Inheriting the Novel

The Thread that Reaches the Gods (3)

A single book held in the hands of Ban Sylvest.

It was an object that contained something truly astonishing.

==

<Book of the God>

A book left by God on the ground together with the Seven Swords Under Heaven.

It contains information and truths about the Seven Swords Under Heaven.

==

‘Information and truths about the Seven Swords Under Heaven?’

It was a book filled with exactly the information I had desperately wanted.

Until now, I had checked the abilities of the Seven Swords Under Heaven by seeing them in person, but if I had that book, I could move in advance, armed with knowledge about them.

‘If you had something that useful, couldn’t you have just given it to me earlier?’

Surely, everything I had experienced so far would have been a lot easier.

“I had heard rumors that you are the owner of the Divine Sword, but not knowing your character, I had no other option.”

Ban seemed to answer my thoughts as if he had read them.

“If what’s written in this book is true, then the power of the Seven Swords Under Heaven is an absolute strength, like the authority of a god. So, of course, I had to be wary that it could be misused.”

“Have you changed your mind now?”

“I realized it through this Seven Heroes Convocation. I learned that you are a formidable strongman, even without the Seven Swords Under Heaven. Also, that you are not swayed at all by their power.”

I met his gaze for a moment before speaking serenely.

“Did the Seven Heroes always manage that book?”

“No. Originally, this book was in the empire. It was discovered late and brought here.”

Come to think of it, if the Seven Heroes had managed it from the beginning, Damian would have told me for sure.

‘Since the first sword, Jenova, was in the empire… it’s not strange that such a book existed.’

Then, it was only natural that Gideon, the emperor of the empire, would make comments that suggested he knew about the Seven Swords Under Heaven.

“But Count Ribina seemed to know nothing about the Seven Swords Under Heaven.”

“The only ones who know the details about this book are the three of us and His Majesty Emperor Gideon.”

“And why is that?”

“Because the three of us are the strongest in the Seven Heroes.”

In other words, except for Gideon, who could be called the rightful owner of the book, only the top three strongest among the Seven Heroes knew of its existence.

‘So that’s why only these three were present.’

Ban Sylvest, renowned as the continent’s strongest swordsman.

To that, add Marvin Dreistler, the strongest martial artist.

And finally, there’s Soila, the greatest mage on the continent—there’s no room for dispute that these three are the most powerful among the Seven Heroes.

“Well, my responsibility for that book ends today.”

He slowly offered the book to me.

“The princess’s eyes were sharp. I believe you will not disappoint us.”

A faint smile appeared on his otherwise expressionless face.

He looked visibly lighter, as if he had laid down a long-held burden.

“Then, let me welcome you again as the new member of the Seven Heroes, Clay Vanhart.”

* * *

After receiving the book, I stayed one more day at the tower. Marvin had asked to speak with me after the Seven Heroes Convocation was over.

While moving to the place where I was to meet Marvin, Grancesia continued speaking to me.

It was about the contents of the book I had just received from Ban.

[What do you think it means?]

‘Who knows.’

The Book of the God contained detailed explanations about the abilities and titles of the Seven Swords Under Heaven.

Up to this point, there was nothing particularly difficult to understand, but there was just one phrase whose meaning completely eluded me.

‘The Seven Swords Under Heaven are strings that reach the gods. If you weave all the strings together, you will reach the world of the gods… Right now all it feels like is some vague, grasping-at-clouds kind of thing.’

[Hmm. It doesn’t seem like the god mentioned there is Altair, at least.]

‘You sure it’s okay to call the god you serve so informally?’

[Once, maybe, but not anymore.]

Grancesia immediately denied it the moment I finished speaking, as if it displeased her somehow.

‘Anyway, why do you think it doesn’t refer to God Altair?’

[If it were referring to Altair, it wouldn’t be so vague about it. It would have boldly written “the great God Altair.” That guy loves to show himself off.]

Her words were laced with considerable resentment.

As always, Grancesia clearly hated Altair.

It seemed like her dislike for the title “Saintess” stemmed from that same feeling.

‘Come to think of it, if God Altair had created the Seven Swords Under Heaven, Jerta wouldn’t have chased after me.’

So then, who really did create the Seven Swords Under Heaven?

And the “world of the gods” mentioned in the book also bothered me.

‘Is it related to the novel’s ending?’

If Fabian were to gather the Seven Swords Under Heaven and defeat the final calamity, reaching the world of the gods could be the ending.

Or maybe, it’s about choosing to stay even though one could leave for the world of the gods.

‘To be sure, I’d have to check the synopsis.’

For now, the only assumption I could make is that something special would happen when all the Seven Swords Under Heaven were gathered.

“Sorry for detaining you when you must want to hurry home.”

When I arrived at the location, Marvin spoke with an apologetic face.

“It’s fine. At worst, I’ll just go back a day late.”

“I appreciate your understanding.”

He crossed his arms and nodded.

Then, after gazing at me briefly, he spoke.

“The reason I, Marvin Dreistler, called you here is because you use Heaven’s Holy Ultimate Art.”

“……”

“No point pretending not to know. Soila already showed me how you beat the dragon. The technique you used then was Mystic Vision, wasn’t it?”

I made no reply. I just looked at him quietly.

As long as I didn’t know his intention, I couldn’t answer rashly.

“Is it hard to answer? Well, that’s only natural.”

Marvin said this as he slowly took up a certain stance toward me. I hurriedly drew my sword, but even as he took his stance, he did not move.

‘Is this…?’

For a moment, I wondered if he meant to fight, but that wasn’t it.

The pose Marvin took was very similar to something I knew.

“Heavenly Lord?”

“Yes, the Heavenly Lord. You recognized it exactly.”

Heaven’s Holy Ultimate Art, First Form: Heavenly Lord.

The stance Marvin took was very similar to that.

It seemed he wanted to show me that he, too, knew about Heaven’s Holy Ultimate Art.

“How do you know that?”

“It’s only natural. The martial arts I use are themselves based on Heaven’s Holy Ultimate Art.”

“Pardon?”

As I asked, unable to hide my disbelief, Marvin gazed at me with calm eyes.

“There was a certain esoteric art of a human, whose record has now been erased. A human who wished to preserve it from the god’s eyes.”

Rather than interrogate me, he explained in detail why he knew about Heaven’s Holy Ultimate Art.

Marvin Dreistler—his family had originally produced scribes who recorded the history of humanity for generations.

“The progress of eras, the history of mankind—all those things. Our family was always treated as exceptional by every empire and kingdom alike. There was a time when, not belonging to any nation, we were called a small kingdom in our own right.”

“I’ve never heard that story before.”

Certainly, to my knowledge, Marvin Dreistler was not affiliated with any kingdom.

But their role was news to me.

“At some point, we were no longer able to ‘record’ anything in public.”

“And why is that?”

“Because it was the will of God Altair.”

I was left speechless for a second, not having expected God Altair’s name to come up here.

“Dangerous words, sir. What if I were a worshipper of Altair?”

“That’s not possible. If you were, Jerta wouldn’t have tried to kill you.”

Ah, that’s true.

Jerta had made no secret of his intention to kill me.

“Altair wanted to completely erase certain records.”

“Was that record related to Heaven’s Holy Ultimate Art?”

“Yes. But we still possess that record.”

At the mention that they still kept the record, I could feel Grancesia’s emotions swell immensely.

It was the first time she had reacted so strongly, except in the case of Damian.

“Are you curious, Clay Vanhart?”

“It would be a lie to say otherwise.”

“I’m just as curious. How you know Heaven’s Holy Ultimate Art, and how you can use it so perfectly.”

Marvin patted my shoulder.

“And as a fellow martial artist, I can’t help but be excited. If there’s time, I’d love to teach you, and also learn from you. But let’s leave it here for today.”

“Huh?”

Wait, you’re going to end the conversation right when it gets interesting?

As if he’d read my thoughts, Marvin chuckled.

“That’s the limit for what I can explain right now. If you want to know more, come to the Dreistler family.”

“The Dreistler family…?”

“Yes.”

So saying, he pulled a small piece of paper from his clothing and handed it to me.

Upon unfolding it, I saw it was a map with a location marked.

“Memorize the location and burn it.”

“Understood.”

“Let’s continue the detailed conversation then.”

With a faint smile, Marvin turned his back.

He was always hard to read, so I couldn’t tell what he felt toward me, but at least I was sure it wasn’t hostility.

[Erased records, huh…]

After Marvin left, Grancesia spoke quietly.

‘Do you have any idea?’

[No, it’s just… I’d noticed something like that existed. You knew too, right?]

‘Right. Of course, at the point where you were only known as a simple Saintess.’

For someone as strong as Grancesia to be spoken of only as a “Saintess” rather than for her true abilities was odd.

‘Saintess isn’t a title to be ashamed of, but it doesn’t hold a candle to your achievements.’

[Wh-what’s this? You’re being weirdly flattering all of a sudden.]

‘I’m just stating the facts.’

All sorts of things were on my mind.

The Book of the God and Marvin’s story.

They didn’t seem directly connected, but both were clearly important.

[So what are you going to do?]

‘What else.’

What I would do next was already decided.

* * *

“So the cult has moved, huh…”

The demon realm. A place known as the land of the demonkin, lying at the edge of the world.

An ice palace stood in this land of glaciers no human set foot in, a place known as extreme terrain.

“They tried to target the owner of the Divine Sword at the Seven Heroes Convocation, which chose the new member of the Seven Heroes.”

The old man speaking with his head bowed was one of the three great dukes of the demon realm, and the demonkin with the longest life.

Banaseus.

He, as he was called, was teacher to the former demon king and had guarded the demon realm for countless years.

But even he paled before the young man sitting before him.

“Interesting. And yet, it’s ridiculous that they can’t kill her right away.”

He lounged against the ice throne, wearing a languid smile as he addressed Banaseus.

There was only one person in the demon realm who could behave like this before Banaseus.

“My lord, Demon King.”

Banaseus spoke gravely, giving him advice.

“You know that the owner of the Divine Sword has it.”

“You sound very afraid of her, Duke.”

“There’s no need to wake her and cause trouble.”

“That’s true.”

Demon King Zard.

He nodded at Banaseus’s words.

As long as no one provoked her first, she would not break free of her restraints.

“But… it seems they’ve finally made up their minds, going after the owner of the Divine Sword.”

“What will you do, my lord?”

“We stick to the plan. Leave the owner of the Divine Sword be. Competition makes things more fun, doesn’t it?”

“There’s only one Seven Swords Under Heaven left.”

“But there are still plenty of calamities.”

With a grin, Zard pointed his thumb at himself.

“Counting both him and me, of course.”

With a complicated expression, Banaseus nodded.

Not even Banaseus knew exactly what the king was thinking.

It had been a long time since the king who once showed ambition toward the continent had changed.

But Banaseus wasn’t worried.

Demon King Zard was someone who would do anything for the demonkin.