The Flower with a Sword - Chapter 4

Chapter 04

TL-Mechatronic

Eki knew what he was going to say to her. Regret, anger, resentment or a curse. But he stopped there and quietly drew his sword.

Yurien couldn’t beat her alone. After a long battle, Echinacea pierced his heart.

Eki watched the white man die, stained with bright red blood. His blue eyes, who had trusted her and watched over her, could not even close and lost its light. She couldn’t even close those eyes.

The demon sword casually threw his corpse and left the place.

Something broke inside her.

From then on, Eki stopped even imagining how to survive. She didn’t even think about what to do after she won. Only hatred for the demon sword remained within her.

‘I will kill you.’

At the boundary between unconsciousness and consciousness, she only thought about that as she saw her own silhouette swaying in black. Now she was able to concentrate even in the middle of slaughter when the demon sword was at its peak.

The demon sword moved in search of the next prey, and because of that relentless slaughter, her experience was constantly piling up. She also became more and more proficient in how she handled mana.

2 years from then. It’s been 6 years since she was stained with a demon sword. At the age of 26, Echinacea had crossed a certain level. She knew it naturally. She knew that she had reached somewhere higher than the known realm of being a Master. Since she wasn’t a knight, she didn’t know what to call that realm.

At last, she reached above the threshold and finally escaped from the demon sword manipulation.

It was in a small fishing village that Echinacea regained her own body. Of course, no one was left alive in the village. She threw away the magic sword in her hand, and tried to move the body that had finally become hers after 6 years.

The dark spots had disappeared, and her hair had regained its original color. Her hand. Her arm. A body that moved according to her will.

“Ha.”

Laughter came out. She sat down in the middle of a pool of blood.

“I’m late! It’s too late!”

She shouted, but no one could hear it. All around her was death, and only irreversible things were clinging to her body.

Echinacea looked down at the demon sword. She accumulated mana in her hands, and smashed the sword without care. She continued to punch the blade, ignoring the cuts and wounds. Even after all that, she couldn’t help but burst into tears.

“Now what? What should I do? I am…….’

Although she finally overcame the demon sword, there was nothing left for her. There was no one left to wait for her. She killed everyone with her own hands

Her blood, dripping from her wounds, along with her tears, ran down the transparent blade and touched the pattern engraved on the blade. The pattern shone faintly. It was then that a ‘voice’ was heard.

Uf you do that for a hundred day. I might break)

A voice that resonated in her soul, not the ears. There was no distinction between male or female, young or old. Eki was terribly surprised.

“Who are you?”

(Me? Verdergiosa. It’s the sword you’re holding now.)

“……. What?”

(You are the second person who awakened my ego after my creation.)

She stared blankly at Verdergiosa for a while. Her hardened head worked hard and she understood slowly what the words meant.

“You……a magic sword? What do you mean your ego awakened?”

(You woke me up. That means you’re finally qualified to be my master. Congratulations!)

“……Congratulations?”

Echinacea gritted her teeth.

“This cursed demon sword, what did you just say now?”

[What? I said you woke me up.)

“Yes, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to break it down anyway.”

As she looked down at the demon sword with piercing eyes, a frightened voice was heard.

(H-hey, calm down. Uh, it looks like you went through a little trouble.)

“A little trouble? Can you speak so easily like that?”

Hated burned bright blue. Her mana sizzled and flowed out of her body. She chewed on her words as if chewing on blood.

“It’s all your fault. Mother, father, Lancel, Nicole, and even Yurien! Everything, everything, you killed it all! Now there’s nothing left! Everything is ruined! Because they’re all dead! In my hands! Because of

you!”

(No, wait, I think you’re misunderstanding something. It’s not ‘me.)

“Shut up!”

The masters carry mana on the sword and overlay the blade with mana. It was called Aura Sword. No matter how much mastery one has over the skill, it was difficult to make Aura sword without actual swords or sword-like objects. However, Eki collected mana from her bare hands and turned it into a blade.

She struck down Verdergiosa with that sword. With a bang, the ground dug and the soil splattered. Even though there was a vibration like an earthquake, the sword did not even crack.

(Ahh! It hurts! It won’t break anyway! Calm down and listen to me, master!)

“Who is your master?”

When she responded with a chilly voice, Verdergiosa seemed to be trembling somehow. She repeatedly struck the sword with an expressionless face.

If it doesn’t break at once, do it until it breaks. Echinacea’s glowing eyes did not look sane. The magic sword said hastily.

[You can turn it back!)

She stopped at the strange words. The magic sword hurriedly spoke.

(Did you lose your body because you were stained with murderous intent? First of all, it wasn’t ‘me’ that made you like that, it was the human malice and murderous intent that inhabited me. Hey! Wait a minute! Hey!

“Sounds useless.”

Mana was concentrated again in her hands. The magic sword shouted loudly.

(There’s a way to go back to a time when no one killed anyone!)

Eki froze. The mana in her hand was scattered, and she asked in a trembling voice.

“Now, what did you say? Can you turn it back? That……before everything happened?”

[Yes, it is possible to turn back time. The guy who woke me up before you killed a lot, became my master and turned back time, maybe you can do it too?)

“……How?”

It was a desperate situation. I felt like I wanted to grab at any straws that appeared. Verdergiosa’s words were her only hope.

[Of course, it is not easy.)

“Shut up and tell me. How? Can you save them all?”

(It’s not about saving life, it’s about turning back time.)

“Okay, so tell me how!”

She desperately grabbed the magic sword. The pattern engraved on the sword gleamed and the magic sword meekly said.

(Collect the Giosa series and use Kairos Giosa.)

“…… What are you talking about?”

(You know I’m part of the Giosa series, right? Do you know about the legend of the Giosa Temple?)

Of course she knew. Because it’s a famous legend.

Long ago, there was a blacksmith who was praised for reaching the realm of a god. The blacksmith was convinced that he would not lose to the gods when it came to making his own sword.

One day, a god really came to the blacksmith.

God lent his powers to the blacksmith. That power was the power to make a sword out of things that could not be seen or touched, such as night and day.

God said

(1 have given you equal power. You make the best swords out of it. This is my test for you.)

The blacksmith struggled for seventy days and seventy nights. And he forged ten swords from special materials over a hundred years. All of those swords were beautiful and had incredible abilities that never existed before or after.

The blacksmith proudly showed his work to God.

God looked down at them silently and quickly created two swords in the air. There were only two swords, but one alone was more beautiful and stronger than all the blacksmith’s swords combined.

The blacksmith then knelt down on his knees. He repented for his arrogance, which had dared to look beyond God. God generously forgave the blacksmith and took him to the divine realm.

After the blacksmith and God left, the twelve swords left in the world were called the Giosa series, after the ancient word for ‘test’.

The ten Giosas made by the blacksmith chose those with outstanding talents as their masters. However, the two swords created by God did not accept anyone as their master. It was said that the divine swords lend their power only to those who possess all the other ten Giosas.

This was the legend of the Twelve Special Swords, the Giosa series.

Those who were recognized as the owner of the Giosa were called the protectors of Giosa Temple. The criteria for choosing a master for each sword were slightly different, but it is said that it was usually possible to be selected by a Giosa only if you are at the Master level.

In the past, Giosas were scattered all over the continent. However, as several incidents related to the powerful swords occurred, one day, a group that managed the Giosa series appeared.

That was the beginning of the Celestial Knights.

Except for lost Giosas, whose location was unknown, most of the swords were under the management of the Celestial Knights.

And the magical sword Verdergiosa was one of the lost Giosas.

“What does this have to do with that legend?”

The fact that you can borrow the power of the divine sword if you own all ten man-made Giosas. That’s real.)

“The power of the divine sword? Can you turn back time with that?”

(Sure. My previous master succeeded. Of the two divine swords, you can use Kairos Giosa. This is a sword made of time, so it can manipulate time. Of course, changing the whole world is a huge thing, so once you use it, you won’t be able to borrow the power of Kairos Giosa again.)

Hope is cast. Everything can be turned back. Echinacea’s eyes were dizzy and she muttered with trembling lips.

“…That shouldn’t be a lie. If you lie, I will destroy you.”

(Hey, why would / lie like this? And it’s impossible to break me. This body is called Verdergiosa.]

“It doesn’t matter if it’s impossible or not. If you deceived me, I will make you pay the price by any means.”

(Wow, look at your eyes. Why are you so scary when you look so pretty?)

Eki ignored the nonsense words of the demon sword and fumbled her memory. She reflected as much as she could about what she knew about the Giosa series. There wasn’t much that came to mind. The names of the swords she knew could be counted in one hand. There is no way that she, who is not even a knight in the first place, can memorize all ten of the Giosas.

She was at a loss as to how to get information and how to collect them. As the demon sword said, it wasn’t easy.

It doesn’t matter though.She wouldn’t give up even the tiniest of possibilities.

I’ll turn everything around. I will revive everyone who died in my own hands.

She was determined to achieve a miracle on her own.