EP.214 Signs of Calamity Left Behind (1)
Kyle made a contract with Star.
Cardi clearly said so, and it was a story I was hearing for the first time. The discomfort I felt from Kyle strongly connected with that contract.
“Tell me in detail.”
I asked, and Cardi let out a short breath before speaking.
“I… couldn’t read it in detail. Contracts with Stars are generally complicated and secretive.”
But then, Cardi touched his eyes.
“Having been bound to a contract with the Star for centuries, I noticed something.”
His beast-like eyes gleamed with golden light.
“The essence of the contract is simple. And its nature resembles the contract I made.”
“…Resembles?”
“Transferring the Star into another object.”
Transferring the starlight that should inhabit the body and soul into something else. That’s what Cardi said.
“You must have seen a related object, one of which is probably in your hand.”
I slowly nodded.
The first thing that came to mind was Ganikalt’s Holy Sword stuck in the Holy Site in the North.
“…The First Saint’s arm and Ganikalt’s Holy Sword, which was stuck in the Holy Site.”
“Right. The latter is more relevant.”
“If it’s closer…”
“That guy is transferring starlight into his Holy Sword. As he kept fiddling with the hilt… when I looked at the Holy Sword, I noticed starlight gathering there — excessively.”
I frowned.
“What does it mean to be contained in the Holy Sword?”
“It has two meanings.”
Cardi spread two fingers.
“To cut what cannot be cut.”
Or.
“For the next someone.”
For the next someone.
So.
“For someone to replace himself.”
I fell silent at those words. I had to remain silent. That was a choice Kyle would never make.
“The greatest hero.”
I once talked with Kyle.
It was about the goals we both desired, and Kyle clearly responded like this.
“A hero who represents all heroes.”
“I want to remain as the strongest hero in all historical records. Since I’ve become a hero, after all.”
I clearly remember how Kyle said that while handling the Holy Sword. It was an unembellished sincerity. And it wasn’t the only time Kyle spoke such words.
“No one can replace me.”
“A special being who cannot be found anywhere or replaced by anyone.”
To Uncle Kuntel who asked about his goals.
To the Knights Order Leader who asked what his dream was.
“In fact, you see, Raniel.”
And.
In front of the campfire on the day he defeated the Black Dragon.
“I was always jealous of you.”
He said to me.
“There is someone who can replace me. Once I’m gone, another hero will likely be chosen. I was special because I was chosen by the Star, and that specialness isn’t something only I can enjoy.”
He claimed he wasn’t special.
Merely a being who could be replaced.
“But you are not. You are different.”
“No one can imitate you. No one can replace you. You are more special than I am. Occasionally, I wondered why the Star chose me instead of you.”
Therefore.
“I wanted to be like you, Raniel.”
He wished to be a being that could not be replaced.
“And today, it feels like I’ve stepped closer to you. The moment I cut off the Black Dragon’s neck, I felt it. I too can become a special being like you.”
He smiled bitterly.
And yet, he seemed a bit pleased.
“It feels like I’ve taken a step closer to my dream.”
Kyle had shared his dream with me.
Remembering that.
Because I recall the words he spoke.
“…I want to cut what cannot be cut.”
I wanted to believe more in the former possibility.
“Raniel.”
Cardi’s eyes narrowed.
“You must know, but judging by his attitude, it seems more about the latter…”
“I just want to believe that.”
I let out a short sigh.
“Honestly, it doesn’t really matter if it’s the latter. In fact, it’s rather interesting.”
“…What do you mean?”
“The fact that he thought about that much. It’s just shifting responsibility, but he didn’t just throw it on the ground.”
At least, he has given it some thought.
“Fking bastard.”
I smiled bitterly.
—
2.
On the way out of the church’s basement and heading above ground.
Cardi glanced back. Raniel, looking deep in thought, was climbing the half-destroyed stairs.
‘…He doesn’t ask anything more.’
If he had asked more, answering would have been difficult.
Cardi didn’t reveal every truth to Raniel. The contract he saw with Kyle was not simply about having starlight inhabit the Holy Sword.
There was something else.
And its essence resembled the first contract he made so much that it was something he could not tell Raniel, who had not yet approached the first truth.
‘It’s not simply about leaving it for the next.’
Not for the next someone…
“…”
Cardi silently gazed at Raniel.
“What? Why?”
Raniel blinked, her chin resting on her hand.
Cardi averted his gaze and shook his head.
“Nothing. Keep climbing.”
Was it coincidence or inevitability?
It was still uncertain.
—
In the western district where Deloheim’s main church is located.
In that place filled with the corpses of beasts, Raniel lazily stretched and spoke.
“Now that we have the Holy Grail, where to next?”
In response to that question, Cardi raised his arm.
The tip of his raised hand pointed to a castle wall visible even from here.
“Can you see that?”
“A crumbled castle wall?”
“Yeah, I plan to go there.”
“What is that?”
Cardi pondered for a moment.
There were countless things to describe that castle wall.
‘The most sturdy castle wall.’
The castle wall that was guarded by Ganikalt, the First Sword Saint.
It was called the most fortified wall since no one could breach it or even dared to try.
Therefore, it was humanity’s last defense.
Some called it Arcadia’s pride.
And others referred to it as a holy site, because it was blessed by the Saint.
‘But, in the present, it’s nothing now.’
It’s forgotten by everyone, crumbled, and cursed.
Recalling the wall that had lost its sturdiness, pride, and sanctity, Cardi muttered.
“…It’s the wall of despair.”
“Doesn’t sound like a fitting name for a castle wall.”
“You’ll understand when you go see.”
Cardi walked ahead.
“Beyond that castle wall was Arcadia’s capital. In fact, it was the center.”
“Why the center?”
“To show the second truth.”
Arcadia’s capital.
The place where Arcadia’s royal castle was located.
Now turned into ruins.
“That place is the trace of my failure.”
With a bitter smile, Cardi looked back.
“Because I chose the second best instead of the best, the horrors that had to be faced remained there as is. It hasn’t been erased even after centuries.”
He glanced at the sorceress resembling himself.
“Perhaps, the conclusion you should have faced lies there. Once you see, you’ll understand everything.”
“…Is it related to the Demon Lord?”
“Who knows.”
Cardi smiled bitterly.
“It’s harder to find something not related to the Demon Lord in Arcadia. Everything is connected to the Demon Lord.”
Even down to the deepest parts.
“Let’s go.”
Cardi resumed walking forward.
The distance to the castle wall was considerable, and there was a long way to go to reach it. After walking in silence for a while, Raniel suddenly raised her head and gazed at the approaching wall.
The wall, visible even from afar.
So massive it was hard to gauge its size, it didn’t look like it could easily crumble. However, that too was merely debris left behind.
“Cardi.”
Raniel spoke as she looked at the wall.
“…The one who broke that wall was Ganikalt, right?”
“Yeah. He swung his sword and broke it.”
Breaking a castle wall of such size with a sword.
Raniel was not particularly surprised by the fact that it was accomplished with a single sword, which seemed impossible even with magic.
‘If it’s that monster…’
It was a creature that could crush canyons and behead hundreds of knights merely by swinging a sword. Raniel knew well that it was foolish to judge a being outside of common sense with common sense.
“…He sure managed to survive.”
Every time she recalled facing the Death’s Blade, Raniel thought that.
‘It’s not about confronting, it’s about surviving.’
Confronting Ganikalt was that kind of matter.
Death came crashing down with form. That was Raniel’s perception of Ganikalt…
“…”
Raniel looked at Cardi, who walked ahead. The greatest hero’s companion, who watched Ganikalt the closest among everyone.
“Hey, Cardi.”
“What?”
“…What kind of person was Ganikalt during his hero days?”
She asked while looking at him.
The answer came quickly.
“He was a guy whose humanity was questionable.”
Cardi spoke as he continued walking.
“Before being a hero, he was a superhuman, and before being a superhuman, he was a knight. He took great pride in his sword. And he had the skills to match.”
The First Sword Saint.
A knight who pursued the extremes of the sword.
“Even the strongest elf swordsman, who lived over three thousand years, could not foresee victory against Ganikalt. It was the moment when three thousand years of life crumbled before the blade of a mere thirty-year-old human.”
Cardi let out a slight smile.
The memories of that time still vividly linger. The proud elf swordsman arguing about the pride of the sword in front of Ganikalt… it was quite a sight when he succumbed to a human sword.
“He was perfect even before becoming a hero, and after becoming a hero… it was absurd.”
“Absurd?”
“Just imagine.”
Cardi shrugged his shoulders.
“The scene of that guy, who could strike a dragon down with a simple iron longsword, now holding a Holy Sword capable of cutting anything.”
“Whoa…”
Raniel let out a short exclamation.
It was a scene hard to imagine easily, and she wore a remarkably peculiar expression. Seeing her like that, Cardi chuckled slightly.
“…And.”
The castle wall was drawing closer.
“He was a guy with a strong conviction, as certain as his skill. A conviction that would never bend.”
Debris from the crumbled wall was coming into view.
“A sword should be swung for someone. A sword without purpose is worthless. When it holds a righteous belief, the sword is the most beautiful thing.”
Those were the words Ganikalt would often say.
“My sword exists for humanity.”
Reciting those words one by one, Cardi continued to walk. The castle wall was within reach, and the rotting corpses began to appear one by one.
“They are soldiers as they wore armor, and they were knights as they held their swords until the end. Thus, in the field filled with the corpses of knights, Cardi slowly raised his head.
“No one imagined it.”
His gaze fell upon the castle wall.
“That the wall protecting humanity would crumble by the hand of the knight commander who was its guardian.”
Despite crumbling, the presence of the castle wall remained strong.
Its size was so colossal that one had to tilt their head back for a considerable time to see the end, yet it was only half.
Crumbling, splitting, crushing.
There it stood, now bearing the meaning of a calamity passed upon it, having lost all significance.
—
3.
“Is there nothing next?”
Corpses of knights.
The stench of blood filling the fields.
“Is there… nothing next?”
Death stood there.
Death posed a question to humanity. There were no humans left to answer. They all died. In the silence that followed, Death lifted its head.
It was twice or thrice taller than a human.
With massive arms woven of bones.
The knights watching from atop the castle wall held their breath. Death was there. Death approached, with a clear form.
Death’s Blade.
Death’s Blade, Ganikalt.
Now humanity, having lost the ability to recall a hero, felt no sanctity in that name. Even though they recalled the name of a knight who was once their idol, they could only feel intense fear.
In that fear, Death moved.
With a monstrous appearance too far from being human, it held a sword bigger than itself, gazing at the castle wall. Once a wall it protected, now a wall it must tear down with its own hands.
Boom.
The end of the great sword touched the ground.
With grotesque arms wrapped around a human spine, it swayed like a tentacle. The sword raised became level with the ground.
A stance to swing a sword.
A being that had once created countless deaths with simple swings, was now finally taking a stance to swing the sword.
Swish.
And then Death moves.
The sword held by Death moves.
It was like a guillotine.
…Ganikalt van Galatrick is the First Sword Saint.
Even if he has fallen.
Even if he has corrupted.
Even if he has abandoned his humanity.
He pursued the extremes of the sword, and has reached every pinnacle achievable by a sword. The blade he wields cannot dull. The heights he achieved will not be buried in shadows.
Therefore, his corruption is cruel.
Once a hero, the knight commander protecting the wall swings his sword toward the wall that symbolizes him. The great sword cuts through the air, creating a line.
One swing.
One gust.
The wind that came blew a rotten scent.
Rustle.
The sound of cutting is tranquil. Yet, behind the tranquility, a calamity follows. Though it was a distant swing, the sword tip touched the castle wall. A distorted strike left a mark on the wall of protection.
And then everything crumbles.
Boom!
The castle wall shakes. The sturdily stacked bricks collapse. Even the protective spells stacked in layers hold no meaning before the blade that cuts through everything.
It sweeps away. It crumbles. It cannot be stopped.
In a single sword strike, the castle wall, once called the last line of defense, crumbles. The knights falling alongside the wall realize they cannot stop it, nor can they oppose it, hence it is called a calamity.
In fear, the knights meet their death.
And among those who watch it all disappear in despair, there is one. The Grand Magus, covered in blood and staggering toward the wall, looks at his comrades.
A being born to destroy, not to protect, and as Cardi gazes at that existence, he feels despair. He had no strength left to block its path.
The roar of the Black Dragon.
The cries of humans.
The footsteps of Ganikalt.
The sounds of everything collapsing echo in Cardi’s ears. And then, Cardi closes his eyes. Thus, after a long time flowing away… the ancient elf arrives once again before Arcadia’s castle wall.
“Keep going.”
“…Okay.”
The traces left behind by the calamity.
They stepped into the interior of the castle wall beyond those traces.
