Sword of Man Genova (1)

Riya, who had been gazing at Edward with a calm look, slowly spread her hands left and right, then gradually brought them together.

“Edward Williams, be trapped by the wall of flow.”

Gooooh!

With her words, I felt the surrounding magic power move violently.

The power that encompasses the laws of the world—Dragon Tongue—had manifested.

Although its strength was greatly diminished compared to when she was a calamity, it was sufficient to capture Edward.

「This is…!」

A flustered Edward hurriedly tried to escape, but it was already too late.

The barrier that unfolded around him took the shape of a cube, floating in midair.

Riya stared at it for a moment before slowly turning her gaze toward me.

“…….”

Riya’s eyes, which met mine, held many emotions.

But only for a moment—her hand moved, and the cubic barrier trapping Edward dropped onto the arena.

Kuuung!

With a cloud of smoke, the transparent box landed in the very center of the arena.

Inside, the green smoke roiled and pounded on the outer walls of the box.

Thud, thud thud thud!

「Do you think something like this can confine me!」

Each time the green smoke with mass moved, the barrier Riya created groaned and trembled.

Riya’s expression was not good at all.

Even for her, capturing a calamity must have been extremely difficult.

‘I need to hurry.’

As I slowly loosened myself up and put my foot on the railing to jump down to the arena,

Count Ribina grabbed my shoulder in a hurry.

“What are you planning to do! No matter how skilled you are….”

“Well, it’s true I’m probably not enough to handle this right now.”

“It’s not just you. No one here can kill that thing.”

As one of the Seven Heroes of the continent, Count Ribina would know.

He knew that’s not something that could be killed by any ordinary means.

Even though Count Ribina had not shown even a tenth of his real skill, that didn’t mean he knew a way to kill Edward, either.

Neither a mere sword nor magic can kill him.

Ironically, Edward, the first calamity, might have been the closest existence to bringing about the end of the world.

If only the place he first appeared had not been the empire.

I slowly turned my head toward Count Ribina.

“Before participating in the Founding Festival, Duke Gale said this to me.”

“What are you getting at all of a sudden?”

Count Ribina’s expression betrayed his confusion at my out-of-the-blue remark.

But I continued without concern.

“He asked if I had any thought of becoming a hero.”

“His Grace said that…?”

“Of course, I declined.”

Count Ribina’s surprise was plain as he listened to me speak so lightly.

He had surely not expected I would have refused Duke Gale’s offer.

“A forcibly created hero, I thought, would only become a puppet in the end.”

“Is that so? Well, perhaps you’ve given up on an opportunity that won’t come again.”

I let out a thin smile in response to Count Ribina’s regretful tone.

“Who said anything about giving up?”

“But didn’t you just say you turned down His Grace’s offer?”

“Yes, I certainly turned down Duke Gale’s offer. But I will become a hero.”

Gathering strength in the hands gripping the railing, I stared at the one trapped in the barrier of magic power.

The calamity of disease and demons, Edward Williams.

“By my own power.”

* * *

When thinking up the plan for this operation, I agonized quite a bit.

From this point on, what I intended to do would far exceed the role and authority originally assigned to me.

Well, it wasn’t my first time doing something similar, but this one was even more so.

After all, this was the very incident in which Fabian, as the protagonist and the one to stop the calamity, awakened.

“Clay! I can’t hold it much longer!”

“It’s enough.”

I answered lightly to Riya’s shout.

The time she could keep Edward confined was, at best, about ten minutes.

Already, cracks were appearing in the barrier surrounding Edward.

If that thing completely broke, Edward would be released and instantly unleash all the resentment he’d accumulated so far.

“There’s so many.”

Turning my gaze away from Edward, I looked toward the spectators watching the arena.

Most had not properly grasped the abrupt situation.

“What is happening all of a sudden?”

“What’s that smoke?”

A few people tried to flee, but most simply watched Edward, and also me.

Step, step.

I crossed the arena, attracting the gaze of the spectators.

I passed by Edward pummeling the barrier, and walked to the base of a statue set up outside the arena.

Toward the statue gripping a long greatsword, I opened my mouth slowly.

“I came to prove my worth.”

Dudududu!

The instant those brief words left my lips, the statue’s eyes lit red and it began to move.

Of course, having seen this, the spectators were appalled.

“Huh?! Wh-what is that?”

“The statue’s moving?!”

It was the statue of Raivan Asktalin, occupying a corner of the coliseum for hundreds of years.

Naturally, people were shocked to see it suddenly move.

If I didn’t have the ability to see profiles, I suppose I’d have been just as surprised as everyone else.

『Hero representing humanity, grasp the sword and prove your worth!』

Kuung!

The statue slammed the sword it was holding vertically to the ground.

『Grasp it, and prove your worth!』

Again, a rough, metallic voice scratched out from the statue’s mouth.

Countless pairs of eyes turned toward me.

‘Sword of Man Genova.’

The founder emperor of the Asktalin Empire, Raivan Asktalin.

The day he subdued countless kingdoms beneath his feet to found the empire,

God entrusted him with this sword and gave him a revelation.

Find the one who shall wield this sword.

He will be the hero to stop the oncoming calamity.

According to the divine revelation, Raivan Asktalin hosted a contest to seek the master of the sword—that was the start of the imperial tournament.

[With the passage of time, the original purpose was forgotten and it simply remained as part of the Founding Festival.]

‘Because for so long, no master of the sword appeared.’

Then, one day, as if by divine revelation, the master of the sword appears.

The only one who can hear the sword’s voice, the protagonist of this world.

That was none other than Fabian.

“Hoo.”

With a light breath, I slowly reached out to the sword before me.

A sword that, originally, Fabian would grasp to prove himself the hero destined to save the world.

Grip!

“Urk?!”

The moment I held the sword, my shoulders grew heavy and dizziness overcame me.

Then, terrible pain swept over my whole body. I almost lost my grip on the sword right then.

[Are you okay?]

‘I’m not okay.’

At that moment, a noise like eardrums tearing rang out from the statue.

『Release the sword! You are unworthy!』

Just as expected.

From the first time I saw this sword, from the moment I read its profile,

I had predicted this would happen.

==

〈Sword of Man Genova〉

A sword that responds to the origin and wishes of humanity, growing stronger as such.

Also known as Sword of Wish Genova.

One of the seven swords given to humanity by the Genesis God, it is preserved in the Asktalin Empire.

As long as humanity’s wishes remain unbroken, it shall never break, and can even cut things that ordinarily could not be severed.

However, while it possesses great power against enemies of humanity, it is nothing more than a hard, sharp sword when used against humans.

It was created solely for fighting enemies of humanity.

Currently sealed, and will only fully release its restraints to Fabian, who can hear the sword’s voice.

Anyone unable to release the sword’s seals suffers excruciating pain and can never wield Genova again.

==

What a dazzlingly grand profile it is.

What I need to remember is this: if I let go due to the pain, I can never hold Genova again.

『Release the sword! You are not worthy!』

Once again, the statue roared.

Barely holding my mind together amidst the excruciating pain, I stared at the sword in my grasp.

‘You said I could do this, right?’

[You can. Trust me.]

‘Alright.’

With pain clouding my senses, I forced my eyes open.

Silvery light flickered from my eyes, and the crowd’s noisy murmurs abruptly faded to silence.

Countless colors spread through the monochrome world, and the sword Genova in my grasp was the same.

Countless threads of color wound around Genova like tangled yarn.

Fabian, by following the sword’s guidance, unraveled the strands one by one.

But I cannot hear the sword’s voice. I must unseal it all by myself.

『The unworthy cannot use Genova’s power!』

I delved into Genova’s tangled flow.

I slowly teased apart the threads of magic from below, untying them one by one.

『Release!』

I saw eight seals among the countless flows.

I undid them one by one, methodically.

Thud, thud.

Each time a seal broke, a faint golden ripple spread through the colorless world.

『You are not worthy!』

Dudududu!

When I still refused to let go despite the repeated warnings, the statue began to move.

Hauling its massive body toward me, it raised its massive iron fist and bellowed once more.

『This is your final warning. You are unworthy. Release the sword.』

Unworthy, huh…

Yeah, I’m an extra.

Compared to the protagonist Fabian, I am endlessly lacking.

Without the ability inherited from my father, I would have ended life as just an ordinary knight found anywhere.

I know that.

That’s why I hesitated to grasp this sword.

But that’s my concern alone—no one else has the right to interfere.

“You say I’m not worthy?”

The sword trembled.

One—then another.

I broke through each obstructing wall, cut each tangled thread.

Each time, the sword rang out.

Once more.

And once more.

When I had cut through all that blocked my way,

at some point, the sword ceased its cries.

『Indeed. You are not worthy.』

“No.”

Slowly lifting my head, I gripped the sword tighter.

The blade, embedded in the ground, emerged into the world.

Centuries of rust blew away in the wind, and the reddish-gold blade flashed, radiating light like a sunset.

“I decide what I am.”

As the reddish-gold sword traced a gentle arc, the statue’s body was cut cleanly in two.

* * *

“Truly…”

Riya Asktalin could not help but be moved as she watched the scene.

He had truly succeeded in keeping the promise he made.

‘It’s just like that maid said.’

She really didn’t like it, but she had no choice but to acknowledge it.

Before lending Clay her aid for this, Riya had honestly hoped Monet would talk him out of his reckless plan.

No matter how much she trusted him, there were simply too many variables.

So she had brought it up to Monet, who answered,

“Young master never tries anything he thinks he can’t do.”

“Do you even know what kind of reckless thing he’s about to attempt?”

At the word “reckless”, Monet flinched, and let out a quiet sigh, as if something dawned on her.

“He’s done reckless things before too. But only because he knew he could do them.”

“It’s really dangerous, you know?”

“Yes.”

Monet, even at her best, was a timid and meek maid. For her to speak so firmly was rare.

Riya, knowing this, was a little surprised.

She realized the bond of trust between those two was stronger than she had thought.

‘Honestly, I’m a bit jealous.’

Gazing at Clay, Riya suddenly squinted at the press of magical power she sensed.

‘Looks like…this is my limit.’

Even using Dragon Tongue to confine Edward was reaching its end.

The barrier, now shot through with cracks like a spider-web, would soon collapse.

Riya’s gaze turned to her own waist.

To the ornament fashioned from half of a broken horn.

‘… No, not yet.’

Not yet.

Until she could fully control this power, she could not, must not use it.

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