------------------
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
------------------
Chapter 203
Kaylen was able to clearly understand what he truly was after his battle with Ernstine.
‘I am not Ernstine. I am the Six Sword that carries his memories.’
In truth, Kaylen had already suspected this ever since he learned that Ernstine had transformed into the Dragon God.
‘The Ernstine I met in the Water Continent couldn’t be considered the true Ernstine either.’
The real Ernstine ultimately chose to become the Dragon God.
The one in the Water Continent was nothing more than the human shell he had shed, which the Celestial God had retrieved and turned into an undead.
And Kaylen was merely one of the means that undead Ernstine had used to recover his power.
In the end, he was not the great emperor who unified the continent a thousand years ago—he was merely his sword.
‘Just a sword, huh…’
Kaylen, once the most exalted of beings, had been reduced to nothing more than a Six Sword.
Yet, he did not deny what he had become.
Rather—
‘It’s not so bad.’
Acknowledging his own origins, he found an opportunity.
‘The Six Sword engraved into the floor and I share the same foundation.’
The overwhelming aura contained within the Six Sword markings on the floor.
He needed to obtain this aura in order to wield Ernstine’s Six Sword, Godslayer.
Up until now, he had been focused on absorbing it no matter what.
‘But if I acknowledge that my origin is the Six Sword… then there’s no need to force myself to absorb it unconditionally.’
Kaylen fixed his gaze on the Six Sword and then called out to Johannes, who was beside him.
“Johannes.”
“Hm?”
“That essence of water—can it be used to forge the Divine Sword?”
“Hmm… If I still had my 9th-circle magic, it would be easy.”
Johannes shook his head while rubbing the area around his shattered eye.
“But since my 9th-circle is broken, it’ll take some time.”
“I’ll help, Sir Johannes.”
“Oh? If a descendant of the merfolk is assisting, then it might actually be possible.”
“Alright. Then I’ll leave it to you. Also, keep people away from this area. The mana might go out of control.”
Johannes turned his gaze toward the Six Sword markings on the floor.
The ominous aura it emitted was so fearsome that even without a warning, no human would dare approach.
“I doubt anyone would come near even without being told… but fine. Let’s go, Miss Mermaid.”
“Yes.”
As Johannes and Violet left to forge the Divine Sword, Kaylen ran his fingers across the Six Sword.
“O Six Swords of Ernstine… In a way, you share the same origins as I do. Perhaps you could even be called my siblings. Or, considering your age, should I refer to you as ancestors instead?”
These Six Swords had been created through the alignment of the undead Ernstine’s and the Celestial God’s interests.
They had all sprouted within the bodies of potential successors from the Meyer lineage but were absorbed by the undead Ernstine’s Six Swords before they could fully form.
Unlike them, Kaylen—the seventieth Six Sword—had succeeded in establishing his own identity, becoming a fully independent sword.
Yet, when considering the very stage of their birth, their starting point was the same.
“All this time, I’ve only thought about how to absorb your aura.”
Absorbing the aura and embedding the Six Swords into the body of the human Kaylen.
That had been the natural approach from a human’s perspective.
And it was precisely because he had been trying to absorb the aura that so many limitations had continuously appeared before him.
However—
‘If my true nature is that of a Six Sword… then is it really necessary to forcefully absorb it into my body?’
Rather.
“I’ll go in myself.”
The reverse was also possible.
Srrr.
Kaylen’s Six Sword floated in the air.
It touched the engraving of the Six Sword on the floor.
Wiiiiing!
Aura flared up from the engraving, rejecting the approach of Kaylen’s sword.
It seemed to accept the absorption of its aura but saw Kaylen’s sword entering it as a completely different matter.
“As expected, it won’t be easy.”
Kaylen had fully anticipated resistance from the Six Sword engraving.
He smirked and activated the Star of the Six Demon Path engraved on his sword.
“If you won’t accept it, I’ll force my way in.”
Sssssk!
Unlike before, the resistance from the Six Sword engraving noticeably weakened.
It couldn’t withstand the enhanced Six Sword, empowered by Infinity.
Kaylen stepped into the interior of the Six Sword and closed his eyes.
‘From now on, I will assimilate.’
Geysir Empire’s Imperial Palace.
Kaina sat on the throne, forging the Divine Sword of Fire as per Kaylen’s request.
‘I’ll have this done in no time.’
Whoosh!
Above the throne, fire mana gathered into a single point.
The fur extending from Kaina’s back wielded flaming hammers, striking the cluster of fire mana.
The Divine Sword of Fire, Dragonflame.
Since she had already created it once, restoring it was effortless.
‘And this time, it’s even easier to plant a bomb inside.’
Kaina had no intention of handing over a complete Divine Sword of Fire to Kaylen.
Of course, there was no way the Dragon God would lose to Kaylen.
But she couldn’t let him resist for too long, either.
‘When I defeat Kaylen and absorb his Infinity, the Celestial Demon won’t sit idly by.’
The Celestial Demon was the one most wary of the Dragon God regaining full power.
Once the Dragon God subdued Kaylen, he would immediately strike.
‘…I don’t fully understand why he’s waiting for that exact moment.’
Setting the stage for the Dragon God’s resurrection, watching until he clashed with Kaylen—there had to be a reason.
As one of the Dragon God’s subordinates, Kaina didn’t fully grasp it…
But in any case, the top priority was for the Dragon God to swiftly overpower and absorb Kaylen with minimal damage.
Naturally, the Divine Sword she was crafting for him had to be rigged.
‘…The fake must already suspect this.’
Even if he was a fake, the power he had attained so far meant he couldn’t be underestimated.
At his level, he would surely anticipate that Kaina’s sword contained a trap.
‘Since I’ll be delivering it myself, I should assess the situation, too.’
Other than Kaylen, there was no one capable of stopping her.
She needed to see what exactly they were scheming on that side.
‘And I need to find Melvria, too.’
Whoosh!
As Dragonflame absorbed its final embers and took the form of the sacred sword from before, Kaina rose from the throne, holding the blade.
“To the Starn Empire.”
Just as her body was engulfed in flames, she instantly traversed space and arrived in Alzass, the capital of the Starn Empire.
‘This time, I’ll observe quietly.’
Last time she had come, she had revealed herself in a massive form to survey the entire capital.
Now that she had already seen the overall layout, Kaina decided to observe the capital more discreetly.
Her flame-cloaked body faded, transforming into a small mirage-like form.
‘Nothing out of the ordinary.’
Starting from the outskirts, Kaina scanned the city.
There weren’t any significant changes compared to before.
As she gradually made her way inward from the city's edge—
‘…This aura?’
She felt a sharp aura emanating from the royal castle.
No matter how keen her senses were—
For her to detect it from this distance…
Had Kaylen manifested his Six Swords on a large scale?
‘Let’s go.’
She further suppressed her presence and carefully approached the royal castle.
Though there were several warriors in Alzass who had reached formidable levels aside from Kaylen,
they were still confined to human limitations.
None of them could detect Kaina.
‘Over here.’
As she got closer, the sharp aura grew more intense.
Kaina heightened her caution and arrived at the source of the aura.
‘This is…!’
What she saw before her was—
A massive Six Sword emblem engraved on the ground.
The emblem radiated an overwhelming aura, as if it were an actual sword.
Even the most well-trained knights wouldn’t dare approach it due to its razor-sharp energy.
‘The aura leaking outside is less than 1%.’
As expected of the Dwarven Queen, Kaina immediately grasped the depth of the Six Sword’s aura.
The sheer killing intent, potent enough to slice through bodies, was only a fraction of what lay within.
‘If the Dragon God absorbs that…’
Kaina trembled with excitement.
If he could devour that immense aura,
there would no longer be a need to tread cautiously under the watchful eyes of the Celestial Demon.
She wanted to seize the Six Sword emblem and take it to the Geysir Imperial Palace immediately—
‘…But I’m not strong enough right now.’
Though she fell short of Kaylen, Kaina was still a servant of the Dragon God and had ascended to the rank of an absolute being.
Yet, even she was incapable of detaching the emblem, filled with such overwhelming aura.
Only the Dragon God could absorb it.
‘I don’t have time to waste here.’
Forgetting even the sacred sword she was supposed to deliver, Kaina hastily left the Starn Imperial Palace.
Right now, the priority wasn’t giving Kaylen the sword—
It was devising a way for the Dragon God to absorb that Six Sword emblem.
As the mirage-like figure swiftly withdrew from the emblem’s location—
Whoosh—
Smoke began to rise from the fire sword among the Six Sword engravings on the ground.
The smoke soon took shape,
gradually forming the figure of Kaylen.
“Hm.”
With calm eyes, he gazed in the direction where the mirage had fled.
“Kaina, huh.”
No matter how well she concealed herself, she was immediately detected by the current Kaylen.
“…She was too late to see ‘me.’”
Kaylen stroked the Six Sword emblem, referring to it as ‘me.’
In response to his words,
the Six Swords shone in unison.
Unlike before,
the emblem now bore the mark of the Six Sword Path—
and Infinity.
‘If she had come a little earlier, she might’ve taken something from here.’
A while ago, perhaps.
But now, the Six Sword emblem was entirely his.
It had acknowledged him as its master, and though it had taken over a week to fully assimilate with the Six Sword’s essence,
he had successfully completed the process.
‘But she wouldn’t know that yet.’
A meaningful smirk formed on Kaylen’s lips.
“This could be useful.”
------------------
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
------------------
