EPISODE 348 – THE ONE WHO MOVED TOWARDS THE HORIZON (1)
“Cordelia, I…”
***
There was a boy.
He had been special since birth.
***
The flames of war broke out across the empire.
The chancellor’s army led by Marshal Bartolein marched once more towards the Cilates Plains.
Grand Sword Master Lucius Grande took the lead and let out a red and reddish-black aura as a rain of arrows passed over his head and covered the Cilates Plains.
Flames spread.
Shouts were everywhere.The frontlines of both sides collided.
The clash between thousands and thousands caused tremendous damage in itself.
Shields pushed each other back, and spears and swords squeezed in between, stabbing and cutting the other side.
Someone cried.
Someone overcame their fear with the speed of light. In other words, they ran away from fear.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The earth was ringing.
It added another sound to the battlefield full of loud roars.
“Pierce through!”
The cavalry ran.
They charged through the battlefield in order to hit the enemy’s sides and rear.
It was not just the kingdom’s army.
The same was true of the chancellor’s army.
They crossed or collided with each other, and lances cut through the soldiers’ bodies. The impact of the charge broke their bodies.
“Do not back down! For the defense of the kingdom – no, the world!”
The Golden Sword Saint shouted.
He looked at Grand Sword Master Lucius who was slaughtering the kingdom’s army.
Lucius was dressed in black.
His face could not be seen because of his helmet, but the Golden Sword Saint could tell.
‘He’s laughing.’
That f*cking b*stard sold his soul to the devil and is laughing while slaughtering the human soldiers.
The Golden Sword Saint kicked the ground.
It might be foolish of him as the supreme commander to be on the frontlines, but he had to.
The only person that could stop a Grand Sword Master was a great swordmaster.
Only a great swordmaster could push that dog-like b*stard.
“Lucius Grande!”
The Golden Sword Saint bellowed and emitted a brilliant golden sword aura.
Lucius looked back at that Golden Sword Saint and laughed underneath his helmet.
He felt an unstoppable sense of excitement after he became a demonic human, and let out his immense power that seemed to burst in his own body as he rushed to face the Golden Sword Saint.
Swords crossed each other.
Crimson and gold smashed each other.
“EUAAAAAAAAH!”
The soldiers screamed.
They threw themselves into the flames of the battlefield.
Ruuuuuumble!
The soldiers saw it.
A place far from the Cilates Plains.
The land of the kingdom connected to the eastern part of the empire.
The demonic monsters were rushing in.
Goblins let out hideous shrieks.
Orcs rushed as they wielded huge weapons.
The sight of not just one, but dozens or hundreds of terrifying ogres appearing and rushing together was a nightmare in itself.
The wyverns pierced the skies.
Big black dogs engulfed in flames that seemed to have come from Hell then scorched the earth.
The soldiers felt fear.
The poison of fear spread among the soldiers.
I’m scared.
I’m going to die.
I can’t win.
I want to run away.
The hands holding their weapons trembled.
Their legs were shaking and they could not properly stand.
It was a natural feeling as a human being.
But then, there were people who stepped forward.
There were those who stood between the soldiers and demons, showing their backs.
Seven-Killings Sword, Seryu.
She was silent.
Instead of giving a speech, she just drew her sword.
Without looking back , she showed her back to the soldiers as she faced the demons.
Sebastian Leguin did not open his mouth too.
He stood like a rock next to Seryu as one became two.
The soldiers saw them.
Instead of pushing the soldiers’ backs, the officers stepped forward.
Cold sweat flowed down.
Their legs trembled with fear.
However, the officers stood next to Seryu and Sebastian.
Again, the two were increased to dozens.
The demons ran.
The sound of their shrieks and footsteps seemed to devour everything in the place.
At that moment, someone shouted.
One became dozens.
Numerous people rose and moved forward.
“For the kingdom! Protect the kingdom!”
The officers shouted.
The soldiers responded with shouts.
The sound of battle trumpets suppressed the screams of the demons.
“Let’s go.”
Seryu silently spoke.
She stepped forward as a member of the Ten Great Swordmasters who protected the kingdom, and as a human living in the kingdom.
***
The boy’s eyes saw things differently from the others.
For the boy, everything in this world was very easy and simple.
When children of the same age barely realized one thing, the boy had already realized ten things. Or rather, his situation was not just at that level.
The boy knew from birth.
So he moved forward faster than anyone else.
***
Battles occurred.
The ravages of war spread.
In the north, Count Bayer and Count Chase clashed with the Gray Lady.
In the west, Elune rushed towards the calamity.
And in the imperial capital.
At the land where the fate of the world was at stake.
“ROOOOOOOOOOOAR!”
The Ancient Bone Dragon roared.
Its fear was enough to suppress the place, but the demons and demonic humans burst into laughter instead of trembling with fear.
They magically erased their fear and rushed towards the Ancient Bone Dragon like a pack of angry wolves – no, like a swarm of locusts that swept through everything.
It was a great sight.
The breath of the Ancient Bone Dragon was spewed with a power that could destroy the capital, and hundreds of demons were annihilated in one shot.
However, many times more demonic monsters stuck to the Ancient Bone Dragon’s body.
“KEUAAAAAA!”
The Ancient Bone Dragon loudly roared and released its powerful magic. It swept away the demons that attached to its body, and it swung its huge tail at the same time, clearing the ground.
The ground was dug and buildings collapsed as numerous monsters were crushed and killed.
[RUSH FORWARD!]
The voices of Death Knights resounded with each other.
They led the undead legion against the raging waves of demon followers.
The magic of the liches boosted them.
A rain of fire poured from the east of the capital.
Heavy rain fell from the west side of the capital.
The spirits of wind and fire created a huge fiery hurricane that sucked the demons, and the spirits of earth caved the ground and swallowed the demons.
But it was not a one-sided fight.
A poisonous demon contaminated the spirits.
An icy demon froze the feet of the spirits as well as the undead legion.
Velkian did his best to maintain the undead legion.
Fran cursed as he summoned new spirits.
Red Wind became one with the Phoenix as it spread its flame wings. Sun Song sang the song of Blade Song, raising everyone’s fighting spirit.
Scarlet and Kajsa also fought frantically.
The considerate Scarlet did not forget Adelaide’s existence.
In order to protect Adelaide who was hiding in the cockpit surrounded by numerous magic barriers, she swung her whip sword over and over again.
“Lucas!”
Kajsa awakened the blood of the divine creature, Fenrir, and turned her head.
She looked at the place that was considered the center of all the fights taking place in the imperial capital.
She screamed at the spurting blood.
***
[You are special.]
One day, a voice was heard in the boy’s mind.
That angelic, imposing, yet divine voice captivated the young boy’s heart in an instant.
[You are the brightest.]
He was born with the most brilliant talent in Pleiades.
What she said was not wrong.
The archangel of judgment was telling the truth.
[I will guide you.]
The boy had a noble heart.
Therefore, he accepted the voice from a higher place.
He was sure that she would lead him to the right path.
And the boy’s life changed.
It was not just a change from before.
Before his birth.
The past that had been repeated several times.
[Become stronger.]
The voice from a higher place made the boy’s potential bloom more quickly.
Instead of facing his childhood friend that he had always been with, the boy went on a journey and traveled around the empire to get what he needed.
[Learn from him.]
The voice from a higher place guided the boy to a man.
The Sword God.
He was the strongest in the empire – no, the world.
***
“My disciple.”
Numerous emotions filled the wrinkled face of the Sword God.
He was seriously injured in their last fight.
He could neither properly handle the sword nor move the sword the way he wanted.
But he still stood on the battlefield.
Once again, he tried to face his disciple.
Maximilian de Avis.
Armed with divine heavenly weapons, he spread the Virtue angel’s golden wings and wielded the Blades of Judgment.
Five swords moved on their own as if they were alive, mercilessly cutting down Maximilian’s enemies.
He wore a pure white helmet.
So Maximilian’s face could not be seen.
The Sword God roughly breathed.
He recalled his first meeting with his disciple.
He thought of the past when he saw his disciple’s sword and trembled with joy.
This child could definitely reach it.
This child would surely unfold it.
The Sword of the Sky.
A supreme swordsmanship that only those who had reached the horizon could use.
Babababababababang-!
The Blades of Judgment fell down like rain as it destroyed the Death Knights.
The swords let out aura blades by itself and crushed the undead.
So the Sword God took a step forward. He penetrated through the broken and scattered undead, breaking through the Blades of Judgment.
Claclaclaclaclaclang-!
Swords clashed.
The five Blades of Judgment were all directed at the Sword God.
The Sword God rotated his body like a top and pushed, deflected, and struck all the swords.
He stared at his disciple who did not look at him but was glaring at Velkian while holding a divine sword covered in a pure white aura.
“Maximilian!”
He shouted once more.
However, the disciple who had already defeated his master once did not listen to him.
He walked towards Velkian.
***
The boy became a young man.
The boy who blossomed much faster than before had been reborn as an unrivaled being.
[Go south.]
You must first take there the things that might fall into the hands of the wicked.
The feeling that something was out of place was what led the voice from a higher place, but she continued to guide the young man.
The young man saw the world.
He was convinced that he was doing the right thing.
He believed that someday, when the day came when they would really need his strength, he would help protect the people and the world.
And finally, that day had come.
But the scene that day was very different from what the young man had imagined.
***
Maximilian swung his sword.
Death Knights flocked to stop him, but they were no different from a swarm of moths chasing the flame.
Each time the light of Divine Sword Balisarda swirled, the Death Knights wailed and collapsed.
Even the leader of the Death Knights which Velkian had put all his effort into could only receive Maximilian’s sword three to four times.
The road was opened.
The number of those who stood in the road between Velkian and Maximilian were just decreasing.
But at some point.
Maximilian stopped his steps and looked behind him.
He had gone forward without hesitation and crushed the Death Knights, but he was forced to look back.
He did not respond to the calls of his desperate master as he viewed his opponent through his helmet.
“Biltwein.”
His opponent only spoke and did not look at him.
The man looked up the sky and spoke alone as he brightly smiled.
The man had already been defeated once.
The man’s arm was soaked in blood, and a large wound was on his chest.
But Maximilian knew.
His opponent was strong.
He was able to easily defeat his opponent due to the surprise attack of the Blades of Judgment, but his opponent was not a person who could fall so quickly.
But why?
He felt that there was something more to his opponent.
Maximilian raised Divine Sword Balisarda.
Lucas gripped Claíomh Solais.
The two swords aimed at each other again.
***
The young man wore a divine helmet.
The young man, who had been reborn as a fifth-rank Virtue angel through ancestral regression, followed the voice from a higher place like always.
Rather than questioning her words, he simply accepted it.
He faced his master.
He pulled out his sword instead of showing his respect and talking about what he saw and felt while traveling around the world.
The voice from a higher place told him to fight his master, so he swung his sword.
[You will protect it.]
You will correct history.
Correct the flow of time.
Correct the order of the world.
The young man trusted her words.
Or rather, the young man no longer possessed a free will.
The young man wore holy armor.
He came to the imperial capital to help in the destruction of the world.
***
The Sword God knew.
Lucas Hræsvelgr was strong.
He was so talented that it was unbelievable that he was only in his late teens.
But that was not enough.
Maximilian surpassed Lucas.
The former was much closer to the horizon.
Furthermore, Maximilian was no longer an ordinary human being.
Reborn as a fifth-rank Virtue angel, he acquired tremendous physical abilities that even Grand Sword Masters could only look up to.
Claclaclang!
The moment the swords met, shockwaves swept the place.
The surrounding seemed to scream at the colossal clash of forces.
Nonetheless, Maximilian’s sword did not shake.
However, Lucas’ sword was pitifully shaking.
Unlike Maximilian’s strong legs, Lucas’ legs were even trembling.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Maximilian tried to suppress Lucas by force.
It was the right choice.
Divine Sword Balisarda aimed at Lucas’ sword instead of the body, and both of Lucas’ arms shook each time the swords crossed.
Blood gushed out of his wounds again.
Lucas collapsed.
He could not block the next blow.
His sword missed, revealing a gap and pretty much giving away his neck.
Kajsa screamed.
Scarlet cried out Lucas’ name.
And the Sword God saw.
He doubted his own eyes.
A sword pushed the other sword away.
Lucas did not fall.
The sword of the Holy King might be shaken, but it would never collapse.
The sword attacks continued.
Lucas’ sword, which seemed to be defeated at any moment, received all of Maximilian’s attacks.
He pushed it away.
He sometimes deflected it.
Through his sword techniques, he overcame the power of Maximilian.
“UOOOOOOOH!”
Maximilian raised his voice.
The Blades of Judgment that had been attacking the Sword God began to attack Lucas one by one.
Lucas was shaken this time too.
He had a very hard time.
But he managed to block it.
Instead of falling and collapsing, he once again let out the light of the Holy King.
Maximilian was definitely pushing him.
But he did not feel that way.
Rather, he could feel the impatience in Maximilian’s sword that was on the offensive.
What’s the reason?
Why?
Why in the world!
***
The young man who was moving forward then stopped.
The moment the voice from a higher place took over his mind, his light became tainted.
His footsteps came to a halt.
***
Lucas knew.
Maximilian was the brightest.
He had a talent that surpassed even Jude and Cordelia.
He was always ahead even in their past lives.
He was shining in an unreachable place like the stars in the sky.
‘He’s strong.’
He was incredibly strong like Jude and Cordelia that Lucas wondered if Maximilian even walked a different road in his previous lives.
He was the result of the talents that bloomed much earlier, the teachings of the best master, the body of a Virtue angel, and the numerous divine items he had.
An overwhelming person.
A stronger being than First Sword who had transformed into a top-ranking demonic human.
But Lucas did not back down.
He relied on the dragon equipment that Jude and Cordelia had prepared for him.
He depended on the power of Claíomh Solais that radiated divine light.
He endured with everything that he had.
He struggled and used the sword of the Holy King.
It was not beautiful.
It was an ugly struggle, as if he had rolled around in mud.
But little by little, Lucas’ posture stabilized.
Maximilian’s sword attacks were gradually deviating.
The Sword God clenched his fist.
He thought while watching the clash between Lucas and Maximilian.
The road to the horizon.
It was not difficult at first.
All that a person had to do was walk on the road that someone had paved.
But the road became dark at some point.
There would come a moment when one could not see the step ahead.
That was when they would look around.
They would realize for the first time the road of others they did not see because they had only moved on their own road.
They would see the straight and beautiful roads.
They would see other people moving way ahead of them.
Then they would think.
That the other people’s roads were right.
That their own road was wrong.
That their own path was wrong from the start.
Their footsteps would stop.
They would be unable to go further.
“I’m not wrong.”
Lucas shook his head.
He was on the road.
In his eyes, he could see the straight and beautiful roads of Jude and Maximilian shining faraway.
Compared to the two, Lucas’ own road was not beautiful at all.
But Lucas knew.
He had already realized it through his repeated lives.
“It’s not wrong.”
It was just different.
Even if it was not a straight and beautiful road, this winding and ugly road would also reach that horizon.
He walked.
And walked.
And walked again.
He did not lose to delusions.
He was a person who did not collapse even if he saw the road of others.
A person who could keep going on his own road, even if he had doubts and would sometimes take a step backwards.
The Sword God gasped for breath.
He watched the fight between Lucas and Maximilian, and saw the roads of the two.
Maximilian’s footsteps stopped.
His road was very beautiful and bright, but it was cut off.
He could not move forward anymore.
First Sword was the same.
The moment he remembered his past lives when he used poison, he lost his way.
He bitterly wept at the fact that his road had been cut off.
The Sword God himself was no different.
He had stopped at some point.
And now he knew.
Sword God himself had thought.
That his own road was cut off.
That his own road would never reach the horizon.
But it was all a delusion.
A wrong idea.
Lucas was showing it.
He was letting the Sword God know.
“The road was not cut off.”
The roads of Maximilian, First Sword, and the Sword God.
Lucas took a step.
He overcame all delusions and moved on.
Without denying himself, he went his own way towards the darkness beyond.
Like always, in his lives that had been repeated several times.
“UOOOOOOOOO!”
Maximilian attacked with all his might. The five Blades of Judgment stabbed Lucas at the same time.
Lucas saw it.
The Sword God saw the back of Lucas as he moved towards the darkness.
The Sword God now realized what had been so obvious.
Swords crossed.
The swords pushed each other away.
The Sword God sat down in his spot and burst into tears.
Lucas’ road was no longer dark.
As he faced the ordeal called Maximilian.
As a result of moving forward without giving in to the ordeal.
He was finally able to reach it.
“Lucas.”“Jude.”
It led to one.
Although they were on different roads, they were finally able to face each other on the dazzling horizon.
Lucas swung his sword.
All the five Blades of Judgment were thrown out, and the divine aura that Balisarda emitted was broken.
Maximilian’s sword tumbled towards the ground.
Lucas moved his sword once more.
It was the sword of the Holy King that brilliantly shone.
The Sword God did not close his eyes.
He witnessed the true Sword of the Sky.
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