episode_0043

Whenever he taught me swordsmanship, the Duke always emphasized the sword path to me.

‘What is a sword path?’

A sword path is the essence of swordsmanship.

If aura and swordsmanship are the two elements that determine a knight’s strength, then a sword path is nothing short of a pillar that determines the completeness of swordsmanship.

With those words, the Duke showed me what a sword path was.

‘Wow…’

Purely, upon seeing the Duke’s sword then, I could only utter admiration.

It was beautiful.

It was astonishing.

He didn’t display any remarkable technique.

He merely swung his sword from top to bottom.

However, not a single superfluous movement was found in that one swing.

Stride.

Breath, tremor.

And the concentration that controlled all of it.

All these elements combined to create a simple yet perfect vertical slash.

I was captivated the moment I saw that sword.

No, I couldn’t help but be captivated.

Because it wasn’t a grand and flashy technique imbued with aura, but a trajectory that I, too, could create.

Although the difference in skill was extreme, and it would be a long time before I, with my underdeveloped fundamentals, could create such a sword path.

Someday, I wanted to create that sword path just like the Duke did.

‘You’ll be able to do it someday.’

As I gazed at him with eyes full of longing, he said so.

That I too would be able to create a sword path someday.

‘Sword path.’

The flow of a sword that can only be created with understanding of the sword and immense effort, regardless of one’s skill level.

Clang—

Countless sword paths crossed.

The swords of the two knights, who used Oleg’s sword, diverged over time, each creating their own unique sword paths.

Clash—

The founder who created Oleg’s sword demonstrated a more complete sword path than before.

Clatter—

And the swordsmanship genius who learned Oleg’s sword had changed Oleg’s sword in his own way.

‘It’s not a guarding sword.’

Indeed.

Oleg’s sword was originally a guarding sword.

Slash— Rip!

The sword the young man now wielded was a sword meant for killing.

He learned a sword for guarding, but he wields a sword for killing.

Although the origin of both swords was one, the trajectories drawn by the two sword paths were vastly different.

‘Did you change swordsmanship to your liking?’

Of course, it wasn’t spoken aloud.

He merely exchanged blows and conveyed that meaning to his beloved disciple with his gaze.

‘Yes.’

But the meaning was conveyed between them.

‘Are you truly intending to revive the knights?’

Watching the swirling power of the Devil King, Agapé asked.

‘Yes.’

‘Then what about their deaths?’

Are you intending to make their deaths as if they never happened, just because you couldn’t uphold your convictions?

Do you truly believe that by doing so, your convictions will be upheld?

Clang—

‘I know.’

That I’m not in my right mind, and that I’m doing something insane.

But these are young people who died due to my mistakes.

They had their own lives, and they joined the knight order to find their own happiness.

In a position where I should have taken responsibility for them, I wavered and let them die because I failed to uphold my convictions even once.

So this time, I will protect them.

Boom—

Even if it means gathering fragments to create it.

Even if what is created brings about unexpected consequences.

Even if they return from death in a form I don’t recognize, I will take responsibility and restore them to their original state.

“…”

‘In the end, isn’t it just choosing the easy path?’

Instead of repenting for your mistakes by looking at the fragments.

You’re merely stubbornly trying to gather the fragments and make those heavy mistakes as if they never happened, aren’t you?

“Grandpa, are you saying you’re doing this to uphold your convictions?”

No.

Although I have abandoned my convictions, I still remember what the definition of conviction and the spirit of a knight are.

‘You merely gave up understanding the essence contained within your convictions, in order to literally uphold the words within them.’

You are no different from a lost child by the water’s edge, tired of upholding your convictions and resorting to tricks.

“…”

A lost child, huh.

‘Perhaps that’s right.’

Think whatever you want.

Just as you don’t consider yourself a knight, I, too, have decided not to consider myself a knight anymore.

Just as a soul without a body wanders aimlessly near its former flesh, so too does a ghostly conviction, no longer a knight’s, still linger around my heart.

Because I knew that I was merely attaching a plausible word and abandoning myself to this insane act.

‘I know that though I spoke grandly about upholding convictions, this isn’t an action to uphold convictions.’

Gritting sound.

‘But I want to save them that much.’

It’s fine to be called a devil.

It’s fine to be called fallen.

It’s fine to be discovered by the Emperor, excommunicated, and burned at the stake.

‘If only I can save these people.’

If only I can save these young people who died because of my incompetence.

I’m ready to make an even greater resolve than this.

“If you’re not here, what about the city and its citizens?”

“I’ve made arrangements.”

“…”

He wanted to break that stubbornness somehow.

Even he could see that this was nothing more or less than reckless behavior, consumed by conviction and guilt.

Clang—

Amidst dozens of sword paths scattering, the perfect trajectories of two swords clashed once more.

On the surface, it appeared to be a perfect balance of power, created by a perfect sword path, leaning neither way.

“!!!”

The Duke and.

“…”

Agapé knew.

That even though both sword paths appeared perfect, at this very moment, one sword path was uniquely more complete.

That difference was a trivial one, less than a speck of dust.

Grinding screech—!!

That difference, less than a speck of dust, determined the outcome of the battle.

“Ugh…!”

In an instant, the Duke’s sword twisted, and Agapé scraped the Duke’s armor with a horizontal slash.

Even though it wasn’t armor made of moonstone like heroes wore, it was clearly top-grade armor made of mithril, yet it was torn apart like paper.

Thump!

The Duke took a step.

Because his posture was disrupted by the hurriedly dodged attack.

But.

Swish—

This, too, the incompetent disciple did not miss.

“It’s over, Grandpa.”

The sword’s tip pointed to the sky, showing the future before the Duke’s eyes.

Whoosh—!

‘Ah.’

The future where the sword drew a perfect trajectory.

And.

Splatter—!!

The future where that perfect sword path sliced through his own flesh and blood.

It was a fleeting moment created by a small difference.

Thud!

Drip. Drip.

The sword path he created in that fleeting moment was cruel, yet beautiful.

“Cough…!”

Blood gushed out with a single cough.

The Duke, who had slid back against a fallen fragment on the ground and sat down, suddenly saw his vision turn white from extreme pain and dizziness.

“…”

Thump. Thump.

When he opened his eyes, the white-haired young man was walking towards the swirling Devil King’s factor.

It was an unfamiliar back, yet a young man’s back that was too familiar.

“…”

That back, at this moment, truly showed the Agapé of the distant past.

The image of an honorable knight, who wielded his sword at the forefront to prevent his comrades from dying on the battlefield.

For some reason, it was now vividly reflected before his eyes.

Swish—

The sword for guarding had changed into a sword for killing.

But just because it became a sword for killing, it didn’t mean that nothing could be protected with it.

Killing those who threatened what one wished to protect, those who sought to destroy what was precious.

Whoosh—!

“!”

It was also a type of act to protect someone.

A shimmer rose from the black gleaming blade.

The shimmer was dyed black, and the black-dyed shimmer soon became flames.

Blaze—!

Black flames enveloped the entire sword, beginning to burn menacingly.

The light within the dark void began to be absorbed by the sword, and Agapé’s figure also distorted from the refraction of the absorbed light.

“…”

He raised his sword high once again.

He thought it was the same vertical slash, but something felt strange.

‘It’s not Oleg’s swordsmanship.’

It was a subtle difference, but that small difference alone allowed him to distinguish it.

That it wasn’t Oleg’s sword.

‘It’s a bit older than that, from a very distant past.’

A distant past. When he searched to research Oleg’s sword.

Among countless ancient documents, it was a swordsmanship said to have been used in an era even before the empire was founded.

‘Right.’

Joshua’s sword.

It definitely had that name.

“The Flame of Terra.”

As if a word of power, the flames on the sword reacted to the unidentified words that might have been a language.

And the dark red vortex, touched by the straight slash drawn from top to bottom.

Whoosh—

Was bisected left and right, and simultaneously, flames began to erupt from the cut surface.

The flames swiftly ‘burned away’ the Devil King’s factor.

‘It’s impossible…’

Even if it was just a part, it was a fragment of the calamity’s soul.

Even if it was a trivial fragment, as long as it was the power of a calamity, it should have been impossible to easily destroy.

‘It’s burning away that power as if it were nothing.’

Swoosh—

The dozen or so factors stored in the underground cavern.

The factors gathered from all over the continent formed a vortex and were connected one by one to each container, and as the vortex disappeared, the connecting threads also vanished one by one.

And leaving only one container with a thread still connected until the very end.

…

The ritual and the Devil King’s factor, which had been nearing the end of the ceremony, completely disappeared.

…

The cavern, which had been noisy with swirling power, regained its silence.

Agapé, having confirmed the complete cessation of the ritual, looked at the containers for a moment with his pure white eyes, then turned his head.

“Cough…!”

“…”

“Aren’t you even going to ask if I’m okay?”

“Didn’t I slash you?”

He was a swordsman with the mastery to create sword paths; there was no way he wouldn’t know where he had slashed a person after doing so.

The Duke had already suffered a fatal wound.

A fatal wound from which he absolutely could not survive, unless a top-grade potion was poured on him.

Naturally, there was no such thing here, so saving the Duke was impossible.

“…”

He knew that himself, which is why he didn’t say anything.

“Do you feel relieved?”

“…No.”

“Didn’t you know this was foolish?”

But you, of all people, why did you commit such a foolish act?

“…I did it because I was desperate enough to grasp at straws.”

“You know it’s an absurd thing, don’t you?”

“The Prophet made a ‘promise’.”

“…”

‘Promise’.

It’s like an absolute vow of the Prophet.

It’s a ‘promise’ that they stake their honor on, tied to their prophetic abilities, and if they fail to keep it, they could be stripped of their qualifications as a Prophet. To them, it’s something to be considered more important than life itself.

‘Since none other than the Prophet made that ‘promise,’ the Duke must have decided to participate in this absurd endeavor.’

Even I would have believed it wholeheartedly if the Prophet had made a ‘promise’ and said that the knights could be saved.

“…”

There was much more to say, but the Duke, seemingly not wanting to talk about it further, naturally changed the subject.

“Didn’t you say that power would kill you if you used it?”

“…”

Hergil’s gaze naturally moved towards Agapé’s shoulder.

Although he had transformed his appearance into an illusion, for some reason, heat was rising from his shoulder.

“I’m telling you again, you’ll die if you overuse it.”

“Looking at your condition, it seems you used it just barely.”

“…Thanks to the armor, I could use it even like this.”

“Armor, huh…”

“That armor, it was excessively large for your build.”

What kind of object was that armor, anyway?

“Morgoth’s armor.”

“Mors’s, armor?”

“It’s the armor worn by an ancient calamity.”

Agapé flicked his sword.

“And this is the sword that knight used.”

“You’ve acquired precious items one after another.”

“I was… …lucky.”

“Is that so…”

“…”

The Duke’s complexion turned ashen.

Although he had somehow endured with a superhuman body, the bleeding was too severe.

A deep pool of blood had already formed where the Duke had collapsed, and his breathing was gradually becoming labored.

“Why were you using a polearm that didn’t even suit you?”

“I had no other usable weapons besides that.”

“Even if we consider that the golden sword avoids aura use, where did the gladius go?”

“…”

“Well, never mind.”

Clink-

The Duke took a ragged breath and picked up his sword.

“Take it.”

The moment he heard those words, Agapé’s pupils trembled slightly.

Seeing that, the Duke snorted and said.

“Why are you so surprised? Didn’t I promise?”

That if you surpassed my sword, I would give you the sword I possessed.

“I’m merely keeping my promise.”

“…”

“With this sword, it won’t even flinch if it clashes with swords imbued with aura from ordinary knights.”

“Did you notice?”

“Of course, weren’t you worried it might break even when you used the polearm?”

The durability and power of a sword imbued with aura versus one that isn’t are as different as heaven and earth.

Even an ordinary sword, when imbued with aura, naturally gains the durability and sharpness of a masterwork blade, and that level becomes even more pronounced with knights who handle high-level aura.

The young man must have been aware of that, carrying swords that were considered somewhat good, but he must have rendered them useless while fighting countless enemies until now.

But this sword would be different.

“Because it’s a sword made during the Golden Age, crafted by refining moonstone.”

It’s likely the same material as the armor you’re wearing.

“So, even if it looks crude on the outside, it should be quite useful.”

“…”

Agapé, who had been silently gazing at the sword for a moment, sheathed the sword he held and received the new sword with both hands.

“I will gratefully accept it.”

“Yes…”

Now his vision was starting to blur.

Death must truly be close at hand.

“Agapé.”

“Yes, Grandpa.”

“Thank you.”

He didn’t want to say he was sorry.

For some reason, he wanted to say something more positive to the young man than a negative word like ‘sorry’.

“As your master, as your former liege. At the end of the path you walk… I hope only happiness awaits you.”

“I also…”

“…”

“Thank… you.”

He also wanted to say thank you.

Hergil, however, drew his last breath before he could even finish speaking.

“…”

Thud.

…One of the containers moved.