195: Paracelsus
“So… Old man, why do I have to learn this? A sword is ant to cut, right? Do I really need to learn sothing like dicine, which is ant to save people? Isn’t this sothing priests learn?”
I often talked back to my master like this.
Whenever I did, Celsus would always seize the opportunity to smack the back of my head.
“Have you forgotten the aning of the sword you’re learning?”
“I know, I know. [The Living Sword]. It ans saving people. But does that make us saints? From the mont we stain our hands with blood, we’re no different from murderers in the eyes of others.”
“You brat! How dare you call that! You still look like that even now! With the talent you were born with, surpassing mine, it’s laughable to see you waste it like this!”
“Damn it. If only you weren’t the Sword Emperor…”
Celsus always demanded a certain mindset from when handling the sword.
For the first few days, he didn’t even allow to hold a sword. I thought he was just showing off his techniques because he was the Sword Emperor.
It didn’t sit well with .
But as ti passed, I decided to follow along, pretending to be obedient.
There was nothing else to do.
I had no reason to look for anyone, nor did I want to.
Rember?
Everyone who was once by my side had either beco corpses on their way to the afterlife or, even if alive, were no longer truly living.
Was there any need for to seek them out and say, I’m fine, as if to comfort them? I just lived my life as it was.
In the process, I beca interested in the sword, and I learned that the master before was one of the continent’s seven stars, known as one of the three Sword Emperors.
Thinking about it, it was really a chance encounter.
If you ask if it was a satisfying revenge, I still don’t know about Aeloi’s matter. I think about it every ti I learn the sword he taught.
What does it an to have a sword that saves people?
That day, what was the intention behind the sword I swung to save Aeloi?
What did I desire?
“Hey! Snap out of it! Where do you think you’re dozing off?”
Tak! The crisp sound of bamboo echoed.
No, What is this really?
Celsus first corrected my posture. He said the sword I learned was rough, sothing I picked up unconsciously just for survival, but to reach the pinnacle, I needed to take a few more steps.
He said I couldn’t reach that level without correcting my stance from the beginning.
So, he changed my posture and completely overhauled my breathing technique.
It was clear what made the real knights different was their breathing technique. While others might barely manage to strike once per breath, knights were different.
Depending on the situation, they could freely execute multiple sword techniques cutting their enemy, or use unconventional sword paths. This was a definite advantage.
Being able to attack multiple tis ant they could control the pace of the battle at will. For a knight, such an advantage was a significant strength.
But back then, I didn’t understand that at all.
“No, I hear that even in my current state, I’m good enough! There were no problems when I was active as a rcenary, and it was fine when ‘dealing with’ ( Note: He uses 등처먹 which is a very rude word ) those noble bastards… Ah!”
“What do you an by dealing with? 'Dealing with? I thought you just had a bad habit of speaking rudely to your teacher, but you can’t even watch your words?”
“No, what am I supposed to do if I was never taught properly in the first place?”
“That’s why I’m giving you etiquette lessons now. Hmph, now you understand the depth of your master’s generosity, right? You brat! Where do you think you’re running off to?”
**********
I often skipped my master’s lessons.
Although I had a competitive spirit, the environnt wasn’t suitable for it to be fully demonstrated. Master Celsus would always repeat the sa thing.
“If only there was soone talented enough to humble that pride of yours.”
“Ha, do you think such a person exists anywhere on the continent?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! The continent is full of ridiculously strong people.”
I got angry and asked the old man.
“Then, Celsus, the other two Sword Emperors must be much stronger than you, well?”
“….Yes.”
“Ng?”
I was slightly taken aback by his unexpected answer.
Knights, mages, and other similar professions naturally hold their heads high, and my master, Celsus, also took great pride in being called a Sword Emperor by the public.
But why?
When the topic of the other two Sword Emperors ca up, his expression darkened unusually.
He continued.
“The other two, besides . They are ridiculously strong. Ulysses… her [Heaven-breaking Sword] is so powerful it seems like it could pierce and shatter the heavens. Theo von Reinhaver wields a black sword so desolate and beautiful that it could turn day into night. Beyond this, there are countless other swords. Disciple…. listen well. You are still nothing more than a novice among the innurable swordsn.
"….If I’m a novice, then those I’ve killed must be fools.”
“Yes, exactly. There’s always a higher sky. Don’t forget this and engrave it in your heart. Even I, one of the three Sword Emperors, could never win if one of them attacked .”
I quickly left.
Celsus.
The fact that my master was steeped in a sense of defeat didn’t sit well with .
If you’ve beaten , then don’t spout such nonsense because you’re overwhelmingly stronger than . It makes feel pathetic.
“Ha, I don’t know about anything else, but I can see you have an inferiority complex towards those two. Old man! I won’t beco a knight like that. Understand? I…?”
You, whom I trusted, shouldn’t say such things.
It makes feel like I’m nothing.
I swallowed those words and turned away.
A few days after that conversation.
I went to Celsus’s residence to confront him, only to find him on the verge of becoming a cold corpse.
Bloodstains and traces of blood were everywhere, indicating a battle beyond my imagination.
What happened?
It wasn’t an accident.
Who would dare target Celsus?
Is there anyone bold enough to target one of the three Sword Emperors?
“Cough…! Disciple… co here… I have sothing to say before I go…”
“Old man! Stop talking nonsense and get up. I’ll get angry.”
I tried to revive him using the dical techniques the old man taught .
But all his blood vessels had already been severed.
There was nothing I could do.
The old man continued.
“I have sothing… to say. If not now, I won’t be able to… This is a request.”
Master. It was at that mont that I inherited the na Celsus. To add, I swore to catch and kill the bastard who did this to my master…
As I watched Celsus take his last breath, I thought
Ah, it’s been taken from again.
**********
Paracelsus recalls the last words his master uttered.
— Now you must have realized. [The Living Sword] is not just a sword for killing people, but it’s also not a sword wielded solely to save lives as its na suggests. A sword is ultimately ant to cut soone down. Don’t forget that.
— It’s too early to pass it on, but… it’s a gift.
— Take my na.
— From now on, your na is Paracelsus, aning you will surpass .
**********
“If it’s winter, I’ve already endured it harshly.”
Paracelsus calmly speaks as he crosses swords with his opponent. He glances at his opponent, one of the three Sword Emperors, a genius knight with imnse influence, as the na suggests.
But what does it matter?
In the past, Paracelsus fought to protect what he loved.
But he failed to protect anything, and he lost his sense of direction.
This wasn’t good. Bad mories. But he could overco them.
Thanks to his master.
Celsus.
Sacrificed in the last emperor’s secret struggle, his master told him to take the na Paracelsus, aning to surpass him. From then on, that would be his na
From that mont, he thought,
At least, I will live in a way that does not disgrace the na Paracelsus gave .
But…
Even Celsus, in his later years, told him
— Don’t go against the imperial family. You will only see blood. You can change everything only after completing the sword. Even I have not reached that point…
— Do not attempt it until you reach that point.
Ulysses shatters Paracelsus’s thoughts and looks at him with arrogant eyes.
“Step back. This is not your place to interfere.”
“Explain to what kind of place I should be interfering in?”
Paracelsus, while being pushed back, continues to execute the [Salvation Sword]
He tries to hold her back sohow.
Does he know he can’t turn this situation around?
Of course, he does.
'It’s laughable. After everything I learned from the old man? I’m still stuck here. I can’t change anything on my own, can’t I?’
Paracelsus thinks this and smiles faintly.
He still smiles, thinking of his master. His feet were scorched against the ground, and a sharp pain rose in his wrist, but he endured it without concern.
If he strays even a little here, he will surely be killed.
But even at this mont, he thought to himself
'…But. Old man, did you know?’
At that mont.
Paracelsus prepares a full-powered attack. It was prepared in an instant, and even Ulysses didn’t notice.
The reason was simple.
First, she didn’t expect such power from this fledging.
Second, this required the most precise control among the sword techniques of the Sword Emperor Celsus she knew.
It could be activated silently, which was its unique advantage.
Before anyone realized, Paracelsus deflected the sword and used the recoil to distance himself, murmuring softly.
Living Sword, the third form of the initial stage
Concealnt (韜晦)
A sword technique nad for hiding one’s traces.
The third form, Concealnt, hits the enemy.
This is a type of spatial sword technique that disappears and reappears, where a crescent-shaped flying attack vanishes, only to reappear right in front of the opponent and tear them apart.
However, even for Paracelsus, hailed as a genius, this technique is still difficult to execute more than once. Thus, he focuses all his nerves and has no choice but to entrust his back entirely to Leon.
But…
Now it’s okay.
A way to deal with these terrible bastards has just appeared.
Paracelsus, with all his might, deflects the sword and shouts.
“Aren’t you late? Noble sir——!!”
'There’s soone I know who can change this situation.’
One person Paracelsus knew.
Among those Paracelsus rembers, there’s one who always finds a way, even when he thinks he’s in the worst situation and can’t overco it.
His identity is none other than the one who taught him his first defeat.
“Shut up. Commoner.”
The arrogant, but the only noble ally. Nox von Reinhaver
Hihinggg—!
Nox rides Carl and imdiately jumps in, drawing the black blade.
Stormbringer. He pressed the sword, which had consud its fill of mana, onto top of Paracelsus’s sword. That’s it, with all his might, he pushed it into the sword that was receiving Ulysses’s attack.
“Damn it.”
Kiiiing——!
The sound of three swords clashing and the shockwave that shakes the earth fills the battlefield.
Nox’s voice follows in the next mont.
Black Sword, the initial stage, third form.
[Black Blade Falling Petals]
A black rose, imbued with musk, blooms under the Sidus’ hall in front of the first prince.
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