Part 1 – When a God-Touched Blade Walks the Earth Again
The moment Yuu stepped out of the Demansion, the world seemed to stop breathing.
Not because of thunder.
Not because of the wind.
But because something old looked at him.
Recognized him.
Feared him.
And began to awaken in response.
---
I. The First Step Outside
The sky over the human capital was gray with storm clouds, though no rain fell.
The kind that arrives before something terrible.
Yuu walked out of a thin tear in the air—like the world reluctantly opened a door for him.
His boots touched the earth.
Stone cracked beneath them.
His aura was quiet.
Contained.
No longer wild.
But everything around him felt smaller.
Weaker.
A knight patrolling the courtyard froze in mid-step, breath caught in his throat.
"S-sir…?"
Yuu's gaze passed over him without stopping.
Not cold.
Not arrogant.
Just focused on something far, far beyond normal sight.
The knight felt like he had been stared at by a mountain.
He fell to one knee, trembling.
Yuu didn't look back.
He walked across the courtyard, each step steady, unhurried—yet the air behind him warped like heat rising from a forge.
---
II. The Goddess Follows
She appeared a heartbeat later, drifting beside him.
Her tone was playful again, but quieter—something in her watched the sky with suspicion.
"You're not fully healed."
"I'm healed enough."
"You realize the cult will sense your return the moment your aura touches the ground."
"I want them to."
She smirked.
"And what will you do when they come crawling?"
He didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Arsenal Blade 0 pulsed once at his side, the sigils along its spine flickering like heartbeat scars.
The Goddess glanced at it.
"That blade… it's hungry."
"So is everything else."
---
III. News Arrives Late
The courtyard gates burst open.
A messenger sprinted toward them—panic all over his face, armor dented, hair stuck to his skin with sweat.
"Y-Your Majesty! Queen! Goddess—! I mean—! I don't know—!"
He skidded to a stop, staring at Yuu as if seeing a ghost.
"…You… you're alive."
Yuu's tone was flat.
"What happened?"
The messenger swallowed.
"Three towns vanished. An elven outpost burned. The Beastman border closed. Monsters have been mutating. The Demon Envoy said he would wait for you in the war room."
Yuu nodded once.
"Take me."
The messenger blinked, confused.
"Take you…?"
"You asked for news. I don't need news. I need direction."
The messenger straightened, breath steadying.
"Yes, my lord!"
The Goddess chuckled softly.
"So obedient already."
---
IV. Rumor Awakens
As Yuu followed the messenger through the capital, people whispered.
Some recognized him.
Some only saw a young man with a blade wrapped in strange metal and a presence too heavy for a mortal.
A mother pulled her child away.
A blacksmith bowed without knowing why.
A pair of knights saluted even though he wasn't royalty.
A priest muttered a blessing.
But one old woman simply stared, lips trembling.
"…He's returned. The one from the prophecy."
A younger man beside her frowned.
"What prophecy?"
The old woman's voice dropped to a frightened whisper.
"The blade that walks…
The one forged from broken souls…
The one who chooses whether we live or die."
She looked at Yuu, eyes shining with dread.
"Pray he chooses right."
Yuu didn't stop.
He didn't look at her.
But inside, something cold settled in his chest.
---
V. A Creature Watches Him from the Roofs
High above the roofs, a thin figure crouched in the shadows—a monster not known in bestiaries and not born through mana.
Its skin was pale.
Its eyes were pure white.
Its body twitched like a puppet held together by threads.
A failed vessel.
The one that had escaped the forest days ago.
It watched Yuu pass below.
It whispered with a throat that barely worked:
"…same… smell…
…same… blade…"
Its jaw cracked open.
"you… will… break…"
Yuu stopped walking.
He turned his head slightly—just enough.
He had sensed it.
The vessel froze, feeling hunted by something older than fear.
But Yuu simply looked away.
"This city isn't ready for me to kill something yet," he murmured.
The Goddess floated beside him, amused.
"Kindness?"
"No. Consideration."
She laughed.
"That's just cruelty with a slower clock."
---
VI. The War Room Opens
Yuu stepped inside the hall where the world's leaders had gathered.
The King.
The Queen of the Beastmen.
The Demon Envoy.
And an elven representative seated with controlled grace.
Every head turned toward Yuu.
Every breath paused.
The King whispered:
"…You've grown."
The Beastman Queen's eyes narrowed, studying him like a predator assessing territory.
The Demon Envoy gave a single nod—almost respectful.
The elf's gaze sharpened, sensing danger.
Yuu raised his eyes.
"What's the situation?"
The King gestured to the large table map.
"Everything is breaking at once."
The Demon Envoy tapped one region.
"The cult has begun a coordinated set of rituals."
The Beastman Queen tapped another.
"Multiple nations are in panic."
The elf representative tapped a third.
"We are losing people by the hour."
The King's voice cracked.
"We needed you a year later. But we need you now more."
Yuu rested his hand on Arsenal Blade 0.
And the blade murmured back with a faint pulse.
"I'm here," Yuu said.
"And I'll deal with it."
The room exhaled.
But the Demon Envoy did not relax.
He stared at Yuu with a seriousness that cut through the air.
"No," he said softly.
"You won't deal with it."
Yuu's eyes narrowed.
"You will start a war."
Silence fell like a guillotine.
The Goddess smiled.
"So," she whispered, "shall we begin?"
---
End of Chapter 16 – Part 1
—
Part 2 – The First Hunt
Night fell like a curtain of dark silk over the capital.
The streets emptied.
Doors shut.
Torches dimmed.
Fear pulled people indoors long before curfew.
Only one figure moved freely under the moonlight.
Yuu.
He walked with steady steps, the scabbard of Arsenal Blade 0 gripped loosely in his hand. His aura was pulled in, dimmed, suffocated under his control — but even then, the stones along the road trembled beneath him.
The Goddess hovered above rooftops, silent for once.
She wasn't smiling.
Not tonight.
"It's close," she whispered.
Yuu didn't need her words.
He already knew.
---
I. A Scent That Should Not Exist
A cold wind drifted through the alley.
It carried the stench of something wrong — decay mixed with birth, like a corpse that had tried to grow, failed, and tried again.
Yuu stopped.
His fingers brushed the hilt.
The Goddess murmured:
"A failed vessel… one of the early ones. Stronger than the rest. It survived several sacrifices."
Yuu said nothing.
He simply waited.
And the air behind him tightened.
---
II. The Vessel Descends
The creature dropped from a rooftop —
a white blur of jerking limbs and exposed spine, its skin stretched too tightly over warped bone.
It landed silently.
No sound.
No breath.
Just trembling hunger.
Its head twitched sideways, then snapped forward with a sharp crack.
Eyes — hollow and pale.
Jaw — unhinged, trembling.
Voice — a shredded whisper:
"…blade…
…same blade…
…same scent as the chamber…
…you… hurt me…"
Yuu stared back, unmoving.
"You followed me."
The vessel stepped forward, arms dangling like broken pendulums.
"…I followed… pain…
…you carry it…
…more than anyone…"
Its fingers curled backward until bone tore through skin.
The Goddess floated behind Yuu, wings faintly glowing.
"Careful," she murmured. "It isn't entirely alive."
Yuu lifted Arsenal Blade 0 a fraction.
"That's fine. I only kill what's living enough to regret it."
---
III. Hunger Made Flesh
The vessel shrieked without sound —
its throat tore, but no noise came.
Then it lunged.
Not at Yuu.
Through him.
It moved like shadow and broken glass — jerking, sliding, bending at wrong angles.
Its fingers brushed reality like it wasn't solid.
It came for Yuu's heart first.
Claws blurred.
Its body twisted sideways in mid-air, spine bending like rope.
Its head snapped in two directions at once.
A grotesque speed.
A desperate hunger.
A body that shouldn't have moved at all — moving faster than any monster Yuu had fought in the kingdom.
But Yuu…
Didn't move an inch.
---
IV. The Blade Reacts
Arsenal Blade 0 pulsed.
Not violently.
Not hungrily.
Coldly.
As if acknowledging a familiar scent.
Yuu tilted his hand.
Just enough.
The vessel's claws slipped past his neck by a hair.
The creature's eye — pale and trembling — suddenly widened.
It saw something it could understand.
Fear.
Yuu spoke quietly:
"You're the one from the forest."
The vessel convulsed.
"…I… lived too long…
…they didn't want me anymore…
…they carved me out…
…and left me…"
Its chest caved inward as if crushed by invisible pressure.
It screamed again — this time a faint, broken sound like wind passing through cracked bone.
Then it rushed him again.
---
V. Yuu Moves for the First Time
A single step.
A single breath.
A single swing.
No flash.
No roar.
No dramatic momentum.
Just a clean, unadorned cut.
The air split quietly.
The vessel's body cleaved in two.
It fell apart like brittle clay — limbs disintegrating into dust before hitting the ground.
Only its head remained intact for a moment.
Still trembling.
Still trying to speak.
"…you… smell like the chamber…
…like the place where gods die…"
The skull cracked.
And dissolved.
Leaving nothing.
---
VI. The Aftermath
Yuu sheathed his blade.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
The Goddess floated down beside him, landing softly on the stone street.
"That wasn't a fight," she said.
"It wasn't supposed to be."
"No," she agreed.
"But the cult didn't send that thing to kill you."
Yuu turned.
"They sent it to watch me."
She nodded.
"And to measure you."
He started walking again, heading toward the palace.
"They won't like the answer."
"No," she said with a thin smile.
"They'll hate it."
Her expression darkened, just a fraction.
"And so will the world."
---
VII. A New Shadow Forms
Above the city, unseen by all but the Goddess, something stirred.
A spiral mark burned into the sky for a moment — thin as a thread.
A watcher.
A new cult formation.
It whispered across the wind:
"He has returned.
Prepare the next vessel.
The true ritual begins."
The whisper disappeared.
The Goddess's eyes narrowed.
"…They're moving faster than expected."
Yuu didn't break stride.
"Then I'll move faster."
A cold determination settled in his voice.
"Start with their strongest."
She exhaled, amused and concerned at once.
"You really are a problem."
He didn't deny it.
He didn't look back.
He simply walked into the darkest year the world had seen in a century.
---
End of Chapter 16 – Part 2
—
Part 3 – The Meeting of Kings and Monsters
The palace war chamber was built to intimidate kings.
A circular hall of black marble, high windows carved like fangs, torches burning with cold-white flame.
A massive round table dominated the center — each seat carved with the crest of a nation.
Tonight, every seat was filled.
Human royalty.
Beastman leadership.
Elven envoys.
The Demon Envoy.
Generals.
Strategists.
Guard captains.
All silent.
Because Yuu entered.
---
I. A Blade Walks Into the Chamber
He stepped through the doors with the Goddess drifting behind him like a phantom of starlight.
The moment Yuu crossed the threshold, the torches flickered as if bowing.
Shadows bent.
Chill swept the room.
One general whispered under his breath:
"…this pressure… it's not mana…"
Another muttered:
"…feels like standing near a collapsed star…"
The Beastman Queen leaned forward, eyes sharp.
"So. You finally return from your divine cage."
The Elf representative narrowed her gaze, assessing him like a dangerous artifact.
The Demon Envoy simply nodded, as one predator acknowledging another.
Yuu didn't bow.
Didn't greet.
He just took the empty seat — the one with no crest.
A seat that until now had never been used.
The King swallowed and spoke first.
"We are at war, Yuu."
Yuu rested one hand on Arsenal Blade 0.
It pulsed faintly.
"What kind?"
"Not monster. Not nation. Something older," the King answered.
The Beastman Queen slammed her fist down.
"The cult took an entire village two nights ago! My scouts found only shadows on the ground!"
The elf envoy added quietly:
"And in our forests… roots are twisting. As if trying to flee."
The Demon Envoy placed a sealed document on the table.
"We have confirmed the first fully awakened vessel. It tore through a demon fortress, consuming every aura within. It will head for a populated region next."
The room shook.
Yuu simply asked:
"Where is it?"
---
II. The Map of Doom
The Demon Envoy unfolded a map.
Three large red circles glowed.
One in human territory.
One on the border of the elves.
One deep within beastman lands.
But a fourth mark — small, black, pulsing — sat at the center of the map.
The King's face tightened.
"That… is the cult's first main site. We only discovered it yesterday."
The Beastman Queen bared her teeth.
"You mean they were beneath our continent the entire time?"
The elf envoy closed her eyes.
"They were sleeping. Until something woke them."
She looked directly at Yuu.
"…until someone woke them."
Gasps spread.
Yuu didn't react.
The King pointed at the black circle.
"This is our first target."
The Demon Envoy's voice darkened.
"No. This is their trap."
Everyone turned to him.
"They want Yuu to come. They want to force him to use the new blade."
The Beastman Queen growled.
"They want his power?"
"No," the envoy said.
"They want to measure the limit of it."
His eyes flickered to Yuu.
"Because the cult believes that your existence itself is a prophecy.
And that if they kill you — they win."
The hall froze.
All eyes turned to Yuu.
He didn't blink.
"Good," he said softly.
"Let them try."
The Goddess chuckled under her breath.
"He is in a mood."
---
III. The Argument of Nations
The King rose.
"We need strategy—"
The Beastman Queen cut him off.
"No. We need blood. We hunt the cult. We tear their roots out."
The elf envoy snapped:
"And lose half your soldiers in an ambush? Fools."
"Say that again, tree-ears—"
The room erupted — generals shouting, envoys arguing, soldiers whispering.
Only two beings stayed silent:
Yuu.
And the Goddess.
Finally, the Demon Envoy slammed a clawed hand on the table.
"Enough."
Silence dropped like a blade.
He pointed at Yuu.
"Your arguments do not matter.
His decision does."
The King and Queen turned to Yuu.
"So?" the King asked.
"What will you do?"
Yuu stood.
The room tensed like a drawn bow.
He looked at the map.
At the black circle pulsing like a heartbeat.
"They want me to come," Yuu said.
"So I will."
The elf envoy whispered:
"…alone?"
"No," Yuu said.
His gaze sharpened.
"But not with armies either."
He placed a hand on Arsenal Blade 0.
The sigils glowed dark red.
The blade hummed like a chained beast.
"I will go with one group.
The people whose bloodline still remembers the first war."
Shock spread.
The Beastman Queen rose.
"…my daughters?"
The elf envoy stiffened.
"My kin?"
The Demon Envoy stepped forward.
"You want the descendants of the old heroes."
Yuu didn't deny it.
"They inherited something. A trace of will. A fragment of the ancient oath that sealed Ansh."
He stepped back from the table.
"They deserve to see what's waking."
The King exhaled.
"So… a small strike team."
"A team that the cult cannot predict."
Yuu's eyes darkened.
"And that I can protect."
The Goddess floated down, landing at his shoulder.
"Quite bold," she murmured.
"So what happens if the cult's trap is deeper than expected?"
Yuu didn't hesitate.
"Then I bury the cult."
---
IV. A New Threat Moves
Far beneath the earth, in a cavern of spiraling altars, dozens of cultists knelt.
A massive stone heart pulsed in the center.
And around it stood robed figures marked by spiral tattoos.
One lifted his face toward the ceiling.
"He has returned."
A chorus of whispers answered:
"The Blade of Broken Souls walks the land."
"The Chamber scent clings to him."
"He carries the origin."
Then a deeper voice emerged from the darkness.
"…Prepare the next awakening.
The chosen vessel will meet him first."
Another cultist bowed.
"Who shall we transform?"
The voice answered:
"The one who carries royal blood."
A hush fell.
The cultist trembled.
"A king…?"
"No."
A pause.
"A queen."
---
End of Chapter 16 – Part 3