Chapter 4

Chapter 04 :The Ego Sword Picked Me Up (4)

Transformation

―W-W-W-What are you saying? To speak such blasphemous nonsense! The Demon God is an existence that corrupts the Creator’s creation! Sacred objects and demonic objects cannot be together!

His reaction was more intense than I had expected. However, that distinction between good and evil meant nothing to me.

“Is there some side effect?”

―There is! In the past, there was a bastard who tried to do something that insane and nearly destroyed the world! So do not even dream of having a demonic object!

That was Flambeju’s position. To me, who had only just crossed over from beyond dimensions, sacred objects and demonic objects were no more than tools for achieving accomplishments.

‘I’ll have to test it later if I get the chance.’

“If someone else grabs you, does the relationship between you and me remain?”

―Of course! Unless Master dies, Master can only be my master!

“What if I die?”

Flambeju closed his mouth. I could vaguely guess the meaning of that silence. Perhaps Flambeju had given up far more than I thought to bring me over from beyond dimensions.

“……You said you gave up all your Achievements to bring me here, didn’t you? Can I know what kind of Achievements you gave up?”

―Y-You do not need to know that.

“If you called me here, that means you want Achievements greater than the ones your previous masters accomplished, right? I feel like I need to know the previous Achievements to establish Achievements that surpass them.”

Flambeju vibrated briefly. He seemed to be hesitating, but soon spoke as if he had made up his mind.

―Massacre of 10,000 innocent commoners.

“Huh?”

Before I could even blank out at an Achievement that smashed my ethical framework to pieces, Flambeju continued.

―Mercenary King. Peeling ten million onions. One hundred million wins at rock-paper-scissors. Ten years of meditating twenty hours a day. Five hundred years surviving in the mountains. Fifty million thrusts. Reclaiming one hectare of desert. Pruning a garden one hundred million times. Victory in one-person army combat. Successful fall from a sky island. Slaughtering fifty thousand cows. Cleaning one hundred million fish. And…….

Flambeju’s words did not stop. Except for the first “Massacre of 10,000 innocent commoners,” “Victory in one-person army combat,” and “Mercenary King,” they were the sort of things that made me wonder whether even such things could become Achievements.

It seemed Achievements were not so much “records that enriched this world” as “records worthy of leaving one’s name in history.”

“Your master established all those Achievements?”

―Those were deeds committed by the masters who passed through me. At most, one person could establish two Achievements. At least Veronica established the “Victory in One-Person Army Combat” Achievement while alive, so she obtained 2 Achievements. But Veronica did not listen to me, trusted people too much, and was poisoned to death. Then, after her death, she was recognized as the Mercenary King.

“So there aren’t many people who establish Achievements while alive?”

―That is right. But among the countless masters who passed through me, Veronica was the only one who succeeded in such a thing.

“What the hell are those?”

Because I was walking barefoot, tiny vibrations stimulated the entire soles of my feet. Now, I could hear not only vibrations but sound as well, and a group was running toward me from one side.

They ran on two feet and held things like sticks in their hands, but they were not human.

Their long snouts, scales covering their entire bodies, and thick tails longer than their legs were the proof.

―Lizardmen! Ones that look like lizards! Skin covered in scales and long snouts! They are vile hunters!

The Lizardmen were lizard-people with long trailing tails. A fishy smell came from those charging toward me, their snake-like vertical pupils gleaming.

All of them held tridents, and some wore light armor over their upper bodies.

I immediately ran. Not toward the Lizardmen, but in the direction away from them.

―O Master. I thought you would show courage, but is this a strategic retreat? It is a novel approach, but do not waste your strength for nothing! They are a species famous for never letting prey escape!

I had no intention of running away. As Flambeju said, it was a strategic retreat. If I stood still, I would be surrounded by the Lizardmen and killed.

“Flambeju, until now, I have never fought battles I could win or battles I could lose.”

―What does that mean?

“When my master ordered me, ‘Win,’ I always won. It didn’t matter how many opponents there were, what training they had undergone, or what position they held.”

There had been countless tests, and I had won every time. I had used every means and method available.

―There is no way such a thing is possible…….

“I will win. No, win.”

I gave an order.

To myself, by myself.

As I ran slowly, I checked the condition of my body.

It was not bad. No, I was overflowing with too much strength.

Even though I had run a fairly long distance, not a single drop of sweat had formed, and my heartbeat was normal.

I climbed onto slightly higher ground and looked down at the Lizardman group.

Their number, once they had completely emerged from the brush, exceeded 100.

‘They move like beasts of prey. Their skill at handling weapons is pretty good too. The dangerous part is probably the tail?’

―Ooh! Can you see that brilliant light? This is my true ability! To draw out my ability this far from the very beginning. As expected of the master I chose!

Flambeju saw the same sight I did.

He was seeing the countless solid lines piercing through the Lizardmen.

“You said each sacred object or demonic object has different abilities, right?”

―That is right! But there is no need to envy them or concern yourself with them. This great self has watched the birth of the world and the deaths of life countless times.

Those solid lines were the result. Perhaps he liked their shape, because the blond spirit dwelling within Flambeju could not tear his eyes away from them.

I could know the purpose of those lines without confirming it.

‘Lines leading to death.’

The solid lines dug into the Lizardmen’s weak points, such as their necks, eyes, and crotches. They were “opportunities” to take the lives marked by those solid lines. And seizing those opportunities was the master’s ability.

The Lizardmen scattered in all directions and spread out an encirclement, and three of them charged at me. Their intention was to pin my feet in place until the encirclement formed.

‘This is the world I’m going to live in from now on…….’

It was meaningless to debate whether it was a dream or a fantasy.

For now, I had decided to live.

Surviving could be called my specialty.

And becoming the best anytime, anywhere, had always been the way I lived.

Only this time, things were a little different.

I had to live entirely for myself, without cleaning up after anyone else.

And unlike before, there was no full-scale support from a group behind me.

‘I need to build a foundation to support myself. Since I’m doing it anyway, I should make sure it’s recorded as an Achievement.’

I raised Flambeju. Contrary to its large and ornate appearance, it was light. For a cold weapon (a melee weapon) like this, being light was not necessarily a good thing. Destructive power came from weight.

WHOOOOOSH!

The sound of the blade cleaving the air was extraordinary. I lightly scratched the dirt ground with the tip of the sword, and the weeds touched by the sword split sharply. Even the pebbles touched by the sword tip were cut.

‘With this, I could cut anything, couldn’t I?’

Second in shooting, third in judo, and fourth in kendo at the National Sports Festival.

Even those had been records from when I was fourteen. Afterward, I had never entered another competition. That was because the higher-ups judged that if I did anything more conspicuous than that, I could no longer be used as a “tool.”

Even after that, my training did not stop. I reached a level where I would not be pushed back blindly even against medalists, and when the rules of the ring disappeared, I always won. It was not simply to protect the vice chairman, but to fulfill the vice chairman’s will outside the net of the law.

I saw the Lizardman’s gaping maw and lolling tongue. I saw its yellow eyes, its writhing scales, and its tail swinging like a whip.

They came within a hair’s breadth.

There were 3 of them, and they held tridents in their hands. The ends of the shafts split into three prongs. They were weapons that revealed the will to destroy an opponent’s internal organs.

SWIIIIISH!

I swung Flambeju along a solid line.

I had clearly cut the Lizardman and the spear in its hand at the same time, yet I felt no particular resistance.

Green blood spurted from its sliced chest. The blood that touched my forearm was unexpectedly hot. No, it felt as if it were slightly heating my skin.

One Lizardman thrust its trident, and another leapt like a frog, aiming for my head.

Was it because I had faltered slightly at the two attacks?

SCHLIK!

The Lizardman’s small, hard skull began to split, then stopped. It did not die instantly, and while still alive, it screamed hideously.

“KIEEEEEEEEK!”

Perhaps because its head hurt, the Lizardman did not counterattack. Thanks to that, I was able to deal with the one that flew in after it.

However, no solid line was visible on that one.

If I had swung my sword while relying only on solid lines from the start, I would have hesitated.

But I did not blindly trust the solid lines.

SWIIIIISH!

I cut off four of the Lizardman’s plump toes. It screamed hideously and stabbed with its trident, and I avoided it by a hair’s breadth.

My cheek split, blood sprayed, and a small part of my earlobe was torn.

‘I see.’

With this attack, I clearly understood how to use the solid lines.

I had discovered a thick, pillar-like light piercing through the back of the one that had failed to land and was tumbling.

SQUELLLLLCH!

When I swung Flambeju along the solid line, it trembled like a frog bound in a laboratory, then went limp.

―M-Magnificent!

Unlike Flambeju’s praise, I did not like my movements.

I had incorporated kendo techniques, but I was not used to a large, ornate two-handed sword shaped like a European Zweihänder.

“Can’t the sword’s size be reduced a little more?”

―That is not a matter I can decide. The sword’s form is the master’s will! It changes into the appearance most suited to the master. Several mad masters tried it, but they became broken shells before they could even use me properly. Once a form is decided, it never changes!

I did not take Flambeju’s words at face value. His experience was not the answer. He had even defined himself as a “failure” and brought me from beyond dimensions.

The very things Flambeju considered impossible were challenges worth attempting.

It was when I gripped the sword with both hands and breathed out.

The sword shortened a little. The hand guard set between the hilt and the blade also vanished.

It was similar to a wooden sword used in a kendo hall, though a little longer. And the pair of eyeballs set above the hilt remained the same.

At the same time, a sharp chill ran through my chest. It was a momentary sensation, so if I had not focused on it, I would have dismissed it as my imagination.

―H-How did you do that? No master of any sacred object has ever changed a form once it was decided!

In my eyes, I could see a line of light connecting me and the sword. It was a yellow, warm light completely different from the red solid line. And I could also see a black line connecting me to the Necronomicon.

When the sword’s form changed, the yellow solid line had flashed, but Flambeju did not seem able to see it.

That solid line had been visible since I crossed into this world. It firmly connected me and the Holy Sword, and it also conveyed my will. In addition, it protected me from collapsing.

“How would I know? I just desperately wished for it. By the way, doesn’t this get recognized as an Achievement? You said I’m the first, didn’t you?”