The Swordmaster Who Returned After 1,000 Years

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 157

Melvria surveyed the area around Royen.

‘Ten hidden guards.’

Even if Kaylen had no interest in House Starn, it seemed he still ensured some level of protection.

After all, no matter how severed their ties were, the king couldn’t just leave his blood relatives completely unguarded.

‘Subduing them would be easy.’

But if she killed or restrained them, word would inevitably reach the royal palace.

There was no need to go that far.

‘He’s already halfway awakened. Just a little push with a spirit should be enough.’

Melvria summoned a spirit of darkness.

Unlike the one she had used to give Eldir nightmares, this was an entirely different scale of spirit.

Back then, she had only wanted to give him a hard time. This time, however, she was trying to fully awaken a half-demon of the Meier bloodline.

She needed a much greater amount of dark mana.

‘That fake father of his would notice immediately, but... he’s nowhere nearby, so… Kaylen’s the only one who could possibly detect it.’

With that in mind, Melvria cast aside her concerns about staying hidden and infused the dark spirit with an ample amount of dark mana.

‘Go.’

Like a thick, swirling mist, the dark spirit emerged from her hand and slowly floated toward Royen.

Once it settled into his body, Royen would undergo the awakening process over the next few days, officially becoming a member of Helmeier.

Just like she had.

“Royen!”

At that moment—

An elf approached from the entrance of the mansion.

Melvria immediately recognized her.

‘Irene...? What is she doing here?’

It was Irene, her sister-in-law.

“Oh…”

Irene glanced toward the dark spirit, her expression shifting in confusion.

A human wouldn’t have noticed the spirit’s movement.

But for an elf attuned to spirits, it was only natural to sense something was off.

‘Damn it…’

Melvria quickly unsummoned the dark spirit.

Irene tilted her head.

“Did I see that wrong…?”

“Irene?”

“Oh. I must’ve been mistaken. Shall we head to the lab?”

Fortunately, Irene hadn’t noticed the dark spirit. She entered the mansion with Royen without further questioning.

Watching them go, Melvria let out a sigh.

‘…This is so frustrating.’

Holding the title of Duke of Geysir, Melvria had never once engaged in stealth or espionage.

Now that she was doing it, she realized how much it didn’t suit her.

As expected, she was more suited to fighting head-on.

‘Well, I’ve found my target. I’ll just complete his awakening tomorrow.’

With that thought, Melvria withdrew from the scene.

“A dragon…?”

“What do you think is the greatest enemy the Celestial God fears, Your Majesty?”

The greatest enemy feared by the Celestial God—

Until now, it had always seemed obvious that it would be the forces of the Demon Realm.

More specifically, its ruler.

“I assumed it was the Demon King.”

“No. The Demon King can never become a ‘god.’ Even though the White Demon King is currently invading the Celestial Realm, if the Celestial God intervenes directly, he will be subdued.”

“Then, are you saying the fact that the Demon Realm has taken control of the Middle Realm is also part of the Celestial God’s will?”

“Well… How could I possibly know the profound will of the Celestial God? But I am certain of one thing—the greatest threat feared by the Celestial God is not the Demon Realm.”

“Then, what is it?”

“Dragons.”

Despite the fact that the Demon Realm had seized control of the Middle Realm and was now even attacking the Celestial Realm, the dragons—who had yet to fully reveal themselves—were considered the greater threat.

Kaylen recalled Myorn’s words.

‘In the myths of other races, dragons are said to embody the continent itself…’

Did the Holy Emperor also know about this?

Kaylen spoke up.

“In the myths of other races, the dragon’s name is Averia. They believe the dragon represents the continent itself. Are you aware of this, Your Holiness?”

“That is nothing more than the heretical beliefs of pagans. They claim this land is a dragon and go so far as to denounce the Celestial God as an outsider who intruded upon it.”

According to Myorn, the Celestial God was a parasite.

Of course, openly calling their deity a parasite would be too much, so the Holy Emperor had chosen to use the term “outsider.”

He couldn’t hide his displeasure.

“But the sky and the earth, the sun and the moon, the sea and the stars—there is nothing in this world untouched by the Celestial God. The heavens and the earth were created by the Celestial God.”

“Then what about dragons?”

“They are outcasts born from the backlash of mana during the process of creation—beings who seek to undo creation and return all things to nothingness. They are not symbols of this continent, as the myths of other races claim.”

Two completely opposing perspectives on the same subject.

In the myths of other races, the Celestial God was portrayed as an intruder.

Meanwhile, in human mythology, dragons were regarded as rebels born during creation—ones who sought to reverse it.

“The Celestial God remains vigilant to ensure that dragons never reappear. If they were to fully revive, the very fabric of the Middle Realm would be at risk of complete annihilation. That is why the Celestial God is merely watching as the Demon King invades.”

“So that’s why the dragons are considered a greater threat than the Demon King. But then… why is Helmeier’s clan being left alone?”

“That… I do not know. How could a mere servant like me comprehend the vast will of the Celestial God? I can only speculate that there must be a reason why direct intervention in the Middle Realm is not possible.”

The Celestial God feared dragons.

Yet, the god did nothing to stop Helmeier from trying to resurrect them.

The more Kaylen listened to the Holy Emperor, the more ambiguous his true intentions seemed.

"But what do you mean when you say that if the Six Sword Path became the Six Demonic Path, I would have turned into a dragon?"

"There was a revelation from the Celestial God. When the silver-haired, golden-eyed human manifests the power of the Six Demonics, he will shed his human form and become a dragon…"

Become a dragon.

Kaylen recalled the feeling he had when he had tried to transform the Six Sword Path into the Six Demonic Path.

The sensation that, if he truly overturned the Six Swords into the Six Demonics, he would no longer be able to maintain himself.

Back then, he had made the right decision to preserve the form of his sword.

Had he changed it, perhaps the prophecy from the Celestial God would have come true.

But one thing was certain—he would no longer have been able to continue living as the human Kaylen.

"What do you plan to do now?"

"For now, I must stand against the Geysir Empire and bring them down."

"Even though the Helmeier clan is actually descended from the former Meier imperial family?"

"Yes."

Regardless of what the true nature of dragons was,

The atrocities committed by the Geysir Empire to revive them had crossed all limits.

Human sacrifices were commonplace, and the demonic empire treated humans as mere livestock.

"Even if the eldest son, Caius, is involved… Even if the Meier imperial family is connected to the Helmeier clan… I cannot turn a blind eye to the Geysir Empire's atrocities. I will destroy the empire and, in the end, liberate the Middle Realm from the hands of the Demon Realm."

"Truly… those are the words of a guardian of humanity."

The Holy Emperor beamed at Kaylen’s words.

A brilliant light began to radiate from his white hair.

"I, Benedict, the Holy Emperor, will fully support you, the hope of humanity."

The wariness and hesitation he had once shown toward Ernstine had completely vanished.

The Holy Emperor reached out to Kaylen, bestowing upon him the Celestial God's blessing.

"My divine power may not be of much help to Your Majesty's strength, but it will be useful in utilizing the 'Path of Light.'"

"The Path of Light?"

"Yes. Unlike before, Your Majesty will no longer be able to use the Path of Light frequently. You have become too powerful."

Having ascended to the rank of Grand Swordmaster, Kaylen had become so overwhelmingly strong that it now restricted his ability to use spatial movement.

The Holy Emperor’s blessing would mitigate that limitation.

"Right now, you will be able to use it once a week. But once my blessing fully settles into your body, you should be able to use it once every three days."

A surge of divine power radiated from the Holy Emperor’s entire being, enveloping Kaylen.

Compared to the blessing he had once received from Saintess Theresia, this was the difference between the sun and a firefly.

Even as sweat dripped from his brow, the Holy Emperor poured his full strength into the blessing.

"Huuuh…"

And then—

As the radiance from his body faded, his hair turned completely black.

Unlike before, when the color had been gradually changing, this time, his hair had transformed into a deep, jet-black shade all at once.

"Holy Emperor… but your hair…"

"Ah… this must be my natural hair color appearing, as I have exhausted all the divine power I had at my disposal."

"Black hair… That’s an unusual color."

Such a striking shade of black—

A color that was only ever seen among the demons.

"Heh… That’s right. It does resemble that of the demons. It used to be brown… but perhaps this is a side effect of living for a thousand years. At some point, my hair started turning black."

Holy Emperor Benedict admitted he didn’t know the exact reason himself.

With that, he rose from his seat.

"Then, Your Majesty, do not forget your resolve and continue to protect humanity…"

With a slight bow, the Holy Emperor withdrew from the room.

There was something oddly hurried about the way he left.

"Yes. Thank you. Safe travels."

Even as Kaylen bid him farewell, his gaze remained fixed on Benedict’s hair.

'That hair color… Is it really just a side effect?'

Jet-black hair—almost a symbol of the demons.

Of course, he hadn’t sensed any traces of dark mana from the Holy Emperor… but—

Something about it left Kaylen uneasy. He looked down.

A few strands of Benedict’s long hair had fallen onto the marble floor.

‘I should take a few of these.’

Swoosh.

As Kaylen reached out, the strands of hair floated into his hand as if drawn by an invisible force.

'Never thought I’d end up collecting another man’s hair.'

With a slight smirk, he grasped the black strands in his palm.

And then—

Sizzle—!

"Ugh…!"

The moment of contact—between his palm, still infused with the Holy Emperor’s blessing, and the strands of hair—

A repelling force erupted.

At the same time, the hair ignited and burned away into nothingness.

Kaylen’s expression hardened as he watched.

'It’s faint, almost impossible to detect, but…'

The moment the strands had burned—

For an instant, but undeniably—

'The Holy Emperor’s hair… contains dark mana!'

From a distance, he hadn’t sensed it at all. But upon touching it, he felt it clearly.

'Dark mana… in the body of the Celestial God’s chosen representative?!'

How could the leader of the Sanctuary, the Holy Emperor himself, possess dark mana?

Kaylen immediately turned toward the door, ready to chase after him and demand answers—

"Kaylen?"

"Theresia. Where did the Holy Emperor go?"

Standing outside the door, Theresia looked at him in confusion.

"He returned to the Sanctuary. He said he had exhausted too much of his divine power."

"With black hair?"

"Yes. It seems he completely depleted his divine power."

Theresia spoke casually, as if it were nothing unusual.

Kaylen, noting how familiar she seemed with the situation, questioned her.

"…Doesn’t that strike you as odd?"

"What do you mean? Oh, you mean his hair?"

"Yes. Black hair… Isn’t that the color of the demons?"

"Well, at first, I thought so too, but…"

Theresia replied with a bright, untroubled expression.

"I suppose it’s because we’ve lived in the Sanctuary for so long. Even my hair turns black when I use up all my divine power."

"…Yours does too?"

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]