Ch.53Sword Master, Charon (5)

Don’t move.

As the Star of Sword’s voice echoed in his ear, Najin’s body stiffened before he could even comprehend the meaning. He couldn’t breathe or move his fingers.

Because the master of this domain hadn’t permitted it.

It felt similar to when Merlin had caught him. He could probably move if he clenched his teeth and twisted his body, but Najin didn’t. He just opened his eyes wide, to witness with his own eyes what was about to happen.

Blood vessels appeared in Najin’s eyes.

Blood pooled at the corners of his eyes and trickled down.

Whoosh…

Rain was falling on the field. Each raindrop splashed as it hit the ground. In the stretched moment of time, Najin saw the Star of Sword. The man who had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship was swinging his sword.

No matter how much he strained his eyes.

Even in the stretched timeline.

Najin couldn’t precisely see the Star of Sword swinging his blade. The sword tip that had been pointing skyward was suddenly pointing at the ground. The moment Najin realized this fact.

Pitter, patter.

The falling raindrops split apart. They scattered upon hitting something. Something was approaching, cutting through the rain. Water droplets jumping up. Rain streams splitting. It approached, pushing away the downpour that blurred his vision.

…Though the distance between the Star of Sword and Najin was over dozens of meters, physical distance held no meaning.

Because this was the Star of Sword’s domain.

Because being cut by his swinging sword was inevitable. Therefore, the light that burst from the Star of Sword’s blade rushed toward Najin without hesitation.

A phenomenon that would appear as a single flash to ordinary people. But Najin’s eyes could see it. A massive beam of light descending straight like a guillotine.

Slash.

The cutting sound came a beat later.

With the belated cutting sound, it stopped right in front of Najin’s face. It was a massive blade. Najin belatedly realized that the enormous light reaching toward the sky was the Star of Sword’s sword energy.

The Star of Sword’s sword energy reflected in Najin’s sunset-colored eyes. He witnessed the strike unleashed by one who had reached the pinnacle. Just looking at it made his head throb.

Whoosh!

The sword energy scattered immediately after.

Though the sword energy dispersed, the wind it had dragged along belatedly engulfed Najin. His hair fluttered in the swirling wind. His clothes flapped.

Pitter-patter!

The raindrops split by the sword energy were pushed by the wind and beat against Najin’s body. Between the raindrops hitting his face, Najin exhaled the breath he’d been holding. He closed his eyes and pressed his fingers firmly against his eyelids.

It was only a fleeting moment.

Though just a fleeting moment.

The strike unleashed by the Star of Sword was engraved as a single stroke in Najin’s mind. Even with his eyes closed, the image was vividly drawn. The sword swung by the Star of Sword had established itself in Najin’s mind as a dividing line.

A line separating ordinary people from the superhuman.

A massive wall dividing the world into Sword Masters and those who are not. The strike shown by the Star of Sword was exactly such a dividing line.

“……”

Najin touched the nape of his neck.

The chilling sensation he’d felt when the Star of Sword drew his sword, as if a blade was touching his neck.

‘It wasn’t an illusion.’

Najin realized it wasn’t an illusion.

This entire area is the Star of Sword’s domain.

Realizing this, a laugh escaped him.

Najin slowly opened his eyes and looked at his feet. The ground was deeply cut in a straight line. The single stroke carved into the ground extended all the way to where the Star of Sword stood in the distance. A single sword strike that had split the ground and cut through raindrops in an instant.

Even having seen it, he couldn’t understand it.

Because he couldn’t understand it, it felt alien.

Because it was alien, it was a massive wall.

…Generally, those who face massive walls either give up before them or feel terror and emptiness before a realm that seems unreachable even with a lifetime of dedication. But this applies only to ordinary swordsmen.

Najin was different.

He was an oddity among oddities who provoked Constellations, pulled out Excalibur, and repeatedly gambled with his life.

“Ha…”

That’s why Najin laughed when he faced the wall.

Najin felt his hands trembling. It wasn’t trembling from fear. What Najin felt now was awe and ecstasy. Facing the pinnacle he must someday reach…

‘No, that’s not it.’

Najin gripped his sword tightly.

It wasn’t a place he must someday reach.

It was a realm he must trample and surpass. After all, Najin’s goal was the highest place in that sky.

Reflecting on his goal, Najin raised his head. He lifted his head and met the Star of Sword’s gaze. When their eyes met, the Star of Sword burst into laughter. Because Najin’s eyes didn’t waver in the slightest.

2.

“As promised, I’ll teach you the sword.”

The Star of Sword spoke after their match ended.

“I have many duties so I can’t visit often, but I’ll try to make time at least once a month. You’re worth that much.”

Once a month.

Though the person overseeing his sword training had changed from a mid-ranking priest to the master of the Order, it was a familiar proposal to Najin. Volkman had made the same offer before.

“Needless to say, I don’t plan to make this public. I don’t think you’d want that either… and I have quite a few enemies.”

The Star of Sword smiled bitterly.

“If news spreads that I’ve taken a disciple, the executioner of the Blood Order will surely track you down. Definitely. She’s that kind of person.”

“The executioner of the Blood Order…”

“A Sword Master with six stars like me, Juel Lazian.”

The murderous fiend. A Sword Master known by that name.

Najin also knew some information about Juel Lazian. After all, the backgrounds and brief information about Sword Masters were easy to find.

‘Supposedly became a Sword Master by killing many people…’

An anomalous Sword Master.

Najin had read that the executioner of the Blood Order was an object of contempt and fear rather than respect among swordsmen.

“She wants to cut me down. If she hears I’ve taken a disciple, she’ll certainly take interest. Even if not her, the eyes of the whole world would focus on you…”

The Star of Sword grinned.

“Do you want that? I won’t stop you if you do.”

“I’ll decline.”

Najin politely refused.

The Star of Sword nodded as if he’d expected this.

“As Volkman said, you don’t seem interested in joining the Order of the Sword. Well, I wouldn’t recommend it either.”

“Aren’t you the master of the Order of the Sword?”

“The Order of the Sword is a good place. It’s good, but not good for gaining diverse experiences.”

Charon stated firmly.

“What you need is diverse experience, so the Order doesn’t suit your disposition. I won’t force you either. Rather, I recommend being a wandering swordsman.”

With his arms crossed, Charon looked at the rain-soaked field. His gaze seemed to be looking beyond the field.

“Wandering the world with just one sword. Seeing many things, experiencing many things, interacting with countless people. Through that process, the sword is completed. That’s how it was for me, and for the First Sword Master as well.”

Not being bound by anything.

Following where your steps take you. Najin nodded at Charon’s words. The path Najin wanted to walk was similar to that.

As Najin listened to Charon’s words, he briefly moved his lips.

“Star of Sword.”

There was one thing he was curious about.

Najin looked directly at Charon. The Charon reflected in Najin’s eyes was different from Volkman. He seemed to view training talented swordsmen not as a goal, but as a means to achieve a purpose.

“Why do you want to teach me the sword?”

So Najin asked the question. What do you hope to gain by teaching me the sword? At that question, the Star of Sword smiled bitterly.

“Teaching the sword to someone talented is a virtue of the master of the Order of the Sword… I’d like to answer that way, but that’s not all.”

Charon answered briefly.

“It’s to fulfill the secret wish of the Order of the Sword. That’s all I can say for now. I can’t give you more details, so please understand.”

The secret wish of the Order?

As Najin was expressing doubt at Charon’s words while nodding his head.

-Hmm…

Merlin’s breath sounded in Najin’s ear. A somewhat surprised breath. After exhaling, Merlin continued.

-That’s a bit unexpected. I didn’t think anyone would still remember that…

‘Do you know what the Order’s secret wish is?’

-How could I not know? It’s related to Arthur.

Merlin’s voice sank.

Unlike other times, she spoke without any hint of playfulness or laughter.

-The liberation of the First Sword Master. That’s the secret wish of the Order of the Sword.

‘The First Sword Master was a hero from King Arthur’s time, right? He’s already dead or became a Constellation…’

-He’s not dead. More precisely, he couldn’t die.

With a troubled voice, Merlin sighed and said.

-That guy became the ghost of Camlann.

3.

In the carriage returning to the Order of the Sword.

Mid-ranking priest Volkman glanced at his friend sitting across from him. The Star of Sword, Charon. He was polishing his sword with a more satisfied smile than ever.

“So he impressed you too? That young man.”

“Do you think it’s just me?”

Charon shrugged at Volkman’s question.

“Any Sword Master would have the same reaction. He has that much potential.”

The potential Charon spoke of.

Volkman knew well that it wasn’t limited to just talent. Wasn’t Charon the one who refused to teach countless geniuses, saying they didn’t impress him?

“He wasn’t afraid even after seeing my sword. Not even a hint of hesitation. Did you see the look in his eyes at the end? My goodness. I was dumbfounded…”

Despite muttering this, Charon was smiling.

“He saw me not as a place he must someday reach, but as something to overcome. Can you imagine? A mere Sword Expert thinking such thoughts after seeing a Sword Master’s sword.”

There’s such a thing as an intense gaze.

You can see what’s inside by looking at the eyes.

And, impudently, that young man showed his challenging spirit before the sword Charon had displayed. He saw Charon not as an object of admiration and awe, but as someone to surpass. How absurd could this fellow be?

‘But, precisely because of that…’

He liked him.

He was exactly the type of person Charon had been looking for. Charon had no interest in boring people who admired him and made him their goal.

Someone who would surpass him.

Someone who would reach higher than him.

That was the kind of person Charon had been searching for.

“I don’t intend to teach him anything except the sword. You should cooperate with this.”

“…What does that mean?”

“It means I will never interfere in his life.”

He would only teach the sword.

He had no intention of interfering in the young man’s life. He had no intention of backing him up, nor did he have any intention of rescuing the young man from crises. That would defeat the purpose.

Overcoming crises with his own strength again and again.

Overcoming trials. Breaking through predicaments.

Growing by surviving life-or-death struggles.

He had not the slightest intention of intervening in that process. Just because he liked the young man didn’t mean he would watch his back. What he would teach was only swordsmanship; everything else was for the young man to fill in with his own strength.

If he died in the process.

Then he was just a vessel of that caliber.

…All Sword Masters are twisted in some way. The Star of Sword, Charon, is considered among the most normal of the three Sword Masters, but even he lacks certain human aspects.

“……”

While polishing his sword, Charon recalled his purpose.

The secret wish of the Order of the Sword.

It sounds grand at first glance, but if you summarize the content of that wish in one sentence, it’s incredibly simple.

‘Kill the First Sword Master.’

That was the Order’s secret wish.

To put it more gently, it would be “to give peace to the First Sword Master,” but isn’t that the same thing? Charon pondered the Order’s purpose and thought of the land of the Abyss.

Despite having six stars.

Despite reaching the realm of Sword Master.

The distant land of the Abyss, Camlann, was still vividly drawn in his mind even with his eyes closed.

‘The land of the Abyss, Camlann.’

In that space isolated by Arthur in the distant past, cursed beings live and breathe. They wander the nine heavens, waiting for the day the seal will break. The Dragon that Devours Stars, the Witch of Fallen Things, the Betrayer of the Round Table, the Fallen Stars…

And, the Sword Ghost of the Abyss.

Whenever the barrier of Camlann trembles, a faint swordsman can be seen beyond the boundary. He drags his sword along the ground and slaughters everything that approaches, friend or foe. Because he looks like a ghost with a sword, he is called the Sword Ghost.

But no one knows the true identity of the Sword Ghost of the Abyss. He’s only known as a swordsman who went mad wandering the cursed land.

Only a very few Constellations and the successive Stars of Sword of the Order know the identity of that being. Charon recalled the appearance of the Sword Ghost he had encountered at the boundary of Camlann and looked at his own sword that he was polishing.

…The Sword Ghost of the Abyss is the First Sword Master.

A person worn down by hundreds of years.

A Star of Sword who remained alone in Camlann, isolated from the world, cutting down cursed beings for hundreds of years. A hero of the past wandering the nine heavens, having lost his sanity.

Liberating that once noble being was the secret wish of the Order and…

The reason Charon began to wield the sword.

Charon sighed deeply and pushed his sword back into its scabbard. Could the young man he met today be the one to fulfill his wish? That remained to be seen. Charon could only hope that someday he would be able to tell the young man this truth.

* * *

-The First Sword Master who became the Sword Ghost of the Abyss.

-An enemy you must cut down someday. To be more precise…

Merlin told Najin.

-A being only you can cut down.

Her words were tinged with complexity.

-Because he can only be cut down with Excalibur.