The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 130

Chapter 130: You are my Spring (5)

The night sky twinkled with stars.

And now, something else shimmered.

Tears streamed down Chloe’s cheeks. Though already half transparent, they shone with a distinct light.

“…….”

Edmund remained silent.

But his eyes were filled with countless questions.

A man’s candid confession of his wounds hung heavy in the air.

In that somber atmosphere,

“Time…….”

Abel spoke.

Arna tried to stop him, holding his hand, but he stepped forward.

“What my brother speaks of is time.”

Cain smiled faintly.

As if responding to that smile, Abel continued.

“It was strange earlier. You refused to leave when Lord Count Edmund asked, but you moved when Mother asked the same.”

“Indeed.”

“It wasn’t about the reason or the manner, but about the person. About how much time you’ve spent together.”

“That’s right. I believe time is more important than blood ties.”

There was no need to look far.

The Northern Expeditionary Force, still stationed in the south, served as a prime example.

Different affiliations, different interests. Yet, they sat together around a bonfire, sharing drinks as if those differences didn’t matter.

Time.

They had watched each other’s backs.

They had fought side by side against the elves.

They had witnessed the legend of the colossal World Tree, its head piercing the clouds, clashing against the Lava Giant.

And they had witnessed the myth of a single man’s sword cleaving through it all.

The time they shared had forged an unbreakable bond between them.

“But that is not me.”

Cain drew a clear line between himself and Edmund and Chloe.

“We don’t have that shared history.”

“…….”

“I respect you both. But that’s all there is.”

Edmund was a valuable asset in battle.

And he was Cain’s father by blood.

But he held no further significance to Cain.

It was then that Edmund finally opened his mouth. His deep brown eyes were terribly numb. However, he could not hide a slight tremble.

“Who are you?”

“Cain. Cain Ethelred.”

“Are you truly the seventeen-year-old firstborn of Ethelred?”

“…….”

Edmund’s question struck a nerve.

Arna and Abel turned to Cain.

It was a question they all harbored but dared not ask, having witnessed his noble sacrifice.

And for Edmund, who had fought alongside Cain, their blades clashing, the question held even greater weight.

“You might be a sword prodigy, even surpassing me. In my prime, I, too, could perceive a hundred paths in a single swing.”

The strongest sword of Airian.

A force to be reckoned with, even across the continent.

From birth, Edmund had been a genius blessed by the sword. Yet, even he found Cain’s strength unfathomable.

“I could convince myself that your power stems from ‘Spring.’ But your swordsmanship…… that’s different.”

Edmund mimicked an awkward stance, like a puppet. Chloe, still teary-eyed, watched him with wide eyes.

“I asked you to replicate the swordsmanship you displayed from the future.”

Before, Chloe had copied Cain as best as she could from the image she had seen in Edmund’s words.

And within that clumsy imitation, the Airian sword genius had glimpsed the truth.

“That step, it was a force to be reckoned with, capable of crushing an army in an instant.”

Thump━.

Edmund stomped his foot.

He began to slowly replicate the steps Cain had only recently mastered, the ‘White Starlight Step.’

“That first strike that sent them flying wasn’t a simple horizontal cut. It was a high-level technique, controlling power with precision to disarm without killing.”

It was Dark Sky’s Kyrie Eleison.

“And that move to push back the charging troops, that must have been the technique you used against the World Tree.”

Gloria Excelsis Deo.

However, Edmund shook his head.

“I can grasp the basics of what came after, but no more. Your swordsmanship follows a path entirely different from mine.”

Anyone could watch.

But understanding what they saw was a different matter.

Chloe had witnessed the scene more clearly than Edmund, but she lacked the knowledge and experience to comprehend it.

Edmund, on the other hand, had only experienced it through imitation, but as a fellow swordsman, he perceived it differently.

“And yet, the you standing here now wields the same swordsmanship as your future self.”

“…….”

“Even if you are a prodigy surpassing me, how could you possibly imbue your sword with such vast experience in such a short time?”

Only Edmund could have noticed.

Someone relying solely on logic and deduction would never have perceived it.

But Edmund, who saw only the sword of his opponent, recognized ‘Cain’ not in his appearance, but in his swordsmanship.

[‘Winter’ mutters that he really is a monster.]

“So, who are you? The seventeen-year-old Cain could never wield a sword like that.”

Cain looked at everyone present.

He met the gaze of each of the four pairs of eyes fixed on him and slowly raised his head.

Stars seemed to cascade from the sky.

The starlight, twinkling as if desperately calling out for him to acknowledge its existence.

Remembering the weight of the snowflake that always patted his shoulder.

“I am Cain.”

Cain affirmed his identity.

[23% of the world clasps their hands, hoping for a brighter future.]

[‘Winter’ is tormented by its powerlessness, unable to resolve this situation.]

[‘Winter’ desperately calls out for ‘Spring.’]

Messages appeared in rapid succession.

Whooosh━.

A gust of wind swept through.

It wasn’t the icy wind from the north, nor the gentle breeze from the forest.

Whooosh━!!

As everyone hesitated before the sudden, blinding gale,

[

‘Spring’ manifests in the place ‘Where Spring Falls Asleep.’]

[Geographical correction is applied.]

[Confirmed ‘Chloe Ethelred’ as the one who awakened ‘Spring.’]

[Correction is applied for the unsealer.]

[Confirmed the will of ‘Spring’ and ‘Winter.’]

[World Line Fixation consumption is minimal.]

[World Line Fixation: ▼ 22.5%]

‘Spring’ appeared, devouring the altered world.

Red, blue, yellow.

The storm transformed into a spring breeze carrying a flurry of flower petals seemingly from another world. And before Cain, a man materialized.

《Ca…… in?》

Chloe gasped, her mouth agape.

He looked exactly like how she imagined Cain would look after a decade.

And exactly like the future Cain she had seen through the witch’s ‘miracle.’

【…….】

Haunted violet eyes.

An aura of melancholy, as if he wouldn’t hesitate to embrace death.

Gulp━.

Abel covered his mouth in shock.

He was the spitting image of the phantom Cain they had encountered on the train to Count Crowl’s territory.

Step━.

‘Spring,’ embodying Cain’s future self, slowly stepped forward. Passing between Chloe and Edmund, he extended his hand towards them.

【Take my hand.】

Edmund scrutinized him silently.

His build was slightly larger than his own, and the scent of blood and profound loneliness clung to him, a testament to the countless lives he had taken.

【I will give you time.】

Whoosh━.

A gentle spring breeze swept through.

It pushed Abel and Arna back, and ‘Spring’ pulled Cain to stand opposite him.

Chloe and Edmund stood between them.

Squeeze━.

Chloe grasped ‘Spring’s’ outstretched hand. Examining his hand covered in countless scars, big and small, she spoke.

《My son, you must have suffered so much.》

【…….】

‘Spring’ gazed at her silently for a moment before turning to Edmund. After a moment of hesitation at the unexpected turn of events, Edmund

Squeeze.

Took ‘Spring’s’ hand, following Chloe’s lead.

‘Spring’ looked down at Cain, who stood before him.

【You, take the hands of these two.】

“Why should I?”

Cain’s reply was curt.

At the bottom of the man who had poured out the sadness he had harbored in his chest for decades, a gaping wound lay open.

The wound in his heart ran so deep and dark that it threatened to become an impenetrable wall.

【Do you know what hurts the most in this world? Regret.】

The wind blew.

And that warm wind slowly led Chloe and Cain’s hands, and Edmund and Cain’s hands, to clasp together.

【Many miracles have aligned here. Something that should never have been possible…….】

‘Spring’ looked around with affectionate eyes.

Here, at the peak of the egg-shaped structure where he had slumbered, ‘Spring’ hadn’t forgotten the pure heart that had ultimately found him.

【I was fated to sleep until the end of this world. It was a woman’s desperate wish that broke that fate.】

The desire to save her child.

The fervent hope that he would live a life without her.

That desperation had led Chloe to this place, allowing her to find ‘Spring,’ a being no one in history had ever reached.

【Just as you are my miracle.】

Woo, woo, woo━.

A song drifted from afar.

Was it a lament? Or a joyous cry?

Slowly, the world began to grind to a halt.

The ceaseless roar of the icy waves faded. The whispering cacophony of leaves and branches in the forest fell silent.

“Bro…… ther━!”

Abel’s cry was cut short as they froze.

The stars that had twinkled so brightly in the distant sky began to dim, one by one.

【You are my miracles.】

Silence descended upon the world, devoid of all sound.

Colors slowly faded and blurred.

In a world painted only in black and white, light and shadow, ‘Spring’ smiled gently.

【Oh, God, forgive Spring’s transgression.】

[World Line Fixation: 22.5%]

[The consumption of fixed points comes to a halt.]

🔹🔹🔹

In the ethereal expanse of the universe chamber, bathed in a soft glow,

The four individuals who had stood at the very edge of Airian’s island reappeared.

No, there were five now.

‘Spring,’ who had been one, was now two distinct beings.

The adult ‘Spring’ led Edmund and Chloe, showing them each frame one by one, while the child ‘Spring’ sat beside Cain.

Cain stared at the young ‘Spring’ who looked identical to his current self.

“What is the meaning of this?”

【Understanding.】

“Understanding?”

【You don’t understand each other. So, I’ll help you understand.】

“I don’t need that. I am complete as I am…….”

The young Spring smiled and asked.

【Really?】

“…….”

【Then let’s see.】

Snap━.

The young ‘Spring’ snapped his fingers.

A small frame appeared, one that Cain himself had created.

It held the faces of everyone who had fought alongside him against Glumiêm. ‘Spring’ pointed to Edmund’s face within the frame.

【You enjoy being with them like this, yet you say no?】

“That’s a history I created.”

【And what about them?】

‘Spring’s’ finger moved slowly.

It pointed to Chloe, weeping as she looked at each of Cain’s frames, and Edmund, watching silently beside her.

【I am showing them your past. And they are coming to understand your time.】

“That’s unpleasant.”

【What is?】

“I never intended to tell them that I regressed from a different timeline.”

【Neither did I.】

“……?”

‘Spring’ spread his arms wide.

The universe, viewed from the void beyond the sky, was even more dazzling and magnificent than the night sky seen from the ground.

【In this impossible space, anything is possible. Don’t worry.】

“Why?”

Cain stared intently at ‘Spring.’

He slowly rested his hand on Agweska at his hip and asked,

“What do you desire, Spring, that you would go to such lengths?”

【You are my Spring, Cain Ethelred.】

‘Spring’ answered with a pure, innocent smile that Cain could never replicate.

【And I am your ‘Spring.’ I won’t let you live with regrets.】

『’Spring’s’ will……confirmed.』

『Early Spring’s seal……released.』

『Imbolg’s ‘Spring’……unlocked.』

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