Alex approached the giant crystal stone in the center of the gazebo-like shrine, her eyes fixed on the Green Dagger.

Her white hair sword reacted with a magical light, a colorful aurora shining around it.

Her blue eyes glowed like the clear sky of a starry night, the moonlight reflecting from the marble around her highlighting the distinctness of the hues of blue.

Starting from the most basic of the blues that one understood as color blue to the lighter and darker shades of it, there were all kinds of blue colors present here right now, and yet, shining among all those blues was the distinctness of the green that shined like a single tree growing in an endless oceans on all sides.

“It’s gorgeous.”

“All three of them are…”

Run had seen countless swords on the battlefield in her lifetime.

She had seen divine weapons granted to the heroes by the absolute beings, she had seen holy swords that the righteous warriors possessed and she had seen the world weapons manifesting from the sheer absolute power that they called Truth.

She had experienced a lot of things during the wars she fought against the empire as nothing more than a solder, a sacrificial pawn like countless others who had devoted themselves to the rulers who, at the end, couldn’t protect anything that they cherished.

She had believed in them until recently, but after meeting these two strange young people who were unimaginably dedicated to one another and their own ideas, so much so that they didn’t care about their own life or about their plans, she started thinking…

There was so much that the Holy King of their nation could have done to go against the empire.

There was so much that they could have done to save so many people that they were responsible for.

There was so much that they could have done in order to spill even a little less blood than what was spilled on and off the battlefield.

“The green dagger recognises the crimson sword and the white sheathed sword… are they a set or something? Could they be part of the white sword somehow? Is that why you call them keys?”

“Hmm… something like that.”

Alex… even Elio.

That boy…

He was always good to the people and creatures around them.

He treated everything as if they were his equal or someone of even higher importance.

Different from other people who have power and try to show it at every chance they get, he didn’t brag about what he could do.

Actually, now that she thought about it, she didn’t know much about either of their past lives or what kind of people they were in the world that they come from.

They were extraordinary, that much was obvious, but the fact that they were able to do so much, the fact that He would chose to save a little girl even at the cost of an unimaginable penalty like that, and the fact that She would spend a fortune just to come to this forest to get this dagger and go to Him… made then even more amazing.

He was selfless, while she was selfish. Weirdly, they were not perfect for one another and yet somehow, they completed one another.

“Alright…”

Several profound philosophical questions shape this reality and influence each and every element’s conscious and unconscious actions.

The nature of power and responsibility are one of the vague questions that shape this world, but the fact that great powers attract greater responsibilities remains true.

Alex understood that better than most other elements of this world as someone who formerly held a great responsibility within this world.

She had fulfilled her duties, she did not have any obligations left, so she chose to do what she had always wanted, and gave up what powers she had just to play with the person that mattered the most to her.

“Haaaa…” holding the dagger that had already recognised her as its new owner, she slowly pulled it out of the crystal seal that, in the very next moment, shattered into a fine power… something which vanished the very next moment.

“The first key is called Crimson of Unrestricted. And this one…”

She looked at the dagger in her hand from all angles, a weapon so beautifully crafted that even Rin had never seen something like this in her long journey.

There was something more to this dagger than what one could understand.

It contained powers, powers that were even more diverse than the simple ability to freely slash through anything like her Crimson sword could.

“It’s called Jade of Justice.”

The interconnectedness of life is highlighted by the dagger’s ability to control nature, control Laws that are set for anyone and everyone, and the ability to Justify things that are too abstract for even the enlightened minds.

This looked like a smile and small weapon, a small dagger no bigger than Misha’s forearm, but in fact, just like the Crimson sword that could cut through even the fragmented Evil beings of near divine nature, this was more than what met to their eyes.

“It’s pretty…” Misha’s eyes gleamed as she saw this dagger.

She could feel something familiar from this dagger, something she attributed to her Ichor. But, it was something more than just the energy that she could use.

This dagger… there was something more to this.

Be it the material that it was made from or the very fact that it was something that could affect not just the nature but even the other abstract elements of nature that aren’t Just, this beautiful dagger was a powerful item.

So powerful and important that just obtaining this item had unlocked a bunch of her lost levels, a few skills, and above everything else…

‘It’s Victor. This is better than I expected…’

Similar to the silver ancient markings of the Servants that Elio had, there was now a Golden marking on her hand as well.

And, the appearance of this mark had made her happier than when she defeated that Lord capybara.

“This is great.”

The struggle between good and evil, in this case, is examined through the presence of the Lord of Capybara, raising questions about the subjective nature of abstract concepts like if the creature needed to die or not.

If the dagger was a representation of Justice, the truth known as [{(Nyaya)}] the truth that maintained Order this world, then did the death of a powerful and wise creature like that capybara actually mean something?

Tension between fate and free will being a recurring theme here, Alex’s quest for the dagger actually challenged Elio’s belief of ‘not’ killing things that didn’t need death.

“We shall rest a little before departing.”

“Yes… I need that…”

“Muuuu!”

“Miu~.”

The pursuit of knowledge and truth… their journey… the importance of curiosity and learning, is not a central theme anymore.

“Yeah… Can I see that dagger, Sister Alex?”

“Oh, yes. Here.” Explore hidden tales at empire

Elio’s ways, Alex’s longing for him, Misha’s search for strength, and her mother’s search for her purpose in this life… these philosophical questions add depth to the very world and their journey.

A journey that a few had been enjoying since a long time ago…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep