Chapter 115
The Root of All Evil – Part 7
『 Translator – Divinity 』
‘…What?’
At first, she tried to stop it. She wasn’t going to just stand there and watch that suspicious light get absorbed after the sacred relic fragment injured Adam.
But surprisingly, it was Dark Sword that stopped her.
To be precise, Dark Sword quietly vibrated and halted Ruth’s steps.
It embedded itself in front of Ruth’s feet, as if escaping her control once again.
‘Dark Sword also…’
It was considered a demonic sword because of its ominous power, name, and wish-granting ability, but…
Strictly speaking, Dark Sword wasn’t a cursed sword or anything, but simply an artifact.
Then why did Dark Sword, connected to Ruth’s soul, escape her control twice?
‘If Dark Sword hadn’t consumed enough blood earlier…’
Would she have been able to completely sever the sacred relic? Even though Ruth had finally reached Rank 7, the final blow was clearly beyond her rank.
There was no doubt that Dark Sword amplified the power of her Sword Qi. Especially when soaked in blood, its power surprised even Ruth herself.
Did Dark Sword perhaps crave Ruth’s blood to face the sacred relic, an artifact on the same conceptual level as itself?
Then the reason it was blocking Ruth’s way now was…
Woooong!!!
“…!!”
While she was briefly lost in thought, the pure light was absorbed into Adam, and his body floated limply into the air.
Despite not having a heart, his heart was beating, and he was breathing faintly. He was hanging limply, moving slowly as if being lifted by something, and…
…the light of the sacred relic settled in the spot where Adam’s heart had been.
“…That’s…”
What appeared next was, surprisingly, something Ruth knew well.
A black scabbard with a crude design. The one that Milia, the main culprit behind the continent’s devastation, often used.
The Scabbard of Dark Sword.
The one that should be in the Headmistress’s possession was now slowly taking shape near Adam’s heart and immediately changed its form as if to contain the light of the sacred relic.
The original purpose of the scabbard was to suppress the power of Dark Sword.
As if to say it could also suppress the sacred relic, another artifact on the conceptual level, the scabbard transformed into a heart-like shape, ‘containing’ the light.
And then, color returned to Adam’s face.
“Adam!!”
She hurriedly ran to him and embraced him. Surprisingly, the hole that had been pierced through, revealing the other side, was completely healed.
Ruth didn’t know, but this had already happened once before. When the future Adam incompletely regressed and sacrificed his hand to stop Milia.
When Adam woke up then, his wound had completely disappeared.
‘If it’s the Scabbard of Dark Sword…’
The scabbard created by a great dwarf. It wasn’t simply for suppressing the power of Dark Sword, as most people mistakenly believed.
Ruth, who had faced Milia, knew. The true power of the scabbard lay in ‘restoration.’
Originally, Dark Sword would turn to ash and scatter after its wish-granting power was used. If that happened, wouldn’t it disappear even if it was sheathed in the scabbard?
To prevent that, the great dwarf engraved a special power into the scabbard. To restore everything around the scabbard to its original state.
Thanks to that, Dark Sword could be restored to its original form instead of turning to ash. Milia, knowing that restoration ability, ‘restored’ her followers who were on the verge of death and proclaimed it as her divine power, the power of the Pope and the savior.
It was an ability that saved Milia countless times, even when she was cornered, so Ruth remembered it clearly.
‘But why is that scabbard…?’
Ruth, who had visited the dwarven city that was ultimately destroyed in her previous life, met the last survivor of the dwarven race. It was a dwarf named Tir, who was the mayor at the time.
He told Ruth, who was holding Dark Sword, everything about the scabbard, and…
…she also learned about the great dwarf who created it.
‘The legendary dwarf who was the first to reach Rank 9…’
Was he able to create such a powerful artifact because he reached Rank 9, a realm beyond Rank 8, said to be the realm of gods?
But the real problem was why this scabbard was inside Adam, not the Headmistress, not even Milia. The future that Ruth knew was being distorted once again.
And yet, relieved that Adam was safe, Ruth hugged him tightly.
“Ah.”
She suddenly felt something strange.
…Her unstable mind was stabilizing. The extreme thoughts and negative emotions subsided, and she slowly regained her peace.
The side effects that Ruth had been experiencing ever since she obtained Dark Sword were being neutralized.
She hurriedly looked at the Dark Sword she was holding, and it lost its ominous aura and slowly turned back into an old sword.
‘Is it because the scabbard is inside Adam?’
No. If that was the case, she should have experienced the same phenomenon when facing Milia, annoyingly so.
Then there was only one possibility.
‘Is it because of the light of the sacred relic?’
Was it a phenomenon caused by the Scabbard of Dark Sword ‘sheathing’ the light of the sacred relic instead of Dark Sword? If that was the case, it would be difficult to use Dark Sword near Adam, but on the other hand, she could be free from its side effects and power.
Ruth, who had witnessed Adam’s fall from grace in her previous life and felt the corruption after wielding Dark Sword,
Quietly leaned on Adam’s shoulder as he breathed softly, as if asleep.
‘Truly, my wish…’
──To be able to return to those happy days.
And since the only happiness in Ruth’s life was when she was with Adam,
Regardless of the regression, the future, destruction, corruption, or Dark Sword,
She enjoyed a moment of happiness with a peaceful heart for the first time.
How many minutes passed like that?
“………”
Ruth, who had been enjoying the peace with her eyes closed, quietly opened them.
And right after that,
BOOM!!!!
“…That appearance, that blood.”
“………”
“You’ll have to explain this in detail…”
Along with the collapse starting from the ceiling,
A being, emanating killing intent from her entire body, glared at Ruth, abandoning even the polite speech she had been trying to use.
Although he had recovered, Adam’s body was covered in blood, and Ruth was also drenched in it.
But for some reason, Ruth felt extremely annoyed at the thought of explaining this whole situation to the enraged Headmistress.
Therefore,
“It’s nothing.”
“Nothing…?”
“Adam just… became my scabbard.”
Ruth could answer like that with a pure smile because that was all it was.
But what would have happened if Adam hadn’t woken up due to the impact of the Headmistress’s descent right after that?
…The Headmistress’s fist, clenched so tightly that it was bleeding, would be the answer.
***
“Hmm, it seems the Great One has made contact with the masters. The other masters are also safe.”
“Really…? Thank you so much, Surveyor!”
“There’s no need for that, Master. This servant hasn’t done anything.”
Objectively speaking, the Surveyor was right. The Headmistress did everything, from digging the ground to rescuing the Finance Director.
But it was thanks to the Surveyor that they were able to quickly pinpoint their location and reassure the workers and other people with the news that a Rank 8 was on the scene.
The only one who was uncomfortable with the Surveyor’s presence was Count Anton, but there was nothing he could do since he was supposed to be unconscious.
In the end, the Finance Director of Grandis Academy, the Headmistress’s closest confidant, and the youngest Rank 6 student were safe.
While Auditor Marcus was relieved at the best possible outcome, the Surveyor’s eyes were still fixed on the hole the Headmistress had dug.
‘There was no sign of life, then it suddenly appeared.’
The Surveyor’s power couldn’t be explained by mere magic or aura. The Archmage said it was a kind of magical talent, but the Surveyor was just an ordinary person who had never handled mana in his life.
Just a few decades ago, the Surveyor was a mere technician.
It was a sudden realization that he could use his lifelong surveying skills without tools, just by looking.
And paradoxically, the Surveyor was able to ‘survey’ his own ability.
‘It must have been pure coincidence that the dragon’s spirit entered this servant.’
It was the power of a higher being, said to be extinct.
Dragons. Creatures beyond measure, starting at Rank 7 from birth, only seen in history books now.
Why did the spirit of such a dragon exist now? The Surveyor surveyed and traced its path, and…
‘The same phenomenon occurred back then as well.’
He was finally able to discover that it was a remnant of the last dragon’s death and its unexpected resurrection. Back then, just like now, the life signs completely disappeared and then reappeared.
Moreover, he even knew who the last dragon was.
The Surveyor, recalling the hat that didn’t suit the martial artist Headmistress, narrowed his eyes.
‘It must have been that being in the western wasteland who forcefully resurrected the dragon.’
Conversely, it meant that only that being could reverse death. But that phenomenon had just occurred beneath this mine as well.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t survey further because the Great One, and surprisingly, another master who had risen a level in existence, were in the way.
If he forcefully surveyed, he would definitely be caught.
“Tsk, what a shame.”
He couldn’t survey the heart-like thing, no matter how much he concentrated. It was a rare occurrence since he gained the dragon’s spirit, but that’s precisely why he could tell what it was.
There were only a few things he couldn’t survey with his ability.
‘It must be either Dark Sword or the sacred relic.’
Honestly, he couldn’t comprehend why either of them would be in a rock salt mine like this, but objectively speaking, that was the only possibility. Even the Headmistress and the Emperor of Honor could be surveyed to some extent, but the Surveyor couldn’t properly survey this.
This was especially true since he had experienced the same thing in the Imperial Palace.
‘Whether it’s Dark Sword or a fragment of the sacred relic, it’s an important matter.’
The former was important, but the latter was even more so.
Because the Imperial Palace held another fragment of the sacred relic.
The Holy Kingdom definitely had one as well, so if this was the sacred relic, the whereabouts of all the missing sacred relic fragments were now revealed.
In other words…
‘Master will be pleased.’
It meant that the Empire would mobilize its vast resources to complete the sacred relic.
The Surveyor, who had unintentionally learned various facts, smiled.
The Sculptor would be busy ‘sculpting’ the fragment of the sacred relic, and the Guardian Dragon had been hoping for a confrontation with the Headmistress.
The Great One’s internal injury would be information that the Guardian Dragon would be pleased to hear.
‘But before that…’
First, it was the Delphia Kingdom. The Surveyor, recalling the kingdom he had surveyed recently, looked up at the sky.
Now that the Duke of Wei, their only Rank 8, had betrayed the Delphia Kingdom, civil war was inevitable.
He had already surveyed the entire Delphia Kingdom, thanks to the support he received, and the movements of numerous armies were detected.
‘They said Margrave Gregory would be involved.’
Then the Claudia family and the ‘magic spear’ that the Margrave possessed would also be involved. In fact, that was what the Empire was truly concerned about.
It would be convenient to somehow deal with the magic spear for their future plans regarding the kingdom. But if the Margrave was consumed by the magic spear, a monster that would terrify even the Empire would be born, and a person like the Margrave wouldn’t be easily consumed by the magic spear in the first place.
‘…In the end, it’s not something for this servant, who coincidentally gained power, to worry about.’
The Surveyor, who had been thinking about the Empire’s various schemes, shook his head. He was just a technician who surveyed as instructed by his master and other superiors, as he had always done.
This kind of scheming didn’t suit him.
However, even the Surveyor was skeptical of the plan that a certain Rank 8 was currently pursuing, to the point where he wanted to personally intervene and stop it.
‘To destroy Grandis Academy.’
Even if one had to enter the tiger’s den to catch the tiger, was it possible to destroy a place comparable to the Imperial Academy to target the Headmistress?
He had confirmed that the Great One was injured internally. But that didn’t mean the Great One would become just another master.
The Great One’s internal injury was information that the Guardian Dragon would be pleased to hear, so he wouldn’t tell him.
The Surveyor simply found the Guardian Dragon’s meaningless plan amusing.
“Then, Master, I’ll be returning now.”
“Of course! I’ll guide you on your way…”
“Someone from the Empire will be coming to greet me, so don’t worry. I hope to see you again.”
“It was an honor!”
The Surveyor, receiving Auditor Marcus’s greetings, which were partly sincere and mostly flattery, quietly left.
…Actually, what the Surveyor was truly concerned about wasn’t the sacred relic, Dark Sword, the Great One’s injury, or the situation in the Delphia Kingdom.
‘The Archmage’s disciple…’
A mental entity that, while not as powerful as the Surveyor’s dragon spirit, was still incredibly strong. If he could properly survey and analyze it, he could completely disassemble it and add it to his spirit.
However, he didn’t want to have his eyes gouged out by the Archmage, so he left it alone.
Unless, by any chance…
…Chloe Piste gave up on becoming the Archmage’s disciple.
But the Surveyor chuckled and dismissed the thought as it was too meaningless.
That was all.