229.FATE Awakening Sword (End)
You drew the blade, leveled it, and handed it to the fairy.
「Lidevidens, your fate rests within this sword.」
The fairy turned around and presented the weapon before Lidevidens:
「This weapon contains the will and status of one of the Secret councilors, the [Blacksmith], as well as the crucial material 'primordial substance' that composes the [Society]. Lidevidens, if necessary, you can activate the primordial substance within, unleashing its Secret power to drive out any [Society] that invades future civilizations again.」
As for why it had to be Lidevidens, the fairy did not say, but you roughly guessed.
Over the years, Jania had always been concealed in a cave beneath the fairy's garden. No matter how many grave robbers came and went, she remained there—certainly at the fairy's intention.
Yet Jania never knew; evidently, the fairy helped keep it Secret.
Something came to mind, and you blurted out:
"The price for activating the Secret power… is the wielder's life?"
"All of it."
The fairy added:
"Secret is the most powerful [Society]. Its power is terribly fearful, beyond your imagination. Even a short release would cause severe harm to a Star Abyss resident who is not a citizen."
"From life to soul, from existence to history—his body will be utterly submerged by that Secret power, becoming void, and even that void will not remain. No one in history will know his name; no one will remember him. The world will no longer contain even a single particle of him."
"He will be Secret forever, always concealed, ultimately forgotten by the entire Star Abyss."
The sword's body trembled, yet the fairy held it steadily.
It was Jania.
At this moment, Jania finally understood the truth.
She had waited for her old comrade and the sword-bearer to take her to the battlefield.
She waited like that for twelve hundred years.
When treasure thieves stole her, she expected Lidevidens to come retrieve her.
When she rusted away in a hide sack, she longed for the comfort Lidevidens had once given her.
When she went mad in darkness, she cursed and hated Lidevidens's cowardice.
She waited twelve hundred years for Lidevidens.
Yet for Lidevidens, taking up the sword once more would be his final hour.
"Lidevidens's destiny will soon arrive."
[Settlement Conditions]:
"Bear witness to it all."
...
Lidevidens's body seemed to come alive in an instant. Though still tattered beyond repair, it no longer emitted the stench of rot and maggots.
He raised his hand, the withered fingertips lightly brushing the crack on the Fate Awakening Sword. Lidevidens's decayed lips moved slightly, speaking calmly:
"…(Farlician) Jania, you've waited long enough."
「I won't forgive you, Lidevidens. You always kept things from me, refusing to share! I hate you! I can't stand you! I—I don't want to lose you.」
Jania's feelings were complicated:
「Must it be you, Lidevidens?」
"(Farlician) When I first became Sharpfang Peak's disciple, destiny offered me two paths: remain mediocre until I rotted away, or shine magnificently, turning my life into fireworks blazing across the night sky."
Lidevidens spoke like a poem. He calmly gripped the sword's hilt:
"(Farlician) Jania, as promised, I've come to take you into battle."
With that, he turned to Li Aozi, taking the crimson cursed longsword from his waist and giving it to Li Aozi:
"(Tanasian)… Thank you. You are a true hero. I must take Jania away until the Secret power is fully released. Please tell me your name."
"Li Aozi," he answered. "You can call me Leoz if you like."
"You are worthy of that name."
Lidevidens gave him a deep look, speaking with genuine admiration:
"I've never met Leozi, but if He were reborn, I imagine He would be like you."
Lidevidens was rarely this lucid. Li Aozi seized the moment to ask:
"I'm really curious… as exiles once governed by Leozi, how did you regard Leozi?"
"Leozi… According to Sharpfang Peak, who lived through Leozi's era, she once said this about Him."
Lidevidens spoke:
"Leozi was colder than steel, more efficient than machinery, crueler than fire—yet He alone was doing the most righteous thing."
"So Leozi was actually a tyrant?" Li Aozi was startled. "That's completely contrary to the legends in the Abyss."
"I can't fully judge a legendary figure. If it were someone like Gio 'Zeou,' a divine warrior, I'd understand their thinking. By my time, aside from the Murfideria Universe, other main god universes—and even most Star Abyss deities—seemed more humane than Leozi. If you insist on how to judge Leozi, I suppose…"
Lidevidens considered his words, then said:
"A god."
"A pure god, much like those manufactured cannon-fodder deities, devoid of personal desires, pleasure, self, or emotion. Lacking love, never empathizing, never biased."
"Leoiz is precisely that—a god. As if He emerged from the ranks of those cannon-fodder gods."
Li Aozi fell silent, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
"A god, huh…"
「Li Aozi.」 Jania spoke icily. 「I'm leaving for a while, so take care of yourself. If you casually go and die, I'll kill you!」
"Sure, sure, I won't die." Li Aozi shrugged, then turned to Lidevidens: "…I don't know what to say, Lidevidens. Please take care."
"In Farlicia, we do not say 'take care' when parting."
Lidevidens seemed to chuckle faintly. Grabbing the sword, his body was suddenly clad in dazzling silver-red magic armor. Atop his helmet rose splendid ram's horns, his aura piercingly fierce, red lightning crackling.
"We say: Salut."
Lidevidens clutched the sword. In a flash, he became a blazing red lightning bolt charging straight for the circular gate high above. Behind him, the Fierce Iron King—Karachia—followed, now fully animated, projecting terrifying, suffocating magic power across the sky.
Buzz———
Several light-years from White Candle Star, two Kappa-tier powerhouses paused their battle simultaneously.
"…Omega-tier?" Bablushka blurted in shock.
"No, that aura belongs to a nine-times-reforged councilor of the Society." Balkomon pondered. "It lasted only an instant, just an aura. There's also another [Society] presence on White Candle Star… two [Societies]—ho! I see."
"What do you see?" Bablushka sneered. "Your planet's about to be consumed by Mashgegan. Why keep chasing me—any use in that?"
"Ha, I never said which [Society], yet you named it yourself."
Balkomon sneered:
"So you've been in collusion with the [Society] all along!"
"—What are you trying to do, Balkomon!"
"Nothing but fulfilling a Star Abyss inhabitant's duty."
Balkomon swung his staff. The magic blade at its tip shot to the galactic frontier. Sneering, he slashed at Bablushka:
"Descend to the Star Abyss and annihilate the Society!"
"That's the meaning of climbing the path and ascending to godhood!"
"You bloated pig, let this Minister of Education teach you a proper lesson in morality and law!"