Chapter 94 : The Path Lies Behind

Chapter 94: The Path Lies Behind

Thud!

I kicked off the ground once,

Thud!

kicked again,

and the battlefield that had seemed so far away was already right before my eyes.

‘First, I’ll cut through here... and carve a path all the way there.’

In my mind, the route had already been drawn, clear as day.

Which monstrous anomaly I should slay first, where to carve the passage from and to, and how to scatter that swarming mass so my allies could swallow them whole with ease.

The conclusion came quickly, and the very moment I reached it, I was already at the first destination.

Unity of Sword and Self.

By the time the thought rose, my blade had already cleaved through.

Kuuuuung!

The Iron Heart aura flared, burning dark blue.

Each time my foot struck the ground, a monster was shredded, and another path was opened.

“H-heok...! What was that just now?”

I left the dazed voice of an ally behind me and once again—thud!—stomped and leapt forward.

‘First, the retreating allies.’

The rear was hell.

Terrified,

exhausted,

grievously wounded...

As the allies fell back, the swarms of monstrous anomalies ripped through the air and devoured them.

“I’m sorry....”

A meaningless apology, spoken to no one.

“...I’ve done all I could....”

A tearful confession.

“No! You can’t! You can’t!!”

A desperate scream of defiance.

They rang in my ears and unfolded before my eyes.

The senses of a Swordmaster at their limit forced me to feel this hell with no filter.

Kwoooaaang—

I stomped the ground, and a storm whirled behind me.

“Huh...?”

The monster that had pinned down an aged knight was torn apart.

“I-I’m alive!”

I bisected and pierced through a monstrous anomaly dragging off a young knight.

Like untangling a knot of threads, I erased the monsters and opened the retreat.

Before I knew it, dawn was breaking, the dark air turning pale blue.

The monster horde was shredded to dust in the storm of dark-blue aura.

‘That should be enough, I think?’

The rear seemed to be secured.

The monsters were in disarray, and the allies found a safe path to retreat.

Now it was time to plunge into the heart of the battlefield.

Thud!

I pushed off the ground and charged.

Through the crisp morning air—

“Let me go! I said I’m not retreating!”

“Shut up! It’s Sir Inapar’s order!”

“We need to heal your spirit injuries and inner wounds first!”

Three knights burst out of the chaotic melee, withdrawing.

“Let me go! Urgulak is going to die!”

“Even if you stay, you can’t help!”

A girl knight, barely grown past childhood, was being held tight by the other two, dragged back by force.

“And you’re just going to sit still?! It’s the fourth day! Urgulak hasn’t rested a single breath while fighting! If anyone should fall back, it should be you!”

“You need to fall back too, you stubborn little brat!”

But... that stubborn little girl knight.

She looked familiar.

‘If it’s the year 4663 of the Ruceras Calendar....’

She was exactly fourteen.

Yes, just like that girl.

Golden hair and blue eyes.

Still young and a bit clueless, but her expression carried the sharpness of a knight. That’s why she was adorable.

I knew her. I really did.

How delightful....

“Iodin. What are you doing here?”

Between the rear and the center of the battlefield,

I halted my advance for a moment and stared straight at her.

My senior. Iodin Serom.

“Huh?”

Her golden hair fluttered in the storm I had driven forward.

Fourteen-year-old Iodin turned back to look at me.

*         *         *

She retorted sharply.

“Who are you? How do you know me?!”

Judging from the knights whispering, Iodin? Who’s Iodin?, it seemed she was hiding her identity here.

That incredible identity—disciple of Grand Duke Laitena Celsius, the greatest sword under heaven.

“You should have a guardian knight. Where did you leave them?”

“Who are you, I said?!”

Oh, senior... in your youth, you really were quite rude, huh? Talking back to adults so casually.

It amused me enough that I almost laughed, but then—

“How insolent! Mind your manners before the Saint!”

Louis, who had hurriedly chased after me, scolded her harshly.

Thanks to that, the atmosphere shifted in an instant.

“The Saint? Then just now, the blessing that was granted....”

“Ah, no wonder it suddenly became easier to resist the curse.... It was the Saint?”

The knights were startled, quickly offering their military salute.

Iodin, her eyes gone wide, awkwardly followed suit.

“Iodin.”

“Y-yes! Your Holiness.”

She was flustered.

I slipped a hand into my subspace necklace and commanded:

“Open.”

“Excuse me?”

Into her foolishly open mouth, I popped a sweet ancient snack.

“Mmmpf?!”

Iodin panicked, trying to spit it out, but it was pointless.

The moment it entered her mouth, it dispersed like smoke, leaving behind only a sweet, fragrant energy that melted through her.

“Sweet, right? Clears your head, doesn’t it?”

“Eh? Yes... yes?”

“But don’t just take whatever someone gives you.”

“Eh? But that was you, Your Holiness....”

Before she could babble more, I pressed a small glass vial to her lips.

I tilted her chin gently, making her gulp it down in one go.

“Gulp! Cough! W-what is this?!”

“A Peak Recovery Potion.”

“What?!”

It was just a small portion, but a Peak Recovery Potion was still a Peak Recovery Potion.

With this, any injuries she had now would be healed completely.

“You’ll be able to fight now. You should fight when you want to fight.”

That might become the stepping stone for her to grow further.

And I also wanted to show my sword to my young senior.

“Uh... th-thank you very much.”

“But still, don’t accept what others give you so carelessly.”

“No, but that was you, Your Holiness...!”

“Iodin.”

“Yes?”

Judging from her aura, Iodin was at Low-grade Expert right now.

It was an ancient sword art that was notoriously difficult to even begin... for her to be a Low-grade Expert at just fourteen was truly a heaven-gifted talent.

For such a senior, I wanted to show her a path to go even further.

“Don’t try to fight.”

Iodin’s eyes widened, her blue pupils growing round.

“Don’t look at the enemy. Focus on your sword and your inner self. The enemy is just the stage. The center lies within you, and within the soul of the sword you hold in your hands. Face your foe with the heart of unfolding that boundless world.”

This was my own realization.

The sensation I had when I awakened to the Stage of Body-Sword (體劍). I wanted to pass it on to her.

“Ah....”

Her face grew calm, as if she had felt something. When I thought she had settled a little, I added:

“Don’t overdo it. Stick close to your guardian knight and fight at his side.”

“Ah, but Sir Inapar is right now\....”

Iodin glanced back.

Oh, so her assigned protector was Sir Inapar?

I recalled the stern-faced senior knight I had seen back at Glowingsteel.

On the battlefield where hell itself had unfolded,

I saw Sir Inapar in the middle of that melee.

Even if she wanted to stick by his side, breaking through that carnage would be nearly impossible.

But still....

“I’ll open the path. Just fight right beside Sir Inapar. That’s my condition. Otherwise, you’ll return to the temple.”

“You’ll open a path? But... there isn’t one.”

Of course there was.

Just keep up with me, senior.

“They say a path exists only once you’ve walked it.”

I looked into Louis’s eyes one last time.

Protect Iodin.

At my whisper, Louis bowed deeply in answer.

Then,

regrettably,

since I couldn’t linger any longer....

We’ll meet again, senior.

Kuuung—!

I stomped down.

A storm rose.

In an instant, I drew a line, connecting allies and the cursed monsters.

A sense that transcended far beyond human limits embraced, classified, and comprehended everything around me like a god.

Ahead, I felt three knights.

“Please! No!”

“Kamel!!!”

So... you three were friends, huh?

Kwaaaang!

Gray flesh and blood burst apart.

The monster dragging along the knight called Kamel was shredded into pieces and scattered into the air.

“Uh...?”

Kamel stood dumbfounded, while his two friends rushed forward to grab and hold him.

Splat—!

Gray blood and chunks of flesh rained down over them.

I passed them by.

“P-please spare me! I can’t... I-I can’t... uaaagh!”

The young knight, fleeing in terror, had a look of horror etched onto his face that seemed it would be cast there forever, impervious to time.

Zzzzeerrrch!

With scattering Aura Threads, I swept away every monster in that stretch.

“Uh.... Uh-uh...?”

Startled by the sudden turn of events, the young knight collapsed on the spot.

His face was still full of fear, terror, and self-loathing.

I gripped his shoulder firmly, gazed into his light-green eyes, and spoke.

“That happens. It’s fine. Go take a rest. Once you’ve calmed down, fight again.”

Tap—

I patted his helmet once,

and passed him by.

Passed by, and passed by, and passed by.

Through the ranks of isolated allies, I carved paths and shredded the enemies into pieces, scattering them.

At the end of it, I arrived before Sir Inapar.

There were several Peak Experts on this battlefield, but Sir Inapar was a senior knight of the world’s strongest, the Horizon Knights. Even among Peak Experts, the standing was different.

Perhaps,

other than the black orc up ahead, he was the strongest knight here.

And the finest commander.

“I must... do more! More! Even if it costs me my life!”

As he pushed himself, burning his very soul, I stomped beside him and swung my sword.

Shhhrraak!

My Aura Blade, merged with the sword energy of a Peak Expert, cleaved two monstrous anomalies in an instant.

The monsters burned with the power of Banroa,

and across Sir Inapar’s face, white flame shadows flickered.

I looked him straight in the eyes and urged:

“Gather your troops and hold formation. Reinforcements will arrive soon. Endure.”

“Y-yes?”

“And protect her. At all costs. Protect Iodin. Fulfill your duty.”

“Eh? Wait... who are you....”

I had no time to answer. I simply turned my back.

My gaze fixed ahead—on the towering, bloodied back of the massive black orc, locked in a brawl against countless monsters.

Sir Inapar still tried to ask me something, but—

a booming voice soon drowned out his questions.

“That dark-blue storm is the Saint! The Saint fights with us!”

It was Louis, who had been following me. He had drawn the holy sword. That sacred relic, said to channel divine power, extended its radiant blade more than a full meter beyond its true length, shining with dazzling holy light.

Even though Louis was only a High-grade Expert, with the holy sword he displayed feats above Peak Expert. Such was the overwhelming might of the relic.

“Waaaaaaah!”

“It’s the Saint! The Saint fights alongside us!”

The surviving knights and soldiers, reforming their formation, roared in cheers.

And that wasn’t all.

“Charge!”

“Purge the cursed ones!”

“Follow the Saint!”

At that very moment, the knights and soldiers who had been healed in the temple came pouring down the valley.

They stabbed and trampled the monsters I had scattered into disarray, finishing them off.

Yes. Now it was finally a battle worth fighting.

“You’re... the Saint?”

Leaving the startled Sir Inapar behind, I stomped the ground again.

Kwaaaaang!

Tearing apart enemies, linking together allies, forward, forward—until at last, I stood at the very front.

There, a colossal orc awaited.

‘Up close, he’s even more incredible.’

A body like a mountain. Muscles like a mountain range, writhing like molten magma, exhaling streams of white vapor.

The wounds torn and pierced across him were so numerous that light leaked through the gaps in his shadowed bulk, yet his savage fighting spirit and indomitable will more than filled those voids.

Sensing my approach, he spoke without even turning.

“So, you’re the Saint?”

The black orc—Urgulak’s voice was low and booming, like an earthquake.

He snorted once, snff!—

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaaaang!

Suddenly, he swung both axes with all his might in every direction.

Crimson-black Sword Steel surged massively, rending the surroundings to shreds.

It was a strike as if a colossal dragon had swallowed the space whole; the cliffs on both sides of the valley crumbled, and the ground sank.

The five monstrous anomalies that had been restraining him were shredded to pieces, scattered like dust.

‘...What is this absurd might?’

Honestly,

it was a shockingly overwhelming display of martial force.

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