The Great Sword is not the Main Body!
Chapter 205 – Prayer

I forced myself to breathe, swallowing the nausea rising from deep within.

[Ugh, fuck. Now he’s gone and added cannibalism to the list. Completely off his rocker.]

Kartia and Frey were no different, their faces twisted in disgust as they shuddered.

“You’re mistaken. This is not cannibalism. Don’t you also derive nutrients by consuming the meat of beasts during a regular meal? What I’ve done is no different.”

While basking in our contemptuous stares, Alstein casually licked the leftover flesh from his teeth with a tongue that dangled to his sternum.

“Hence, what I did was merely an act of nutrient absorption.”

[Right, of course. A beast eating a human wouldn’t find anything wrong with that.]

“Exactly.”

Crunch.

A single step from Frey dented the ground. Alstein’s relaxed gaze turned to her. In response, the dozens of armaments floating in the air shifted their aim toward her.

“Not wiping your mouth after eating, typical beast behavior. But you know what?”

The armaments held by Masters who had transcended humanity, each one containing overwhelming power, turned toward her. Yet Frey, unbothered, raised her greatsword.

“Beasts or humans, once you devour something, you need time to digest.”

Alstein waved his hand through the air. The weapons aligned, neatly arranged, avoiding overlap, positioned to kill Frey without fail.

Ruuumble! 

Even that minor motion sent the world into uproar. Mana surged. The earth trembled and held its breath.

“Run right after eating, and you’ll get a stomachache.”

As if brushing off the crushing pressure, a snicker slipped between Frey’s teeth. Her foot stretched forward along with that laughter. The greatsword she had raised slowly tilted down.

On Frey’s sword, now parallel with the earth, an unknown energy began to form. It gathered and condensed, stretching into a thread-like line.

One thread split into two.

Two into four.

Four into eight.

The countless branching threads tore through the surrounding flowers, sharpening themselves even further.

“Noah. Watch closely and learn. This is called a [Sword-thread].”

Soon, the countless threads wove together, forming something completely different from the sword she once held.

A worn-out hilt. A battered, blunted crossguard. A blade cracked and dulled to the brink of collapse.

And yet, a greatsword more solid and unwavering than any other.

It was the same as the ones Kartia and I held.

No, older than that. The greatsword now rested in Frey’s hands.

“This is called [Sword-force], the condensed aura wrapped around the blade.”

Grip. 

Supporting the base of the blade, her hand stroked the hilt with a familiar motion. With the other, she clutched it with a fierce resolve, as if ready to snap it in half.

Crack!

Her foot, pointed inward, twisted direction. The recoil surged through her waist and into her arms.

“So? I look cooler than that bitch, right?”

With those final words, the condensed sword-force around her blade burst open. It flared, devoured, shattered, and tore apart everything around her.

The swing Frey unleashed into the sky drew the shape of a crescent moon. Upon it, a terrifyingly sharp wave of sword-force layered itself. Then, with a deafening roar, it was unleashed.

At the same time, Alstein’s right hand extended. 

Clack!  

The wall surrounding him overlapped and reinforced itself, stacked as though it would never fall.

Then, his left hand swept the air. Tens of thousands of illusory weapons rained down on Frey all at once.

And it didn’t end there. The gaping maw of the beast that had blanketed the land began to close, while curses soaked in death’s aura spread across the world.

The massive sword-force Frey launched seemed small compared to the vast ocean of destruction rushing toward us. There was nowhere to escape.

I reached for my greatsword to block it all, but Frey’s back, one step ahead, stopped me.

Unfazed by the approaching disaster, 

Still smirking just like before, Frey said:

“Hold it, hold it. Not sure if your master told you this, but you’re using your greatsword wrong.”

Standing at the center, Frey remained unbothered, adjusting her stance. She layered another surge of sword-force over her blade.

“No, I should say, you’re using the greatsword you’re holding wrong. My greatsword’s role, you see, has always been to open the path. Since a thousand years ago.”

A sword that clears the way to victory.

The one that forges the road toward triumph.

As if reminiscing, her eyes drifted far off, then returned to face the catastrophe bearing down on us.

“So, watch closely. This is something even your master can’t teach you.”

Like swimming through water, her body moved fluidly. Not a stance for slashing, but for piercing. Following that stance, the sword-force gathered at the tip of her blade.

What formed there, was a tiny orb.

The small orb hungrily devoured the chilling blue sword-force. It hovered at the tip of her sword, emitting a serene light.

It looked utterly out of place in a battlefield filled with death.

But the power it contained, was unimaginably ferocious.

Frey’s resolute expression tightened. She raised her chin and steadied her breath. Her sweat-drenched bangs fluttered. Dust-mixed sweat dripped down her cheeks. A bead of it rolled from her jaw, 

BOOM!

Frey, leaving behind a trail of light, charged straight into the oncoming calamity.

And at that moment, 

Step.

Kartia’s foot moved, breaking the silence as she held her breath and focused.

[What’s with that face?]

“She went… in alone. I’m just worried.”

[Worried?]

Snort.

Kartia roughly tousled my hair as she passed by.

Then calmly, with a face more relaxed than anyone else’s, she looked toward the trail of light stretching toward the calamity, full of belief that Frey would pull it off.

[At this level, she could do it even if she’d just woken up from a nap.]

Moments later, Kartia’s laughter stopped. The afterimage of light dimmed. At the heart of that pitch-black storm, at the center of the death that threatened to consume the entire world, the fading light reached it.

And then, 

[Told you. She’s doing it.]

―――!

A heat powerful enough to sear my entire body rushed in.

Radiant brilliance exploded outward.

From that light, a small opening emerged.

That tiny gap quickly grew in size, multiplying exponentially, until at last, it created a massive breach.

The light scattered. Like fireworks blooming and fading against the night sky, like flowers bursting open and withering away, it left behind a vivid memory before vanishing.

But it didn’t disappear completely. Though not as radiant as before, shimmering fragments of light remained, stretching out in a long trail. A grand carpet of light, illuminating the distant horizon.

[No telling what happens next, so rest while you can.]

Step,  As if answering her own words, Kartia’s next step fell naturally.

Like swaying in the breeze, she drifted past the ruins and stopped in the heavy shadow.

She steadied her breath.

Adjusted her stance.

One foot forward, one back.

Both hands wrapped around her greatsword, held straight before her body.

Her usual middle stance.

Slightly looser than usual.

But not light.

Not a single opening.

It was so perfect I instinctively swallowed a dry gulp, not daring to speak.

[From here on, I’m gonna use a bit of strength, try not to fall in love.]

Kartia grinned at me.

Then stomped the ground with a smile.

In that instant, her body vanished.

I hurriedly gripped Frey’s hilt.

I turned toward where I thought Kartia had gone.

At that moment, 

Shrrk. 

A massive line tore across the world.

From sky to earth, a long, straight line.

Space distorted around it.

Time stretched, sped up, twisted, beyond anything I could follow.

And then again, 

Shrrk. 

A horizontal line sliced through the sea of calamity.

From the torn ribbons of that paper-thin ocean, 

Snicker.  

Kartia’s laughter echoed.

The light-carpet rippled. Kartia’s toes touched down upon it. A massive shockwave erupted. The faded remnants burst once more with radiant light, blooming brilliantly as if to welcome her.

Kartia walked there.

Her steps didn’t fall on ground.

She stepped on the weapons of the Masters.

The illusions and real weapons endlessly fired at her, so twisted together it was impossible to tell what was real or fake, were trampled beneath her feet.

Her smile was light.

Her movements, natural.

But her swinging sword, was fierce.

A greatsword heavier and sharper than anything else erupted with light, thirsting for victory.

She never looked back.

Never doubted the path she walked.

Never questioned her power.

She believed wholeheartedly in the one paving the way for her.

And so, she scattered the glory she had built upon the world.

With a single strike, a hole was pierced.

With a single strike, a path was opened.

With a single strike, the sky split.

With a single strike, everything surrounding the battlefield vanished.

At last, Frey’s back came into view.

Kartia walked toward it.

Forward, forward.

Toward the path that had opened.

Toward the place where victory awaited.

Finally, Kartia stood beside Frey, and smiled.

Seeing Kartia catch up, Frey smiled too.

And without needing to say who went first, 

They raised their swords.

With swords raised, 

They swung, together, toward the victory they had longed for.      

 

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