The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 159

Chapter 159: Spring in Hometown (1)

「The holy sword, ‘Summer,’ is strict.

It never grants power beyond its master’s limits. No matter the price, it only bestows as much power as the wielder can handle.

The holy crown, ‘Autumn’, rarely opens its eyes.

Whether it’s because it is the Holy Crown that proves the existence of God itself, or because it requires an immense price to grant power to its master, no one knows.

However, one thing is certain: if ‘Autumn’ starts to function properly, the end of the world will be near.

The magic sword, ‘Winter,’ is ephemeral.

It grants power in exchange for whatever its master desires. Even if the future is doomed, it allows them to sacrifice everything for the present.

From summer to autumn.

From autumn to winter.

This world, where spring has been cut short, will be swept away by ‘Winter’ and disappear.

Then what is the most ordinary season?

Is it ‘Summer,’ which strictly grants power within its limits, or ‘Winter,’ which grants infinite power as its master desires?

Or is it ‘Autumn,’ which turns a blind eye to all wishes?

━〈The season is dead〉 part」

🔹🔹🔹

Clickety-clack, clickety-clack━!

The sound of gears grinding constantly.

Die.

Be torn apart.

Scatter.

Forty-four lips on Golden Dawn’s body ceaselessly mutter incantations.

Clang!

Moreover, his swordsmanship and strength were extraordinary.

Cain crossed blades with him, staring into his gleaming golden eyes.

‘His skills are a cut below Edmund’s.’

It’s just that Edmund is excessively strong. This guy is pretty good.

And.

[The future is being consumed.]

Cain gritted his teeth.

It was true that his swordsmanship was inferior to Edmund’s, but the power he possessed was too strong.

The difference between the power contained in their swords was like that of a stream and an ocean.

That’s why Edmund could only circle around, looking for an opening, unable to intervene in their exchange.

‘He’s just brutally strong……’

Cain wasn’t in a good situation either.

Lost in a daze.

When Golden Dawn’s golden eyes flashed.

As before, without any warning, he would be pulled into a world of illusions.

Cross Strike.

Kyrie Eleison.

The only way to stop it was to break free after being pulled in, using overwhelming force.

[The future is being consumed.]

“How long can you hold out?”

Golden Dawn grinned.

The old man-like appearance from before was gone; standing there was a hunter.

A cruel predator that chases its prey relentlessly until it finally catches it.

He was driving Cain into a corner.

“You’re only seventeen. No matter how great your enlightenment and miracles are, there’s a limit to the power you can possess.”

“…….”

“But you’ve clearly surpassed that now. There’s always a price to pay for infinite power. What’s your price? Lifespan? Memories?”

“Shut up and fight.”

Cain gritted his teeth.

He wasn’t wrong.

He was suited for short battles and fights against giant monsters.

He specialized in explosively unleashing power to attack gigantic opponents. That was the nature of ‘Winter’s’ power and ‘Dark Sky.’

But now, it was a duel.

[‘Winter’ says we need to think of another way.]

There’s a limit to how many times he can sacrifice the future.

Or rather, he should only burn it when the result of sacrificing it is clear. Fighting like this endlessly was the worst.

Besides, that damn ‘Daydreaming’ technique was consuming a considerable amount of power.

“It’s not an illusion.”

Hearing Cain’s words, Golden Dawn brushed back his hair as Cain had done.

As if he had won a victory.

He glanced at Edmund, who was watching from within the barrier without blinking, and Abel, who was recovering his stamina and waiting outside the barrier.

“If it was just showing illusions, I wouldn’t use it.”

“What is it then?”

Cain asked bluntly.

There were many who could create illusions in the Great Wall. But there was no one who could cast illusions so quickly and seamlessly, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and fantasy.

Golden Dawn smirked.

“You think I’ll tell you?”

[‘Winter’ says it’s observation.]

Cain’s eyes lit up.

He knew ‘Winter’ had limitations and couldn’t tell him everything. Then this was a hint.

‘I thought it couldn’t be, but I didn’t know it was actually possible.’

Just like Golden Dawn had done.

He brushed back his hair, mirroring his reflection.

“…….”

Golden Dawn’s eyes twitched.

Cain’s sudden composure was strange.

“Observation, huh.”

“……!”

His eyes widened.

How did he figure out his secret? Did he understand ‘Daydreaming’ just from experiencing it a few times?

“This reality is different depending on who’s looking at it.”

If Golden Dawn sees himself, it’s the front, but if Edmund sees him, it’s the side.

Even if they look at the same moment, it looks different depending on who’s looking.

“I wasn’t trapped in an illusion. It’s just that I was divided into two observations by your distinction.”

[‘Winter’ says the future belongs to those who walk the present.]

He got the hint the first time he was pulled in. It was the moment he consumed the future to finish off Golden Dawn.

When he moved in a false illusion, the precious ‘future’ wasn’t consumed. Because ‘Winter’ didn’t want it.

But what about reality?

If that situation was real, the ‘future’ would be consumed.

“You’re dividing it into reality where something happened and reality where it didn’t, and making me choose?”

At Cain’s words, Golden Dawn’s jaw dropped.

He would have accepted it calmly, but Cain’s reasoning about ‘Daydreaming’ was terrifying.

He would rather be stabbed by a sword.

It sent shivers down his spine to see how quickly Cain was figuring it out after experiencing it only a few times.

“You… What the hell are you?”

Cain pointed at Abel.

“The older brother of that guy you’re so desperate to see.”

“The older brother of thee who shall not be named.”

“And a half-brother, by the way.”

“That’s right, since that guy is my father.”

This time, Golden Dawn looked at Edmund. Then Cain smirked and continued.

“Different mothers, different fathers.”

“……?”

Golden Dawn blinked.

Even he couldn’t know the secret behind Abel’s birth.

Then he chuckled.

“You’re scary. A tongue sharper than a blade.”

“A blade’s a blade, as long as it cuts.”

“Right. Had enough rest?”

Swoosh!

Golden Dawn took a step forward.

Edmund moved in sync with him, but the power he wielded was insignificant compared to ‘Winter’ or Golden Dawn.

Cain took a step back.

[‘Winter’ says don’t do anything crazy like throwing all of the future into this.]

‘I won’t.’

Cain smiled bitterly to himself.

He could feel how urgent it was for ‘Winter’, who usually tried to speak politely and elegantly, to say something like that.

‘It’s no use. If that guy’s technique makes it so it never happened, it’s my loss.’

But there was no other way.

He had created an environment to capture him, but he couldn’t capture him.

Edmund was strong, but he didn’t have the power to reach Golden Dawn, and Cain was strong, but it was difficult to land a decisive blow due to Golden Dawn’s technique.

‘If only I could figure out a way to deal with his Daydreaming……’

Cain’s cold purple eyes gleamed. But no matter how much he stared at Golden Dawn, he couldn’t find an answer.

It was truly a miracle.

What made a witch’s ‘miracle,’ awakened from ‘origin,’ different from magic was that it literally invoked miracles.

What was the way to break such an absurd miracle that created two realities by changing observations and making him choose?

Thud!

The enemy gave him no time to think. Golden Dawn sprinted, clad in armor made of teeth.

Crimson Flood.

Two Fists.

Heaven and Earth Blade.

‘Eastern techniques again!’

His fists unfurled.

With a flick of his wrists, his wide-open palms swept towards Cain.

Tat-tat!

Cain leaned back.

However, Golden Dawn’s two hands followed tenaciously like snakes, their target being Agweska.

Kuuuuuuuaaaaang!

His palms struck the gap in Cain’s defense and slammed into Agweska’s black blade.

A tremendous roar, like a giant bell being struck, swept through the surroundings.

“……It’s not just any sword.”

He smacked his lips and stepped back.

“Was it a weapon-breaking technique?”

Cain’s eyes gleamed even more at the vibration that resonated from his fingertips.

If it wasn’t for Sword of Despair Agweska, which was said to be unbreakable as long as his will didn’t waver, it would have been broken.

“Now I’ll have to hit your body instead of your sword.”

And his body flowed once more.

Kwaaaang!

Cain’s left foot stomped on the ground, which had become a battlefield, with enough force to shatter it.

Craaaack!

The earth cracked like a spiderweb, centered on his foot.

His white cloak fluttered madly, and the white crown crafted by ‘Winter’ sparkled even brighter in the sunlight.

Gloria.

Cain’s sword began to weave a net.

[The future is being consumed.]

Within that meticulously woven net, Golden Dawn’s golden eyes flashed once more.

Daydreaming.

The moment Cain swung his sword vanished.

His vision returned to Golden Dawn charging towards him.

‘Damn it!’

Cain gripped his sword tightly.

It wasn’t difficult to cut down this enemy, even if it meant consuming the future. But this damn power kept undoing what had happened, making him waste his future for nothing.

[‘Winter’ says that if there’s one more ‘Immutable Observer,’ it can block the double observation.]

The world slowed down.

Tick. Tock.

Slowly and sluggishly.

As Winter’s message faded, he could see Golden Dawn’s emotionless face as he charged, Edmund anxiously waiting for an opening.

And Abel’s face, lamenting that he could only watch from outside.

[‘Winter’ says spring can’t last forever. After spring comes ‘Summer.’]

“Summer?”

Kuuung!

The moment he uttered the name, Cain felt as if his heart had dropped.

It felt like being sucked into an endless, absurd darkness. As if he had touched upon a truth of the world that should never be reached.

[‘Winter’ hopes for ‘Spring’ to come next.]

Clank, clank!

A strange sound came from afar.

In the slowed-down time, he could hear the sound of the holy sword case that Saintess Caterina always carried shaking.

[‘Summer’ says no.]

[‘Summer’ says that it cannot accept anyone other than its master, ■■■, even temporarily.]

[‘Summer’ vows that it will always wait for him, even after a thousand or ten thousand years.]

The holy sword, Summer.

A brilliant and sacred pillar that starts from the ground and reaches the heavens.

It symbolizes the hero and the hope of humanity. Not only that, but it is also a divine sword that originally protected the Emperor of the Empire.

The golden sword, the holy sword ‘Summer,’ shot out of its case and floated in mid-air.

As if observing the situation.

‘Is the Immutable Observer the holy sword?’

No matter how great Golden Dawn’s miracle was, it was like a candle before the sun compared to the 〈Sacred Treasures of the Four Seasons〉.

[‘Winter’ says yes.]

[‘Summer’ says that it cannot accept anyone other than ■■■ as its master, even temporarily.]

[‘Winter’ says to look at the situation.]

[‘Summer’ says that’s not it━.]

As Cain blinked at the two sacred treasures’ conversation.

[The future is being consumed.]

[‘Spring’ laughs wryly, saying that no matter how much time passes, that personality will never go away.]

The future was being consumed even though he hadn’t done anything.

【How long are you going to act spoiled?】

The sky split open.

Just like when he activated Winter of Night, the blue sky ripped apart, revealing a black hole.

[‘Summer’ sobs and says that he will come back, that he will change…….]

【Shut up.】

A slender, white hand, radiating a blindingly intense light, emerged.

It forcibly grabs the floating ‘Summer’ and breaks through Oleciren’s barrier.

Thud!

… plunged the holy sword in front of Cain.

【Pull it out.】

The voice was so dazzling and affectionate that Cain felt tears welling up as if he had become a fool.

【My Cain.】

Although Chloe and Edmund had given birth to him, it was ‘Winter’ who had raised Cain.

And now, for the first time.

He heard ‘Winter’s’ voice.

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