The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 170

Chapter 170: Seventeen’s Summer (2)

[‘Summer’ frantically waves his hands, shouting that she doesn’t know anything.]

Cain chuckled at the message, sensing ‘Summer’s’ confusion.

Whoosh—

At that moment, two tentacles, like arms, shot out from the pure white mass of light representing ‘Winter’, grabbing ‘Summer’.

Fwooosh— Thud—

Cain glanced sideways to see ‘Winter’ swinging ‘Summer’ around by something resembling her hair.

[‘Summer’ screams that this is all Cain’s scheme, revenge for the Glumiêm incident.]

[‘Winter’ replies that she had momentarily forgotten about it and tells ‘Summer’ to take some more hits while she’s at it.]

Back during the Glumiêm incident, ‘Summer’ and ‘Autumn’ had restricted ‘Winter’, leaving Cain to fight without any Passive skills.

He had suffered a loss, regardless of the reason.

‘Spring’, who had been watching their antics with pity, asked Cain,

【So, revenge?】

“It’s the only way to vent.”

[‘Summer’ cries out that the human has the cunning of a hundred foxes inside him…]

[‘Winter’ cuts ‘Summer’ off mid-sentence, striking her mouth.]

Their fight intensified.

Cain smiled, watching as ‘Winter’ clearly held the upper hand.

【’Winter’s Passive is called ‘Pure White Thunderbolt’. It’s a power that pushes the owner’s limits and forces growth.】

“Whether you die or live, endure or break, it pushes you infinitely.”

He knew it well.

He had no choice but to know.

It was the lightning that had been with him from the moment he inherited the magic sword, ‘Winter’.

【On the other hand, ‘Summer’s Passive is ‘Golden Sunlight’. It grants power that the owner can handle and specializes in recovery and regeneration.】

Cain tapped his chin meaningfully.

‘Spring’ shrugged as if used to it, shaking his head.

【Figure out what my Passive is yourself.】

“Will I even be able to?”

【Not like you did with ‘Summer’, that’s for sure.】

‘Winter’ and ‘Summer’, who had been listening to their conversation while fighting, stopped and turned to look at them.

Then, ‘Summer’ began to shine intensely.

[‘Summer’ asks if that’s what he had asked him back then.]

[‘Winter’ punches ‘Summer’ in the stomach, demanding to know what he’s talking about and to speak quickly.]

[‘Summer’ says that ‘Winter’ was also there at the time. He asks if she doesn’t remember when Cain, having just become their owner, asked about their powers and how to use them.]

Blink—

‘Winter’ blinked slowly, as if she couldn’t recall.

‘Summer’, exasperated, flashed brightly and approached Cain.

Cain smiled and nodded.

—If I were to get seriously injured, could your power heal me?

Unlike ‘Winter’s Passive, ‘Summer’s Passive excelled in regeneration and recovery, so ‘Summer’ had agreed.

—Even if my heart was pierced?

‘Summer’ couldn’t answer immediately.

Usually, death would be inevitable, and he had been controlling his healing to stay within the limits of an ordinary human.

But Cain was anything but ordinary. He had already endured ‘Winter’s Active skill, so he couldn’t be treated the same way.

“Back then, ‘Summer’ said it would be a little difficult.”

‘Spring’ chuckled at Cain’s words, as if he had expected it.

“And you also asked what would happen if you fell off a cliff.”

[‘Summer’ says he vaguely answered that his Passive would somehow protect Cain.]

Cain pushed himself up from the floor, groaning.

He felt as weak as if he had been bedridden for months.

【It’s remarkable you’re even in this condition after being stabbed by the Demon King’s sword while completely powerless.】

‘Spring’ gave a positive assessment of Cain’s current state.

Cain looked around at ‘Spring’, ‘Summer’, and ‘Winter’ surrounding him and opened his mouth.

“You guys probably know about the future I saw on the train to Ironheart, right?”

All three remained silent.

Only ‘Winter’ blinked, indicating her inability to speak.

Cain continued, unfazed.

“What I found strange about the future I saw was that Agweska broke.”

【The Witch’s Sword of Despair, which will never break as long as your will remains unbroken.】

“Why would such a sword break? Was I so heartbroken when Oleciren stabbed me?”

Cain smirked.

It was the smile of a gambler who had won a life-or-death bet.

“That can’t be it. To put it another way, my will could break the sword at any time.”

[‘Winter’ asks worriedly if he means he broke it himself to control the wound.]

Cain nodded.

It was true.

He had been so close to dying from his heart nearly being split in two. He hadn’t expected the world’s restraining force to press down on him and render him powerless.

Fortunately, as planned, the sword had broken, preventing her power from reaching its full potential, and he was able to escape with only a slight scratch on his heart.

“I fell off the cliff because I deliberately fell so that I wouldn’t be finished.”

[‘Summer’ asks if that means he trusted her.]

Cain smiled wryly and nodded again.

“Well, you’re not exactly my type, but you did say you’d stay with me. I had to trust you.”

【Trust, huh.】

‘Spring’ nodded in satisfaction.

He was truly happy to see the relationship between Cain and the other two sacred treasures improving.

[‘Summer’ lowers his head.]

[‘Summer’ says that restricting ‘Winter’ during the Glumiêm incident was necessary.]

[‘Summer’ says that he knows it was wrong to put him in danger, even if it was necessary.]

Blink—

The golden light representing ‘Summer’ flickered, as if bowing deeply.

Then, seemingly embarrassed, he moved to a corner of the room.

[‘Winter’ says she’s never seen ‘Summer’ act like this before.]

【Me neither.】

The two looked at ‘Summer’ with an emotion closest to longing, though they couldn’t quite put it into words.

“So, what happens now?”

【I don’t know.】

“……?”

【I see the world through you. Therefore, I am also unaware of the moments you are not aware of. But that friend is different.】

‘Spring’ pointed a finger at ‘Winter’.

[‘Winter’ says that Airian is in big trouble.]

[‘Winter’ says that the Empire is also in big trouble.]

[‘Winter’ says that the Holy See has gone half-mad.]

She made it sound like a big deal, but it wasn’t particularly informative.

Cain simply lay back down on the floor, resigned.

“Well, I’ll recover thanks to ‘Summer’s Passive, and when I do, I’ll get up…… eventually.”

And with that, he fell asleep.

A warrior who had pushed himself to his limits, forgetting even fatigue and sleep, could finally rest now that one season had come to an end.

🔹🔹🔹

“C, Captain!”

Anje, the intelligence officer who had been on the submarine ‘Tuna’ with Cain, hurried after him with a handful of documents.

Lourens, the head of the Special Intelligence Division, who was transporting Cain in a coffin by carriage, shot her a sharp look.

Anje, flustered, covered her mouth and carefully climbed into the carriage, sitting next to Lourens.

“What is it? If you’re making such a fuss over nothing……”

“T-The Holy See’s Celestial Temple has appeared in Airian!”

“……!”

Lourens mirrored Anje’s shocked expression.

The Sky Temple, Mimesis.

The Holy See’s strongest fortress and weapon, the legendary temple that had once brought about the Empire’s Dark Age.

It was also an invincible legend, sealed away when the Holy See declared it would no longer exert influence over the continent and would only intervene in matters of divinity!

“They say it’s currently floating in the sky above Ethelred territory.”

Both instinctively glanced inside the carriage.

“Did the Holy See always go this far just because a hero appeared……?”

Lourens asked dubiously.

He knew there would be significant repercussions after they took the hero and the holy sword, ‘Summer’, and flew off.

But there were limits. This was like bringing a magic cannon to a knife fight.

“According to historical records, this has never happened before. I heard Mimesis is a weapon against the Demon King.”

Lourens shook his head.

His drab blond hair, common among imperial men, swayed along.

“That’s not entirely accurate.”

“You mean even something that powerful can’t defeat the Demon King?”

“To be precise, there are only a limited number of weapons that work against the Demon King.”

“……?”

“Do you know why humans are so afraid of the Demon King, even though we have developed so much? Because he’s strong? Because there are so many monsters that follow him?”

“I don’t know.”

Lourens handed the reins of the horse he was holding to Anje.

She looked puzzled but took the reins and started driving the carriage.

“This is why.”

“Yes?”

“There are many ways to make horses go forward. But the only tool that makes them go in the direction we want, at the speed we want, is this rein.”

“Ah!”

Though her demeanor was somewhat girlish, Anje was an elite intelligence officer.

She immediately grasped what Lourens was trying to say.

“We could pour unlimited firepower into defeating the Demon King, but it’s much more cost-effective to appease one kid who pulled out a holy sword.”

“Aha. If we lose a Celestial Temple like Mimesis without any real results, the damage would be immense.”

Clatter—

Amidst their casual conversation, the carriage continued down the quiet country road in the southern Empire.

“Then, if we reveal that we have the hero……”

Anje shuddered.

The terror from the sky.

The invincible legend, Mimesis.

If it unleashed its light of ruin once more……

“The Empire is not as powerless as it once was.”

Lourens clenched his fists, his voice firm.

“We have the Knight Lord Duke and the Magic Lord Duke, both transcending human limitations. We have two towers that operate solely on merit, discarding any notion of bloodline. We won’t be helplessly overrun like before.”

“But His Majesty’s health……”

“Shh.”

Lourens cut Anje off with a slightly menacing look.

It was an unspoken rule of the Special Intelligence Division to never mention the imperial family.

Anje zipped her mouth shut and nodded, and Lourens clicked his tongue and looked ahead.

“We wouldn’t have brought him with us if it weren’t for your ability.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“You’ve become brazen.”

“I have to be, to even speak in front of Marquis Wiseman, whom we’re visiting now.”

“That’s……”

Lourens started to say something but shook his head, letting the words trail off.

Anje was right, and he himself wondered if going to 〈Märchen Academy〉, where Marquis Wizeman resided, was the right choice.

But they had no other option.

“If we want to avoid the spectacle of those Holy See fanatics marching into the Empire aboard Mimesis, our only hope is Marquis Wizman.”

“Will we be alright before that?”

“With you here…… and besides, within the academy where the 13th Princess resides, even Marquis Wizeman wouldn’t cross the line.”

Clatter—

The secluded country road was nearing its end.

The purple roofs of 〈Märchen Academy〉, located in Märchen, a quiet academy city in the southern Empire, slowly came into view.

This was the summer of the Empire that awaited Cain.

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