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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 222
Kaylen gave a faint smile when he saw Arashiel telling him to become her slave.
The confidence in her words was so absurd, it was laughable.
‘Whatever her true form may be, she can’t subjugate me.’
Kaylen was the one who forged a sword even the gods feared.
No matter how alluring Arashiel’s true form might be—could it truly seduce him?
“Then hurry up and show me your true form. I want to see it.”
Kaylen said, the corner of his mouth curling with a sneer.
“Then please follow me.” She snapped her fingers as if she’d been waiting.
Wiiiiiing—
A pure white portal opened up behind her.
“Where does it lead?”
“If my true body were to descend to this land, every human in the capital would lose their minds. So I left my true form in the Celestial Realm.”
“Ha. Every human in the capital? That’s quite the exaggeration.”
“Hehe… You won’t be saying that once you see it.”
As she urged him to step inside, Kaylen looked at her and thought that he needed to organize this body’s memories.
‘No telling what lies beyond that portal.’
Once he passed through that portal—
Not only would he lose the support of the Six Sword Seal inscribed on the ground…
If the Heavenly Demon tried to brainwash him with full power there, it could jeopardize the crucial negotiations he had made with the Dragon God.
‘Better play it safe.’
Kaylen, whose real self was now essentially the Six Sword spread across the capital of Alzass, stored all important information within it.
Then, without hesitation, he walked toward the portal.
“Alright. Let’s see it.”
The memory sorting happened in an instant.
Arashiel didn’t even notice he had done anything.
“Hehe… Don’t give in too easily. That would be no fun.”
She maintained her unwavering confidence.
‘What on earth is her true form that she acts this way…?’
With that thought, Kaylen stepped through the portal.
And soon—
He saw the true form that Arashiel had been so confident about.
‘This is… and…’
For the first time since returning to life in this body—
Thump. Thump.
He could feel his heart pounding violently.
‘Is this… what it means to fall for someone…?’
His breath grew shallow. His gaze focused solely on one point.
The most beautiful light in the world was the first thing to meet his eyes.
And more fiercely than ever, the desire to possess it surged in his chest.
[How do you like it?]
“Mmm…” From the “thing” before him, Arashiel’s confident voice resounded.
Only then did Kaylen snap back to his senses.
That arrogant voice was the only flaw in that radiant beauty.
Still—
“Beautiful…”
That was all Kaylen could say in response to her question.
It was the first time in his entire life that the desire to possess something had surged so violently within him.
He stared at what was basking in radiant brilliance, erupting in pure white light before his eyes, and said—
“Truly beautiful… a gem…”
The thing that had captured Kaylen’s gaze at once—
Was a massive chunk of stone, radiating a pure white glow.
[To think you dare call me a stone… slave.]
Arashiel spoke in disbelief—
And addressed Kaylen as slave.
Now that he had come this far,
She assumed he was already captivated and dropped all pretense of formality.
[I am the embodiment imbued with the essence of the sun. I am called the Solar Stone.]
Solar Stone.
A name Kaylen had never heard before in his life.
But as he gazed upon the radiant gemstone of light,
He felt the name suited it perfectly.
Yet, apart from that—
“…You really ruin it the moment you open your mouth.”
Kaylen slowly came back to his senses in response to Arashiel’s boastfulness.
Though both his eyes still burned fiercely with the desire to possess the Solar Stone,
His dazed expression had disappeared.
[What?]
“You called it a Solar Stone? Then it’s a stone.”
[…You regained your senses? That can’t be!]
In disbelief, Arashiel in her Solar Stone form flashed brightly.
As the radiant light burst forth again, Kaylen once more found himself drawn in like he was under a spell,
But—
“…It really is beautiful.”
This time, unlike before, he maintained his composure.
‘She wasn’t wrong, after all.’
The light-imbued stone known as the Solar Stone was as large as a royal castle—so much so that its brilliance could be seen even from afar in the capital.
If that thing had been summoned in the capital, everyone would have been entranced, unable to come to their senses.
‘If Arashiel hadn’t let her guard down and tried to lure me in slowly… I might’ve fallen.’
Kaylen felt it keenly as he looked at the Solar Stone.
Arashiel was born beautiful from the start.
And instead of using that beauty to deliberately lure others in,
She operated at a near amateur level—
Simply showing her true form was more than enough to capture others.
There was no need for structured seduction or methodology.
‘Still, if I let my guard down, I might fall in an instant.’
As Arashiel remained stunned and speechless,
Kaylen found himself unable to look away from the Solar Stone once more.
Radiant light.
A beauty unseen in this world.
His entire body trembled at the sight of it.
He wanted to cast aside everything and simply worship that beauty.
‘…This really is dangerous.’
Kaylen did his utmost—
To avert his eyes from it.
Though he had safely stored his memories in the Six Sword’s sigil before coming here,
He still couldn’t allow himself to succumb to the Solar Stone.
‘Was I being conceited…?’
After completing Transcendence Stage: Life and Death,
Kaylen had even imposed his will upon the Dragon God and the Beast God.
No matter how much he’d been told that Arashiel in her true form would be no joke,
To be honest, it had never felt threatening to him.
Rather, that smug boasting—
That true form—
He’d thought it might be a chance to probe the Celestial Demon God’s side…
‘This is unexpected.’
As Arashiel remained silent, withholding her voice,
The charm of the Solar Stone was growing stronger and stronger.
Even Kaylen, who had turned his gaze away with effort,
Was gradually being pulled back toward the light.
And with it, a creeping resignation arose—questioning why he even needed to resist like this.
‘…I need to think of something else.’
To escape that allure, Kaylen forced himself to focus on something—anything else.
‘Right.’
And then, before the overwhelming charm of that radiant light,
He found something he could fixate on.
‘I’ll forge a sword that can cut that down.’
The ultimate beauty contained within the Solar Stone.
It was something truly worthy of being cut down with all his strength.
After all, his true nature was that of a swordsman.
To shield himself from the temptation of such dazzling light,
He had to stay true to that nature.
Shrrrng.
From behind Kaylen, the Six Swords rose into the air.
His previously dazed gaze sharpened in an instant.
[…What are you doing?]
At the sudden change in Kaylen’s energy, Arashiel, who had been holding her tongue, finally spoke.
Seeing him draw the Six Swords—
[…Don’t tell me…]
“I pay tribute to your beauty.”
[Then why are you drawing a sword?!]
“This is my tribute.”
Zzzzing.
Among the floating Six Swords, the Holy Sword Astella, housed within the Light Sword, was the first to land in Kaylen’s grasp.
The sword radiated its own brilliant light, as if to counter the Solar Stone’s glow.
Now that he looked again, the spectrum of light the Solar Stone emitted had certain similarities to the Holy Sword’s.
[Master. That thing… feels familiar to me.]
Had Astella sensed it as well?
She spoke with clear wariness.
“Really? Then I guess it’s fine if I cut it down?”
[Yes. I’d honestly like to ask you to do just that.]
As Kaylen exchanged those words with the Holy Sword,
A panicked voice burst out from the Solar Stone.
[W-Wait. Wait just a moment!]
And along with it,
The light that had been bewitching Kaylen gradually began to weaken.
[How can you look upon my true form… and raise your sword…?]
Arashiel muttered in shock.
Even after living for countless years.
The only one who had ever resisted her charm until now was the Celestial Demon God.
It wasn’t as if there hadn’t been others who, like Kaylen, tried to resist—
But in the end, once they laid eyes on the Solar Stone, every single one of them lost their will and became her puppet.
‘I’m sure… up to a point, the charm was working!’
She had clearly seen Kaylen’s gaze go vacant.
Never had she imagined he would snap out of it and raise his sword toward her.
“You’re not continuing?”
[How can I, when you’ll cut me down if I do?!]
“Shame. I was curious to see how tough it was.”
[Haa… This is ridiculous…]
As if appalled by his words, Arashiel retracted all the light of the Solar Stone.
And with that, the charm’s effect vanished completely.
[…This shouldn’t be possible. Ah, right. It’s because we’re in the Heavenly Realm. The effect must’ve been halved.]
Even with her true body present, Arashiel had failed to seduce Kaylen.
Still, despite the loss, she found an excuse.
‘And that’s why she falls apart the moment she opens her mouth.’
Though Arashiel’s voice was objectively beautiful and alluring—
The words that came out didn’t suit the brilliance of the Solar Stone.
The first time he saw the Solar Stone,
What snapped him back to his senses when he was about to fall… was largely thanks to her voice.
“Save your loser’s complaints for after I’m gone. It’d be a waste to tarnish that pretty face.”
[...Kgh.]
“By the way… was the Holy Sword made from the Solar Stone?”
Kaylen asked as he looked at the Holy Sword Astella in his hand.
[It was.]
But the one who answered wasn’t Arashiel—
It was the Celestial Demon God, who had quietly appeared beside Kaylen.
[To endure the charm of the Solar Stone in a human body… Impressive.]
“You were watching?”
[The Heavenly Realm is my domain. I can see and hear everything that occurs within it.]
Speaking casually, the Celestial Demon God walked slowly toward the massive Solar Stone.
Swoosh.
Then, as he reached out his hand—
[Ah… Aaaagh…!]
With Arashiel’s scream, a portion of the Solar Stone broke off with a soft crack.
A mineral of pure white light.
Floating gently along his hand, it drifted toward Kaylen.
[To you, who endured the charm—I grant this as a reward.]
“…You’re giving me this?”
[Yes. Will you accept it?]
Kaylen looked at the Solar Stone fragment, roughly the size of a fist.
He had no idea what the Celestial Demon God’s intentions were in offering this.
But clearly, it wasn’t out of goodwill.
Even so…
‘This Solar Stone… it’s worth analyzing.’
When the Celestial Demon God removed it from the larger stone,
Kaylen had seen the Solar Stone’s power subtly drawn into his wings of light.
It happened in a fleeting instant—
A flow that no one but Kaylen could have perceived.
There was no doubt: the Solar Stone was deeply connected to the Celestial Demon God.
“Understood. I’ll accept it with thanks.”
Kaylen smiled faintly and snatched up the shining stone.
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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