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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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The flickers of the bonfire leapt upwards. The life of a flicker was but a fleeting glimmer. However, Valian’s extraordinary eyes perceived the remnants of the extinguished flickers being scattered this way and that by the wind before, at some point, riding the breeze between the stars in the sky.
And those stars were beautiful—streams resembling flowing rivers, the Milky Ways. In this medieval land, they were about the only thing Valian found pleasing to his heart—the magnificent natural scenery.
Valian took a swig of the honey wine gifted by Auntie Ransia, downing it straight from the bottle. His high stamina prevented him from getting drunk, yet the atmosphere was considerably lively nonetheless. Partaking in potent alcohol alone at a campsite on the journey—it seemed fitting.
At that moment, someone approached, rustling through the nearby bushes. They made no effort to conceal their presence, the elegant motions gently brushing against the trees and grass. It was the hunter Gio.
Valian raised the bottle and asked, “A sip?”
“…No.”
“Don’t be coy.”
Gio tilted his head quizzically. “…Did you know I would come?”
“I noticed someone following a while ago.”
“But you didn’t know it was me?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yet you don’t seem surprised.”
“Why would I be surprised? That an ordinary-looking village fairy hunter is actually a demon’s minion?”
“…Right.”
“Whatever you are, you’re someone I can crush.”
Gio wore a briefly dazed expression before breaking into laughter. “My, such an arrogant barbarian you are. Are all Aynakians like this?”
“I’m particularly so.”
Gio shook his head slowly. “Mere wordplay won’t resolve this. Just hand over that sword and scram.”
Valian set down the bottle and rose from his spot, picking up the ancient holy sword he had propped beside him and slowly unsheathing it. The chilling sound of the blade scraping against the scabbard, combined with the runes on the dimly glowing blade becoming visible in the night, sent a chill down Gio’s spine.
“…Remarkable. …Truly a sword worthy of its name.”
“It has a name?”
“Yes, Roebane—the holy sword tempered by Rophina’s tears and moonlight.”
How grandiose—the tears of a deity and moonlight.
Gio’s expression gradually contorted with greed, the handsome fairy’s face becoming distorted bit by bit.
“A holy sword touched by the hand of the divine… I can hardly wait to see how beautifully it will be tainted.”
Valian let out a mocking laugh. “This fool’s already spouting gibberish. Who fed you that drivel? The blood that will soon stain this blade is yours, bastard.”
Gio momentarily furrowed his brow, unable to comprehend the phrase “gibberish,” but soon dismissed it. What did he care what kind of beverage the barbarian from the border regions had been drinking? He bared his fangs in a grin, his canines protruding sharply as his two eyes gradually turned a crimson hue.
“You seem to be under the misconception that merely holding a holy sword grants its full power. A holy sword only unleashes its true might when wielded by the divine champion for whom it was forged. An infidel like you cannot reveal any of its sanctity.”
Valian paid no heed to those words, gripping the sword with both hands and muttering under his breath, “Val-tazha.”
New runes overlaid the original inscribed ones, the two sets of overlapping runes shining brilliantly.
“…Were you a holy knight?”
“No, I’m a barbarian warrior.”
Gio gazed at Valian with a somewhat bewildered look for referring to himself as a barbarian and shook his head.
“It matters not what you are. You’ll die here regardless, and I’ll take that sword.”
Gio’s crimson eyes flashed as he swiftly chanted a spell and thrust his hand towards Valian. An unseen, tremendous force struck Valian, scattering the bonfire’s embers and ash in all directions. Valian was flung backwards as if struck by a battering ram—a spell he had experienced at the hands of the Hasuro monstrosity.
The level of power was on an entirely different scale. Back then, it had merely pushed him away, but the spell cast by this fairy packed enough force to smash through a castle gate.
The airborne Valian crashed through a couple of trees before slamming into the ground. He immediately wanted to clutch his aching back but had no time for that, swiftly rising and locating Gio’s position.
Gio stood in the same spot, extending both hands forward as he chanted a spell, the mumbled words were too quick and quiet to make out. Valian’s hand swept across his back, grasping a battered hand-axe on the verge of falling apart.
Gio’s spell completed at the same instant Valian’s left arm seemed to flicker. A violet barrier then materialized before Gio, the steel hand-axe embedding itself within but failing to penetrate through. Gio wore a surprised expression.
“Your confidence seems well-founded. Lesser mages would have perished without a chance to cast a spell.”
Valian did not falter. Seeing his thrown axe blocked, he immediately charged towards Gio. Gio swiftly extended his right hand towards Valian, chanting the same spell that sent leaves and dirt erupting violently from the ground.
This time, Valian avoided it, noting Gio’s hand and gaze to hurl his body sideways as the bonfire’s scattered embers flew in all directions once more.
After a rolling tumble, Valian swiftly regained his footing and raised the holy sword overhead with both hands before slamming it downwards, shattering Gio’s barrier with ease as the axe remained lodged within.
Gio’s expression turned urgent as his lips swiftly chanted another spell, crackling arcs of lightning forming around his right hand.
Before he could complete it, Valian’s fist smashed squarely into his face.
Gio crumpled to the ground, unable to utter even a grunt, his left cheek torn open to reveal bloody flesh, his eyeball ruptured and leaking viscous fluid. His left teeth were shattered, spilling blood and fragments. His cheekbone had caved in, jaw askew and dangling unnaturally. The spell in his right hand was disrupted as well.
“Ughh… Ah… Ungh…”
Even sprawled on the ground, Gio squirmed and tried to retreat from Valian, his mangled mouth mumbling indistinctly. The spell disrupted in his right hand reignited with a crackling aura around his remaining left, and despite his staggering movements, he tried to aim that hand at Valian. Valian’s sword slashed across it, severing Gio’s left hand in a spurt of blood.
“Ughhkkhh…”
Valian kicked the prone Gio onto his back, planting his foot squarely on his chest as Gio choked and coughed up blood onto his own face. Remarkably, the fire still burned in Gio’s remaining eye, glaring defiantly at Valian despite being filled with hatred, fury, and agony—though his right hand lay outstretched and trembling, as if surrendering to the overwhelming brutality.
Valian made sure to sever that hand as well, but then he noticed a ring adorning Gio’s twitching fingers. A white signet ring inlaid with countless white dots within an intricate pattern. Gio’s partially severed tongue moved once more.
“Rimo… Artus…!”
An explosive burst of light emanated from the ring.
Simultaneously with the blinding flare, Valian attempted to cut off Gio’s right hand but was blasted away by an immense, repulsive force, hurled nearly 10 meters through the air. It was a situation ripe for broken bones upon landing, yet Valian twisted his body midair to righten his posture, descending in a stable, two-footed stance.
Gio’s body was engulfed in white flames that seemed to heal his mangled face and severed left hand, though not fully—his facial features were crudely reattached, the ruptured eye remained sealed shut, and the severed hand was merely closed over at the stump. The white flames were then reabsorbed into the ring.
“…Tch.”
Observing this from a low stance, Valian let out a resigned grunt before charging in again, gambling that perfect regeneration seemed impossible. If so, then continually hacking away until the fiend perished would suffice.
As he closed in, Gio extended the ring on his right hand and shouted, “Rimo Artus—!”
Another explosive burst of light erupted from the ring. Sensing impending danger, Valian rolled sideways to avoid being in Gio’s line of sight with the ring.
A swathe of searing white flames swept across where he had just been standing. Like a scorching tongue, the flames licked across that area before retreating back into the ring, leaving only charred streaks where the forest’s trees, grass and leaves had been incinerated.
Cold sweat trickled down Valian’s spine.
‘Shit, he’s using that again?’
Gio’s eye tracked Valian’s movement, and true to his apprehension, he extended that right hand once more.
“Damn it.”
“Rimo, Artus!”
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