Chapter: 306
I was extremely confused.
Just yesterday, the Sacred Remnants tainted by Miasma had a black hue, but overnight it had become blue.
What on earth is this strange phenomenon?
The Sacred Remnants, now gently scattering a mysterious blue light, looked entirely different from the black object it had been just yesterday.
So, wanting to confirm if this was indeed the same Sacred Remnants as yesterday, I followed yesterday’s routine, igniting a Flame in my left hand and reaching out my right towards the object.
“…No. Just in case.”
However, just before my hand could touch the Sacred Remnants, a sudden thought crossed my mind, causing me to retract my outstretched hand.
Yesterday, Dwight had certainly mentioned in his explanation to Ms. Martina that this Sacred Remnants, the Tears of the Ocean, was originally a gem of this blue color.
If that’s the case, then the reason the Sacred Remnants in front of me is blue might be that the Miasma that had tainted it disappeared.
If that’s true, touching this Sacred Remnants with my witch’s hand might have an adverse effect on it.
So, instead of inspecting the Sacred Remnants myself, I decided to call someone who would be more suited for the task.
“Sylvia! Come to my room right now! Hurry!”
As I opened the door and shouted, Sylvia rushed into my room, startlingly fast as if she had been waiting for me.
“What’s the matter, Lady Scarlet?”
“Quick, take a look at this.”
“…Huh? Ah, alright.”
Since it wasn’t common for me to call for her like this, Sylvia seemed flustered, as if she suspected an emergency.
Seeing my calm demeanor, she looked a bit let down, but she quickly turned to the object I was pointing at.
“…Huh?”
Upon noticing the blue gem on the table, she froze momentarily.
After a brief pause, her surprise became evident as she flailed about and exclaimed.
“W-wait a second, Lady Scarlet! What happened to that?! The color of the Sacred Remnants…!”
“That’s why I called you. When I woke up, it looked like this.”
“You woke up to find this…?”
Sylvia looked confused, unable to grasp the situation as she stared at the Sacred Remnants.
While I understood her confusion, right now, confirming what was happening was more urgent, so I said to her.
“Sylvia, can you use your abilities to find out what happened to the Sacred Remnants?”
“…Ah, yes. I understand.”
Once she regained her focus from my words, Sylvia carefully brought her hand, shimmering faintly, towards the Sacred Remnants.
The moment the light touched it, starlight exploded brilliantly, expanding like a bloom.
Unlike the intense resistance we had felt yesterday, the Sacred Remnants reacted distinctly differently, and Sylvia murmured with a somewhat vacant expression.
“…My abilities are amplifying. I feel no resistance at all. It really seems like the Miasma that was tainting the Sacred Remnants has completely disappeared. How…”
In a situation where worries that had kept us up all night were resolved overnight, Sylvia appeared genuinely taken aback.
But regardless, good outcomes are still good outcomes.
Don’t they say that effort and fate always go hand in hand?
Thinking of it as a gift from the heavens for our hard work, I smiled at Sylvia and said.
“I don’t really know how, but… it turned out well. This way, everyone’s efforts won’t go to waste, right?”
“Yes, that’s true. I’m still a bit dazed, but… it’s really a good thing. Everyone else will be happy, too.”
At my words, a small smile bloomed on Sylvia’s face.
Watching the brilliant starlight emanating from Sylvia’s hand, harnessed through the power of the Sacred Remnants, encouraged a glimmer of hope amidst the darkness ahead.
By the way, Sacred Remnants are remarkably versatile.
Not only can they amplify Sylvia’s already outstanding abilities but…
…Huh? Sylvia’s abilities.
I stared intently at the light radiating from Sylvia’s hand, feeling like I was grasping something intangible.
Noticing my gaze, Sylvia tilted her head and asked.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…It’s just that the Sacred Remnants seem to amplify your abilities.”
“That’s true. If utilized properly, there are countless uses beyond just dealing with the Witch of Gluttony—”
Just as she was finishing that thought, we both gasped simultaneously.
Our heads jerked in the same direction as if directed by an unseen force.
With our gazes fixed in the same spot, I realized Sylvia and I were synchronizing our thoughts.
Why hadn’t I thought of that immediately?
Not elsewhere, but right here in this mansion.
There’s a being that desperately needs hope from Sylvia’s abilities.
We burst out of my room immediately.
From our mouths emerged the name of the same individual.
“Wait for us!
Yoon Si-woo.”
*
A sword was swung.
The boy swung the sword.
Once.
Twice.
Ten times.
A hundred times.
The woman, watching the endlessly swinging sword, murmured.
“…Still swinging the sword, huh.”
The boy’s body was fractured from the relentless strain.
The body, the vessel of the soul.
Once there were cracks in that vessel, it was normal for the soul once contained within to seep out through those cracks.
If the soul escapes the vessel, it was tantamount to death.
However, the boy had a companion sharing his fate and a mysterious artifact.
The woman safeguarded the soul meant to escape from the vessel, retreating it into the imaginary world created by the artifact.
Thus, the boy managed to maintain his life.
Even if the soul couldn’t return to the body, thanks to the woman’s First Aid, his life remained intact.
The woman, who kept the boy alive, could only laugh incredulously as she watched his spirit swinging the sword.
“Even in that state, you’re swinging the sword. Truly a peculiar individual.”
The boy’s eyes, while swinging the sword, held no light.
The three elements composing humans.
The body, the soul, and the self.
The woman succeeded in extracting the boy’s soul from the faltering body, but sadly, that process left the boy’s self compromised.
To put it simply, he was in a state of unconsciousness.
However, it was strange.
Though the boy was left with only a compromised soul, and it wouldn’t seem odd for him to lie there like a corpse…
Even in that state, the boy continued to swing the sword.
As if that was his essence.
A hundred times.
A thousand times.
Ten thousand times.
The boy swung that sword endlessly.
The reason to grow stronger was just a trigger for him.
Perhaps, even without any incidents, the boy would have pursued the path of the sword in such a manner eventually.
Moving forward as far as one could go.
The boy was that kind of person.
Watching the boy like that, the woman could only smile.
“…Whether then or now, living for the sword, truly a peculiar man.”
After a long time watching the boy swing the sword, the woman stealthily approached him and grasped the sword.
Then, visibly demonstrating beside the boy, she slowly swung the sword as she said.
“That’s not it. The sword is swung like this.”
The boy’s emotionless eyes captured the image of the woman swinging the sword.
Suddenly, the boy’s movements subtly changed.
As if trying to mimic the way the woman swung the sword.
That movement was woefully clumsy.
Because his self was compromised, he could not wield his true skill.
But the woman didn’t mind.
There was plenty of time.
Since the boy had no consciousness, his world flowed with a different time from reality.
Covering the boy’s world, like a thick dark cloud was present, it was a world of endless time.
In that boundless time, the boy swung the sword infinitely.
And the more the boy swung the sword, the more the boy’s clumsy movements began to resemble those of the woman.
Watching the boy’s swordsmanship, which was gradually becoming similar to her own, the woman murmured.
“It’s imitation, isn’t it? Ultimately, our swords can only resemble each other.”
Swinging the sword, again and again, the woman mimicked the boy while smiling in a nostalgic, yearning way.
“Really, swinging the sword with you is joyful. I can even wish that this moment could last forever.”
As she laughed, the woman reluctantly took an apology and placed it on her tongue.
“Perhaps that’s why I feel more sorry for you. It feels like I’m forcing you into this moment due to my own greed.”
In truth, the woman had a means to return the boy to a sound state at any instant.
Though it wasn’t solely out of greed that she refrained from using that method, she still wished to spend this time together, so she apologized to the boy.
The boy continued to swing the sword without responding to the woman’s apology.
Now the boy’s swinging sword painted an infinitely ideal sword path.
Seeing this, the woman sensed it was now time to end this enjoyable moment.
“The lesson ends here. I’ve taught you all that I can. At least in swordsmanship, there won’t be anyone in this world who can follow you.”
Saying that, the woman lifted the sword.
Mimicking her, the boy also raised the sword.
In some uncanny coincidence, the two identical swords swung together,
At the same moment, both swords slashed toward the sky.
The woman looked up at the heavens.
Light seeped through the traces left by the two swords.
It wasn’t the same moonlight as that day, but she felt a subtle, bittersweet sensation as she softly murmured to the boy.
“Go on; there are those waiting for you besides me, aren’t there?”
At those words, the boy looked up at the sky.
The thick dark clouds engulfing the boy.
Between those clouds, starlight shone through.
The boy heard a voice calling him from beyond that light.
-Come back, Yoon Si-woo.
The light returned to the boy’s eyes.
Now, it was time to go back.
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