Chapter 202. Foray (2)
What Enoch saw upon entering his inner world was enough to leave him speechless.
The vast scenery of the night sky that always appeared in his inner world had vanished as if it were a lie.
All that could be seen was pitch black.
The clear night sky and the horizon were gone, and only a bizarre space unfolded before his eyes.
Unlike usual, Enoch slowly walked forward, looking at the strange appearance of the world, which was filled with static and noise in an endless, faint darkness.
The Emperor's Supreme Sword had said before that this World of Impermanence did not have a fixed scenery.
Nevertheless, just as Enoch was wondering what the cause of this scenery was.
Chaaaaaang!!
Right after he took a step, a sound like a crack forming in glass began to race through the empty void.
And the next moment, the cracked space, having taken on a clear form, shattered.
Hundreds of smooth glass fragments scattered around, reflecting scenes from Enoch’s memories like mirrors.
[─The only victory for us guardian knights is to always protect the weak.]
[─As long as we hold the sword that we have sworn to fulfill that mission with, we can never be defeated.]
[─The guardian knights of Rhodes are all masters of the longsword who have sworn to protect the weak.]
“…….”
The fragments of memory, reflected on the shattered and scattered glass-like shards.
The sharply broken crystals, glinting their transparent surfaces, reflected images on them.
As Enoch walked forward, the glass fragments, like a panorama, brought back the memories of the previous succession.
Wuuuuuuung!!
A large, shattered glass surface reflected the distant fortress city on a vast lake and the figures of silver knights with their blue capes fluttering.
The fragments, fluttering at various angles, clearly replayed the flow of the past that had once been in Rhodes.
[Being weak in strength is not important.]
[What is truly strong is to find one's own mission and to have the will to fulfill it.]
[That mission is not a mission you found yourself. It is just a mission that was given to you from birth.]
[I hope that you, my lady, will also find your true mission in your own life.]
All of these were traces of the past about the Sword Saint of the Waves that Enoch had seen and heard during the last succession.
Conversations and scenes that she had heard before she had reached the level of a Sword Saint in the distant past flashed by.
Enoch, with an expressionless face, was staring at the fragments of memory that were flowing like flickering lights in all directions.
……This was certainly a first.
Enoch soon walked forward.
With a clear splashing sound, ripples spread across the water that was being stepped on under his shoes.
Looking back, it probably wasn't that strange.
More than anything, he still didn't even know what the sword form he had been inheriting from the Sword Saint of the Waves last time was.
In other words, because the succession itself was suddenly interrupted in the middle, the identity of the sword form he was inheriting had not yet been revealed.
If so, he could fully understand what this situation meant in his inner world.
“……You’re saying the rest of the story will be inherited.”
The moment Enoch, who had guessed the situation of the strange inner world, muttered to himself,
Kwaaaaaaaak!!
The ground spun greatly and the vast scenery changed, and suddenly its appearance began to change.
In an instant, his entire vision was turned upside down and his sense of direction was completely reversed, striking his entire body.
But following the whisper of his instincts, Enoch walked forward without stopping.
Hwioooooooooo!!
Enoch’s blazer uniform, which he had inadvertently covered his eyes with his arm, was greatly swept up and fluttered in the wind.
Finally, Enoch, who was walking, accepting the wind of change that was blowing all over his body, suddenly realized something and slowly stopped.
Enoch was looking down at the scene of the battlefield spread out below him.
On the vast plain of the island.
Kuuuuuuuuuung!!
Giant enemies advanced, covering the ground.
From the top of the castle walls, the main cannons spewed crimson flames, unleashing a deadly bombardment on the enemies.
As the siege cannons fired powerful flames at the enemies and white smoke scattered.
On top of the high, gray castle walls, a guardian knight with a fluttering blue cape slowly walked out.
He drew a silver longsword from his waist and, aiming it high at the sky, gave a low command to the battlefield.
“──Annihilate them.”
The moment the sword, which reflected the sunlight and the blue shimmering of the lake, scattered a brilliant white light.
On the sky spread out above the horizon, a meteor shower of thousands of silver arrows was shot towards the sun.
Shiiiiiiiiiiiik─!!
Finally, the rain of silver arrows, which had soared high, wrapping the white air like a gale,
poured down and sharply pierced the enemies who had dared to invade the impregnable fortress city.
“Kuaaaaaaaaak!!”
As the enemies advanced and scattered dust, black figures shimmered beyond it.
Silver knights with longswords, their blue capes fluttering, revealed themselves against the enemy.
It was then that the knights, holding their longswords at an angle, began to charge at the enemies.
Tudududududu……!!
The undefeated knights, their faces completely covered by sleek helmets, each rushed forward, scattering a silver flash.
The elegant dance of the longsword, calculated to thoroughly destroy the enemy, clashed head-on with the enemy forces, scattering countless flashes in a single breath.
Every time the sword flashed, the enemies’ figures flew over the armored knights,
and those who tried to resist were grabbed by gauntleted hands and had their heads slammed vertically into the castle walls.
The guardian knights displayed a skill with the sword that could not even be followed by the eye, and literally crushed the resisting enemy forces in an instant.
“……Now then! That’s enough for now, my lady!”
In an instant, with a rustling sound, a silk curtain covered the view outside the wide window.
Only then did Enoch realize that the scene of the battlefield he had been watching was the view from a high-rise indoor window.
Looking around, the room was a place filled with beautiful ornaments, along with a luxurious bed with a veil.
And in the middle of that spacious room, a girl with watery blue hair was sitting. With her hands clasped, she calmly parted her lips.
“Nanny. You’re too excited.”
“As I should be! Don’t forget! Just as much as the knights’ battle, we have a job to do too!! The fate of Rhodes is at stake!!”
With her long hair tied and hanging over her shoulders, the nanny, wearing an apron, approached from behind the girl.
Then, she lifted a silver comb and began to brush her hair.
As if she had done it many times before, the girl, who was watching the nanny’s unrestrained hand movements as she groomed her, added.
“I know we have a job to do. But, I just remembered something when I saw that.”
“Remembered something? What do you mean?”
“Before, there was a guardian knight who told me to have a mission.”
“Uuuhm, my lady. If my memory is correct, wasn't that a story from several months ago?”
The girl didn't answer the nanny, who asked back with a tilted head, and glanced out the window.
“That’s right. I just, remembered it today.”
“Uhm, well, it’s natural for you to be nervous too, my lady. It’s only a half-day away, isn't it?”
The nanny said that and, stroking the girl’s long hair once, put a gorgeous ornament on her ear.
Just as Enoch was feeling a little puzzled by the scene, which looked like they were preparing for a party.
The nanny said.
“To relieve your tension, my lady, let me tell you what I know about the knights.”
“I’m not, particularly nervous.”
“The people of Rhodes, who are always being invaded by large armies, are said to always have the hope to live.”
As if she was used to the girl’s small rebuttal, the nanny added, attaching a small silver ornament to her shoulder.
“A guardian knight is a being that embodies those wishes in their sword. That is why they are always able to win even when fighting against such large armies.”
“…….”
The clash between the knights of Rhodes and the large army that had been unfolding before my eyes until just now.
For a moment, it overlapped with the battle with the large army of magical beasts in reality, and Enoch unconsciously clenched his fist.
Had the Sword Saint of the Waves, the owner of the sword he was inheriting, also experienced something similar?
“I’m not sure.”
Just then, the girl opened her mouth.
“I also have only a vague sense of responsibility, that I want to protect the other people of this Rhodes.”
The girl said, glancing at the nanny.
“If someone were to invade and the scenery of this city that I love, or you, nanny, were to disappear, I would surely be sad.”
“Oh, my lady! You’re really so sentimental in strange ways sometimes, aren't you?”
As if she couldn't be helped, the nanny placed both hands on her hips and smiled brightly.
“My lady. Protecting Rhodes does not only mean protecting it with a sword and armor.”
“Huh?”
“After all, those born as sons and daughters of nobles in Rhodes have the duty to form alliances with the nobles of the surrounding kingdoms through marriage, and thereby solidify the alliance, right? That is also a form of protection.”
At that, the girl gave a calm retort.
“Nanny. You sound like a tutor reading from a book.”
“Hehe, actually, before I became your attendant, I used to work as a popular tutor in the Victoria Kingdom, you know?”
The girl, who was sitting in front of the mirror, asked the nanny behind her with a slightly surprised expression.
“You’ve been taking care of me since I was young, nanny. But you’re not that old, nanny, and you were even a tutor?”
“Of course! Believe it or not, I was quite young back then, but I was rumored to be quite smart. Of course, I’m bragging, aren't I? Hehehe.”
The girl giggled at the nanny, who was proudly placing a hand on her chest and lifting her chin slightly.
“I believe you, nanny.”
The girl smiled with her eyes at the nanny.
“After all, you’ve been like a mother to me, raising me in place of my deceased mother.”
“My laaaady—!”
The nanny, who made a face as if she was so moved that a ‘ting—’ sound effect could be heard, quickly came to her senses and cleared her throat.
“A-anyway, my lady. What I’m saying is!”
She said, gently embracing the girl.
“Everyone has their own battlefield in their own life, and you choose your battlefield, my lady. However, if you have a talent, the story is different!”
The girl stared at the nanny. The nanny smiled slightly and stroked her hair.
“A talent that someone is born with is literally a blessing in that person’s life.”
“A blessing?”
“Of course. Thankfully, for you, my lady, that blessing is very suitable for your debut in high society!”
The nanny, who had placed a hand on her hip, added proudly, staring at the girl before her.
“Just as the skill of the sword is a talent for the guardian knights, you also have a natural talent, don’t you, my lady?”
“If it’s a talent—”
Just as the girl, who was stroking the hair that had fallen by her eyes and hesitating a little, was about to speak, the nanny smiled brightly.
“Now, don’t be like that. Turn around for a moment! My lady!”
The nanny, who had lightly grabbed the girl’s slender hand, pulled her from the chair.
Her long, watery blue hair rippled beautifully in the air, and the slender girl stood up and spun around once.
The beautiful dress that enveloped her mature and feminine body bloomed like a flower and rippled.
At the dance of the watery blue dress, the same color as her hair, Enoch stared at her blankly for a moment.
Of course, it wasn't that his gaze was captivated simply because the girl in the dress was beautiful.
‘What kind of life did she live?’
As in the last succession, he still couldn't find any sign of a swordswoman in her appearance.
Should he continue the succession a little more?
As if to confirm Enoch’s question, the nanny smiled at the girl in front of her and said.
“At the banquet tonight, if you debut in high society, my lady, you will surely be able to raise the prestige of Rhodes with your beautiful appearance and demeanor.”
“Yes. If you say so, nanny, I’m sure it’s true, but.”
The girl said, looking at herself in the mirror with calm eyes, as if asking herself a question.
“……I’m just not sure if a life like that is the path I should truly walk.”
At her words, Enoch tilted his head.
What in the world?
The Sword Saint of the Waves was quite different from the Empire’s last Sword Saint, whose life he could understand in a straightforward manner.
At the very least, he could only somewhat realize that this past memory unfolding before his eyes was probably the moment just before she was about to debut in high society and go to a banquet, before she became a Sword Saint.
In any case, the succession would progress to some extent only if he could at least guess her past.
And in that moment.
To the side of Enoch, who had thought that far, a flame that distorted all sides suddenly shot up.
Enoch’s eyes widened in an instant as he realized that it was a strong form of red unique mana that was burning the empty void itself.
Hwaaaaaaaaak!!
At the incredibly strange flame, Enoch stared at it blankly for a moment, then suddenly realized.
This was surely a flame that existed in the inner world, separate from the past memories, which means—
“……Why?”
The next moment, Enoch’s thoughts stopped.
Beyond the vast curtain of fire.
There, the Empire’s last Sword Saint, who should not exist in this place, was walking out.