Kays Translations

Chapter 32: The Sword Saint Sings

Around the time Ren and the others were returning to Eupheim on horseback…

A shrine stood at the center of the solitary island. Connected to the Lion King, it was a sacred place that people rarely visited.

“…Phew. I suppose they cannot be found everywhere.”

The voice belonged to a girl. Clad in a jet-black robe, she sighed on the island offshore. In her hands was a treasure—a magic stone—that had been offered deep within a hollow she had exposed with magic inside the shrine.

The seal within the shrine was protected by a barrier formidable even by modern standards, but she had simply broken through it.

The girl leaped from the hollow and crossed the island alone. She had come in a small wooden boat that she sailed by herself.

“I hoped there might be more Hero Equipment here, but it cannot be helped. I will search somewhere else.”

She propelled the boat with magic for several minutes.

“I should leave before the Sword King and the witch notice me. Fighting those children would be troublesome.”

Farther offshore, she saw an enormous shadow swimming directly beneath the boat.

She removed her hood, and the sea breeze stirred silver hair streaked repeatedly with black.

A cool smile touched her finely sculpted features as she narrowed her jewel-like, mismatched eyes.

“I will give you this, so go on a rampage—Giant God’s Messenger, Wadatsumi.”

She tossed the magic stone from the shrine toward the enormous shadow beneath the water.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

The sea beneath the cape along which Ren and the others rode began to heave. The surface rose unevenly, and pillars of water erupted all around them.

As the pillars bent like whips and swung toward the cape…

“Please stand back.”

Edgar stepped forward and drew the two swords at his waist. Both were wrapped in blue, ice-like waves produced by an Art available only to those of Sword Saint rank.

It resembled the Art Estelle had once shown Ren and Licia, yet was fundamentally different because such Arts changed according to their user.

“Do you believe you can lay a hand on my master while I stand before you?”

Edgar, too, belonged to the select few at the summit. His nature was absolute ice; his blue Mantle froze anything it touched, manifesting the very essence of his magic.

『Hmm… Where did you learn the Mighty Sword Style?』

A scene flashed before Ren like a lantern at the edge of death.

『From a woman. She is extraordinarily strong.』

『S-Surely not the Director of the Lion’s Holy Office—』

『Of course not. She is searching for me because I killed Chronois-san, and so are you, Edgar-san. I learned from someone else.』

They stood inside an old, dusty building. Ren Ashton was speaking with Edgar—apparently the versions of them from another timeline that he had witnessed before.

『Then, would you show me your Mighty Sword Style, Edgar-san?』

『Certainly. Allow me to demonstrate the Mighty Sword Style that is uniquely mine.』

Its color was the same beautiful blue as in the present.

The entire vision ended in less than a second. Even in Legend of the Seven Heroes, Ren and Edgar had known one another and acted together. Ren did not know what purpose had brought them together. He wished he could see more, but this was not the time.

Edgar’s sword met an arm of water and froze it solid.

“I am here too, Edgar-san.”

Ren reacted a moment later with the Red Sword. He swung the Flame Magic Sword he had summoned and worn at his waist from the beginning, returning a newly formed arm of water to ordinary seawater.

The pressure from Edgar’s blade scattered the heat of evaporation and hurled both the frozen arm and the seawater back toward the sea.

The steam dispersed without burning anyone.

Edgar looked back at Ren and smiled.

“You have improved yet again.”

They had to use this opening to withdraw and return to the city. With Ulysses—the person who most needed protection—at the center, Ren rode at the rear and kept watch.

At the same time, he considered the attack they had just witnessed. Why was Giant God’s Messenger Wadatsumi here?

Wadatsumi was a monster native to the waters around the Demon Continent and, as its title suggested, the subordinate of a certain being. It was powerful enough that it might attack the Imperial Capital in the future.

(It was the monster Vayne and the others fought in the sea near the Imperial Capital when Ren Ashton killed Chronois-san.)

Its master was the King of the Sea.

Both were unquestionably monsters Vayne’s party had fought, yet Ren still did not understand.

Why was Wadatsumi here? Had Vayne and the others already fought and repelled it, or had it appeared in this region for some other reason?

“Ren Ashton! It appears to be the monster we have been guarding against!”

“Yes! But why is it here…?”

“I do not know, but it has appeared within my territory. Fortunately, I strengthened our forces in case of an emergency, though I never expected it here…!”

A warship would arrive soon. The cape’s steep rocks hindered the horses as the group tried to ride inland.

They were still close to the sea and could look down upon the shore.

Ren spotted a massive shadow swimming below.

(It does not appear injured.)

Then Vayne and the others had not driven it away.

That left two possibilities.

First, it might never have appeared in House Leonaal’s territory and had instead surfaced here.

Second—absurd though the thought seemed—this could be another individual.

The game’s setting stated that several Wadatsumi existed. Ren could not dismiss that as ridiculous while one swam before his eyes.

The Adventurers’ Guild classified it as upper B-rank. This should have been the perfect opportunity for Hero Equipment to display its power, but…

“OOOOOHHH!”

Its lack of visible exhaustion suggested it had not fled here after being repelled.

Edgar, Ren, and the knights prepared to move. Then Ren sensed something strange.

(Something is wrong.)

Wadatsumi possessed tremendous strength. Even so, it should not have wielded power on this level. Ren did not know it, but this individual’s breath was stronger than the one that had attacked House Leonaal’s magic ship.

It felt one or even two grades more powerful than expected—perhaps strong enough to reach A-rank.

Its body was larger, and the fins adorning it blazed with mana.

Ren tightened his grip on the Flame Magic Sword, and the blade answered him. The heat coursing through his body recalled his battles in the chamber surrounded by Star Agate.

He had fought Asval and the Sword Demon, undead though they had been. He could not shrink from a legend now.

“GyOOOOHHH!”

The breath it finally released possessed even greater destructive force than the one aimed at House Leonaal’s magic ship.

In other words, it was immensely powerful. A torrent more destructive than ordinary magic weapons swept toward the cape along which they rode.

Could they block it while riding at full speed? No. That was impossible.

The Red Sword was tremendously powerful. It returned every part of the attack about to reach those ahead to ordinary seawater.

The remaining force collapsed the cape behind Ren, but he had accomplished enough.

Wadatsumi turned its attention to him. It had initially focused on Edgar as well, but now recognized Ren and his flames as the greater threat.

Ignoring the shallow water, it rushed toward the cape. Ren and Edgar prevented any direct casualties, but cracks spread through the rock.

An arm of water smashed into the cape, and the next attack, aimed solely at Ren, separated him from the others.

“Ren Ashton!”

Ulysses shouted in alarm from farther ahead.

“Go! I will withdraw in a moment!”

Ren wanted to buy as much time as possible before escaping. His objective was not to defeat or repel the monster; he merely needed to delay it. He had no intention of fighting alone against an enhanced Wadatsumi stronger than the one Vayne, Lord Leonaal, and Airia had faced.

Ulysses nearly stopped, but remaining would only hinder Ren. Bitterly aware that he could offer no help, he clicked his tongue and urged his horse away from the battlefield.

(Now, then…?)

He had said he would buy time, but how should he fight? His enemy remained in the sea. Although it occasionally surfaced or approached, the battlefield favored it overwhelmingly.

Still, Ren was pleased by how calm he felt. His battles with Asval and the Sword Demon had given him confidence.

From horseback at the cape, Ren stared over the sea. The warhorse neighed and reared, while Wadatsumi fixed its gaze upon him from below.

“…”

『—』

Ren stood atop the cape while Wadatsumi watched from the sea.

Then the monster moved beneath the water. It raised pillars across the surface and manipulated them with its command of water.

“…I said I would buy time, but…”

Ren gave a wry smile at the enemy’s strength and raised the Flame Magic Sword. He was alone against an enhanced Wadatsumi, stronger than the individual Vayne, Lord Leonaal, and Airia had fought.

Yet he was not afraid.

[Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]

Despite finding its piercing cry irritating…

Ren dodged the mass of water as it struck the cape and said,

“Have I truly become strong enough that this no longer seems unreasonable?”

The impact thundered, destroying the terrain. Most of the cape collapsed and plunged into the sea.

Ren rode a warhorse entrusted to him by Eupheim’s knights. Its monster blood enabled it to obey him even in this situation.

He made it run across falling rocks and boulders as footholds.

Before it could be dragged beneath the collapsing cape, Ren guided it onto a large boulder and spoke.

“Thank you. Find somewhere safe. Return to the city if you are frightened.”

He stroked the warhorse’s mane and slipped from the saddle. Then he leaped through the air, using the tumbling rocks as platforms, and swung the Flame Magic Sword at the approaching arms of water.

“Haaaah!”

With the Red Sword, he returned them to ordinary seawater.

Spray mixed with the sweat on his face. Ren swept the wet hair from his eyes with one hand.

『—!?』

The monster’s attitude toward the small boy changed. It had already recognized Ren as an enemy, but it had not expected such resistance. Its vigilance intensified as it swam through the sea.

Arms of water converged on Ren after he landed on the half-destroyed cape.

Then Ren heard something from within his body…

A gentle note like the sound of a flute resonated softly.

He faltered, unable to understand its source.

(Just now…)

He could not identify the sound, but his Mantle changed after he heard it.

Or perhaps the change in his Mantle had produced the sound. Ren refocused on the approaching arms.

“Burn away.”

He swept the Flame Magic Sword through a wide arc with greater force.

Deep-red flames formed a wall around him. Every arm that touched it vanished into steam.

The wall blocked even the scalding vapor, erasing every threat.

However…

“…?”

Although the battle was going well, Ren sensed something amiss. Since hearing the note, his Mantle no longer felt natural. It was far stronger than usual, yet unstable, as though it would not fully obey him.

He focused on it again, but the sensation did not change. The short flute-like note sounded once more. Ren tried to dismiss it as imagination and glared defiantly at the sea.

Then…

“What—!?”

Wadatsumi suddenly surged from the sea before the cape, swinging its enormous tail at Ren.

Ren met it with the Flame Magic Sword, but strength alone could not overcome the difference in mass. He was driven far backward across the crumbling cape and thrown into the air.

A flying stone grazed his cheek and left a thin line of blood.

Ren twisted in midair, stabbed the Flame Magic Sword into the ground, and resisted the force pushing him back as he glared toward the cape’s edge.

“…”

The boundary between cape and sea had become indistinct, leaving an unobstructed view. Wadatsumi raised its upper body above the surface and prepared a breath, while arms of water writhed around Ren from every direction.

“OOOOOO!”

With a roar that shook the air, the arms attacked simultaneously from all sides.

They first shattered more of the cape and stripped away Ren’s footing. As Wadatsumi prepared to release its breath, Ren stared back at it.

(Then perhaps… No, but…!)

He considered using a certain power, then reconsidered. He had already tried to dismiss the strange sensation in his Mantle as imagination, and the power he was considering allowed no room for error.

Ren abandoned the idea and intercepted the water arms with the Flame Magic Sword yet again. He managed to deal with them, but his Red Sword responded a fraction too late to the breath charging directly at him.

He raised a wall of flame and blocked it, but the remaining pressure slammed into him. Though it did not throw him away, it tore his clothes and cut his cheek and hands.

The powerful breath continued. Ren gritted his teeth and held the Flame Magic Sword against it with all his strength.

“This…!”

At last, he cast aside his hesitation.

He released the power he had avoided using.

Setting aside every doubt, he sought the strength to stand equal to—or surpass—the formidable enemy.

He dismissed the Flame Magic Sword, steadied himself, and summoned the Mithril Magic Sword.

With no footing left, his body rose into the air amid the breath and the arms attacking from every direction.

“I will hold my ground…!”

The overwhelming water magic converged upon the small boy from all sides.

Water exploded upward in every direction.

Wadatsumi no longer sensed the tremendous presence from before. Instead, it heard a flute-like note—and immediately saw a flash burst from the center of its breath.

An enormous surge of mana erupted.

Ren demonstrated the power of the new Art he had acquired that summer.

“Wadatsumi—I am strong now!”

Only then did Ren notice the young adventurers hiding behind rocks along the shore below the cape.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Estelle and Fiona reached the cape before the warship.

On the way, they encountered Ulysses and the others heading toward the city.

“F-Fiona!? Why did you leave the city?”

Estelle answered for her.

“Forgive me. I intended to send her back to the mansion, but my position would not allow me to remain still. I judged that she would be safer beside me and brought her along.”

Estelle was Leomel’s strongest knight. She could not ignore the possibility of another disturbance inside the city, so acting together was the safer choice. In truth, she possessed more than enough strength to justify that decision.

“We also felt suspicious tremors from afar, so I ordered the residents to evacuate inland. Fiona took the initiative and directed them along the main road.”

Fiona had worked tirelessly, doing everything she could both inside and outside the city. That was why she, too, had been beyond the walls.

“Fiona, your swift action was a great help.”

“I was only following Estelle-sama’s instructions…!”

The group stopped and spoke from horseback.

“Where is Ren?”

Ulysses and Edgar explained. The violent sounds and tremors had carried this far, mixed with a flute-like note that seemed to come from Ren’s body.

“That sound…”

Estelle’s expression changed, and astonishment filled her voice.

“—Heh. That Ren…”

She chuckled in delight, murmured those few words, and looked at Edgar.

“Edgar, you heard it?”

“…Of course.”

They nodded in mutual understanding, and almost all the tension from moments earlier vanished.

They looked little different from how they did in peaceful times.

“Fiona, would you like to go and meet Ren?”

It was an astonishing proposal.

—Far away in House Leonaal’s territory, everyone was busy dealing with the aftermath at the magic-ship landing facility.

Sera called to Vayne, who stood before an enormous window staring weakly at his palm.

“Vayne, what is wrong?”

“I am not really sure.”

He turned toward Sera and scratched his cheek with an awkward smile.

He thought about the power he had used in the battle and pictured Ren.

“I was wondering whether I have caught up to Ren even a little.”

“…Yes. I am sure you have.”

In one corner of the bustling landing facility, the boy and girl shared a definite sense of accomplishment.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

The battlefield was no longer the cape, but the sea itself.

From the standpoint of buying time, it may have been foolish, but Ren could not ignore the young adventurers trembling behind the rocks. He therefore descended to the water.

He summoned the Great Tree Magic Sword and created several platforms of roots across the surface.

“Hurry! Run!”

He shouted to the trembling adventurers and gave them a path to escape.

He had to buy time once more, but Ren did not mind. He threw himself back into the battle. The faintly unfamiliar sensation of his Mantle began to settle into something natural; as it did, his mastery rose dramatically, and the distinctive strength of a Mighty Sword practitioner grew with it.

A soft “fwoom” sounded from Ren’s body—from his Mantle.

『—!』

Even with platforms of roots, his enemy was a monster of the sea.

It exploited its overwhelming advantage in this battlefield, wielding water magic…

“GAAAOOOOH!”

…and using its enormous body to ram him.

Ren nimbly evaded across the root platforms and fought with the Mithril Magic Sword.

This was an enhanced form of Wadatsumi that Ren had never encountered.

A violent blast followed Wadatsumi’s charge, but Ren stood his ground and carved wounds into its body.

Several deep cuts now scored Wadatsumi’s enormous frame.

Driven into a corner, Wadatsumi instinctively considered fleeing.

But escape was impossible.

Unlike at the beginning of the battle, it could no longer get away.

Its survival instinct drove it to fight with single-minded desperation.

It lowered its head and charged at Ren as though to impale him on its two twisted horns.

“Guh… It is fast!”

Ren could not evade completely and caught the enormous body head-on. He was pushed across the water, away from the land and farther offshore.

Seawater struck his back as he resisted the crushing force.

Before him were Wadatsumi’s forehead and the two terrifying horns on either side.

He pressed the Mithril Magic Sword against its brow, but the momentum of that overwhelming mass would not stop.

(That is—!)

The solitary island offshore, with its ancient shrine already half destroyed.

Still pressing against Ren, Wadatsumi drove straight toward the island. It intended to crush him against the shore.

As land finally approached, Ren gritted his teeth.

The instant his feet touched the island’s sandy beach, he poured all his strength into the Mithril Magic Sword.

Even on loose sand, he could brace himself and drive power through his feet.

“Goooooh!?”

The monster lost its balance at Ren’s sudden counterforce.

Its head slammed into the beach rather than rolling onto land. The shore collapsed, was gouged away, and began to erode into the sea.

Still it did not stop. It leaped from the surface, hurled water magic, and repeatedly charged Ren.

Ren evaded nimbly across the root platforms and countered with the Mithril Magic Sword.

The blade’s dull blue sheen flashed each time it struck, carving numerous wounds that were anything but shallow into the monster’s enormous body.

Wadatsumi withdrew again and wrapped its entire body in armor of water.

It was preparing an attack fiercer than any before—a desperate, life-or-death assault.

During the brief respite, Ren murmured,

“…It was never supposed to possess an Art like that.”

The abnormality was now undeniable.

Something had unquestionably strengthened Wadatsumi. Ren did not dwell on the cause and instead regulated his breathing.

His Mantle began to change once more.

Another calm note resonated from his body.

The idea of merely buying time had already vanished from his mind.

Now Ren sought only to immerse his entire body in this sensation.

“I do not understand it… but it feels good.”

At those words, Wadatsumi charged.

Clad in water armor, both its rush and its spells were more ferocious than ever.

The old shrine at the island’s center suffered still more damage beneath Wadatsumi’s relentless attacks.

(This is fine. I can fight exactly as I imagine.)

Ren was confident that nothing he did here would harm Eupheim.

Even so, when he looked at the shrine on the island’s small hill, his gaze lowered slightly.

It was an ordinary shrine, smaller than a typical house. Ren silently apologized to it.

He felt guilty, but the battle had to continue. He drew a deep breath.

『AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!』

The scream-like roar echoed across the sea. It was the cry of a creature committing everything to a life-or-death attack.

The water armor around Wadatsumi thickened, its surface rippling violently.

Huge whirlpools formed throughout the surrounding sea, and rough waves encircled the island.

Pillars of water powerful enough to pierce the sky rose and whipped toward the island.

But the outcome had already been decided. Ren leveled the Mithril Magic Sword at the approaching Wadatsumi.

A much louder note than before rang from his body, gentle and flute-like.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

It did not take them long to ride back to the cape.

Why return at such a critical moment after Ren had created an opening for them? Ordinarily, it would have been absurd.

Estelle would normally have agreed, but both she and Edgar had said there was no longer any need to worry. The group therefore returned despite their doubts.

They saw Wadatsumi rampaging offshore.

Moments later, they watched it prepare a deadly assault.

Estelle remained calm, although Fiona and the others could not help worrying when they saw Ren fighting on the island.

“I will not interfere with Ren.”

Estelle dismounted and stood on the cape, where traces of the monster’s breath still lingered.

Edgar also dismounted, folded his arms, and gazed toward the solitary island.

“Estelle-sama!”

Seeing Fiona’s anxious expression, Estelle gently patted the girl’s head without looking away from the island.

“Can you hear it?”

“…I sometimes hear something like a flute. Is that what you mean?”

That was precisely it.

Edgar understood as well. He gave a small nod and silently left the explanation to Estelle while continuing to watch the island.

“A scholar explained this phenomenon more than a century ago.”

It had been recorded over one hundred years earlier.

“Once Mantle reaches a certain degree of mastery, its development stops before it places too great a burden on the body. It is evolution held just short of completion. The important step is learning to wield that power easily according to one’s own will…”

Estelle glanced sidelong at Edgar.

Edgar nodded.

“The user’s body begins adapting to the new Mantle. The membrane of mana outside the body and the mana within rub against one another and resonate as they adjust. The user may temporarily struggle to control the Mantle, but only for a short time.”

“Exactly. It is difficult until the power settles, but the process is brief.”

Estelle continued.

“The flute-like note is the sound of the Mantle resonating.”

Even the Director of the Lion’s Holy Office felt her heart race with excitement.

“Fwoom… fwoom… It rings like a flute. The note rides the wind and travels through the mana in the air, carrying far into the distance.”

It reached them from offshore even more clearly than the roar of the waves Wadatsumi created.

It was a beautiful sound, like a blessing.

“Since ancient times, this note has been celebrated with a particular expression.”

“A particular expression…?”

“Indeed. There is a special name for it.”

What triggered it, Ren? Estelle wondered.

Leomel’s strongest knight smiled.

They watched the pressure and tremors from the island, along with the lingering traces of wind and water magic.

Everyone listened intently, waiting to hear the ancient name of the phenomenon.

And then…

“—The Sword Saint sings.”

At that moment, the resonating note ceased.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Ren had not gained a new magic sword from his battle with the Sword Demon.

But not long after the battle, he realized that he had acquired a new Art.

Across the solitary island, boulders and soil floated motionless in midair.

At the center of that mysterious scene, amid dense waves of mana, a boy stood upon a single rock.

“Let us end this.”

His power surged more fiercely than ever before.

Jet-black lightning and silver flashes erupted.

A dense field of mana spread around Ren.

It was the Sword Demon’s Art—the power that had driven Ren and Licia to the brink of death in Roses Caitas.

Ren drove the Mithril Magic Sword into the ground.

Its destructive force and enormous mana cost made him hesitate to unleash it fully, but…

“—Wadatsumi!”

Every torrent of power Ren created erupted toward the sea.

With a thunderous roar, it scythed across the water and raced toward Wadatsumi.

The water armor and all the power ravaging the surrounding sea vanished in an instant.

What remained was a defenseless, wounded Wadatsumi.

Its crimson eyes stayed fixed on Ren as it swam. Nothing mattered now except taking this small boy’s life, even if it died in the attempt.

“OOOOOOOH!”

Consumed by that single purpose, Wadatsumi roared.

“This ends now!”

After unleashing the Art he had gained from the Sword Demon…

The Mithril Magic Sword erupted with jet-black lightning and silver flashes at once.

Ren faced it head-on without fleeing or faltering.

“Sword of Authority”—a power available only to Mighty Sword practitioners who had reached Sword Saint rank.

When Estelle had used it before, she explained that the Art’s nature changed according to its wielder.

Even the color of its waves changed. In Ren’s hands they were silver and jet-black—surely the colors carried by his own mana. He could not fully understand his nature in that moment, but it did not matter.

He focused only on ending the battle.

Six members of the Hero Houses had barely driven back the weaker monster. Ren now faced its strengthened form alone.

“Haahhhhh!”

When he swung the Mithril Magic Sword, waves of jet-black and silver rippled outward.

Wrapped in those waves, Ren delivered his greatest strike. With a single swing, the power coursed through the charging Wadatsumi’s entire body, followed by the pressure of the blade.

『…』

The last thing reflected in the monster’s eyes was the young Sword Saint.

“—I win.”

A cracking sound rang from deep within Wadatsumi’s forehead, and its eyelids closed.

Its enormous body collapsed with a ground-shaking impact.

Particles of light rose from the remains and flowed into Ren’s wristband.

• Water Magic Sword (Level 1: 1/1)

It was a power dropped by the Goddess of Water.

The battle ended there with the birth of a Sword Saint.

And once again, it brought Ren a new magic sword.

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