Third Liberation (5)

The sword was not made by humans, a fictitious blade used by the heroes in myth and legend. The wishes and will of countless people dwelled within it, causing it to be reborn as a sword for humans. The blade did not exist but could be materialized using human magic. The one who became the owner of the sword regarded himself as the chosen one, the incarnation of a legendary hero and the savior of mankind. The strongest sword. The strongest human. The strongest being. Had he been able to stay in that illusion, he would’ve surely remained an ally of mankind to the end.

-The best? How funny…

If only that woman hadn’t made him realize the truth.

-The sword you create is just a believable fake.

-Fake…?

-All traits are just fakes that were elaborately crafted somewhere. Ah, yes, it’s the same with monsters.

-Ha, what bullshit.

-Is it? You and I, facing each other like this… it’s like someone intended it to be this way.

The owner of Excalibur wanted to cut down his enemies but was unable to. He couldn’t overcome the enemy with his sword. He had encountered a desperate wall far beyond the power of superhumans on earth.

-It’s a piece created by the hand of the greatest craftsman who existed in this universe before, added to the myth of your little earth.

Of course, even that was just a copy. After forcing the master of light to kneel, his will broken, the woman laughed.

-So, no matter how much you increase your magic, you can never become the strongest. There’s no way a fake can beat the real thing.

-You monster…!

-The only difference between you and a monster is the position. Everything else is the same.

-…Do you think those words will shake me? I will cut all of you down and protect humanity. It’s all I have to do.

The woman shrugged and let out a sigh.

-It doesn’t have to be you. Among the swords, what you have is the best, but Chang has another candidate. I could make do with him.

-Huh!

He was once more caught up in the words of this woman who treated him as a substitute. However, the woman casually beat him down once more. The owner of the shaking light knelt in front of her once more, his curiosity finally raised.

-What… do you mean?

-An experiment to surpass the real thing.

-Didn’t you say you can’t surpass the real thing with a fake?

-Yeah, that’s how it has been so far. I want to stop doing this now, destroy the damn Hero Universe, and open up a world of chaos where there is no distinction between real and fake.

To do that, they needed proof that a fake could surpass what was real. Then…

-So I chose the best among the fakes, you.

-Hero Universe… what is it?

-If you come to us, I will tell you. There will be a lot that will surprise you. You, who thought you were the best, will find out about the standard of what is real.

The man was conflicted. He had already realized that he was nearing the limit of his growth, and he was shaken by the woman’s words that there was a way to go further. Everyone in the world knew him as a good and righteous man, but he wasn’t. He just wanted to be recognized as the strongest.

-Going beyond the real thing.

-Yes, of course.

The woman smiled cheerfully and nodded.

-You’ll leap over Anvil.

The person who had created the original that the sword in his hand copied. The man felt an instinctive hatred for its existence.

-Yes, let’s do it together.

In the end, the man nodded.

-In return, you must help me kill.

-Anvil?

-Yes.

The woman laughed at the words.

-A man loved by the whole universe?

-Yes.

-Yes!

The woman was joyous.

-If you can, try it. I’ll open the way, so let’s run wild.

-I’ll be a traitor to mankind from now on.

The man smiled and lifted his sword, which radiated a dazzling light, shining upon his distorted face.

-That’s not a bad deal to be the strongest.

***

-The Godslayer has completely devoured ‘Excalibur – Demon’s Fang’ to regain some strength. However, it will take time for it to digest the strong armament fully.

Upon feeding Joo-young Oh’s sword to the Godslayer, blurry memories had gone through Kang Shin-hyuk’s head. He had been able to get a rough sense of why the strongest had betrayed humanity. What concerned him, however, was…

“I can guess what that monster meant from what I heard from Halo… but what does it mean to be a fake?” Wasn’t the order all wrong? Wasn’t it because humans first awakened their traits that such outstanding replicas and monsters were born?

“Administrator, what is a trait? They seemed to think that the traits were only a copy of the real thing.”

-That’s interesting, but…

The administrator’s words cut off.

-That is a foolish illusion of those monsters, starting with the distinction between what is real and what isn’t.

“Is that so?”

-There are only a few in this universe who can create something entirely new. Of course, you are one of them.

“…”

-But does that mean all others are fakes? That’s ridiculous. It’s all real, just like the monsters that appear are all real.

Perhaps the administrator wasn’t wrong, but Kang Shin-hyuk felt another secret hidden in the trait Excalibur. It seemed to be closely related to Jormungand’s motives, as well as Anvil himself.

“Will you know a little once you’re done digesting the sword?”

-Vwoooom

The Godslayer sword let out a quiet cry in response, complaining as well. Kang Shin-hyuk smiled and sat down with a whetstone. He wanted to clear his mind, which had been bogged down by the strange memories he had acquired by absorbing Oh’s sword.

-Myu?

“It will take time for you to digest. Go to sleep.”

-Myu!

Onyx, despite having swept through the garbage warehouse, seemed to be done eating, at least for now.

-Myu…

He climbed up onto Kang Shin-hyuk, who was starting to hone the Godslayer sword and fell asleep. Kang Shin-hyuk grumbled a little bit but soon devoted all of his attention to the sword. He felt like lately he was being bothered less by the things around him.

‘It’s a bit sad as it feels like I’m gradually becoming an old man…’ But Claire seemed to like mature people, so he felt like it was okay. Kang Shin-hyuk thought that with a smile on his lips.

***

“Hello, I’m Ahn Hyeongju from Vanguard’s fifth team. It is an honor to be in charge of training you today.” The next day, Kang Shin-hyuk and Baek In-ha were face to face with the young man who would be in charge of supervising their gate practice.

“What?” As soon as he learned that Ahn Hyeongju was in charge of them, Baek began to criticize Kang Shin-hyuk.

“With this timing, shouldn’t Claire show up?!”

“Why are you talking about Claire and not Shin Eunah?”

“Shin Eunah became the number one in the rankings, so I thought she wouldn’t be able to!”

“Then why Claire?”

“That makes sense with this flow!” Kang Shin-hyuk pushed Baek away as he mumbled something he couldn’t understand. Ahn Hyeongju was watching them with disbelief.

“I knew you were receiving support from the association, but… are you acquainted with the Alchemist as well?”

“Oh, though you’re our supervisor, you can talk plainly. Yes, I work with metallurgy, so I’m receiving support in that regard.”

“Support from the Alchemist…” Ahn Hyeongju was so shocked that he was sticking with polite speech. No wonder Kang Shin-hyuk was a student scouted by Shin Eunah, and now he was learning that he also has a connection with the Alchemist.

“…What? A young man with a relationship with those two… Death Puppeteer?” Right, it was about time for people to guess the relationship between them. Kang Shin-hyuk only smiled and pointed at himself.

“Me?”

“No, it couldn’t be, of course.” Ahn Hyeongju shook his head at Shin-hyuk’s words. There was no way a rookie, no matter how skilled, from Shinyoung, could survive an SSS-class gate and reach fifth place in the international rankings at the age of seventeen.

“I said some pointless things. However, I am not looking down on you. Rather, I think you’re great. If you progress the way you are now, then I believe one day you can reach the level of the Death Puppeteer.”

“Haha, thank you for the compliment.”

“So why is he in charge of us?” Ahn Hyeongju appeared to be in his twenties with thick bangs.

Only

“Well, that… you’re too strong to practice with the other freshmen, but it was hard to find a supervisor.”

“Hmm?”

“You are sponsored by the association, and you by the Baekyang Guild, and I’m from Vanguard. I was chosen as I don’t need to recruit you or anything like that.”

“So, where are we heading? Are we starting right away?”

“Indeed. Proficiency test… well, I’ll skip it.” Despite being young, their supervisor had enough experience to know how to skip the useless procedures.

“We’ll go to the S-class gate right away.”

“…Huh?” Kang Shin-hyuk doubted his ears, but their supervisor’s words hadn’t changed.

Shinyoung’s customized education was a bit overdeveloped.