Chapter 325 : The Light I Met at the End of a Long Nightmare

Bjoern Bisanbark.

The prince of the Kingdom of Sorrow, and a lonely and righteous great warrior.

The master of the purple sword, Purple, the second Quadra Horn, the youngest of the Eight Sword Masters, the little monster of the Kingdom of Sorrow.

His achievements at such a young age were dazzling.

But in the end, what constituted him was guilt.

A sinner who had swung his sword as if in a fit of rage, crushed by the guilt of having killed his mother, by that original sin.

That was the reality of Bjoern.

He would do anything to wash away his guilt.

The driving force that had made him move so fiercely was, ironically, guilt.

A sinner pays for his sins by receiving punishment, and washes away his guilt.

For Bjoern, the physical pain through training and battle was his punishment.

With his body as a weapon to be struck on the anvil, and the battlefield as a place of execution to drive himself to pain.

'Forgiveness... please, forgiveness...'

He remembered his mother who had died because of him at a young age.

He wandered the battlefields, endlessly asking for forgiveness from his lost mother.

Since the one he was asking for forgiveness from was gone, there was, of course, no answer.

Then one day, the demon realm called to him.

The appearance of a special-grade magical beast.

His father was away at the battlefield, so this time it was his turn.

It was his duty to watch over the demon realm.

Bjoern, without hesitation, immediately took a single sword and headed to the bottom of the demon realm.

The 7th floor, a place where no light could penetrate.

He, who had descended into the abyss, fought a bloody battle with the newly born magical beast.

A special-grade magical beast was a monster among monsters that could lead a country to ruin on its own.

It was a battle where victory could not be guaranteed.

Even he, the youngest of the Eight Sword Masters and a Quadra Horn, had to risk his life.

The abyss was darker and more turbid than he had imagined.

But for the magical beast that was born there, it was a cozy home.

In other words, an environment that was extremely advantageous to the magical beast.

In the end, after a fierce battle, an opening was created, and the claws of the magical beast that had not missed it flew in.

But, what had burrowed into the opening before that was the deep darkness of the abyss.

When he looked into the abyss, the abyss also looked into him.

Just before being completely consumed by the abyss, Bjoern realized his duty here.

To become a great warrior who surpassed all others, he had to become a sword that ate darkness.

He had to protect this place.

So that nothing could crawl out of this abyss full of darkness.

That was the mission and role given to him, who had been born by killing his mother.

When he realized that fact, what Bjoern felt was peace.

A turbid, dangerous, and dark abyss.

There could be no more fitting prison for a sinner.

There was no more suitable place to wash away his guilt.

And so, the abyss burrowed into Bjoern's weakest spot, and Bjoern gave himself up and made the abyss his prison.

A prisoner and a guard of the abyss. A watcher and a guardian.

And so, Bjoern became a ghost that protected the abyss.

He could not overcome the abyss in the end.

His bones were shattered, and his body was corrupted.

By the time Aktir heard the news and rushed down, it was already too late.

He, whose eyes had been eaten by the darkness and could not even recognize his own father, eliminated everything that appeared in the abyss as a guardian of the abyss.

Whether it was a magical beast, a person, or anything else.

And so, he, who had been fighting a lonely battle alone in the abyss.

Finally met the apostle of the master of the night, Ketel...

...Swoosh.

Bjoern opened his eyes.

It was a familiar ceiling.

Somehow, it felt nostalgic.

"..."

Bjoern stared at the ceiling for a long time.

It felt like he had woken up from a long nightmare.

"Kuk..."

When he tried to get up, he felt an extreme pain all over his body.

It felt like he had been beaten to a pulp by someone.

Bjoern slowly got up, along with the extreme pain he felt all over his body.

When he turned his head and looked to the side, he met the eyes of Viola, who was peeling fruit next to the bed.

"...Big Sister?"

Viola, who had become a statue of peeling fruit.

She was frozen for a moment, as if she had stopped working.

Drip, drip—

Tears flowed down her cheeks.

The flustered Bjoern stuttered.

"Uh, Big Sister. Are you okay—"

"You fool...!"

Viola hugged Bjoern and burst into tears.

The flustered Bjoern just blinked his eyes, hugged by Viola.

Thump!

"What's wrong!"

Aktir, who had kicked open the door at the sound of Viola's crying.

"Father...?"

"...My son."

He, who saw the conscious Bjoern, contorted his face and hugged them both tightly.

"Gasp... you're awake..."

"...Are you crying?"

Bjoern stared blankly at the strange sight of his father and sister hugging him and bursting into tears, with a very flustered expression.

Wasn't it as if they were greeting someone who had come back from the dead?

"Uh... why are you all doing this..."

"Hwaaaaaaaaaaaah."

"Ugh... my son..."

Bjoern, who had been watching his father and sister cry with a clueless expression.

At that warm warmth, he felt a strange, touching feeling.

The light he met at the end of a long nightmare was in the shape of his family.

* * *

In a room where two cups of tea were steaming fragrantly.

"Do you know how much of the Dark Heaven Society's 'grand plan' is left?"

"Mmm..."

Lasol took out a small book from her bosom and said, flipping through it.

"I can't specify the time, but it's clear that it will happen before the end of this year. At the latest, before winter comes, the Evil God will be led by the hands of the misguided and descend upon the world."

"And the place?"

Flip, flip—

"Here, it says it's the place where the Evil God's last breath was scattered..."

Snap!

I snapped my fingers.

"Aha, so it's near the Misty Cliff."

Lasol blinked, as if surprised.

"No, how did you know that? Do you also have a hobby of reading the doctrines? Is it written in the doctrines of the night?"

"No, I just picked it up when I went on a time trip."

"Ooh..."

Lasol's eyes sparkled, as if she were amazed.

"Then that means I have to find and hold all the swords before winter comes this year... the situation is a bit ambiguous."

"What is?"

I held up three fingers.

"There are three swords left, right? But I don't know where two of them are, and the other one is quite far away, so it's a bit difficult to go and get it. Can you give me some advice?"

"Mmm... just a moment."

Flip, flip, flip—

Lasol's hand, which had been flipping through the book quickly, stopped.

"Ah, I found it."

"What does it say?"

"The yellow sword that resembles lightning will be found by you, the blue sword that resembles ice will find you, and the jet-black sword that resembles a shadow is not far away."

"? Not far away?"

Lasol closed the book and nodded her head.

"That's what it says."

"Where is it?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Hmm."

Not far away...

What did that mean?

As I was racking my brain, Lasol said in a soft tone, sipping her tea.

"You don't have to worry too much. What will happen, will happen."

"How can you be so sure?"

"The prophecies in the doctrines of light have never been wrong, so isn't that natural?"

I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair.

"Well... Ketel also told me not to worry too much."

That fate would naturally guide me.

As I looked at the other side with a relaxed mind, a guy who shouldn't be relaxing more than anyone else here was leisurely savoring his tea.

"But can you stay here?"

"? Why not."

In the capital of an enemy country at war, without a sword, she was so happy.

The demon race with horns on their heads here were also strange.

Instead of ambushing the enemy's leader as a group, they were greeting him happily as if they had met an old friend.

Lasol put down her teacup and said.

"It's true that the war between the empire and the demon race is a bit special. Usually, wars are fought between people who have never met before, but here, the people you see every day come out to the battlefield."

"So you've grown fond of each other after fighting every day?"

"That's about right. Sometimes, when the weather is nice, we even have tea together on the battlefield."

"...I'm going crazy."

It was a world I couldn't understand.

It seemed that the war between them was not as serious as I had thought.

I sipped my tea and looked out the window.

It had been a few days since I had stayed here.

I had to take Viola, but since her brother, Bjoern, hadn't woken up yet.

I had to see his brother's face before I left.

And, when I showed signs of packing up and leaving right away, the Demon King had grabbed my pants, saying he couldn't let me go like this.

So I was spending my time sparring with Lasol or doing breathing exercises.

"When are you leaving?"

"I was thinking of leaving with you when you leave. You're going back to the Maia Kingdom anyway, right?"

"That's right."

"The distance by land is shorter to go back. I think we can help each other. What do you think?"

"Hmm. That's reasonable."

To return to Maia by land from here, I had no choice but to pass through the Holy Hilka Empire.

In fact, the reason I had come by sea was just a stopover. I was in the western part of Maia at the time.

To think that I could pass through after rampaging through the Hilden Kingdom, a vassal state of the Holy Hilka Empire, destroying the archbishop (Siri's work), and beating up their proud Hero of Light, that would be strange.

But it's a different story if I'm being escorted by the Hero of Light herself.

It meant I could go straight to Maia without any restrictions.

"Wait."

"Hmm?"

"It's true that it's helpful to me, but what's in it for you?"

Lasol smiled brightly.

At a glance, it was a smile that resembled the morning sun.

"A conversation partner is enough."

"...?"

Lasol chuckled.

"Why that expression? Aren't we friends?"

"Ah, friends..."

Come to think of it, after fighting like crazy last time, I had called her a friend without much thought, since it was a good fight.

It seemed that had made a deep impression on her.

"Isn't that what friends are? A relationship where you're happy just by being together, and you smile."

A laugh escaped my lips.

She was a surprisingly pure hero.

Lasol looked at me with a smile on her lips.

"And, you are my tenth paladin, aren't you?"

"...?"

"Why that expression? The tenth sword hidden by the light, the shadow paladin."

"Puhahaha!"

"Hahahaha."

Now I saw that she was a hero who could also make a joke.

I was looking forward to the way back.

The Heavenly Demon laughed slowly.

[She's better than you.]

'That's not true.'

I was still far from surpassing me, who had been trained by Dofang's verbal sparring.

Who was I?

I was the man who had flustered the Knight of Frost, who was like a block of ice, with a killer joke.

—Knock, knock.

Just then, a cautious knock was heard, and the door opened.

Beyond the open door, Bjoern was standing with a dazed expression.

"Oh, Bjoern!"

I stood up from my seat and greeted him.

Bjoern, who seemed to be out of it since he had just regained consciousness.

Bjoern looked at me blankly, and then slowly walked in front of me and suddenly prostrated himself on the floor.

"Thank you, boss!"

"...?"

"I don't know how I can ever repay this debt...!"

I exchanged a glance with Lasol for a moment, and then looked back at Bjoern, who was prostrated on the floor.

"Thank you... overwhelming thanks...!"

"Hmm?"

Come to think of it, the purple sword was tied to his waist.

Then I understood a little.

It seemed that the corrupt purple sword, Purple, who had been beaten to a pulp by me and had come to his senses, had conveyed my hard work in a touching way.

Just then, Bjoern's butt, who had been bowing, slowly rose, and then his body stood up straight.

'This is...!'

The grand bow, which was said to have the greatest power among bows!

I could hear Lasol's small exclamation of admiration from the side.

"Hoo... he's a young friend, but he knows how to do the grand bow."

I also nodded my head.

"He's a friend who knows a thing or two about manners."

The prince's grand bow.

This is a rare sight.

He was a guy worth saving.

(End of Chapter)