Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 278

Weapon-Eating Bastard – Episode 278

Michael Garrell.

The Tower Lord of the Eiffel Magic Tower, now branded as a Class 1 wanted criminal worldwide, was observing the phenomenon occurring to him.

“So, this is how it manifests.”

The tips of his fingers flickered like sodium lamps nearing the end of their lifespan, repeatedly reverting to their original form.

It felt like watching an old, grainy film.

A rather unsettling feeling.

Michael scoffed.

“So, this is what it means to be targeted by the world.”

He quickly grasped the reason for this phenomenon.

The danger of this trial wasn’t just experiencing a world on the brink of destruction.

This phenomenon seemed to be another risk factor in the second trial.

While encountering fragments of incinerated history, he was being sucked into the very records created by the dwarves of the aerial fortress.

‘If they were going to conduct a trial, there was no need to set up such a risk.’

At first, he wasn’t even recognized by the humans of this era, then he began to be recognized, and now his body was being sucked into the records.

If he stayed here for a long time, his body would completely dissolve into this trial world.

But why set up such a risk?

After pondering for a moment, Michael’s eyes lit up as if he had realized something.

‘I see. A price.’

Nothing is impossible in this world, but to make something near impossible possible, a price is required.

He had also offered something great to explore the abyss of magic.

‘Offered?’

To whom? For what?

For a moment, he questioned himself.

Swish!

At that moment, a strange, shimmering energy rose from his body.

When that briefly flickering energy subsided, he even forgot that he had questioned himself.

‘Anyway, those shady dwarves.’

Michael was already back to understanding the trial.

He could tell that the dwarves didn’t particularly intend to protect those who entered this castle.

‘Well, since they’re showing these histories within the trial, it’s ultimately a process to select the one who will remain in the end.’

They would be examining the answers given by those who challenged the trial.

In the ancient histories destroyed by ‘that,’ what answers would the humans who would experience the coming era offer?

To the dwarves, neither good nor evil would matter.

“Dwarves, are you still watching?”

Michael shook off his thoughts and turned his head.

People were dying there.

Being eaten by monsters, torn apart, heading towards death.

It was a gruesome sight.

But Michael didn’t flinch.

“My answer is this. The death of the weak is a providence… I will shed the skin of a human, attain eternal life, and then save these foolish beings…”

Before he knew it, Michael’s tone had changed strangely.

A voice as if someone was inside his body.

It was the voice of the apostle’s soul fragment dwelling within him.

He looked up at the sky.

The dwarves who would be watching the answers to the trial from all the singularities above.

Looking at them, Michael grinned.

* * *

After the battle on the city walls ended, and Ron fainted.

I tried to inject mana into Ron’s body to correct his mana circuit.

But I soon realized the seriousness of the situation.

‘It’s not a problem with the mana circuit. This won’t work.’

Ron’s body, already one step assimilated into this world, didn’t easily return.

Perhaps this was a time limit for this trial.

In my case, the Black Aura must have prevented it.

There was nothing I could do.

I gently laid the unconscious Ron on the ground and stood up.

“Thank you, strangers. I sincerely appreciate your help!”

A man approached through the noisy warriors.

A man with curly hair finer than gold and a giant battle hammer almost the size of a human torso slung over his shoulder.

“Hmm, but can you understand my words?”

“Yes, I can.”

“That’s a relief! But is your companion alright?”

“He doesn’t have any particular injuries.”

For now, any treatment wouldn’t mean much.

The man seemed to realize this and nodded.

“I am truly grateful for your help. You were really amazing!”

Uhaha!

The man burst into hearty laughter and patted my shoulder.

‘This guy is quite skilled too.’

Those who have reached the Sword Heart [a state of perfect unity with one’s sword] are clearly distinguished from those who have not.

This man has reached the Sword Heart.

I felt a similar aura from this man as from my second sister.

I wondered if this man would also be depicted as a divine figure in modern times.

On the one hand, my heart grew heavy.

‘…Even with such people.’

This era was nearing its end.

The Earth is vast and there are many people, so there must have been such people in other regions, other continents.

But I also had this thought.

It was because of such people.

That the human race has continued without being destroyed by the absurd existence of the Primordial Beast.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

“I apologize. I was just impressed by your level.”

“Haha! You’re a sincere friend. But that’s what I should be saying. Even though you didn’t use your full power… you are strong. Very strong.”

The man’s intense gaze felt like lightning.

I gave an awkward smile at the man’s words.

It wasn’t that I didn’t use my full power, but rather that I couldn’t use it.

“Ah, I’m so distracted. The reason I came to find you is different.”

The man glanced at the city and then turned his gaze back to me.

“I am Asator, the first son of the King of Light, the Child of Thursday. My father, our king, has invited you. Will you come with me?”

I looked at the man and nodded.

* * *

It looked like a palace, but it was a somewhat crude structure.

It was lacking in many ways for a king of a nation to live in, and it looked hastily built.

I was led past a hallway with rough marble floors to a staircase leading down to the basement.

“I can only guide you this far.”

I nodded to Asator and stepped down the stairs.

At some point, the stairs disappeared, and the walls and floor turned into a cave.

‘The mana has become denser.’

Soon, the slope became gentler, and I arrived at a huge cavern with a faint light emanating from it.

It was a cave where a twilight-like blue light bloomed.

The man was sitting in the center of the cave.

Splash!

In front of him was the source of the blue light that filled the cave.

It was a small spring.

A spring so small that it would be full if only two or three people entered.

The man was quietly looking down at the clear spring with his one eye covered by an eyepatch.

“You’ve come.”

Soon, the man turned his gaze to me.

“A man with the same fate as me.”

His one eye shone.

My eyes widened.

A faint yellow light, like twilight, was flowing from his one eye.

It was a light similar to my Mystic Eyes [eyes with supernatural abilities].

* * *

When I was very young, I used to imagine things like this.

Imagining meeting the gods or heroes in stories in person.

And I felt that this imagination had now become a reality.

“Come and sit here.”

The man’s voice, spoken casually, created a strange resonance.

As he said that, he waved his hand in the air.

Whoosh!

Instantly, the blue light emanating from the spring spread throughout the cave.

The dim space was enveloped in bright light along with a gentle energy.

‘Sorcery? No, is it magic?’

The man could even use esoteric arts that seemed like magic.

That alone was amazing.

Magic and martial arts fundamentally have completely different patterns of mana usage.

It’s no wonder that my first brother’s ability, ‘Two Hearts,’ is called a miracle.

‘The transmission described him as a magician or a sage… but could he even do this?’

I hesitated for a moment, but soon steeled my heart and sat down in front of the man.

The man stared at me, and I also looked at the man.

‘He’s big.’

I looked up at the man.

I was quite tall myself, but the man had such a massive physique that it was hard to see him as an ordinary human.

His height was two or three heads taller than me, and the thickness of his body was much greater than that of most martial artists.

Originally, if someone was so tall and had long limbs, even a warrior who had mastered mana would have difficulty filling the gaps with muscle.

Nevertheless, the man wore thick muscles like armor without any difficulty.

‘Was the mixed-blood thing true?’

According to legend, he was said to have inherited the blood of giants.

After sitting down, a moment of silence fell.

The man was the first to speak.

“I see.”

The man’s deep eyes, which did not match his large frame, looked down at me.

“You are not a person of this era.”

“……!”

“I see. So that’s how it was… Everything is already over. Is this world just a rehash recorded by the dwarves?”

I looked at the man with a surprised expression for a moment.

“How… did you know that fact?”

“I lost one eye, but thanks to that, I can see more. Don’t you have a similar eye to me?”

The light of mana flickered in the man’s one eye.

Even though he knew such a shocking fact, the man didn’t seem to be greatly shaken.

A dreamy look in his eyes that didn’t match his large frame.

“Aren’t you surprised? That the reality you are experiencing is not reality?”

“What does it matter? This place is reality to me now. The fact that the beings of that floating fortress carved out this era and stored it inside the castle is ultimately part of a great providence.”

He seemed to know everything about the existence of the dwarves and his own situation.

Yet he was calm.

He opened his mouth again.

“Then will you tell me your name now?”

“……I am Lee Cheol, with the courtesy name of Sungmui.”

I continued calmly.

“What should I call you?”

He had too many names.

Óðinn, Wōden, Aldafǫðr, Iuppiter, Lugh Lámhfhada….

The living thunder, the lord of the gods, the father of all, the all-knowing one-eyed god.

In many cultures, he has been called in many ways.

“I have many names. Because I have moved through too many lands to avoid ‘that’ until now.”

Splash!

One clear drop of water, falling from the towering ceiling of the cave above the lake, caused ripples in the lake.

“Besides, you are not a person of this era, so there is no reason to hear honorifics. I don’t mind if you call me in a way that is comfortable for you.”

“Then I will call you Lugh.”

“Good. That name is being used a lot now.”

The man smiled and said that.

“May I ask you one thing?”

Lugh nodded.

“When I entered this place, you said that I had the same fate as you. What does that mean?”

It was what Lugh had said as soon as I entered this place.

Lugh smiled strangely at those words and replied.

“You must also be feeling it. That you and I are of the same kind.”

I couldn’t explain it, but I felt a strong sense of kinship from this ancient man.

That must be what he’s talking about.

I nodded at Lugh’s words.