Episode 495 The Day After the Apocalypse (2)
The year BE 1,020 on the Continental Calendar.
The rivers of blood have finally dried up.
The decades-long war between the human and demon worlds has been recorded in the history books as the Age of Destruction.
And the day the human world’s victory was carved into stone.
A head was hung at the main gate of Tochka, humanity’s last fortress.
Baal.
Aka ‘Mother of Destruction’.
72 The Spiritual Pillar of Demons.
The day its head fell to the ground, the Age of Destruction came to an end.
And there were several people who made great contributions to driving Baal and other demons from the earth.
Morg Mu Camus, lord of the House of Morg.
Osiris Le Baskerville, lord of the House of Baskerville.
Bourgois Ju Sinclair, lord of the House of Bourgois.
Dolores Lun Quovadis, Pope of the House of Quovadis.
The Warden of the Nouvelle Vague ‘Orca Montreuil-sur-Mer Javert……’.
.
.
There are so many other heroes that humanity has barely survived.
…… but.
There were also heroes who fought more brilliantly than anyone else, but never made it into the history books.
They appeared out of nowhere.
Accompanied by the 8th guiding star, they descended upon the battlefield and drove away the demons like messengers promising salvation.
Age unknown, identity unknown, name unknown.
But the man who was the eldest of the six heroes was clearly the Iron-Blooded Swordsman Baskerville.
Rumor has it that he mastered the 9th Form, a rank that was said to be unattainable in a lifetime, but the truth of the matter has never been revealed.
Other figures have also failed to make it into canonical history due to unusual questions.
They surprisingly had the exact same appearance and the same powers as already existing figures, such as Morg Mu Camus, Dolores Lun Quovadis, and Bourgeois Ju Sinclair, who were among the heroes who saved humanity.
Some were from long-extinct tribes of barbarian warriors, and there was even a deserting prison guard of unknown rank who was vaguely suspected to have once been a member of the Nouvelle Vague.
Eventually, at their hands, Baal fell, and a long peace came to humanity.
Immediately after the end of the Age of Destruction, they were able to receive recognition for only a small portion of their enormous achievements and receive a small amount of territory.
Can Only Share Sorrow and Cannot Share Joy.
They withdrew from the ugly squabbles over the public domain, and, satisfied with a small amount of compensation (considering their merits, a level so small that it would be considered absurd), they quietly retired to their territory and have not been seen in the world since.
The world can only assume that they had raised a large family, had numerous children, and were living out their final days in quiet and comfort.
…….
However.
As I write this journal as a conscientious officer, a scholarly historian, a popular author, and a survivor of an Age of Destruction, I cannot help but ask additional questions.
Where did they come from and where are they going?
Who were they, and what were their purposes and intentions?
These are questions that can never be answered no matter how much I think about them and study them, and it is a lifelong task for me, and for all of humanity whose lives were saved by them.
In a situation where everything is questionable, the guiding star they came down to today is silent and only shines brightly.
Seven stars shining ever brighter……
-‘Nymphet’ from 『History of Magic』, Volume 3,021 page-
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Whiiiiing-
A dry wind blows, peeling away a layer of desert flesh.
A black robe flutters in the wind, and a long, graying beard.
An old man walks across the salt flats.
A side effect of being a time traveler?
A body that grows one year old only when others have lived ten or twenty years old.
The children grow up, and the children’s children grow up, and the children’s children’s children grow up, and again, and again…… Anyway, quite a long time has passed.
The old man is about to leave.
Throwing off all his shackles and restraints, he gives in to the instincts he’s been suppressing for a very, very long time.
Whiiiiing-
Another gust of wind whips up, chipping away at the rocks.
The old man rode silently over the crescent-shaped sand dunes covered in salty salt sand.
And then.
What the old man was looking for came into view.
It was a Tower.
A Black Tower, jutting up against the white horizon.
Like an awl jutting out of the ground, it bathed in the blackness of the night sky and the red of blood.
‘Grave of Swords’
The old man nodded silently as he read the crude writing on the front of the Tower.
“……A true Baskerville is born in the ‘Cradle of Swords’.”
After a moment of silence, the old man continued.
“……A true Baskerville dies in the ‘Grave of Swords’.”
Just then.
[This is the Grave of Swords, the final resting place of those who follow the extreme will of the sword.]
There was a heavy, echoing laugh from within the Tower.
Then the top of the Tower opened like a dog’s mouth.
Inside the Tower was a throne of steel and an old man in black armor seated upon it.
A Baskerville, with a long white beard.
A former Seven Counts who had seen the turbulence of war, and the strongest man in all of mankind, even in the Age of Destruction.
He stroked his pure white beard and smiled broadly.
[This is definitely a familiar face, even though it’s the first time I’ve seen it. The intuition of a superhuman who has reached the realm of the supreme transcends even space and time.]
The gray-bearded old man did not reply to the white-bearded old man’s words.
He simply pulled out a crimson sword with the back of his hand.
Seeing the momentum that the gray-bearded old man exuded, the white-bearded old man smiled with satisfaction.
Then.
The two old men with white and gray beards swung their swords at each other.
It was a split second.
Nine teeth met nine teeth.
The gray-bearded old man stopped moving as if struck by lightning.
In the meantime, his body trembled as if something that had been blocked for so many years had been unlocked.
At the same time, space and time began to distort.
…ppajig!
In the midst of the nine teeth’s ferocious clashing, a tiny speck of light flashed.
It’s teeth. It was the tenth teeth.
It was so small it was barely visible, but it was clearly attached to the nine teeth.
And then… the storm subsided.
Only one man remained. An old man with a gray beard.
He raised his head and looked up at the Tower.
He stood there for a long time, then slowly took a step.
Inside the tower.
And behind the gray-bearded old man, who slowly entered the Tower.
[Your birth will be like the birth of a sword, and your death will be like the death of a sword].
The voice of the old man with the white beard, who had now disappeared, was slowly becoming distant.
完. Thank you.
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…kwakwang!
With a loud bang, hot flames leaped up.
“Who says it’s over!”
A woman stomped her foot, her anger rising to the top of her head.
“Aaah! I don’t know if it’s a side effect of time travel or whatever, but it made me into a body that never ages, and are you already trying to send me to a venomous workshop!? This is really a dog that can’t give up its old habit of running away without saying a word! like he’s from Baskerville!”
Her red hair erupts like a volcano.
All around her, flames and spikes of blackened metal soared murderously.
And beside her, pacing was a copper-skinned woman.
Her muscles were toned, her bow strapped to her back, her choker tied around her neck.
“I want to have many children, to rebuild my tribe, and since the human population is so small, and fertility is encouraged as a virtue, …… I need to fill at least three digits.”
A native woman preaching the virtues of fertility.
And next to her, a woman in a white nun’s uniform can be seen knitting in a calm manner.
“Oh no. Calm down, everyone. Overexcitement is bad for your body. Well, it’s almost demi-god territory at this point anyway, so there’s no chance of getting hurt……. Ah? Is it possible that just because your body is strong and supreme…… you asked for too much, and that’s why he got scared and ran away!”
A saintess who has a calm demeanor but is the first to panic.
The next to speak was a woman with short-cropped white hair.
“Brother, stop being lazy, that’s why it splashed again. If I were him, I’d run away because of the noise. Wherever he goes, you always follow him around. One must have faith.”
The white-haired woman criticizes the other women.
The last to join the conversation was a woman with dark hair and red eyes, who seemed to have a cold demeanor.
“Leave it to me. Catching escaped prisoners is my specialty, and I’ve found where he’s gone this time.”
All the women’s eyes lit up.
“Where? Where did he go this time?”
“The desert again, I’m sure.”
“If he went looking for the Tower, I’m disappointed, it’s the same old pattern.”
“Well, this time it seemed to have a different momentum.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve already found the Tower, and I’ve been there twice, so I can find it with my eyes closed.”
The five women bonded instantly.
Despite their usual bickering, they had always been able to work together to solve problems quickly in situations like this.
“Just wait and see! If he gets caught this time, he’ll get fifty years in prison, he’s dead, really dead!”
“Wow, the bitch who will cry and snot out her tears and beg him to come back whenever we meet is always good at talking.”
“I miss him already, I don’t want to be away from him even for an hour…….”
“Don’t worry about it. By the way, if he gets caught this time, I’ll have to cut brother’s allowance in half.”
“I wonder if he’s running away from home because you keep cutting his pocket money like that.”
“Well, instead of cutting his allowance in half, why don’t you double the number of defense battles?”
“I think that would scare him more.”
“I’m fine with just watching from the sidelines.”
“Ugh- you’ve been a sissy for decades, really?”
“Yeah, but this time it looked like he was really trying to run away.”
“Hey! it’s the Gave of Swords, it’s obvious, I’ve got it all mapped out.”
“Oh, there? The place guarded by that basilisk? He hasn’t come out since I beat the crap out of him on my last preliminary exploration.”
“If it had a map, it would have scared it away and moved its nest. It’s a pretty intelligent creature.”
“Anyway, isn’t it about time we found it?”
“Oh, look! I see it!”
The five chatty women cross the desert to the Tower.
[A life of running and fleeing from chase until the end of time, with words that reflect loneliness and solitude].
[But those who pursue you will find you, and in the end, they will reach where you are].
[You cannot escape from them. For all time. Forever.]
[I see the furious faces of those who pursue you. Your miserable future, bound and shackled to them forever.]
It was the moment when the ominous oracle that someone had predicted a long time ago came true.
[In the end, there shall be five bodies!]
Real 完. Thank you.
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tl/n: 完 (finish)