The Swordmaster Who Returned After 1,000 Years

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 155

"They told me to go east in my dream."

"Yes… I’ve heard that another influential elven tribe resides in the Kingdom of Swessa, in the east."

Beyond the Kingdom of Frens, which lay to the east of the Kingdom of Starn, was the Kingdom of Swessa.

It was known to be a relatively stable nation, much like the former Bormian Kingdom had been.

"That’s a rather specific nightmare. At that point, isn’t it more like a revelation?"

Myorn asked Eldir in a curt tone.

Since when did nightmares dictate where someone should go?

However, Eldir shook his head, his face pale.

"Ugh… It was still a nightmare. A chilling voice in a pitch-black place kept repeating the same words—‘You worthless elf. Go seek the tribe in the east.’ That was all I heard."

"So, it’s telling you to go east and fulfill the Elven Wish?"

"Yes…"

"What exactly is the Elven Wish?"

At Kaylen’s question, Eldir fell silent for a moment.

By principle, no one outside the elves was supposed to know about this wish.

‘But… I can tell him.

He’s already deeply connected to the elves.

And maybe, after hearing it, Kaylen might even help.’

Eldir glanced toward Myorn.

"What? Am I not allowed to hear this?"

"Yeah."

"I already know what the Elven Wish is, though?"

"…What? How do you know?"

"I spent quite a long time at the Fairy Tower, you know? And I have pretty sharp ears."

"…Then go ahead. Tell me what you know."

"The Elven Wish is for the elves to escape to the Spirit Realm, right? We dwarves have something similar."

Eldir's eyes widened in shock.

‘He actually knew?’

Kaylen tilted his head and asked,

"Escape to the Spirit Realm?"

"Dwarves and elves… In a way, you could call them half-spirits."

"That’s true."

"Rather than struggling in the Mortal Realm, they just want to enter the Spirit Realm and become spirits themselves. That’s the Elven Wish."

"Hah…"

Kaylen's gaze fell upon Eldir’s eyepatch.

Come to think of it, elves used that and their Mana Suit Guardians to create artificial spirits.

Was all of that preparation for settling in the Spirit Realm?

‘So, since the Mortal Realm has already fallen into the hands of the Demon Realm, they’re planning to escape entirely.’

They had used their beauty to integrate into human kingdoms.

Built magic towers to establish a certain level of influence.

Gathered mana stones and resources—

All in preparation for their eventual exodus to the Spirit Realm.

"Do all elves share this wish?"

"No. The majority are unaware. Only a select few leaders… and that one over there."

As Eldir glared at Myorn, she simply drew a question mark in the air with her fur.

"Isn’t the one who couldn’t keep the secret the real problem here? It’s not my fault I could hear it."

"Hah. Forget it."

So, that highly classified secret… was known to the mana amalgamation residing in Eldir’s head.

As Kaylen tried to examine the mana amalgamation once more—

Shuuu…

The mana amalgamation atop Eldir’s head slowly dispersed and vanished.

It had realized it had been detected and promptly fled.

Quite a meticulous entity.

"Eldir. The mana amalgamation inside your head has disappeared. It seems to be connected to your nightmare."

"A mana amalgamation…? There was such a thing?"

"Yes. You didn’t actually think a nightmare that vivid, almost like a revelation, was just the result of drinking too much, did you?"

Eldir, who had been listening absentmindedly with dazed eyes, suddenly jolted in shock.

"There was nothing strange until yesterday… Then, could it be that the inhuman woman I drank with last night…?"

"Hmm. Look into it."

"Understood!"

"Anyway, about the east…"

Kaylen recalled the updated Averia continent map provided by Ederna.

‘About 40% of the western continent is already under Geysir’s control. They’ve been expanding their territory to secure more human sacrifices.’

According to Ederna, the Geysir Empire had essentially seized control of half the continent.

They hadn’t yet reached the borders of the Kingdom of Starn, which was centrally located.

However, with Geysir rapidly accelerating its expansion after clashing with the Kingdom of Starn, it was only a matter of time before their borders met.

‘Not that they’re expanding for governance in the first place.’

A typical empire would invest significant time and resources to incorporate conquered land into its domain…

But for Geysir, which treated humans as food for drakes and offerings for sacrifice, it was different.

They would simply invade, commit mass slaughter, and plant the Geysir Empire’s flag.

That was why their expansion was so rapid.

‘I can’t let Geysir’s expansion continue unchecked.’

If they kept devouring land and offering up the remaining humans as sacrifices, their already formidable power could grow even stronger.

Allowing this to happen was not an option.

To stop their advance—

"I need to claim the human kingdoms’ territories first."

With both Geysir and the Kingdom of Starn now under the dominion of the demons, direct conquest was no longer an option for them.

That meant Starn had to strike first, before Geysir could expand any further.

"Looks like it’s time to play a game of land conquest with the Geysir Empire."

"Land conquest…?"

"That’s right. We need to make full use of the fact that they can’t invade us."

If Geysir had dragon knights, Kaylen had the Path of Light, which allowed him to teleport anywhere on the continent.

‘I’ll leave the lands near the kingdom to the Magic Tower.’

Meanwhile, with the Path of Light, I’ll secure the distant regions first.

‘There’s no need to govern them. I just need to plant Starn’s flag.’

After all, Geysir had only promised Ederna non-aggression in Starn’s recognized territory.

There was no need to directly conquer another nation and rule it from top to bottom.

All he had to do was make the enemy king his vassal.

And once the king became his subject—

"An empire must be met with an empire."

Inevitably, he himself would become an emperor.

A Starn Empire Federation, with kings as its vassals.

What Kaylen envisioned was precisely an empire.

* * *

"I made a mistake yesterday."

Melvria was regretting her actions from the night before.

Getting her husband drunk had been fine.

But—

"I shouldn’t have implanted the dark spirit."

Seeing Eldir too carefree, she had sent him a message in the form of a nightmare to help achieve the elves’ wish.

However, she hadn’t expected him to meet Kaylen so soon.

"No… Even if they met, I didn’t think he’d be discovered immediately."

She had hidden the dark spirit as discreetly as possible.

As a user of the Six Demonic Paths, Melvria was confident that even Kaylen wouldn’t detect it so easily.

But Kaylen was different now from when she had last seen him.

He had quickly reversed the summoning of the dark spirit, preventing her from observing closely, but… he seemed stronger than before.

"If fake dad catches me this time, I’m done for."

She had already lost to him once.

There was no way she could win against a stronger Kaylen.

Melvria decided she needed to be more cautious and began thinking of ways to carefully investigate the Kingdom of Starn.

"Now that I think about it, wasn’t the current king’s original family the Starn Barony?"

The Starn Barony.

It was the family King Kaylen was originally from, but due to his public declaration of severing ties with them when he was still a noble—

They no longer lived in the royal palace. Instead, the family resided quietly in a mansion in the capital, almost as if they were dead.

"They must have the blood of the Mayer lineage as well."

If Kaylen, a Starn descendant, could wield such an overwhelmingly brutal sword style,

Then surely, his relatives must also have at least a fraction of Infinite Mana.

"If even a little bit of Infinity is present… I can awaken them into the Helmeier bloodline."

Yes.

Just like Melvria herself, who had lived in the Elven Forest before becoming part of Helmeier.

If directly investigating Kaylen was too risky, then she could learn about him indirectly—through his family.

"Even if he cut ties, he must visit his real family at least once in a while."

Completely unaware that Kaylen had no interest whatsoever in the Starn family,

She made her way toward the Starn family’s mansion, located on the outskirts of the capital.

"So, you intend to build an empire…?"

"I can't just sit back and watch Geysir continue offering humans as sacrifices. I need Sanctuary's support."

At Kaylen’s words, the Saint sighed inwardly.

"Even if Geysir has taken control of the western territories of Starn, there are still over 20 kingdoms in the east. Do you truly intend to conquer all that vast land?"

"Twenty? That’s not many at all."

Seeing Kaylen speak so earnestly, Theresia was left speechless.

Come to think of it, he was the Conquering Emperor who had once unified the continent.

To him, twenty kingdoms were nothing.

"Then... what kind of assistance do you seek from us, Your Majesty?"

"I want you to advise them—to quietly raise the flag of the Starn Empire."

"The Dungeon Guild maintains a politically neutral stance, however—"

"I know. I’m not asking you to do it immediately. It’s not as if they’ll surrender just because they receive notice from the Dungeon Guild."

Kaylen grinned.

"Only when they experience an overwhelming difference in power will they finally consider surrendering."

"By difference in power… do you mean you plan to act personally?"

"Yes. I’ll have to make extensive use of the Path of Light. I’ll start by subjugating the regions bordering the Geysir Empire first."

Beginning with the western lands that Geysir had yet to seize—

He planned to sweep from the top of the continent to the bottom, bringing the land under his rule.

From there, he would block Geysir’s further expansion, while gradually gathering the eastern regions under the Starn Empire’s banner.

This was Kaylen’s vision.

"Kaylen-nim. If you establish borders in this manner, wouldn’t it be almost like declaring war on Geysir?"

"There’s a treaty in place, so that won’t happen. Besides… even if they recklessly try to break the balance, it doesn’t matter. Because now—I've completed the Six Blades."

"You’ve completed the Six Blades… Don’t tell me…!"

"That’s right. I’ve become a Grand Swordmaster again."

At those words, Theresia’s eyes sparkled.

'Already…'

Even if Kaylen was truly Ernstine,

In his past life, Ernstine had only barely reached the rank of Grand Swordmaster in his fifties.

Yet now, at such a young age, he had attained that level once more.

Kaylen’s growth speed was beyond astonishing.

"Then that means… we’ll get to see the Hero defeat the Demon King again!"

"No, the situation is different now, so I have to proceed cautiously."

Back when he fought the Crimson Flame Demon King, it had been before the continent fell into the hands of the Demon Realm.

He had received solid support from the Celestial Realm, and the Demonkind had not been as powerful as they were now.

But now, not just a single duke, but two marquises of the Demon Realm had already divided the Mortal Plane between them.

Even as a Grand Swordmaster, recklessly acting out of overconfidence was not an option.

"Besides, even as a Grand Swordmaster, I’ve only just reached the entry level. I’ll focus on dealing with the Geysir Empire first and build my strength further."

"Ah. That does make sense. The circumstances are different from before…"

"That’s why you should speak with Sanctuary properly."

"Understood. I’ll send a communication right away!"

With a bright expression, Theresia entered the communication chamber.

Ten minutes later—

She returned with a shocked expression.

"Kaylen-nim…"

"Hmm?"

"His Holiness… is coming here in person."

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]