The Swordmaster Who Returned After 1,000 Years

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 84

Swoosh—

The ceiling split cleanly in half, revealing a skull inside.

The pitch-black skull emanated an overwhelming dark energy.

"So, you were there."

Kaylen infused his sword with the mana of light as he aimed at the revealed enemy.

As soon as his sword was enveloped in aura, the black skull opened its mouth.

[That aura... Could it be, a Sword Master?!]

Without a word, Kaylen struck.

Crackle.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The black skull cracked instantly and split in two.

[Ugh... the power of light...!]

Even split in half, the skull continued to speak.

[You... you bastard...!]

Kaylen swung his sword again.

He seemed indifferent to whatever the skull had to say.

Soon, the skull shattered into hundreds of fragments and began burning into white ashes.

Kaylen silently watched as nothing but ashes remained.

However, the black ashes quickly spread in all directions...

And from every corner, identical black skulls began to appear.

Even with a rough count, their numbers exceeded hundreds.

[Who are you?]

The dark energy from the black skulls filled the surroundings.

At the same time, intricate magic circles became visible, densely covering the floors and walls of the once pitch-dark room.

[A Sword Master... A rare offering has walked right into my hands.]

The voice of the black skulls was filled with delight.

They spoke as if they had completely overpowered Kaylen.

And indeed...

'A binding magic circle. It's quite powerful.'

Kaylen could see the dark energy coiling around his feet.

Judging from his assessment, the magic circle extended throughout the entire palace.

Even for an average Sword Master, escaping would not be an easy feat.

After contemplating briefly, Kaylen spoke.

"Why is dark energy present in this place?"

[Hehehe... You don’t need to know. You're about to die soon anyway.]

"...I thought you'd tell me."

Kaylen smirked and drove his sword into the ground.

The skulls scoffed at the sight.

[Do you think an outdated Aura Sword can possibly resist this magic circl— what?!]

The black skulls let out a cry of astonishment.

The pure white aura contained within the sword tore through the dark energy effortlessly.

The dark energy binding Kaylen's feet dissipated, and the blood-red lines of the magic circle within the chamber began unraveling one by one.

[Kraaahhh...!]

The interior of the palace blazed with the pure mana of light.

The hundreds of black skulls that had mocked Kaylen were engulfed by the spreading light and disappeared one by one.

'For the amount of power they have, their response is quite lacking.'

The sheer amount of dark energy revealed in the annex was overwhelming, yet it proved powerless against Kaylen's Aura.

Once all the skulls had burned away and the blood-red magic circle had vanished completely, Kaylen surveyed his surroundings.

"I can't sense any more dark energy now."

Was this the end? He hadn't uncovered the true cause yet.

As he briefly pondered over his disappointment—

"Violet. Come to Mother's... annex."

Once again, the prince's voice echoed through the annex, and with it, the dark energy reappeared.

"I thought I had eradicated it completely."

Where was it coming from this time? Kaylen focused his senses as the blood-red magic circle re-emerged, spreading across the ceiling and walls.

Where was this sudden influx of dark energy originating from?

Kaylen slashed through the magic circle, carefully expanding his awareness.

As the magic circle ignited and vanished again, the moonlight shone through.

"The moonlight..."

Come to think of it, something was strange.

This was the deepest room within the annex.

With solid walls and no windows, there should have been no way for moonlight to seep in.

Yet, the ceiling and walls shimmered as if they were made of glass, allowing the moonlight to illuminate the space.

[Hehehe... So, you're stronger than I thought, Swordmaster. But it's futile. We are immortal.]

Once again, the black skulls began to form.

Kaylen observed them calmly and muttered,

"You're absorbing dark energy from the moonlight to regenerate."

[Hoho, you're no ordinary opponent to have figured that out.]

The black skulls opened their jaws in unison and let out eerie laughter.

[That's right! We have been blessed by the Great Demon God. With the moon's blessing, we are immortal. As long as the moonlight shines, we shall live forever!]

"So, I just need to eliminate you until dawn."

[Hehehe. Do you really think you can sustain that radiant Aura until then?]

The black skulls flew around Kaylen in circles, grinning menacingly as if mocking him.

[Keep killing us.]

[We'll rise again.]

[If you're afraid, why not run away?]

[If you think you can, that is.]

The black skulls spoke as if they already had Kaylen within their grasp.

But Kaylen remained unfazed.

Instead, something else piqued his interest.

"'We,' huh... So, you're not alone?"

[Curious, aren't you? Even when you're about to become a sacrifice.]

"This place is the royal annex of the Bormian Kingdom. It once belonged to Queen Diana, who was executed. Why here, of all places? Are you connected to the royal family?"

[The royal family? Heh. What does that even matter? Royalty is nothing more than humans—mere specks of dust compared to the mighty demon race.]

[We shall transcend into greater beings. We will cast off the feeble shackles of humanity, with its sickness, aging, and weakness!]

[We will become glorious demons!]

At first, their voices sounded unified…

The black skulls gradually began to make a ruckus.

Kaylen focused on the words about becoming a demon.

“…Do you, the descendant of Dragon Knight Bormian, wish to become a demon?”

[We reject him.]

[The name Bormian is a cursed name. He dared to defy the demon realm and died!]

[To atone for that sin, we sacrificed our bodies. We drained all the rotten blood inherited from Bormian, and we were purified. Once we destroy the kingdom he built, we will be able to become demons.] Hehehehe.

Hehehehe.

Laughter from the skulls echoed from all directions.

[We struggled so much to cleanse the sins of our foolish ancestors.]

[That damned Bormian who killed the great Count of the Demon Realm by sheer luck!]

[There has never been a descendant so detestable as the one carrying Bormian’s blood.]

[If he hadn’t killed the noble of the demon realm, we would have all become demons long ago!]

Kaylen smiled bitterly.

Bormian, the knight who had been more loyal and courageous than anyone else, was being mocked by his descendants.

Seeing his descendants, who were born into royalty and lived in luxury, now insulting their ancestor in their desire to become demons… it was truly absurd.

[Become a sacrifice quietly.]

[If we offer the Sword Master, who is now said to be gone, we will be highly praised. Hehe….]

[One of these humans is worth more than a hundred Meister.] The voice of the demon, who corrupted the human mind, echoed.

The black magic imbued in the voice reverberated through Kaylen's head, attempting to control him.

It wasn’t the subtle manipulation as Diether Hart had done.

This was blatant brainwashing based on overwhelming dark magic.

But Kaylen ignored it and spoke.

"Hehe. Is the Sword Master really worth more than the Meister?"

[Yes. We’ve sacrificed many Meisters already. They must be tired of them.]

[If we present a new delicacy, the great one will surely be pleased.]

Had they really sacrificed so many Meisters?

Suddenly, Kaylen remembered Lioness’s words.

- Do you know how powerful the royal family’s Civil Squad is? They could clear even the F-class dungeon currently left unattended.

Why had they built up their strength and yet not been active?

Kaylen had many doubts about the royal family’s Civil Squad.

Most of those chosen as Meisters were commoners, fallen nobles, or orphans—people with little or no connections.

‘They weren’t inactive… they might have been sacrificed.’

[Put down your sword.]

[Bow to your true master.]

As Kaylen stood there, the black skulls, thinking he had succumbed to dark magic, simultaneously uttered chilling incantations.

It was an attempt to seize control of his mind.

"Pitiful things." Chik chik.

Kaylen once again drove the sword imbued with the power of light into the ground.

A magic circle flared up once more, and hundreds of black skulls were all engulfed in white flames, but...

[Hehehe. Good. Come, rebel some more.]

[We will live forever.]

[We are immortal.]

The black skulls mocked Kaylen as they melted away.

After all, even if they burned, they would be reborn.

This powerful Sword Master’s depletion of energy was more welcome to them than if he had run away.

If he continued to use his strength like this, his mana would eventually run out, and he would become their prey.

The black skull smiled with joy at this thought, even as the flames raged.

Srrr.

One, as a new sword appeared in Kaylen’s hand, the joy turned into doubt.

It was a sword coated in pitch-black darkness.

What is that?

“You seem to trust in moonlight, so let me block it entirely.”

Kaylen’s shadow blade rapidly grew in size.

Without clashing with the Aura Sword of light, the darkness expanded outward.

Absorbing the black magic emitted by the black skull, it spread all the way outside the palace.

[No… You control dark magic…?]

The Sword Master was clearly someone who freely manipulated light mana. How could he control this opposite force, dark magic?

And he wielded it so skillfully.

The shadow blade lightly absorbed the black magic emitted by the skulls and cast a veil of darkness over the entire palace.

Clack clack clack—

The black skulls clacked their jaws in unease.

[The blessing of moonlight…]

[It’s weakening!]

As the moonlight, which had been like a lifeline, was blocked, the supply of dark magic noticeably weakened.

Of course, there was still some moonlight penetrating the dark veil, but it was nothing compared to before.

‘This guy… What is he?’

The white knight, whom they had considered nothing more than a mere sacrifice, suddenly appeared threatening.

To wield both light and darkness?

Is this even possible?

“Let’s see how long you can hold out.”

Inside the dark veil, the power of the light sword grew.

Although the blessing of the moonlight had clearly weakened, the light mana grew stronger, and……

The black skull, which had been emitting the most powerful mana, screamed.

[Diether Hart. Where is Violet?!]

[He definitely left the room... Ahhh!]

The black skull, called Diether Hart, burned completely.

Could that really be the first prince?

Kaylen briefly doubted, but then thought,

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

They were all bound by darkness, without a chance of redemption.

Whether it was the first prince or anyone else, traitors of humanity must be destroyed.

‘Bormian. I will punish your rotten descendants in your place.’

Kaylen no longer had anything he wanted to hear from them.

They were the ones who had sought to become demons, offering the Meister as a sacrifice, leaving behind their vile skulls and trying to cling to life by any means.

[If we vanish this time, we might not be able to revive…]

[Scatter!]

The black skulls, who had been surrounding Kaylen and mocking him, all fled in different directions at once.

However.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Kaylen’s broad sword surged forward, purging the surroundings with pure white flames.

One by one, the black skulls disappeared, sinking into the flames without even a scream.

[Ugh, ughhh… What kind of disaster is this…!]

The skull that contained the most dark magic was still holding on, but already, new white flames surrounded it.

‘Without the blessing of the moon, there’s no way I can resist…!’

Was the Sword Master really this powerful?

The dark magic accumulated over centuries was vanishing like dust.

Is this really the end?

Is this the end of the Bormian clan’s path to evolution…?

At that moment.

Boom!

A large ice spear pierced the palace’s wall, tearing through the dark veil.

And then,

“Who are you?”

Step. Step.

Violet, the one the black skull had been waiting for, slowly walked into the darkness that had been parted.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]