The Great Sword is not the Main Body!
Chapter 214 – Hero

The moment I grasped the banner, the darkness lifted.

It wasn’t the darkness that had spread across the end of the world.  

The Black Sun still hung above, casting its ominous light, and the [authority] of the Nameless One continued to stain the world in gloom.

No,   

What cleared away was the darkness that had hung over me for more than a thousand years.

The darkness that had hidden the victory I truly sought.

My [Heart Demon].

It felt refreshing.  

And at the same time,   

I almost laughed at the absurdity.

For someone who had transcended humanity.  

For someone who once longed to leave humanity behind.

I had wanted, more than anything, to remain human.

Yeah, I couldn’t deny it.

Back then, surviving amidst monsters on that brutal battlefield,   

Frey and I had wanted one thing.

To remain human to the very end.

To remain human.

To hold onto a human heart.

To achieve the things we couldn’t alone, together.

If that was true, 

Then my [innate ability] for victory?

It was just a tool along the way.

That’s why it had twisted.

That’s why it had tangled.

That’s why I had never been able to grasp perfect victory.

“Heh.”

A faint, genuine chuckle escaped my lips as I pulled the staggering Noah into my arms.

“Kartia…?”

Her short arms couldn’t even reach my chest.  

A body so small I could wrap her in one arm.

This tiny girl, looking up at me,   

A girl so small, it was hard to believe she could overcome the trials ahead.

With trembling hands, Noah touched my arm.

“Your arm…”

“Pretty amazing, right?”

Yeah, it amazed even me.

Chuckling, I stroked Noah’s arm and glanced down at my own, 

The newly regrown arm.

No awkwardness.  

No discomfort in movement.  

The strength, the shape, the color, the touch,   

Exactly like the ones I had lost.

My blurry vision had sharpened.  

My shattered body felt better than ever, stronger even than in my prime.

Well, I was already a spiritual existence anyway.

Still, there was a bittersweet taste in my mouth.

“And the banner…?”

I glanced at the flag held in my opposite hand, the one not embracing Noah.

The banner gleamed brilliantly,   

And it was blue.

It fluttered fiercely even against the dry winds, pushing back the darkness of the Black Sun.

How could I even describe it?

As I racked my brain for something suitably grand, 

“You got your arms back, huh?”

Brunhilde’s voice cut in.

“After fighting those lizards, did you finally turn into one yourself?  

Rational move, I guess…  

But damn, you’re disgusting.”

Genuinely looking at me with disgust, Brunhilde shuddered and turned away.

“Well, whatever. At least you finally made the right choice. Took you long enough.”

Spreading her membranous wings wide, she launched herself into the sky.

“Get moving, old man. No time left.”

Next was Valoran.

He looked at me with a faint smile, but said nothing.  

Just flapped his wings and turned his back.

“What, you got something to say or not?”

“There’s a lot I could say… but it’s better if you figure it out yourself.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“It’s better if you come to understand it little by little.”

“What kind of cryptic bullshit, “

Whoosh,   

His wings swept the air, cutting off my words.

The black feathers scattered behind him.

And his parting words, carried on the wind, were enough to silence my irritation.

“So that you won’t regret it.”

“…What?”

“That question you just asked, that’s enough to repay the debt from when you sealed me in the dimensional rift a thousand years ago.”

With that, Valoran, stirring a gentle breeze, leapt into the sky, leaving only black feathers behind as he chased after Brunhilde.

“That guy’s lost it too.”

Regret?

Please.

I was already someone who had died once.

I had seen everything there was to see.

From the moment Noah picked up Frey, my time had already started ticking down.

It was already set, I would disappear from this world.

What room was there for regret?

Tch.

I clicked my tongue and plucked a feather from Noah’s head.  

Brushed the dirt off her cheek.

She slowly lifted her heavy-lidded eyes toward me, 

In those dull, bloodied pupils, 

There was no light.

Her vision was lost.

Crushed repeatedly by despair, her spirit looked dead.

But, 

The will lingering inside her hadn’t faded.

Though the hand clutching my clothes trembled violently,  

The other hand, holding the greatsword, remained firm.

Her bright smile had disappeared,  

leaving only the twisted mask of pain.

The lips that always curled into a cheerful arc,   

Now drawn tight into a heavy, lifeless line.

No matter how you looked, 

There was only negation left in her.

I reached out and touched Noah’s face.

Pressed my fingers into her frowning brow, smoothing it out.  

Pinched her nose, forcing her to loosen up.  

Rubbed at her lips until they tugged upward just a little.

“Hah. That’s a little better.”

Yeah.

I want to see this fool smile again.

I want to see Noah laughing, joking, crying, living her life, getting tangled in the mess of the world and finding happiness.

I want to see her chewing on jelly, grinning, holding it out to me again.

I want to see Rubia and Noah.

These stubborn friends.

My far-off descendants.

I want to see humanity, 

Living,  

Not dying.

Seeing the same things.  

Feeling the same things.  

Sharing the same world.

Under the same sky, at the same time, in the same place.

But, 

This feeling isn’t regret.

This is something uglier.

This is greed.

An ugly, excessive greed, 

Something I should never have.

You must not hold onto it.

No regrets.

There’s no glamor in it.  

No fun in melodrama like this.

That’s why I,   

I will turn away from this rising greed.  

I will not cling to lingering attachments.

I will say nothing unnecessary.  

Only the words that are needed now.

“Noah.”

Rustle.  

As Noah’s face tilted down, her falling hair brushed against my wrist.

“This battle isn’t over yet.”

It’d be nice if it were.  

Hell, even a short break would be nice.

But this cursed world doesn’t allow things like that.

“Once we kill the Primordial Beast, “

Suddenly,   

A sharp jolt of unease rang out in my senses.  

Noah and I both instinctively turned our heads toward the sky.

“What the hell…”

The Red Moon.

In the darkened heavens, a Red Moon had risen.

Pouring blood, casting a crimson river across the sky.  

It wasn’t a crescent like before when I fought Valoran.  

It was a full moon, complete, whole.

And not just that.

Following the crimson trail flowing from the moon,   

An inferno raged, as if it would consume the entire world.

Hellfire.

It wasn’t a simple fire, it was a calamity straight out of apocalyptic myths.

“…Hah. Of course.”

Valoran.  

Brunhilde.

They hadn’t become stronger after becoming Beasts of the End.

They had been weakened.

Stripped of their power by the Nameless One, their inner worlds shattered, their very existences denied.

But now, 

Now they had reclaimed everything.

Now they were beings far removed from anything that lived upon the earth.

Declaring they would drag down and shatter the heavens,   

It wasn’t arrogance.

It was simple truth.

Gulp,   

A dry swallow slipped down my parched throat.

Without realizing it, I gripped the banner harder.

Feeling the cold sweat running down my spine,  

I calculated the odds if I had to face them now.

It wasn’t that I would definitely lose.

But neither could I say with certainty that I would win.

To win, 

At minimum, I’d lose an arm.  

At worst, I’d lose every limb, and maybe more.

Still, 

Thinking about it, it pissed me off.

If those bastards had gone all out from the start,  

I wouldn’t have had to suffer this much.

I clicked my tongue and looked at Noah.

I had to finish what I was saying.

But Noah shook her head before I could speak.

As if to say “don’t.”

With a face about to collapse at any moment,   

She shook her head.

Even so, I opened my mouth.

“Once we kill the Primordial Beast,   

And once the descent of the False Paradise reaches its final stage,   

The Ancient Dragon will appear.”

The Ancient Dragon, Sirinius.

The name we were familiar with, 

“Sirin.”

Thunk.   

Noah’s head drooped, resting heavily against my chest.  

From her clenched teeth, trembling breaths escaped.

I exhaled a bitter sigh and gently stroked her head.

Why?

Why had Sirin come down to our world?

Why had she helped Noah, nurtured her growth?

I didn’t know.  

I couldn’t know.

But still,   

It had to be done.

Sirin.

We had to hunt the Ancient Dragon.

Only then, 

Could we delay the awakening of the End.

Only then, 

Could we save Rubia, swallowed by the Nameless One.

I slowly separated Noah from my embrace.

Lifted her chin, meeting her gaze.

Though Noah couldn’t see,   

Though she relied on her [Ki sense] to feel the world now, 

A person’s feelings still mattered.

“Hey, Noah.”

I opened my mouth.  

No sound came out at first.

“The angels sought the Fall of Heaven.  

The demons sought the Breaker of Heaven.”

Noah’s dazed eyes lifted toward the sky.

“And humans,   

Humans sought the Heaven-Reversing Blade .”

Rustle,   

Her limp head leaned against me again.

“Falling, breaking,   

Those meanings are clear.  

But reversal,   

It’s ambiguous, isn’t it?”

I gently lowered Noah into a seated position.

Carefully, so she wouldn’t collapse.

“And nowadays,   

No one knows how to properly reverse heaven anymore.”

That’s why, 

“I’ll show you.  

What true Heaven-Reversing Blade looks like.”

Then, 

I drew the longsword stuck in the earth behind me.

And at that moment, 

CRACK! 

The roots of the distant ash tree were torn free.  

The massive Yggdrasil, connecting heaven and earth, fell toward the ground.

And, CRACK!

Cracks splintered across the darkened sky.

The very foundations of the world fractured.

Concepts twisted.  

Laws overturned.

The blood from the Red Moon spilled across the sky.  

The hellfire, roared upward.

At last, 

The heavens fell.

The sky,   

Once unreachable, once untouchable, once omnipotent, 

Fell.

Shattered.

Shattered, and burned.

In utter ruin.

Scattering into ashes, leaving no trace behind.

And beneath it, 

Standing on the crimson-stained earth, 

I, 

Shrrng!   

Sheathed my longsword.

And once you sheath the sword, 

There’s only one thing left to do.

Draw it again.

The art of drawing and cutting with a sword in a single motion..

They say, traditionally, that using the friction of the blade against the scabbard creates explosive speed.

Bullshit.

A sword swung barehanded is always faster and stronger.

But still, 

I choose this technique.

Because it looks cool.

Because the act of drawing and cutting in one motion, 

Looks fucking cool.

Of course, in battle, style means nothing.

The one who wins is the coolest.

But, 

The katana is different.

Even if you lose,   

Even if you die, 

You must never lose your style.

And so, 

The end of the hero who announces the beginning of a new era.

And the beginning of the hero who announces the end of the past era, 

Must be grander, more magnificent than anything else.

That’s why.

That’s why I do this, 

This foolish, ridiculous thing.

I closed my eyes.

Gripped the hilt.

Took a firm step forward.

Twisted my waist.

Exhaled a deep breath.

And as I drew the longsword from its scabbard, 

At this very moment, 

I thought of what I wished for most.

To bring down the heavens.

To shatter them.

To overturn them.

And finally, 

To defy the heavens.

Thus, it is called, 

“[Heaven-Reversing Blade].”