The sword sliced horizontally.
Starting from a line evenly stretched, the space began to warp.
An infinitely compressed space could no longer withstand its own pressure and started to shatter.
– Crash
Finally, a noise akin to shattering glass layered upon itself.
A tremendous sound erupted.
Though the target was a dagger, a tempest of dark blades surged forth.
Harang sheathed the dagger at his waist and turned his body.
Nameless’s expression seemed shocked. Satisfied, Harang raised the corners of his mouth and spoke.
“This is the Divine Slaying Sword Technique, Second Movement: Sky Breaker.”
Originally created to cut through the sky.
However, there is no sky here.
Lost blades surged, seeking prey.
*
Twisting his stiff body this way and that, he tried fitting his misaligned bones back together.
– Crack
“Ugh, that feels refreshing.”
He placed his left hand on his opposite shoulder, gently rotating his right shoulder to loosen up.
Every time he used the Divine Slaying Sword Technique, it forced his body to surpass its limits, so having his bones contort was common.
Nameless surely knew this too…
Nameless kept glancing at me with a worried expression. Unable to stand it any longer, I stopped stretching and let out a small sigh.
“…What is it?”
“Are you really okay?”
Nameless’s concern.
I tilted my head, filled with questions.
“Why worry about something now?”
Nameless must have seen even bigger spectacles, like the sky falling, so what was so grand about this to merit such worry?
Yet, as if to mock my expectations, Nameless furrowed his brows even harder.
Then he raised his arm and pointed to a spot.
“Hmm? What’s over there…?”
I couldn’t finish my sentence.
Turning my head where Nameless pointed…
“…Why?”
There was a slender twig that should have clearly been broken.
It seemed Nameless’s worry was somewhat different from what I had thought.
I was left speechless in shock.
…Had I ever failed to execute the Divine Slaying Sword Technique?
No, I could confidently say I had never once failed after mastering this sword.
So, was my sword really just a twig-breaking, sky-untouchable blade?
My brow furrowed.
The past 300 years, my lifetime wielding swords, felt like it was being denied, stirring a feeling within my heart like I was being gutted.
It made me weak in the knees, almost dropping to the ground, but…
This paltry pride wouldn’t allow me to show such a disgraceful sight in front of Nameless.
As I chewed on my lips, Nameless, looking equally displeased, stepped closer.
“Master’s sword has not failed.”
A statement wrapped thickly in hypocrisy, no matter who heard it.
My brows furrowed, and I swiftly turned my head.
I didn’t want Nameless to see this expression.
Nameless seemed unwilling to let this situation rest, raising his voice.
“Master, I’m not just saying empty words.”
“Then… why do you say it hasn’t failed?”
My voice sounded surprisingly weak, filled with trepidation.
I even felt a hint of moisture in my eyes.
Something was placed on my shoulder.
It was Nameless’s hand.
But… it wasn’t easy to look at Nameless’s face as I turned my head.
Despite me not looking at him, Nameless continued speaking.
“Master, when you swung your sword, that wand was already broken at the blade’s edge.”
“…What nonsense are you talking about?”
I frowned at his truly baffling statement.
What was that wand I had seen with my own eyes then?
As if frustrated, Nameless repeatedly patted his chest before speaking.
“It’s true, it’s been breaking and recovering repeatedly from the start until now.”
Saying this, Nameless extended his arm once again, pointing to the spot.
It was hard to believe; such a thing couldn’t be possible, yet there was a strong persuasive tone in Nameless’s voice.
Or perhaps, it was simply something I wanted to believe.
Still…
I wanted to hear Nameless’s sincere conviction just one last time, so I pouted and opened my mouth.
“Is that really true…?”
Opening my eyes wide with trembling, I gazed at Nameless.
Seeing me like this, Nameless gulped audibly and nodded.
“Yes, if you look one more time now, you’ll understand immediately.”
Wiping my nose, I turned my head towards Nameless’s words.
Naturally, the sight of the shabby wand caught my eyes.
The surrounding scenery came into view.
I tilted my head.
“…Huh?”
There it was, the wand.
However, it wasn’t standing as if it were originally planted in the ground.
It simply existed.
With the ground around it sunken and an alarming cliff looming, making it seem there was nowhere to step, it was there.
As if there was something predetermined that it had to be in this place.
Floating in mid-air without any support, it continued to crack and recover.
My eyes widened in astonishment.
“What the…”
This was absurd!
Even as I witnessed it, I questioned my own eyes.
Nameless let out a relieved sigh, seeing I regained some composure, and stepped forward beside me.
“Master, that’s not the only strange thing.”
“What?”
There’s something stranger than that wand floating in mid-air?
“If you keep watching, you’ll understand.”
“Alright, let’s see.”
I narrowed my eyes and focused on the wand.
How much time passed?
– Crackle
A tiny spark flared on the recovering wand.
As if part of the wand were pixelated, it shimmered and continued to undergo recovery.
“…Huh.”
A smirk crept onto my face.
What the hell is that wand?
I had taken up the sword to dispel my anxiety, but instead, I was left with even more questions.
Deep in thought.
*
Before the space shattered.
Lucius and Elia were moving westward, continuing their search.
“Saint, isn’t there anything off?”
“…Yeah, it seems there’s nothing in this vicinity. Should we speed things up…?”
At Lucius’s urging tone, Elia furrowed her brows and replied.
Her expression seemed laden with guilt.
Seeing Elia’s expression, Lucius softly raised the corners of his mouth and shook his head.
“No, if this were going to be easy, we wouldn’t have searched on our first visit, would we?”
Lucius’s words were more of a false comfort than actual comfort.
Elia smiled faintly.
“True…”
However, that smile didn’t last long.
– Krrrrrrrrrrrr!
With their senses, a massive explosion sound accompanied a thick magic energy.
The dense magical pressure they’d never felt before caused their smiles to fade, replaced by growing unease.
“What?!”
Elia snapped her head around.
The direction of the explosion, the source of the thick magic.
It was the path that Cheon Ha-rang and Cheon Mu-myeong had taken.
“Lucius!”
Upon realizing this, Elia recalled, “Something must have gone wrong!” and rushed toward Lucius to help him.
“Lucius…?”
What she saw was Lucius’s face filled with an unfathomable hatred.
Lucius murmured softly.
“Demon King…”
Words that were hard to grasp immediately.
Elia tilted her head in confusion and asked again.
“…What? Demon King?”
Lucius gritted his teeth so hard, they were nearly cracking, and he didn’t hear her.
Elia’s face was beginning to pall with anxiety at Lucius’s state.
Why was he losing his mind amid a potentially dangerous situation? Elia’s heart raced.
Just as she was about to speak up.
“Saint, wait a moment.”
Lucius moved first.
“Ah?!”
“I’ll hurry.”
Lucius lifted Elia and threw her over his shoulder, then summoned his mana.
Brilliant light, denying the thick magic energy arising from afar, exploded forth from Lucius’s body.
– Boom!
Finally, judging there was enough mana, Lucius slammed down on the ground.
*
The further they moved toward the immense magic presence in the east, the more the scenery changed, causing Lucius to frown.
‘…Things are more serious than I thought.’
Wasn’t there a massive tempest raging in a place where the wind hardly blew?
Clearly, the ground, which should have been a large flat plain at ‘the edge of the world,’ was cracked at odd angles.
Unless the demon king had been unsealed, such a phenomenon was impossible.
‘No, this is the kind of impact that could even be beyond the demon king’s capabilities.’
Lucius was convinced.
Somehow, the demon king he had encountered in the past had returned at a higher level.
Successfully resurrected.
‘…If not…’
That guy could be returning again.
Lucius hurried his steps.
