The Swords I Raised Are Too Strong - Chapter 78
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 78. Enriching the Nation and Strengthening the Military (5)
[Muratan’s Failed Work 001—A fusion blade of the Imperial Emperor and ■■■ ■■.]
The weapons Muratan created bear serial numbers.
His failed work series, classified from number 1 to 1000.
The closer the number approached 1, the more formidable the performance—though even his 1000th creation would be called a world-class divine artifact, such was the excellence of Muratan’s craftsmanship.
Yet they were called failures because I had driven him mercilessly.
‘Iris Ruzbella, Jun, Muratan.’
Born from the twisted sensibilities of my middle-school delusions were the 3rd Sword Muratan, the 4th Sword Jun, and the 5th Sword Iris Ruzbella.
They endured a harshness that the 1st Sword Reinhardt Euclid and the 2nd Sword Yulia Lanestia could never have imagined.
The emotions of a grief-stricken adolescent were terribly chaotic.
Moreover, at that time, I had regarded [Sword Raising] as merely a game.
“Poor sister. Become an absolute force and slaughter everything. I’ll grant you whatever you desire!”
Into Iris Ruzbella, I poured my pity alongside a corrupted desire—’kill everything and take revenge!!!’
“An assassination blade wielding absolute concealment. The feeling of some mysterious world’s hidden mastermind? It might actually be cool….”
For the assassination blade Jun, I wished for him to become an emotionless shadow whose identity no one would ever know.
“Oh. A blacksmith who transforms the world. The world is my forge, and I am the hammer! That’s pretty good?”
Into Muratan, I had woven that era’s uniquely twisted sensibility—’oh, this might actually be cool?’
‘If I told others, it would be a past worthy of under-the-blanket shame….’
But now, with their power actually manifesting in reality, things are different.
I hold profound gratitude toward my younger self from that time.
‘What an absolute blessing it turned out to be.’
Iris Ruzbella, who devours anything and possesses absolute might.
Muratan, the blacksmith who transforms the world.
And Jun, the assassination blade whose potential remains unreleased but is estimated to be overwhelmingly vast.
Could there exist beings in reality with such versatility as these three?
[Muratan’s Failed Work 122—A blade forged by weaving together the entire Imperial Transcendent Knight Order.]
[Price: 2,000,000,000 Coins.]
The shop before my eyes was proving that young Shin Si-woo’s choice had been correct.
What I sought to purchase was one among countless of Muratan’s failed works.
Moreover, it bore a three-digit serial number.
Yet it commanded an insane price of two billion coins.
⦗Ahem… hmm. Sword Master, what reason drives you to examine failed works?⦘
Muratan cleared his throat as if embarrassed.
The Muratan who always performed the role of a hearty, straightforward man possessed a personality entirely different from his appearance.
First, he was susceptible to praise.
Furthermore, he possessed a nature that cherished ‘small animals’ and ‘fragile humans.’
‘I have witnessed everything.’
How many times had I not observed, across countless repeating worlds, Muratan slaying the World Tree only to release a small sandpiper that dwelt in its branches?
There were several iterations that failed because of this.
Moreover, he was that peculiar man who, when boasting of his masterworks, would grow subtly embarrassed and blush at his own cheeks.
⦗Well then, I shall craft something new instead. If you merely prepare ten thousand iron—.⦘
Had he actually seen me in person, I likely would have turned away with my face flushed crimson.
“I need an Imperial Sword.”
⦗Imperial-forged blades are creations from when my skill was still lacking. Would it not be preferable to utilize foreign-origin materials instead?⦘
The designation “xx-origin” refers to the geographic source of a sword’s raw materials.
Much like how one might speak of Pohang Steel-origin rebar.
Swords in the single-digit ranks utilized world-class powerhouses as materials—foreign-origin, Demon-origin, Demon-origin, Imperial-origin, and Emperor-class.
Swords in the tens and hundreds of ranks employed transcendent beings at the national level as their materials.
⦗Sword Master, is your insistence on this Imperial-forged failure due to the little demon? I truly cannot fathom why you would bother with such a vicious little demon….⦘
Muratan paused to collect himself before speaking.
⦗Hmm. Failure number 122 is a blade woven together from the entire Imperial Transcendent Knight Order, including their instructors. It would certainly befit the little demon’s imperial games.⦘
His tone carried a hint of embarrassment.
He clearly did not wish to reveal that he was looking after Iris Ruzbella.
As the Sword Master adept at handling him, I simply nodded and feigned ignorance as I asked.
“Would the Knight Order of a world without Iris Ruzbella recognize us as emperor?”
⦗Sword Master, as the master of all swords, it is only natural. The little demon possesses bloodline as well, so would they not recognize her?⦘
There exists an Imperial Palace and an Imperial City.
And there is a legitimate empress bearing the proper bloodline, and a throne.
What remains is the existence of loyal subjects who would recognize and truly follow her—Iris Ruzbella herself.
Should that come to pass, Iris Ruzbella’s world would be recreated, however fragmentarily, upon Earth.
⦗Ho! So you truly intend to summon us into that troublesome world. I am already occupied with managing the demon, so I fear I may lack the time….⦘
“If it troubles you, Muratan, then postpone your involvement for now.”
⦗So long as the Sword Master’s authority remains, it would be difficult for me to defy your will. I suppose I have no choice but to assist.⦘
Once provoked, Muratan displays such an entertaining response.
Had I not possessed that adolescent delusion from those days, the probability of obtaining such a sword would have approached zero.
In any case, we had reached an understanding.
⦗The Imperial City, the empress, and her subjects. Truly the most manageable of conditions.⦘
From experiments conducted within the [Tower], Reinhardt Euclid’s finger had manifested in reality.
Having witnessed that possibility, I selected [Spatial—Leap] as the enhancement characteristic for the Aga Sword.
Here, “leap” signifies transcending spatial boundaries.
⦗The [Territory] guaranteed by the System is also space counted as the Sword Master’s domain. Surely this is achievable.⦘
Moreover, I have recreated the Swords’ world, however fragmentarily.
‘At least within the Imperial City’s interior….⦘
Iris Ruzbella would be able to manifest in physical form, albeit with limitations.
I am certain of this.
* * *
Whoosh!
[You have purchased ‘Muratan’s Failure 122—A Sword Woven from the Entire Imperial Transcendent Knight Order’.]
[Coins: 8,240,000,000]
From the coins I had accumulated through various means—240 million—plus the 10 billion in investment recovered from The Saint Im Ji-ah.
Two billion vanished in an instant.
Such a staggering expenditure should have left me aching, yet a smile bloomed across my face.
Tap, tap, tap, tap—.
Synchronized footsteps, crisp and precise.
A total of 102 members of the Imperial Transcendent Knight Order stood arrayed in impeccable formation.
They raised their swords in salute toward me, their emperor.
According to imperial law, they placed the sword’s hilt against their chests.
‘So the armor, weapons, and everything materialized all at once.’
Equipment born from the fusion of the empire’s technological prowess and Muratan’s blacksmithing mastery.
One hundred and two elite knights clad in such gear.
They gazed upon me and cried out.
Loyalty——!!!
The knights’ roar resonated with crystalline clarity.
It was so thunderous that I felt as though the entire Imperial Palace trembled.
And in that same moment, their eyes burned with an intensity—a fervent plea for something.
‘They want me to prove it.’
An emperor of the Ruzbella Empire must answer their loyalty with majesty befitting their devotion.
I nodded lightly and unleashed the authority woven into my imperial uniform.
A power I had never once wielded until now—one that existed solely to prove I am the strongest of humanity.
[Imperial Majesty of the Emperor.]
The emperor of the Ruzbella Empire held a position second only to one in all of humanity.
Excluding myself—the foremost—and my sword, as well as foreign entities and demons, I was the mightiest human alive.
‘The strongest among mankind.’
What manner of majesty does such a being emanate?
It was no mere abstract dignity.
It manifested as concrete intent, realized as authority itself, accompanied by physical force.
And my imperial uniform harbored such majesty, while I, as its wielder, could project this grandeur as naturally as breathing.
Kuuung——.
At my will, the entire space pressed downward with crushing weight.
An overwhelming heaviness that would instantly crush an ordinary person.
The space warped visibly as a dense imperial majesty flowed from my uniform, its power completely dominating the surroundings.
Thud!
The knights simultaneously stamped their feet and lowered the swords from their chests to their waists.
Standing in unwavering formation, they waited in solemn silence for my command alone.
Such were the knights of the Ruzbella Empire.
‘The mightiest knights of humanity.’
Beings capable of standing firm within the oppressive weight emanated by humanity’s strongest emperor.
Thus they were the empire’s knights, and from among them, only those worthy to stand upon the battlefield alongside the emperor were selected and called the Imperial Transcendent Knight Order.
“We offer our respects to Emperor Shin Si-woo.”
The commander of the Transcendent Knight Order approached me and knelt.
Look at that loyal demeanor.
No matter how I observed, it was reasonable to regard them as ordinary people.
‘Are they really human?’
Far too alien in appearance to be considered mere Swords purchased from the Shop.
The question arose naturally.
“What is your name?”
“Forgive us, Your Majesty, but we are merely your Swords. We exist only to serve at your command.”
How could the knight commander not know his own name?
I had never fully understood what those who became Swords under Muratan would be like, but this opportunity revealed the answer.
⦗Krhkh, did you not say so yourself, Sword Master? That only by preserving the bare minimum form and erasing all individuality can one become a true Sword?⦘
One hundred and two people woven into a single Sword.
They were human, yet not human.
A Sword is a weapon that exists to kill something, and to have honed humans into such a form meant….
“Command us as you will. We shall obey and execute without question.”
The knights before me were nothing more than weapons devoted entirely to their master’s will.
They acted and obeyed like people, yet possessed no personal preferences or sense of self whatsoever.
‘Rather, this is preferable.’
What if they all possessed individuality, willpower, and desires?
Then tremendously troublesome situations would inevitably arise.
Conflicts with the humans from Earth, or the formation of factions between myself and Iris.
Originally, the Imperial Palace of the Ruzbella Empire had been a den where such political intrigue and factional strife flourished abundantly.
That is why I had advised Muratan to create such Swords.
“All of you proceed to the Imperial Palace.”
Perfectly loyal knights who followed only the Emperor.
With this, the conditions were satisfied.
It was time to deliver a surprise gift to Iris, who was managing the Demon within the Gate.
* * *
A space so overwhelming that merely breathing within it felt oppressive.
That was the central Imperial City of the Empire.
The palace where the fallen Emperor had once dwelt—the one who had caused young Iris such suffering.
“How I wish to see that place, which crumbled without my ever having sat upon its throne.”
Within the Gate, Iris, who tended to the Demon, murmured thus.
Though the words emerged from the grotesque mouth of the Demon, the voice was that of a young girl, and it was Iris herself who dwelt within the Demon.
Ordinarily, an Empress would never inhabit such a creature.
‘The Sword Master’s will.’
For Iris, the Sword Master’s command was absolute obedience.
She had never suffered loss from defying him, and these were the orders of the benefactor who had erased the world she had despised her entire life.
‘I must obey accordingly.’
So that we might continue to live together even after the world’s end.
Was he not the one who had permitted her very existence in the first place?
“Father….”
That’s what I wanted to believe.
Yet deep within Iris Ruzbella’s heart, the title felt profoundly discordant.
Considering what her father had been to her, such a reaction was only natural.
“Confine the princess bearing the Thousand Calamities forever.”
“How dare you presume you could abandon the Empire and live alone?”
“Because you were born of a lowborn mother, a malevolent star has risen over the Empire. I shall personally sever your neck and restore order to my realm.”
When I annihilated the colossal sword that had harbored [Fragment of Negation].
Certain memories flowed into Iris Ruzbella and the other Swords.
Those who witnessed these memories fell silent and spoke nothing, yet each ruminated upon them alone.
They were memories of a vanished world—the era when the Swords had failed.
“She died at her father’s hand countless times over.”
Iris Ruzbella had died so very, very many times.
Even fragments of these memories alone were enough to render the full count incomprehensible, yet from what had flowed to her—.
“She was surely an orphan of heaven and earth.”
She had even denied the Emperor who was her father.
Originally, the only cycle she remembered was the final one that had succeeded.
Though she had dimly sensed failures existed, I never imagined she would obtain memories so vivid.
Now that she possessed them, the world could not help but appear transformed.
“The Sword Master has….”
How could I express this feeling?
Gratitude alone was utterly insufficient to convey such overwhelming weight.
An exalted benefactor who, across countless collapsing worlds, had endlessly striven to fulfill only her will.
And furthermore—.
‘The girl….’
Iris Ruzbella endeavored to organize her manifold emotions.
Just as the thread was about to be grasped—.
—Iris Ruzbella, return.
The Sword Master’s voice reached her.
That voice, tender yet stern when occasion demanded.
Before she became a Sword, [■■■]—overlaying the mechanical [System voice] transmitted through her Sword, Shin Si-woo’s voice resounds.
The identity of that message, repeated endlessly to save her and to fulfill her dreams, had been his voice all along.
Iris Ruzbella composed her trembling heart and spoke with radiance.
“This girl shall honor the Sword Master’s will.”
She immediately returned to the [Sword Realm].
There, she beheld the Sword Master’s vision.
“….”
A space overflowing with gold.
A place where the majesty of emperors across generations had taken root and manifested as a singular phenomenon.
It was the Imperial Palace of the Ruzbella Empire—the place she had yearned for her entire life, and equally, the place she had resented and despised.
The space where the Emperor dwells.
‘The Imperial Throne….’
Shin Si-woo’s gaze shifts.
Before him lay an empty Imperial Throne, and beside it stood a phalanx of knights honed to razor-sharp precision.
Observing all of this, Shin Si-woo speaks.
“Empress of the Ruzbella Empire, Iris Ruzbella.”
Iris Ruzbella’s eyes widen gradually.
She had grasped with absolute clarity what Shin Si-woo was about to do.
“The Sword Lord, you….”
Her heart thundered wildly, as though it might burst from her chest.
An empty Imperial Throne and the knights waiting for her.
And before them all, the Sword Lord’s voice calling out to her.
Synthesizing all of this, a single, simple answer crystallized.
“—Are you taking the girl out of here?”
As if answering that question.
The Sword Lord Shin Si-woo spoke.
“This place is where you were always meant to be.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
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