EP.210 Reunion (5)
Sara and Kyle entered the church, following the traces left by Remia. Inside the church, as rumored, there were various artifacts, and every time Sara saw them, she screamed in excitement.
“T-This is all holy relic level…!”
To her, the saint of the Deloheim Church, this place felt like a gigantic treasure trove.
The engravings on the wall.
Decorations that had not rusted with the passage of time.
Various murals and a holy book inscribed with the words of the gods.
All of it was treated as holy relics in the sacred kingdom, the home of the church. No matter where she looked, treasures were everywhere. Sara couldn’t hide her excitement in front of these priceless relics that held both religious and historical value.
‘Is this really a cursed land?’
It was something she had been taught.
The site of the old kingdom, located at the center of the land of ashes, was said to be cursed, a place abandoned by the stars.
But what was the reality?
‘No.’
It was certainly not cursed.
Far from being cursed, this place was more sacred than anything Sara had seen.
“Ah…”
Sara sighed as she caressed the church wall, her expression one of ecstasy as she felt the engravings on the wall.
She could feel the divinity.
The remnants of holiness left here resonated with Sara.
Even after several centuries had passed, the church had not lost its sanctity. Sara was confident. No believer, upon witnessing this scene, could dare to call this place ‘cursed land.’
“I’m sure, Kyle.”
Sara spoke with an eager voice.
“The Holy Grail must be here. If the Holy Grail exists, I can’t imagine it being anywhere but here…!”
“Is that so.”
Kyle answered flatly.
“Remia’s presence leads to there. Is there still a remnant of divinity there?”
“Yes, I can feel it strongly. Stronger and stronger.”
Kyle took the lead, and Sara followed him.
Eventually, they discovered a door nestled between enormous statues. The door was wide open, and there were stairs leading down.
“Looks like this is it.”
Kyle nodded and began to descend the stairs. When he was about halfway down, Sara moved towards the stairs as well. Or rather, she tried to move.
“…What is it, Kyle?”
Kyle stretched out his arm, blocking Sara’s way. Sara tilted her head in confusion at Kyle’s sudden action.
“What’s going on…?”
“Remia has been attacked.”
“…Huh?”
With a short reply,
Sara swallowed hard, while Kyle squinted, gazing down the stairs.
“She’s fallen. Doesn’t seem like she’s dead. The opponents seem to be two. Probably captured.”
“Then…?”
“I’m going alone.”
Kyle reached for his waist. As his fingers wrapped around the hilt of the Holy Sword, he exhaled sharply.
“Sara.”
He turned to Sara.
His gaze was chilling enough to send shivers down her spine. Sara trembled slightly under Kyle’s cold gaze. It was a side of him she had never seen before.
“Cast a blessing.”
His emotionless voice carried no warmth.
Ever since the day he faced the Demon Lord, Kyle had suppressed much of his emotional expression… but he maintained a particularly pronounced tendency to do so when preparing for battle. Sara felt an inexplicable chill as she slowly nodded.
“…Okay, Kyle.”
Sara began to chant a prayer.
The blessing of the Saint elevates the potential of the Hero, illuminating Kyle’s body and expanding his senses.
“Don’t come down, stay here.”
“…Don’t you need support?”
“Not necessary.”
Sara took a few steps back.
Kyle, drawing the Holy Sword, lightly shifted his feet.
Thud!
Though his steps were light, the power contained within was anything but. The spiral staircase, already cracked, began to crumble under the shock.
Ka-boom!
Fragments fell. Each piece was the size of a person, and Kyle jumped onto one of them. Falling among the ruins, Kyle narrowed his eyes.
The first thing he saw was a man standing before Remia. The man had his face completely uncovered, with silver hair and pointed ears.
‘…An Elf?’
Kyle felt a vague suspicion.
Elves typically have blonde hair. He had never heard of a silver-haired Elf. However, Kyle felt an unexplainable familiarity with this silver-haired Elf.
“Forgotten one.”
The star whispered in Kyle’s ear.
The silver-haired Elf was a forgotten being.
Kyle felt an unease and turned his gaze. His next point of focus was a woman leaning against a pillar. The woman was staring directly at him.
Their gazes intertwined.
Unlike the silver-haired Elf, the woman’s face was obscured by her robe. The only visible part was her eyes. However, Kyle could not take his eyes off her gaze. He looked at those eyes as if entranced.
Ice-blue eyes.
Eyes shining even in the dark, with a vivid hue.
As he watched those eyes, the star whispered to Kyle’s ear once more.
“What you missed.”
What he had missed, Kyle could not comprehend. He didn’t know what it was, but he felt an uncanny déjà vu from those blue eyes.
‘…I don’t know who it is.’
Power flowed into the fingers gripping the hilt of his sword.
Swish! The Holy Sword slid smoothly from its sheath. In the darkness, a brilliant platinum light enveloped the Holy Sword.
‘Even overpowering to confirm it wouldn’t be too late.’
Kyle bent his knees. Crack! The debris he stood upon splintered underneath him.
Bam!
With a powerful push off the ground, he lunged forward. Describing the motion may seem light, but the force created was anything but.
Boom!
With a sound like an artillery shell being fired, Kyle’s body shook. In a single leap, he closed the distance to the woman in the blink of an eye.
Meanwhile, she too didn’t remain idle.
As she watched Kyle charging at her, she clenched her fist. Blue mana surged violently… and soon converged into one point. The gathered mana transformed into a spell.
As Kyle swung the Holy Sword toward her, the woman thrust her fist, containing the mana.
Clash!
The collision of the platinum light and the blue mana sent dirt flying, and only then did the sound follow.
Kwaaaaaaang!
With a resounding roar that shook the caverns, the battle commenced.
2.
“The weapon of the stars is not bound by common sense.”
It was a famous saying.
The most basic form of the stars’ weapon is the Holy Sword, and the Sword Master who stood on the battlefield alongside the Hero often evaluated that platinum sword like this.
“That’s not a sword.”
The Sword Master, Kuntel.
“Depending on the skills of the Knight, even the worst sword can become a great sword. But that Holy Sword Kyle wields is closer to the opposite.”
He pointed at the Holy Sword Kyle held.
“Even an ignorant kid could swing it, and it could slice a long sword wielded by a knight in half. It’s gone beyond reason.”
It was strange.
It was hard to call it a sword.
“If it touches, it cuts. If swung, it cuts without fail. To be honest, when you come at me with that Holy Sword… I have no idea how I would win.”
Even Kuntel, the Sword Master, showed discomfort when Kyle wielded the Holy Sword during their sparring. No matter how skilled he was, it was still difficult to face a sword that ‘cuts everything it touches.’
The Holy Sword was that kind of weapon.
It didn’t adhere to common sense and could overturn the opponent’s skills… something beyond a mere sword.
To have an equal fight with a Hero wielding the Holy Sword, one needed either superior physical ability that surpassed the Hero or something exceptional that the Holy Sword couldn’t cut through.
And Laineel had neither.
Kwaaaaaang!
The dust that had risen from the thunderous sound began to settle. Though it was a momentary clash, the outcome was decidedly clear even in that brief engagement.
“Tsk.”
It was Laineel who got pushed back.
Clicking her tongue, Laineel pressed down on her palm. Blood trickled from the cut on her hand.
In that instant of confrontation, when the shockwave met the Holy Sword, Laineel was the one who staggered. The platinum blade cut through the shockwave, leaving a mark on Laineel’s hand.
It was not a severe wound.
However, the fact that her spell had been cut was significant.
‘As expected.’
Laineel lightly shook her sore wrist.
“The Holy Sword cuts through all.”
Even for formless spells, there were no exceptions.
When Kyle’s swordsmanship, which had reached the level of a first-class, merged with the Holy Sword bestowed upon him by the stars, there was hardly anything he couldn’t cut.
Thump!
The settling dust shook violently. Bursting through the clouds of dirt was Kyle, low and agile as he approached Laineel.
His movements were fluid.
His efficient moves were swift.
Laineel’s eyes scanned quickly, reading Kyle’s movements. In an instant, Kyle’s shoulder surged, and a horizontal slash swooped toward Laineel.
Slash!
She hurriedly bent her waist but couldn’t completely avoid it. A few strands of ashen hair peered out from the swaying robe and were caught by the blade, scattering into the air.
The scattering ashen hair.
Kyle’s gaze shook for a moment at the sight, but the tip of his sword remained steady. He moved without hesitation for his next action.
The diagonally slashed tip pointed toward the ground. As Kyle took a step forward to close the distance, the sword met the stone floor, but no sound of cutting was heard.
Swish.
The tip of the sword smoothly parted the stone floor and sprang back up. The platinum starlight that wrapped around the sword was sharp. Laineel’s eyes widened momentarily.
The approaching tip of the sword.
The path traced by the Holy Sword unfolded before Laineel. She had fought against countless strong opponents and had an understanding of a warrior’s fighting style despite being a Mage.
‘I see the tip of the sword.’
Reading the path, she calculated her actions.
Her enhanced and developed visual acuity allowed her to achieve this. It was similar yet different from the super-sensory ability possessed by the Sword Masters.
It was a product of consciousness and calculation, not instinct.
Constantly calculating every moment, Laineel showcased her refined movements. She flicked her fingers.
Smash.
The spell aimed not at the blade of the Holy Sword, but at the back of the blade to disrupt its trajectory.
Even if it touched, it would only slice. The strike aimed at Kyle’s wrist holding the Holy Sword.
Clang!
It didn’t inflict significant damage, but it succeeded in altering the trajectory of his sword. Laineel evaded the path of the sword. However, Kyle’s sword didn’t stop.
Even if the opponent avoided or blocked it, a first-class swordsman never stops their sword.
A blocked or parried strike becomes merely a preparatory motion for the next move.
Thus, Kyle’s sword continued.
It sliced through the air at incredible speed. The Hero, with physical capabilities surpassing even superhumans, wielded the Holy Sword that cuts all and endlessly swung it. What he created was a net of blades.
The net of blades.
A technique of the Sword Demon, Draka.
Stretching the sword energy to slash the surroundings—only a Sword Master could achieve such a feat… Kyle, however, re-enacted it solely with his physical abilities.
