The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 106.2

Chapter 106.2: On the Day Spring Arrives (1)

Edmund, standing before the final boss room of Eire, had been on the verge of death by starvation.

If Edmund hadn’t been a transcendent being, he wouldn’t have survived until Caterina’s arrival.

And even then, who knows what would have happened if the Saintess hadn’t prioritized giving him the highest-grade holy water.

“I don’t know how the future, which never changed no matter what I did, has been altered. Saintess, how did you come to Eire?”

Caterina fiddled with the Holy Crown.

She recounted the scene in Henerali-fe, where she had been arguing with Chloe.

“I suddenly received a revelation from ‘Autumn’. And I had a brief memory of the hero Abel, and I also learned that he had an amazing father.”

“Before Cain grew stronger and became a fearsome Demon King, you wanted to deal with him.”

Edmund voiced the truth that Caterina hesitated to speak.

The man wasn’t just sharp with a blade; his wit and perception were equally keen.

“You intended to seek a trustworthy companion.”

“That’s right. I remembered the hero being impressed by the sword marks left on the White Cliffs…….”

“There are two sets there. Only one is mine.”

Edmund accurately pointed out the detail and glanced at the box containing ‘Summer,’ held by one of the Holy See’s elites.

He stood between the two women who had been at odds.

“Frankly, I don’t care whether Cain becomes the Hero or the Demon King.”

His first words were directed at Caterina.

“Whether the Holy See kills him or not, I’ll respect his choice if it’s his own.”

The Saintess made the sign of the cross and clasped her hands together.

“All things are by the light.”

Edmund, who could have become their most formidable enemy, had remained neutral, unmoved by the whispers of the witch.

Deep down, Caterina offered a prayer of gratitude to the ‘light’ that had brought about this situation.

“Chloe, I’ve had this thought since I first heard.”

This time, he turned to Chloe, who had become noticeably more transparent.

She responded somewhat curtly,

《Then you should have said it when I was alive. What good is it to say it now?》

Edmund gave a wry smile.

“Because I’m foolish.”

《Hmph, how shameless. Go on, speak.》

“Saintess, please listen as well.”

Caterina nodded.

To the two who had seen the future of Cain and Abel, Edmund asked a question he had harbored for a long time.

“Was Cain alone?”

《No, what have you been hearing until now? He appeared at the parade alone…… alone…….》

Chloe covered her mouth with both hands. She had realized what Edmund was implying.

He then directed his question to Caterina.

“Did Cain, by himself, surpass the Hero’s party and kill Abel?”

“Yes. Wielding a white greatsword, he instantly wiped out the elite troops, overtook us, and plunged his sword into the hero’s chest.”

“Did my second son, Abel, become a hero by killing the Demon King?”

“Yes.”

“Abel must have been strong. He was the Hero who defeated even the Demon King who would lead the world to ruin.”

“Yes, of course, the strongest Hero……!”

Caterina, too, grasped the meaning behind Edmund’s words.

While the two had been preoccupied with the titles of Hero and Demon King, Edmund had been focused on the individuals themselves.

“Whether he’s an ordinary person or the Demon King, to kill a hero at such a huge parade, he wouldn’t have done it alone. But Cain was alone.”

《Yes, he was utterly alone.》

“Could it be that Cain lived such a solitary life that he had to do such a thing alone?”

Chloe blinked.

Tears welled up in her eyes every time she closed her eyelids. She felt like a fool for only now realizing the loneliness and solitude of her only son.

Edmund then addressed Caterina once more.

“I don’t know much about Abel because I only saw him when he was young, but if he was taught by the Master Paladin of the Holy See, he must have been strong. Even more so since he defeated the Demon King.”

“……That’s correct.”

He pointed to the box containing ‘Summer,’ sealed with multiple layers of protection.

“He defeated the Demon King with that.”

“Yes.”

“And he had it with him during the parade?”

“……Yes.”

“And you’re saying his sword was taken from him in an instant, leading to his death? Does that make sense?”

Caterina bit her lower lip.

She had been overwhelmed by the emotions she felt at the time and had not been able to remain calm. As Chloe and Edmund had said, it was her present self who was observing and judging, but she had not been able to do so.

The events within the ‘revelation,’ as coldly analyzed by Edmund, were undoubtedly strange.

Unable to suppress a bitter smile, he fiddled with the hilt of his longsword.

“And as a swordsman, there’s one more thing I sense. Even if Abel grew stronger as the Hero, how did Cain become so strong……?”

Both women turned to Edmund.

Not even a feather could land on the blade of his sword. It possessed a sharpness that forced a choice between life and death.

And of all those present, Edmund was the one who had lived life on that razor’s edge more than anyone else.

“If he were that strong, his name would have spread throughout the continent, yet no one knew of him before the attack.”

While Chloe and Caterina’s visions of the future differed slightly, they shared common ground.

Edmund’s words fell within that shared space, and both women found themselves agreeing.

“Cain was the one who grew up in solitude, alone with his sword, and moved alone until the very end.”

Rumble, rumble, rumble━.

The temple trembled.

Edmund’s face, etched with a bitter smile, morphed into an expression of sorrow.

Simultaneously, an aura emanated from him.

Overwhelming.

It was like witnessing a colossal cliff crumbling before their very eyes.

“That’s why I will shatter that future.”

For the first time, his objective slipped from his lips.

As a father, as a swordsman, as a man.

Edmund, his heart heavy with concern for Cain’s future, declared resolutely,

“Whether he becomes the Demon King or the Hero, I will prevent that future by any means necessary.”

“Lord Count…….”

“And that’s what you both desire as well.”

From Caterina’s perspective, whatever transpired afterward, it was better if the future where Cain killed Abel was erased.

Chloe, too, wished for Cain to lead a happy life, regardless of whether he became the Hero or not.

“Help me.”

The world that Cain had changed by 15% had summoned Caterina to Airian and allowed Edmund to live.

Shing━.

And in this moment, the mightiest sword bent for the first time, all for the sake of his son’s future.

[The world of ‘18.5%’ smiles.]

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