Chapter 215

With a thunderous crash, Elil's sword met Isaac's precisely.

No matter how skilled Elil was, no ordinary sword could withstand such a blow.

From the already broken and rusted blade in Elil's hand, a radiant light burst forth.

For that moment, the shattered, worn sword took on the ideal form of all swords.

More than a holy sword, it was the most perfect weapon imaginable.

And it was wielded by the most perfect knight in history.

"Well done."

In that fleeting moment, Isaac heard Elil whispering in his ear.

Elil spoke to Isaac with Urbansus's time held still. As the eternal moment resumed its flow, Elil's words echoed.

"...You are worthy to witness my sword."

It was a dazzling light.

In that brilliance, Isaac could see what was happening thanks to Elil's consideration. Elil's sword aura accelerated as it transcended a limit.

The displaced air collided, releasing intense heat. Plasma bubbles formed as the atomic nuclei collided with the blade, bursting into blinding light.

At this point, the composition of the blade was no different from the air molecules. It was fusing and beginning to explode, disintegrating and consuming everything around it, including the blade itself. The shockwave, moving faster than sound, instantly consumed and vaporized Rougeberg.

It happened in a literal instant.

An honest, horizontal slash performed in a moment that couldn't be divided into milliseconds.

This was Elil's sword aura and his swordsmanship.

***

*Rumble...*

Lying on the ground, Isaac looked up at the cloudy sky.

The desolate wasteland around him was unrecognizable from where Rougeberg had stood moments before. Rocks sizzled as they melted, and some had turned to glass, glinting in the aftermath.

Suddenly, rain clouds gathered, and a torrential downpour began. The intense heat had created convection currents, meeting the vapor to produce the deluge.

'Elil's strength is overwhelming, but isn't this a bit much?'

Isaac understood the principles of nuclear explosions and knew that achieving the speed of light required infinite energy. Therefore, nothing could reach the speed of light.

Elil had disregarded those fundamental principles entirely. No wonder the Codex of Light, the god of physics, would cry over such feats.

Isaac realized anew that he was indeed in another world.

In life, Elil could trigger a nuclear explosion with a mere sword picked up off the ground.

And the gods who fought and defeated him were equally insane. If altering history had been impossible, one might wonder if they could have ever beaten him.

Isaac stood up.

He had survived this explosion solely because Elil had frozen his time. Being detached from time, Isaac was unaffected by the events occurring around him.

Elil sat on a melted rock fragment. Despite his unbelievable feat, the sight of him drenched in the rain had a strangely fitting and melancholic air.

As Isaac approached, Elil spoke.

"I lost."

'Only someone like Elil could say something so absurd with a straight face.'

Elil had the opportunity to kill Isaac five times, and with his sword aura, he could have killed him a hundred times over if he wished.

But Isaac was equally proud and unashamed.

"Then it seems I have won."

Elil was the one who imposed restrictions on himself. So it made sense for him to acknowledge his defeat, given that he broke those restrictions.

Elil chuckled quietly at Isaac's response, finding it amusing.

"Yes, you won. But I didn't admit defeat because I used sword aura or advanced swordsmanship. I lost because I underestimated you. A swordsman loses the moment they underestimate their opponent. The truth is, after the fourth round, I couldn't kill you without using sword aura."

Isaac kept silent. Elil tilted his head slightly as he looked at Isaac.

Isaac had faced death five times, not because he couldn't block or evade Elil's attacks, but because he was trying to understand Elil's swordsmanship.

Elil hadn't merely been able to kill Isaac five times, he had only realized Isaac's intention after the fifth death.

"Even so, you fought as if you were willing to lay down your life to watch me. My swordsmanship, my movements, the way I breathe, walk, and run... You might know me better than Larabia by now."

Although comparing him to Elil's lover and daughter seemed a bit off, Elil was speaking sincerely.

"I realized this only at the fifth encounter. During this brief sparring, you grew so rapidly that I couldn't kill you without using sword aura. That's when I knew this fight was meaningless. I never expected you to grow so quickly. Clearly, I was overconfident, so I can say I lost."

Realizing it only at the fifth encounter still made Elil a monster. Isaac had been fighting seriously for the most part.

Isaac didn't feel triumphant about receiving Elil's declaration of defeat. Essentially, Elil had fought with his hands tied, blindfolded, hopping on one leg on a tightrope while holding a sword in his mouth. Moreover, Isaac still hadn't actually defeated Elil.

If Elil had used sword aura from the start, Isaac would never have won in a lifetime. Even though he had glimpsed the essence of Elil's swordsmanship, replicating it seemed impossible, much like how Lianne couldn't fully replicate swordsmanship without Lumiarde.

'Perhaps I could apply it in some way.'

Clearly, Isaac had grown significantly from his fight with Elil. This experience was even more valuable since it was learned from Elil, who had once defeated angels in combat.

However, at the same time, Isaac had realized something potentially terrifying about sword aura through this battle.

"Although it seems you have already realized much, if there's anything you're curious about, ask now. Such an opportunity will not come again."

Elil's words were timely. Isaac decided to ask about what he had realized during the fight.

"There is something I'm curious about."

"Something you're curious about?"

Isaac took a deep breath and asked.

It was a simple question, but it might be entangled with the secrets of the gods.

"Is sword aura not one of Elil's miracles?"

Sword aura was clearly an alien force in this world.

Even advanced swordsmanship, without divine miracles, could produce phenomena that defied the laws of physics. Sword aura went beyond that, being visible to others and having physical force.

It was essentially creating something from nothing.

Similar things already existed in this world, even with much simpler conditions.

They were called miracles.

Elil smiled broadly at Isaac's words and looked at him.

"To think you've reached that conclusion yourself, you are indeed a fascinating individual."

Elil turned his body to face Isaac.

"Yes, sword aura is not my miracle. Sword aura existed before I became a god, and it was the foundation of my ability to become one. It wasn't bestowed upon me. As you said, sword aura is not an Elil miracle."

Although Isaac had anticipated this answer, he found Elil's words puzzling. Other faiths also had outstanding warriors. Even Kalsen had better swordsmanship than Lianne or Cedric. But Isaac had never heard of him awakening sword aura.

"Then why don't warriors from other faiths possess sword aura?"

"All other gods strictly prohibited sword aura."

Elil spoke as he drove his sword into the ground. His sword aura began to seep into the cracks of the scorched wasteland created by his battle with Isaac.

"Only I, Elil, have allowed my followers to wield sword aura."

Sprouts, flowers, and stems began to grow from the cracks. It was a strange sight to see life sprouting from a weapon designed to kill, but for Elil, it was as natural as breathing.

Isaac began to understand what sword aura truly was.

"Is sword aura a miracle one grants to oneself?"

A satisfied smile appeared on Elil's face.

"As a reward for your victory, I will tell you the secret of this world."

He then began to whisper the secrets of the world, life, and will.

***

Imagine you desire something deeply and passionately. You do everything in your power to achieve it, thinking about it constantly, showing passionate love and belief in it.

In the world Isaac originally came from, such effort doesn't guarantee success.

But in this world, there is a force that responds to sincere desires.

In this world, if you wish for something hard enough, there is a power that answers.

This force has been called many names throughout history, but now it is known by one name.

Divine power.

"And in the early days, when intelligent beings were still primitive and struggled to foresee even a day or two ahead, there were those who first recognized and began to harness this power."

When an individual desires something passionately, the power may only affect that individual. But if ten, twenty, or even hundreds and thousands of people focus their divine power on one person?

That person becomes a monster embodying the power of thousands or millions.

"These beings are known as the ancient gods, born in the earliest times."

Whether it was the desire to escape suffering from disease, the greed for more, the awe of vast and terrifying nature, or the fear of an uncertain future... gods drew worship from all these things.

Gods became entities that allowed intelligent beings to escape from fear and dread. Now, with the power of the gods, they could be free from their fears. If they were sick, they could pray to the god of plague; if they wanted a good harvest, they could pray to the god of prosperity.

They didn't realize that this power came from themselves and relied on the gods they created.

The most powerful desire was the wish for the continuity of today into tomorrow, the desire for safety.

The hope that the sun would rise again, that spring would follow winter, that seeds would sprout into plants, a desire for order.

This seemingly simple hope for order was actually the most powerful.

Even the ancient gods wished for this 'order,' creating the strongest god.

However, because this faith was 'obvious,' it was vague and had few followers. It was a humble faith believed only by desert shepherds until the prophet Luadin was born, giving it the name of the Codex of Light.

"And Luadin, through the wisdom whispered by the Codex of Light, illuminated a world that had been hidden in darkness. The power to wish for the continuity of tomorrow, the desire for everything to remain intact even after death... this is Urbansus."

All life is born with the desire to live. And even after death, they wish for the world to continue and be eternal.

This desire created the afterlife known as Urbansus, which Luadin discovered.

"Everything done in the name of faith is actually done by people. People are infinite power and change. Gods are merely old thieves exploiting that power. I am no different."

Elil spoke cynically, but Isaac felt calling them thieves was too harsh.

A person alone has limited capability. No matter how strong Elil was, uniting the continent alone was impossible.

But if one could gather enough human power, even a monster like Elil could be born, and a place like Urbansus could be created. Although people have forgotten their origins, gods are ultimately the historical product of human passion and determination.

"But among intelligent beings, there are those with particularly strong desires."

Imagine one person harboring the desire of ten, twenty, or more people.

Beyond that, possessing the belief and power that allows them to cut down armies, slay monsters, and even defeat angels because they believe it's 'only natural.'

"Such individuals are granted 'miracles' within their reach."

The power to make oneself a god through self-faith.

"That is sword aura."

-TL Notes-