding it wouldn’t make it a trial.

So my feet, which I had been about to turn, naturally started moving toward the light again.

With each step I took toward the light, I felt the presence that constricted my entire body growing stronger.

“Well, what’s the worst that could happen besides dying?”

As I repeated these words to myself and continued walking, I felt that presence becoming somewhat less oppressive.

Ah, maybe it’s not good to talk about death so casually.

Despite appearances, I’ve experienced it twice, so it feels like a cheap statement—such frivolous thoughts crossed my mind.

Anyway, after continuing to walk for 10 minutes while fighting against the presence that constricted my entire body.

I could finally identify what that light was.

It was a bonfire.

It seemed like someone had gathered all the available firewood around.

The flames were so fierce that I could understand how they were visible, albeit faintly, from that distance.

And the identity of what made my body tingle with its mere presence at the center of that light was a person.

Even with such a bright bonfire, I couldn’t clearly identify them, but it was definitely a person.

Though powerful, not a trace of the impure energy that would be felt through spiritual sense from beings belonging to the demonic realm was detectable from the moment they came into view—this was an undeniable fact.

“Phew….”

After breathing a sigh of relief at the fact that it wasn’t a dangerous entity.

And after briefly expressing surprise at a being emitting energy reminiscent of dangerous entities beyond human standards.

I could finally clearly observe the movements of the being whose appearance wasn’t fully revealed even by the bonfire.

Fearing I might catch their eye, I completely suppressed my presence and even hunched down as I continued to observe.

“Ohh….”

A faint exclamation involuntarily escaped my lips.

It was because the action taken by the being whose silhouette was only faintly visible in the bonfire was beyond my expectations.

It was a dance.

And not just any dance that would catch the eye.

It was a sword dance, performed with a rather impressive sword in one hand.

While the person was only dimly visible, the gleam of the blade, which reflected the starlight and moonlight from above, was distinctly clear.

It was essentially a solo sword dance, with no audience except for me secretly watching, but.

I guarantee that if ten people were to witness this scene, all ten would utter exclamations of admiration without exception—it was that perfect a sword dance.

Because it was night, even the main performer’s appearance was barely visible.

It was just a dim scene that could only be faintly seen by relying on the bonfire, starlight, and moonlight.

Yet even in that dimness, the cleanliness of the technique expressing the mental imagery stood out, without a single unnecessary movement.

All that could be heard was the sound of the sword cutting through the air and.

The momentary beauty of the scenery that settled on the blade as it was swung.

That was it.

As someone who had impulsively performed something that was embarrassingly called a sword dance just a few days ago, the more I felt how amazing this was, the more I felt a bit ashamed of myself back then.

As I was secretly watching the sword dance from beyond and was about to be immersed in the perfect scenery it presented.

Trouble broke out.

Forgetting that I should be quietly observing with my body hunched down, I started to rise, wanting to see the sword dance from closer up.

Crack-!!

I had stepped on a twig scattered around.

It was just a small, trivial sound, but.

In this place so quiet that even the sound of the bonfire burning could be clearly heard, this level of sound could be described as thunderous without much exaggeration.

“…!!”

The movement of the person who had been in a trance performing the sword dance by the bonfire, starlight, and moonlight stopped at that moment.

Though I couldn’t see their expression, I could tell from the slight body movement after stopping the dance that they were not pleased.

‘Tsk….’

I was about to click my tongue inwardly at how my greed had ruined a good spectacle in an instant, but.

“…Who goes there?!”

Before I could, with an intimidating voice from beyond.

Swish-!!

As soon as I heard the sound of air being cut with enough force to tear everything around me.

“…Tch!”

I clicked my tongue outwardly instead of inwardly and swung the dragon sword at my waist, still in its scabbard, toward where the sound came from.

Clang-!!

With a crisp sound ringing in my ears, small sparks flew before my eyes.

I had swung the sword almost instinctively, and as expected, a blade of vacuum formed of savage air pressure had come at me.

I was about to be surprised that the opponent, who hadn’t been surrounding themselves with fighting spirit while performing the sword dance, could exert such physical force on me from a distance with just a swing of their sword.

“…Where to?”

Before I could even look elsewhere, I lost sight of the opponent who had been standing prominently amidst the bonfire.

“…Drop your sword.”

I felt an incredibly cold voice behind me, along with an even colder blade sensation on the nape of my neck.

I had barely managed to deflect the vacuum blade flying toward me, but in that brief moment, the opponent had figured out my position and infiltrated my blind spot to approach me.

‘…I’ve been had.’

I had been completely outplayed, to the point where words were unnecessary.

“…Shit.”

After quietly uttering a perfect(?) exclamation that needed no further description at the thought of being completely outmaneuvered by the opponent, the action I took was simple.

I placed the dragon sword I was holding on the ground and then interlaced my fingers behind my head.

There was no other way but to show the opponent that I had no intention of resisting and that I wasn’t a hostile figure.

I just hoped the opponent would be someone I could reason with…

Thud-!!

“Kuhup!!”

…Damn it.

As if to shatter my expectations, the opponent behind me immediately struck the back of my knees, forcing me to kneel.

“Where else could you crawl to, you demonic realm minion, but onto this sacred night stage?!”

…It seems the opponent is seriously misunderstanding something.

“Listen, I’m not a—”

“No need for words!”

Swish!!

You crazy—!

I inwardly cursed words that no one could hear.

Still in a prone position, I quickly twisted my body to the left.

By a hair’s breadth, I avoided a blade emitting a pure white light that would have cleanly cut my body in two, and simultaneously.

I could finally get a proper look at the opponent who had tried to cut me down with murderous intent.

Despite it being night, thanks to the quite bright starlight and moonlight, I could see this person quite clearly up close—it was a woman.

Her silver hair, the same color as the stars dotting the night sky, was overflowing with red energy in places.

And despite displaying an extremely murderous expression, she was a beauty whose attractive appearance wasn’t diminished.

Even though I was in danger of becoming a victim of the sword she wielded if things continued like this.

As a bitter smile was about to form at the thought that I had fallen into a strange place I’d never seen or heard of and was in this predicament before I could properly complete the trial.

“…”

The expression of this woman, who had been about to devour me, changed into something difficult to describe as soon as she confirmed my appearance when I turned to face her.

Suddenly, she threw the sword in her hand to the ground.

Clang-!!

As the sword fell to the ground with a dull sound, I was about to become confused about what was happening.

“Aaaaah…!!”

With an unrefined scream, the woman’s arms tightly grabbed my body, and her body also nestled into my embrace.

Wait, she was trying to kill me just now, so what’s with this sudden hug?

Is this some kind of ritual to remove worldly attachments before killing me?

Such frivolous thoughts were about to cross my mind out of bewilderment.

“Where have you been… I thought I’d never see you again.”

An anguished voice flowed from the woman’s mouth, so different from her previously murderous tone that it made me stop my useless thoughts.

Ah, this woman. She seems to be mistaking me for someone else.

And it seems like someone very precious to her.

I felt relieved that I had escaped a life-threatening situation because of this, but.

I felt that I shouldn’t give the other person unnecessary misunderstandings.

“Um… excuse me.”

I tried to call out to her somehow to dispel the misunderstanding, but.

The woman who was tightly embracing me pressed her face even closer to mine in my arms.

“I missed you…”

She continued to say what she wanted to say, preventing me from opening my mouth further, so my mouth remained closed.

Still, feeling this wasn’t right, I tried to force my mouth open, but.

“Fafnir…”

“…Eh?”

The name of someone that came from the woman’s anguished voice made a foolish single-syllable scream come out of my mouth instead of proper words.

Wait? Who? Why are you mistaking me for him?

It was already disorienting enough to have fallen into an unfamiliar place.

This confusion seemed likely to last even longer due to the encounter with someone who mistook me for none other than Fafnir.