Ch.62Chapter 62: Subjugation Festival (6)

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*Gulp*

I swallowed dry saliva again.

I had swallowed dry saliva earlier too, but the circumstances were different now.

The difference is that earlier, I had unconsciously swallowed out of tension while watching the undead army approaching the fortress in overwhelming numbers that defied common sense.

But now, I swallowed out of awe as I witnessed Lord Nighthart overturn that common-sense-defying army with even more overwhelming martial prowess.

He’s strong.

Indeed, Lord Nighthart’s skills were extraordinary.

When I met him in the previous timeline, he was strong then too, but I didn’t quite understand when he said he had weakened somewhat after passing his prime.

Now, seeing him annihilate the undead army with just two sword strikes, I finally understand.

Lord Nighthart in his prime was indeed one of the most formidable among the strong ones I remember.

I had somewhat understood this intellectually.

Recalling the martial prowess he had displayed even past his prime, I tried to imagine how magnificent and powerful he must have been in his heyday.

I suspected he wouldn’t be inferior in the slightest compared to formidable warriors like Sister Shizu, who had crossed swords with me when I had become a monster, as they protected the world.

But seeing with my own eyes what I had only intellectually grasped, I think I need to reassess my evaluation.

In some ways, the current Lord Nighthart seems even stronger than Shizu in her prime.

Especially on battlefields like this that require large-scale deployments.

The swordsmanship Lord Nighthart displayed as he swept away the countless undead army was perfectly suited to what I remembered him saying.

“…A sword that protects as many people as the enemies it cuts down.”

As I recalled his words from the previous timeline,

I shifted my gaze from Lord Nighthart to the soldiers and knights watching him from the fortress.

The weathered veterans watched the spectacle with relative composure, having seen Lord Nighthart display such feats before.

-….

-….

But the newer soldiers and knights, whose experience paled in comparison to those of us participating in the subjugation, looked at Lord Nighthart with brief shock followed by profound respect in their eyes.

If I were seeing Lord Nighthart’s skills for the first time, I would have reacted no differently from them.

I turned my gaze again, this time toward the great plain where Lord Nighthart had demonstrated his overwhelming martial prowess.

Originally, it was a white landscape formed by barren wasteland where not a single blade of grass grew, combined with the harsh cold climate.

That land had been so covered by the black undead army that its original color couldn’t even be seen.

But after Lord Nighthart’s show of strength, most of the army that had covered the land was cut down, revealing the land’s form once again.

“…”

I’m speechless.

My mouth remained closed in silence, unable to find words to describe the sight of him single-handedly clearing away such a massive army with seemingly little effort.

Though my mouth was silent, my mind was racing.

I recalled Lord Nighthart’s martial prowess as he eliminated the undead that had been rushing toward the fortress with enough force to trample it and wipe it off the map.

It took only two swings of his beloved sword, which he summoned from his chest after suddenly jumping down from the fortress wall, for Lord Nighthart to deal with the approaching undead army.

“Odessa, was it?”

It was his beloved weapon that I had seen once in the previous timeline.

A massive sword befitting his build.

Its size was impressive, but what was more striking was how Lord Nighthart wielded such a large sword with just his right hand, as if swinging a reed.

Of course, this wasn’t a weapon to be taken lightly, though Lord Nighthart’s physical abilities were particularly remarkable.

For some who have awakened their talents and special abilities,

There are times when they receive either weapons used by the great heroes who made their names during the Great Holy War a thousand years ago,

Or divine artifacts blessed by godlike beings who watch over humans from on high.

The Odessa that Lord Nighthart now possessed was a sword placed in his hands through such a process.

To celebrate the birth of a hero who would be a pillar supporting humanity,

It was a weapon personally crafted and bestowed by the blacksmith god of the Great Temple, Pantheon—a story that sounds like a lie but contains nothing but unvarnished truth, passed down through bards.

‘I heard he named it himself, though.’

When he first received the sword from the divine being, it had no name.

Only after some time passed did he give it the name Odessa.

The hero who had called his sword “Nameless” while using it to subjugate the monsters disturbing the north—why did he eventually name the sword?

I had heard about it once in the previous timeline, so I remembered.

If my memory hasn’t been blurred by two deaths and returns, the origin of the name Odessa was…

‘He named it after his deceased wife.’

From what I heard, he named it with the purpose of always remembering the promise he made before her death—to protect everything on this land that his wife had loved, with every swing of his sword.

…Thinking about it makes me feel melancholic.

I recalled Lord Nighthart’s desolate expression, disguised as composure, when he named his weapon after a wife he would never see again.

I can’t even begin to imagine how he felt when he spoke those words.

Let me try to imagine.

If Shizu were to leave my side forever, and I had to name this jet-black bastard sword at my waist after her…

…Would I be able to remain sane?

Would I be able to keep my resolve to wield my sword for a better future, which I made after various trials following my return?

I haven’t experienced it.

I don’t want to experience it.

Even encountering it in a dream would make me shudder with sadness and fear.

“…”

Just imagining it made my chest fill with boundless heat, so…

“Hoo…”

I cooled my heated chest with a single sigh.

“I must ensure that never happens.”

Even if my body is broken and shattered repeatedly until I’m reduced to dust.

[While I find your attempt to change my name presumptuous, I’ll overlook it because your determination is admirable.]

After maintaining silence for a while, hearing Fafnir’s snarky voice made me feel the heat in my chest subside slightly.

[But whenever you try to recall something, there’s noise that I can’t quite hear. What exactly are you thinking about?]

‘That’s something I cannot tell you.’

Fortunately, it seemed that Fafnir couldn’t properly read memories related to my life before my return.

“Hoo…”

I sighed with more lightness than before, relieved that my secret hadn’t leaked out.

It seems I’ve wasted time imagining things that won’t happen.

“Now’s not the time to think about that.”

I lightly shook my head and calmly organized in my mind Lord Nighthart’s martial feat of slicing through the undead army.

Lord Nighthart needed only two movements after summoning Odessa to shatter the undead army.

First, he slashed horizontally from left to right while holding the sword level.

Second, he brought the sword down from above.

With the first movement, the ultra-high-speed air pressure and formless sword energy generated by Lord Nighthart and his sword tore the undead to shreds.

When the second movement occurred, a storm of fighting spirit raged so fiercely that the volcanic ash covering the sky above the fortress disappeared without a trace.

The undead, as well as the Behemoth looming behind them, were engulfed in the storm of fighting spirit and light, perishing.

The undead vanished without a trace, as if returning to the soil from which they had been unearthed.

The Behemoth, not being undead, collapsed and died on the spot.

All that remained were the undead stragglers, so few compared to before that it would be embarrassing to even call them a handful, and

The warm sunlight shining down from the blue sky that had regained its clarity, momentarily making one forget the season.

This is the Heaven-Opening Sword.

It’s Lord Nighthart’s secret technique imbued with his lifelong martial arts, a name as grand as “the sword that opens the heavens” that is not at all exaggerated.

‘I saw it well.’

I had seen Lord Nighthart use this technique in the previous timeline too.

It was powerful then as well.

Though it wasn’t as powerful as in his prime, as he would often murmur about back then when old age had caught up with him.

But even that was enough to be a ray of light that saved us from a desperate situation.

And now? How is it now?

It’s not just a ray, but a radiance wrapped in light bright enough to completely dye darkness with light.

It was so impressive that only admiration and respect could be expressed.

‘That’s the kind of sword I aspire to wield.’

A deadly sword that cuts down evil blocking the path ahead and protects people with straightforward will embodied in simple movements, rather than complex techniques.

-Think simply. As long as you remember that the more you cut down, the more lives you can protect in equal measure, you’ll never get lost while mastering the sword.

“…You stubbornly adhere to your own words.”

Watching Lord Nighthart’s back as he took the initiative to come forward and protect the people in the fortress, I couldn’t help but naturally feel the firmness and steadfastness of the knight who had been called a hero while protecting the northern part of the empire for many years.

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As the situation was resolved more quickly than expected,

The soldiers and knights who had been tense when facing the large army seemed to have calmed down a bit.

-Shouldn’t we go out and deal with the remaining stragglers now?

-Our job is to hold our positions and not act rashly until we receive orders from the vice-captain.

-Yaaawn… The tension suddenly releasing makes me want to yawn.

Their voices were starting to show signs of banter.

Still, they were aware they were stationed at the most dangerous place in the empire, so they strictly maintained their positions and kept their vigilant gaze—proof that they were weathered veterans.

The soldiers watching the situation from the fortress were calmly gauging when they might be deployed, preparing themselves physically and mentally.

And I was watching the handful of remaining undead retreat under someone’s command.

The corpses, like puppets without will, retreated back the way they came without showing any fear despite witnessing Lord Nighthart’s martial prowess.

Seeing such a lack of emotional flow can be disheartening for some people.

“They came rushing in, and even when their comrades turned to ash, they just rush back like puppets dancing in a jester’s hands.”

Excel, who had somehow appeared beside me, was just such a case.

Having hurried from the barracks to the wall and missing most of Lord Nighthart’s overwhelming display, his expression showed deep regret.

“Hey, how was Lord Nighthart’s swordsmanship?”

As he tried to gauge Lord Nighthart’s prowess by asking me, who had watched it properly,

“It’s hard to put into words, but I think they’ll be back in a few days, so you should come early enough to see it then.”

I could only offer some consolation for his regret.

“Argh… I was hoping to show off my skills against the monsters that came to trample this place on the first day…”

Excel continued to wear an expression of unshakable regret as he said this.

The fortress soldiers and knights who heard him were clearly trying to hold back faint smirks, but I didn’t bother to correct their misunderstanding.

‘They’ll find out soon enough anyway.’

I don’t know how things will turn out for me, Dan, and Rufus.

But Excel, who’s grumbling now, and Shizu, who’s calmly observing outside the fortress not far away, will certainly distinguish themselves in the coming days.

There’s no need to try to dispel their misunderstandings right now.

Time will tell, that’s all.

As I was trying to calm my inexplicably excited feelings while thinking about what would happen in the future,

“…Hmm?”

I noticed Lord Nighthart suddenly raising Odessa, which had been resting on his shoulder, again.

He wasn’t just raising it.

He was raising it while condensing his fighting spirit into Odessa—a bluish energy that seemed suffocating just to look at.

“What’s going on?”

Is he trying to deliver a final blow to the undead army that had lost the will to fight and was retreating?

But the quantity and quality of fighting spirit is even more overwhelming than when he used the Heaven-Opening Sword earlier?

What on earth is happening?

Before I could gather my momentary confusion,

“Where do you think you’re escaping to!”

*Woong*

With a roar, Lord Nighthart swung Odessa, and all the stationed troops who had been bantering inside the fortress fell silent.

This was because the compressed fighting spirit in Odessa flew toward the far distance, beyond what normal eyesight could reach, with a bluish glow.

“…That’s deadly.”

Whoever it was aimed at, even if they were one of the Blood Five Stars favored by the Demon God, they would surely die the moment that mass of fighting spirit touched them.

*KWAAAANG-!!*

A terrifying sound of destruction that sent chills down my spine echoed.

It was easy to tell that the mass of fighting spirit had caused tremendous destruction, but…

“Tsk.”

The very person who had caused that destruction clicked his tongue lightly and…

“Missed.”

Said this brief word while shaking his head.

Curious, I focused my gaze in the direction where he had sent his sword energy, and…

“…!!”

I could understand why Lord Nighthart had become serious and launched his fighting spirit.

If no one else, at least I should have known.

Though faint, the momentary pulse of magical power I felt was identical to someone I knew all too well.

“…Sanguin?”

I muttered in a voice too small for anyone to hear.

In the previous timeline.

A great necromancer who could create and destroy undead at will with a mere gesture, and

One who prided himself as the head of the vampire clan, claiming to be noble by birth, a grand aristocrat of evil, and

At the same time, Feil Sanguin—a great demon who had turned his back on the Blood Five Stars, yet had respectfully served me as the unwilling favorite and agent of the Demon God, not refusing to be my subordinate.

Around this time in the previous timeline, my spiritual sense had detected the distinctive magical power wavelength emanating from around him, who should have still been sleeping in his coffin.

*Gulp*

I swallowed dry saliva again.

It was the tension I felt upon confirming an unexpected situation that I had worried about but failed to predict that made me swallow.

It seemed that efforts beyond future knowledge would be needed for a smooth subjugation festival, I began to think.