I Pulled Out the Excalibur

The sword aura shaped like a red thorny bush.

In the midst of the forest, a red thorny bush had taken root. Griffin’s movements, while slow in raising his sword, were flawless. Najin, attempting to find and exploit any openings, furrowed his brows.

There were no openings to be seen.

Najin sensed something different from what Griffin had shown before. This was not basic swordsmanship. It was the martial art that a warrior had honed over a lifetime. Griffin’s stance exuded such momentum and precision.

Najin’s instincts screamed at him.
To retreat immediately.

Creating distance from an opponent unleashing a powerful technique is certainly a bad move. However, if there was no way to receive that sword, a bad move had to be made.

Thud.

Najin stomped the ground to halt his momentum. Unable to overcome the speed, his body leaned forward, but he forcefully pushed off the ground to leap backward. And ultimately, that decision proved correct.

Griffin swung his sword.
The red thorny bush extended its branches.

The sound that accompanied the swing was not the ‘swoosh’ of a cutting blade but a ‘crack’ as if something was being split apart. The wind blew, and dust rose. When the dust settled, the ground was seen split apart.

Where Najin had stood moments before, the ground around Griffin, within a five-step radius, was marked with the shape of a thorny bush, sword scars etched into the earth.

And Griffin’s sword did not stop. Rooted to the ground, he swung the thorny bush. It seemed less like a knight swinging a sword and more like a giant uprooting and wielding a massive tree.

Crack!

The ground split. The longsword in Griffin’s hand, roughly 120cm in length, extended its reach and breadth more than threefold once wrapped in the red thorny sword aura. But since the sword aura had no weight and only recoil, its speed was no different from that of swinging a longsword.

‘Starting from Sword Seeker, one begins to defy common sense.’

Najin had to personally experience the phrase he had once read somewhere. A greatsword, over 3m in length, was being swung at the speed of a longsword. The moment one came into contact with those extending branches, not only would the skin be sliced, but the bones would also be cleaved.

Rolling on the ground, pushing off the earth, widening his eyes to preemptively read the movements and react… but evasion alone couldn’t avert the situation.

An unavoidable attack was coming.
Facing the horizontally swinging red thorny bush, Najin thrust his sword forward. Even with his sword aura’s output pushed to its limit, the moment it collided with Griffin’s sword aura, Najin’s was rapidly diminished.

Clash!

He was overpowered in the recoil.
Overpowered in density.
Despite gripping the sword tightly, the violently shaking hilt felt as though it would slip from his grasp. Crack—his fingers bent. It was impossible to receive it. Continuing like this would result in all ten fingers being broken.

Gritting his teeth, Najin pushed off the ground.
The moment he lifted off, he was pushed sideways through the air, having decided it was better to be blown away than to try and withstand the attack.

Crash!

Najin, thrown far away, barely managed to roll and stand up. His arm was numb, his fingers throbbed. The sword aura, greatly diminished, could no longer emit a fierce light. It flickered briefly like a torch burning out.

“Cough, kuh.”

Najin, who had taken in more mana than his body could handle and was whipping his body to maintain balance, was in disarray. His insides screamed, and from the deep cut on his shoulder, dark red blood flowed incessantly.

The situation was dire.
He was cornered, and his opponent was unscathed.

Sweet whispers echoed in Najin’s ears. Draw the Excalibur. If you do, you might be able to win, right? But Najin had no intention of succumbing to those whispers. That was a last resort.

A power far too great for him to wield yet.

Relying on such power, pulling it out whenever cornered, would hinder his growth. Moreover, drawing it in such a situation would only lead to greater trials later. Najin steadied his breath and thought.

Think. Find the answer.

Come up with a way to survive against this formidable knight.

‘What I lack is… sword aura.’

He could compensate for the other factors somehow.
The inability to receive the opponent’s sword was the biggest issue. The difference in sword aura. The only way to bridge that gap was one.

Imagery, the scenery engraved in the mind.
A concrete shape to infuse into the sword aura.

If he couldn’t conjure it up, he would die. Walking the tightrope between life and death, Najin gripped his sword anew. But how? How to interpret and understand the vague notion of infusing imagery into sword aura?

-No need to overthink it.

That moment came.
Merlin, who had been silent all this while, spoke up.

-You already know what to do.

“You have already experienced the catalyst.”

Merlin said.

“The pure white sword aura you were able to draw forth after your battle with the demon knight, that was a fragment of your Imagery.”

She was sitting in profound darkness.
It was Najin’s inner self, still incomplete.

“Imagery is essentially the scenery drawn in your mind.”

When Merlin opened her eyes, which had been closed all along, what she saw was the landscape of Najin’s inner self… his Imagery.

“The memories that strongly remain in your mind, what you want to emulate, what you desire, all these form that landscape.”

When Merlin first took her place here, all she saw was darkness stretching beyond the horizon.

But not anymore.
Now, she could see.

The landscapes that had started to take shape in Najin’s Imagery, especially after the battle with the demon knight, were visible to her. Walking among these landscapes, Merlin whispered to Najin.

“What was your starting point?”

As if answering her question, the landscape stirred.
The previously vague outlines became clear. It was the scenery of the Underground City. The dim and gloomy appearance of the Underground City. The place Merlin was wandering had transformed into the city located at the lowest point of the world.

At best, it spanned about ten steps.
A very narrow range of landscape was engraved.

It was far from enough to fill this vast space, but for now, this was sufficient. Greed shouldn’t be indulged from the beginning. Merlin continued to whisper to Najin.

“What did you want to become? Stars, knights, pride, honor. Mull over the words that have taken root in your mind. Visualize them as a landscape.”

A light flickered.

“You said there was a knight who shone even in the lowest places.”

The shimmering light emerged in the middle of the Underground City. It was a pure white light. A light symbolizing a knight who, because of his unwavering pride, could shine until the very end.

“You swore to that light. To hang a star in the highest place. Yes, you dreamed of stars in a place where no stars could be seen.”

Another light ascended.

The light that rose shone brightly in the high heavens. The pure white star hung in the lowest place and the platinum star in the highest. Looking at the two stars supporting Najin’s Imagery, Merlin smiled.

“In a place where no stars can be seen.”

The landscape of the Underground City became clear.

“The oath with the knight who didn’t lose the star.”

The low-hanging pure white star flickered intensely.

“The star shining from the highest place.”

The high-hanging platinum star shone brilliantly.

“And what’s in your hand is a sword. It may not be the Excalibur, but does that matter? You were chosen by the Excalibur, recognized by the Sword of Selection. And inside you, there are two shining stars.”

So, Merlin whispered.

“With the star in mind, when you swing, that becomes the Star’s Sword.”

Merlin stopped walking.
Before her was a pure white star. The intensely flickering star, for a moment, shone brightly. With a flash of light, the surrounding scenery evaporated. But Merlin knew that didn’t mean it was destroyed.

The scenery hadn’t vanished into Najin’s inner self.
It had merely shifted to Najin’s sword.

Merlin closed her eyes again. When she did, what she saw was through Najin’s eyes, the world as Najin saw it. Through Najin’s perspective, Merlin saw the sword he held. The sword aura blooming over it was pure white.

That sword aura somewhat resembled a star.

The sword aura, resembling a pure white star, scattered bright particles.

The battle did not easily come to an end.

Griffin frowned.

Even after employing the swordsmanship of the war hero, Arta Trigadian, the battle dragged on unexpectedly. The young man was evading the sword through all means, bleeding and wrecking his body to buy time.

Though he wouldn’t be defeated,
If the fight dragged on, he couldn’t complete his mission.

That was as good as defeat for Griffin. Fulfilling the mission given by his lord under any circumstances was what he considered knightly. Griffin stepped forward, intending to settle the matter.

It was time to conclude.
Therefore, Griffin recalled.
The fundamental scenery of his Imagery.

It was the stark thorn bush in the garden of the Arbenia ducal family. The thorn bush had always been there since Griffin was young. The knight who had made Griffin a squire had called that tree the guardian tree of Arbenia.

The thorn bush that had stood its ground for over 300 years.

Looking at that tree, Griffin swung his sword. Over the years, his mentor retired, Griffin became a knight, reached the realm of Sword Seeker, and eventually rose to the position of knight commander.

Decades passed, but the guardian tree of Arbenia still stood its ground.

Having swung his sword in front of such a guardian tree for decades, a thorn bush firmly stood in Griffin’s inner self too. A steadfast giant tree that merely followed its master’s wishes.

That was Griffin’s idea of a knight.
His Imagery extended along his sword.

The giant tree grew a bit more, now swinging a thorn bush over 5m tall. There was no escape. To prevent being pushed back like before, Griffin swung his sword from above downward.

And then it happened.

Najin, who had been fleeing, suddenly stood still. Standing still, Najin inexplicably raised his sword above his face. Griffin recognized that posture. It was a stance habitually taken by some knights, or knights of Atanga, before drawing up their sword aura.

A gesture to compose oneself through the sword salute.

As the sword salute concluded, white particles blossomed over Najin’s sword. It seemed no different from before, but Griffin felt a change. Najin’s sword aura, which had dimmed, was scattering light again.

Indeed.

It was scattering light.

White particles blossomed around Najin’s sword, like stars shining in the night sky. In that moment, Griffin’s eyes widened. It wasn’t just a cluster of light but ‘sword aura with form.’ Although still unstable and incomplete, it was clear that the young man’s Imagery was contained within.

He had touched the fringe of Sword Seeker.

In a dire situation, walking the tightrope between life and death, Najin had finally stepped into a realm he hadn’t reached before.

Clash!

The red thorn bush and the pure white star collided.
Until now, Najin’s sword had been hopelessly overpowered, but not anymore. Scattering particles, Najin’s sword cut through the branches of the red thorn bush.

Just one of the many branches was broken. However, the fact that it was cut was significant.

Realizing he had made a cut, Najin’s eyes widened.
He had found a means to counter. That meant he could now fully utilize techniques he hadn’t been able to use before. Najin pushed off the ground and charged at Griffin.

Swoosh!

Cutting through the branches of the giant tree, sometimes bleeding, Najin closed the distance. It cost several bleedings just to take one step, but Najin didn’t care. However, there was one thing Najin was mistaken about.

The difference in experience.

Najin had just touched the fringe, but Griffin had been in the realm of Sword Seeker for over ten years, a true veteran. Despite his astonishment, Griffin swung his sword diligently. He was still in a superior position.

The Imagery contained in Najin’s sword was slowly evaporating.

Its sharpness was evident, but he was still a novice in wielding a sword filled with Imagery. The difference in experience dictated the outcome. Najin fought valiantly, but when the blade reached its target, it no longer bore sword aura.

Time was up.

‘It’s over.’

That’s what Griffin thought as he was about to deliver the final blow. Then, with a whistling sound, an arrow flew from somewhere. Griffin, with wide eyes, swung his sword to deflect the arrow, but the impact forced him back.

The arrow lodged in the ground was suitable for a great bow, a weapon too powerful for ordinary strength to draw.

Griffin’s mind went to a renowned knight of the Trebache Marquis’s family. A knight who had reached the realm of Sword Seeker, skilled with a great bow. It was clear that the arrow had been shot by him. Following that, the sound of horse hooves echoed through the forest.

“Stop.”

The approaching horsemen. The echoing voice.
Griffin looked around.
Arriving on horseback were knights of the Marquis’s family, their swords drawn at Griffin.

Their arrival was quicker than Griffin had anticipated, signaling his defeat. Griffin exhaled deeply and slowly lowered his sword. With the Marquis’s knights present, he could no longer continue the battle.

Just as he was about to lower his sword,

Griffin glanced ahead inadvertently.
There stood the young man, bloodied and still in the same posture as before. The young man, holding his pose, exhaled. Watching that posture, Griffin couldn’t help but chuckle.

He lacked foresight or the talent to predict the future through an opponent’s movements.

Yet, he had enough insight to recognize Najin’s stance. It was a technique from the Order of the Sword, optimized for counterattacks at close range. A technique that destabilized the opponent’s stance by striking with the sword hilt, devoid of sword aura.

‘At the very last moment, did he assume the stance for a counterattack, anticipating the sword aura to fade?’

Had he struck down as intended,
Could he have taken the young man’s life?

He couldn’t be certain. Uncertainty led Griffin to feel a chill. Even if he couldn’t secure victory, he would at least avoid defeat. The intense will to survive emanated from the gasping young man.

“……”

Griffin silently lowered his sword.
Though they met as enemies, the young man’s fighting spirit deserved respect. Griffin, still facing the unyielding Najin, said,

“I have been defeated.”

Only then did Najin lower his sword. Griffin sighed and looked at the knights surrounding him. Now, he had to fight with words and justification.

And such a battlefield…

Was far too disadvantageous for Griffin.