The Swordmaster Who Returned After 1,000 Years

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 177

The Imperial Castle of Starn.

The sudden appearance of an uninvited guest threw the castle into chaos.

“When is Father arriving?” Melvria, the dark elf, crossed her arms and glanced around. Numerous knights were already sprawled on the ground, unconscious.

Even though they were wearing mana suits, they had been subdued instantly.

The only silver lining was that none of them had suffered fatal injuries.

“Please wait a little longer. He will be here soon.”

“The situation is urgent. You need to summon him faster.”

“They’ve just confirmed His Majesty’s location. Please be patient.”

Melvria clicked her tongue in annoyance but nodded while keeping her arms crossed.

Facing her, Violet, clad in her activated Glacia, let out a deep sigh.

Kaylen had been away, planting flags in other nations, leaving Violet drowning in work.

And now, she had to fend off an intruder while wearing a mana suit.

The workload was getting ridiculously overwhelming.

‘Once this is over, I’m quitting. I can’t do this anymore.’

She needed to submit her resignation and make it clear they needed more personnel.

With that thought, Violet examined the dark elf before her.

As she observed the woman’s goddess-like beauty, Kaylen’s features flickered in her mind.

The differences were there—man and woman, human and elf.

Yet the transcendent beauty, the silver hair, and golden eyes were identical to Kaylen’s.

‘Now that I look at her closely, they do resemble each other. But to think she’s his daughter...

Wouldn’t it make more sense if she were the mother instead?’

Just as Violet was lost in thought—

“Melvria?”

Kaylen had arrived at the royal castle, accompanied by Johannes.

At the sight of him, Melvria’s face brightened, only for her eyes to widen as she looked at Johannes.

“Father… and Uncle Johannes? Uncle, you’re still alive?”

“Well, you’ll understand if you take a closer look.” Johannes shrugged as he spoke.

Melvria quickly grasped the situation.

Even if Johannes tried to conceal his dark mana, someone of Melvria’s caliber could easily perceive it.

‘...He’s undead. A lich.’

She chose not to comment on it, holding her tongue as she turned back to Kaylen.

“Father…”

“Melvria. You’re finally acknowledging me as your father.”

“I saw the creation of the Six Sword Path with my own eyes. Of course, I’d acknowledge you. Caius has also broken free from his delusion.”

“Oh? But he’s not here with you?”

“…He said the weight of his sins is too great, that he has no right to face you. Instead, he’s gathering intelligence from within Gaecir.”

Hearing the mention of his son’s sins, Kaylen felt a bitter pang in his chest.

No matter how much Caius was his own flesh and blood, the atrocities committed by the Gaecir Empire were too severe to overlook.

Had Caius followed Melvria to the Starn Empire, Kaylen would have personally cut him down.

“…So, Caius sent urgent information this time. And what’s contained in it is… shocking.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll show you.”

With a hardened expression, Melvria uttered an incantation.

“In the name of the dragon, I command mana—recreate.”

A pure white screen spread out in the air, projecting a scene.

Above the imperial palace of Rahandra, a massive white hand of light appeared.

Then, a shocking sight—people plummeting from it in droves.

[What… what is this?]

Caius, witnessing it firsthand, murmured in confusion.

Thud! Thud!

As bodies crashed into the palace, blood and flesh splattered in all directions.

[Kiiiiii!]

The dragonkin within Rahandra’s imperial palace let out cries of joy as they watched the feast raining from above.

Drakes emerged one by one from the palace, devouring the countless falling humans.

[Oh my. What is this?]

A familiar voice came from behind Caius, who was staring blankly at the scene.

Kaina, who had been lying in a coffin to recover her strength, approached with a bright smile.

[Because of that fake husband, I thought it would take at least six weeks to regain my power… but then, a gift falls from the sky.]

She smirked, flashing a radiant smile at Caius.

[Our Demon Lord… gives the disease and the cure.]

[The Demon Lord… did this?]

[Who else but him? Who else could wield such power?]

Spreading her arms wide, Kaina looked up at the sky.

[Demon Lord~ Whatever the reason, thank you for the gift. I’ll enjoy it~]

Fwoosh!

A massive blaze erupted from Kaina’s body, consuming the falling humans.

The fire was so enormous that it nearly engulfed the entire sky.

Yet, with the sheer number of people still falling, there was still more than enough for the drakes to feast upon.

A blood-soaked festival overtook Rahandra’s imperial palace.

With the final echoes of bodies bursting apart, the screen faded into darkness.

Everyone who saw it was left speechless.

Even Kaylen, who had fought countless powerful foes.

Even Johannes, who had lived for a thousand years as an undead and witnessed all sorts of horrors.

The sheer overwhelming nature of what they had seen left them unable to react immediately.

“Observer. Was this truly the Demon Lord’s doing?”

Kaylen was the first to regain his composure and asked into the empty air.

He knew that the Colonial Observatory was always watching, so he directed his question accordingly.

- …Yes. He relocated the entire population of the Magic Kingdom of Pendor to Rahandra’s capital. With nothing more than a single gesture.

The Magic Kingdom of Pendor.

Kaylen had planned to plant his flag across the entire eastern continent but had returned to the capital after encountering Johannes, leaving him unable to visit Pendor.

He recalled it as a great power located in the southeastern part of the continent.

And now, that entire kingdom had been annihilated with just a wave of a hand?

“When did this happen?”

- It’s been a week.

“I see. And no one informed me?”

- …Because I’ve been having serious doubts about my own work.

Ederna had initially aided the hero, intending to use him as a countermeasure against the current Demon Lord.

But after witnessing the overwhelming power of the White Demon Lord, she had lost all motivation.

No matter how strong Kaylen was, could he even leave a scratch on a Demon Lord like that?

The Demon Lord also seemed to know everything that was happening, making it difficult for anyone to act carelessly.

Kaylen could hear deep fear in Ederna’s voice.

‘Looks like she’s trying to back out because she’s scared of the Demon Lord.’

After seeing something like that, it was understandable.

But it would be a shame if the Demon Realm’s Observer simply withdrew like this.

So, Kaylen casually brought up a topic.

“Ederna. Are you aware that the current Demon Lord, Lucifer, was once the fourth Archangel of the Celestial Realm?”

- …What?

“Doesn’t it seem odd that a Demon Lord can wield such powerful light-based mana? From the very beginning, he disguised himself as Marquess Lucifer of the Demon Realm to seize control of it.”

- Is that… true?

“As far as I know, yes. You can look into it yourself if you want to verify.”

- …Alright.

Ederna’s voice regained a bit of strength.

- I’ll investigate further in the Demon Realm.

With that, the Observer withdrew.

Kaylen turned to the others.

“For now, let’s not just stand here. We should head inside the palace to talk.”

“Understood, Father.”

Melvria, who had been causing a commotion in the palace earlier, answered obediently.

Violet watched them with a bewildered expression.

Wait… she really is his daughter?

‘His Majesty and I went to school together… what the hell is going on? How did things end up like this?’

Kaylen had always been an enigma.

But lately, he was becoming even harder to understand.

Violet wondered if she should just resign altogether as she dispelled Glacia’s spirit form.

“Hah…”

Shrrrk.

Glacia reverted to her half-mask form and reattached to Violet’s face.

Johannes watched with interest.

“Emperor. Who’s that?”

“Violet?”

“Yeah.”

“She was a princess of this country back when it was the Bormian Kingdom. Now, she’s an outstanding water master and administrator.”

“Hm… so she’s human?”

“That’s right. Why?”

Johannes simply waved a hand at Kaylen’s question.

“This doesn’t seem like the right place to talk about it. Let’s head inside.”

The royal palace—Kaylen’s office.

Only four people were gathered inside: Kaylen, Johannes, Melvria, and Violet.

“Melvria. But why did you become a Dark Elf?”

“I underwent demonification in Helmeier, and this was the result. What about you, uncle? Why did you become a lich?”

“A lot happened. It’s a long story.”

From Violet’s perspective, it was clear that Kaylen, Johannes, and Melvria all knew each other well.

Seeing how naturally they greeted each other and talked, they weren’t just acquaintances—they were close.

Hearing them casually mention demonification and lichdom, she suddenly wondered if she had wandered into a den of demons.

With lingering doubts about these people, she also questioned whether she should even be here.

‘It really feels like I don’t belong here…’

Rather than sitting around uncomfortably, she would have preferred to go handle her growing pile of work.

"Johannes, what was that question you asked Violet earlier?"

"Oh, that? It wasn’t anything major." Tap. Tap.

Johannes tapped his fingers against his face, as if pointing toward Violet’s half-mask, Glacia.

"When I saw her spiritize that S-rank mana suit, something about it struck me as odd."

"Odd? In what way?"

"When activating a mana suit’s spiritization function, an ordinary human can never spiritize their mana heart. It’s not a matter of talent—it’s simply a fundamental limitation of the human species."

"Really? So if you physically strike the heart of a spiritized Meister, would they die?"

"No. Since spiritization allows them to assimilate with their attribute, physical force is negated. But they can’t achieve complete fusion."

Kaylen tilted his head. He had never heard of anything like this before.

Seeing his reaction, Johannes chuckled.

"You’d need a complete understanding of the mana heart to grasp this. Not even you would have known. In fact, only someone like me could even detect it."

"I see… Well, I didn’t notice anything unusual myself. But why is this fact a problem?"

"An ordinary human can’t achieve full assimilation. But if they aren’t ‘human’… then they can. Take elves, for example. Half-spirits, attuned to wind and water mana, can fully assimilate with their element."

Kaylen nodded. He was aware of that.

The efficiency of spiritization was so high that when elves used mana suits, they didn’t suffer from the usual lifespan reduction.

"Then are you saying Violet isn’t a normal human, but has elven blood?"

"Hmm… No. It seems more like she has the blood of another species mixed in."

Johannes shot Violet a meaningful smile.

"She has…"

"Melvria!"

Just as Johannes was about to reveal something, the office doors burst open.

"Eldir…?"

It was Eldir, the Swordmaster, wearing an eyepatch over one eye.

"Oh?"

Johannes turned to look at him—or rather, at the eye hidden behind the eyepatch. A grin spread across his face.

"Emperor, you won’t have to worry about the Sword of Water and Wind anymore."

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]