Chapter 30: The Angel Who Drew the Holy Sword (7)

Episode 30: The Angel Who Drew the Holy Sword (7)

Have you ever heard of the Christmas Truce? It was a small event that took place on Christmas Eve during World War I.

The war was raging.

Soldiers who had been trying to kill each other just moments ago, filled with hatred, men enduring cold and pain as they held the front lines.

It was just another day. The only difference was that it was Christmas Eve.

And then carols were heard from somewhere.

Carols praising heaven and its angels.

Carols rejoicing in the coming of the Savior.

Those who heard the carols couldn’t fight any longer. And so a miracle happened.

People stopped fighting.

Similarly…

The angel’s plea held a similar power.

Even Lusa, the Martial God consumed by bloodlust, and Park Jin-ho, the Sword Saint who was ruthlessly pushing Jeokwol… his voice had the power to make them turn around.

The power to calm people down.

“Hah, hah… please stop. I beg you…”

Leffrey gasped for breath, muttering the words “stop”.

[Stopping a tragic battle is a truly angelic act!]

[You have gained Angelic Power.]

‘Good, I’ll need a lot of Angelic Power to draw the holy sword.’

The boy smiled brightly, relieved that the fighting had stopped. Seeing this, Park Jin-ho said in a cold tone,

“Leffrey, do you have any idea what you’re doing right now?”

“Yes, I know. I’m stopping the massacre of an entire tribe.”

“No! You’re acting as if you’re defending the demon king’s minions! Step aside, there will be disciplinary action for this later!”

Leffrey looked at Park Jin-ho.

His expression was as cold as his nickname, Iron Blood, suggested, but if you looked closely, there were cracks in his facade.

“Professor, the Mooncats are a group who fled to this world to escape the demon king. Moreover, they were cursed by the demon king as revenge. Would such people become the demon king’s subordinates?”

“To survive, humans would bow their heads even to their child’s murderer. You still know too little about this world.”

Park Jin-ho’s pressure was undeniable.

Even Jeokwol, the leader of the Mooncat Tribe who had been fighting Park Jin-ho moments ago, couldn’t help but flinch and step back.

But Leffrey didn’t back down.

[Angels become stronger when they do the right thing!]

And saving a tribe from massacre, saving the hundreds of thousands of people living in the Old Citadel, was truly the right thing to do.

[Angels transcend their limits when they do truly righteous things!]

Leffrey felt himself becoming stronger than ever before.

Therefore, he wasn’t pushed back by Park Jin-ho’s pressure.

‘Sacrifice…’

His mother hiding him under the sofa. And his mother who hadn’t revealed his location to those thugs until the very end.

Leffrey held back the tears welling up.

“Humans will throw away even their own lives without hesitation for their children. You still know too little about this world, Professor.”

Park Jin-ho looked around. Even Jeokwol, the renowned leader of the Mooncat Tribe, and Lusa, the famous Martial God, had stepped back, overwhelmed by his aura.

But what was this boy, who not only wasn’t intimidated by his aura but was walking towards him step by step?

‘A boy like this… no, a hero like this is worthy of facing me.’

Park Jin-ho acknowledged Leffrey.

“The Mooncats are thieves and assassins. Their roots are corrupted.”

“But you have to give them a chance.”

“Why?”

Leffrey put on a desperate expression. That desperation… it was as if an angel was pleading with him.

“Why do you fight the demon king, Professor? Isn’t it to be saved from destruction?”

“That’s right.”

“Then you have to give the Mooncats a chance for salvation. Because that’s why we fight. Warriors, and even ordinary people, fight to give themselves a chance for salvation, isn’t that right?”

Park Jin-ho’s voice grew rough.

“We know! That the Mooncats need a chance! That they walked the path of darkness because they were ostracized in both the other world and the human world! But it’s too late!”

“Why? If we can just break the demon king’s curse, the Mooncats will become a great help to humanity.”

“I know. But there’s no way anymore. You know this too…”

Park Jin-ho shouted in a firm voice,

“Only the True Holy Sword, Durendal, can break the demon king’s curse. And the hero who can draw Durendal hasn’t been found yet.”

“I see.”

Leffrey gathered his Angelic Power.

And walked towards the center of the sanctuary.

“Then there’s no other way.”

Seeing Leffrey walk forward, Park Jin-ho shouted,

“Believe this professor’s words! It’s too late for them! They are already walking the path of darkness! What do they have to fear by walking an even darker path?! Leffrey! My words are true, so don’t…”

“It’s not too late.”

Everyone in the room looked at the boy.

And at that moment, they realized what the boy was trying to do.

“That boy, he’s trying to draw the holy sword.”

“No, even after seeing our fallen brethren… he’s trying to draw the holy sword?”

Leffrey approached the holy sword.

‘This is the holy sword the hero used, the True Holy Sword, Durendal.’

The holy sword had an ordinary appearance. No dazzling effects or fancy patterns on the blade, and no elegant cross guard or anything.

Except for the rusty pommel and grip, it was no different from an arming sword. (TL Note: An arming sword is the most common type of medieval swords.)

It was also a bit short.

‘A sword forged from the material ‘Midinium,’ which increases in hardness and strength over time… judging by its hardness and strength, it’s estimated to have been made right after the creation of the world.’ (TL Note: Fun fact, Durendal’s name means “Enduring” in French)

Made right after the creation of the world.

It was practically a sword made by God.

The holy sword of holy swords.

And the divine punishment that a non-hero would receive if they tried to wield it was said to be incomparably more powerful…

It was truly a sword that could only be wielded by a hero. But no hero had appeared until the world was on the brink of destruction.

He couldn’t wait any longer.

‘And I’m an angel. I didn’t have any problems when I touched the pseudo-holy sword before… so I should be able to endure this time too.’

What Leffrey was relying on now was his angelic racial trait (resistance to holy swords) + the angel buff from his angelic act of saving an entire tribe + and the Angelic Power he had accumulated so far.

The holy trinity.

This was the best Leffrey could do.

Honestly, he was a bit scared…

‘Anyway, I’m confident I can survive with my angelic racial trait. If I just burn for a little while, I can bring in a new mineral… I mean, make Hongwol as a hero candidate this time. And the Mooncats’ favor, the Angelic Power I’ll gain this time…’

He muttered to himself.

‘…it’s a good deal overall!’

Considering the worldly gains as well.

“It’s not too late.”

Leffrey grabbed the holy sword.

*

*

*

*

People didn’t witness a miracle. They just saw a boy trying to create one.

Everyone knew this, but Leffrey wasn’t the chosen hero.

The moment he touched the sword, he was engulfed in divine punishment and gradually turned white. The divine punishment had already enveloped his entire body, making survival impossible.

Unless an angel descended and performed a miracle.

Hongwol collapsed and shed tears.

And she muttered,

“Fool… fool…”

Next to her, Park Jin-ho had a look of despair on his face. Lusa took out a cigarette with a bitter expression.

“Why… this sacrifice…”

“D**n it…”

And Soya was crouched down with the brim of her hat completely pulled down, making sounds like “Sob… sniffle… ugh.”

But the boy didn’t let go of the sword.

Even though he wasn’t the chosen hero, even though he wasn’t the one sent by heaven to oppose the demon king, and yet he would keep moving forward…

It was a coincidence.

The flames of divine punishment were stronger than any other fire.

Such fire would eventually melt even the stone that sealed the holy sword. And a melted stone naturally couldn’t seal the sword anymore.

Thus, even though Leffrey wasn’t a hero, he was able to draw the sealed holy sword.

“Leffrey…?”

People didn’t witness a miracle.

They just saw a boy creating a miracle.

Park Jin-ho, immersed in the sight, could only utter these words,

“Could it be…”

The boy walked. He was an angel, the race with the strongest resistance to divine punishment, and the race inherently capable of wielding a holy sword.

Moreover, since angels become stronger when they do the right thing, using the various Angelic Abilities fueled by the Angelic Power he had accumulated from his good deeds…

The boy was able to endure.

Park Jin-ho muttered,

“Was I wrong…”

The boy silently looked at the curse on Jeokwol’s wrist. Swish- the curse that had driven an entire tribe to the brink of destruction was lifted.

“Being wrong…”

And the boy collapsed.

“Being wrong is a good thing…”

The man known as Iron Blood, the man said to have never cried since becoming an adult, Park Jin-ho, was crying now.

No, not just Jeokwol and Hongwol, but most of the people present were now crying.

“Park Jin-ho, what are you doing! Quickly, call the healers!”

“I-I’ll go!”

“Quickly, call the best healers of the Old Citadel!”

The professors, the Mooncats, everyone rushed towards the boy. And they shouted urgently,

“Save this boy! By any means necessary!”

*

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*

Late at night.

Blood vessels were etched into the dark sky.

The flow of powerful energy, like blood vessels, beautifully connected the constellations.

A terrifying yet awe-inspiring sight. The true grandeur of nature.

The blood vessels continued to spread.

A light greater than any constellation.

People were speechless at the sight.

Some of the otherworldly people chanted the names of ancient gods who had already vanished.

It was the light of Leffrey’s Angelic Power combined with the power of the holy sword spreading out.

It could be called the echo of a miracle.

Seeing that light, one person muttered,

“Finally! Finally…”

Hexi, the chief archer, the archery professor, and the lowest-ranking member of the Central Academy’s faculty.

She disregarded Park Jin-ho’s order to stay put and ran towards the main building as if possessed.

“That light…!”

The pure white light emanating from the main building.

Hexi knew that light.

How did she know?

Because Hexi was the hero’s companion. Of course, she had never seen the hero, but… wait, how could she be called the hero’s companion if she had never seen him?

It was because of a sad tradition of the other world.

The people of the other world selected the most outstanding individuals among them as the hero’s party to prepare for the hero who would appear someday.

Could ordinary humans be fit to be with the hero? Even if they weren’t directly chosen by heaven like the hero, they had to do something similar, right?

The method people came up with was simple. It was to resurrect the corpse of a dead angel through necromancy and use that angel to select chosen children as heroes.

However, this was something that shouldn’t have been done. Just as Soya and Hongwol needed Leffrey as their guardian angel, those who would become heroes always needed a guardian angel.

Guardian angels were,

the most important existence for a hero…

“My Angel.”

There was a girl named Hexi.

The daughter of a duke and the most outstanding girl in the capital.

On the day she survived that brutal selection process and was finally appointed as the hero’s companion, she was taken down to a dark basement beneath the cathedral and received an unforgettable embrace.

Divine power filling her body.

The feeling of being chosen.

And her precious guardian angel, whom she would never forget.

It was withered.

“Angel…”

Emotions that would never be fulfilled shattered young Hexi’s heart.

Hexi cried, unable to even scream in her sorrow, and her new brothers and sisters shed tears along with her.

The four members of the hero’s party, currently considered to be the strongest even among professors.

And Hexi being one of them, muttered,

“Angel…!”

***