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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 248
The process of returning from space to Earth was nothing short of a miracle.
If the magic circle hadn't been held between Earth and the Moon, Kaylen would’ve been stranded in space.
The Myriad Swords merged again, becoming the Six Sword Path.
Gathering all the remaining mana and firing the sword toward Earth—
he was finally able to land back on his home planet.
But then—
[……Ernstine?]
“Who are you?”
Ernstine stood before him, unharmed.
This was unexpected.
[Don’t tell me this is the Meier Empire.]
Kaylen, who had Ernstine’s memories, looked around and realized where he was.
The imperial garden of the Meier Palace.
A place Ernstine always frequented when he needed to gather his thoughts.
‘Have I returned to a thousand years ago?’
Despite destroying that time-reversal magic circle so thoroughly, he had still gone far into the past.
It didn’t even seem to have a 5% chance of working properly.
If it had been left as it was, he might have gone all the way back before the collision of Earth and Theia.
‘…That Celestial Demon God—
there must have been a reason he activated that magic circle even as he died.’
When Kaylen killed him, he was sure he’d completely destroyed him.
But now, something felt off.
That man wouldn’t have used the time-reversal circle just to drag Kaylen down with him.
‘A thousand years ago… Right. Now that I think about it, the Celestial God should still be around.’
Kaylen raised the tip of his golden sword toward the sky.
The moon floated in the center of the sky, solemn and radiant.
The Moon—completely under the Celestial Demon God’s rule.
Unlike the future where Kaylen had turned it to rubble, it must now be intact and collecting mana through sunstones.
‘The Celestial Demon God’s final words… they might have passed on to the current Celestial God.’
That must be why, even as he died, he sent time backward.
‘But you’re unlucky, Celestial Demon God.’ Of all times, you sent me back a thousand years.
To a time when Ernstine was still alive and whole.
“You should be able to speak. Are you choosing not to reveal your identity, sword?”
Ernstine spoke as he drew out the energy of the Six Sword Path.
The golden sword before him—
it resembled the Six Sword Path, but was a step above his own.
His heart pounded.
Ernstine, who had slain the Demon King and ruled the continent as its unrivaled master, had long felt boredom.
‘I thought I had seen the ultimate truth of the sword by completing the Six Sword Path Path.’
But beyond the sky, there was yet another sky.
With no worthy opponents left, he thought he had forgotten the thrill of challenge.
But now, that long-buried competitive spirit flared up within him like fire.
Perhaps because he hadn’t felt it in so long—
he would rather cross blades with that golden sword than waste time talking.
And then—
[Knights converse with their swords.]
As a brilliant light burst forth from the golden sword.
“Haha…! Well said. Well said!”
Ernstine’s Six Sword Path erupted in aura, as if it had been waiting for this moment.
Watching the two from the side, Johannes cursed.
“Hey! Are you crazy?! What do you think you’re doing fighting here?!”
“I’ll leave the rear to you, Johannes!”
“Damn it… Shield!”
Johannes quickly stepped back and cast a shield to prevent damage to the garden.
At the same time, the Six Swords and Six Swords clashed in unison.
Chiiiiiik—!
Flame, water, earth, wind, light, shadow.
Ernstine’s six elemental swords and Kaylen’s golden Six Swords met blade to blade.
In terms of aura alone, Ernstine held the advantage.
Compared to Kaylen, who had just returned from a grueling struggle on the moon, Ernstine hadn’t had to exert himself recently, so it was natural.
However—
He was being pushed back...
The level of completion in their Six Swords was worlds apart.
Kaylen’s golden swords contained all six elements of mana.
Even Infinity Mana—mana without limits—had fully fused into his swords.
‘It’s devouring my aura...!’
Ernstine’s eyes filled with surprise and joy.
To him, always perceived as an insurmountable wall by all knights, this was the first time facing such an opponent.
“Heavens are blessing me today! Sword, take this as well!”
His tone, when addressing the sword, subtly shifted from informal to formal.
He was about to fully activate the Six Sword Path.
‘How will that sword respond to my Six Sword Path?’
Ernstine was excited.
The opponent wasn’t like the Crimson Flame Demon King who wielded fire.
This was the golden sword that demonstrated the pinnacle of swordsmanship.
To be able to cross swords with such a being on the day he steps down from the emperor’s throne.
He once thought he had reached the limits of swordsmanship, but now found himself humbled—yet honored to face that sword.
‘Why is this guy so excited...’
Meanwhile, Kaylen gave a dry laugh as he watched the excited Ernstine.
Don’t sparkle your eyes like that with my same face.
‘I was trying to transmit information through the sword. But all he wants to do is fight.’
As all six swords radiated brilliantly—
Ernstine immediately tried to unleash the peak of the Six Sword Path.
Six Sword Path
Six Swords
Sword God Manifestation
A state where one temporarily undergoes extreme enhancement by uniting with the sword.
Was he planning to fight with full power?
Kaylen briefly considered humoring the overly enthusiastic Ernstine...
‘But I don’t have time for this.’
Whoosh.
Before Ernstine’s body could merge with the swords and activate Sword God Manifestation—
Kaylen’s sword instantly leapt across space, severing the flow of mana.
Cheng......
The Six Swords were all deflected by the golden sword, and the Sword God Manifestation failed to complete.
Then, from the golden sword, mana flowed back toward the Six Swords.
[First, take a look at this and then decide whether or not to fight.]
The memories of everything Kaylen had experienced so far.
They were conveyed to Ernstine through the sword.
Just as Kaylen had said, it became a kind of “conversation” through the sword.
“...What is this?”
The sudden rush of memories clouded Ernstine’s mind.
Everything the Six Swords had gone through after awakening in the body of a descendant named Kaylen a thousand years later.
The fall of the Meyer Empire, Ernstine himself becoming the vessel of the Dragon God.
And the shard, having turned into the undead of the Celestial Demon God, an utterly tragic state—
All of it was passed on to Ernstine.
“Is this all true...?”
[It’s true. And the problem is—it’s still ongoing.]
The clash between the swords came to a halt.
The golden sword retreated.
[So come forth—Water God.]
With that, Kaylen called for the Water God.
However, there was no trace of the Water God anywhere.
Ernstine, still in shock, mumbled to himself.
“What, that’s it?”
Johannes, having deactivated the shield, walked over with a visibly relieved expression.
Other than him, there was no sign of life in the imperial garden.
[I currently reside within the Dragon God in this era. Just calling won’t make contact possible.]
At that moment—
A ripple stirred on Kaylen’s golden sword, and a droplet emerged.
A fragment of the Water God, who had once transferred all her power to Kaylen before vanishing.
She revealed herself once more.
[So you’re still alive, Water God.]
[Yes. Because you returned to Earth, I was able to regenerate.]
[Good. Then try making contact with the current Dragon God.]
[Yes. That’s what I plan to do. The situation is urgent.]
[Ah, and—could you make me a body, too?]
At those words, the Water God gave a slight laugh.
Though Kaylen had shown the power of a Sword God who cut down the Celestial Demon God and devastated the moon—
When it came to creation, outside of swordsmanship, he was completely helpless.
[Got it.]
Pshhhhh—
The water spread across the six golden swords and soon began forming a human shape.
At first, the water mimicked Ernstine’s height, body, and face—
[No need to look exactly like him, right?] she said, and then suddenly reshaped it into a new form.
Compared to Ernstine, it was a burly, heavily muscled man.
But the face bore a faint resemblance to the beautiful Water God, giving off an oddly feminine beauty.
A body and face so mismatched that anyone would find it unbalanced.
“What... is this?”
Kaylen looked at his new body in disbelief.
[Ah, perfect. This is exactly my type.]
The Water God’s fragment said that and vanished with a flick.
“A god’s tastes are... rather strange.”
“...Agreed.”
A giant's body paired with the delicate face of a peerless beauty—
Kaylen twisted his expression, waiting for the Water God's return.
And soon after—
"To think you crossed time and returned to the past… even seeing it, it’s hard to believe."
In the imperial palace garden, the Dragon God appeared.
"The movement on the Celestial God's side is unusual."
The Dragon God glanced toward Kaylen as he spoke.
"The mana of light felt from the Celestial Continent is rapidly weakening. This has never happened before."
"As expected, the Celestial God must’ve absorbed the Celestial Demon God's memories."
"Yes. Otherwise, there’s no reason for him to suddenly take action."
The Dragon God looked toward the moon.
"After hearing from the future Water God, I considered a few possibilities."
"What are they?"
"First—he may be acting to eliminate the Six Swords. Since the Six Swords eventually become the Sword God and block his path, he would trample them before they sprout. That would be his first course of action."
Kaylen had charged all the way to the moon, the Celestial Demon God's base, and destroyed it.
Since he originated from the Six Swords, if those swords were destroyed before they could grow, no one would exist to obstruct the Celestial Demon God's path.
"But… draining mana from the Celestial Realm doesn’t fit that goal."
[That’s right. To cut off the sprouts of the Six Swords, he would ultimately have to subdue Emperor Ernstein. In that case, instead of drawing mana from the Celestial Realm, he would need to maintain dominion over Earth.]
"Exactly. So, I thought of a second possibility."
The Dragon God spoke with a serious expression.
"To activate the regression magic circle again."
"He's going to activate it again?"
"Yes. The information the Celestial Demon God sought—he already obtained it. The divine incantation chanted by the god of Theia. He now knows it can’t restrain him. So rather than confront you again, he might choose to flee to the past once more."
[Yes… That’s a highly likely scenario. However, compared to a thousand years ago, his mana reserves must be lacking. So, to gather the mana needed to go even further back, he’s likely draining the Celestial Realm’s power.]
"Right. Especially, the moment you split the heavens and landed on this earth—his movements changed drastically."
The moment the wretched Sword God, who had tormented him to the end, landed on Earth.
He may have abandoned the plan to trample the Six Swords and chosen instead to re-activate the time regression magic circle.
‘If he goes to the past again… there’ll be no way to stop him.’
The first time, they returned because they were inside the magic circle together.
But if the Celestial God drains all his power and returns alone from the moon—how could they stop that?
"…This is a serious situation."
"It is."
Just as Ernstein said, the situation was dire.
The fact that the Celestial God’s base was on the moon was the biggest problem.
Reaching it was one issue.
But if the Celestial God thoroughly avoided direct confrontation and focused only on escaping to the past, they would have very little time to intervene.
"……"
Kaylen looked up at the moon. It was truly distant.
But for him now, it was no longer an unreachable distance.
As long as he had enough mana to support it, it was well within his reach.
"Water God."
[Yes?]
"What would happen if the moon disappeared?"
[…What do you mean by that?]
"If it wouldn’t harm Earth…"
Kaylen pointed the tip of his sword toward the moon.
"Let’s cut down the moon right here."
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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