116 – Awareness
Ice-like eyes, dry expression. Weird, roughly braided hair.
It was difficult to see at a glance because half of his face was covered by an iron plate, but Lucia quickly figured out who the giant who had broken down the door was.
Geosan Atmos.
‘This guy was alive too.’
500 years ago.
There were more than one demon that made a name for itself under the name of an evil god, but Atmos, along with Yuma, was an object of fear that literally destroyed the Allied Forces.
When I thought I would finally win after making countless sacrifices, when I finally felt like I was going to win,
The ground shook.
The humans looked at the horizon with faces of despair. There was a legion of giants carrying large axes.
Thump-thud-thud-Lucia recalled. It was a fear so great that it seemed to make not only the ground, but even the sky tremble.
As the giants’ army got closer, the morale of the humans plummeted to a miserable level. Atmos, who led the giant army, knew well the psychology of humans, and stamped his feet on the ground as if he was blatantly inciting fear.
The humans felt that the victory that was just around the corner was slipping away.
No matter how much I covered myself with sword energy and spewed out sword energy, I could not cut the skin of the giants reinforced with mana.
No matter how much self-defense equipment they used, they could not handle the weight of the huge axes they were swinging.
Just like that, the lives of people who were someone’s father or lover were lost.
But Kylie didn’t blame him for that. There was no slander, such as being cruel or clever for a giant subject. Because, as usual in war, if you don’t kill, you die.
Instead, she solved it in her own way.
‘Let’s play one game, motherf*cker.’
‘Khahahahaha.’
At that time, few people knew Kylie’s name, so Atmos could only laugh at her for being such an arrogant person.
‘…Smile?’
As Atmos laughed mockingly, Kylie kicked the ground. And… Kylie’s fist, fired like a cannonball, shattered the giant’s jaw.
‘You bastard. Baby. ‘You’re fussing over something that doesn’t even matter.’
‘Uh… Uh…’
Even though his jaw was broken, he glared at me, so I thought about killing him, but Yura said that leaving an irreparable wound would be better for lowering the enemy’s morale, so I let him live.
[Why are you doing this to me?]
When Lucia met the giant again 500 years later, she could not find the courageous look that glared at her as if she would kill him even if her jaw was broken.
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Atmos, who was kneeling and placing his hands on the ground, looked like a defeated soldier surrendering to the enemy.
[Did I do something wrong? Yuma. Why don’t you just say something!]
Lucia looked at Atmos with a shocked expression. Why is there nothing wrong? There is someone here who clearly remembers the sin of eating humans to break the morale of the Allied Forces.
“Why are you crying so sadly?”
Yuma said, holding a stone monument in one hand.
“It’s because no matter how much I knock on the door, it doesn’t come out.”
[What are you talking about? He went out as soon as he heard a knock on the door.]
Atmos’ protest, Chiron snorted.
“What bullsh*t. I knocked on it dozens of times.”
“…so I said I’d go call him.”
Dolby must have gotten used to being held in Yuma’s hand, so he didn’t hesitate to express his opinion.
“Atmos has a bad ear, so I usually have to open the door.”
“Dolby, that’s nonsense. Where in the world are you fools who release hostages?”
“…”
“Keuheum. Get rid of the useless noise.”
After clearing her throat for a moment, Shiron chose her words.
“I came to negotiate. Atmos.”
[Negotiation? Not a threat? What kind of negotiation is this, even holding hostages?]
“…Give me two swords and I’ll release the hostage.”
Although his conscience pricked him and he flinched, Siron stated his request without any hesitation.
[There are a lot of swords I made, so take them quickly. And don’t come again.]
Atmos uttered regretful words and threw out a pile of swords in front of Siron. Siron rummaged through the mountain-like pile and pulled out several swords.
[Fairy Rapier]
[Fairy Gladius]
“Hey.”
Siron threw his drawn sword on the floor. Atmos’ eyes widened when he saw that action.
[…What are you doing?]
“Hey, do you know who traveled all the way to get such a crappy weapon?”
[what?]
“Huh…?”
Lucia also opened her eyes wide at Siron’s words. She lowered her gaze and looked at the milky white sword in her hand.
‘A sword this good is a poor weapon?’
“It looks like you don’t understand the situation properly. Don’t worry. I’ll make you understand soon, Lucia.”
“Yes?”
Lucia was startled and turned her head. Before I knew it, Siron was holding a white sword in his hand. Lucia had a feeling of foreboding.
Siron held the holy sword tightly and held it out to Lucia.
“Take a look at this.”
“…okay.”
Lucia immediately understood the situation. A milky white sword without any sword or anything was slashed towards the holy sword.
Kang-
The fairy’s long sword was completely broken with a clear sound.
“Look at this. It’s a defective product. Are you going to do business like this?”
“…”
The giant was speechless as he looked at the sword blade that had fallen to the floor. defective? This is ridiculous. The number of swords made so far has exceeded four figures, but Atmos has not made any weapons in vain.
Atmos stared intently at the white sword in Siron’s hand. Even though the fairy’s longsword was struck, his sword did not have a single tooth missing.
“Don’t give me these crappy weapons, quickly give me a proper weapon.”
Atmos realized what he wanted.
[Looks like you want a weapon made from stars.]
“Yeah, that grand one.”
[Are you qualified? I haven’t heard of Glenn Frien’s death yet.]
The sword of the stars is a sword given only to the family head.
It took a lot of time to make, so Atmos awarded the sword of the stars only to those who proved their abilities.
“It’s been a while. I’ve already killed two.”
I thought they would insist on sh*t because they didn’t make it, but I like it because the story is fast. Shiron took out two black marbles from his bosom toward him.
*
Since they had to wait for the sword to be made, a tent was set up again near the blacksmith shop.
That night.
Lucia couldn’t sleep at all.
It’s not a sound coming from a blacksmith shop; it’s because so many things have happened in one day.
‘Did you say he was an apostle?’
The fight with the Red Knight was the first proper fight Lucia had experienced in a long time.
A third-rate swordsman who couldn’t withstand even a single battle, no matter how many battles he had fought so far. Or, since most of the demonic beasts were not equipped with proper intelligence, Lucia once again became aware of her own extraordinaryness.
The story was not different just because it was an academy. What does it mean to have the best equipment on the continent gathered together? No matter how genius they were at flying and crawling, they ultimately lacked experience, and Lucia used her memories of her past life as a stepping stone to look down on their shortcomings from high above.
A flawless body. Mana knows no end. Memories of countless battlefields. Lucia Prien was more special than anyone else in the world.
Even more than Siriel.
As long as Lucia is by her side, nothing special will happen to Siriel.
Siriel also knew. How could he not know that his abilities were not as good as Lucia’s?
I have known this to my core since I was young.
During the hundreds or thousands of sparring sessions, the number of times Siriel defeated Lucia was only in the single digits.
Even that was not defeated by pure skill. Although we sparred every day, there were definitely days when Lucia was not in good shape. How can the victory achieved on such a day be said to be a match that can determine superiority or inferiority?
Lucia said it was her fault for not taking care of her body, but Siriel didn’t think so at least.
Rather, I found myself realizing my own shortcomings and developing bad feelings.
‘…what?’
Siriel felt a strange sensation.
A sense of floating, flowing somewhere. There is no clarity in what you see, hear, and feel.
‘dream?’
No, this is different from a dream.
Unlike my usual dreams, I felt a strong sense of foreignness.
It is different from lucid dreaming.
Siriel could do nothing but look forward in a space where brilliant light illuminated all directions.
I could see the special back of Lucia in front of me.
And in front of him was a theory that was more special to Siriel than anyone else.
Although Lucia was in the center, consciousness was focused on Siron. My brother’s face had a blank expression, as if he was somewhat resigned.
Meanwhile, Lucia pointed a knife at her brother. I couldn’t see the face, but I could clearly see the trembling hands. Lucia trembled and stabbed her brother with the knife.
“…no.”
*
“…Siriel, are you out of your mind?”
Glenn looked at Siriel with a worried face. My nephew, who had fallen into a deep sleep after returning to Dawn Castle, finally opened his eyes.
Siriel saw Glenn’s face reflected in her thread-like vision.
“…uncle?”
“Yes. It’s your uncle.”
Glenn supported Siriel’s back as she tried to get up from the bed. Her back was damp with cold sweat, as if she had had a nightmare while she was sleeping.
“This is…”
Siriel turned her head with blank eyes. An old-fashioned room. Cool air. This was Dawn Castle, and it was where my brother and Lucia spent their childhood.
Then, suddenly, Siriel’s eyes widened.
“Uncle. What about the others?”
“Don’t you remember? We said there was a place to stop by, so we didn’t come here first.”
Glenn held out a small bell to Siriel.
“The servants haven’t returned yet, so there’s no one to attend, so if you need anything, ring the bell.”
After finishing speaking, Glenn stood up quietly. He returned to the castle after a long time and had a lot of work to do, and it was not easy to be alone with a girl who was in her most sensitive stage, so he wanted to leave the room.
Dalkak-
The room, which was too large to be used alone, was enveloped in silence. All that can be heard is Siriel’s breathing and heartbeat.
Perhaps because of the ominous nightmare, Siriel somehow felt left alone.