Chapter 205 : Chapter 205
Translator: AkazaTL
Pr/Ed: Sol IX
***
Chapter 205. A drift (2)
The old man looked at the sea.
“Master.”
To the old man, the sea was like the world itself.
The endlessly stretching waters were the infinite possibilities granted to the young, the dazzling future offered as a gift to those who dared to challenge it. Those who challenged bravely could haul treasures from the depths, discover new lands and grasp glory, or catch enough fish to feed their families. To those who challenged, the sea gave gifts. To those who challenged, the world offered gifts.
“Please, behind me.”
But future and possibility, gifts and glory, were never given for free. The world and the sea always handed out harsh trials. Before trials one could not understand, flowers that had yet to bloom were cut down, young people crumbled, and youths that should have shone disappeared into the dirt.
“Hurry.”
The old man— Old caretaker Tom—saw the approaching trial.
That trial was far too great for his friend to withstand, far too rough, a wave so colossal it could crush a flower that had yet to blossom. But for the aged fighter, it was a wave he had crossed before.
“Tom, it’s dangerous.”
“It’s fine.”
In his younger, promising years, when Tom was not the caretaker of the Hall of Honor but a gladiator famed across the entire Iron Kingdom, he had been a swordsman capable of cutting down a divine beast or two.
“I’ve faced one before, when I was young.”
But Tom was now old.
A swordsman who was not a Swordmaster could not avoid aging. A life that failed to transcend would wear out and break down with the passing of years. Just as even a masterpiece sword would become rusted scrap after centuries, Tom had worn down over his long years. Having lived buried among blades, he had not been able to hone his own.
The old man’s skill had aged, his body had broken, and his life was racing toward twilight.
“It’s dangerous, Tom. Stop—”
“It’s fine.”
“Are you not hurt? And badly, at that!”
The old man, racing toward his end, moved desperately to save his friend, breaking down even further than before. His wounds still had not healed. Perhaps the scars etched into his aged body would remain forever. If he moved recklessly in this wounded state, his body might completely break.
He might not be able to swing a sword—or even move properly—ending his days soiling himself in misery, like countless other elderly people in the Iron Kingdom.
“No, it’s fine.”
And yet he did not step back.
The old man watched the sea.
The sea was infinitely wide, and the old man was now far too old to unfold dreams and romance upon it. Watching the rising clouds and the sea, and the approaching shadow, Tom smiled. Here were the clouds, the sky, a sailboat floating calmly—and his young, brave friend.
The old man knew that on the sea, no one was ever truly alone.
“Tom, let’s run. You are no longer a young fighter.”
“You’re right. I am old now.”
Tom drew the rapier at his waist.
“What I proved thousands of times in the past means nothing. What matters most is proving it again right here, right now.”
His young friend told him: Let’s run, old man.
But the old man had no intention of doing so. He had a sailboat filled with romance, and a young friend he needed to protect.
There were things he had to protect even if he threw away this worn, broken body. And the one who had taught Tom the sword back when he was still a fighter had told him:
“Master.”
A human could be destroyed but not defeated.
Tom had never forgotten that teaching. Not when he had been a fighter, and not now as an old caretaker.
“Human beings are not created to lose.”
There was the sea. There was the old man. And there was the sword.
***
Unless I consumed a new sword, I couldn’t win. It didn’t take long to understand Liam’s meaning.
The power of steel that the Karavans possessed was the ability to absorb the soul dwelling within a blade by ingesting it. And for a soul to dwell within a sword, the sword’s former owner had to die. Right now, Liam was telling me to use Tom as a sacrifice in order to survive.
「Not a sacrifice, young descendant.」
Liam spoke as if reading my thoughts.
「A continuation.」
A continuation. Perhaps my master was right. The fate of Fetel, the knight suffering from a terminal illness, was to quietly vanish in that backwater territory—quietly, lonely, and forever. But within me, Fetel did not disappear. He remained—because he continued.
「…You’ll have to grow used to it.」
Tom drew his sword.
「That is the fate of steel.」
Since my old friend had resolved himself to fight, I could not show my back. I cast aside hesitation and moved to stand at Tom’s side, facing the shadow drawing near. Soon, Tom spoke.
“The one approaching now is the Kraken, one of the six Divine Beasts. Among the continent’s people, it’s more widely known by the nickname ‘Sea King.’”
“…”
“Normally it never leaves its territory, and even if it does, it only attacks massive warships. I don’t know why it’s targeting this old, worn-out sailboat… but the odds of survival are higher if we fight than if we flee.”
“Because we cannot run?”
“Yes. It’s impossible to outrun a Kraken at sea.”
Rrrrrr.
A chilling sound rolled across the water, and the Kraken surfaced. It resembled an enormous octopus, but its size and the pressure it radiated were incomparable to any mere octopus. It was like a gigantic warship shaped like an octopus, a true sovereign that crushed the presence of all sea life around it. Soon, the nine jewel-like eyes embedded in its head fixed upon me.
【I found you, descendant of steel.】
A powerful mental wave rang inside my skull. It didn’t seem to intend to hide why it had come. As I drew my sword alongside Tom, doubt welled up as the giant octopus’s information flooded in like waves.
‘How am I supposed to cut that?’
The information brought by the Path was simple: ludicrously hard, ludicrously powerful, with absurdly tough skin. Just its basic attributes surpassed the monsters of the Northern Continent by far. And it wasn’t merely a monster but a Divine Beast—and Divine Beasts always possessed Mysteries.
“Be wary of the water.”
“The water?”
“The Kraken is loved by the Water Spirit King. And at the same time, loved by one of the Seven Lords—the ‘Unfailing Father.’ With its eight legs alone, it can freely manipulate the surrounding sea.”
Loved by a Spirit King and by one of the Seven Lords. Just the description alone was enough to sap my will to fight. It looked no different from an octopus, yet it had backing like that.
‘Disgustingly not in the mood for this.’
But there was no retreat. Balancing on the sailboat, Tom drew in a breath. As his breathing tightened, small crackling sparks danced around him.
That was Tom’s sword—the swift sword suited to the rapier he carried, the blade I had seen several times before.
‘What help can I even give?’
The Steel of the Karavans could pierce even that hide. If the beast carried divine protection, my Polished Light would skin its flesh. But on the sea? Could I really fight such a creature here?
The Sword Runner’s Wings didn’t work like real wings. Even if the Wings of Steel were sturdy, they didn’t grant flight. And I couldn’t use Gaia’s sword here. Gaia was the Spirit King of Earth, and in a place without even a grain of soil, she could offer no help.
“Master.”
While I was frantically searching for a method, Tom spoke.
“Just once.”
“…What?”
“Please endure it, just once.”
Tom gave a brief, sharp smile. Without any detailed explanation, he simply asked me to hold out just once. A thousand questions rose up to my throat, but there was no time for a back-and-forth.
As the Kraken’s legs surged toward us, I answered not with words but with action. With a sharp tap, I kicked off the sailboat and leapt. The surface rippled under me, my body accelerated, and my blade drove straight toward the Kraken’s legs. Blessed by Gaia, the sword with one of the continent’s hardest edges held firm even against the body of one of the Six Divine Beasts.
【…Why does the Earth Spirit King favor a descendant of steel?】
A mental wave struck from the Kraken, who had been glaring at me in triumph. That wave carried unmistakable agitation—an impossible development, judging from its reaction.
I moved my blade in a smooth arc, aiming to sever one of its octopus-like legs. But the hide did not slice. Instead, my sword stuck to one of the suckers, wriggling uselessly as it clung.
‘Damn it.’
The strength of the sucker was far greater than I had expected. Rather than yank out Gaia’s sword, I pulled a dagger from my thigh and spun, slashing wide.
The craft of an assassin. Into that craft flowed the acceleration of my Wings and the First Steel—Forging. The continent’s heaviest sword dwelled within that short blade, and soon a force erupted from the tip strong enough to shake even the body of a Divine Beast. With a boom, a towering pillar of water rose, and blue blood splattered from the Kraken’s flesh.
【……!】
A wound. I could kill it.
The moment I saw with my own eyes that my blade worked, a smile tugged at my lips.
Yes.
【So you’ve inherited the Steel already.】
At least until that thread-thin wound healed in less than a second.
【But you haven’t inherited the venom yet.】
Its nine jewel-like eyes shimmered. At that instant, from the churning surface, eight legs surged at once. Gritting my teeth, I tore my blade free from the sucker and immediately unfolded the Mystery of 「Radiance」.
What appeared was the Ronin of 「Gale」. From that swirl of light he swung his sword, whipping up a fierce wind. The wind entangled the Kraken’s legs into disorder. Using the Ronin’s shoulder as a foothold, I leapt again, spinning in midair and slashing in a brilliant arc.
Polishing—the Second Steel. With a spray of sparks like blazing embers, the Flames of Doubt burst in all directions. Even upon touching the sea, the flames did not extinguish, and they clung successfully to the Kraken’s leg. With the flames riding my blade, my sword carved through the Kraken’s leg completely.
But,
‘What.’
Its leg regenerated in less than a second. Why? The Flames of Doubt should have restricted its Mystery. The answer came quickly.
‘It’s not a Mystery.’
That grotesque regenerative power came from its massive body itself. Not a divine blessing, but innate. And my Mystery could not burn away the natural strength of a creature’s own flesh.
While I stared blankly, before I could even reset my stance, a newly sprouted leg cracked the air like a whip. It sped toward my heart—unavoidable.
But,
“Well done, Master.”
The leg stopped. Blocked by Tom’s sword.
“Octopus legs aren’t cut like that.”
The thin rapier pierced straight through the leg. The next moment, with a resounding clang, all eight of the Kraken’s legs were sent flying. Before the severed limbs even fell back into the water, thunder cracked again, and Tom became a streak of lightning that peeled away the Kraken’s hide. Blue blood exploded like a fountain.
An overwhelming assault. Yet the man who’d taken no hit at all coughed up black blood the moment he finished his swing.
Tom’s pupils trembled violently.
“Tom!”
“It’s fine… the wound I had reopened….”
Reopened—and he coughed up black blood? Suspicion sparked. But there was no moment to question it. Below the surface, the Kraken’s legs writhed.
A grotesque vitality.
Tom and Liam had not exaggerated—the Kraken was truly invincible in the sea. Even though Tom had pierced its legs, hide, flesh, and even its innards, the colossal octopus refused to die. Chasing it underwater was impossible.
After steadying his breath with a huff, Tom looked at me.
“At least this is fortunate. The Kraken is a Divine Beast with a strict territorial nature, so it won’t attack ag—”
And then,
“—ain….”
The deck beneath Tom shattered with a crash. The sailboat splintered apart, and a not-yet-fully-recovered leg shot up from below. Our bodies were launched into the air, and beyond the blue sky, against the burning sunset, I saw a creature that resembled the sun itself.
I knew that creature very, very well. A Divine Beast appearing in countless legends.
「A Phoenix.」
“……”
「A Divine Beast more famous by its title ‘Immortal Bird’ than by its original name.」
Barely dealing with the Kraken was already a burden—yet another Divine Beast appeared. With the Phoenix descending against the sun, the air around us heated intensely. Then, with a heavy boom, something slammed Tom and me aside. Winching, I turned my head—and there it was: a creature with an eagle’s head and wings and a lion’s body.
A griffin.
‘What is this…’
And then—
“…….”
Beyond the three Divine Beasts, at the highest point of the sky—At the heart of the deep azure heavens, a creature spread its immense wings and looked down upon us.
It was as large as the sun, with sapphire-like eyes gleaming, surveying its surroundings with the arrogance of one who ruled the sky itself. Yet that arrogance was not unfitting—it was completely natural. No—inevitable. Because that creature belonged to the greatest race, born as the rightful rulers of the sky.
“What in the world…”
Tom, paddling desperately in the water to keep afloat, raised his head. All of his earlier confidence vanished; his voice shrank to a whisper. And it wasn’t strange. Just in case I was hallucinating, I too looked up again.
There it was. Unchanged. Floating in the blue sky.
A dragon.
And,
『Abandoning hope is foolish.』
In this moment of absolute crisis, a voice poured endlessly from the blade in Tom’s hand.
A bizarre phenomenon. It wasn’t some ownerless antique or wandering relic—yet a sword with a clear owner was emitting this signal.
『Even so, humans are not created to lose.』
Inside my head, the voice echoed again and again.
『A human may be destroyed, but never defeated.』
The voice of the sword.