Fantasy Library.

Chapter 379 "The Divine Blade of Salvation"

At the summit of Mount Men, as Azera's calm words resounded and reached Guinevere's ears, the air instantly became extremely quiet.

"W-what did you say?"

Guinevere doubted her ears and what she was hearing.

“I said, I know where the king you’ve been searching for is.” Aize looked at Guinevere, a half-smile on his face, and said, “What? Don’t you believe me?”

"...No, since it was said by the king who slayed the gods, it couldn't possibly be some kind of deceitful lie to fool others, could it?" Guinevere took a deep breath, suppressing her excitement, and looked intently at Aize, saying, "Please tell Guinevere, where exactly is my lord?"

That's what they say, but Guinevere doesn't believe that Azer will tell her where the Last King is.

The reason is simple: the other party has no reason to do so.

Revealing the position of the strongest steel, which bears the destiny of slaying the Demon King and is destined to defeat the Godslayer, to her is no different from actively awakening this final king.
Does the other party have a reason to do this?

Obviously not.

But Guinevere still wanted to take the gamble.

What if?
What if the other party wants to awaken the legendary hero and fight the final king?

If these god-slayers treat gods as prey and battles as entertainment, they should be capable of doing such a thing, right?

Guinevere knew something about the new king before her. He had killed several deities in less than a month after becoming king, and had been actively seeking out gods, opponents, and powerful enemies ever since.

Perhaps he would reveal the location of the Last King if he wanted to fight him?

Guinevere made the inquiry with this in mind.

In response, Aize did indeed explain.

"About 1,500 years ago, the Last King resurrected himself to annihilate the god-killers that existed at the time, and he accomplished this mission very successfully."

Historically, the Last King has been resurrected multiple times to engage in deadly battles with the contemporary Godslayers. Ultimately, with the power of the strongest steel and the assistance of the Covenant Law, he has annihilated the Godslayers time and time again.

Otherwise, why would Vauban be considered the oldest god-killer?

Could it be that in the thousands or tens of thousands of years before Vauban, no god-slayer was ever born?
Of course not.

In almost every era, there have been humans who successfully killed gods and became god-killers; the only difference is the number of them.

In this day and age, there are seven god-killers, which is actually a lot.

In the past, some eras saw only four or five god-slayers emerge, while others saw only two or three. The appearance of seven god-slayers in the same era can be considered an overabundance.

So, where did all the god-slayers of the past go?
Did he die of old age?
Not really.

The existence of Vauban and Luohao demonstrates that even if the lifespan of a god-slayer is not as long as that of the heavens, it is far longer than that of a human. Just as witches can maintain their appearance and ageless beauty through their masterful magical powers, god-slayers can also extend their lifespan through their superior magical powers and special physiques, living for hundreds of years without any problem.

If one has special means or special powers, a god-slayer could even live for thousands of years, and achieving a different kind of immortality is not impossible.

Such god-slayers are unlikely to die a natural death.

Therefore, if a god-slayer dies, it is almost always because he died in battle.

Of these god-slayers who died in battle, only a small portion died fighting against gods who did not obey them; the majority were killed by the awakened Last King.

Whenever multiple god-slayers appear on Earth and cause a certain degree of turmoil, the Last King will awaken from his slumber, obey the will of Heaven, and go to punish them. After the punishment, he will continue to sleep, waiting for the next awakening.

"After completing his mission as usual, He fell into a deep slumber on a nearby island in the form of a divine sword."

No sooner had Aize spoken than Guinevere asked anxiously.

Where is that island?

Upon hearing this, Aize readily gave the answer.

"Right here in this country, on the Boso Peninsula in Tokyo Bay."

Before Guinevere could react, Eze spoke up again in a calm tone.

"Unfortunately, His appearance has been an extremely difficult problem for some of the country's ancient sages."

Centered around the hero Susanoo, the elders who silently protect this country in the underworld regard the Last King as a dangerous being.

"Therefore, they joined forces to conceal the location of this foreign god who had wandered from a foreign land and would bring devastating damage to the country once he awoke."

Once the Last King awakens, the world will not only be plunged into an apocalyptic state, but the essence of the earth will also be continuously absorbed by him and transformed into his power.

If the last king awakens in this country, it will be almost completely destroyed, if not utterly ruined.

Therefore, the inhabitants of the underworld separated the island where the last king slept and hid it in a place where no one could find it.

Then, in order to prevent the dragon-serpent deity from provoking this strongest steel hero, they also planned to transform the disobedient steel into a sword to protect the country, binding the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong, to this land, so that he could carry out his campaign against the dragon-serpent.

This is the reason for the appearance of the Bi Ma Wen curse, and it is also the biggest secret hidden in this country.

"Is that so?"

Guinevere murmured, somewhat excited and absent-minded.

"No wonder... no wonder our lord has been asleep for over a thousand years without appearing, which has led to the proliferation of god-slayers on earth."

Guinevere had long suspected that the king she served had been hidden by someone, or that something had gone wrong that caused him to sleep for so long.

If the heroes who defeat the demon kings are all without any problems, how could there be such an absurd situation as seven demon kings competing on the same stage?

The fact that so many god-slayers were born in the same era has long met the conditions for awakening a hero.

But the last king failed to awaken or appear, and there was not even a trace of him. This made Guinevere wonder if there was something wrong with the king she was loyal to.

So she searched desperately for her king, and has been searching ever since.

Now, she has finally come to the truth.

“Indeed, my lord is in this country.” Guinevere smiled, her gaze towards Aize becoming even more fervent. “Please tell me, sir, how exactly can Guinevere find my lord?”

Aize smiled in response to Guinevere's question.

"Find Him?" Aize said. "Forget it, you won't find Him."

"Can't find it?" Guinevere asked anxiously, "Why?"

“Because there’s no need,” Aize laughed. “That hero is no longer here.”

Is he/she no longer here?

What does it mean?
The question had barely formed in Guinevere's mind when the scene that unfolded the next moment left her completely stunned.

"Zheng..."

This is the brilliance of platinum.

This is the glory of salvation.

When Azer reached out and grasped a weapon that appeared out of thin air, such radiance emanated from him.

The weapon itself is a knife.

A divine sword with a blade about 100 centimeters long, a thick double-edged blade, and a structure similar to a woodcutter's knife, gleaming with a platinum-gold luster.

Guinevere trembled as she looked at the knife.

There's no way she wouldn't recognize the knife.

That knife...that knife is...

"The Divine Blade of Salvation!"

Guinevere cried out.

"Why……?!"

Hearing Guinevere's incredulous exclamation, Aize suddenly smiled.

"Because this divine sword was originally my target."

Aize said those words.

…………

That happened when the curse on the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Sun Wukong, had just been broken, and he was turning into a stone to accumulate power, waiting for the time to be born.

At that time, Aize, who had just left Saitengu and Nikkoyama, did not return directly to the Seven Heroes Shrine. Instead, he spread the wings of the White Dragon Emperor and flew towards the direction of Boso.

Upon arriving here, Aize did not land. Instead, he flapped his wings of light and transformed into a shooting star trailing a path of light, flying straight into the sky.

He broke through the clouds, the sky, and even the atmosphere, arriving in a realm where he could ride on the universe.

This is high in the sky where the satellite orbits; looking down, you can only see the center of the neon islands, which is about the size of a map.

The environment here is harsh; the temperature fluctuates between extreme cold and extreme heat depending on the sunlight, making it impossible for humans to survive here, nor for any other creatures.

In the past, Aize would never have been able to come to such a place, but after possessing the Hogyoku and being endowed with immortality by it, he can quickly adapt to and survive even in outer space.

"This should be right here?"

Aize paused in the satellite orbit, his gaze sweeping around.

Before long, Aize saw a small island floating in the water.

Yes.

Above the house, in satellite orbit, there is a small island floating here.

The island's appearance is very similar to that of islands in the Pacific Ocean, with hills and flat land, but without any plants or life, only soil and rocks.

It floated quietly in its satellite orbit, or more precisely, in its geostationary orbit, and came into Aize's view.

It is impossible for humans to know that this island exists.

Even if they knew, they would only consider it to be a floating object in satellite orbit.

Only a very, very small number of people know that this island was sent ashore by humans and is a place where something extraordinary is sleeping.

"Shh!"

Azer flapped the light wings on his back and flew towards the island at an astonishing speed, landing on it.

The island is not large, and can even be described as narrow, but in the center of such a narrow place, there is an iron sword stuck in the ground.

The steel sword, with a blade about 100 centimeters long, was already so rotten and broken that it was covered in rust.

However, upon seeing the rusty iron sword, Aize's eyes flashed with a sharp light.

"Is this the divine blade that will save the world?"

—"The Divine Blade of Salvation".

This is the sword of the hero who annihilated the demon king, and also the strongest weapon, the strongest "steel" itself.

It has many names.

The Blade of Annihilation of the Demon King, the Iron Sword of the Last King, the Sacred Sword of the Fallen Star, the Platinum Blade, the Blade that Will Destroy All Living Beings by Cutting Through Everything in the World, the Doomsday Blade That Can Cut Through Heaven and Earth and Planets, the Weapon that Combines the Armaments of Many Warriors into One, the Symbol of Salvation, the Last Hope of Glory, the Lone Sword That Conceals the Characteristics of Various Weapons, Caliburnus, Escalibor, Excalibur... and so on. These are all its aliases.

It is both the Last King's strongest weapon and his half-body. Its true form is the ultimate weapon that the Last King obtained from the gods in the heavens when he was fighting against many demon kings in the past.

At the same time, it is also the true form of the Last King, the divine sword form that the Last King transformed into when he fell into a deep sleep.

"Those old guys went to great lengths to hide you."

Aize looked at the rusty iron sword, laughing as he spoke to himself, as if he were having a conversation with it.

"They probably didn't expect it either. Despite all the precautions, the one who finally found this place was me, the newly born Godslayer."

Apart from the inhabitants of the Netherworld, no one should have known the location of the God of Salvation's Blade.

But Aize is naturally an exception.

After all, he knew about this place and the location of the divine sword from the original story.

"Now that the unruly Sun Wukong is about to be born, the schemes of those old guys are being exposed little by little."

"Your whereabouts, too, can't be hidden for much longer, can they?"

"But I was the first person to arrive here."

As he spoke, Aize reached out his hand toward the rusty iron sword in front of him.

"Now that I'm here, I'll naturally accept this divine sword."

"Naturally, you will never be able to be reborn."

"You, the strongest steel to slay the Demon King, shall leave the stage here."

As soon as he finished speaking, Aize gripped the rusty iron sword.

"咚咚-"

As the gold foil patterns appeared, Aize felt the divine blade in his palm pulsating, vibrating, and throbbing.

The gold-plated patterns originated from Aize's hand holding the hilt and continued to spread towards the divine sword.

"Thump thump—thump thump—thump thump—"

The pulses and vibrations emanating from the divine blade were becoming more and more frequent, as if it were awakening, or as if it were resisting.

Unfortunately, all the armed forces that Aize comes into contact with will lose their ability to resist him.

Even the half-body of the legendary hero who defeated the demon king, and the divine sword used to save the world, are no exception.

The gold-plated patterns gradually spread across the entire body of the divine sword and disappeared into it.

"Zheng——"

At that moment, the divine blade emitted a platinum-gold radiance, and the rust on the blade fell away, revealing its dazzling and radiant body.

Platinum-gold light bloomed in the satellite orbit that no one could reach, shining brightly above the floating island.

Fifteen hundred years later, this divine light of salvation has once again appeared in this world.

However, it was no longer the hero who wielded it, but the demon king he was about to defeat.

(End of this chapter)