Ch.76Hawk’s Eye, Kaufman Theosis (1)

Platinum color symbolizes the stars.

The stars that shine brilliantly in the night sky are platinum—a mixture of pure white and gold—and Excalibur, known as the sword of stars, also has a platinum blade. Thus, people often associate platinum with stars.

Platinum symbolizes stars, and it is also sacred.

The constellations in the night sky are all magnificent beings, and the Order that serves the stars considers starlight sacred. Therefore, platinum, which resembles starlight, is regarded as sacred.

Something that resembles stars and is sacred.

Due to these symbolic elements, platinum is used in various places: in the lighthouse of the Sacred Order, in the Platinum Tower at the center of the Empire, in the emblem symbolizing the imperial family, and in countless precious things.

But there are places where it cannot be used.

The flames that burn souls as fuel.

Platinum mana, circles, sword aura…

Many have yearned for platinum, but no magician, no swordsman has ever kindled platinum flames. It was a color permitted to only one person in human history.

The great hero Arthur.

Only that great hero possessed platinum flames. Only Arthur could wield platinum sword aura. This is a widely known story, and with not a single exception in the hundreds of years since Arthur’s death, it has become an established truth.

Surely that must be the case.

Surely it must be so.

Fauve’s eyes trembled wildly.

She saw Najin’s sword aura blazing before her. If her eyes weren’t deceiving her, it clearly contained platinum. Fauve swallowed hard in front of the unmistakably clear platinum sword aura.

‘An illusion. A mirage. A hallucination.’

Numerous possibilities flashed through her mind. But her intuition denied all possibilities.

‘But.’

Fauve gritted her teeth.

Even if that truly is the platinum sword aura, she knows there’s only one thing she can do. At this point, kneeling and bowing her head would only lead to death.

The four circles, the four rings that rose above her back, rotated roughly.

Fauve’s circles, having greedily devoured the mediums prepared in the workshop, were ready to spew forth spells. Feeling her mana surging, Fauve forcibly twisted up the corners of her mouth. In the end, she had only one option.

To kill the opponent before her.

That was the only way for her to survive.

Fauve pointed the tip of her staff toward Najin, who was surrounded by platinum sword aura. It was the most powerful spell she could use, and the power of the spell, enhanced through the mediums filling the workshop… would rival that of a 5th circle.

4th Circle Spell, Hunger of the Dead.

A wave undulated from the tip of her staff. Following the radially spreading wave, the grasping hands of the dead surged forth. These emerging hands scratch, corrupt, crumble everything they touch, and ultimately turn them into the same undead.

The undead, with their rotting, decaying flesh, can never satisfy their hunger, and must simply gasp with eternal starvation.

That intense sentiment, the power of “Hunger of the Dead” using the souls of corpses and living sacrifices as mediums, is by no means light. Without the baptism of the Order, the moment one touches those hands, their skin would rot and decay… and ultimately crumble away as undead.

Crrrrrrrunch!

The hands of the dead approaching, filling his entire field of vision.

Naturally, there was nowhere to escape. Looking at the spell Fauve had manifested, Najin clicked his tongue. Indeed, a 4th circle spell has threatening effects.

-Of course it does. 4th circle spells are siege weapons.

Merlin whispered.

-Normally, you shouldn’t let someone cast such spells.

-In a fight of this level, the moment a 4th circle spell is used, the outcome is practically decided.

Indeed, Merlin was right.

If an ordinary magician had manifested a spell of similar power, one would have to prepare for a fatal wound. Even to Najin, the spell that approached widely, leaving no place to escape, seemed threatening.

So this is what fighting a magician feels like.

With such thoughts, Najin calmly took his stance. Despite seemingly being cornered, his breathing and gaze remained coldly composed.

Well, a 4th circle spell is threatening only when facing “ordinary” spells.

The opponent before him was a black magician, and as is typical of black magicians, Fauve’s spell did not belong to the righteous path and was the kind that defiled principles. If that’s the case, it’s not a problem, Najin judged.

Tap.

Raising his sword high, Najin took a step forward.

Without retreating, Najin charged straight toward the hands of the dead. The moment the outstretched hands were about to touch Najin’s body.

Slash, Najin’s sword cut through the hands of the dead.

Fauve’s eyes widened.

It’s not impossible to cut through a spell. However, this case was different. The hands touched by the platinum sword aura were burning away.

Sssssssss!

It’s burning. The spell is.

The hands of the dead, cut by Najin’s sword, burned away in the starlight. Wherever the platinum sword aura touched, the hands crumbled as if shadows were retreating.

…Platinum color symbolizes stars, and it is also sacred.

The platinum sword aura, possessed only by Arthur in human history, was called by many names such as the Dragon-slaying Sword, the Star Sword, but among demons, it was called this:

The Sword of Judgment.

It burns the impure. It severs.

And thus, it judges the impure and wicked. It burns the skin of demons, prevents regeneration, and denies corrupted mana from its roots.

-It’s a matter of compatibility, after all.

Looking at the scene unfolding before her, Merlin let out a hollow laugh. Even she found it absurd.

That day, when she first saw Najin’s platinum sword aura.

At the time, she was skeptical and uncertain, so Merlin had deferred her judgment, saying she would confirm again when the sword aura’s nature was revealed during the Sword Seeker stage. And now, as Najin approached the realm of Seeker… Merlin had to acknowledge it.

Even though it only contained fragments of the mental image.

Even though it wasn’t yet complete.

Yet it possessed the nature of the star.

The star’s sword aura, feared by demons, hated by witches and dragons, cursed by fallen stars. The sword aura blooming on Najin’s sword is of the same kind as Arthur’s.

‘Is it because he drew Excalibur that he has such sword aura?’

If not that.

‘Is it because the star this child wished for, the star he envisioned, was Arthur’s star that he came to possess such sword aura?’

She couldn’t tell which it was.

She couldn’t tell, but.

Looking at Najin’s desolately shining star, Merlin smiled bitterly. After all, the starlight enveloping Najin’s sword was both similar to and different from Arthur’s.

2.

The spell is being cut. The hands are burning away.

Fauve’s gaze wavered, and the staff she had extended forward was also trembling. Fauve felt terror in this moment.

A 4th circle spell is being slashed to pieces.

The strongest spell she could manifest was being cut away so effortlessly. Each time Najin swung his sword, masses of hands were swept away, and with each step Najin took forward, the distance closed instantly.

‘How…?’

It’s incomprehensible.

It’s impossible by common sense. But the hands burning away into ashes in the starlight were screaming to Fauve that this was reality.

Slash.

What echoed was an eerie cutting sound.

What reverberated in her ears was the sound of things being cut away and burning: sssssss. The starlight approached, burning the undead.

When she came to her senses, all those many hands had been completely cut away. Only depleted mana rose like a mirage from the tip of her outstretched staff.

And then, tap.

A footstep echoed right in front of her. Najin, who had closed the distance by shattering the 4th circle spell head-on, had finally reached right in front of Fauve.

Swish!

Najin swung his sword. The swung sword cut through Fauve’s staff. The sword that surged upward as it cut through the staff fell diagonally. The falling blade gently cut through the veil Fauve had wrapped around herself.

There is no repulsion, no repulsive force.

The sword that penetrated, cutting through the veil, touched Fauve’s neck. The platinum sword aura, shining desolately even in the darkness. That was the last scene Fauve saw.

Slash.

The end of the black magician who dreamed of grand ambitions was miserable. The severed head rolled on the floor. Leaving Fauve’s collapsing body, Najin exhaled deeply. A feeling of exhaustion swept over him as strength drained from his body.

‘It’s still difficult, isn’t it?’

-Because you’re not yet a Sword Seeker.

Merlin said.

-The sword aura hasn’t even transformed into a form suitable for containing mental images, yet you’re recklessly infusing mental images into it, so of course there will be strain.

Ignoring Merlin’s murmurs, Najin lightly dusted off the tip of his sword and sheathed it. Indeed, since he hadn’t yet reached the realm of Seeker, the time he could maintain sword aura containing mental images was short.

‘It seems several times shorter than the white sword aura.’

The sword aura containing the platinum star depleted several times faster than the sword aura containing the pure white star. It’s still a power difficult to handle. With such thoughts, Najin looked around.

“What an unpleasant place.”

Kefalon’s workshop, where he had planned something in this city decades ago. Najin frowned as he took in the scene of the workshop. Even Najin, with his strong stomach, couldn’t suppress the nausea from the “items” placed there.

-Somehow, black magicians haven’t changed what they do even after hundreds of years. It’s still as disgusting as ever.

Merlin also showed a reaction as if she was repulsed.

Najin thought he should go up and report this separately. Having such things remain in the underground of the city wouldn’t be good for anyone.

“Haaah…”

Exhaling deeply, Najin pulled out the bone stake embedded in his body. After spraying a potion for external wounds from his pouch onto the injured area, he poured a potion marked with the Dieta Company’s logo into his mouth.

-Seems like you’ve selected only premium products?

‘Indeed. I think the effect is already kicking in.’

Najin dragged Fauve’s corpse.

He needed to show it to the client. Najin moved toward the passage through which he had entered, dragging the corpse. The passage leading upward. The door was firmly closed, but after bringing Fauve’s face close to it a few times, it opened with a creaking sound.

Tap.

The first thing Najin discovered as he stepped outside the opened door was Kaufman pointing a crossbow at him.

3.

Najin, who had come out of the passage, met Kaufman’s gaze. Kaufman, who had been aiming the crossbow, soon lowered it and approached Najin.

“I expected Fauve to come out, but it’s you.”

“Didn’t I say I would handle it?”

“I naturally thought it was bravado. What kind of madman would charge at a black magician with four circles when his body is full of holes?”

“Here he is.”

Kaufman let out a laugh.

He pointed at Fauve’s corpse that Najin had dragged.

“Looks like you won?”

“That’s how it turned out.”

“Well, well. You’re quite something. How?”

“What’s so special about how a swordsman fights? I charged in and cut.”

“That’s quite straightforward.”

Kaufman exhaled deeply, very deeply.

“Well, thanks to you, the job became easier. With Fauve out of the picture, dealing with the remaining ones was also easier. See over there? The ones with holes in their bodies.”

“I see them clearly.”

“Now we just need to report the job, but…”

Kaufman rubbed the nape of his neck.

As if it was itchy. After trailing off like that, Kaufman looked at Najin.

“Do you remember what I asked you before?”

“What do you mean?”

“The question about whether you’re from the Order’s shadow division.”

“I do remember. Do you need an answer?”

A question that he had said didn’t need an answer at the time.

A question that Kaufman had not listened to the answer for, saying it was just a mutter to himself. Kaufman shook his head.

“No need. Watching you, I don’t think you are.”

“What does that mean?”

“The Order’s shadow division doesn’t fight like you do. Separately from that, you do seem to have some connection with the shadow division… May I ask just one thing?”

Najin nodded, and Kaufman asked his question.

“The underground city of Attman. How is it these days?”

An unexpected question from an unexpected person.

Najin’s thought process momentarily halted. The reason this person was questioning him. The question of what the man before him knew and to what extent. Numerous thoughts flashed through his mind.

At the end, Najin reached one conclusion.

Immediate response.

Najin dropped Fauve’s corpse and drew his sword. However, the time it took to draw his sword… was 1 second slower than Najin’s usual decision-making time. It was because his mind was in confusion.

And 1 second is…

“Somehow, I thought it might be like this.”

Enough time to lose the initiative.

“Damn bastards.”

An arrow pierced Najin’s body.