The Swordmaster Who Returned After 1,000 Years

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 206

Sssss—

The wounds on the Dragon God’s body, inflicted by Kaylen’s sword, began to heal rapidly.

The bleeding stopped, and the scales regained their pristine form.

At a glance, it was a sight befitting the body of a dragon…

‘That too is merely the work of Infinity.’

The draconic form was just an outward appearance.

What was truly operating within was the infinite mana—Infinity.

Mana continued to flow, endlessly restoring the Dragon God’s strength.

Quite literally, an inexhaustible source of power.

‘And Infinity is drawing its power directly from this world itself.’

A golden star, containing all six attributes of mana, endlessly radiating power.

It was the ultimate form of mana, created through relentless perseverance after countless defeats at the hands of the Celestial God.

With the world's support, Infinity allowed the Dragon God to recover without limits.

To overcome such a force, a new sword was needed—one that could do more than just cut the surface like Four Swords - Dragon Slayer.

‘I must sever its connection to this world.’

Six Sword Path

First Sword

Sword Domain

The weakest stage of the Six Sword Path, utilizing only a single attribute—First Sword, Sword Domain.

It was a restrictive sword technique, meant to prevent Kaylen from succumbing to Six Demon Path while wielding the Six Swords.

After analyzing the golden star, Kaylen had devised a method to neutralize it.

By deploying a sword barrier, he could impose restrictions on Infinity.

Until now, this Sword Domain had only applied to his own sword.

But now—

Srrrrk—

New swords emerged from the markings of the Six Swords on the ground.

No, it wasn’t just six swords.

At first, only six swords rose.

But soon, countless swords erupted from the ground, filling the gaps within the Five Swords - Heavenly Net like a seamless web.

[This is…]

Above, below, left, and right.

With swords blocking every possible direction, the Dragon God’s pupils trembled slightly.

The infinite mana, which should have been naturally sustained by the world—

—Was being severed.

[Blocking my path… What a reckless method! If this body were my true form, this mere barrier would have shattered instantly!]

“That’s probably true.”

Kaylen acknowledged the statement.

The current Dragon God was an incomplete being, summoned by sacrificing Caius.

This method worked only because of that weakness.

Against a fully revived Dragon God, cutting off Infinity’s supply with a sword barrier would be impossible.

“But this is only the first step.”

Among the Six Swords, the Holy Sword Astella, which bore the Light Sword, landed in Kaylen’s hand.

Swish—

For a brief moment, the sword vanished.

And in that instant—

The Dragon God’s body, which had just healed, split apart.

The sword wounds, similar to before, crisscrossed its entire body like a spiderweb.

[This… This can’t be!]

Unlike before, the wounds no longer remained superficial.

This time—

They had severed it completely.

[How could this…!]

Through the manifestation of the Sword God, even with the relentless onslaught of the Six Sword Path, the Dragon God’s body, which had once withstood all attacks, was now being mercilessly cut apart.

The Dragon God attempted to say something more.

However, his head had been completely severed, unable to maintain its form any longer.

“I know better than anyone the weakness of Infinity once its limits are engraved.”

Kaylen had mastered the method of restricting Infinity through the Sword Realm.

More than anyone else, he knew how to dismantle Infinity once its boundless nature was severed.

‘And it works on the Dragon God as well.’

What he had personally learned through his own body was now being applied to the incomplete Dragon God.

Seeing it take effect, Kaylen felt a newfound certainty in his method of dismantling Infinity.

‘With just a little more refinement, I can establish a new Six Sword Path…’

A sword that could sever Infinity.

In the end, it would be a sword that could sever the world itself.

As Kaylen was devising the Six Sword Path to counter the Dragon God—

Thud.

From within the massive, severed body of the Dragon God, only the upper half of Caius was ejected.

“Ugh… Urgh…”

Caius, a half-undead.

His upper body remained in human form, while his lower half, which had been undead, had completely melted away.

Even his upper body was riddled with holes, revealing decayed and rotting innards.

The six divine swords forged by Kaina were embedded haphazardly in his body, now cracked and trembling with instability.

“A-ah…”

The dark magic that had sustained Caius’ body was nearly gone.

The Star of the Six Demon Paths, which had supplied him with limitless mana, had disappeared as well.

Since Kaylen had destroyed the Dragon God, the star had vanished along with it.

All that remained of Caius was his rotting, melted upper body.

“…Caius.”

Shhk.

As Kaylen reached out his hand—

The six divine swords embedded in Caius’ body flew out and planted themselves into the ground.

At the same time, Kaylen extended his dark sword, enveloping Caius’ body in the power of darkness.

“…Mmh.”

Perhaps because his body had stabilized somewhat, Caius let out a faint, relieved sigh and closed his eyes.

‘But this only eases his pain. Caius’ death is inevitable.’

It was only because Kaylen had subdued the Dragon God faster than expected that Caius had been ejected before being fully absorbed.

From the moment the Dragon God used him as a sacrifice for his descent, Caius had already been doomed to vanish.

“…Father. I have a request.”

“…Speak.”

Caius, understanding the full situation, spoke in a calm voice.

“Please, grant me rest yourself.”

He was asking Kaylen to end his life.

“…I am sorry. Because you had the misfortune of being my son, your life has been filled with suffering.”

Kaylen sighed.

Born as the eldest son of Ernstine, Caius could have lived a glorious life as the second emperor of the Meier Empire.

Yet, because he had fallen into corruption as the Dragon God, he had spent a thousand years as a half-undead.

In the end, he had become nothing more than a vessel for summoning and was now facing his final moments.

“No, Father. You are nothing like the ‘father’ who turned me into this… This is not something you need to apologize for.”

“Thanks to you, when I lived as a human, my life was truly fulfilling.”

“…Now, I just wish to rest. Considering the lives I have taken with my own hands, perhaps even a peaceful rest is too much of a luxury…”

“But still, I humbly ask… Please, allow me to rest in peace.”

Kaylen slowly nodded.

A life that could never be restored.

At the very least, he wanted to grant him a painless and peaceful death.

“…Rest now.”

The holy sword emitted a pure white light, enveloping Caius’s body.

Normally, an undead should have writhed in agony when burned by sacred fire.

Yet, his face remained tranquil.

It was because Kaylen’s dark sword had absorbed all of Caius’s dark energy.

‘You’ve been through enough, Caius.’

Fwoosh—

As Caius, engulfed in the white flames, crumbled to dust and vanished, Kaylen let out a deep sigh.

No matter how much his essence was rooted in the Six Sword Path, the memories of living as an Ernstine were also a part of him.

Watching his eldest son be used and discarded by the Dragon God left a lingering weight in his chest.

‘…I’ll make sure to avenge him. I will destroy the Dragon God completely.’

Steeling his resolve, Kaylen shifted his gaze downward.

“This bastard…”

Scattered fragments of the Dragon God lay strewn across the sigil of the Six Swords.

Sizzle—

As his sword flashed, the remnants of the corpse smoldered into smoke and disappeared.

At a glance, it seemed as if the remains had simply been incinerated by the aura, unable to withstand it.

‘He’s up to something.’

Having fully attuned himself to the sigil of the Six Swords, Kaylen could see that the phenomenon before him wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

The Dragon God’s fragments were merely pretending to be destroyed.

In truth, they were attempting to siphon aura from the sigil.

‘So he’s still trying to fulfill his original objective.’

There was a reason he had gone so far as to use Caius as a sacrifice to summon an incomplete form of himself.

It was all for the sake of claiming the aura of the Six Swords.

‘Infinity has limitless regenerative power, but to extend its limits, it needs this aura.’

No matter how infinite Infinity’s mana might be,

there was always a cap on how much could be used at once.

If the limit was 100, then at most, 100 mana could be spent in a single strike.

Even if he used two or three attacks in succession to reach 200 or 300 total output,

each individual attack was still bound to the limit of 100.

‘That level of power is enough to overwhelm most enemies, but against the Celestial Demon…? Against the Dragon God, he’d want to extend Infinity’s limits by any means possible.’

To do so, acquiring Infinity’s aura—the one Ernstine had safeguarded deep within the Undersea Continent—was essential.

That was why he had gone to such extremes, even sacrificing Caius.

‘Now that I’m aware of it, taking the aura is impossible for him…’

Kaylen could clearly perceive the writhing fragments of the Dragon God within the sigil.

They were subtle, persistent, and insidious.

Yet, if he wished, eliminating them completely would be effortless.

Even if, by some slim chance, they managed to escape his notice and attempted to flee with the aura,

it was impossible.

This place was entirely sealed off by the fusion of the Five Swords’ Celestial Net and the Sword Realm.

Escape was not an option.

However—

“Release.”

Instead, Kaylen deactivated the barrier surrounding the sigil of the Six Swords.

“Your Majesty…!”

“A-Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Lightly tapping the shoulders of the knights who had rushed over,

“I’ll oversee today’s training.”

He slowly began to walk away from the sigil of the Six Swords, as if he had found nothing.

His composure was absolute.

“But Your Majesty, you should check your condition…”

“No need. This is nothing.”

As Kaylen departed with the knights toward the training grounds, a cold smile formed on his lips.

‘Take all you want, Dragon God.’

A trap isn’t something only you can set.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]