Grace-type, Unmatched Sword.
Lac drew out his most powerful card. With the First Holy Sword in hand, he unleashed the ultimate technique. Although he couldn’t fully manifest the Unmatched Sword yet, he disregarded the immense burden that would weigh on him.
He slashed at the enemy before him.
He would slay that beast right here.
With that resolve, Lac seized the First Holy Sword.
His stance completed, platinum starlight erupted from the blade. Ready, Lac secured his feet firmly in the snow.
The moment he swung his sword.
Lac’s vision wavered.
It wasn’t the present that shook. It was a glimpse of the future he had seen through his extrasensory perception, a few seconds ahead. Originally, the future that Lac’s eyes had revealed was the sight of the beast being cleaved in two by the Unmatched Sword.
But now?
Zztt, the future Lac foresaw shattered like glass. His extrasensory ability was overlaid by something even more precise. What unfolded was a future completely different from before.
The future quickly turned into reality.
Lac saw the atmosphere around the beast shift. In a fleeting moment, the beast’s azure eyes calmed down. Immediately after, the beast extended its left arm and struck a specific pose.
An odd pose, an odd movement.
Yet within it lay a discernible sword technique. Lac couldn’t predict the next action to unfold. He couldn’t fathom what the creature before him was.
Therefore, he could only trust his instincts in the present.
Lac swung his sword with all his strength.
With no clear sword path visible, Lac’s swing was erratic. Yet, regardless of the messiness, this was a part of the swordsmanship created by the mightiest swordsman.
Lacking technique was supplemented by physical ability.
Lacking subtlety was complemented by the starlight contained in the holy sword.
As the massive blade swung, the wind roared. The snow piled on the ground was entirely overturned, scattering snowflakes everywhere. As it whirled and scattered, an intangible shockwave shot toward the beast.
Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka!
As it ground everything it touched to dust, the incoming slash caused the beast to slam its arms down to the ground. A horizontal sweep with its arm. Yet in Lac’s eyes, he witnessed no sign of the beast’s swing.
The sharp claw that had been pointing left now drew a perfect line, directing to the right. Lac failed to see the process that unfolded between those two images. The speed of the slash was beyond his capacity to track.
Is this the initial kill…?
A perfect stance.
An unwavering slash born from that perfection.
At last.
“…Ah.”
A shlank echoed as a serene slicing sound resonated.
The shockwave burst forth from the tip of Lac’s sword along with the slicing sound. The artificial airflow Lac had generated suddenly reversed as a wave of power rushed back toward him.
The blizzard aimed at the beast.
Was swept away and returned to Lac.
What came slicing through the wind was a strike. Lac, with his creaking body, quickly lifted the great sword. The moment the strike clashed with the great sword—KAAAAAAANG!—it sounded as if his eardrums would burst.
“Guh, kuh!”
The staggering impact also caused.
Lac’s fingers gripping the sword to break with a snap. His arms, shoulders, and body screamed in pain. Lac found himself lifted off the ground, savaged by the wind rushing in.
Thwaack.
The aftermath of the strike clawed at Lac’s body.
While fending off the incoming strikes, the shockwaves he hadn’t been able to release ravaged Lac’s form. With a choke, crimson blood spewed from Lac’s mouth.
His vision turned red.
2.
Lac rolled over the snowy expanse.
After rolling for a while, he finally came to a stop.
“Cough, urgh!”
A plop echoed as crimson globs spilled from his mouth. The snowy field turned red. Lac tried to rise, trembling hands pressing against the ground. But his body wouldn’t obey his will.
Get up.
He urged himself to rise.
He had to kill that beast. Lac’s body, now pushed to its limits, refused to comply with his resolve.
Damn!
Lac gritted his teeth.
Blood boiled. His breaths became harsh. The heat of his overexerted body refused to dissipate even against the fierce cold. A blazing inferno consumed Lac. At this moment, he yearned for just one thing.
To kill.
Lac’s eyes contracted to a single point.
Damn, he gritted his molars.
I will kill, and avenge!
Was there ever a time he felt such intense hatred? Lac had never experienced loss. The peaceful boy living in a world devoid of turmoil felt visceral rage for the first time in his life.
The warrior who was like family was dead.
Oyakal was dead. His pride trampled upon.
Their deaths were gruesome beyond compare.
The beast mocked their deaths and trampled their lives. Lac could not withstand that reality. He had to slay the beast and exact his revenge.
Thud, boom.
His heart raced wildly.
The deep-seated rage ignited Lac’s mind. The unquenchable inferno began to burn away his reason.
Intense motivation, desire, resolve.
What Lac had lacked had now filled him in this moment. The seed that had taken root in Lac’s heart sprouted. The nurturing force was raw violence. The simplest yet most potent emotion fueled the seed’s growth.
The walls he had built within had crumbled long ago.
Before the walls demolished by the Holy Grail, he had grappled with questions over the past three years. He was tormented about the path he should take, which had kept him from becoming superhuman—even though he fulfilled every condition.
And now, a path had laid itself before Lac.
The sprouted seed spread like roots beyond the walls, branching into dozens, hundreds, thousands while forming a singular path. Though they may diverge, each one represented a superhuman life. Lac stood at a crossroads of choice.
Among thousands of paths, one path shone the brightest.
It was the path walked by the mightiest swordsman.
Honorable and glorious, and because of that, it was the toughest path. Even if he chose that route, Lac understood he wouldn’t gain the power to slay the beast instantly. That current path was unsuitable for him.
There was no time to waste.
He had to obtain the strength to kill the beast.
Strength for revenge.
Lac’s eyes, devoid of reason, moved rapidly, landing before one path. What entered Lac’s view was a blood-soaked path.
An easy, simple path.
A path to gain immense power at once.
A path driven by revenge and fueled by hatred. It was the simplest yet led toward destruction. There was no honor or glory to be found along this path. Lac was already aware of those who walked this path. The Sword Demon, Draka.
Even aware of that.
Lac reached out toward that path.
Just as Lac’s hand was about to touch the bloodstained route, something else touched his hand first. What he felt from his hand was a chilling sensation. The feeling of metal.
“…”
Lac opened his eyes.
The snow blowing up from the strike scattered like a blizzard. Though his view was obscured by the whirling snow, he could clearly see what touched his hand.
A broken sword.
It was Oyakal’s weapon. The moment he touched that weapon, a voice whispered in Lac’s ear.
“Always maintain your composure, young master.”
“A top-tier warrior is not swayed by anything. To be a true warrior, one must be able to wield everything as they see fit.”
It was advice he had heard long ago.
Recalling that advice, Lac closed his eyes, then opened them again. Dead yet still teaching him. Such was Lac’s thought as he slowly rose to his feet.
It was right to feel anger.
Suppressing anger wasn’t the only answer.
It merely meant he shouldn’t be swayed. Lac extinguished the flames that burned away his reason. The flames waned but flickered with the potential to blaze again at any moment.
Holding that flame within him.
Lac grasped the great sword embedded in the ground. Without choosing any particular path, Lac took a step forward. In that instant, the sword he held gleamed brilliantly. More fiercely than ever before.
As if it were the answer.
*
Incomplete memories vanished with a swing. The beast transformed back into a king, its flickering gaze fixed on its arm. It recalled the movement it had previously displayed.
What it was, it couldn’t fathom.
Yet, it felt as though it was almost within reach.
The light it so longed for was so close. If only it had been just a bit closer, it could have grasped that light. But seeing the aftermath of the technique it had unveiled, the beast instinctively understood.
That the radiant flame it sought.
The fiery blaze it had burned so fiercely was snuffed out by its own actions.
Unbeknownst to it, the battle came to an end. The beast, grinding its teeth, stepped forward. Closing in on its answer. The thing it had yearned for was in sight. Just a little further, if it ventured deeper, would it understand?
That was just as the beast aimed toward the North.
Shlack, a slicing sound.
Immediately after, the raging blizzard split apart. Walking through the parted snowstorm was a single human. One who bled from all over but refused to fall. The atmosphere surrounding this human felt different from moments ago.
In the beast’s eyes, this human shone brightly.
The last resisting human.
A human, still intact and displaying their resolve. The impurities that once clung to the human had been entirely washed away. What remained before the beast now was the brilliant light it had so desperately sought.
That pure light, akin to that day and time.
Before the blinding light, the beast felt elation.
3.
Lac’s movements wielding the sword shifted.
Before Lac, the world appeared completely different from moments ago. Everything he beheld was more vivid. His senses sharpened. He could read even the most minute movements.
Completed extrasensory perception.
With a view of the future, Lac moved. Even though his damaged body couldn’t keep pace with the beast, he made the difference by moving just a step ahead.
KAANG!
Deflecting the beast’s claw, Lac let go of the great sword. The great sword spun in the air, and in that moment, he yanked his axe lodged deep into the beast’s chest. With both axes in hand, he dodged and struck at the beast’s attacks, weaving closer.
Then, with a thunk…
Lac’s axe blade sank into the beast’s shoulder. The shockwave erupted from the deep-seated blade, tearing the beast’s muscles. The movement of its arm became sluggish. Instantly, he released the axe and reached out.
Thwack!
The great sword rotating in midair fell without a hitch to Lac’s outstretched hand. By this time, Lac was already swinging the sword.
SWOOSH!
For the first time, the beast’s body was long sliced.
Piercing through its tough hide, the great sword marked a diagonal scar across the beast’s chest. Blood gushed forth, and the beast let out a laugh, violently swinging its left arm.
CLANG, KAANG!
The sound echoed as blades clashed. Lac’s movements accelerated, becoming ever quicker. His wide-open eyes no longer gazed only at the future.
He began to see something else.
The extremes of his future forecasting now relied on the perception he wielded to predict the best possible counter. Those solutions formed paths before Lac’s eyes. The route his weapon needed to take. That path was known to sword masters as the Sword Path.
Though still indistinct, Lac swung his great sword towards the blurry path. The openings created by the slow swing of the great sword were instantly filled by his axe. Lac supplemented the lacking levels with the surrounding techniques.
At times, he unleashed spells.
At others, he utilized the shining power of the holy sword.
Pouring every ounce of himself into the duel, Lac relentlessly pressed against the beast. But he was not the only one growing stronger. The beast’s movements gradually became more precise. For even a moment, it recalled the memory it had lost, sharpening its senses.
At some point.
The future Lac envisioned began to deviate.
Slowly, the future began to unravel. The beast started to recognize movements that broke away from the predicted future. It could weakly sense Lac’s actions. Thus, the beast and Lac reached an equal footing.
Neither side backed down.
Within the vast snowy expanse, the two swordsmen displayed all they had. And slowly, very slowly, the time for a conclusion drew near.
*
『Is it okay to leave that be?』
In a workshop filled with the stench of blood.
The voice of the Ancient Lich resonated low.
『Wasn’t it a labor of love? I think it’s inefficient to leave such a creation like that. A waste.』
“Waste?”
『Yes. It must be controlled, shouldn’t it? That which you created is a powerful asset. With that alone, we could create variables on the battlefield…』
“…Control it?”
As if she had heard a funny joke, she chuckled heartily. She wiped the blood from her face and glanced at Skebal.
“From the start, it’s not something that can be controlled.”
『…It’s nothing more than a beast.』
“That beast, which you deem mere, matched up with Ganikalt. Excluding the Demon Lord from centuries past, it’s been the mightiest being that obstructed us.”
Gleria Bel Armias.
The First Saint laughed mockingly, pointing at Skebal.
“You wouldn’t know, having never faced it, but it was a tricky being. Unpredictable and unmanageable, an aberration.”
『But it’s just a beast now. It hasn’t yet blossomed. So I’m merely saying it’s now or never to tame it, before it starts acting arbitrarily like in the past, defying the king’s orders. That’s a waste.』
“What if it’s easier said than done?”
The Apostate shrugged.
“Skebal.”
She knows.
The existence that devoured humans, once deemed the Black Beast, eventually became known as the King of Beasts.
Where it started as nothing but a beast.
Starting from that simple existence, it stood in the way as another king in the final moment. The beast was shaped by countless emotions such as longing for humans, desire, obsession, jealousy.
“Let it be, just let it be.”
The Apostate laughed.
“Let it complete itself. It’s not something that grows and becomes complete under someone else’s hand. It is meant to stand alone as a perfect and complete being.”
Trials, hardships, adversity.
A being completed through countless crises.
Sometimes fleeing, sometimes suffering loss, sometimes roaring with rage, the beast survived. It bloomed, filling what it lacked until it became whole.
“What a ridiculous story.”
The Apostate chuckled.
Laughing, she recalled the past. The King of Beasts, who both hated and loved humans, was named by some human. A name not recorded in any history, yet the Apostate remembered that name.
The King of Beasts.
The King of Beasts, Barta.
*
Blood gushed forth.
Crimson and pain.
Faced with the impending death, the beast recalled.
Its name.
The word that defined its existence.
The beast closed its eyes.
And when it opened them again, it was a king.
The King of Beasts, Barta, opened his eyes.
