After transferring most of the Obelisk’s authority to Luna,
Resina could no longer observe the Empire from wherever she pleased as she used to, but she still had a grasp on the general situation of the current continent.
Thus, Resina was aware of the reason why Johanna had come here.
Johanna was searching for a way to counter Speira.
“…”
Johanna’s gaze was cold. It wasn’t hostile, but it wasn’t friendly either.
Luna hadn’t bothered to tell Johanna that one of the direct reasons Ray made ‘that choice’ was Resina.
Because fostering enmity between Johanna and Resina would yield no benefits.
Since Luna had only briefly warned Johanna about the dangers of Resina, Johanna looked at Resina with an eye filled with caution.
Resina smiled towards Johanna as if amused.
“Ah, so you came because of me?”
Though Resina’s smile seemed directed at Johanna, in reality, it was due to Luna.
Resina knew why Luna had made such a decision.
Excluding Harshia’s Spatial Blade, there were practically no techniques in all of continental history capable of effectively countering the peculiarities of the ‘Dark Radiance.’
“…Even if Ernst Prislan’s second awakening is complete, it would still be insufficient to fully counter the Dark Radiance.”
The second awakening is a technique that suppresses the enemy’s peculiarities indirectly.
While it might handle the corrupted power that Preches once wielded, Resina was skeptical whether it could sufficiently suppress the special properties of the Dark Radiance.
Ultimately, the Spatial Blade was the only visible option to counter the Dark Radiance.
And among the existing beings, the closest understanding of the Spatial Blade was left behind by Resina’s own remnants of will.
Luna was well aware of this fact. Moreover, Luna understood the dangers inherent within the Spatial Blade just as deeply as Resina did.
Despite knowing these dangers, Luna sent Johanna here.
Was it a judgment based on trust in Johanna’s talent, or was it a gamble wagering on the life of a close friend?
With interest piqued by Luna’s intentions, Resina spoke up.
“With half-hearted resolve, you’ll gain nothing…”
Whether it was the Spatial Blade or anything else, finding a means to oppose the Dark Radiance required corresponding resolve.
“What can you sacrifice?”
“Anything.”
At Johanna’s cold affirmation, Resina let out another sneer.
Johanna’s assertion was not mere bravado.
The intense desire and determination reflected in her eyes were far from fleeting impulses that could easily falter or fade.
As Resina gazed at Johanna’s eerily glowing eyes, she twisted her lips further.
“Your sacrifice won’t be rewarded.”
“I don’t care.”
“You’re acting like that child.”
It wasn’t clear whether they were drawn together because they resembled each other or whether being taken in caused the resemblance…
“That child walked a path you now seek to follow.”
Too much love was given, and too much love was received.
The fact that Ray turned away from before his death was making Johanna resemble him more and more.
“…”
Resina paused momentarily to reflect on the current situation.
Ultimately, the crux of the issue was whether the Spatial Blade could be reproduced.
Attempts to reproduce the Spatial Blade could be considered as something the Empire had tried countless times.
And every attempt failed. The sword techniques born from those failures were inherited by the Royal Guard and the Empire’s Knight Order, but that was all.
Johanna declared her readiness to sacrifice anything, but countless talents—numbering in the hundreds—had prepared themselves for death only to perish in vain.
There was no room for attempting low-probability gambles without proper verification.
“…Let me see your talent first.”
Saying this, Resina swirled her hand through the air.
As Resina gestured, light flowed along the walls and ceiling, sketching out magical symbols while mischievously laughing.
“You’ve probably experienced something similar in Izhise. The barrier will infiltrate your mind. Suppress your body’s senses and adapt to the barrier’s effects.”
“…”
The barrier emitted by Resina began to infiltrate Johanna’s mind more intensely.
As Johanna accepted the infiltration without resistance, Resina added an explanation.
“This is a process to assess your talent, so I’ll induce confusion in your memories. Of course, everything will return to normal once you break free from the illusion, so don’t worry.”
“…”
“Then, let us step into my nightmare together.”
Whoosh!!
*
“…”
The ground was dyed black.
Instead of the sun, a swirling aura of malice illuminated the crimson sky.
Johanna couldn’t comprehend why she was standing in such a hellish place.
Not only the process of arriving here, but even her name and purpose were unclear.
The unpleasant and repulsive ground was filled with foul odors.
Due to confusion and dizziness, Johanna instinctively tried to take a step back.
However, someone stopped her retreat.
“Grasp the sword.”
“…?”
“Don’t you have something you must do?”
Resina extended her hand and placed two swords into Johanna’s grip.
As Johanna, despite her confusion, followed Resina’s guidance and tightly gripped the swords, Resina stepped back a pace.
“If your talent is sufficient, prove it once.”
In the past, Ray swung the sword effortlessly within this illusion.
This was possible because Ray had already mastered the Spatial Blade.
Although imperfect, since he had inherited Harshia’s techniques, Ray could skillfully manipulate the mana of the Spatial Blade within this illusion.
But Johanna was different from Ray.
Johanna experienced the mana of the Spatial Blade from scratch, amidst the chaos of her disrupted memories.
Even geniuses acclaimed for their extraordinary talent would undoubtedly lose control of the Spatial Blade’s mana under the same circumstances as Johanna, leading to their rapid self-destruction.
Yet, Resina, who had imposed such extreme conditions on Johanna, revealed her intrigue and laughed.
“Prove that you are different from those who perished arrogantly believing in their genius.”
That was the minimum condition to covet the Spatial Blade.
“…”
Standing on the blackened ground, Johanna, holding two swords in her hands, looked ahead.
A chaotic wave of darkness infused with malice slowly approached Johanna.
Her memory remained vague, and her heart was filled with confusion.
Uncontrolled mana surged violently within her, accelerating the destruction of her already battered physical form. Her heart ceased to beat.
All that remained in the silence of her chest was despair.
Yet… the inexplicable pain engraved in her heart remained vividly present, bringing tears to her eyes.
Those painful tears gave rise to resolve in Johanna’s wandering soul.
She mustn’t stop. She must move forward, no matter what. Even though she didn’t fully understand why, it was necessary.
Step!
Johanna started walking.
The uncontrolled mana within her continued to rapidly drive her physical form toward self-destruction.
Despite trying to control it, it proved impossible.
The torrential currents of mana colliding beyond four-dimensional spacetime were far beyond the capabilities of ordinary human perception.
Before long, the sound of bones twisting within her body began to echo.
Crack!
“…”
Ordinary individuals struggle to even imagine simple three-dimensional diagrams.
However, true prodigies blessed with extraordinary talent begin analyzing multidimensional structures by adding axes to three dimensions.
They construct unimaginable realms within their minds, deriving paths toward truth that transcend human cognitive abilities. That is what a genius represents.
When Luna saw the equations that Ray struggled for a month to solve, she instantly deduced the answers.
To Ray, the equation was merely an equation, but to Luna, the equation visually materialized, revealing the truths embedded within it.
Luna’s eyes could pierce through the world’s truths using equations as a medium.
Johanna didn’t possess Luna’s unparalleled computational prowess or intellectual genius.
However, Johanna possessed something that Luna lacked.
“…”
The astonishing intuition inherent in Johanna’s physical form grasped and comprehended the essence of the strange force coursing through her body.
The mana of the Spatial Blade.
It generates ceaseless torrents from higher dimensions, making it uncontrollable.
But… the torrents unfolding beyond human cognition weren’t particularly important.
No matter how chaotic the torrents in higher dimensions may be, what ultimately mattered was the form of the force projected onto four-dimensional spacetime.
Since the human body manipulating this force was bound to four-dimensional spacetime, stabilizing the force’s projection in four dimensions rendered the torrents in higher dimensions negligible.
Even without anyone teaching her,
Johanna instinctively derived the correct answer.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
She focused on stabilizing the form of the force projected onto four-dimensional spacetime.
She offloaded all burdens caused by the chaotic torrents onto higher dimensions.
After all, the human body confined to four-dimensional spacetime wouldn’t interact with the torrents in higher dimensions anyway.
Clack… Clack…
The previously tumultuous mana currents gradually settled, beginning to flow smoothly through Johanna’s body.
Witnessing this spectacle, Resina revealed surprise for the first time.
“To think you could manage this…”
Resina had induced memory confusion to prevent Johanna from engaging in logical thought.
Yet, despite this, Johanna reached the correct conclusion purely through intuition and sense alone, producing results.
Step!
Johanna took another step forward.
Johanna still couldn’t clearly recall why she was here, what her name was, or what her purpose was.
Only the sharp pain in her heart remained vivid, continuously tightening her jaw.
She wasn’t honest.
She trusted and relied on you.
She believed it was okay.
Even if she threw tantrums or acted out, she believed you’d stay by her side.
She believed that no matter how distant she became, you’d always reach out your hand first.
She realized too late that it wasn’t true.
There were things she wanted to say to you when you lied and left.
More than reproaching you for why you treated her this way or why you told those lies, there were things she wanted to say.
Chasing after lost memories, Johanna painfully moved her lips.
“I… was wrong.”
So…
“Just… come back…”
A poignant confession escaped her lips, accompanied by tears.
Together with the coalescing force in her body, a faint radiance gradually formed.
As she observed the flashes coursing through the sword, Resina muttered.
“So, you are different.”
You were unlike the countless fools who perished arrogantly believing themselves to be geniuses.
Which made it all the more…
“Apparently, it’s still impossible.”
She couldn’t pass on the Spatial Blade.
