Book 19 Chapter 27
Episode 164
“Hoo…”
Rista focused her mind with a deep breath.
‘In this mental space, even the burden placed on my body is an illusion; I can practice to my heart’s content.’
She wielded the Shurpang in a reverse grip.
At that moment, she sliced time into twelve pieces.
Each of those twelve pieces was cut again into twelve pieces, and those pieces were further divided into twelve.
「!」
「!」
The result indicated by all those processes was incredibly simple. In an instant, cracks etched in multiple directions across the dimension.
These cracks were jumbled based on a certain rule, and upon closer inspection, one could see that they formed a single string of characters.
Rista was even prepared for her entire body’s muscle fibers to tear, but strangely, the recoil was similar to when she normally used the Time-Space Edge.
‘What is this? Is it because it’s a mental space? No, no. I feel my power overflowing even more than before.’
The only thing that had changed since then was that she had received the Iridescent Pearl of the Light Dragon. Was that power helping her use this unrealistic strength?
「Excellent.」
Alkaios applauded, and Kaduell also raised his goggles as if genuinely surprised.
「Even so, I never expected a Worldling like you to succeed at this on your first try. What exceptional talent.」
She was grateful to the point of embarrassment by the compliment, yet at the same time, she felt a bitter taste.
‘To be great among Worldlings doesn’t mean having overwhelming talent that warrants a flood of praise.’
Their reactions strongly felt like elders praising their granddaughter’s charming antics at a sixtieth birthday feast, for example.
“But… when the power of the characters you two taught me manifests, shouldn’t it cause a dimensional collapse? Nothing happened.”
The Time-Space Edge of that number was applied in a single, overlapping strike. The explosive roar of the sonic barrier tearing was enough to make her ears ring.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that its power could collapse a dimension, but judging by their reactions, the destructive power Enuel used seemed to make even this look like child’s play.
Kaduell’s goggles, which must have been made with the cutting-edge science of the <Ones Who Came>, flickered before he opened his mouth.
「Currently, a clear resonance has been confirmed between the fragment of Haraderi etched in your soul and the Heavenly Mandate Psalms imbued in your weapon. However, its scale seems too small to apply force to the entire providence.」
Then… can I not use Enuel’s power? They say that only with that power can everyone be saved.
「That’s not entirely true either. Imagine there’s a lake. Can a tiny speck of a water droplet fall into it and create ripples across the entire lake?」
“……?”
「But in a cup of water, it can certainly create such ripples. The answer you need to reach is precisely there.」
Alkaios, who had been wiping blood, lava, and fossils from the blade of his True Sacred Sword, Galadriel, spoke as if he had realized something.
「Can you freely use magic power?」
“To some extent.”
「Create a square space that limits the area with magic power. A space to write something, in other words, the setting of the 'Jigye'. Like this.」
Where Alkaios extended his hand, a colossal cube appeared, large enough to fill the desert horizon.
「And then, you engrave characters upon it.」
Again, it was instantaneous.
Rista had only seen Alkaios’s motion of placing his hand on Galadriel’s hilt, but suddenly, a string of characters was etched onto the cube.
Was that what sword-drawing at its peak was like? If there was a speed beyond the speed of light, it must be Alkaios’s sword-drawing technique, she thought.
“Just how strong are you?”
So, even though there was clearly no time, she found herself unconsciously asking such a childish question.
“Lord Enuel is recorded as the strongest Eldia warrior. But from what I’ve seen, you two are incomparably stronger than me, and yet he’s stronger than even you two? Just how strong is that?”
It was truly regrettable that Enuel wasn’t here now.
The two of them were excellent mentors, but if she could have directly seen how to use the True Sacred Sword Sharillion, the original form of the Shurpang, or at least watched a battle up close just once, it would have been an incredibly valuable experience.
Alkaios and Kaduell exchanged familiar glances.
‘Ah.’
In that instant, Rista felt a thrilling sense of kinship.
It was also the moment she realized that these people, who seemed so distant, were beings with personalities just like her own.
Because that look was exactly like the smiles she and Friede exchanged when someone asked about Rin. The kind of smile a child makes when boasting about a precious treasure.
「If there is an Eldia capable of overpowering a High True King of the Abyss in a one-on-one fight, Enuel would be the only one among the five of us.」
She had somehow assumed that the relationship within the Eldia Knights would be rigid and hierarchical.
‘Because they’re a military group. Because they were an assembly of warriors. But that’s not it.’
Their relationship seemed like family.
It was no different from Rista’s party.
And Enuel, like Rin, seemed to be the proud youngest member.
「The muster is in 10 minutes. Kaduell and I need to get going soon. Can you do it?」
Alkaios’s expression and tone seemed less like asking if she could do it, and more like telling her that of course she could.
Rista chuckled.
Kaduell also smiled quietly.
Rista, who offered a prayer of gratitude to the Providence of Creation for allowing her to exchange smiles with such distant figures, the great warriors from a thousand years ago, and to receive sword fighting instruction, grasped the Shurpang once more.
“Of course. Would you mind watching me? Though I won’t be as good as Lord Enuel.”