Chapter 75 – Hunter, or Hunted (6)


    There are things called masterpieces. They are the 47 weapons forged by the primordial cksmith, artifacts that can cause miraculous phenomena. There has always been debate on whether to ssify these as mere weapons or as sacred relics.


    It’s no wonder. Some took the form of spears and swords, while others resemblednterns, monocles, and even decorative timepieces.


    However, everyone agreed that masterpieces were ‘dangerous’ because they harbored mysteries.


    The concept of mystery was only defined thousands of years after the masterpieces were created, by the grand sorceress Merlin herself. ording to her, mystery meant the following:


    『Unbound by rules.』


    『Beyond the realm ofmon sense.』


    Rules as natural as fire burning and ice being cold, or shadows falling opposite to the light… Mysteries break free from such constraints. In other words, they are things that defymon sense.


    Concepts beyondmon sense.


    Weapons imbued with such concepts.


    Such items could not be anything but dangerous.


    Take, for example, a child holding a masterpiece ‘Bookmark’ that killed a warrior of Sword Seeker caliber; the peril speaks for itself.


    Masterpieces disregard power disparities.


    They shatter norms and turn the tide of battle.


    If one does not understand the mystery within a masterpiece, battling an opponent armed with one bes exceedingly arduous. Hence, most warriors preferred to avoid confrontations with those wielding masterpieces, especially the less-known ones.


    This was a logical decision.


    The usual way to learn a masterpiece’s mystery was through direct confrontation, which often resulted in death for those who faced it.


    The 4th masterpiece, Bookmark. It took the lives of 68 knights before its mystery was uncovered.


    Naturally, no warrior wished to be among those 68. It was wiser to wait for someone else to decipher the masterpiece’s mystery at the cost of their life.


    …Of course, it goes without saying.


    -Mirages.


    Exceptions always exist in the world.


    There are those who can perceive the mysteries with just one nce, without needing to face them repeatedly. The grand sorceress is one such individual.


    -The mystery within that masterpiece is mirages.


    Merlin, who defined mysteries, exined to Najin:


    -It confuses your sight and senses. But not both simultaneously. If you stare into the fire, ‘sight’ gets disrupted. And if you step on the shadowme, your sense of touch gets jumbled.


    See or step on or swallow.


    -Unfortunately, you can’t avoid the shadows here.


    Merlin clicked her tongue.


    There were many reasons the opponent hid in the sewers, but this underground waterway was too advantageous for using that masterpiece.


    -But it’s not without a solution.


    -Do you remember what I told you before?


    As Najin charged towards Fauve, he thought to himself.


    He remembered. And he knew what she was about to say. Najin opened his eyes, which he had shut. As soon as he did, he became aware of the flow coursing through his body.


    It was the starlight that had been within him since that day.


    Hidden and invisible to others, but undeniably present within him, shining more brilliantly than anything else in the world, was the starlight flowing within Najin.


    -Your body is no different from Excalibur’s scabbard.


    -It might have been hard to perceive when you were an Expert…


    Merlin smiled.


    -Do you feel it now?


    He had awakened fragments of Imagery. He was at the threshold of bing a Sword Seeker. During this process, Najin’s soul and body had undoubtedly grown, and growth was also a process of bing aware of the hidden aspects within oneself.


    Now, he could feel it. The light that dwelled in his soul.


    Something beyond his control, vast and intense starlight. But he could grasp a small handful of it, enough to wield it. He couldn’t clothe his entire body with a handful of starlight. The use of starlight was limited to a certain range.


    And where to use it had already been decided.


    Starlight resided in Najin’s pupils.


    His tinum-blonde eyes stared directly into the mes burning on thentern. When swallowed by the cast shadowme, his senses were shaken, but his vision remained steady.


    -Excalibur exists above all masterpieces.


    -The Sword of the Star stands above all, how could any mere masterpiecepare with Excalibur?


    Since Excalibur was a concept above masterpieces.


    Merlin smirked, and Najin surged forward. His senses may have been jumbled, but his vision was clear. Though his body moved contrary to his will, adjusting was not difficult since he could see the movements with his own eyes.


    Boom.


    Najin elerated with a leap from the ground.


    Fauve’s eyes widened as she saw Najin, who dared to charge head-on even after gazing at the masterpiece.


    “This madman…!”


    Fauve swung her staff.


    Above her, circles of magic flickered, casting spells. Bone stakes. Bone swamp. Spells to halt the charge and buy time. The instantly cast spells attempted to block Najin’s path, but… Najin didn’t slow down in the slightest.


    He could see them.


    If he could see, then slicing through was the solution.


    The bone stakes were swept away by Najin’s sword aura, turning into dust. The bone swamp that covered the floor, walls, and ceiling was no different. Najin didn’t stop to swing his sword; the motion of swinging and stepping forward were indistinguishable.


    Swoosh!


    With each swing of his sword, chunks of bones were swept away. Fauve’s spells couldn’t hold back Najin’s steps for even a second. Fauve felt a chill as she saw Najin, with wide eyes, charging towards her.


    What is this?


    What exactly is this?


    Fauve felt a chill.


    Despite her efforts to throw off his senses and vision with the masterpiece, he charged forward as if unaffected, shattering her restraining spells with terrifying speed.


    ‘What is this…?’


    The spells meant to buy time for chanting higher circle spells didn’t grant her even a second. By the time she blinked, he had already closed the distance.


    Kaaang!


    Najin’s sword shattered Fauve’s barrier. As the barrier broke, a repulsion field was generated, but the situation remained unchanged.


    “Gah!”


    Fauve was thrown aside, the dyed repulsion force making her drift further from her group, pushing her into a corner.


    ‘This madman…’


    She cursed inwardly.


    Normally, the repulsion barrier isn’t something to be used lightly. Maintaining protective spells consumes circles, reducingbat effectiveness andputational capacity for spells.


    That’s why, for most mages, ‘protective spells’ are merely a precautionary measure.


    Carrying multipleyers of protection is only possible for archmages of the sixth circle or higher, overflowing withputational capacity and circles. But Fauve could use the repulsion barrier multiple times because of the artifacts she wore.


    ‘The relics hidden by the seventh circle dark mage, Kefalon.’


    Kefalon’s workshop, hidden in this sewer, overflowed with such relics. The artifacts she had acquired in just a few days of exploration were impressive. Such relics could only be worn by a tower master’s apprentice.


    Relics of this caliber obtained in mere days. That’s why Fauve was reluctant to abandon this workshop.


    Greater relics must be hidden deeper within. Therefore, she chose to intercept her pursuers. She believed she could advance her realm here if she bought enough time.


    Buy time, elevate her realm, and then leave this city.


    That was Fauve’s original n. But now, that n was crumbling due to the mad swordsman charging at her.


    ‘I shouldn’t be losing. Why?’


    Fauve sweated coldly.


    Her threat level was known to the public as a fourth circle, so at best, a Sword Seeker level warrior was expected toe after her.


    And she was confident she wouldn’t lose to a Sword Seeker.


    With the masterpiece, numerous relics, her following of dark mages, and the undead army at her disposal, she believed she could easily handle a Sword Seeker. But what was happening now?


    Kaaang!


    Another repulsion barrier was stripped away.


    “Ugh!”


    Thrown again.


    When she came to, nearly all the relics she wore were shattered. The price of maintaining the repulsion barrier had taken its toll.


    Only four uses left.


    And even that number was rapidly dwindling.


    Fauve gritted her teeth and chanted a spell. Harassment was useless. It was better to assume the barrier would break andnd a heavy blow. Fauve’s circle glowed blood-red.


    3-circle magic, Bloodray.


    There was still blood extracted from the corpses.


    The swirling blood shone and wasunched towards Najin. The blood ray dyed the sewer red. As expected of a third-circle spell known for its exceptional power, its destructive force was iparable to the harassment spells.


    Screech!


    It melted everything in its path.


    The surface of the sewer scorched by the blood ray boiled and steamed, and the walls it touched melted. A spell that inflicted fatal wounds with just a brush.


    Kapman had countered it with a magic-imbued dagger, but Najin had no means to deflect it. Fauve thought so, but…


    She overlooked Najin’s physical capabilities, reaction speed, and dynamic vision. The moment Fauve’s staff glowed blood-red, Najin was already moving. The blood ray was fired from the tip of the staff.


    Predicting its path.


    He moved ahead of it.


    As the light shed, Najin crouched and leaped, the ray and its scorching heat passing just above his head. But Fauve wasn’t just a passive observer. She moved her staff, adjusting the ray’s trajectory.


    However, it was futile.


    Najin’s eyes were fixed on the tip of Fauve’s staff. Predicting the blood ray’s path from the staff’s movement was not difficult. Running up the walls, Najin closed the distance once again.


    And then, Kaaang!


    Another repulsion barrier was stripped away.


    Only three barriers remained. Fauve’s eyes began to waver. She sensed it. If things continued this way, she would be defeated.


    ‘He’s insane.’


    It was supposed to be her with the upper hand, holding the variables, but instead, the other side was creating variables.


    They were far from the main force, and no one coulde to help her. The distance from the corpses she could use for magic had also increased, preventing her from firing any more blood rays. The advantages she had were disappearing one by one.


    Death was approaching.


    The mad swordsman wasing. To cut her down.


    As she continued to retreat, she discovered a passage leading to Kefalon’s hidden workshop. Using this passage now would leave traces and eventually expose the facility, but… there was no time to consider such things.


    She struck the wall with her staff as she fled.


    ck mana coiled around the wall, and the passage leading underground creaked open. Fauve leaped towards the passage. As she passed through, the door that began to close was met by Najin throwing himself at it.


    Then, Kwoong.


    The door leading to the workshop closed firmly.


    Dark, damp, and unsettling.


    As Najin entered the workshop, his senses immediately went on high alert. The aura pervading this space was ominous.


    -All workshops of dark mages are like this.


    -This seems to be the workshop hidden by that Kefalon or whatever his name was.


    Ignoring Merlin’s words, Najin pursued Fauve. It was pitch ck without a single light, but Najin could clearly see Fauve fleeing.


    Thud.


    Najin, leaping from the ground, swung his sword towards the fleeing Fauve’s back. Now ustomed to the repulsion created by the repulsion barrier, instead of being thrown, Najin kicked Fauve’s back.


    “Ugh!”


    Fauve tumbled to the ground, hitting something and causing it to break. Then, a crunching sound followed as a relic shattered.


    -Two left.


    Merlin, counting the relics,mented.


    Najin, sword in hand, approached Fauve. The tide had turned, and the effects of the masterpiece were wearing off, returning his senses to normal. It was time to end this tiresome chase, Najin concluded.


    “Heh, hehe…”


    Then,ughter echoed.


    Najin narrowed his eyes. Fauve, slowly rising, let out augh. Had she lost her mind? No, that didn’t seem to be the case.


    “You shouldn’t have followed me in here.”


    It wasn’t just bravado.


    Fauve chuckled and mmed her staff down. Behind her, circles began to rise. One, two, three… and then four.


    Fauve revealed all four circles.


    The light emitted by the circles brightened the surroundings.


    And the revealed scene was filled with horrors. Traces of biological experiments. Materials for ck magicy scattered around.


    “Didn’t you hear that stepping into a mage’s workshop won’t end well for you?”


    A mage’s workshop. Their domain, prepared with countless spells. Moreover, this was the workshop of Kefalon, a seventh-circle dark mage.


    “It’s all over, you crazy swordsman.”


    Fauve smirked and swung her staff.


    Mana spread out from her, and the mediums scattered around the workshop began to sparkle. The four circles spun wildly, quickly weaving a spell.


    Sparks flew from the spinning circles, assisted by mediums and relics. Herees. A massive spell with the power of the fourth circle or higher.


    But in front of the spinning circles, Najin remained expressionless. Who wouldn’t know it’s disadvantageous to enter a workshop? Yet, he had chased after Fauve, confident he could win despite the disadvantage.


    Keeeeeeng!


    The noise of surging mana echoed.


    But Najin didn’t pay attention to that noise. The voice he listened to was the one ringing inside him.


    -Pulling out Excalibur seems a bit much.


    -Such a facility can’t hide the light of Excalibur. It would take the power of a high-ranking demon to obscure its light even for a moment.


    But, Merlinughed.


    -It’s enough to obscure your sword aura.


    Najin exhaled shortly.


    Closing his eyes, he raised his sword high. Grasping the fragments of Imagery and wandering through his Imagery, Najin realized his Imagery was somewhat peculiar.


    Thendscape at the heart of his Imagery.


    The vivid memory manifested as sword aura.


    While it should typically be one, Najin’s Imagery contained two. One was a pure white star hanging low, and the other, a tinum star hanging high.


    ‘The one I’ve always summoned.’


    The pure white star. The pure white sword aura.


    The remaining one shouldn’t be revealed in front of others, and the pure white star was more fitting for knightly conduct.


    ‘But.’


    What he was about to do.


    Cutting down a dark mage, dealing with something cunning and vile. Najin knew that the pure white sword aura wasn’t suited for such tasks.


    What he was summoning now was the highest hanging star.


    The tinum sword aura he had never had the chance to summon before.


    Merlin, within Najin’s inner world, saw it. The star hanging high in the sky shone fiercely before being sucked somewhere. Watching this, Merlin closed her eyes. The star was drawn into the sword Najin held.


    The sword aura transformed.


    The nature of the sword aura changed.


    The tinum-zing sword aura was like a star itself. In a ce devoid of stars, the sword aura drawn by a boy yearning for the stars was beautiful yet poignant.


    “……!”


    In the dark mage’s workshop filled with poignant starlight.


    Fauve’s eyes widened the moment she faced the tinum sword aura. Even someone ignorant about swords knew what tinum sword aura meant.


    Sword aura granted to only one person in history.


    The sword aura wielded by King Arthur was there.


    Its meaning was simple and clear. Facing the tinum sword aura, Fauve realized.


    The roles of hunter and prey had been reversed.


    From the beginning, she was merely the prey.