—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
As Yuma picked up Balmung, he felt a sound resonating in his head.
“Sword of Lamentation and Extinction, Balmung. Initiating activation.”
It sounded like a modern, gentlemanly male AI voice.
Yuma furrowed his brow.
“…An ego sword?”
“What are you talking about?”
Wasn’t it just being swung around in the hands of that god Incrinew yesterday?
“This ego, Balmung. I cannot germinate my ego in non-human hands. There is only consciousness. 312 years stuck in the divine sac of that ignorant and cold-blooded bastard god Incrinew. Most of that time was darkness itself… Finally, I’ve come into human hands.”
Balmung continued:
“And to think it’s the hands of the God Slayer who killed that god Incrinew. I’m very pleased. It’s quite fitting.”
Whatever it is, it seems certain that it’s a strange one.
“Please use me, Balmung. You just need to perform the master ritual.”
This guy, something feels off about him.
“What abilities do you have?”
“If I were to list the great abilities of this ego, first is the ability to quickly detect long-range and far-range attacks based on magical power or aura, and to comprehend their direction, angle, position, trajectory, and so on.”
Yuma was about to say he’d use it right away, but barely suppressed that urge.
The power to perfectly prepare against long-range attacks.
It was a power Yuma desperately needed, but for now, he needed to learn more about this guy.
“Any other abilities?”
“All the swordsmanship of the swordsmen who have used Balmung so far has been recorded. It’s the swordsmanship of five top-tier Grand Sword Masters. All poses, sword forms, and footwork are recorded.”
‘This isn’t an ability I need, but one Bell needs.’
But for that reason, he couldn’t just hand it over to Bell.
The previous ‘radar-like’ ability was too necessary for himself.
And that ability wouldn’t be very necessary for Bell.
Even without such a thing, if danger approached him to that extent, he’d be able to sense it with his qi sense.
A genius of martial arts bestowed by the gods.
That was Bell.
‘Each one of Balmung’s previous owners must have been the strongest of their time.’
While Yuma was pondering, Balmung’s words continued in his head:
“And while it may not be a function the current God Slayer owner needs, I can also deploy a curtain-type defensive magic that is self-sustaining with the magical power embedded in me.”
But surprisingly, it was the last function that most appealed to Yuma…!
Yuma felt his thoughts organizing in his head.
First, he concluded that he should become the owner of this Balmung.
‘It’s not enough.’
Evil God.
If another being like Incrinew appears next time, he would have to step up in the end. Because Bell and Cloney’s growth hasn’t been realized yet.
‘I have a feeling that I won’t be the one to save this world at the very last, last moment.’
It doesn’t suit me.
Yuma thought that his ‘parrying’ didn’t suit the [Clear] of this world, the salvation of this world.
He thought that someday, Cloney and Bell, who currently couldn’t use their power in front of the Evil God, would fully awaken their powers.
‘Until then, I have to protect them.’
Yuma decided to become Balmung’s owner to properly fulfill that mission.
‘I can just pass on the swordsmanship and other knowledge Balmung knows to Bell.’
He didn’t need to show it directly; if he just wrote down something like a swordsmanship manual and gave it to Bell, Bell would completely comprehend the trajectory of that swordsmanship on his own.
Because he was literally a genius bestowed by the gods.
“How do you perform this master ritual?”
“You just need to drop a single drop of blood on the small jewel on my handle.”
“Once I become your master, I can only communicate with my master. Even if someone else picks me up, they can’t talk to me.”
“Once you become the owner, can you not transfer ownership?”
“I’m not a demonic sword. You can transfer ownership whenever you want. However, once you transfer, you can’t become the owner again.”
“I see.”
The blood in Yuma’s body should have started changing to the all-poison-resisting type, but conveniently, he didn’t cough up blood.
Yuma ended up calling a servant standing in the hallway to get a needle.
Drip…
A single drop of blood fell on the small jewel on the handle.
The jewel emitted a mysterious light.
“You have become my master. Master.”
Balmung’s words continued:
“To communicate bidirectionally, you need to hold me and speak as you are now, but I can unilaterally transmit information to you at any time.”
“Right, don’t open your mouth unless it’s an urgent situation like an attack coming from afar.”
Balmung’s words weren’t coming out of the sword.
They kept resonating inside Yuma’s head.
And it was a rather unpleasant sensation.
There was no response to the command.
“Answer.”
“…I’m hurt, Master.”
“Answer.”
“Understood, Master.”
Balmung scanned its master’s body condition.
And discovered a surprising fact.
“There’s no mana heart. Master, do you not use aura… sword energy?”
Even in the mechanical, AI-like voice, there was noticeable astonishment.
“It’s the body of an ordinary person. Without any talent.”
Yuma gave a simple explanation.
If he successfully parries an opponent’s attack, he can return damage exceeding that attack power to that opponent.
“With that… you killed a god? What kind of life have you lived, Master?”
“Are you disappointed?”
“No. I’m moved. It’s the first time I’ve met this kind of master. I’m very moved.”
This bastard.
He seems genuinely moved.
That’s why it was a bit scary.
While conversing with Balmung, Yuma confirmed a few more things.
How to deploy the barrier magic.
And how the sword technique knowledge is stored.
Unfortunately, since it only saw the outside world when Incrinew was using it and was constantly in the divine sac, it didn’t know anything about the whereabouts of other evil gods.
The conversation continued. And a day quickly passed.
“…He just said he was a little tired?”
Brigitte looked at Royan, the chief attendant standing next to her.
Royan, the middle-aged chief attendant, bowed his head while looking at First Princess Brigitte.
“Yes, that’s what he said.”
Brigitte couldn’t pick up her fork in front of the pasta already prepared by the chef.
It was the same for Bell and Cloney sitting on either side of Brigitte, who also couldn’t pick up their forks.
Slurp!
Except for one person, the nineteen-year-old cat-folk swordswoman Hestia.
“Mmm… He asked for lunch, didn’t he! It should be fine, right? He must be tired.”
Hestia’s words were reasonable.
Thinking about yesterday’s events, it would be natural to want to take a full day of rest alone.
Even if not particularly sick.
“Yes, Yuma must be tired.”
But the already lost appetite didn’t return.
‘…Emperor.’
Am I…
A person worthy of being Emperor?
Brigitte fell into deep thought.
Yuma.
It was solely the result Yuma had created.
It was Yuma’s power that completely turned around the extremely unfavorable imperial succession competition.
‘What weak thoughts am I having?’
If no one were here right now, Brigitte might have slapped her own cheek.
‘Yuma was confident even before a god.’
But now that she had obtained the position of Emperor that she had so desperately wished for, to be scared now.
‘I will rise.’
Like an Emperor.
Become the Empress of the great Astes Empire.
‘I will prove it.’
To the imperial citizens of this land.
To the nobles.
─And to Yuma.
She must show them that their choice was not wrong.
First Princess Brigitte’s blue eyes shone brightly.
Cloney slowly rose from her seat.
“I’m not hungry. I’ll eat dinner. I’m sorry.”
With a faint smile and a bow, Cloney walked briskly down to the first floor.
‘I’m much weaker than sister Bell.’
Her destination was the training ground.
‘I’ll be of help to Lord Yuma.’
I will definitely stand by his side.
Cloney whipped herself.
Bell was slightly frowning with her head bowed.
‘So I really was just brought along because of the prophecy.’
‘Why did I say such a thing?’
She had uttered words that shouldn’t have been said to the savior of her clan, to her own savior.
In front of Yuma’s sword that seemed so great, alone in her feelings of inferiority.
Bell kept reproaching herself.
And followed Cloney to the training ground.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Early morning.
Crunch, crunch…
Bell was hastening her steps while looking at the scenery of falling leaves.
Taking a morning walk was a routine she had even when confined in the Castle of White Night.
Bell, who had entered the entrance of the Princess Palace again after taking a lap, opened her eyes wide.
It was because she saw Yuma walking majestically in front of her.
‘So he took a walk first.’
Should I ask to go together from next time?
Bell followed Yuma with her pink eyes.
Cough─!
Bell stopped in her tracks.
It was quite a sharp cough.
‘Was he sick? Yesterday too….’
Worry welled up.
At that moment, Yuma’s baritone voice pierced Bell’s ears.
“Not much time left….”
After saying that, Yuma walked up the stairs.
Bell slowly walked, confirming that Yuma had completely gone up.
And she stared at the stair railing Yuma had just held.
A very faint red color was smeared on the white railing.
“…Blood?”
Bell’s complexion turned pale.
“Not much time left.”
“…Ah.”
The words Yuma had just muttered low echoed in her ears again.
Her mind started to go blank.
“You will certainly become a greater swordsman than me.”
A strong headache pressed down on her mind.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
