The Swordmaster Who Returned After 1,000 Years-Chapter 173

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 173

The place they arrived at through Johannes’ portal was a land Baldrix had never seen before.

“This is the new continent I first discovered. The mana of the land is abundant—so abundant that nothing grows here.”

A terrain of hard, ochre-colored rock without a single blade of grass.

This was the land Johannes had first discovered after crossing the sea.

“A land where humans could never survive.”

“That’s what I thought too. But after conducting a personal investigation, I found traces of civilization in the heart of the continent. And…”

Johannes hesitated for a moment before shaking his head.

“No, it’s still just a hypothesis. I’ll talk about it later. For now, we should hide here for a while.”

“In this land?”

“Yes. Even though the Celestial Realm spared me, I don’t feel comfortable staying there.”

“You find the Celestial Realm unsettling…?”

“How did you regain consciousness?”

At Johannes’ question, Baldrix recalled what had happened earlier.

—Awaken from your delusion.

A solemn voice echoed in his mind.

The voice alone was enough to evoke a sense of obedience from deep within.

“The Holy Emperor spoke to me. He said that the Celestial God would deliver a message to me personally.”

“Then what I heard was…”

“The voice of the Celestial God, most likely. They were well aware that Ernstine would become a Dragon God and had already prepared for it.”

“Now that I think about it, I once met the Holy Emperor in my father’s imperial palace. He bestowed his blessing upon me before departing.”

“Yes. Back then, he saw the scales forming on Ernstine’s nape and called them dragon scales. Strange, isn’t it? If becoming a Dragon God was such a significant event, they should have taken precautions the moment the dragon scales appeared… But they didn’t. They merely acknowledged Ernstine as a descendant of dragons.”

Baldrix listened to Johannes’ words and felt something was indeed off.

At that time, the Holy Emperor had simply smiled without showing any sign of concern.

“Now that I hear it, the Celestial Realm does seem suspicious.”

“Exactly. That’s why we can’t stay on the Aberian Continent. No matter how well we hide, Ernstine’s gaze will find us there.”

Baldrix nodded.

Considering Ernstine’s authority as a dragon, there was no way to stay hidden on the Aberian Continent.

The only place left to hide was this barren new continent made of rock.

“You’re human, so I’ll personally procure food for you.”

Thus, their concealment on the new continent began.

However, it wasn’t long before Baldrix started to feel regret and self-reproach.

‘I ruined the Meier Clan’s long-cherished wish…’

Every member of the Meier Clan carried within them infinite mana—Infinity.

Even though Baldrix had regained his senses for a moment due to the voice of the Celestial God, he was still a Meier. There was no way he could completely resist its influence.

His actions had gone entirely against the purpose of Infinity.

Now, as if trying to restore the natural order, the infinite mana within him began to sway him.

‘I must undo my mistake.’

Even though he knew that Ernstine becoming a Dragon God would bring humanity to the brink of destruction…

He was filled with relentless regret and an urge to return to Ernstine’s side.

“Uncle, I have to go back. I am also of the Meier Clan. I must help my father become a Dragon God.”

“Baldrix, have you fallen into delusion again?”

“This is not delusion. This is the fate of the Meier Clan.”

At those words, Johannes scoffed.

“Fate, my ass. Your change of heart is because Ernstine is getting closer, isn’t it?”

“What? What do you mean by that?”

“That bastard Ernstine… That mana suit must be quite important. He’s come all the way to the new continent.”

“Father has…?”

Baldrix shot up from his seat.

If his father had come personally, he had to go and meet him at once.

Even if it meant facing death as the price of his betrayal—

His father’s ascension as a Dragon God was more important.

With vacant eyes, Baldrix reached for the mana suit where the Six Swords were sealed…

But Johannes blocked him.

“Baldrix. It’s already too late.”

“Too late…? What do you mean?”

“Though your father has crossed into the new continent, someone has stood in his way.”

“Who would dare stand in my father’s path?”

“There is only one being in this world capable of that. The Celestial God.”

Johannes pointed westward with his finger.

Even though it was morning, the light shining from the west was far stronger than that of the east.

It was not natural sunlight.

It was a pure white radiance thick with mana.

Baldrix squinted at the blinding light.

And soon, the light in the west grew stronger and stronger—

Until he could see nothing at all.

“The Celestial God has never descended to the mortal world, no matter how powerful a Demon King may have appeared. But now, he has come down himself to strike down Ernstine. He is unleashing power befitting a god. No matter how strong Ernstine is, he cannot defeat the one and only true god of this world.”

“Then… Father…”

“Yes. He will die. Right here and now.”

Johannes spoke with a bitter expression.

Even if Ernstine was to die—

Watching the emperor he had served for decades, his one and only friend, meet such an end was not something he could feel at ease about.

“…I cannot just stand by and watch.”

With vacant eyes, Baldrix donned the mana suit and bolted westward.

He shoved past Johannes, who had been blocking his way, charging forward like a raging bull.

Johannes, who had fallen to the ground, clicked his tongue and reached out toward him.

“Tsk. You ungrateful brat. I spared you because you’re my nephew, and this is how you repay me? Bind.”

“Let me go!”

“No. If you go there, not even dust will be left of you.”

The west was swallowed in light.

Everything there was being erased.

The continent, made of solid rock, was melting.

The ocean at the continent’s edge was burning in the light, evaporating into nothingness.

If Baldrix stepped into that place, he would be reduced to nothing but dust.

Johannes had no intention of letting the nephew he had barely saved walk straight into death.

“Khh…”

But Baldrix’s will was not so easily broken.

No, more than his own will—

It was the will of Infinity, the boundless mana within him.

A surge of powerful mana erupted from the Six Swords engraved on the back of the mana suit.

“Father, I’m here…!”

“Hah. That damn kid… Bind.”

Johannes cast a binding spell that restrained Baldrix’s entire body.

The Six Swords burst forth from the mana suit, tearing through the mana that shackled him—

But—

“Urgh….”

The spell of an 8th-circle Archmage was powerful. Baldrix had no choice but to halt his steps.

Bound completely, he could do nothing but watch as the explosion of light unfolded before him.

‘No…’

And soon—

The light grew even more intense.

Mana surged and exploded outward, scattering Infinity in all directions.

At that moment, Baldrix instinctively realized—

It was over.

The mana that formed the very foundation of the Dragon God Ernstine had been scattered.

His father had been defeated.

“Ah…”

Strength drained from Baldrix’s body.

If only he hadn’t followed Johannes—

His father would not have lost to the Celestial God.

This outcome… felt entirely like his own fault.

As he sank into despair, lowering his head—

[Baldrix… You did well.]

A voice echoed in his ears.

It was Ernstine’s voice—

Not as the Dragon God, but as the Emperor Ernstine he had been before.

“Father…”

[I could not defy Infinity… If not for you, I would have destroyed this world.]

Unlike the Dragon God’s voice, this one carried reason.

Had he regained his true self in the face of death?

With a voice filled with regret, Ernstine spoke.

[Let me say it again. You have no reason to be sorry. You did well.]

Even as Ernstine reassured him, Baldrix could not escape his despair.

The mana coursing through his body screamed at him—telling him he was a sinner.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

Despite Ernstine’s words, Baldrix, as if broken, could only repeat his apologies.

Seeing his son like this, Ernstine let out a sighing breath before speaking.

[You have nothing to apologize for… But very well, Baldrix. I have one request for you. Will you grant it?]

“Yes… Anything. Please tell me.”

[I will return one day.]

“Return…?”

Ernstine spoke with certainty, declaring that he would come back.

And then, he left his final will to Baldrix.

[Yes. Until that day… forge a sword.]

As the memory playback of Baldrix ended on those words—

Johannes continued his account in a detached tone.

“After that, well… we went into hiding, running from the Helmeier Clan, who lost their minds. They believed Ernstine failed to become the Dragon God because of Baldrix.”

“…Even though the Celestial God personally intervened to stop Ernstine, the Helmeier Clan still survived?”

“The battle took place in the new continent, and the Celestial God also suffered heavy damage. Though he managed to subdue Ernstine, he hasn’t revealed himself since that day. Even when the Demon Realm took control of the Middle World, there was no response from him. It’s clear something happened to him. Now it makes sense why they were so wary of the Dragon God.”

After listening to the story, Kaylen took a moment to process his thoughts.

He needed to confirm whether the rampaging Ernstine, who sought to become the Dragon God, was truly himself.

‘In the past, I entrusted the Six Swords to Baldrix so I could focus on my training. Up to that point, that was definitely me.’

After becoming a Grand Swordmaster—Ernstine had considered learning magic once he stepped down from the throne.

‘But after that…’

The Ernstine who destroyed the Meier Empire with his own hands—

The Ernstine who executed his dear friend, Johannes, on the spot—

Was that really him?

‘Before, I would have denied it without hesitation.’

But now, he wasn’t so sure.

Kaylen recalled the moment he completed the Six Sword Path.

When the Six Swords were fully established—

They had started to shift, trying to transform into the Six Demon Path.

If he had accepted that change back then…

‘I might have ended up like Ernstine when he became the Dragon God.’

Perhaps that was why Marquess Kaina Helmeier had insisted on embedding Infinity into his Six Swords.

To turn the Six Sword Path into the Six Demon Path—

To revert Kaylen back into the Dragon God Ernstine of old.

‘I can never allow my sword to change.’

The Ernstine who had brought ruin upon the Meier Empire himself—

If he returned to that state, there was no telling what kind of catastrophe he might bring upon the world.

To prevent that, he had to maintain the Six Swords in their true form.

“...Ernstine. So, what do you think? Now that you've seen Baldrix’s memories, do you remember everything from your past?” Johannes asked cautiously.

New novel 𝓬hapters are published on ƒreewebɳovel.com.

“No. My memories are still stuck at the abdication ceremony. I have no recollection of my time as the Dragon God Ernstine. I don’t even remember learning magic from you.”

“Really? When you first started learning magic, you weren’t any different from before. You don’t remember anything from that time either…?”

“No. But there is one new memory that surfaced.”

“Oh? What is it?”

Johannes asked with curiosity.

“The Celestial God’s voice.”

Kaylen spoke unexpected words.

“The voice that awakened Baldrix? What about it?”

“I’ve heard it before.”

“Hmm… Well, you were a Hero, so wouldn’t it make sense that you’ve heard the Celestial God’s voice at least once?”

“No. I heard it in a completely unexpected place.”

Kaylen’s expression hardened.

“The one who is now the White Demon King—Marquess Lucifer of the Demon Realm.”

“...!”

“His voice… was exactly the same as the Celestial God’s.”

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]