Chapter 79

Chapter 79. Emperor's Authority (1)

"The place where this maiden was always meant to be......"

The Sword Realm.

The second-deepest domain—the 5th Sword's territory.

Iris, seated upon a blood-soaked throne, trailed off softly.

Her throne stood at the center of the room, and directly across from it, a wide-open crimson gate could be seen.

Beyond the gate lay the 4th Sword Muratan's domain.

The other swords had gathered there.

They gazed at Iris upon her throne with complicated expressions.

'The Sword Master truly intends to......'

Beings permitted eternal life within the Sword Master's world.

Yet beings who could not leave it.

'Make us members of the world itself.'

That was why the prospect of going outside moved them so deeply.

Without a shred of petty jealousy over who would go first, every one of them was filled with heartfelt gratitude.

The swords each offered Iris a parting word.

Conveying their passionate feelings to the one who would be the first to meet the Sword Master face-to-face.

"Look after the Sword Master for us."

The 1st Sword Reinhardt spoke with worry heavy in his tone.

Yet compassion shone in his gaze.

Unlike Reinhardt, who'd witnessed the world's end on his first playthrough, the other swords had lived brutally harsh lives—.

'You suffered the most, so you deserve to enjoy this first.'

Because he'd felt the memory fragments that had flowed in.

Because he'd glimpsed Iris's anguish within those shards.

A natural desire to cheer her on had taken root.

"Brat demon. I've personally reforged your subjects into swords, so don't you dare harm the fragile irons around you. I worry your savagery will devour the world."

Muratan's words sounded like a warning against Iris's nature.

On the surface, he looked like a jealous old man.

Yet even as he spoke, he handed Iris a long cloak.

Tossed it to her with a careless toss.

Iris held up the crimson cloak and tried it against her body, this way and that.

"It fits Us perfectly."

The right size for her diminished form, and a design befitting the blood-red empress.

Suitably grand yet suitably dignified—a restrained aesthetic.

"You lumpy dwarf, your handiwork at least is passable."

But the cloak's true value lay far beyond its size or design.

Something greater emanated from it.

Iris's eyes went wide.

"Lumpy dwarf, how on earth did you craft something like this in a place that has nothing but demons?"

"Ahem. It's just a cloak made from demon hide. Nothing special. It'll resize itself as you grow, and—."

An item befitting Iris's attribute as the "Empress of Blood."

Moreover, she would very likely face restrictions upon leaving, and this cloak possessed a special power that could partially mitigate them.

"It's an experimental piece I put together while observing how Mystery and Awakening work. You merely happened to become its test subject."

A litany of additional functions followed.

The most noteworthy was—.

"Just once, you'll be able to break through the world's restrictions. That fool of a Sword Master has a surprisingly fragile side, so save it for when the time comes."

Iris Ruzbella.

To think she could unleash her true power, even for a single moment.

The Sword Realm had grown clearer twice now, and various facilities had appeared in the swords' domains as a result.

But crafting something like this without any materials at all should have been flatly impossible.

And yet—.

"Truly, you are a sword worthy of standing alongside Us."

Iris didn't ask how.

She simply accepted it with quiet dignity.

Six swords had gathered here, each possessing Authorities that defied comprehension.

Anything should be possible for them.

After all, the swords now recognized and harmonized with one another.

And so the empress spoke.

"Thank you. We shall wear it well."

Had she ever once expressed gratitude to anyone other than the Sword Master?

Yet Iris had offered thanks to the lumpy dwarf.

Muratan muttered, "Ahem, my hands are busy," and sat down at his forge, fiddling with his hammer for no reason.

Iris turned her gaze to the 2nd Sword Yuria, who had been silent all this time.

Silent, yet with the most excited eyes of all.

"Why do you stare at Our imperial countenance so?"

Yuria Lanestia.

The noble platinum-haired woman approached the crimson girl.

"Broken saintess. Have you something to say as well?"

"Cruel child......"

Yuria's lips moved as if she wanted to say something.

But she pressed them together and swallowed her words.

Then murmured softly.

"Just...... come back safely."

Iris smirked and waved her hand dismissively.

"What a boring woman."

________________

Ep. 26 Emperor's Authority.

A space resplendent with gold.

The audience chamber of the central Imperial Palace was breathtakingly lavish.

Within that splendor dwelt an authority beyond anyone's reach, lending the space its gravitas.

The gold that symbolized this place didn't merely represent the luxury of the metal.

It was the authority of successive emperors, accumulated across generations.

The entire space could be seen as the embodiment of the Emperor's Authority.

'It's heavy.'

Even I, wearing the Emperor's uniform, could feel its weight.

Had I entered this place in my bare state without drawing a Transcendent sword, the sheer pressure might have crushed me.

But I was the Sword Master.

This space had been prepared for my sword, and that sword was mine and mine alone.

And so I walked calmly toward the throne at the center of the audience chamber.

STOMP!

With each step I took, the knights arrayed on either side stamped the ground.

A display of reverence to the emperor.

That throne ahead belonged to me.

And yet—.

'It's not my seat.'

Iris Ruzbella's world, repeated thousands upon tens of thousands of times.

I had watched, felt, and walked alongside her.

That was why I intended to hand this throne to its rightful owner.

I raised the Baby Sword.

——HUMMMM!

The sword rang with its sword-cry.

Was it trying to declare that the true sword was itself?

Through the vibrating hilt, I could feel the slightly-grown Baby Sword's heart.

'The sword and I are one.'

The foundational mindset of Sword-Body Unity.

I held that feeling and lightly brought the sword down in a stroke.

[Single Slash, Vertical Cut.]

The 33 Forms.

Into that fundamental strike, faithful to the basics, I poured my unadulterated strength.

The desire within the Lord of Blood—the power I was calling forth from Iris—seeped into the sword energy.

And then—.

[Leap.]

The Baby Sword's trait, transcending space, answered my will.

And so, I cleaved space itself.

RIIIP————.

A long line was drawn above the golden throne.

When a vertical sword scar appeared in the air, what could be seen through the gap was a world drenched in crimson blood.

DRIP.

DROP.

Blood flowed.

Seeping through the spatial rift, the blood began to permeate every corner of this vast audience chamber.

This was the Emperor's Authority.

The imperial symbol was being dyed in the color of Iris—the legitimate bloodline of the Ruzbella Empire.

Red upon red.

An endlessly deep crimson swallowed the golden citadel.

Yet the throne alone continued to shine in gold.

RIIIP——.

The rift in the air grew wider.

Blood flowed again.

Iris's complete power—the power that had devoured the world—crushed the accumulated authority of generations of emperors.

DROP—.

DRIP.

The golden throne was stained crimson.

The gold that had symbolized the emperor was now nowhere to be seen.

As if to announce that henceforth, the color representing the Ruzbella Empire's ruler was "red."

A throne of the deepest fresh blood appeared before my eyes.

On its backrest had been carved a great golden dragon, the empire's emblem—but the blood swallowed the dragon and painted a single enormous demon in its place.

Demon.

Fresh blood.

The Empress of Blood, who commanded demons.

This was now the symbol of the Ruzbella Empire.

And the being who would prove that symbol was the empress.

Now it was time for Iris to step forward.

'Iris.'

Watching the rift slowly widen, I swallowed hard without meaning to.

Because the image of her I'd seen came flooding back.

'A small, scrawny girl in her late teens.'

In the beginning, Iris had been abused in her palace of confinement, her growth severely stunted.

But alongside me, she'd reclaimed a whole body.

She'd grown taller, her frame had balanced out, and she'd become the owner of the world's most vivid and striking beauty.

Alluring yet cruel, that kind of woman.

"Iris Ruzbella."

The girl for whom I'd forged the cruelest of worlds, shaped by her wishes and my choices.

Now it was time to meet her.

***

A small girl.

Yet her essence was that of a woman.

Her power was so overwhelming that even in the Sword Realm, she couldn't maintain her true form—Iris Ruzbella.

She wanted to appear on Earth in her true body.

'We wish to meet the Sword Master.'

She gazed at the rift before her.

She could see the Sword Master standing there, her Imperial Palace, the throne where she ought to sit—all vivid through the gap—and yet.

"World, do you fear Us?"

An unidentified force blocked her path.

As if determined to never let the empress set foot on Earth's soil.

The exalted Dimensional Wall pushed her back.

She'd expected this.

"We swear We shall not harm the world. Now stand aside."

If she appeared in the world.

She could wipe away everything pestering the Sword Master in a single stroke.

How dare the world obstruct her like this?

Iris tore at the rift by force.

A message appeared before her eyes.

FLASH!

[The moment you appear, other things will descend alongside you.]

The Status Window that displayed messages.

It spoke to her.

Iris narrowed her eyes and tilted her head.

She wasn't surprised that the Status Window could talk.

What she was curious about was: why should those "other things" matter?

"We shall kill them all in your stead. How does that sound?"

Whatever descended, she'd simply kill it.

She had the power for that.

FLASH!

[This world is different from yours. Bide your time and preserve your strength.]

Iris fixed her pointed gaze on the empty air.

"There is only one being who may command Us."

Iris tore the space open even wider.

FLASH!

[The world cannot yet bear your presence.]

Iris pushed the tip of her foot through.

Instantly, the Status Window's meaning became clear.

"It crumbles."

Earth was an endlessly fragile place.

An environment where beings wielding all manner of Transcendent Authorities could not manifest freely.

She gained that certainty from just the tip of her foot.

And so—.

"We shall impose restrictions upon Ourselves."

The empress staked her name on it.

She promised to operate only within the Imperial Citadel, her power restrained.

The world's sole empress.

That promise must have carried immeasurable weight.

"However, know that at the Sword Master's will, that promise may be broken at any time."

Even so, Iris left herself an exception.

Apparently satisfied with that much, the Status Window no longer appeared before her.

"Haha! At last."

Iris, too, crossed the space with a willing heart.

The rift that had begun from the Baby Sword.

As simple and short as stepping over a threshold.

CREAK———.

Yet crossing that tiny gap imposed a ferociously intense strain upon her.

She clutched the crimson greatsword she'd been carrying, hugging it tight.

The sword once called [■■■]—her sword.

A proof of her bond with the Sword Master, and so she guarded it more dearly than her own body.

Draped in her cloak, she walked and walked and walked.

WHOOSH——!!!

At the end of her steps, the world turned bright.

The first thing she saw was Sword Master Shin Si-woo, extending his hand.

And her own Imperial Palace, dyed in red.

"Iri......s?"

But why?

The Sword Master, who should have been welcoming the girl, was looking at her with a somewhat bewildered face.

And his eye level was far higher than she'd expected.

'We can only appear in this child's body?'

Iris fixed her pointed gaze on the empty air.

'What a swindler.'

FLASH!

[Your true form, too, could bewitch the world.]

That impudent Status Window dared to toy with her.

Fury surged, but.

Iris had no choice but to surrender to an emotion far greater.

"This maiden beholds the Sword Master's visage for the very first time."

Demurely.

Hands together, she bowed with utmost courtesy.

Because her master stood before her.

***

'She's incredibly small.'

I was utterly taken aback.

The first Iris I'd ever seen had been at least high-school age.

But the girl before me now—no, the child—looked about six or seven years old, with a tiny frame.

A child that small was hugging a greatsword bigger than herself, her body swathed in a cloak.

Every step she took, her crimson dress dragged along the floor.

"This maiden may have shrunk, but she is indeed Iris Ruzbella!"

Her voice was impossibly young.

Yet the presence she radiated was unmistakably Iris.

I'd never expected her to appear here in perfect form to begin with.

But I hadn't imagined she'd be this tiny.

We were, after all, meeting face-to-face for the very first time.

"Iris, it's good to meet you."

I wanted to act casual, but treating her like I normally would felt wrong given how young she looked.

Yet treating her like a child felt wrong given what I knew of her true nature.

I settled on maintaining an appropriate distance and extended my hand.

"Sword Master!!!"

Iris clasped my hand and beamed with pure joy.

In that instant, I felt as though the world had frozen.

No—it definitely had.

THUMP—.

We'd merely clasped hands, yet my cognition shifted as it did when I drew a Transcendent sword.

Perhaps, when my swords appeared in reality, I'd be able to maintain a permanent state of Transcendence in their vicinity.

'Does being near them replicate having a sword drawn?'

The thought crossed my mind.

But that was something to investigate later.

I looked at Iris and spoke.

"This is your seat."

The throne, dyed crimson.

I pointed her toward it.

The one thread of regret we'd never been able to fulfill, no matter how many times we reached the end of the world.

"This maiden expresses her infinite gratitude."

She bowed her head to me, then walked toward the throne.

Her dragging dress.

Her small, delicate frame.

The oversized crimson greatsword clutched against that frame.

All of it was incongruous, yet somehow, watching her walk toward the throne, I thought she suited the scene perfectly.

"Our seat......"

She stood before the throne for a long while, emotions tangled, then carefully climbed up onto it.

<Announcement—.>

In that instant, the world whispered.

It tried to proclaim something.

But faster than it could, Iris shot a glare into the air and spoke.

"Silence. We did not grant you permission to speak."

SNAP—.

The world went silent.