The Swordmaster Who Returned After 1,000 Years

Chapter 120

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 120

As Kaylen beheaded the Tower Master, silence fell over the chamber.

The Tower Master of Balzak Tower.

A genius who had reached the 5th Circle at the age of 50 and was regarded as the strongest among the seven Tower Masters.

And yet, even in his elementalized state, he had been unable to withstand a single strike and lost his head?

Even though they had witnessed it with their own eyes, it was a sight they could hardly believe.

"T-Tower Master!"

"Kugh…! Attack all at once!"

"Circle, reload!"

One of the remaining Tower Masters, regaining his composure, immediately gave the order to attack.

However, Kaylen remained unshaken.

"This isn’t even worth using Abyss Blade."

The four Aura Swords moved of their own accord, blocking every spell that rained down on him.

The forces within the underground chamber were the elite of the magic towers…

Yet to Kaylen, they were nothing but weaklings—not even worth drawing his Six Blades against.

"H-He’s blocking magic?!"

"There’s no way he can keep blocking forever! Keep attacking!"

Boom! Boom!

At the Tower Masters' command, the Meisters poured all their mana into their spells.

The relentless barrage of magic was, without a doubt, overwhelming.

With hundreds of casters launching a coordinated assault from all directions, it seemed impossible for anyone to withstand it.

Even so, the Tower Masters couldn't shake the unsettling reports they had once dismissed.

"Kaylen is a Sword Master and has subdued demons…"

"Could it… could it actually be true?"

"No, no matter how monstrous he is, he can't come out of this unscathed!"

One of the Tower Masters reassured himself with that thought—

But only for a moment.

"F-Fire Sword incoming!"

"Dodge!"

Fwoooosh!

The Flame Sword, one of the Six Blades, shot forward like a streak of fire, and in that instant, their doubts turned to fear.

"Agh…! AAAARGH!"

The Tower Master of the Blue Tower, a 5th Circle Meister of water magic, screamed in agony.

His body, composed of water, was evaporating completely.

Had he been beheaded in an instant, like the Balzak Tower Master, it might have been a mercy.

Instead, he felt his limbs begin to boil, his form turning to steam—

A slow, excruciating death.

"S-Save me! I… I even taught Princess Violet…! I am the Blue To—"

Before he could finish his plea, his body completely vaporized.

Kaylen watched the scene and clapped his hands together.

"A mistake. Burning up a precious A-rank mana suit like that."

Unlike the Balzak Tower Master, whose body had remained intact after being beheaded, the Blue Tower Master had been utterly incinerated, leaving nothing behind.

That mana suit should have been a valuable prize—yet now it was gone.

"You should be grateful for your mana suits. At least that way, your corpses will remain."

Srrrk.

The four resplendent swords floated in the air.

Compared to the imposing presence of Flame, Water, Light, and Dark, the Earth Sword and Wind Sword were far less conspicuous.

But against these enemies, even that much was more than enough.

Six Blades Style – Twin Blades, Shrinking Earth

As Kaylen stepped forward with his right foot, the Earth Sword embedded itself beside him.

Rumble—

The ground shook violently, as if struck by an earthquake.

"Ugh…! The ground…!"

"W-What is this?!"

The Meisters staggered, struggling to keep their balance on the trembling earth.

But only for a moment.

Their eyes widened in shock.

"The distance…"

"It’s closing in!"

The ground beneath them seemed to bend and fold, pulling Kaylen—who should have been far away—closer in an instant.

And it wasn’t just one person experiencing this.

Everyone felt it at the same time.

"Even a Sword Master shouldn’t be able to do something like this…!"

"S-Shield! Activate shields!"

Desperate to resist being drawn in, they cast defensive spells—

But it was futile.

As the distance closed, what came into view—

Was none other than the Wind Sword in Kaylen’s hands.

Swish!

The Wind Sword carved a massive arc through the air.

Swoosh!

In a single swing—

The heads of a third of the Meisters in the underground chamber were severed at once.

Yet, Kaylen frowned in dissatisfaction as he gazed at the Wind Sword.

"I need to strengthen the Earth and Wind Swords soon."

If Shrinking Earth had activated perfectly, he could have decapitated everyone in this chamber in one move.

But because the Earth Sword and Wind Sword were still too weak, the range of Shrinking Earth was not as wide as he had hoped.

To finish them all, he would have to use Shrinking Earth two or three more times.

Had he used his fully perfected Four Blades, this wouldn’t have been necessary—

"But if I use the Four Blades, I’ll destroy their mana suits as well. I’ll have to put in a little more effort."

Kaylen took another step toward the surviving Meisters.

Just like before—

Heads fell in droves.

With each step, dozens—no, hundreds—of Meisters were reduced to headless corpses.

At the gruesome sight, the remaining Meisters felt sheer terror.

"If this keeps up, I’ll be next!"

"We can’t fight against him. In that case…!"

"I-I surrender!"

"We surrender! Please, spare us!"

Before Kaylen could take another step—

The remaining Meisters frantically cried out their surrender.

But Kaylen merely smirked.

"I don’t accept surrender."

"We swear loyalty! Please, just give us one chance…!"

"W-We had no choice! We only participated in the experiments because the Tower Masters ordered us to!"

"No choice," huh?

"Y-Yes! That’s right!"

"So much for that excuse… I can sense the dark mana clearly."

As Kaylen took another step forward, he spoke in an icy tone.

"Not a single one of you is an exception."

"Ugh… No, how could you possibly…?"

"At the very least, you won’t feel any pain."

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Soon, the last remaining group of Meisters was completely beheaded.

After subduing the vampires along the walls, Kaylen finally withdrew his swords.

"Cleaning up will be the real work."

Once the Meisters were decapitated, their mana suits reverted to their original state.

However, since the equipment varied—bracelets, gauntlets, shoes—it took longer to collect them all.

"That should be enough."

There were at least a few hundred mana suits.

Most were C-rank or higher, and among them, there were over twenty A-rank mana suits.

Unlike with Black Skull, this time, the highest-ranking forces of each magic tower had gathered, meaning they all possessed top-tier mana suits.

"Too easy. A bit of deception was all it took to lure out the magic tower traitors and wipe them out in one sweep."

He could have overthrown the king and seized the royal palace immediately—

But he had delayed until the return of the victory army for this very reason:

To eliminate the remnants of the magic towers in one fell swoop.

"Nothing is more irritating than having to hunt down rats one by one."

In his past life, he had conquered countless kingdoms and witnessed how enemy remnants stubbornly survived and spread like weeds.

Even if the Seven Magic Towers had overestimated their own strength, once they saw Kaylen seize the royal palace—

Rather than resisting, they would scramble to evade responsibility and flee.

So, he had deliberately given them a chance to gather in complacency—before wiping them out all at once.

"Now, only the king remains."

All those within the Seven Magic Towers who had collaborated with the Demon Realm were gone.

Now, only King Kaytan was left.

Bringing him down was nothing more than a formality at this point.

"But since things have come this far, it would be better to dethrone him during the victory parade. A few days won’t make a difference."

Fwoooosh—

After collecting all the mana suits, Kaylen set the corpses ablaze and stepped deeper into the underground chamber.

The moment he entered, his expression twisted in disgust.

"Demon worshippers are always filthy."

Growl…

The howls of beasts.

The screams of what were once human.

Corpses littered the sacrificial magic circle, pools of blood collecting like stagnant ponds.

For some, it was a nightmare-inducing sight—

But to Kaylen, it was all too familiar.

He had seen it countless times before, during the Demon King's Crusade.

"At least a thousand years ago, the black sorcerers' hideouts still had living captives. These fools sacrificed everything."

The world had declined in many ways compared to the past—

But the brutality of demon worshippers had only grown worse.

The only living creatures left were chimeras, grotesque hybrids of humans and beasts.

Everything else had been offered as sacrifice.

"Let’s purify this place."

Chimeras were not truly alive—

For them, death was the only release.

Kaylen drew his Flame Sword and set everything ablaze.

Thus, the Evolution Zone, which the Seven Magic Towers had built over countless years, was completely annihilated in less than a day.

However, within the scorched remains of the Evolution Zone—

There was one area where the flames had failed to consume.

"It withstood the Flame Sword’s fire?"

Kaylen had not used the Six Blades Style, but even the Flame Sword alone produced enough firepower to reduce everything to ashes.

Yet something had remained untouched.

Intrigued, Kaylen pushed through the lingering flames and stepped inside.

And there, he came across an unexpected inscription.

—Helmeier Lineage Summoning Circle

"They were trying to… summon the Helmeier Lineage?"

The Helmeier Clan.

The ones who had taken Melvria, daughter of Ernstine and wife of Eldir.

A lineage that had used the Infinity Expansion, an ability Kaylen had never been able to utilize in his past life.

Kaylen had long suspected they were linked to the Meyer Imperial Family.

After all, even their name was Helmeier.

Scanning the area, Kaylen stepped into a separate, isolated chamber.

There, a massive magic circle gleamed with a golden-red glow.

And at its center—

Lay a woman’s body, visibly stitched together from severed parts.

Her head, both arms, and both legs.

Her upper and lower body.

It was clear she had originally been split into seven pieces, but now, black thread bound her parts together into one.

"…The magic circle is still active."

Even with the entire chamber engulfed in flames, the summoning circle remained completely intact.

Kaylen studied the woman’s corpse carefully.

Despite being dead, her skin had color, and warmth radiated from her body.

"She’s definitely dead… but I can still sense a strange vitality."

Had she been breathing, Kaylen might have even questioned whether she was truly dead.

As he observed her, something struck him.

"She looks like… Princess Violet."

Could it be?

Was this woman Queen Diana, Violet’s mother?

Kaylen recalled what Violet had once told him.

"Her wounds kept healing…"

Was that somehow connected to the fact that, even in death, her body still emitted life energy?

Kaylen continued watching her lifeless form before slowly reaching out toward the magic circle.

"I am curious about the Helmeier summoning… but I can’t just leave Violet’s mother as a sacrificial offering."

He wasn’t yet certain that this was truly the Queen, but—

If she was, then Violet deserved the chance to recover her mother’s remains.

Just as that thought crossed his mind and his hand touched the magic circle—

BZZZZZT—

A golden-red glow surged from the circle, and something began to materialize from the ground.

"…Baldrix?"

What appeared within the giant magic circle was—

A face.

One that was far too familiar to Kaylen.

His second son, Baldrix.

—Ah.

Baldrix’s face contorted into a grotesque grin—

And lunged forward, attempting to devour the woman’s body.

Kaylen swiftly moved and pulled the woman's body away.

At that moment, Baldrix’s face twisted into a furious scowl, and he began screaming.

—"A sacrifice. You stole my sacrifice! Give it back! Give it back!"

Hearing a fully grown man throwing a tantrum like a newborn, Kaylen’s expression contorted in disgust.

What in the world were these lunatics doing with Baldrix’s face?

"You insane bastards!"

Kaylen drew the Light Sword.

—"Ah… T-Too bright… Hhiii…!"

Exposed to the power of light, Baldrix’s face shrank back in fear.

Moments later, the summoning circle began to fade away.

Kaylen watched the scene with a hardened expression.

"The Helmeier Clan… is somehow connected to Baldrix’s face?"

Without hesitation, Kaylen retrieved the Demonic Relic, stepped inside with the woman’s body, and sealed it away.

After laying the corpse down, he immediately rushed to the solitary cell where the slime-type demon, Kane, was imprisoned.

"I'm bored. Bored. Bored! Uwaaah, I’m going crazy! I’m losing my mind! I’m so sick of talking to myself!"

"You."

"Oho? Cool big bro! Bro! I was waiting for you!"

"What is your connection to the Helmeier Clan?"

At that question, Kane grinned widely.

"Wow. A human who knows about the Helmeier Clan?"

"Answer the question."

"Hmm… Well. I’m bored, so I’ll tell you. But if you know about the Helmeier Clan… shouldn’t you already know about the face?"

"The face? What about it?"

Kane blinked and answered Kaylen with a smirk.

"Oh, you don’t know? When someone commits a crime and gets exiled from Helmeier… they get their face reshaped into this one~"

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]