Chapter 1778
How could things work out so easily?
Of course, the road to reach this place wasn’t smooth. He crossed the threshold of death, and based on the danger level alone, it was comparable to fighting a dragon.
However, the ending seemed futile. He thought that he would have to find a specific clue or use some special method to wake up Biban’s consciousness. Unexpectedly, it was resolved so simply. He never thought Biban would come to his senses right away.
‘The words of the ancestors are never wrong.’
The saying that hitting someone was medicine. It worked most of the time, no matter who the other person was. Goosebumps appeared on Grid’s arms as he admired it.
“Your hands are really burning. Thanks to you, I’ve regained my mind,” Biban said as he got up from where he was sitting. His expression was solemn as he looked at Grid with deep eyes.
Grid frowned. He immediately pulled out Twilight and pointed it at Biban.
“Who are you? What did you do to Biban?”
“I am Biban…”
Biban cocked his head in confusion and Grid snorted.
“How long do you think I’ve known Biban? I won’t be fooled by this.”
“Huhu.” The Biban who had regained his wisdom—he immediately noticed why Grid misunderstood and laughed bitterly. “It seems the rude things I have shown have planted a bad prejudice in you. It is a natural consequence of my actions.”
I shouldn’t rely on the tool called the sword.
Like most swordsmen, Biban had extreme ideas. He misunderstood the intentions of the sword and developed the wrong willpower.
A swordsman shouldn’t deny the sword. It was too late by the time he realized this. Eventually, Biban made an even more extreme choice. He combined the realization that he should respect the sword he had denied so far and the heavy responsibility of slaying a dragon, and ended up becoming a sword himself.
He gave up on being human. He lost his wisdom and acted almost like a beast. He repeatedly barked unnecessary things like a timid little dog who wasn’t even a wild beast. Now that he regained his mind, he looked back and found that he had so many embarrassing memories.
The somber looking Biban fueled Grid’s suspicions. He was aware of the fact that he had been acting in an ugly manner? The Biban that Grid knew couldn’t do this. It was because Biban was someone without any cares. There was no way for him to make a facial expression like this. Biban was a man who knew no shame.
“Quit the absurd act and bring back Biban.”
“Um… I’m embarrassed to say it myself, but I am Biban. My attitude might be unfamiliar, so you don’t believe me, but this is my original self. Please trust me.”
“…There is no way.”
Grid slowly lowered the tip of the sword that he pointed at Biban. There was a stunned expression on his face.
His intuition, built up through his many experiences, was crying out to him —the Biban in front of him was the real Biban.
Grid figured out Biban’s situation. He noticed that after being freed from the idea of becoming a sword, Biban had recovered his intelligence. It was something to rejoice about.
Then why? This situation wasn’t very pleasant. It felt like he had lost Biban, a precious connection. The Biban who made memories with Grid was an elderly man with dementia. The Biban in front of him who acted like a normal person was unfamiliar.
“Why do you look so sad?”
“…No, I’m not.”
Putting aside Grid’s feelings, Biban’s recovery was a happy thing. It was right to rejoice. It happened the moment when Grid hid his disappointment and tried to smile…
Behind the two of them, the giant sword that rose like a great mountain started to vibrate. The ground on which Grid stood shook and his vision became dizzying.
Grid escaped the aftermath of the earthquake by floating up and became wary of the giant sword. The sword was emitting a terrible amount of killing intent.
“That junk doesn’t recognize his owner…” Biban’s murmur entered the ears of the puzzled Grid. It was a very faint voice. He wouldn’t have heard it if he wasn’t an Absolute.
“……?”
“The sword I hold in my heart has unfortunately escaped my control. Maybe it is due to the experience of being assimilated with me, but there is a sense of identifying itself as me. It resents and is antagonistic to you, who separated me from it.”
“Did you just call it junk?”
Biban blinked.
“Uh? It seems that the aftermath of the sword’s killing intent has given you a hallucination.”
“You are definitely Biban.”
“……”
Biban’s expression slightly crumpled. It was an expression that flashed by in an instant. This also wouldn’t have been noticed if it wasn’t for Grid being an Absolute.
“I’m glad you haven’t changed.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
It seemed like Biban was putting up with it because he felt he would lose if he was offended. It was really strange to see how Biban himself perceived the words ‘You are like Biban’ as a curse, but on the other hand, Grid also understood it.
‘Everyone has a past that they wish they can erase.’
Grid still screamed sometimes when he washed his hair these days. It was because he was reminded of when he suddenly proposed to Ahyoung. Wouldn’t it be insulting if someone who remembered Shin Youngwoo from that time told him that he was like Shin Youngwoo?
“Indeed, Sir Biban and I deserve to be friends.”
“Let’s stop talking nonsense and focus on the situation.”
The giant sword was rising. It gradually grew bigger. The blade of the sword that was stuck in the ground seemed to be just half of the whole. Finally, the sword became large enough to cut the huge old dragons and aimed at Grid.
‘It will be a serious injury.’
Strictly speaking, there was a high possibility of getting injured even if it didn’t graze him. The size of the sword was that huge. Not only was it physically difficult to avoid, but even if it was avoided, an area that was hundreds of meters in radius would be devastated and the aftermath would hit Grid. It was like meeting an opponent he wasn’t compatible against in a situation where he couldn’t use Shunpo.
Of course, that was until an hour ago. The God Hands joined together. They took each other’s hands and formed a circle. The circular sun surrounded Grid’s body as he roughly spoke what he thought. “Overgeared Sun Sphere.”
The giant sword fell toward it. The God Hands fully absorbed the damage, but there was a problem. It was that the sun was broken with a single blow. It was completely different from when it blocked a large number of normal sized swords. There were too many God Hands that couldn’t bear the weight of the giant sword and let go of each other’s hands.
A storm raged among the scattered golden hands. It was a storm created by the shockwave of the giant sword.
Grid’s black hair and divinity fluttered wildly.
“Hah.” Biban admired it.
Grid didn’t crash down. He easily withstood the pressure of the incredibly powerful shockwave. It was a miracle caused by the qualification of ‘unable to be crushed.’
Grid quickly adjusted his posture and shouted, “You can’t stop that?”
“Yes. It has become independent as a completely separate being from me, so I can’t control it. It is best to ignore it and get out of this place.”
“You are going to leave that alone and escape?”
Biban had clearly said it—he could no longer control the giant sword. Then such a thing shouldn’t remain in Biban’s mental world. It was like leaving cancer cells behind. Biban knew it as well.
“But there is no other way…”
Biban looked at his hand. It was a hand that lost the giant sword and was left with an ordinary longsword. He felt that there was no way to stand up to that giant sword. This giant sword was an image that had been with Biban all his life. The giant sword possessed all of Biban’s experience and skills as well.
Grid saw his unconfident expression and asked him, “Do you still think that you shouldn’t rely on a sword?”
Grid recalled Muller. Muller had borrowed the swords summoned by Grid and used them in the right places. Unlike most swordsmen, the strongest Sword Saint of all time relied on the sword. If Biban stuck to his insistence of ‘not relying on the sword,’ Grid would be disappointed.
“That isn’t the case,” Biban replied. Fortunately, Biban had abandoned his stubbornness. It was natural. The reason why he was rescued so easily by Grid was because he had already realized his mistake.
The trigger was the dragon weapon that Grid gifted him—Gujel’s Sword. He was shaken at that time. There was such a great sword in the world. Was it really wrong for a swordsman to rely on a sword?
He had such questions even when rational judgment was impossible for him. He vaguely thought it was right to rebuild his sword from a new perspective. The only problem was that it was too late. There was no time. At that time, Biban was suffering from a condition where he would have an idea and forget it the very next day.
“Then rely on this,” Grid spoke to Biban as Biban had a somber expression on his face.
“This…”
Biban’s eyes shook. He was looking at the Twilight handed over by Grid. It was a beautiful sword that held Grid’s orange divinity.
Grid easily handed Biban the strongest sword on the surface, made with the materials of an old dragon. “Cut that sword yourself.”
The giant sword—it was an image that Biban had built up all his life. Originally, it was something that couldn’t be thrown away and shouldn’t be thrown away. Now that it was out of his control, Grid was telling him:
Embrace the new. Cut down the old sword you made with your own body.
“……”
Biban hesitated. Grid would’ve been the same. He was also in a position where he couldn’t throw away the old armor of Infinite Valhalla. Grid wouldn’t feel resentment if Biban couldn’t cut it in the end. He just gave Biban a chance, just in case.
The giant sword was coming again. It persistently aimed at Grid, who had handed his sword to Biban. It seemed to want to cut down the intruder who was interfering so it could become one with Biban again. Now all that remained was Biban’s choice.
‘If it doesn’t work, then let’s leave.’
He was conscious of the escape route he had found. Grid waited for Biban’s choice without expressing anything. To Biban, it seemed like infinite trust. He felt infinite gratitude to Grid for believing in him at the risk of Grid’s own life (?). Therefore, he had to make a choice.
“It is time to say goodbye.”
A gray haze rose from Twilight. It was the energy of a Dragon Slayer. It was faint, unlike Hayate’s, but it couldn’t be considered weak. It was the energy of a Dragon Slayer combined with the sword energy of a Sword Saint that Hayate didn’t have.
Flash!
The world was split. The combination of Grid’s Twilight and Biban’s swordsmanship slashed at the seemingly invincible giant sword like it was tofu. The owner of the mental world cut down his mental image. It was an unprecedented event.
Inside the world that was rapidly collapsing—
“Thank you, Grid.” Biban was reborn as a new existence and forged a new bond with Grid. He let go of his awkward attitude and showed a genuine smile.
[A new Absolute has been born.]
Along with this world message, Grid’s consciousness returned to reality.
