Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Translator: Yonnee

—

She stood at the roots of the Tree of Tartarus and sighed.

“Haa, I shouldn’t have come here again…!”

[ …… ]

The sword remained silent.

No, it’s no wonder that it wasn’t saying anything back.

A sword shouldn’t be saying anything back.

“I’m leaving.”

Radis seized the roots stuck at the edges of the hollow space of the Tree of Tartarus and began scaling the wall.

[ Aha, that’s why you both couldn’t awaken. ]

“……”

[ You, did you go back in time? ]

Radis almost fell because she slipped on a root.

Her eyes widened as she turned to look behind her, there towards the upright sword.

“What did you say?”

[ Hoooh, so it got this complicated. None of you remained complete, nor did you awaken. Indeed, that’s how the throne originally is. ]

“What on earth are you saying now?”

[ Ehehehehe! ]

The sword started giggling wickedly.

[ You don’t know what you’ve done, huh? I know you want to know, but before that, we’ll have to finalize our contract! To maintain my ego… Hestia, give me a name! ]

Radis had no choice but to sigh heavily.

Then, like some revelation, the note on the ground caught her eye.

「 Not trash. 」

“…Regia?”

{ t/n: it doesn’t translate well, but basically the non-burnt parts in the note (ottr) is 레기아, or Regia. }

As soon as she said the name, a bright red flame soared once again from the sword.

This time, it was a bigger fire than the first one.

The sword flared up like a gigantic torch and lit up the cave.

[ Regia…! What a good name. It means ‘king’. My name really suits me…! ]

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

[ Hestia! You’re the one who’s spiritually connected to me—the one who’s supposed to help me protect the balance! You have awakened me from my long slumber with the strength of your blood, and you have given me a name worthy of my new self as well. Our contract is sealed! ]

The sword chattered on so fast like dadadada that if it had a tongue, it would have definitely bit it.

[ Regia, I like it a lot. Hahahahaha! ]

“……”

Radis watched the excited sword throw out sparks and sprinkles in all directions… Gradually, the flame died down and the sword also went back on the floor and lay flat there. She watched it all with a flabbergasted expression.

“…You done? You like it that much? Well, anyway, let’s continue what we were talking about a while ago.”

[ …… ]

“You mentioned that I went back in time, right? How did you know that?”

[ …… ]

“And what did I do? You said something about that. Can’t you at least tell me that?”

[ …… ]

“So now you’re pretending to be a normal sword?”

[ …… ]

“Wooow…”

Radis rubbed her sore nape, feeling her blood pressure rising.

* * *

She wanted to leave the sword behind, but she couldn’t since it said something about her going back in time and some other thing.

Radis was really reluctant to bring it with her, but she eventually slipped out of the tree’s hollow opening with the sword roughly attached to her waist.

She knew she could escape Monsterwood, but Radis once again found herself at the stone door.

“This has been nagging at me.”

Those marks on the spot where the moss was peeled off.

Radis removed the thick moss covering the surface of the stone gate. She used the sharp edge of the haunted sword that was pretending to be a normal sword.

As expected, there was something here.

The surface itself of the stone gate was quite smooth, but there was a long line that seemed to have been carved there on purpose.

Radis chipped away at the moss along that line.

And at the end of that line was an arrow.

“Is there really something here?”

Radis also scraped off the moss at the part where the arrow was pointing.

“This…”

Yep, there’s something there.

There was an incantation spell there, written with ancient letters.

It was similar to the runes that I saw at the teleportation gate, but at a much smaller scale than that.

In the middle of the vertically written spell, there was a hollow circle.

“If this is a gate, too… I should put a magic stone here.”

But Radis didn’t have a magic stone right now.

“Should I get Arachne’s?”

After slaying a monster, Radis usually would take the magic stone without thinking, but she felt strangely uncomfortable getting Arachne’s. After all, Radis watched Arachne die in vain like that.

But if she had to take it, then she would.

“Hm…”

Radis placed her hand over the center of the spell, just in case.

‘H…!’

The runes glowed brightly.

‘How…?’

As if she was being sucked into an abyss, her vision turned dark.

And there was a feeling of disintegration all over her body.

[ …tia. ]

‘Huh?’

[ You really… came… back… ]

Perhaps far away, perhaps right in front of her eyes, a candle was lit.

It was a bright, warm light.

Her senses turned towards it.

[ You… have to… ]

‘What?’

And the warm light enveloped her.