Ch.280Who Am I? (5)

As the entire continent watched, Najin declared war against the Empress of Bliss. Originally this was the Emperor’s role, but the Emperor willingly yielded his place to Najin, judging it to be right.

One who held the Sword of Selection.

One who stands with the Staff of Selection.

Raising Excalibur, Najin made observers recall the great hero Arthur. Whether one lived in Arthur’s era or not was irrelevant in this case. Even if they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they would have heard the stories.

The legend of King Arthur.

There is no one who doesn’t know that tale.

And as the story that had stopped a thousand years ago began to move again, the continent united in excitement. Countless knights roared in cheers. The sound of war horns announcing the beginning of battle echoed everywhere.

Kill the demons. Clear away the darkness. Let the demons know their natural enemy has arrived. The stars are with us!

Knights, mercenaries, soldiers, nobles, commoners… regardless of status or rank, the continent united in a single cry. Death to demons. Only death. The heat they generated warmed the air.

It was a situation that couldn’t help but excite everyone.

The descendant of the hero who adorned the first page of the Empire’s history had appeared. The Great Wizard Merlin, Arthur’s guide and living legend, stood beside him. The stopped second hand began to move again, and the era was about to undergo a dramatic change.

Everyone standing at this historic moment could feel it.

In the increasingly heated atmosphere, Najin looked back. The arena created by the tower wizards was rising into the air. Najin climbed the stairs leading to it. On the opposite side, Juel was climbing the stairs as well.

A duel unfolding before everyone’s eyes.

This was both a promise to Juel and an opportunity to announce to the entire continent. What? Najin asked himself. The answer to that question was simple.

What it meant to have pulled out Excalibur.

And whether he had enough strength to declare war against a demon with eleven stars.

“Juel Lazian.”

The Order’s executioner. The great warrior of the Matyr of Thorns.

Sword Master.

“Najin.”

Seal of Dawn. Free Knight. Owner of Excalibur.

Sword Master.

With the entire continent’s attention focused on them, the two pointed their swords at each other.

2.

The duel began.

As the rare scene of two transcendents clashing was broadcast through the wizards’ magic, the audience watched the duel with bated breath.

While battles between transcendents might not be so rare in the Outer Continent, things were different on the continent. Clashes between transcendents were extremely rare, almost nonexistent.

And, KAAAAANG!

The thunderous sound from the arena shook the plaza.

No matter how much they controlled their power, avoided fatal blows, and held back, this was still a duel between transcendents. Each time their swords clashed, a thunderous sound echoed, and winds swirled.

CHWAAAAK.

After exchanging light attacks, Juel was pushed back and felt her lips trembling. She covered her mouth with her palm, but couldn’t hide the excitement evident in her eyes.

Indeed. You’ve become a transcendent.

Juel trembled at the vibration that traveled through her hand when their swords met. Different. It was different. The Najin before her now was completely different from the Najin she knew a month ago.

She had first met Najin just about two years ago.

When she said “I’d like to duel with you someday” back then, Juel had expected it would take at least 10 years. Even that was an extremely generous estimate. She had been prepared to wait 20 or 30 years.

But now, before her eyes…

“……”

There stood a young man who had reached transcendence in just two years. Not ten years, but a once-in-a-generation genius who had become a Sword Master in just two years. Juel’s lips twitched.

“Ah, ha.”

Finally unable to hold back, Juel burst into laughter.

A young man standing in the same place as her.

Juel felt no shame or jealousy at being caught up to. Rather, she was delighted that a worthy opponent had appeared. She couldn’t contain her excitement that the moment she had longed for had arrived.

I want to see.

How far he could go. How far he could chase her. How far he could push her.

‘Even if I break my promise, just a little more…’

She wanted to see. As Juel was about to draw out more sword energy than they had agreed upon, she suddenly looked at her hand. The hand gripping the sword handle, the hand about to exert more force… was being held by her other hand. As if telling her not to go further.

Wouldn’t that inflict a fatal wound on her opponent?

Wouldn’t that inevitably draw blood?

Juel’s eyes narrowed at the thoughts circling in her mind. Isn’t that exactly what she wanted? A bloody battle. A thrilling duel where life and death hang in the balance.

Feeling confused, Juel swung her sword.

She clashed swords with Najin.

‘Ah, certainly.’

She thought. Certainly, if she exerted more force here and a bloody duel ensued, she couldn’t escape responsibility. It was something not discussed beforehand.

KANG!

The Emperor, the Pillars of the Empire, and even the Order would hold her accountable. If that happened, the privileges granted to her would likely be reduced.

KAAAAANG!

Certainly, wouldn’t that be a loss? As Juel was about to reach that conclusion, she frowned. No. Isn’t this a risk worth taking for immediate pleasure? Wouldn’t dueling with the person before her in a bloody battle be more enjoyable than slaughtering hundreds of nobodies?

Contradiction. Juel’s eyes narrowed as she felt a contradiction in her usually consistent judgment.

‘Why?’

This astonishingly rational killer quickly deduced the answer. She doesn’t make excuses to herself. She has always lived straightforwardly. And so she realizes the emotion she’s feeling now.

Juel Lazian cannot put this emotion into words.

Lacking most emotions, she doesn’t know exactly what this feeling is… but what she feels now is an emotion a child might feel.

A child who has gotten their first precious toy.

Juel didn’t understand that she was doing what a child might do—carefully handling a precious toy to play with it for as long as possible. She was feeling not only pleasure in this situation but also anxiety.

What if I break it? What if I break it by playing too roughly…

Juel bit her lip at this unfamiliar anxiety. Despite the opportunity for the bloody duel she so loved, Juel instead released the strength from her hands. Pushed far back, Juel wore a complicated expression.

As she frowned while looking at the sword in her hand…

“……”

Najin pointed his sword at Juel.

Then, flash.

He raised the output of his sword energy. It was one level higher than what they had agreed upon. An output that might draw blood and cause some injury. Juel’s eyes widened as she looked at Najin’s sword energy.

“……”

Najin silently flicked his sword tip. Though he didn’t speak, Juel could understand what he was saying.

‘You don’t seem very satisfied with this.’

Najin smiled.

‘How about it? Shall I raise it a bit?’

No need to worry. I won’t break from just that much. Seeing Najin act as if he had read her thoughts, Juel laughed. She burst into laughter.

“Very well.”

With a pure smile that didn’t suit her at all, Juel raised her sword energy. The anxiety was long gone. Juel rushed toward Najin.

Sword meets sword.

Techniques are exchanged.

And a few drops of blood splatter.

It was an attack that might have been fatal to the old Najin, but now it only caused a few drops of blood to splash. And Najin wasn’t the only one bleeding. Blood beaded on Juel’s forearm where the sword tip had grazed her.

Amid the rising droplets of blood, her blood-red eyes sparkled. They seemed to sparkle in the starlight of Excalibur, or perhaps they were glistening with excitement.

Perhaps both.

Juel was feeling joy in this moment. Despite not using fatal techniques, despite not using the skills she had honed solely to kill opponents, despite engaging in a duel that her usual self would have found distasteful.

It was fun. Juel Lazian laughed because it was fun.

The sounds created by the two transcendents echoed throughout the plaza. The sound of swords clashing, slight laughter, the sound of feet striking the ground, and the sound of sword energy friction swirled around.

Numerous spectators watched the duel with bated breath.

And then, the duel suddenly ended. Their crossed strikes simultaneously stopped just in front of each other’s shoulders. In a situation where one more inch would have inflicted a fatal wound, the two stopped as if by agreement.

At close range, close enough to feel each other’s breath, Juel and Najin looked at each other.

This far?

Yes, this far.

Having finished their conversation with their eyes, they simultaneously lowered their swords and stepped back.

Then they performed a sword salute.

The audience who had been holding their breath erupted in cheers. With echoing cheers, the duel came to an end.

3.

“The Sacred Host pledges unlimited cooperation in the war against the Empress of Bliss. The extermination of demons is the Sacred Host’s deepest wish.”

After the duel, Juel spoke with Najin as a representative of the Sacred Host.

“But there is one condition needed for this.”

“A condition, you say?”

“Yes. Even without the Sacred Host, this point must be clarified before a large-scale war breaks out.”

One condition. Juel explained that there was something that needed to be done before the upcoming large-scale war, even to ensure victory in that war.

“The moment you head to the Outer Continent, numerous transcendents will welcome you. And the Empire must have considered this as well. The moment our forces cross the boundary to the Outer Continent, a great war will unfold.”

A war led by transcendents.

What Merlin had once spoken of—”what will happen when Excalibur is drawn”—will become reality. Of course, Najin, having reached transcendence, could withstand that flow without being swept away, but that was limited to Najin alone.

A battlefield where numerous transcendents will descend.

In that chaos, there was no guarantee that all allies would remain safe.

“The day you revealed Excalibur, the Empress of Bliss approached numerous constellations. They were constellations that would tremble at anything related to King Arthur. Even if they don’t agree with the Empress of Bliss’s ideology, they would gladly cooperate with her if it meant killing you.”

Najin nodded. It was true.

If half the world were Arthur’s allies,

The other half were enemies who despised Arthur.

“And.”

Juel opened her mouth.

“That one will definitely appear in that battle.”

That one? To Najin who tilted his head, Juel explained. It’s probably a constellation familiar to you as well, she said.

“The Heavenly Meteor.”

The Heavenly Meteor, Icarus.

“The master of the star-swallowing whales is naturally drawn to the brightest star. The Empress of Bliss has a method to guide Icarus to a specific location. She will certainly position Icarus near the battlefield.”

Star-swallowing whales numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

A constellation optimized for chaotic battles, with an overwhelming advantage in large-scale wars.

“If we don’t eliminate the Heavenly Meteor, the war cannot proceed.”

Otherwise, most of our forces would be torn apart before the war even begins.

‘Eliminating the Heavenly Meteor…’

Najin rubbed his chin. As far as Najin remembered, the Heavenly Meteor was a transcendent who had lived for at least 900 years. Though close to a Forgotten Star, his strength remained formidable.

How to deal with tens of thousands of whales.

As Najin pondered this, someone poked his side repeatedly. Turning his head, he saw Merlin who had materialized. Since gaining the ability to materialize using Excalibur’s starlight, Merlin had been moving between Najin’s mental landscape and reality as if entering his own home.

“What is it, Merlin?”

While Najin responded calmly, others couldn’t. The Sacred Host officials and imperial officials gathered here widened their eyes. They bowed their heads before Merlin who had suddenly appeared.

We are honored to meet the Great Sage Merlin, the guide of the great king, the great wizard of the lake…

Merlin’s lips twitched as he heard their exclamations, but Najin pretended not to notice. However, it was difficult to ignore Merlin’s next words.

“Who else would I be? As those children say, I’m the great sage who penetrates the truth, aren’t I?”

Merlin placed his hand on his chest with an “ahem” and smiled confidently. And Najin thought to himself: That makes 161 times.

“I know plenty of ways to eliminate the Heavenly Meteor.”

Najin quietly adjusted upward the frequency and count of Merlin’s “Who am I?” exclamations.