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EP.475 The Path to the Final Stage (6)

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Inside the carriage heading towards the northwest, Lac gazed out the window. The carriage was moving at a rapid pace, and the scenery blurred by just as quickly. Watching the flowing landscape, Lac suddenly thought.

“A lot of time has passed.”

Since the day he enrolled in Apuria Academy, Lac’s life had changed. The incidents he experienced at the academy, the intertwining events, flashed through his mind rapidly.

‘… So much has happened.’

Indeed, a lot had happened.

He learned magic from the Wise One and hand-to-hand combat from the Royal Guard. He gained determination and conviction from facing a past hero within the Holy Grail.

An extraordinary coincidence, or perhaps inevitability.

He became entangled with numerous people and situations. Sometimes, he faced disasters; other times, he survived deadly crises. Reflecting on the past nine years, Lac found himself smiling absentmindedly.

Nine years.

Four years at Apuria, followed by five years after graduation. In looking back on this time, the last thing Lac recalled was his rival.

“… Barta.”

Lac whispered the name softly.

Barta. Barta, the King of Beasts.

That beast, who wished to be a knight, was the presence that provided Lac with greater purpose than anything else in his life. Because of him, Lac rose to the realm of the superhuman. That beast made Lac crave strength.

… But he was still out of reach.

The carriage raced forward. Even as the destination came closer with each passing moment, Lac couldn’t find certainty.

‘It’s insufficient.’

He knew this was insufficient.

What came to mind were the images of the clash between Death’s Blade and the King of Beasts. The air ripped apart, the space creaked, and the gorge collapsed. Lac understood that he had yet to reach that level.

… Just one step forward. It must be only one step.

Beyond that single step lay their realm.

However, Lac had no idea how to take that step. No matter how much he trained his body or honed his swordsmanship, that place remained elusive. In fact, it felt farther away.

It wasn’t about technique. It wasn’t about training.

Something else needed to be fulfilled to reach there.

Lac still didn’t know what that “something” was. If he could find it, he would be able to touch it. Lac closed his eyes in the rattling carriage, letting his mind wander to some distant landscape.

「A sword must definitely cut what it aims to cut.」

「Shape is unnecessary.」

「This is the ultimate of swords.」

The scenery he saw within the Holy Grail.

It was the original from which he drew his techniques, the answer given by a knight who had reached the end of the sword. A strike he still didn’t understand even after years had passed.

“Because it is formless, the formless sword…”

The cry that escaped his lips scattered into emptiness, as it always did. Amid the fading noise, a voice floated through Lac’s ears, as if spoken carelessly.

「This is my path.」

「You walk your path.」

My path.

Lac pondered those words.

An abandoned ruin located on the northwest edge of the continent.

Explorers who discovered this ruin, rarely touched by human feet at the continent’s edge, named it the Fortuna Temple.

Of course, they didn’t know what Fortuna was.

They didn’t know what deity this temple honored.

It was merely because they discovered the name “Fortuna” in an abandoned ruin. And simply because the ruin took the form of a temple, they named it the Fortuna Temple. Thus, the abandoned ruins became known as the Fortuna Temple.

… Yet, no one knew what “Fortuna” truly meant.

“……”

The fallen columns of the Fortuna Temple.

There sat Barta, the King of Beasts.

At the very least, he understood what Fortuna represented. Fortuna was not the name of a deity. Fortuna was the name given to a doll that bore misfortune.

「Who are you?」

Barta recalled.

A woman he once met at this place.

「I am Fortuna, the offering to be sacrificed.」

Everyone called her Fortuna. Although she may have had another name, no one paid attention to it. There was no need to.

「This land has a unique custom.」

「When drought strikes, when floods come, when misfortunes befall this land… it is to offer a part of Fortuna to the deity. Please, to appease the anger.」

She had said that with a smile.

「Whether my spilled blood reaches the deity or not, I do not know. Whether this truly has any effect, no one knows. People merely need something to cling to.」

「Ah, the deity must be angry for such disasters to occur. If I can appease the deity’s anger, this too shall pass. The reason it continues to rain despite the offering is the offering is insufficient.」

「That’s how they think. If they think that way, it’ll ease their hearts. It’s not entirely a bad way of thinking. Actually, it wasn’t a bad way before the world became this way.」

Fortuna traced the bandages wrapped around her eyes.

She had once possessed beautiful green eyes, but now she had lost the sight to see the world.

「The world has become a mess.」

「Too many disasters, too many misfortunes are covering the whole world. Countless people have died, and countless have lost what is precious.」

「Those who have lost will want to blame their misfortunes on others’ inadequacy. However, it is hard to accept the fact that they were simply unfortunate and faced something terrible. It hurts too much. Why am I? Why only me? They don’t want to think like that.」

And so, she smiled bitterly.

「So they blame Fortuna.」

「Ah, the offering was insufficient. It was insufficient; that’s why the deity was angry. The doll that bears misfortune didn’t do its job.」

Initially, they offered hair, a bit of blood, and some flesh.

「Yet, people still die.」

「Still, droughts come.」

「Still, disasters run rampant.」

The world remained utterly broken.

As the world fell apart, people clung to Fortuna.

「Then next, fingers, then toes, and next, next, next…」

Finally, they took even her eyes.

「That’s all there is to it.」

「So, who are you?」

In her beastly days, the King of Beasts faced her, who was guarding the temple alone. She didn’t fear the King of Beasts because she lacked the eyes to see the disaster before her.

Thus, the beast met for the first time.

A human who didn’t fear him.

This intrigued the King of Beasts. He hid in the temple and lived among humans. He observed her life from a distance.

It was fascinating. Ununderstandable. Unknown.

「That could be true. They have no fault in this.」

Despite losing her sight, she didn’t blame those who hurt her. The beast thought that he must trample those who hurt him and make them bleed equally, but the woman thought otherwise.

「That is my role.」

She merely stated that.

Watching the humans filled with hatred toward her, she asked what she had to offer. As time passed, she lost more and more. She was breaking down. Yet, she continued to smile.

And then the day arrived.

The priests finally sought to take everything from her. They were convinced that if they took everything Fortuna had to offer, all problems would be solved. Just as the priests came to the temple to seize everything from Fortuna.

For the first time, Fortuna did not smile.

She cried for the first time.

Thus, the King of Beasts killed the priests.

He invaded the dying country and slaughtered all who sought to hurt her. He firmly believed that if he did so, Fortuna would smile again. For some reason, the King of Beasts wanted to see her smile once more.

But in the end, everything went awry.

「I am Fortuna.」

Fortuna could not smile.

「But now, I’ve become nothing.」

「You have taken everything from me.」

「Even the value of being Fortuna that I’ve upheld all my life.」

Fortuna resented the King of Beasts, who came looking for her amidst the smell of blood. With that resentment, she told him her true name, one no one else would know anymore.

「You can have it.」

「I cannot give you anything, nor offer you anything, but I can give you my name, which holds no value. So take it.」

「That is my last gift to you, who saw me as more than just Fortuna, but as a person.」

The woman took her own life, giving a name to the beast that loved her.

「Barta.」

「That is my name.」

Recalling that name, Barta opened his eyes. As he opened them, hundreds of years had quickly passed. Here, Barta gained a name. Here, for the first time, Barta longed to be human.

He wanted to understand her.

He hoped to decode the meaning of her words.

That was the origin of the beast who admired humanity. It was the origin he had long forgotten. Remembering his starting point, Barta exhaled deeply. Breath escaped through his sharp teeth.

···This was why Barta had followed the Braver’s will.

It was because the Braver made him an offer. He said that the “unforeseen variable” for him would be the young man wielding the First Holy Sword. If he could lead that young man elsewhere…

『This child, this girl.』

The girl he had encased in his display.

『In the distant lands of the foreign country, bring back this girl who was born with the qualities of a saint. It’s not difficult. If my purpose is fulfilled, if the rules are broken, it’s something easily achievable.』

The Braver promised to bring back the girl named Barta. Thus, the King of Beasts acted according to the will of the Braver.

He wanted to ask. To discuss the answer he had obtained at the end of his first life, to hear it from her. Now that he had lived as a human, he felt he might understand her words.

However.

“If that were all, it would be a lie.”

Barta reached out. He touched the long sword scar on his chest. Beneath the beginning of his second life, it was a mark left by a warrior from when he was still a beast. For some reason, that scar did not fade away.

Lac von Grace.

In his second life, that human had instilled pride in him. Barta knew that this human was the “young man wielding the First Holy Sword” the Braver spoke of. There was an unfinished duel with that human.

···Barta had always challenged the strong.

Yet, now it was different. He was also being challenged by a human. A human growing stronger rapidly. A human who was trying to catch up to him posed a challenge. That revelation made Barta chuckle absentmindedly.

“So it is.”

Ganikalt van Galatrick.

When you received my challenge, you must have felt this way too. Once again, he recognized a new emotion. Barta stood up. He sensed a presence approaching.

It’s coming. A challenger.

In his second life, the one who became his rival.

Lac von Grace dismounted from the carriage.

The young man walked through the sandy wilderness, and with each step, the parched earth cracked beneath him with a crunch.

Thud.

Lac stopped walking. As the sandstorm dissipated, the temple was revealed. There stood the one waiting for him. A beast, standing firmly on the ground, who wished to be human.

Swish.

He silently pulled the sword embedded in the ground. The King of Beasts, Barta, slowly took his stance. Lac, too, reached into the air and grasped the Holy Sword.

“Lac von Grace.”

A name.

“Barta.”

A calling.

They each called out the other’s name.

The rivals who had met so many times faced off for what would be their final battle. The shapes of their swords were similar. Their stances in holding the swords were alike.

Because they had the same master.

Because they had learned swordsmanship from the same master.

Though the precise forms might differ, the swordsmanship at the core of their swords was the same. The techniques branched out and blossomed into their own forms. The white flower blooming in the blizzard and the red flower blossoming from human blood aimed at each other.

——————.

The wind began to blow.

As the sandstorm blurred their sight, when it settled, the figures of the two swordsmen disappeared. The moment their forms reappeared, KAAAAAANG! the sound of metal clashing echoed loudly.