Sword Pilgrim

The body crumbled upwards, as if made of ashes.

The pieces floating up into the air condensed into a single form, illuminated by a deep silvery light.

‘I've got a good feeling.'

Pure divine power suffused its entirety.

Until its aura started surging, like a storm.

The intense wind swept his bangs and stung his eyes, but Callius still didn't avert his eyes from the scene for a single second.

During the three days he's spent inside the Sanctuary, whenever he'd had a chance, he'd gathered the sacred power of the sanctuary and poured it into the corpse of the warlord.

That's why this carcass transformation was giving such a dazzling reaction.

The sword floated in the air, covered with an intense glow.

Without hesitation, Callius grabbed the sword wrapped in silver light from the air.

Cheok.

The silvery divine power flew away like a startled butterfly, and a graceful sword lay revealed.

The sword was longer than average.

Although, not as long as the Strong Sword.

Despite being double-edged, it was small enough to be wielded single-handed.

The weight and grip weren't bad at all.

It was a longsword with a good balance.

The stylish pommel clashed a bit with the simple pattern engraved on the sword, but it still had its own charm.

"It's worth my anticipation."

A subtle red hue drifted across the blade.

The red, slightly dull.

Unfortunately, the warlord's carcass was only a spirit sword.

However, the bizarrely winding pattern that resembled a flame looked pretty cool.

It's said that the more complex the pattern on a sword, the higher its rank.

「Tyrant Sword[1] – Karaktu」

Grade – Spirit

Infused Soul – Karaktu

Unique Ability – Gravity.

The attached modifier was ‘Tyrant'.

And the unique ability was ‘Gravity'!!

"Let's try out attaching Gravity to the spirit sword."

Callius's face was so filled with joy that it was almost bursting.

"The Tyrant Sword, huh. Let's see if its ability matches up to its grand name."

Callius, running out of the sanctuary like an excited child, paused for a moment while holding the sword.

Cutting the palm of his hand with the Tyrant Sword – Karaktu, he bled a few drops.

– Krrr.

The scavengers of the abyss began to gather. Red eyes appeared one by one, glinting in the darkness, and viscous saliva began to drip on the ground at the smell of blood exposed to the air.

"Loups-garous."

And many other nameless beasts.

Only a few drops of blood were spilled, but they were already flocking in droves.

It was probably because Callius was wearing Vivi's Bracelet, so his presence felt weak from the outside.

All these creatures who wouldn't have even dared come close if they could feel his true aura, now came rushing in.

The so-called scavengers of the abyss.

‘Ten, twenty, thirty.'

Soon, over forty heads had gathered.

Normally, Callius would've frowned at these annoyances, but not now.

They were here for him to test the sword's performance.

"Come."

Soon, the silver glow of divine power enveloped Callius' form.

The Tyrant Sword flashed.

Kuuung–!!

And the space around him collapsed.

Thump.

"Is that you?"

"Yeah."

Seeing Callius' expression as he walked out of the Sinking Forest, Bruns tilted his head as he followed.

"Did something good happen?"

"Yeah. Something really good."

Bruns was surprised to see Callius' lips curving at the corners.

It was rare for Callius to be so happy, so he wondered what it was about.

"What's going on? Didn't you say you were going to the bottom of the Sinking Forest… Do you have a lover hidden there?"

"Bruns."

"Yes, master?"

"How are you still alive?"

"How am I supposed to answer if you suddenly ask something like that…"

"You somehow managed to survive the war."

"Isn’t it all because of master's teachings? And the sword you gave me.”

Did he still keep that?

Callius had given Bruns a dagger he didn't need while fighting the orcs, but it now sparkled in the sunlight as if well cared for.

"You're more suited to fist arts than blades."

"Hehehe, when I was young, with these fists? I even caught a beauty."

"So you're a sex offender?"

"What, ‘course not! I beat a bastard who was acting like shit! When the beauty thanked me, well, why not thank me with your body! Back then, I thought I was pretty cool. You'll regret it, is that okay? That's what she said."

"… So how did it go?"

"That, of course… hehe."

Seeing that sinister smile, it had to be a story that would only rot his ears if he heard it.

‘How unlucky.'

There was something wrong with this guy.

"Anyway, I'm not even remotely in your league, master. Can others even compare with your face and your valour? Hey, if I were in your position, the women I’d have thrown away by now would've been enough to cover Jevarsch."

"You're being vulgar, Bruns."

Women, huh.

Callius remembered his past for a moment.

He'd never had any good experience with women in this world.

It was always a choice of either to kill them, or to die.

When he first set out on his pilgrimage, there were quite a few people who'd wanted to kill Callius.

There were many men, of course, but women were the majority.

As befit the person with the characteristic of the Prodigal Son of the Church, they'd come at him, teeth gnashing, to kill him for whatever he'd done to the women of the Church.

Didn't even that calm and serene Esther come to kill him?

‘That one time, I almost died from poison.'

He was welcomed with a meal, refused to eat, was told to at least eat a slice of bread before he left, ate, and almost departed this world as a result.

At that time, he had no strength and didn't know how cruel the world was, and he really would've died without her help.

‘I wonder what she's doing right now.'

When all those women had been trying to kill him –

The only woman who'd helped Callius.

"Hehe, but what was the good thing that happened in the end?"

"Do you want to know? You'll regret it."

"You aren't going to cut me, right?"

"I won't."

"Then no regrets!"

Callius drew out his sword.

It was the Tyrant Sword – Karaktu.

"Oh! Did you get a new sword? It looks really powerful… Kuh!"

Bruns, who was about to touch the sword, collapsed to the ground.

"Cal… lius… heeok!!"

"I did say you'd regret it."

Tyrant Sword – Karaktu.

Its unique ability is Gravity – manipulating the gravity around Callius in a 10-meter radius.

‘Manipulation series swords are rare.'

For example, the Blue Thunderbolt Sword is an elemental series.

Just because the sword shoots lightning doesn't mean the lightning it shoots can be controlled.

However, swords of the manipulation series are different.

Had the intrinsic ability of the Tyrant Sword been lightning, since it was of the manipulation series, it would've been able to freely control the thunderbolts coming down from the sky.

‘Of course, a real lightning attribute manipulation series sword would only be usable on a stormy day.'

Unlike the elemental series, manipulation series weapons cannot create what they control.

Therefore, this manipulation series sword with gravity attribute was bound to be a rare item.

Because gravity was omnipresent.

"Isn't that a great sword, then?!"

"But there are downsides, too."

"Really? Like what?"

"The downside is that this is a spirit sword."

It was indeed a good sword.

However, the fatal flaw of this sword was that it was spirit-ranked.

Had it been a vision sword, Callius wouldn't have called it a weakness.

"It's spirit-ranked, but its unique ability and type is like a vision sword."

Therefore, inevitably, its powerful abilities were restricted in usage.

First, of course, the consumption of divine power was enormous.

But that was only natural, and there wouldn't usually be a problem with using it when he needed it, since power was stored in the bracelet.

The main problem –

"Gravity is weaker than expected."

The narrow range of operation could be ignored. But the feeble strength could not.

"Is this weak?"

"You just have a little bit more trained body than average. You'd already be dead if you'd ever faced somebody with proper skills."

"Huh?! Is that how much you cherish me?!"

"…"

Bruns was in great shock.

But Callius didn't care about it.

"Why is it called the Tyrant Sword?"

Its ability wasn't enough to be called that when clashing with knights of the same rank.

‘Tyrant…'

It was something to consider.

"But then, master…"

"What?"

"Why were you in such a good mood?"

The story so far didn't make it sound like that much of a good thing.

How unbearable. That the sword made from the corpse of the warlord, an enemy defeated with such herculean effort, had such paltry abilities.

It was more natural to be angry.

However, Callius' expression coming out of the forest had been on the good side.

That's why Bruns had asked.

"Had that been the only ability of the Tyrant Sword, you'd be right."

When used on the scavengers of the abyss –

At first, he'd been terribly disappointed.

However, when he'd swung the sword with attached gravity at those who'd rushed at him –

Callius had been filled with joy.

Tyrant Sword.

Surprisingly, this sword was able to manipulate the gravity of anybody it cut.

Even for a trivial wound, as long as the sword had cut it open, the gravity of the wounded area would be under Callius' control.

Of course, there was a limit to the strength of gravity.

‘In a close battle, if your arms or legs grow heavy for even a moment, you'd usually be surprised.'

And surprise in battle is death.

It wasn't bad.

No, rather, it was great.

What if he used this sword alongside Raging Flower Wave?

What about White Haze?

If he just created some very minor wounds, the opponent's body would become several times heavier, and the longer the fight, the more inevitable would his victory be.

"If you want, I'll show you."

"It's fine, it's fine!"

"No, you have to experience for yourself to know how great this sword is…"

Just when Callius was about to slash at Bruns' leg with his sword –

"M-, master!! Someone over there!"

Callius was also startled by Bruns' hasty shout, and stared at the person standing under the shade of the tree.

"Callius. Long time no see."

"Who are you?"

Because they stood under the shade of the trees, their face couldn't be seen properly.

"Have you forgotten me already? That's so sad. Even though you owe me so much."

"Owe you?"

Callius' brows furrowed at the word. And then a small groan escaped his throat.

"Ah."

The woman stepped out of the shade, her hair glistening in the sunlight.

Hair the red of vintage wine.

Tied in a graceful half-braid.

Light armour, and a pair of crossed swords on her back.

"Helena."

"I'm here to collect what you owe me, Callius."

Pilgrim Helena.

The daughter of the Bolivian family, who would one day sacrifice all her wealth and her sword on the altar of Carpe, until her final end on the path of ruin.

Helena de Bolivian.

Three years ago –

The woman who'd rescued Callius and had gotten fleeced of her money in return, had now come back to him on her own two feet.

Editor's Notes:

[1] 패황 (paehwang, lit. sledgehammer) is being used, we think, to refer to 霸皇 (Chinese, ba huang, lit. tyrant emperor).

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