The Swordmaster Who Returned After 1,000 Years-Chapter 180

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 180

“For Sanctuary’s image to appear there… how strange.”

“Hm. I did hear from the Demon Realm’s observatory director that the Spirit King of Wind was in Sanctuary.”

In response to Johannes’ doubt, Kaylen recalled an old memory and replied.

[If it’s wind mana… it should be in Sanctuary, right?]

[Sanctuary?]

[Yeah. The Spirit King of Wind is there, isn’t he?]

When they had been searching for wind mana, Observatory Director Ederna had once mentioned the Spirit King of Wind.

Even Saintess Theresia had been surprised that they knew about it, so it must be true that the Spirit King resided in Sanctuary.

“Really? The Spirit King of Wind is in Sanctuary… That’s unexpected. I thought Sanctuary was somewhere in the northern continent, near the Celestial Realm.”

[Sanctuary’s location is indeed in the north.]

The holy sword Astella radiated light and spoke in its usual imposing tone.

Aside from its master, Kaylen, Astella naturally spoke down to everyone else.

But Johannes, unfazed, asked the holy sword,

“Really? So it’s not in the New Continent of Wind?”

[No. The replica’s location is pointing north.]

“Then what’s appearing on this star is the Spirit King’s location…”

As Johannes fell into deep thought,

Violet, with a dazed expression, began walking toward the blue star.

‘I want to see that sight again.’

A land floating alone in the depths of the sea.

A place where no light reached, creating a desolate landscape…

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Yet, as she looked at it, an inexplicable longing stirred deep within her heart.

“Violet?”

Kaylen, who had been looking at the sky castle, noticed Violet walking toward the blue star and stopped her.

It was one thing for him to touch Infinity, but he didn’t know what side effects it might have on an ordinary person.

“Can I see it one more time?”

“…Alright.”

Kaylen stood in front of Violet and touched the blue Infinity again.

Once more, the underwater scene appeared.

Violet stared at it, entranced, as if in a trance.

“Do you see something special?”

“Ah… I can’t really explain it, but… I just want to keep looking at that scenery.”

As she spoke, she instinctively reached out toward Infinity.

Had Kaylen not stopped her by grabbing her hand, she would have touched it.

“Oh… I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize—”

Just as Violet flinched and apologized—

Ssssshh—

Mana began leaking from the blue Infinity, flowing toward Violet.

Kaylen, able to see the flow of mana, considered stopping it but—

‘That amount isn’t dangerous. Let’s observe for now.’

It didn’t seem harmful to Violet, so he decided to wait and watch.

“…Huh?”

Before long, Violet’s body began to change, as if undergoing Spiritization, turning fluid like water.

Since Glacia wasn’t activating, it was clear this transformation came purely from receiving water mana.

“Hoh… Has she already awakened the mermaid’s blood?”

“That appearance is more like water than a mermaid…”

"It's closer to a Water Spirit."

"A Water Spirit and a mermaid are basically the same thing! Just watch. She's definitely going to become a mermaid. How else would she survive in the depths of the ocean?"

Johannes, completely fixated on the idea of mermaids, kept rambling even as he watched Violet's body transform like that of a Water Spirit.

As her transformation neared completion, he turned to Kaylen.

"I think it's about time to cut off the mana flow."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."

Kaylen severed the mana flow, and Violet's body gradually returned to its original human form. However, the Water Mana that had seeped into her remained, spreading throughout her body and being absorbed into her Mana Heart.

"Ugh…"

Once she was fully back to normal, she swayed slightly.

"Are you alright?"

"…Yes. Other than feeling a little dizzy."

"If you absorb any more Water Mana, your body won't be able to handle it. You should rest somewhere away from here."

"Alright, I'll do that."

Violet, still unsteady, distanced herself from the blue Infinity.

Johannes turned to Kaylen and asked, "Emperor, that Infinity… could you absorb it?"

"Like Violet did?"

"Yeah. Considering the enemies we'll be facing, wouldn't it be better to grow stronger while we have the chance?"

Kaylen nodded calmly. Even as a Grand Swordmaster, he already possessed overwhelming power. However, when he thought about the sheer dominance of the White Demon King or the might of the Dragon God, Meier, it was clear—he had to become even stronger.

"I'll give it a try."

As he reached out his hand, the blue Infinity's mana surged toward him, flowing into his body. The amount was far greater than what had entered Violet.

Kaylen carefully controlled it, channeling it into his Water Sword, strengthening its form.

At first, the sword absorbed the mana smoothly, steadily growing stronger.

"Hmm."

But as more Water Mana poured in, the sword’s shape began to shift—from a blade into something resembling a star.

Had he not been consciously controlling it, the sword’s form might have collapsed entirely.

"Stop! Emperor, that damn star… I don't want to see that from you!"

"I feel the same way. I’ll stop here for now."

His mana had increased by about ten percent.

But the problem was that it wasn't fully under his control yet.

"Will you be able to stabilize it over time?"

"Yeah, but it'll take about ten days."

"Shame. That means absorbing other attributes today will be difficult."

"Hmm… I do have something I want to test."

With that, Kaylen approached the brown Infinity.

"The Earth Sword Baldrix is embedded in my Earth Blade. I doubt it’ll change as easily."

The brown Infinity, brimming with Earth Mana.

Kaylen reached out.

Ssssshhh—

An overwhelming surge of Earth Mana poured into the Earth Blade.

The sheer volume dwarfed the amount of Water Mana that had been absorbed earlier.

Yet, unlike the Water Sword, the Earth Blade remained steady, unwavering.

"As I thought… The Six Blades that house swords remain unchanged."

"Ooooh! Nice! Emperor, devour it all! Suck up every bit of mana from that star!"

Johannes cheered excitedly.

When Baldrix was hammering away like that, he used to sigh, wondering why his nephew was acting that way. But now, seeing the Earth Blade put to such use, he was overwhelmed with emotion.

Once that kid fully regenerates and awakens...

I'll have to tell his father how much he helped.

As Johannes was lost in thought, Kaylen gave him a wry smile.

"No, that won't work."

"Huh? Why not?"

"If I absorb too much power from one attribute, it'll throw off the balance of the Six Blades. Even so, the Earth Blade is already 40% stronger than before. This is the best I can do without breaking that balance."

"Tch… What a shame. I thought we were making easy progress…"

Johannes clicked his tongue in disappointment.

'Well, I've memorized the magic circle, so once the other swords are completed, we can come back and reclaim the mana.'

The magic circle the elves had created to open the Spirit Realm—

Johannes had already stored an improved version of it in his memory.

'The Water Sword can be made using that mermaid’s descendant. The Fire Sword will be completed by helping the Dwarf Queen. As for the Wind Sword… I just need to extract the Spirit Stone embedded in that elf’s eye.'

He had a clear plan for forging all the divine swords—except for the Darkness Sword.

'But I never expected the Spirit Realm to be in this state. The elves won’t be so willing to cooperate now…'

Just as he predicted, at first, the elves were overwhelmed by the thick spirit energy of the realm, unable to think straight. But as they gradually adjusted, they found it impossible to accept reality.

"No… This can’t be the Spirit Realm."

"That’s right! The spirits always told us—the Spirit Realm is vast and boundless! They said they wanted us to come and live together with them."

"Yeah, there’s no way this is the Spirit Realm! Something’s wrong here!"

"Come to think of it, that mage tampered with the magic circle. Couldn’t that have caused a mistake?"

The three elven leaders, unable to accept the situation, began arguing among themselves.

The loudest voice among them was Irene, Eldir’s younger sister.

"Brother, what do you think? Do you really believe this is the Spirit Realm?"

"No… I hope it isn’t."

"Exactly! That mage must have made a mistake. He recklessly altered the magic circle and cast a spell, so instead of opening a gate to the Spirit Realm, we must have ended up somewhere else entirely!"

Eldir quietly surveyed his surroundings.

If they had simply been transported somewhere random, the spirit energy shouldn’t be this dense.

More than anyone, he wanted to believe this wasn’t the Spirit Realm. But all the evidence pointed to a connection between this place and the Spirit Realm.

As he thought it over, an idea suddenly came to him.

"…How about we try summoning a spirit?"

"A spirit?"

"Yes. If this is truly the Spirit Realm, wouldn’t summoning a spirit here be different from summoning one on the surface?"

"That… actually makes sense."

"Right? Let me give it a try. Sylph!"

Eldir called forth a Wind Spirit.

For a brief moment, a green star flickered.

Then, from within, dozens of Wind Spirits burst out.

The small, girl-like spirits shoved and pushed each other aside, all scrambling to reach Eldir first.

Eldir's eyes widened in shock.

"Wait, why did so many appear?"

Back in the Middle Realm, summoning even one had been a challenge.

Summoning spirits here was far too easy.

The problem was that they were emerging from the green star.

‘Is this really the Spirit Realm…? Low-tier spirits can’t communicate, so I’ll have to try calling for higher ones.’

Ever since mana had become scarce in the Middle Realm, Eldir had only been able to summon Sylph.

But here, it seemed possible to summon higher-tier Wind Spirits as well.

"Syliron."

As soon as he called the name of the mid-tier spirit Syliron, dozens of spirits burst out from the star just like before.

Watching the mid-tier spirits appear without any difficulty, Eldir felt a thrill of excitement.

‘No matter how many times I called them in the Middle Realm, they never showed up…’

If mid-tier spirits came this easily, then high-tier ones should be possible too, right?

Since mid-tier spirits couldn’t hold a conversation either, Eldir immediately dismissed them and proceeded to summon a high-tier Wind Spirit.

"Sylest."

A high-tier Wind Spirit, Sylest, with the form of a massive eagle.

Just like before, dozens of them surged out from the star.

Even before dungeon portals started appearing in the Middle Realm, he had never been able to summon a high-tier spirit…

Why is this so easy?

"Sylest, is this really the Spirit Realm?"

Since high-tier spirits were supposed to be capable of speech, Eldir asked the question.

But the eagles gave no response.

‘What? I heard that high-tier spirits can communicate.’

He asked multiple times, tilting his head in confusion.

Yet, the high-tier Sylests remained silent.

Should I try asking an even higher-tier one?

With that thought, Eldir dismissed the Sylests.

Then, he decided to take a gamble.

"I summon Sylphid."

The Wind Spirit King, Sylphid.

Normally, summoning him was unthinkable, but somehow, Eldir felt it might be possible here.

‘Ah, come to think of it, the master said earlier that he was in the Sanctuary. Then this won’t work, huh? Oh well, if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.’

Since there was no risk in attempting the summoning, Eldir called out Sylphid’s name with a lighthearted attitude.

—Ssssshhk…

The green star flickered briefly.

[…Hoho. So, you’ve finally reached the Spirit Realm.]

Someone entirely unexpected appeared.

A man with long, flowing white hair.

It was a face Kaylen knew all too well.

"The Holy King?!"

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]