2
The Finest of Knights. It had taken courage for him to call himself that.
Knight was a title that reflected one’s honor. It took excellence, effort, and constant refinement to be worthy of that name. To be called the finest of all their number demanded that much more diligence and dedication.
Had he really put in the work to truly earn that title?
Had he given his all and surpassed his limits? Was he at all times polished to perfection? Did others always inspire him to devote himself to his ideals with ever greater conviction?
Yes. He could say without a doubt in his mind that Julius Juukulius had done just that.
“I am the Finest of Knights, Julius Juukulius. I am the Sword of the Kingdom that shall cut you down.”
“ ”
Julius grasped the hem of his cape and bowed as the Sword Saint before him fell silent.
Closing his uncovered eye, Reid didn’t look at Julius. But as he quietly crossed his thick, burly arms, something seemed to be on his mind. He pondered on this and—
“—You would have been stronger if you broke out of your shell.”
Reid’s lips curled as he looked at the colorful, gleaming spirits around Julius.
Julius raised his eyebrow and then shook his head.
“If you say so, then perhaps it was a possibility.”
As someone who was going to cling to the sword, then he should demonstrate it without concern for appearances. That attitude and that resolve was what he had been looking for in Julius, and it was a path he could have taken himself.
“However, I have decided to stay the course. Though you might well be correct that I would have become even stronger were I to break from my shell and completely let loose.”
Julius was aware that if he hadn’t made a deliberate choice not to, there was a good chance he would have naturally drifted toward that route himself. In a situation where he stood on the very boundary of life and death, that part of him might bubble to the surface. However, that was only true if he had not been so painfully aware of it.
He would never waver again.
“Allow me to say with absolute confidence, as a knight, I shall examine myself without reserve. And in doing so, I shall become better in every way than I might have if I had gone down the path you showed me.”
“Hah. What makes you so sure?”
“That much should be obvious. The knighthood, I believe, is the manifestation of an ideal. It is pure and true and stronger than anything else. As long as I call myself a knight, that is how I must be as well.”
With that declaration to the pinnacle of the way of the sword, the first-generation Sword Saint, Julius, felt his body and his heart grow lighter.
On further reflection, he realized that ever since he came to the Pleiades Watchtower—ever since his name had been stolen in the Water Gate City—he had constantly been in a state of unease.
Of course he had admonished himself, never allowing it to show. Many would interpret that as the feat of a man with a will of steel, but it wasn’t anything so admirable.
As a result of his need to hide his own poor condition, he had ended up deceiving his comrades and even himself. It was the reason he had suffered a string of losses ever since arriving in this tower, including that truly unsightly defeat.
Julius should have trusted his companions. He should have asked for their help and shown them how much he cared. Just as his sprouts had done.
“I should have reforged the severed bonds. When you are no one, you can become anyone… I am living proof of that fact.”
A commoner’s child who came from nothing had become the most respected knight. Julius, who had become no one, should still have been able to become anything.
“Even if I had to repeat this moment, I am sure I would still aspire to be like the fiery boy I remember from that fateful day and strive to live up to the ideals of a knight I saw emblazoned on his back. And that would eventually lead me here, to this place, where I challenge you, the pinnacle of the sword…!”
“—Hah.”
Even Julius thought that line of thinking was absurd. An irrational argument that was laughably arbitrary.
However, Reid didn’t react with anger or scorn. He greeted it only with a sharp-toothed grin.
And…
“I’ll make you cry.”
With that, he threw down the chopstick in his hand and took a big leap back. As Julius readied himself, Reid slowly reached his hand to the side. His large hand grasped the sword of selection—having escaped from the fetters of his intended role as examiner and gained his freedom, he gripped that holy sword.
“‘Fool who attained the heavenly sword, gain his sanction.’”
“That’s my line… Though I forgot it, since it just slipped out before.”
Adjusting his grip on the sword, testing the feel of the blade, Reid pointed the tip effortlessly at Julius.
It was a movement without any special intent, but that simple gesture exuded so much pressure that Julius felt goose bumps rising all over his body.
“Gonna go cryin’ to mommy already?”
“…No. My heart leaped at the realization that I’m challenging a legend.”
It was no bluff. Julius gave a genuine answer as his emotion soared.
After all, it was true. Standing before him was Reid Astrea himself. Julius had been thrilled countless times by tales of his feats. He had looked up to him with sparkling eyes.
Now that he had actually met the man, he had been taken aback by his personality, but his strength lived up to the stories and then some.
All the more reason why he had thought it was such a waste.
When that crossed his mind, Julius’s lips relaxed just a little.
“What are you smilin’ at?”
“Nothing. Merely an idle thought. Once I accomplish my goals here and return home, I should challenge my good friend Reinhard.”
Julius shared the musing he’d just had that went beyond matters of the blade. Not once had Julius ever competed with Reinhard.
Now he regretted never trying to stand shoulder to shoulder with his friend.
That was also one of the reasons Julius chose to serve Anastasia and had embarked on the royal selection. But even without his own reasons, he would still have been charmed by Anastasia’s incredible character. In time, he came to share her dream and wanted to stand alongside her. Pointless excuses and roundabout public facades were unnecessary.
He should have grabbed two wooden swords and run straight to Reinhard.
Once, the strongest swordsman in the Empire of Volakia had crossed blades with Reinhard. On that day, when everyone in the training yard was driven wild by their sheer spirit, Julius had felt his chest on fire as well.
That was the answer, so…
“What’d you say your name was?”
Asked his name by a true legend, Julius raised his brow.
He had introduced himself countless times already, including just moments ago, but it wasn’t remembered. But whether it had been remembered or not was irrelevant.
“Julius Juukulius. It is a forgettable name, so please do remember it.”
After cracking a joke he wouldn’t have been able to laugh at not so long ago, Julius pointed his blade at Reid.
He prayed for support and called upon his new pact with the six spirits blooming so beautifully beside him. As they were now, he was sure they could reach new heights beyond even the rainbow aurora of Al Clauzeria and Al Clarista. It was formed by borrowing the power of all six spirits that wove all six elements together. Clauzeria unleashed it as an enormous burst of magic, while Clarista imbued it into his sword.
And the secret technique that he had never once succeeded at…
“Al Clanvel.”
In an instant, light filled the white space as a rainbow shroud appeared in front of the crimson hero.
This was the secret art of Julius Juukulius’s self-crafted rainbow spirit magic. It did not unleash the six elements as one giant ray, nor did it imbue his blade with them. Instead, his body itself was clad in the aurora and…
“Come…”
“Whatever.”
“Have at you!!!”
The spirit knight’s ultimate attack was met head-on by a white slash.
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