The Problematic Child of the Magic Tower-Chapter 333

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 333: The Violet Brigade (4)

The Heavenly Sword quietly looked down at his hand.

More precisely, he looked down at the sword held in that old, wrinkled hand.

Heavy.

The sword he was holding today was certainly very heavy.

After swinging it only a few times, the veins in his arm were already standing out.

“……”

A sensation he had not felt even once since his attainments had deepened.

It had been nearly a hundred years since a sword had felt this heavy.

‘And yet… it doesn’t feel unpleasant.’

It felt as though he had encountered the forgotten, old appearance of a longtime friend.

Whoosh, whoooosh.

Without a word, the Heavenly Sword swung the blade a few times.

The bones and muscles of his entire body screamed that the sword he had wielded for a lifetime was heavy.

“Hoo… hoo.”

To him, the sword had been a gift-like existence.

Thanks to his inborn talent, he had caught the eye of the Heavenly Sword Clan and been able to live like a proper human being.

He no longer had to dig through trash just to eat, nor worry about freezing to death in his sleep.

The Heavenly Sword had sincerely been grateful for the talent in swordsmanship he possessed.

‘Everything was good.’

At an age when children his age could not even dream of it, he reached Level 7.

Less than ten years later, he broke through even the wall of Level 8.

From that point onward, people already began calling him the strongest human.

There were even expectations that breaking the mythic wall of Level 9 would become his achievement.

‘I thought so as well.’

But the wall of Level 9 was sturdier than expected.

No method showed any signs of breaking it, and time passed helplessly.

‘Level 9 is not a wall humans can cross.’

Around the time the Heavenly Sword himself reached that conclusion,

a mage who broke through the realm of Level 9 appeared.

He watched the tide of the war, once overwhelmingly against them, reverse,

and saw a light called hope descend upon humanity’s bleak future.

Of course, even amidst that, he was not unaware of what people—especially swordsmen—expected from him.

‘They longed for a Level 9 among swordsmen too.’

But naturally, the Heavenly Sword had no intention of becoming Level 9 for the sake of such fools.

‘However.’

He could not help but be bothered.

A brat far younger than himself had ascended first to a realm he had already concluded was impossible.

To say he felt no stimulation from that would have been a lie.

In fact, once the war ended, he had even planned to challenge him to a duel first thing.

Of course, that plan had naturally been discarded with the death of Oscar Sage.

‘…After that, I wandered alone for quite some time.’

When the Level 9 mage died, the Heavenly Sword naturally became known once more as the strongest human, the greatest on the continent.

Swordsmen revered him, taking pride in the fact that the strongest human was a swordsman.

Yet inside his chest remained an indescribable knot.

‘Do I truly deserve it?’

The title of strongest no longer brought him joy as it once had.

Unlike before, it felt less like something he had earned and more like filling an empty seat.

On a track where the one running ahead had vanished, leaving him alone.

In order to become worthy in his own eyes—

to surpass the strongest image in his mind—

the Heavenly Sword had never stopped running.

“……”

But only now, in a situation where even holding a sword was difficult,

he felt as if he finally understood something.

At some point, he had stopped pursuing the end of the sword and had instead been chasing the end of a realm.

“Ha.”

The Heavenly Sword lowered his blade.

The corners of his mouth kept twitching upward.

To realize something this simple only now.

Obsessed with lofty things like Heart-Sword and mana,

he had overlooked the most basic thing.

“Hoo.”

Releasing a heavy breath as if relieved, the Heavenly Sword suddenly turned toward Oscar behind him and shouted.

“Hey, brat! Do you know this? A sword is meant to be heavy!”

“What are you saying all of a sudden, old man? Going senile?”

“Tsk tsk, what rude manners from a youngster.”

“Then what… since it’s heavy, want me to help you hold it?”

“No need.”

He turned forward again and waved his hand dismissively.

“Leave this place to me and go look for that captain or whatever.”

“Sorry, but with your condition right now, even if you say that, it’s hard to feel reassured…”

Trailing off, Oscar stared intently at the Heavenly Sword’s back.

Right now, he had neither the heart-sword capable of cutting all things nor the mana that could bring clouds crashing from the sky.

He was merely a frail old man stripped of most of what he once had.

And yet that old man’s back looked strangely excited—like that of a six-year-old child.

‘So that’s it.’

Was he trying to find that final missing piece he had never found until now?

Oscar nodded as if understanding.

“Then we’ll leave it to you.”

“What? No way!”

Sasha nearly shouted, quickly lowering her voice.

“Are you serious? If we leave, you’ll definitely be killed! It’s twenty against one!”

“I do feel a bit sorry for him, but I’m sure they’ll hold back a little.”

“That’s not something you can just say so easily— huh?”

Only then did Sasha sense something strange and widen her eyes.

No matter how she listened, her master sounded like he was worrying about the Heavenly Sword.

“Don’t tell me you think the Heavenly Sword is going to win? In that condition?”

“Yeah. How could they possibly stop that?”

After giving a firm affirmation, Oscar walked toward the side door with the other two.

Kaya, watching them silently, spoke in a flat voice.

“You’re really leaving? If the Heavenly Sword just dies right here, don’t blame me.”

“Try killing him once.”

“…What?”

“He’s a great sparring partner. Probably good training.”

“What are you even saying— wait, are you seriously going?”

Kaya stared blankly as the three truly left, leaving the Heavenly Sword alone.

No matter how great he was, facing everyone here in that condition should be impossible.

‘…Or am I the one misunderstanding something?’

Her narrowed eyes turned toward him.

There was none of the usual overwhelming pressure that crushed everyone, nor the sharpness that felt like it could cut someone down with a glance.

And yet, not a single member dared to move carelessly.

“Heh heh, looks like this old man’s name is still scary after all.” 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The Heavenly Sword mocked the enemies who only glared at him and blocked the doorway.

He spread his legs wide, relaxed his upper body.

The blade hung at an angle, its tip brushing the floor.

“From now on, no one passes through this door.”

The Heavenly Sword, Cheon Mujin, said.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

* * *

Deep within the dungeon, inside a chapel.

In midair, tightly woven threads of mana formed the shape of a bed, and the Captain lay comfortably upon it.

“Alright, now if we slowly pull this out…”

Hoo.

Oran released the breath he had been holding, signaling the end of the work.

“It’s done.”

“Mmm, thank you.”

Feeling his mask, the Captain confirmed that Sasha’s mana had been completely removed from it.

Watching him, Oran asked,

“Why are you so attached to that mask anyway?”

“Attached? Me?”

“I’ve never seen you take it off even for a moment. Not even during work like this.”

“Hm, I suppose it might look that way.”

Carefully fixing the mask so it wouldn’t shift, the Captain slowly sat up and smiled faintly.

“You’re wrong. It’s actually the opposite.”

“The opposite?”

“Yes. There’s no one who hates this mask more than I do. It’s… a kind of shackle.”

“Then why not just take it off?”

Oran tilted his head, unable to understand.

“There’s only me and Mad Fiend here anyway. Don’t tell me you can’t trust us too?”

“That part… there’s a promise involved, so I can’t.”

“A promise with who, and what kind—”

“Just know it’s something I absolutely cannot break. For the greater cause.”

“Hah, the captain of the Violet Brigade talking about a greater cause. People would laugh themselves sick if they heard that.”

As Oran shook his head, Mad Fiend, who had been sitting in the corner, suddenly sprang up.

“GRAAAAAAH!”

“W-what now? What’s wrong with him this time?”

“GRAAAAH!”

He looked around wildly, then charged toward Oran.

“Ugh, this is exactly why I hate dealing with this lunatic!”

As Oran pulled out mana threads—

“Stop.”

The Captain whispered.

Mad Fiend’s speed slowed, then completely stopped.

Soon after, he calmed down and squatted quietly as if nothing had happened.

“…No matter how many times I see it, I don’t get it. How do you calm his rage?”

“I’m not calming it. I’m devouring the emotions he releases as fuel.”

“That makes even less sense.”

Rumble, rumble.

The shaking intensified, and bits of stone fell from the ceiling.

Looking up, Oran muttered,

“The force on my little brother’s side makes no sense, but I guess it’s still a pretty even fight.”

“That’s why this hideout was built.”

“…You do realize the losses from this will be huge, right?”

“Hm.”

The Captain quietly agreed.

The Violet Brigade was a group made entirely of criminals he had recruited.

But just because they were all called criminals didn’t mean their crimes were equal.

“The ones I gathered as disposable pieces from the start… will probably all fall away after tonight.”

“That’s assuming they survive.”

After being openly forced to choose between “die by me now” or “die by the enemy later,”

anyone who stayed would either be loyal to a fault or simply insane.

In other words, it was obvious that the Violet Brigade’s power would be greatly reduced tonight.

“It’s fine. There’s still a bit of time left… criminals can always be gathered again.”

“I’m glad you’re positive, but someone’s coming.”

Noticing the threads he had set up trembling, Oran said,

“Don’t tell me they used a diversion with that force…?”

“In the Domain of Reversed Hierarchy? That should be impossible.”

Both wore expressions of disbelief.

At that same moment—

Three men and women entered the chapel entrance.

“There they are.”

“Finally found them.”

Sasha and Chester muttered while looking at the Captain, and Oscar silently stared at Oran.

“Heh, don’t tell me you left just the Heavenly Sword alone over there? Little brother, you’ve gotten cold.”

“Not at all. I just trusted my companion. Just like in the Red Mountain Range.”

Bringing up the past made Oran scratch his head awkwardly.

“Why do you do this while we’re working? Just makes things uncomfortable.”

“I just wanted to try it once. You keep calling me little brother, so I wondered if you’d still take care of me in moments like this.”

“Tsk… you really leave me with nothing to say.”

Glancing at the Captain, Oran asked,

“What should we do?”

“Doesn’t seem like we have much of a choice.”

The Captain let out a sigh, troubled by his unexpectedly persistent pursuers.

At least one good thing remained—

this was a 3 versus 3 match within a confined battlefield.

‘If it were open terrain against Sasha Maestro, maybe… but in a group battle in a place like this…’

He had no confidence of losing.

The Captain returned the rage he had absorbed earlier directly back into Mad Fiend.

“After all, real brawls are supposed to be chaotic.”

“KRAAAAH!”

Black winds exploded from Mad Fiend’s entire body as he charged toward the three.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]