Swing the sword. The previous Mercurius had endured Kail’s sword strikes up to three times. Self-defense or so he claimed.
However, now that Kail had flown directly to where he resided, Mercurius didn’t need to endure Kail’s sword anymore.
Very simply—like an adult watching a newborn baby play around. Mercurius flicked the sword away with his fingers and snickered.
“Are you playing around? Right now?”
It didn’t work. It was miraculous that the sword hadn’t broken. But Kail didn’t give up. No matter how many times his sword was deflected or how much Mercurius yawned out of boredom while blocking his attacks.
He would never give up.
“Hnnng-!”
The Superior Blade reacted to Kail’s will and began to glow. A power capable of cutting anything—even divine beings without exception.
That power flew towards Mercurius’ fingers.
However, the term “divine power” meant that gods already possessed similar abilities.
“The Mask of the Jester”
The moment Mercurius spoke, a masked jester identical to him appeared before Kail.
The jester held a sword, and from it radiated the glowing Superior Blade.
An existence completely identical to Kail. However, Kail didn’t panic and played with his sword.
“I’ve dealt with this before, you brat─!”
A figure completely identical to Kail.
Completely identical aura.
Completely identical swordsmanship.
Though it was a 120% copy of Kail Meyer’s powers, Kail easily overcame his doppelgänger. Seeing this, Mercurius let out an exclamation as if asking how that was possible.
“Amazing. How did you do it?”
“I don’t know, idiot-!”
“Does one have powers they themselves don’t understand…? Then, how about this?”
Second ability: ‘The Picture Book of the Little Prince.’
A pristine sketchbook appeared in midair and drew something in front of Kail.
─Kyaaaaaah!
A monstrous creature with countless arms. If Kail were to pick someone resembling him among those he knew, it would be Hecatoncheir.
Hecatoncheir wielded swords, spears, bows, axes, staffs, and more with its hundred arms, all aimed at Kail. Each weapon bore the Superior Blade.
“Crazy.”
After barely dodging an unimaginable monster’s strike, the monster’s body vanished instantly.
Not too fast to miss, but literally disintegrated. Surprised by the sudden disappearance of the monster, Kail scattered his aura around him when a sharp killing intent approached from behind.
Kwaaang─! A massive club grazed past Kail’s sword. He managed to deflect the impact, but not the weight.
“Grrrk-!”
With no end in sight, Kail, flung far away, raised his aura to guard against follow-up attacks while looking at the monster.
But the monster disappeared again. Not falling for the same trick twice, Kail immediately swung his sword behind him, prompting Mercurius to chuckle lightly.
“This time, it’ll be above.”
─Kyaaaaah!
A giant hammer smashed into Kail’s entire body. Like a bug stuck to a fly swatter, Kail clung to the hammer and momentarily lost consciousness.
Regaining his senses after flying several kilometers, Kail wiped his blood-soaked vision and spread his aura around him.
His aura seemed to interfere with spatial movement, as the monster mocked him from afar with laughter.
‘What the hell is that damn monster……?’
Not only did it have a hundred arms and wield dozens of Superior Blades—something even Kail could only use once—but its colossal strength was absurd, and on top of that, it casually used teleportation, a spell only master sorcerers could cast…!
It was as if my imagined strongest monster had fallen straight into reality. Feeling like he was facing a stubborn beast born from an elementary schooler’s imagination, Kail found a way to defeat it.
‘Logically, there’s no way.’
Realistically, logically, reasonably.
There was no way to beat that monster. Wasn’t it more monstrous than a fully-grown Hecatoncheir?
Even bringing together multiple transcendents like Kail wouldn’t guarantee victory; hunting it would require teamwork. But in this world, Kail was the only transcendent.
Yuri, Arthur, Merlin, the Virgin Saintess—all of them couldn’t aid Kail. They were weaker beings who needed his protection.
‘Damn…… should I have brought the Holy Stigmata…….’
Feeling the blood trickle down his whole body, Kail chuckled bitterly and refused to give up, gripping his sword tightly despite the despairing situation.
His aura responded to his will and glowed faintly blue.
“─Come at me.”
Kail shouted and charged at the monster.
***
“……Impressive.”
Mercurius retracted his past mockery of Kail. Had his past self seen this scene, he wouldn’t have been able to mock him.
Fighting an unbeatable monster and gradually gaining the upper hand.
Scattered around were the limbs of the monster Mercurius created. Countless weapons fell from its hands, and blood pooled on the ground.
In other words, Kail had won.
“Truly impressive. To defeat that monster? It wasn’t made to be defeated.”
“Haa, haa—what the hell was that……?”
“A giant. What I saw.”
The so-called Hermes, Mercurius, referred to giants known as the Titans. Divine bloodline. Those who destroyed Olympus.
Should he rejoice in defeating such an existence, or lament that even after defeating such an opponent, Mercurius showed no signs of exhaustion—Kail couldn’t help but laugh in this ironic situation.
“I’m losing it, seriously.”
“No, you don’t have to lose your mind. I have a proposal for you.”
Mercurius carefully extended both hands as he watched Kail click his tongue.
“Become mine, won’t you?”
“……What?”
“It’s simple. I covet your soul.”
Mercurius brought forth Sera’s soul, preserved far away. Her soul, eyes closed like a corpse, approached.
“If you become mine, I promise to return her. What do you think? Isn’t it a noble sacrifice? Since you came here prepared to die, consider offering your death to me.”
A sweet offer. Kail swallowed hard. Mercurius was right. He couldn’t win. Look at him now. Blood dripped from his entire body, yet Mercurius hadn’t broken a sweat.
This was truly a god-like presence. And humans couldn’t defeat gods.
Such a god generously offered mercy. Sacrifice your life, and he’d return your childhood friend’s soul—a perfect escape route.
“If we fight, you’ll die with a 100% probability, and I’ll take both your soul and this child’s soul. But now, if you surrender your soul to me, I’ll return this child. What do you say? It’s obvious what a non-fool would choose.”
Lose both with a 100% probability.
Or gain at least one.
Standing at this crossroads, Kail carefully pondered. After a moment, he slowly began to release the grip on his sword hilt.
Seeing the dropped sword, Mercurius started to smile lightly.
“There, good thinking. That’s it.”
“……You’ll really return Sera, right?”
“Of course. I promise. I’ll safely return Sera to her original world.”
Hearing this, Kail slowly approached Mercurius. Slowly, very slowly.
Close enough to examine every detail of Sera’s soul, Kail cautiously reached out to touch her soul.
“Because of this damn girl, I came all the way here and went through hell……”
“Don’t say that. She merely upheld the contract.”
“I know. Just venting. I went through a lot because of her.”
As Kail fondled her soul, he burst into laughter, then glared at Mercurius.
And in his heart, he drew a sword.
The sword responded to his will and began to glow faintly blue.
“Sera risked her life to see me, so I can’t run away like this.”
“……You’ll regret it. Refrain from making foolish choices.”
“What are you talking about! You’re the fool!”
Blue aura erupted wildly from the sword.
“I am Kail Meyer─! The Sword Saint, Kail Meyer!”
The sword responded to his will and shone once more.
“A man who doesn’t know the meaning of giving up!”
His will.
Will absolutely.
Never break.
