Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 208

208.

“Are you all ready? Shall we open the door now?”

“What door are you talking about?”

I looked around, puzzled by Kanos’s words. Although the space was quite large, I couldn’t see any doors. As if to show off, Kanos pointed in one direction. Then, an amazing thing happened before my eyes. Long lines began to appear on the empty wall as if a picture was being drawn, and soon a huge iron door materialized.

With a light snap of his fingers, the iron door slowly began to open as if obeying his command. With a creak of rusty metal grinding against metal, light poured out from the inside, quickly illuminating the area.

The sight that greeted me made my eyes widen. Inside the wide-open door, at the end of my gaze, was a small altar built like a stone tower.

The first thing that caught my eye was the huge black sword stuck vertically on the altar. It was a simple shape without any special decorations, but I recognized it at a glance as the sword we were looking for. It was hard to take my eyes off the jet-black blade because I felt a strange energy emanating from it. It looked like a magical sword that would strike anyone who saw it as extraordinary. And right below it, as if protected by the sword, a golden egg was wrapped in red silk. It was clearly the demon egg that Kanos had mentioned.

“……!”

I was startled by the voice that came as soon as I grasped the situation. The other members of the party also widened their eyes.

What? Where did that voice come from? The calmly echoing voice was that of a boy whose voice had not yet broken. When I looked at Kanos, he chuckled and pointed to the altar with his finger. It happened almost simultaneously with the voice echoing again.

‘Fire Buster.’

The being who called himself by that name was clearly the magic sword stuck in the altar. Whether it was because of the surprise of the sword speaking, or because of the solemn tone, it felt pure and mysterious, like watching a fragile fantasy. Even the air around me seemed reverent. A heavy emotion filled my chest, a sense of standing before something great. Until a loud burst of laughter erupted.

“Pwahahahaha!”

The deafening roar, like a train whistle, jolted me awake. The one who shattered the drowsy air in an instant was none other than Kanos.

“All the power in the world, he says! He’s going to give me all the power in the world! Oh, my stomach! Ohhh!”

He pounded on the wall and laughed like crazy. I was embarrassed, thinking it was too much.

The sword’s tone changed in an instant, and its voice became sharp. I widened my eyes at the unexpected change. Kanos, who had barely stopped laughing, smirked and replied.

“Yep, it’s me.”

“Pfft! Isn’t it time to give up? I’m telling you, the traps in this dungeon aren’t easy enough for mere adventurers to break through.”

“Heh, try it. It’s about to hatch, so it’ll never burn.”

“…….”

There wasn’t a single trace of the mysterious first impression left in the tearful cry. The polite tone from before was all pretense, and this was definitely its true personality. I’ve heard of split personalities, but I never knew there was such a thing as a split-sword-ality [a play on ‘split personality,’ suggesting the sword has multiple personalities]. But apart from that, what really bothered me was something else. The name ‘Ifrit’ that had been repeated since earlier.

“I won’t. I’m stronger anyway.”

“Wow, you just insulted me four times? Okay. I’ll count it as a hundred years per insult, so you won’t be able to meet a hero for the next four hundred years.”

My face was naturally contorted at the name that came out again at this moment. Ifrit. Could it be the Fire Spirit King Ifrit that I know? I don’t know why the magic sword is asking the Spirit King for help. Even if the Demon God is in that state (?), and can’t be followed, shouldn’t it at least cling to the demons?

Besides, according to the conversation, it seems that Ifrit was the one who brought the sword here. It was all new to me. But when I think about it, he had a strange lingering feeling when he handed over the map. He seemed to know a lot about the sword, too.

What kind of relationship are they in? Judging from the fact that the sword mentioned Ifrit from the moment it introduced itself, it clearly regarded him as very special. The impressive line was easy to recall. A product of Ifrit, a spirit sword with Ignis sealed inside, it said. Yes, it definitely said that. Spirit sword.

“……Spirit sword?”

W-wait a minute! Spirit sword? Why a spirit sword? Not a magic sword?

The discomfort that I hadn’t realized due to the overwhelming excitement belatedly covered my whole body. When I hurriedly looked at the sword, I really felt a hot fire energy. Cold sweat ran down my spine. No way, this can’t be, it shouldn’t be, but… I wasn’t tricked by Ifrit, was I?

The sword, which had been sniffling, suddenly raised its voice as I was calmly trying to sort out the situation. It seemed to have sensed my voice, probably because its ears were sharp for a sword. “I said it.” I answered without hesitation. Now that it’s come to this, I was going to directly confirm the truth.

The sword screamed. It seemed very excited that its guess was correct. Of course, I wasn’t in the mood to be excited, so I greeted weakly.

“Hello, nice to meet you. I have something to ask you…”

“What? No, I’m…”

“…….”

It seemed that this sword only recognized voices and didn’t recognize anything else. It didn’t even try to listen to what I had to say and just pushed its own agenda, so its personality didn’t seem very good. I couldn’t understand why it was testing my qualifications as the hero it had been waiting for. Besides, it wanted me to get rid of the Demon God; the level was too high from the start!

“Wow, El is going to defeat me? I’m honored.”

My fighting power, which didn’t exist in the first place, plummeted even further at the sly face that grinned. Kanos, who saw my expression, which must have been rotten, asked with a puzzled look.

“What’s wrong? You don’t look so good.”

“That’s…”

“It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for, isn’t it? You found the sword you’ve been longing for, so why are you making such a sad face?”

At those words, the party members also seemed to recognize my depressed mood and looked embarrassed.

Of course, Kanos probably wasn’t asking because he really didn’t know the reason. It was obvious just by looking at his meaningfully smiling face. Nevertheless, the fact that he was pretending not to know seemed to confirm my guess, and my heart became very disturbed. It wasn’t a magic sword after all. Rather than feeling betrayed by the fact that I had been deceived, I felt bad because it seemed to be my fault for leaving without properly checking beforehand.

“So, we’ve been wasting our time.”

“Hmm? Why?”

“Why? We came here to find a magic sword to undo the curse. Not a spirit sword.”

I felt Isana, who was behind me, panicking at the words I spat out with a feeling of wanting to cry. He, too, had realized the situation at hand. But Kanos asked as if he didn’t understand.

“You think that’s a spirit sword?”

What else could it be?

As I stared at him, intending to ask back, Kanos skillfully grabbed my shoulders and made me look straight ahead. I was bewildered by the sudden action, and he asked seriously from behind.

“Look closely. What do you see?”

“What do you mean, what…”

The moment I was about to answer with a frown, I closed my mouth at the sight that came into my eyes. When I looked closely, the feeling surrounding the sword was somewhat subtle. The fierce energy that seemed to burn was similar to that of a fire spirit, but the being that was holding the center inside was a little different. A familiar and pure power was mixed with a turbid and foreign energy. It was like….

“Human…”

As I unconsciously muttered what came to mind, Kanos nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s a human soul. Infinitely close to a spirit, but never able to become one.”

“……Really human?”

Why is a human soul inside a sword? More than that, how can a human feel so similar to a spirit? It was harder to accept the fact that it wasn’t a spirit sword than the fact that it wasn’t a magic sword. That’s how similar it felt to a spirit.

“It’s similar to you, but in a case that didn’t work out well.”

“To me?”

“He was supposed to be born as a spirit, but he was born as a human by mistake.”

“……!”

“There was a chance to return to being a spirit, but he went down the wrong path and ended up ruined. Once a normal spirit loses its qualifications, that’s the end of it. If he goes to the underworld, he’ll be drawn into ordinary reincarnation. Ifrit, who felt sorry for him, shared his power and bound him here. You could say it’s an ego sword [a sword with a soul and a will of its own] that’s infinitely close to a spirit sword.”

“Ego sword……?”

“It refers to a sword with a soul and a self. But he himself knows that he is a fire spirit sword. All memories of when he was human have been erased.”

Every time I heard the words falling into my ear, my head seemed to be emptied. I stared blankly at the sword on the altar. I saw a small boy huddled with his knees hugged in the jet-black blade. A red bird warmly wrapped its arms around the boy’s frail shoulders. It was Ifrit’s power.

The same situation as me, but the soul of a little boy who couldn’t come back in the end. It must have been Ifrit’s consideration to erase all memories of the past so that he could live a little more comfortably. I could feel the sadness he must have felt when he made this sword, and even my heart ached. Of course, that didn’t excuse him for deceiving me.

“Anyway, it’s not a magic sword.”

Whatever the hidden circumstances, all the facts became clear. The sword sealed in the lowest level of the dungeon was not a magic sword but an ego sword. The magic power that Deron had sensed came from the demon egg, and our journey had failed.

As I tried to come to a conclusion that I didn’t want to admit, my mouth tasted terribly bitter. Kanos, who was next to me, shrugged his shoulders lightly and said something unexpected.

“Well, you can see that as a magic sword. To be exact, it’s been magic sword-ified.”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

When I looked at him in surprise, Kanos explained willingly.

“An ego sword is like a kind of mirror, reflecting the owner’s disposition as it is. If it falls into the hands of a person with a righteous mind, it becomes an excellent holy sword, but if it falls into the hands of a person with an evil mind, it calls for more blood than a magic sword. But as human history has always been, strong power falls into the hands of those who are not righteous more often than those who are.”

“……!”

“That guy alone must have killed thousands over several generations. Even if it’s a real spirit sword, if it’s stained with that much blood, its nature will change. It starts to harbor death energy like a magic sword.”

“B-but it’s not a real magic sword, is it?”

“There’s no difference for your use. In fact, the reason why you need a magic sword to undo the curse is because you need the death energy of the countless people that have permeated it.”

“Then…….”

“It means you can undo the curse with that sword.”

What, so I wasn’t deceived? The feeling that had been heavily weighing down my chest disappeared with the regained hope. I could feel my face brightening even as I consciously realized it. Kanos, who saw my appearance, smiled as if he couldn’t help it.

“But that’s not the problem for you right now, is it? Can you use that sword?”

“……Yes?”

“Have you forgotten? To undo the curse, you have to completely destroy one magic sword. It’s like killing a person.”

“……!”

The sword, which hadn’t grasped the situation while I was surprised and stopped breathing, was spouting nonsense. The shrill voice was noisy, but it was enough to clearly recognize that the sword was a living being. Kanos muttered indifferently next to me as I turned around with a stiff expression.

“Well, Ifrit might want to give up now. He must have watched for a long time as his precious child was being used by humans. That’s why he sealed it in a place like this himself. But even so, he must have always been worried. That’s why he may have entrusted the end of that sword to you.”

“That can’t be…….”

“So, what are you going to do?”

I couldn’t bring myself to answer the question. As I looked back at the party members with a confused feeling, they were also looking at me with hesitant faces.

The problem that has been tormenting me at every important moment is holding me back again. Even though it was just an object without a body, it was a living being with a soul and self. I could feel how Ifrit felt when he made it, so it was so heartbreaking that it made my heart ache.

To be honest, I didn’t want to sacrifice the sword for this. But if I give up that sword, my heart may be at ease, but I have to start all over again. I don’t know if I can find another magic sword to replace it now, and even if I do, I don’t know how much time it will take to get it. It was like falling into an unavoidable trap.