Chapter 134


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    The Lost One (1)


    Merlin once said she could not teach him how to use the stars; it was the same as being unable to teach him how to handle Imagery. What she spoke of was simr.


    “As I said before, you must be the one to fill in the fundamentals. That never changes. Although I cannot teach you how to handle Imagery, just as I taught you how to materialize it…”


    Merlin wiggled her fingers, and a blue constetion shone from her fingertips. “I can at least tell you what the stars are and how I handle this power. It’s up to you to fill in the fundamentals, but I can show you the direction.”


    Najin listened carefully to her words. Normally, Merlin talked too much nonsense, bragged about herself endlessly, and sometimes seemed utterly unimpressive…


    “You just thought something very rude, didn’t you?” she asked.


    “No, not at all.”


    Nevertheless, Merlin was a constetion who possessed 11 stars. Other than Arthur and the Witch of the Abyss, she had more stars than any other.


    Stories of stars from such a great constetion (Merlin’s insistence. She had more than 10 stars, so she imed she was a great constetion and not like other constetions) were indeed worth listening to.


    “The feats you achieve be stars. Stars are infused with your stories. Therefore, when you draw power from the stars, it means… you are recreating those achieved feats.”


    “Recreating?”


    “Yes, recreating. For instance, something like this.”


    One of her 11 stars began to glow.


    “I have drowned countless demons. There was a time I summoned a massive flood that submerged entire demon citadels. This star is the result of that, and when this star shines, demons say this—”


    “‘The wave ising. The wave is here.’ To them, I was the wave—an unstoppable cmity.”


    Merlin exined, “The story embedded in the star, what someone imagines when looking at the star, and most importantly, the Imagery you yourself see when you gaze at your own star… When all of these aspectse together, the star bes a story.”


    “What happens when it bes a story?”


    “Imagine this world as a novel. The conversations you and I have are recorded within quotation marks, and once the dialogue ends, descriptive sentences follow. ‘Merlin said,’ and such,”Merlin said.


    “To wield the stars means to insert your own story within this world. It means inscribing your unshakable self into the sentences and words of this vast narrative.” She gestured. From her fingertips, a star glimmered.


    Her 11 stars flickered, scattering pale blue light.


    “——————” Amidst the blinking lights, Merlin spoke, but her voice was not heard—it was merely inscribed:


    『The wave ising. The wave that will sweep away everything.』


    And then…


    The wave crashed.


    A massive shadow loomed over the underground city. Najin realized toote that it was the shadow of a massive wave that reached all the way to the sky. It obscured the underground city’s sky and covered the stars as it fell upon the city.


    The wave roared, and the torrent swept through.


    Buildings copsed, swallowed by the wave.


    Nothing could retain its form before the enormous torrent. Everything within sight crumbled; the wave submerged an entire city in an act akin to drowning.


    Swept up by the wave, Najin found himself forcibly ejected from the Imagery. Back in reality, he exhaled the breath he had been holding.


    – That’s about what it feels like.


    Beside him, Merlin wiggled her fingers. Watching her, his eyes reflected a long-forgotten sense of awe. Sometimes, he forgot the person with him was truly amazing.


    – Of course, not every constetion can create phenomena as massive as I can. Most of them use their stars to affirm their existence with phrases like, “I am the fire that burns eternally,” or, “I am the unbreaking sword.”


    – I have to be grander, don’t I?


    Merlin smirked as she muttered.


    – A great constetion such as myself doesn’t just use the story contained in a single star. I don’t stop at strengthening myself; I cause grand phenomena.


    She shrugged.


    – The star I earned by drowning countless demons, the one I earned by submerging a city, and the star I gained when I swept away the Witch’s army with a wave… I link the stories of several stars together and use them…


    Merlin was bragging again, but as soon as she noticed Najin’s interest rapidly waning, she concluded her story.


    – Anyway, remember what kind of star you’ve obtained and the story contained within.


    Najin gazed at his own stars. One was the Star of Challenge, and the other was the Star of Dragon ying.


    – In the Ound, where everything about you is denied, only your stars will affirm your existence.


    Najin arrived at the Ound’s border.


    It was from thest time he set foot there. Instead of the frontlines guarded by the Empire’s forces, he found himself on a path leading to barren, strategically worthless terrain, a ce closest to the Starce, the Battlefield of the Stars.


    He stepped toward the opaque barrier.


    The moment he crossed the boundary, the air changed; the flow of mana reversed. Up until that point, it was the same as when hest visited the Ound.


    “…”


    His senses didn’t scream.


    His heart didn’t race wildly.


    The mana within his body didn’t churn violently, nor did his vision blur with bloodshot intensity.


    He silently raised his hand. Unlike before, when his skin cracked and his body crumbled without mana to shield it, that time, his body was perfectly fine, even without any mana protecting him.


    “Hoo…” he exhaled softly. Even breathing wasn’t difficult. Possessing a star meant he had earned the right to enter the Ound—he understood the significance of that.


    ‘I don’t feel their gazes, either.’


    Thest time he entered the Ound, countless stars had focused their attention on him the moment he crossed the boundary. Back then, he had been an obvious outsider.


    That was no longer the case.


    Amid the countless stars shining in the sky, shattered into countless fragments and dyed ck, Najin’s stars shone as well. Compared to when he was in the continent, the stars felt closer.


    Feeling the presence of his stars, Najin walked forward.


    – You know the Ound is divided into three regions, right?


    ‘Yes, I’ve been told.’


    – Right. To put it simply, there’s the Outer Region, the Middle Region, and the Inner Depths. From now on, you’re heading toward the Middle Region.


    The Outer Region of the Ound, near the border, was where the Demon King’s army and the Empire’s forces shed and where Najin once fought as part of the Wyvern Unit.


    Merlin had told him that the influence of the constetions was weak in the Outer Region.


    – The Middle Region is different.


    Beyond the frontlines and deeper in, the Middle Region was referred to as the ‘Starce’, the Battlefield of Stars. It was where countless stars were born and faded. The influence of the constetions was strong there, and it was not umon to witness transcendents.


    This was Najin’s destination.


    The amount of time it took to reach the Middle Region of the Ound depended on which direction one entered from. The path Najin was currently taking was known as the Path of the Pilgrim and bypassed the Outer Region to lead directly to the Starce.


    It was the same path countless heroes had once walked.


    As Najin walked, he gradually noticed the changing terrain. Where fragments of sky once revealed patches of night, the heavens werepletely ck; a perfect night sky stretched endlessly to the horizon.


    The sun did not rise; there was no blue sky, but the stars filling the void acted as a substitute for the sun.


    Countless stars burned in vibrant colors, their brilliant light illuminating thend.


    Najin continued walking.


    How long had he been walking in silence? Suddenly, he heard a sound.


    ng. ng!


    It was the sh of metal against metal—a sound that humans would make.


    He turned his gaze toward the source of the noise. There, a knight d in worn armor was fighting other humans, who’d surrounded him.


    “I am Graf! Graf of the Kurutan Knights!” the knight shouted, his sword gleaming as a blue Sword Aura red to life.


    Najin recognized that color. Ivan’s Sword Aura had been the exact same hue.


    Hwoosh.


    The blue Sword Aura burned like fire—a Sword Seeker’s hallmark. Graf, as he called himself, swung his searing sword and cut down the enemies surrounding him one by one.


    The opponents Graf fought were strong, but his skill far surpassed theirs. Even to Najin, Graf was clearly a formidable warrior.


    Before long, the battle ended, and Graf stood victorious. Charred bodiesy scattered on the ground.


    Najin watched the scene unfold from a distance.


    Graf, still catching his breath, suddenly turned his gaze. “Don’t just stand there watching from afar. Face me honorably! One more opponent is nothing to me.” He leveled his sword at Najin.


    Najin raised both hands. “This is a misunderstanding. I have no intention of attacking you.”


    “You’re not one of theirs?”


    “I am not. I only just set foot in the Ound. I have no connection to them.”


    “…You just arrived in the Ound?” Graf’s eyes narrowed. He quickly assessed Najin’s appearance—his equipment was unblemished; his clothing looked new.


    Slowly, Graf lowered his sword. “You seem to be telling the truth. Well, this ce is close to the boundary.”


    Graf chuckled. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone from the outside. I am Graf. I once belonged to the Kurutan Knights back on the continent. Do you know the name ‘Kurutan’?”


    “I read that the Kurutan Knights were active around 170 years ago.”


    “Hah! 170 years? Has it been that long? Do you know more about the Knights of Kurutan? Any recent news, perhaps?”


    “I know a little.”


    “Is that so?” He gestured for Najin to approach. It was a sign that it was safe.


    Najin nodded and walked toward Graf.


    “What happened to the Kurutan Knights? Do they still hold their honor? I wonder who their currentmander might be.”


    “I heard they performed well in several major battles and are regarded as one of the Empire’s top five knight orders, among the strongest.”


    “Hahaha! Even after 170 years, the Kurutan Knights endure. That’s how it should be. Brave Kurutan… our swords always knew the enemies they needed to strike…”


    He nced at Najin. The unspoken question in his eyes was clear: did Najin know the next part of the Kurutan Knights’ creed? N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Najin had read about it before and answered smoothly, “Sing of glory, the Knights of Kurutan.”


    “That’s right! I like you.” Grafughed heartily.


    As Najin exchanged a few more words with him, his gaze briefly flickered to the bodies at Graf’s feet. “May I ask why you were fighting these people?”


    “Ah, of course,” Graf replied. “They insulted my pride. Living in the Ound, they mocked me. ‘What knight? What Kurutan?’ they sneered. Naturally, I had to punish them. The swords of Kurutan know when they must be wielded.”


    “Is that so?” Najin’s eyes narrowed. He took a closer look at one of the bodies. No, it wasn’t a corpse. Though his body was charred ck, the man was still twitching. His lips moved faintly, as if trying to speak.


    “You said you just arrived in the Ound?”


    “Yes.”


    “Then you must be ignorant of its rules. In thisnd, it’s hard to die. Killing someone is equally difficult.” Graf drove his sword into the back of the fallen man. Though the man’s vocal cords had burned away, preventing him from screaming, his body convulsed violently in pain.


    “No matter how much you cut, no matter how much you burn, they won’t die. Given enough time, they’lle back. How do you kill them, then?”


    Graf swung his sword and pierced through the man’s heart.


    The man’s convulsions stopped; his body fell still.


    “The heart. In thisnd, nothing is as important as the heart. Even if you lose your limbs or your head, you must never lose your heart. That’s the rule here.”


    “Of course, there are monsters here who can keep moving with their hearts pierced, but most of the time, taking the heart is enough.”


    As Graf spoke, he pulled his sword from the body. Stuck on the tip of the de was the man’s heart. Without hesitation, he grabbed the heart with his bare hand and brought it to his mouth.


    Chomp.


    He bit into it like one might bite into an apple, chewing and swallowing with ease.


    Najin’s gaze sharpened. His expression didn’t change, but Graf blinked. as though confused by the look he was receiving.


    He pointed toward the heart still in Graf’s hand.


    Only then did Graf seem to understand. “Ah, ahh! I’ve been living in the Ound so long that I forgot. Right, to you, this must look like a monstrous act. Eating a heart, defiling a corpse—barbarism that no knight would evermit.”


    Graf smiled awkwardly, as if embarrassed. “Here in the Ound, it’s natural. Do you know what a heart contains? Mana, nourishment; life itself. A heart is the very embodiment of life. To take someone’s heart is to take their life.”


    He bit into the heart again, tearing away arge chunk. He chewed, then swallowed, smearing blood across his lips. Licking the blood from his mouth, he said, “It would be a waste not to use it. In this Ound, there’s nothing more precious than a heart.”


    Graf’s tone was calm, as if he were simply exining the rules of this world. “Taking a heart lets you absorb starlight.”


    Finally, he turned his de toward Najin.


    The movement was natural—too natural. So much so that it felt like part of their previous conversation.