Translator: AkazaTL Pr/Ed: Sol IX
***
The Primordial Observatory is high. Many do not know, but this place is a Sacred Ground of the Stars, and the first ones who chased the stars built the observatory to reach the sky.
Considering its original purpose, this structure had to be high. Much higher than it appears.
“Stop, stop—!”
Priest Frey’s stamina had almost reached its limit. The middle-aged woman was no longer walking but crawling up the stairs on all fours. In contrast, how was Inquisitor Abel doing? Like a young man in his prime, Abel was steadily climbing three or four steps at a time, even while sweating profusely. The distance between the two had narrowed to the point where she was almost caught.
“Give it up. Do you think this situation will change even if you become a Proxy Warrior? After all, the Goddess of the Stars will not save you. The Goddess of the Stars is too great to understand us. No matter how much you howl, She will only speak of forgiveness and harmony. Among the Nine Goddesses and Seven Lords, the only one who can understand us insignificant lives of the Middle World is the Son of Sin and Punishment!”
“…….”
“Stop having foolish thoughts and come down. Yes, if you come down now and choose the Cross over the stars, no one will die or get hurt. You will be able to live much more comfortably as a priest of the Order of the Cross, not some priest of the stars. Not just you, but this city too!”
At Abel’s words, Priest Frey slowly turned her head.
“I swear to God, hm?”
Frey looked at Abel with an exhausted face. Then she spoke.
“I am not trying to become a Proxy Warrior.”
“……?”
“I just want to become a star for those who are wandering. And stars do not speak only of unconditional forgiveness. The stars forgive everything, but they do not forsake those who wish to forgive. Starlight never turns away from those who have lost their way, never.”
Saying that, Frey began to climb the stairs again. Seeing her figure, Abel grit his teeth and chased after Frey. With shortness of breath, Frey was getting closer and closer to the summit of the observatory. As the dark sky drew near and the brilliant stars twinkled, Frey smiled, recalling memories of a distant past.
A Great Warrior of the Stars. That is not what Frey is trying to do. This is the fulfillment of an old promise. And.
‘Don’t cry, Frey.’
The one she loved. It is to follow her Little Prince.
‘It will look as if I am dead. But that is not true.’
A young boy Frey met a long time ago.
The Little Prince of the desert whom she could never forget.
‘Since I cannot take this body back with me, I shall leave it behind.’
Frey looked at the sky. The stars twinkling in the night sky. Looking at the stars, Frey ruminated on the words the boy left behind again today.
The faint and beautiful words rooted in her heart.
“The most important thing is invisible…….”
* * *
The warrior of the plains looked at the young man.
The young man had shining blond hair and blue eyes. The appearance visible beyond the hair was very fair, a face that exactly resembled the arrogant nobles of the Western Continent. A typical flower in a greenhouse. The type that the warriors of the Great Land hated the most.
Those who reign over others without strength, wearing fake crowns. However, contrary to his outward appearance, the boy was emitting a scent that could only be smelled from the Great Warriors of the Plains.
“A wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
The boy smelled of blood. A very thick scent of blood at that.
“But it is strange. The killing intent is insanely intense, but the energy is not sharp. As if a warrior’s soul is trapped inside a weak brat’s body…….”
“…….”
“Did you fall from a horse during the war and suffer a grave injury? Or did you lose all your power due to the scheme of a vicious shaman?”
He threw out questions, but no answer returned. He didn't seem to have any intention of conversing. Well, the warrior of the plains preferred it that way too. For a warrior of the Great Land naturally prefers conversation shared through swords rather than conversation shared by flapping tongues.
The warrior of the plains walked toward the young man. He did not draw his blade.
Since he was an adversary met in this peaceful and boring land, he wanted to get to know him slowly. However, the warrior of the plains soon had to change his mind.
“……!”
The moment he took two steps toward the young man, the warrior of the plains saw a hallucination. A terrible hallucination where his neck was sliced clean off and his head fell. Within the hallucination, the warrior of the plains simply accepted the result without even knowing how he died. While his head flew through the air, the warrior of the plains had to watch a fountain of blood soar from his neck and his headless body convulse and collapse.
“Heup!”
Waking from the hallucination, the warrior of the plains hurriedly stepped back. Gasping for breath, the warrior of the plains brought his hand to his neck. His neck was not cut and was well attached. The hallucination was so realistic that cold sweat poured down instantly, and his body became cold as ice.
‘What the.’
What on earth was that just now? Coming to his senses, his hands were trembling on their own.
He looked like a rabbit placed before a lion.
Gasping for breath, the warrior of the plains soon looked ahead. The young man was still standing in the same spot. He hadn’t moved a single step.
However, the young man looked different from before. The young man was not a noble-like figure, but had become an old man with a majestic appearance like a lion. The shining blond hair turned into hair that had gone completely white, and the trivial iron sword held in the young man’s hand had become a splendid sword flashing with sharpness, capable of cutting anything.
‘What on earth is this.’
Hallucination? Is he a human who uses evil arts? Is holding the sword a trick, and is he actually a Mage or perhaps a Shaman? Amidst his heart beating tumultuously, the warrior of the plains swallowed dry saliva. Raising his tension, the warrior of the plains slowly drew the sword he had tucked at his waist.
“…….”
A Great Warrior of the Plains who serves the sun that never sets must be confident in any situation.
A warrior who has conquered the majestic Great Plains must fight bravely no matter what enemy he faces.
However, for some reason at this moment, the warrior of the plains felt infinitely shabby. To an unbearable extent.
“If you are afraid, you may run away.”
In front of indescribable fear. The warrior of the plains heard a firm voice. That voice was flowing from the young man. From the young man who had the appearance of an old man.
“That is not a strange thing.”
* * *
Dokbul. My Master, who declared he would pass down his sword to me, made one proposal.
「My sword cannot be conveyed in words, and no matter how much I recite it, you cannot understand. Experiencing it with your body is the only way to understand.」
“Then…….”
「5 seconds. For exactly 5 seconds, I will borrow your body and manifest in the Middle World.」
Liam’s eyes shone sharply.
「You do not necessarily have to accept my proposal, young descendant. The moment you accept my proposal, very many things will change.」
“If very many things change……?”
「Difficult days will unfold. The trials that come to you will also become heavier and rougher.」
Days more difficult than now. Trials harsher than now.
「Countless beings lurking in the Middle World will sense my soul. Thereby the balance will be broken, and the true strong ones who have been crouching until now will reveal themselves. Beings with power you cannot even imagine will target you.」
“…….”
「Did you think you suffered too many trials because of the name ‘Karavan’ until now? I am sorry, but the moment you accept me, you will realize that everything you have experienced so far was nothing but child’s play.」
Liam was sincerely warning me.
「Those who were hiding their forms, the bystanders above that sky, know me well. They know well how capricious a being this Liam Karavan is. That is why they did not actively intervene even knowing you are the Last Karavan. Because they would have thought that this Liam would not acknowledge a descendant with trivial talent as a descendant.」
“…….”
「However, if you accept my proposal, from that moment on, all beings will know that you are a descendant acknowledged by me, and a being who has truly inherited the sword of ‘Liam Karavan’.」
“All the beings who held a grudge against the Master will rush in.”
「They will not target only you. They will try to destroy everything surrounding you. Just as I gouged out the era in the past…….」
Liam looked at me.
「Furthermore, if you glimpse even a little of my sword, from that moment on, you will not be able to return to before. All swords except for Dokbul will look like trivial struggles, and all the efforts you try to make will feel like futile flailing.」
“…….”
「This is not deception or bluff, young descendant. My sword is excessively great. The power I possess is an insurmountable wall, and it is absolute enough that beings who dedicated their lives to the sword are broken and frustrated just by seeing it, becoming unable to hold a sword ever again.」
Arrogant words. But I know. That Master’s words are not arrogant.
“Even so, Master said you would pass down your sword to me.”
「…….」
“Doesn't that mean I can handle it?”
「I do not know.」
Liam shook his head.
「My son whom I taught from the moment he was born, my descendants who possessed dazzling talent, and countless Karavans who had unbreaking will…… they were all broken after experiencing me. No one could become like me.」
“…….”
「You are not as excellent as them. You have talent so humble you cannot even follow their footsteps.」
“……Then.”
「However, you are harder than any Karavan.」
Saying that, Liam looked at me.
「And you resemble me more than any other Karavan.」
I smiled while facing Liam.
“Until now, you have only told me the disadvantages of accepting the proposal. Now tell me the advantages. What I can gain even after enduring all those things.”
「I knew you would say that.」
There will be harsh trials. No one has succeeded. It will be difficult.
I have heard such warnings tiresomely since before I even first held a sword. Giving up out of fear without even trying is impossible. Once started, I cannot stop. Until I die.
「You will come to know.」
“Know what?”
「Why everyone feared Karavan.」
“…….”
「And…….」
Liam Grinned.
「How insignificant the enemy who took everything from you was compared to your ancestor.」
That alone was enough.
“Use this humble young descendant’s body to your heart's content.”
I accepted the proposal. With that, my consciousness flew away for a moment. When my mind fled and I opened my eyes, I was floating in the void. Master had disappeared, and I was in Master’s position. Our positions had been swapped. As I floated with the feeling of drifting on water, Master’s voice soon rang out.
“If you are afraid, you may run away.”
The feeling of vocal cords vibrating.
The feeling of lips opening was vivid. I was floating in the void at this moment, but I was sharing the senses with my body. At that moment, I knew what I had to do. I must remember. Without missing a single thing.
“That is not a strange thing.”
The strongest Swordmaster in history.
The first Karavan, the sword my Master wields.
* * *
“That is not a strange thing.”
Liam Karavan voiced out borrowing a body of the Middle World after a truly long time. The voice spat out as lips parted and vocal cords vibrated. It is a feeling both unfamiliar and familiar.
“……Arrogant words.”
The body of the descendant who inherited his blood. But from head to toe, there is not a single corner that resembles him. Slender wrists, a frail body no different from a woman’s. Everything is the complete opposite of the body Liam Karavan possessed in the past. Liam Karavan possessed a perfect body along with brilliant talent. The most ‘perfect body’ for wielding a sword across the seven races.
‘Though the body is nothing but a shell anyway.’
Of course, it is not important.
Liam spun the trivial iron sword held in his descendant's body once. To think even such a low-quality blade feels heavy. The feeling is new.
“A warrior of the plains! Doesn’t run away!”
Liam’s soul has lodged in, but nothing has changed.
The restriction of the Golden Star is still active, and all powers including the Mana Heart are in a lost state. However, Liam did not feel even a shred of tension.
Mana Heart, Path, Wings, Armor, Sword.
Sword Beginner, Sword Walker, Sword Runner, Sword Expert. And Swordmaster.
Were not all things created from him, derived from him, and made to resemble him? The shell is not important. Liam Karavan realized such truth when he stood alone before the Nine Goddesses and Seven Lords.
“Do not miss a single thing, young descendant.”
Liam looked at the warrior of the plains. Simultaneous with a “tat” sound, the warrior of the plains appeared before Liam’s eyes. It is an attack that cannot be deflected with the body of the young descendant Liam borrowed. Liam did not move actively but dodged the blade by twisting his body slightly. The sword rotating at Liam’s fingertips was still spinning. In front of the charging warrior of the plains, Liam simply danced. And.
“Uh.”
When the warrior of the plains came to his senses, he was writhing on the floor with his neck sliced clean off. It took exactly 1.2 seconds to that point.
“What the-”
“Catch him!”
Seeing the warrior of the plains die, the Crusaders rushed in immediately. Paladins possess great physical abilities. However, they were no different from the warriors of the plains. They swing heavy maces and charge, trusting only the iron armor wrapped around their bodies. But when another second passed, all the Crusaders died.
The sword Liam swung was not exceptionally faster, stronger, or more exquisite compared to Arhan. To the eyes of others, that blade merely cut through the empty air as if practicing swordsmanship.
“Kill him!”
Other warriors of the plains who were hiding nearby.
They appeared like rays of light and thrust their swords. However, once he blinked his eyes, everyone was dead. That was more like a kind of magic than a sword.
“Did you see, young descendant?”
It wasn't that Liam’s sword cut the enemies. It looked as if all enemies were sucked into Liam’s sword. Just as moths jump into a flame to die, just as water in a bathtub drains out of the hole…….
“This is the ultimate stage you must reach.”
Immediately after Liam appeared borrowing his descendant’s body, not even 4 seconds passed before all enemies were rolling on the ground. The enemies and harsh trials that Arhan faced with such difficulty collapsed so simply before his ancestor. Amidst the cold silence settling down, Liam looked at his descendant and spoke.
He will not be able to understand right away. Since no one could. But this short time will become a key. The key for the Last Karavan to finally be reborn as a true Karavan. This sword shown at the shabbiest and most insignificant moment will become the direction Liam’s young descendant must go.
“You must remember.”
The shortly permitted time was coming to an end. Liam felt several gazes directed at his humble descendant’s soul. Beings who had been hiding their forms trusting only in his capricious nature.
Now they will not sit by and watch the flow of the world. The beings who learned that the Last Karavan was chosen by ‘Liam Karavan’ will reveal themselves to the world very actively. To prevent the terrible events of the past from repeating. To prevent the second coming of a true Karavan.
“If you cannot…….”
The trials that will befall his young descendant in the future will be even harsher and more arduous. However, if he is a Karavan, he must naturally endure it. For the Steel Blood, all trials soon become manure for growth.
“You, will not be able to survive.”
Like that. The absolute being’s short return ended.
* * *
“Wh-what was that just now?”
“What in the world is that…….”
The murmurs of the residents of Antoine could be heard. But I couldn't focus on that. Master returned my body to me immediately after the 5 seconds ended, but I was being swept away by the waves of sensation that poured in during those 5 seconds.
‘Th-this is…….’
Master expressed it as 5 seconds, but to me, it was not a time that could be defined as 5 seconds. I could understand why Liam said ‘it will be hard to handle’. During those 5 seconds, I saw the essence of the sword Master possesses. I came to know how clumsy and trivial the ‘Steel’ I wielded until now was, and what an insignificant existence I was compared to my ancestor. Also how shabby the level of my sword was, which I had built by pouring everything in.
“The enemies died in an instant.”
“Can this be……?”
I felt a sense of distance. Will I be able to reach even the tip of Master’s toe even if I pour in my entire life? Do I have the qualification to use the name Karavan? Is it right for someone like me to hold a sword? A distance that felt like it would break my heart was there. However.
「Young Lord Arhan.」
I am a dullard. To me, the sword is a means, not an end.
A means to let me achieve what I want.
「For some reason, Young Lord, you see.」
That I am shabby and insignificant? I knew it well. Just because I realized it once again doesn't mean I break. I cannot give up just because it is distantly unreachable. Because as long as I don’t give up, nothing ends.
「I feel like you will leave your name in the history of this continent someday.」
I cannot understand most of the sword called Dokbul that Master swung with my body. It is a sword of too high a level for me to understand. However, I have engraved it steadily in my body and head. I cannot understand it, but I will never forget it. If I don’t forget, it doesn't disappear.
I am shabby and insignificant.
I know.
‘That is why, I do not break.’
The moment I repeated that, numerous swords appeared before my eyes. Needle, Fang, Twilight, Wild Instinct…… the blades I have swallowed until now were looking at me. Amidst their souls watching me, I saw a single faintly flickering light.
「Arhan.」
The voice of the light was warm.
「Always have pride that you are a member of the Karavan family, and remember the fact that Steel Blood flows inside your body.」
At the same time as being warm, it was very familiar.
「Then someday, you will be able to reclaim the glory.」
I knew that voice. But before I could even recall the owner of the voice coming from the light, my mind snapped awake as if fished out of water.
「Yes, someday…….」
My eyes snapped open. The swords watching me disappeared, and the voice of the light disappeared too. What I saw in front of me were the warriors of the plains and Crusaders rolling dead on the ground. Amidst the fishy smell of blood wafting, the residents of Antoine gathered behind screamed.
“Crusaders!”
I looked in the direction they were looking. Beyond the dust of the desert, the flag of the Order of the Cross was waving. Did the Inquisitor request support? Or did the Crusaders stationed nearby mobilize because there was no contact? I couldn't know which of the two it was, but one thing was certain. That it is dangerous.
‘Can I fight them now?’
I gripped the sword. Can I recreate the Dokbul Master showed just now? No, that is too difficult a task for the current me. To do that, much contemplation will be needed, and more experience than now will be needed. Then do I fight with cheap tricks again?
‘There are too many to fight with cheap tricks.’
The Crusader army visible under the flag of the Order of the Cross was enormous in scale to begin with. Dammit. It was hopeless earlier too, but to think there were more reinforcements remaining? The Crusaders formed a battle line, and siege weapons advancing with a rattling sound were visible behind them. Crazy bastards. Mobilizing siege weapons to raid this small city? No, does it make sense for a religious army to mobilize such heinous weapons in the first place?
‘They’ve gone as far as they can go.’
Biting my lip tight, I ran to the debris of the collapsed observatory. Inside the debris was Priest Frey, who had become a mess. And there was a girl crying while held to a cross. The girl mumbled with slurred pronunciation and cried as if the world was ending. Amidst the spreading sound of her crying, Priest Frey was dying while shedding sticky blood.
‘Is it all over?’
Should I take the girl and flee the spot at least? Just when I was thinking that, Priest Frey opened her mouth.
“Stars, do not, disappear.”
Did she still have strength left to speak? While I was thinking that, light bloomed from Priest Frey. A light brilliant enough to blind the eyes. That light transferred to the girl tied to the cross.
“Starlight, is, a signpost, for the lost.”
“…….”
“Not me, but to the new generation, the stars, are more suited.”
Starlight lodged in the body of the crying girl.
A very, very intense starlight.
And…….
“It will look as if I am dead.”
Priest Frey looked at me.
“But that is not true.”
She was smiling faintly.
I couldn't understand why she was smiling while her life was extinguishing. But as Priest Frey’s breathing quieted down, a strange power was seeping into me. Is it the ability possessed by a Priest of the Star? No, this was not divine power. Not the power of the Nine Goddesses, but a power familiar to me.
“Since I cannot take this body back with me, I shall leave it behind.”
The power of the sword. Another soul lodged in her body was seeping into me. Only then did I realize one fact.
‘I thought that if there are two souls in one body, they cannot be separated. Even if Frey’s soul is the sword itself, I thought there was no way to extract her soul. But there was a way.’
The method to separate body and soul. Isn't there the most well-known method? The providence of nature.
‘The soul of the dead separates from the body.’
The soul of life separates from the body when the flesh dies. At this moment, Priest Frey met death and caused a strange mystery in the girl wearing priest robes. At the same time, the death she met became a fortuitous encounter for me.
“The most important thing…….”
Thud, a vibration rings. The Crusaders get closer. An army comes to occupy this small city.
“……is invisible.”
The girl’s crying sound grew louder. Priest Frey’s breathing slowed down and then stopped completely. Along with that, two souls flowed out from her. One soul returned to her God, and the other soul seeped into me. I do not know why two souls existed in the body of her, a priest. I also do not know why a priest harbored a soul related to the sword, not a religious soul. But that is not what is important right now.
『The most important thing is invisible.』
A new sword lodged in me.
『You’ve become the only being in this world to me.』
New power overflows. And.
『And I also became the only being in the world to you.』
The powers I had lost also returned. Because the ‘Golden Star’ has been achieved.
『Ah, it is just as lonely among people.』
The Golden Scale tipped. At the same time, all restrictions disappear.
“Huu.”
With one breath, the heart beats. What is jumping are two hearts. The heart supplying blood, and the Mana Heart like steel. As the Mana Heart growled, Paths stretch out like blood vessels throughout the whole body. Along with the stretching paths, Wings sprout from my back. Steel Wings possessing the desolate colors of black and white. My Wings became larger and more numerous than before. With the desert as the background, I raised my body.
“……Ah.”
On my back. There were eight pairs of Wings.
“Let’s fight to the death, you Cross bastards.”