Ch.279Who Am I? (4)

Two years ago, someone pulled out Excalibur.

After that day when the sky trembled and the constellations rearranged, the whole world focused on the three Sword Masters of the continent.

Star of Sword, Charon.

The Empire’s Best Swordsman, Gerd.

The Executioner, Juel Lazian.

These three Sword Masters had long been considered candidates to pull the sacred sword. People speculated that one of them must have drawn Excalibur, unable to imagine anyone else capable of such a feat.

As time passed, only those three names—Gerd, Juel, and Charon—remained on everyone’s lips.

Then one day, after much time had passed…

A young man began to make his mark.

He arrived in Cambria, City of Opportunity, and accomplished numerous remarkable feats in a short time. He killed a Fallen Knight, vanquished a black mage, and slew two dragons at Stonehenge.

The youngest White-ranked adventurer.

The youngest Sword Seeker.

The youngest Two-Star.

The young man walked forward, achieving feats worthy of the continent’s attention. He boldly declared his name before the Emperor. Now the entire continent knew the name of this boy born in an underground city, whom no one had previously cared about.

“……”

Najin walked silently.

As he traversed the long imperial corridor, he recalled the past.

Tap.

He had left Cambria for the Outer Continent. As if his journey was far from over, he ran forward without stopping even for a moment, his eyes fixed ahead.

Tap.

He had seen countless fallen ones. He had witnessed stars struggling desperately, and those who ultimately fell. He had met many people, gained knowledge, and achieved great deeds.

Tap.

Now Najin possessed seven stars and had stepped into transcendence. He no longer needed to hide himself. Excalibur, fastened at his waist, emitted a subtle glow.

“……”

At the corridor’s end.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, Najin emerged from the passage. What came into view with the pouring sunlight was the Empire’s grand plaza, both a platform and a stage.

The moment he left the corridor, he felt countless gazes upon him.

Though seating was arranged according to social status, the fervor created by the crowd was the same everywhere. All at once, the attention of the masses—stretching seemingly to the horizon—focused on Najin.

Countless gazes, countless eyes, innumerable spectators.

Their cheers filled the grand plaza. Beyond the line guarded by knights, they shouted, grew excited, and roared. Amidst voices loud enough to make the ground shake, Najin observed.

Clink, thud!

The Empire’s knights lined up before Najin and knelt. Resting on one knee, they raised their weapons. This was different from a ceremonial salute.

To draw Excalibur meant inheriting Arthur’s will, and the weight of Arthur’s name to knights needed no explanation. Even knights who had forgotten honor and pride wished to be true knights before Arthur.

Before the heir of the Knight King Arthur, knights willingly bowed their heads. Holding up their most brilliant possessions, they illuminated the path for Najin to walk.

Najin walked through their midst.

His free knight’s cloak fluttered. The pauldron emblematic of the Golden Horn Knights and the banner of Alderan Basaglia tied to it swayed in the wind.

Najin stopped at the center of the grand plaza.

Standing still, looking up at the sky, he saw Arthur’s star. Under Arthur’s star, at what was likely the exact spot where Excalibur had been thrust two years ago, Najin raised Excalibur. The sword, engraved with Najin’s star, shone brilliantly.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Amidst the overwhelming cheers, Najin spoke.

“Merlin.”

Najin called the name of the one who had accompanied him through the corridor earlier but had slipped into his inner world muttering, “No, we need a more dramatic entrance.”

And as if she had been waiting for just this moment.

Flash.

Merlin appeared with starlight. For a moment, the crowd fell silent. Who was this girl who suddenly appeared beside Najin? The silence soon turned to astonishment, and astonishment to cheers.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaah!”

Then came someone’s frivolous scream.

The voice came not from outside the line guarded by knights, but from within. The gazes of the Empire’s high officials, the Emperor, and the Pillars turned toward the source of the sound.

There stood a woman covering her mouth. Rising abruptly from her chair, she stared at Merlin with wide, awestruck eyes.

It was Safria Gachefsga, Master of Platinum Tower.

She wasn’t the only one overcome with emotion. The other tower masters, including Nayuta, Master of Gray Tower, showed similar reactions, if not quite as extreme.

…The Staff of Selection, Merlin.

The first 10-circle grand magician in human history to reach the realm of the Ten Rings. She had defined mysteries that no one else could define and laid the foundation for the magical system used by modern humanity… a figure like a teacher to all magicians.

To magicians, Merlin was more significant than King Arthur was to knights. Her name was embedded in the papers they had read since their apprentice days and in all manner of magical texts.

“Huh…”

While the Empire’s renowned magicians gasped in shock, abandoning dignity and composure, Merlin maintained an expressionless face. Like a great sage detached from worldly matters.

Of course, Najin saw differently.

Noticing Merlin’s trembling lips barely containing her excitement, Najin laughed inwardly.

2.

Despite some magicians fainting at Merlin’s appearance, the ceremony proceeded as planned. With the Empire’s representative knights, magic towers, and Pillars of the Empire watching, the Emperor rose from his seat.

“A thousand years have passed.”

The Emperor began.

“It has been a thousand years since the great King Arthur left our side. A thousand years have passed since the age of chaos ended.”

The Emperor began his speech before the imperial citizens. As he recited the prepared text, Eldwin Pendragon, Emperor of the Empire, thought to himself: I never expected I would be the one to read this.

“Demons were pushed back to the Outer Continent, the Witch of Abyss was sealed, and peace came to the continent. Today, we live peaceful lives under the sun.”

There was a story passed down through generations of imperial emperors.

“But is this peace truly without cost? The land we stand on is stained with the blood of heroes led by King Arthur. The Empire—all human nations—must never forget they were built upon the sacrifices of great heroes.”

Someday, no matter how long it takes, someone will surely draw Excalibur. And when that person appears before the Empire… gladly offer them the seat kept vacant.

“That is the duty of those bearing the Pendragon name, and also our exclusive privilege.”

Recalling his grandfather’s words, Eldwin smiled.

“Today, after a thousand years.”

Eldwin walked toward Najin.

“A new hero has appeared before us. Is he a hero because he drew Excalibur? Well, that’s not the only reason.”

The Emperor smiled.

“This man is a free knight. He was a free knight even before it was known he wielded Excalibur, and his qualification is vouched for by myself and the honorable Knights of Atanga.”

As if responding to those words, the Knights of Atanga stomped their feet. The sound of armor clanking echoed.

“He made lost fallen ones into knights, and on behalf of the Empire, he gave proper funerals to knights the Empire had lost and forgotten.”

A knight for knights, a free knight.

Najin had lived up to that name.

“While evil demons extend their claws over the continent, this man noticed their movements before anyone else and boldly entered the battlefield of transcendents. How noble is this? We know what to call someone who risks their life for the Empire, and more broadly, for humanity.”

Hero—the imperial citizens’ cheers poured forth.

“Indeed! We call such noble beings by none other than the name ‘hero.’ Here stands a hero who fought against demons threatening the Empire and stopped the cursed traitor of Camlann who tried to set foot on human land!”

Amid growing cheers,

The Emperor willingly knelt on one knee before Najin.

“I, Eldwin Pendragon, Emperor of the Empire, behold the heir of a great hero and a great magician.”

There was no hesitation in his movements.

The Emperor, supposedly above all others, knelt before Najin. As the crowd fell silent, the Emperor who had lived looking down on everything looked up at Najin and Merlin and said:

“Blessings upon the birth of a new hero.”

The vast crowd bowed their heads like a wave. When even the Emperor bowed his head, no one could keep theirs raised.

“Glory to the hero who laid the foundation of humanity.”

After finishing those words and rising, the Emperor placed an emblem on Najin. It was similar to the emblems worn by the Pillars of the Empire, yet somehow different.

Though belonging to the five Pillars of the Empire,

No one dared assign him a number.

Arthur was the one who laid the cornerstone of the Empire. To the heir of the hero who existed at the Empire’s beginning point, the Emperor assigned no particular number. Instead, he bestowed a new title based on the name of Najin’s star.

Seal of Dawn.

As cheers erupted, the Emperor stepped back. And as the Emperor retreated, Najin stepped forward.

Najin took a deep breath.

3.

A speech.

Najin had never given a speech before. He wasn’t confident about speaking eloquently in front of others. But he knew how to convey what needed to be said when there was something to say.

Najin thrust down the Cross Star Spear.

With a booming sound,

The Golden Horn Knights’ banner attached to the spear shaft fluttered. With the entire continent watching, Najin opened his mouth.

“Knights.”

The knights’ gazes turned to him.

“Soldiers of the Empire.”

The soldiers’ gazes followed.

“People of the continent.”

Receiving the attention of the entire continent, Najin raised his sword. The raised Excalibur pointed to the sky. Though no stars shone in the sky, Najin knew what star was hidden beyond that veil.

He would not allow a demon to remain hidden.

As the Morning Star shone, a part of the sky collapsed. What took its place was a hideous star, the star of the Empress of Bliss. Pointing his sword at the star of bliss, Najin spoke:

“There is a demon called the Empress of Bliss.”

A demon.

“This abominable demon tramples pride. Defiles honor. She toys with lives and busies herself with mockery. Even the most noble hero’s life becomes nothing but a clown’s act before the Empress of Bliss.”

That is the nature of demons.

“I cannot accept this fact.”

Najin said through gritted teeth.

“Nor can I accept her existence.”

Empress of Bliss—now the continent knew that name too. Because they learned she was behind the war. With all eyes upon him, Najin brought down his raised sword.

Starlight shot high into the sky.

The starlight couldn’t cut through the Empress of Bliss’s star, but it did cut through the ripples created by her star.

“Excalibur is a sword that slays demons.”

Najin reached into his free knight’s cloak. What he pulled out was something he had saved for this day. An object symbolic of the Golden Horn Knights. Holding up the horn, Najin shouted:

I will slay the Empress of Bliss.

No matter what stands in my way.

I will, without fail, slay the Empress of Bliss.

Does one need a reason to slay a demon? As knights shouted, Najin blew the horn. Boooooom—the deep sound echoed throughout the continent.

It was the signal for war.

With the Golden Horn Knights’ banner and the cloak made from the banners of those defiled by the Empress of Bliss fluttering, Najin smiled.

“The Morning Star is a star that illuminates darkness.”

Pointing to his shining star, Najin said:

“I will let demons, and beyond them Camlann, those who claim themselves to be eternal darkness, know.”

Know what?

“That they are not eternal night, but merely the brief darkness that comes after sunset. That they are darkness that will vanish helplessly when the sun rises.”

The Morning Star shone.

“The long night is over.”

The sound of horns echoed across the continent.

“Let them know.”

That dawn has arrived.

That the star they fear has risen.