Chapter 96
『Translator: RainTL』
༺ Sun - Claiomh Solais (4) ༻
Domain,
The dream and aspiration of every warrior that allows you to take a step forward in a suspended world.
In the last iteration, I wasn’t even able to set my foot in that realm but I had entered it quite a few times in this iteration.
However, mine was still not a perfect form of Domain when compared to Alicia’s.
I could only enter the Domain after my body was warmed up by the heat of battle or with the help of my survival instincts. Apart from the likes of Alicia who were born with an extreme level of concentration along with the Eyes of the Boundary, it was nigh impossible for anyone to enter the Domain without any preceding signs.
And even after entering the Domain, they were limited to one step and one attack - at least that was what I had been thinking.
❰Domain Severance - Eight Dancing Blades❱
Eight trails of swords were unraveled onto the suspended world. It allowed us to take a glimpse at just how monstrously talented the Sword Fiend was.
We retaliated at the same time.
❰Singular Sword of Arden, Domain Severance❱
❰Soaring Snake, Rearing Head of the Venomous Dragon❱
Domain against the Domain.
My survival instincts sensed the life-threatening risk of the fight and allowed me to enter the Domain.
—!
—!
The weapons crashed into one another inside the Domain. Fortunately for us, the opponent didn’t have perfect control over the Domain either - the weight behind his swords had been compromised to make up for the numerous swings.
Calculating the best trajectory possible, we tried to fend off the eight sword trails pouncing at us, but we could only offset five of them. The rest were going towards Lunia.
In that instant, my eyes picked up Alicia’s pupils. I could tell that those vertically-slit eyes of hers were crumpled from astonishment.
We couldn’t stop it.
Lunia’s Domain was far from perfect. Although she could perceive the Domain, she was half a step slower than the Sword Fiend…!
That was why the only future I could imagine was Lunia falling down in tatters.
- Kaang!
“??!”
It was then - the fiend’s swords were blocked by a black layer of aura that was floating around her. They stopped the Sword Fiend’s swords from reaching Lunia.
“...Compressed condensed aura?”
Compressed Aura of Self-Defense.
That was the powerful hidden skill that Alicia would learn at the very end of her growth. It was a technique that covered for the previously terrible defense level of Alicia, a powerful attacker.
That made up from Lunia’s delay of half a step and allowed her to strike down at the Sword Fiend with her own oppressive attack.
Singular Sword of Arden, False Domain Severance.
Kaduduk!
Her sword penetrated down from the right shoulder of the monster, but it wasn’t deep enough. By twisting its body slightly at the last second, the Sword Fiend managed to escape from her vicious attack.
“Tch…!”
Lunia clicked her tongue after noticing that her violent attack that she had been trying to settle things with wasn’t as satisfactory as she would have liked. Meanwhile, with one of its shoulders crushed, the monster stared at us.
“KUKI—”
It then started to laugh.
“KUKIKIKIKIKIKI—!”
That wasn’t a proper language. The monster was expressing its horrible laughter to us using its vocal cords.
It seemed bewitched by the way of the sword and reminded me of someone.
“It is a dangerous monster. We must kill it here.”
“I agree,” I said in agreement with Lunia’s words.
The Sword Fiend had yet to reach the level of a Thousand Dancing Blades. That perfected skill of his allowed it to cut anything in existence that was inside the radius of 1 kilometer.
In other words, now was one of the only chances we had to kill this monster. Although it wasn’t a part of our plan, it would be worth it as long as we could defeat the Sword Fiend here even if that meant we had to give up on the Sun.
Round 2 of the battle was about to begin. Right when the Sword Fiend was about to pounce at us—
“How are you, friend?”
Dun Scaith suddenly appeared behind the Sword Fiend with a grin.
—!!
The right and the left swords of the monster danced in order to cut the sudden yet defenseless enemy that appeared behind itself.
- Kahk…!
Scaith got sliced like radish and chunks of his body fell on the ground. It should have meant an instant death but… his body suddenly melted down as hundreds of serpents slithered out of his innards.
“...!?”
Even the Sword Fiend was baffled by that bizarre turn of events. It swung its swords to cut them down again but slicing apart the hundreds and thousands of snakes was not an easy task.
In the end, the Sword Fiend decided to retreat but… sharp branches of wood soared out of the ground and raged at it from all sides, stopping the monster in its tracks.
“...”
Dumnorix, who should have been sliced by the Sword Fiend, was standing up again while displaying his upper body which had trees replacing bones and flesh, that had been hiding behind the robe.
Apparently, some Elder Druids became one with nature after living a long time and were said to turn into that form. In other words, druids were one with nature - as long as he was on the ground next to spirits, Dumnorix was impossible to be killed.
King of Beasts, Dun Scaith, and Lawmaker Dumnorix.
Even from the King’s subjects, they were the two with incredible vitality that were close to being unkillable.
They were terrible foes for the Sword Fiend to go against, as someone who only excelled in physical abilities.
“...Monsters.”
Lunia commented, seemingly appalled by the strange abilities of the two of them, but that was probably a normal reaction.
Unlike Fermack who couldn’t receive ‘godship’ because of his infiltration mission, those two were future gods of the Paradise who were given ‘godships’.
They weren’t beings that could be understood with the common sense of humans.
“KRRRRRR—”
It didn’t take long for the monster to retreat after coming to the decision that it would be impossible to beat us.
****
“...”
After being healed at the infirmary of druids, we came out and met Yuel, who was waiting for us outside with a dark complexion.
“...Sorry. I couldn’t do anything.”
That seemed to be the reason behind her gloominess but that wasn’t her fault.
Our clash with the Sword Fiend lasted less than 20 seconds. Besides, her main source of power - the spirits were already being used by Dumnorix so there was nothing Yuel could do there.
“Don’t worry about it. There wasn’t much else that could have been done.”
“But…”
“It’s okay! None of us were seriously hurt anyway!”
The fact that none of us died even after an encounter with the Sword Fiend was already a miracle in itself. But honestly, it wouldn’t have been strange for at least one of us to have died there if not for Dumnorix and Dun Scaith.
“That demonic beast… used the swordsmanship of Arden.”
Lunia stated while gnashing her teeth. After throwing a glance at her older sister, Alicia carefully opened her mouth.
“Maybe… it read our books?”
“That is ridiculous. Those skills were definitely polished through real battles. It didn’t show the standard movements that we teach; it probably learned by itself by going against an expert swordsman.”
“Sorry? Y, you mean…”
“There is only one person that could have fought against a demonic beast of that caliber on repeat.”
It was then.
“Hohoho. Looks like you girls have noticed it.”
That was the voice of a considerably old man. However, his voice wasn’t dry like Dumnorix's and was instead full of viciousness and power.
““...””
Everyone turned towards the owner of the voice and found an old man with black hair, standing there with an irritating smile.
“G, grandpa…”
His unkempt hair and tattered martial uniform made him look more like a wild beast than a civilized human.
Sword Emperor Garrand Arden.
He was standing in front of us.
“What preposterous thing have you done, old man?”
Despite facing the Sword Emperor, the psychological pillar of the Arden family who still had an absolute status in the household, Lunia was relentless. But even that must have only appeared as a cute trick of his granddaughter for the Sword Emperor.
“Just a pastime activity of an old man.”
“Teaching a demonic beast the sword? Do you still call yourself a guardian?”
“Hohoho. You have to phrase that properly, my granddaughter. I have never taught him the sword; he learned it by himself.”
“What kind of…!”
“Don’t you find it intriguing? A demonic beast wielding swords? Most importantly, he even has the unprecedented talent of entering the Domain after seeing me enter it myself.”
The madness of the Sword Emperor, this mad swordsman, was something I had known already.
He was someone who didn’t care about anything else as long as he could reach or see someone else reach the pinnacle of swords. Both the world and his family had little significance to him, and the only thing that mattered to him was seeing the pinnacle of swordsmanship.
“You crazy old man…”
Lunia growled in fury but Alicia had a slightly different reaction.
“Grandpa. Please teach me the sword.”
As if she had been stimulated by something, her pupils were the same as the ones I saw back when she was using the Domain.
“Sure. Of course I can.”
Sword Emperor. Sword Fiend. Alicia.
The lunatics that could be bewitched by the sword stirred each other forward.
It was her moment of enlightenment.
****
“I will now announce your final task.”
Inside the room of the sage, along with Uzkias were me, Yuel, Scaith, and Dumnorix.
The two of them looked as nonchalant as ever with not a hint of the battle that took place with the Sword Fiend remaining, sitting carefreely on the other side.
“We failed to earn the rowan fruits though. Is that okay?”
What I heard from Yuel before was that Uzkias still wouldn’t stop us from continuing with the final task. That was why I was here, waiting for him to talk about the content of the task which was in fact already embedded into my brain by the quest information.
“That does not matter. Having a rowan fruit is a great advantage for Mr. Scaith and Mr. Dumnorix, but not having it does not necessarily remove your chance of acquiring the Sun.”
As expected, Uzkias didn’t fail us for failing one of the tasks.
“This is your final task. After you are done with that, you are free to acquire the Sun however you wish.”
The final task…
“Grow the staff you have made during your second test and make it reach the heaven. There, you are to meet the giants protecting the Sun.”
There were 3 weeks left until the Solar Eclipse.
Until then, we had to grow a tree that was tall enough to reach the skies.
****
On the western side of the kingdom were two sacred chapels.
One of them was the Chapel of Xeruem. It was the sacred lands of the Old Faith, the religion that fell out of the trend of time and was in a steady decline. Leaving their sacred lands and traveling for a day on a carriage would lead one to the second one, the Chapel of Zeon.
They were like a self-proclaimed ‘original’ restaurant that was made by sneaking out the recipe and the workers of the previous restaurant right when they started to falter from cost and backlash of monopolization.
The New Faith, which followed the trend of time and shifted their doctrine away from the nobles and the higher-ups and sang of equality, absorbed a bunch of various believers and gathered a large amount of wealth and people.
Their sacred Chapel of Zeon, which was built shortly after their foundation, boasted of incredible holiness and fanciness despite a short history.
The sparkling Zeon city surrounding the chapel, which was created by gathering all the best constructors of the times, looked like a rather snobbish city of the wealthy.
It was quite paradoxical considering how they used to condemn the first Chapel of Xeruem and its surrounding city for its luxuriance and extravagance for being a corrupt city of filthiness.
“...”
Walking all the way down the artistic streets and the sewage systems through the shopping district and residential areas; one would find the Grand Chapel at the end of all that.
“Welcome to the Grand Chapel of Zeon.”
The Grand Chapel which was decorated with expensive marble and gems was filled with believers who were here to visit the holy city.
It was very crowded because there were not even any security guards, for they might be considered too oppressive considering their catchphrase, 『The god accepts us all.』
That was why even a demi-human like herself was able to step on the lands of the Grand Chapel - at least that was what Hua Ran heard.
“Hua Ran. Are you going to go in straight away?”
“...Un.”
Her supervisor, Senior Professor Josephine Clara, was quite confused by how much of a hurry she was in.
It was true that there was a long way to go for her, considering how her next destination was the east side of the kingdom which was in a completely different direction. However, thinking about her slow and carefree personality, Josephine couldn’t help but feel surprised by the mere fact that she was in a hurry.
“We have to wait 2 days… if we miss today.”
“You need to realize just how remarkable it is that you can even meet her as a probationary sister.”
Josephine grumbled but Hua Ran pretended like she didn’t hear it. Soon, one of the maids outside the door alerted the person inside the room of their arrival.
“Saintess. Probationary Sister Hua Ran has arrived.”
“Really? Tell her to come in.”
It was at last, time for an audience. Waiting at the end of the corridors full of white marbled walls, a red silk carpet, and tapestries was the Saintess.
“Pleased to see you, Saintess.”
“Sister Josephine…!”
The Saintess of the Grand Chapel of Zeon, with her gorgeous pink hair fluttering behind her and a white robe that only she could wear, had both a mysterious and a divine aura to her.
“Wow~. It’s Hua Ran!”
She ran up and gave Hua Ran a wide hug. Her beautiful face would have ended up in the silk carpet beneath had she dodged the hug.
“You grew taller, didn’t you? Are you drinking a lot of milk? What about anchovies?”
The Saintess said while affectionately fidgeting with her cheeks like rice cakes.
“...Get rid of your hands.”
“Are you embarrassed?”
Estelle Hadatha El Rath.
She was the 1st Princess of the El Rath Kingdom, as well as the Saintess of the New Faith’s Grand Chapel of Zeon. She was a symbolic religious figure that even the queen couldn’t mess with but…
“I heard you had to go through a bunch of trouble at the festival. Are you alright?”
On the outside, she was an untouchable symbol of royalty and divinity but to the people close to her, she was like one of the amicable neighbors.
“Restriction first.”
Hua Ran didn’t feel very comfortable around this Saintess and asked to go straight to the topic. As a demi-human and the main culprit behind the Moonlight Castle incident, she needed something to freely move around in the El Rath Kingdom, and that was the restriction sealing her to this date. However, she was here to adjust the restriction.
“Please lift the restriction.”
“Hnn?”
Estelle tilted her head in response to Hua Ran’s request, and looked back and forth between her and Josephine.
“What do you mean by lifting your restriction, I wonder?”
“At least the 1st seal… please.”
Hua Ran was requesting her to alleviate the intensity of Chains of Zeon that were restricting her but it was a very short request. Josephine tried to step up to explain in her stead but was stopped by a wave of Estelle’s hand.
“And why is that?”
“...It’s stuffy.”
“If that is your reason, then I won’t cancel it for you.”
Without any hint of her previous gentle attitude, Estelle adamantly refused her offer with a stern look on her face. Seeing that, Hua Ran hesitated before opening her mouth.
“...It’s because it’s stuffy for me. But… you do the rest.”
The change happened in a flash. Hua Ran’s crimson eyes and hair suddenly turned into a gentle blue color. Estelle had already received a report about it and knew who that was.
“So you are Ran, is that correct?”
“Nice to meet you, Saintess.”
Unlike the curt attitude of Hua, Ran was a lot more gentle. However, her stubborn and straightforward approach was still the same.
“I need power.”
“Hmm? Let me ask you the reason. Why do you need power?”
In response to her question, Ran replied with a cunning wink.
“Because I would like to become a nice wife who can help her husband.”
………
……
…
After Hua Ran left the Grand Chapel, Estelle murmured to herself while looking at the now-empty seat.
“Very interesting.”
Estelle recalled the moment Hua Ran first entered the Grand Chapel.
A demi-human child brought by Chairman Eriu and Professor Josephine from a continent in the far east - most people found her red eyes to be ominous and frightening, but what she saw from her eyes was a young and wounded beast.
She was just a young and anxious girl… who was frightened by things she couldn’t see and things she couldn’t hear.
The moment she saw her, Estelle chose to follow her duty as a Saintess of Zeon, and not as a princess of the El Rath Kingdom. At the cost of confronting her younger sister, the 2nd Princess, she accepted Hua Ran under the name of New Faith.
She let her enter the academy to learn and in hopes of people calling her a hero instead of a monster.
However, even she wasn’t expecting Hua Ran to learn the heart of a human this early. She had been hoping and wishing her a great future for her but the young girl grew even faster than she expected to the point that she was now talking about love.
The wounded girl was now seeing a bright youthful life and had become a romantic girl.
“Korin Lork.”
And the one at the center of that change was a freshman boy of Merkarva Academy.
Saving Marie Dunareff who had become a vampire, he fought against Lunia Arden the Sword Master and helped his peer Alicia Arden, and even subjugated the unsealed King of Iron Mountain.
He was a young hero that could most definitely enter the Hall of Warriors, that was told of in the scripture.
What was it about him that had melted that iceberg of a girl?
“He really is involved in every matter, isn’t he, that ‘Junior’?”
Estelle whispered with a rather cunning yet gentle smile on her face.
………
……
…
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
Josephine was appalled after seeing Hua Ran pack her belongings straight away after a new ‘prayer’. It was because she was saying she would immediately leave Zeon.
“Without a supervisor…”
“The Saintess lifted the seal.”
“But…”
It wasn’t out of the question. Now that Ran was here, Hua wasn’t as unstable as before and Josephine was indeed thinking about lowering the supervision but…
“It is 2,400 km from here to the Eastern border. Are you… telling me you are going to run the entire way?”
“I can.”
“No. Let’s go together on a wyvern. I can come with you.”
“I’m faster.”
“...”
That might be true in a straight line but there were landscapes and other potential problems.
Josephine even wondered if she should let her move using her super-long-distance dimensional travel spell, but a super-long-distance travel rune was something that could only be generated once a year.
It wasn’t something that could be used lightly but…
“Why is that? Is there something serious?”
She was ready to use it if that was related to a very serious matter.
“...”
Hua Ran turned silent. It wasn’t strange for her to turn silent but what was rare was that her ears were slightly flushed.
It was as if she was embarrassed about sharing her honest thoughts.
“Ran…”
“What about Ran?”
“Ran said I can’t be slower than that woman… Not me, that’s what Ran said.”
“Ah…”
Just some love-related stuff, huh.
“Let’s just… go on a wyvern. We will get there in 3 weeks.”
“I can… run there. It will take less than 2 days.”
“There is no way it will.”
What if you lose your way?
Josephine persuaded her over the span of 2 hours while teaching her a lesson about Geography.