The Swordmaster Who Returned After 1,000 Years

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 210

Beyond the Wall of Darkness.

There, on the desolate wasteland, a solitary black rock stood.

The being who had called out to Kaylen was nowhere to be seen.

—Come this way.

As the voice echoed once more, Kaylen was able to pinpoint its source.

‘That rock?’

A towering, dark rock, roughly the size of a person.

As the voice emanated from it, waves of dark mana rippled outward.

The sheer volume of it was immense—enough that Kaylen’s Shadow Blade swelled in response.

Had he not made recent progress, the sheer force of that dark mana would have immediately disrupted the balance of his Six Sword Path.

Carefully adjusting the mana in his Shadow Blade, Kaylen slowly approached.

—Welcome. It is quite enjoyable to have visitors coming to this abyss in succession.

“You say ‘in succession.’ Does that mean the Celestial Demon was here as well?”

—Celestial Demon… So that is what he calls himself now?

“That’s right.”

—How arrogant.

Rumble.

The rock cracked apart.

From within, a small black figure began to stride forward.

A stone doll, made of the same material as the rock itself.

With each step it took, dark mana scattered in all directions.

Judging by that power alone, the title of ‘Demon God’ seemed more fitting for this being than the Celestial Demon.

“Who are you?”

—I am the Will of Teia.

“Teia?”

Kaylen had half-expected the being to call itself a Demon God, but instead, it offered an unfamiliar name.

—Heh. Of course, you wouldn’t know Teia. Then, you may think of me as the Earth God.

“The Earth God…?”

A stone doll, overflowing with dark mana, referring to itself as the Earth God?

At that moment, Kaylen suddenly recalled something Violet had mentioned—the Water God.

‘I thought the only gods were the Celestial Gods… At this rate, is there going to be a Fire God or a Wind God too?’

If the Celestial Demon represented two elements, that only left fire and wind unaccounted for.

Finding the constant emergence of supreme beings rather troublesome, Kaylen questioned the Earth God.

“The Earth God… then, do you know of the Water God?”

The stone doll nodded.

—The Water God… You refer to Terra’s Will, yes? Of course, I know them well.

“Terra’s Will?”

—It seems you lack even the most basic knowledge of Teia and Terra.

Whoosh.

As the stone doll raised both hands, two spheres formed above them.

—In the beginning, there were two planets. On the left was Terra. On the right was Teia.

At a glance, the difference in their sizes was evident.

Terra was nearly twice as large as Teia.

—And then, Teia collided with Terra.

As the stone doll moved its hands, Teia shot toward Terra.

The moment Teia crashed into Terra, the immense heat caused both spheres to soften and melt.

—When the two planets collided, a massive transformation occurred.

The nearly liquefied spheres merged into one, forming a single planet.

A small portion of their mass was ejected into space.

—The two became one, and the material that was cast off gathered together to form the Moon.

“...Are you saying that this is…?”

—Yes. This is the story of this planet’s origin.

The Earth God spoke as if it were a trivial matter, but Kaylen felt as if he had just heard something utterly absurd.

Two planets collided to form this world?

And what remained became the Moon?

—Once the planet was created, the Water God and I spent countless years in conflict, vying to become the will of this new world.

The merged planet in the stone doll’s hands split once again into Terra and Teia.

—As you can see from the size difference, my power was lacking compared to Terra’s.

“......”

—However, since traces of Teia still existed within this planet, Terra’s will was unable to fully dominate it. So, we found a compromise.

“A compromise… Is that why you became the Water God and the Earth God?”

—Yes. I relinquished control to the Water God and settled as the Earth God, dwelling within the planet’s depths.

If the Water God ruled over the surface of the planet, governing all, then the Earth God resided deep within, maintaining its core.

“I see… Then, in the end, Abyssal Gate was the abyss where the Earth God resided?”

[You called this place Abyssal Gate? It must have been the Moon’s kin who named it so.]

“The Moon’s kin…?”

[The race that carries this mana. Have you not seen them?]

Kaylen glanced at the Earth God, who was brimming with dark mana, and nodded.

“You mean the Demonkin.”

[That’s right. Unlike this planet, the Moon is primarily made up of material from Teia. That is why the Demonkin came to this abyss to follow me. However…]

The Earth God spoke with clear dissatisfaction.

[The Demonkin who drifted to this planet were far too weak. They never reached the depths of the abyss.]

“You mean the Demon Kings?”

[Kings? Those weaklings?]

“…They were considered kings in the Demon Realm.”

Kaylen recalled the time he had walked through the cavern.

The dark mana had been dense, but it had still been manageable.

It seemed that the Demon Kings had been unable to advance beyond a certain point.

[They were so pathetically weak that I didn’t even realize they were supposed to be kings. I simply assumed they were asking me to strengthen the frail ones among their kin, so I purified some of their dark mana accordingly.]

The strongest of the Demonkin, chosen to sit upon the Demon King's throne—

Yet to the Earth God, they were nothing more than feeble remnants of the Moon’s kin, in need of nurturing.

[However, the one who calls himself the Celestial Demon God… he was worthy of being called a king.]

“Their kin…? But he was originally a Celestial God.”

[He was originally a god? And a god of the heavens, no less?]

“You don’t know about the Celestial God?”

[I’ve remained in the abyss all this time.]

At the Earth God’s question, Kaylen answered with what he knew.

“He was a god who came from beyond this world.”

When the Celestial Realm and the Demon Realm continents crashed down, the Celestial God arrived on this planet.

He engaged in a fierce struggle for dominance against the Water God, and in the end—

When the Water God was finally defeated, he transformed into the Dragon God in a desperate attempt to eliminate him.

Upon hearing this, the Earth God let out a scoffing laugh.

[A god of the heavens…? Him? Hah. Ridiculous.]

“Then what is he?”

[......]

The Earth God did not answer Kaylen’s question.

Instead—

Srrrkk—

He silently reopened the wall of darkness.

[I will refrain from interfering in this matter. Just as I always have. I will remain in the abyss.]

“…So you’re telling me to leave.”

[Hah. Maintaining neutrality would be in your best interest as well. If I were to intervene in this, I would undoubtedly take the Celestial Demon God's side.]

At those words, a chill ran down Kaylen’s spine.

If the Earth God were to side with the Celestial Demon God, then the battle was already lost.

[However… Since you came all this way and told me about the Celestial God, I’ll give you something in return.]

“What is it?”

[The reason the Celestial Demon God came here.]

“What is it?”

[He intends to destroy this world… and restore the planet Teia.]

“…What?”

His goal wasn’t simply conquest—

He wanted to restore the planet Teia?

‘Then the Celestial Demon God's true intent is…’

[That should suffice as repayment.]

With those final words—

The Earth God, who had taken the form of a stone doll, reverted to mere rock once more.

At the same time, beyond the open wall of darkness, the passageway leading back to Abyssal Gate emerged.

[Now, be on your way.]

With the Earth God’s parting words—

Kaylen’s body was pulled into the swirling vortex.

“Father! Are you alright?”

Kaylen snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Melvria calling him.

“Mm… I’m fine.”

The Earth God’s command for him to leave had been courteous.

Though he had been pulled into the vortex of darkness, his body remained unharmed.

He had simply been lost in thought about the Celestial Demon God.

‘The Celestial God… When I first heard he was a god from beyond this world, I had no way of knowing where he originated from…’

But after hearing the Earth God’s words within the Abyssal Gate, Kaylen could form a hypothesis about the Celestial God’s origins.

‘If what the Earth God said is true… then could he have come from the Moon?’

Planet Teia had collided with Terra, merging into a single planet and vanishing, with its remnants forming the Moon.

The name "Celestial God" carried connotations of being a god of the heavens, a god of light, which had made it difficult to arrive at such a conclusion before.

‘Come to think of it, the ability to wield the power of the Red Moon and absorb mana… None of the previous Demon Kings were capable of it. Only the Celestial God, who became the White Demon King and seized control of the Demon Realm, was able to do so.’

Of course, this assumption was based on the premise that everything the Earth God had said was true.

How much could he trust the words of the Earth God, whom he had just met for the first time in the Abyssal Gate?

‘There’s no guarantee that an Absolute Being wouldn’t lie.’

No—if anything, because he was an Absolute Being, he could make a lie feel even more like the truth.

‘…But I have a way to test it.’

Before the Earth God had even mentioned the Celestial Demon God, he had spoken about the collision between Planet Terra and Teia.

Upon hearing that, Kaylen had found the final clue he needed to destroy Infinity with the Six Sword Path.

“Melvria.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Unleash the Six Sword Path.”

“Yes.”

At Kaylen’s command, Melvria unleashed the Six Sword Path.

If she destroyed the last remaining Infinity, her lifespan might be reduced to that of a normal half-elf.

But Melvria harbored not even the slightest doubt toward her father.

Rather, it was Eldir beside her who was restless with anxiety.

“Y-Your Majesty… Are you really sure about this?”

“Why? Do you not trust me?”

“N-No, it’s not that… But still… Until just a moment ago, the sword was incomplete. If something goes wrong, we don’t know what could happen to Melvria… Perhaps it would be best to proceed more cautiously…”

“Ah, please. Don’t do this. Trust Father.”

“B-But! What if… even the slightest mistake…”

Kaylen fully understood his concerns.

But—

“Don’t worry.”

Kaylen trusted his sword even more.

Srrrkk—

“Now, I can destroy the stars perfectly.”

Behind Kaylen, the six swords rose into the air.

Then, they merged into one.

‘The Earth God had shown me the origin of the stars. That was the final piece I needed.’

And with it—

He reflected on his own shortcomings upon facing the hidden Absolute Being known as the Earth God.

Instinctively, he filled in the gaps that had previously been lacking.

Thus, the completed sword was—

A realm beyond the Six Swords.

Six Sword Path

Transcendent Realm

Star Annihilation

A sword that could bring destruction to the stars.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]