108 – Sword of Restraint (2)
The sword of restraint harbors countless spirits.
How long had it been, with countless spirits gathered in one place.
The spirits looked upon the human who was the first to make contact with them. It was a boy with shining, sunlit hair.
-Why have you come to meet us?
Among them, a worn-out, battered warrior inquired of the boy.
To find out why I came all the way here. That’s why.
-To release the sword.
The boy’s response. The warrior silently stared at his bold answer.
-Do you know what it means to release the sword? Do you know who the ‘keeper’ of the sword, the ‘keeper’ of us, is?
-The keeper is you. And… Releasing the keeper’s confinement means releasing your power into the world.
-Even knowing that, you speak of releasing the sword. Releasing us into the world is no different from releasing calamity into the world.
The warrior spirit replied. As he looked at the boy speaking boldly, he remembered the past.
* * *
He was a warrior who fought to protect the human realm.
Unable to protect the human realm, he couldn’t find peace, and so his soul was collected by Umbra and placed into the keeper’s sword.
At that time, Umbra made a promise to the warrior.
-Someday, a being will wield the sword to release your grudge.
Believing in that promise, the warrior continued to remain within the keeper’s sword. As time passed, Umbra continued to gather spirits into the keeper’s sword.
What was she trying to do with herself and the other spirits?
It was an unknown thing, but he simply believed in Umbra.
Time continued to pass, and countless spirits came to dwell within the keeper’s sword.
A multitude of specters gathered, each with its own unique inclinations and tendencies.
Specters striving to escape the sword by any means necessary.
Specters seeking to subjugate others and harness their power.
Specters aiming to pass on their harbored hatred to others.
And then, there were those specters who simply stood by and observed… Truly, all manner of specters had converged within the confines of the sword.
What was peculiar was that not a single one of them had been feeble in their past lives. Every single one present there was a monstrous being in their own right.
Gathering them within the sword, what exactly did the Specter Queen intend to achieve?
Who exactly was the entity meant to absolve their bound grudges?
Amidst the unresolved questions, the specters conversed and even resorted to fighting when their opinions clashed.
As time passed, the realm within the sword gradually became subject to the dominance of logic over sheer strength.
Even though they were specters, being trapped within the sword, many of them had been heroes or great villains in their past lives, capable of wielding their power even in death.
A warrior, in silence, declared allegiance to the Specter Queen’s words. He vowed to wait until the one she spoke of would wield the sword, whenever that may be.
He was not one who sought to sow baseless hatred in the world; rather, he was one who sought to protect it.
He knew all too well what would happen if even one of the specters trapped within the sword were to be released… He subdued the other specters with his power.
He was the first soul trapped within the sword, and also the most formidable, garnering considerable support for his cause.
Naturally, they became a force within the sword, beginning to suppress the specters who harbored hatred for the world.
But as time passed, the specters trapped within the sword came to realize a certain truth.
That they could not escape the sword.
Because… a consciousness had formed within the sword itself. An absolute consciousness, as powerful as the combined strength of all the specters within it.
In other words, the power of all the specters within the sword had become the power of the sword itself.
And the self within the sword wielded absolute power in the realm of darkness, controlling the spirits. The warrior felt fortunate beyond measure.
No matter how strong it was, it was not easy to suppress the spirits standing on the opposite side. It was a stroke of immense luck that the self within the sword awoke in such a situation.
The bound sword conveyed to all the spirits that it would wait for its future owner to arrive. Naturally, there was strong resistance, but it didn’t last long.
The second most powerful spirit within the sword, who stood at the opposite end of the warrior, expressing hatred for the world and vowing to one day set it ablaze, was literally crushed by the self within the sword.
The spirits, unable to find peace and witnessing their souls being torn apart, began to fear the self within the sword.
The spirits had wanted to rid themselves of the lingering regrets in the world and had sought peace in the past. Unable to find peace with their souls torn to shreds, they could not enter the cycle of reincarnation again, so it was natural for the spirits to fear the sword.
As a result, the spirits, unable to rid themselves of their regrets and hating the world, gradually forgot their own regrets and even themselves, losing all the achievements and power they had gained in their lifetime.
And this was not a pleasant story for the bound sword.
Each power of the spirits was no different from the power of the sword itself.
From the moment it was first forged, the bound sword knew the mission it carried, and it knew that it had to maintain and cultivate its power for that mission.
The sword pondered. How could it appease the spirits who harbored hatred for the world and maintain their power?
After a long period of contemplation, the bound sword came up with a single plan.
It was to give those spirits hope. Someday they could be released. Someday they could rid themselves of their regrets.
Such hope.
The bound sword, having thought this far, told the spirits that when the time came for its seal to be released, they could be liberated.
The spirits, once again filled with hope by the words of the bound sword, waited. They waited for the person who would release the sword.
The person who would set them free in the world.
***
The warrior who heard the sword’s words knew all too well the danger of the spirits’ power being released into the human world. When the sword was released, there were limits to what it could control.
-I know too. I understand better than anyone what happens when you guys are let loose in the world. It probably won’t be a joke. But… still, I need your power.
-For what?
-To save the world.
In response, some of the specters behind the warrior chuckled inwardly. Save the world?
Half or more of those present here are mostly those who harbor hatred for the world. How many of them would lend their strength to save the world if asked?
But they didn’t show it.
If this boy is the awaited master of the binding sword, then eventually, because of this boy, they might be able to be released into the world.
But the warrior and the specters following his will felt a strong determination in the boy’s eyes and realized he hadn’t come here for nothing.
-Can you take responsibility for that statement? There are many specters here who harbor hatred for the world. Can you persuade even those beings? Can you control them even if they are released into the world?
The warrior asked the boy, Prakh.
Prakh nodded in response to the warrior’s words.
-Yes, I must. That’s what I have to do.
-What must be done… I see. But the one deciding that is not me.
-I know. You’re just a specter here. The ones I need to persuade… probably, it’s this sword itself.
-Exactly.
-As far as I know, this sword has its own consciousness. The Specter Queen told me.
-That’s also correct.
-Will you guide me to the binding sword? Great warrior, Bellator.
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-…!
The warrior, or rather, the one called Bellator, could only widen his eyes. No one here knew his name. After death, he was only called the warrior.
The Ghost Queen and the Binder’s Sword did not even know his name. They had never asked for his name.
Therefore, the name Bellator had long been forgotten since he died.
But how did the boy in front of him know his name?
-Quite surprised, aren’t you? Is it because I know your name?
-How do you know?
-Destiny told me.
-Destiny… I see.
Bellator nodded. At the same time, he thought.
Perhaps this boy was not the being they had been waiting for all this time.
Of course, that was a matter for the Binder’s Sword to judge.
-Understood. Lead the way.
He turned his body and gestured to the ghosts. The ghosts opened the way, and Frah moved forward through the open path.