Genius Swordsman of the Mage Empire

“What is going on!”

In the dead of night.

The man's bewildered voice, as he flung open the heavy door, shattered the silence of the conference room.

A 4th-circle mage, an object of distant admiration for most mages of the Magic Empire.

Such a man making a fuss in the middle of the night with a pale, panic-stricken face was a rare sight even for the mages of his own house.

But the situation was what it was.

He shouted with a face as white as a sheet.

“You’re telling me the artifact I was researching has been stolen!”

Although it was well past midnight, two mages were already gathered inside the conference room.

They were all familiar faces to each other. However, under normal circumstances, they were people who wouldn't have any interaction in this vast fortress.

That meant the matter at hand was so critical that it had brought them together in one place.

“What happened, Lord Grantel? Could it be that there are those who are trying to leak secrets outside the House…!”

“Calm yourself, Toas Tabileil. The theft was unsuccessful. The culprit is currently apprehended.”

Grantel Skyll, the head of the executive office and acting head of the House in the current absence of the Lord.

He calmed Toas with his usual composed manner.

“Th-That’s a relief. A real relief.”

However, at his words, the female mage standing next to him sighed and opened her mouth.

“That’s right. But the problem is, the culprit is….”

Under the Elsyde House.

The Nemesis Magic Knight Order.

The youngest Deputy Commander there, Teano.

She pointed to a photo laid out on the conference table with her white fingertips.

In the photo taken by a surveillance artifact, a boy with jet-black hair was recorded.

Seeing it, Toas muttered with a blank expression.

“Deputy Commander Teano. You’re not saying the culprit who attempted the theft is, by any chance, Young Master Enoch…?”

“Lower your voice. There might be ears listening somewhere.”

At Grantel's calm gaze, which cut off his words, Toas took a deep breath and asked again.

“Then, are we the only ones who know about this theft…?”

“As of now, yes.”

Grantel nodded.

“At the time the incident occurred, Sir Teano, who was on patrol, arrested the Young Master at the scene and reported it to me. Therefore, we three are the only ones involved in this matter.”

Toas sighed briefly at Grantel's words.

“I see. Well, I understand why the Young Master would suddenly do this, but….”

“What do you mean?”

“The artifact that the Young Master tried to get his hands on is an excavation from ancient ruins, presumed to have the power to forcibly awaken magic.”

Toas shook his head, adding.

“Of course, it was still in the research stage because it might be under a dangerous curse, and we didn’t know what kind of side effects it might have on the user….”

Nevertheless, everyone here could easily guess. What Enoch, who had not yet awakened his magic, was thinking when he stole it.

Teano muttered with a displeased expression.

“As the saying goes in the frozen lands, a cornered mouse will bite the cat….”

Toas carefully raised his head.

“In any case. Where is the Young Master now?”

“He’s been taken to the Underground Prison for investigation and detention.”

At Teano's short answer, Toas made a troubled face.

“Oh dear, the Underground Prison. He is a direct descendant, after all. What if there are problems later….”

But at that moment, Grantel firmly cut him off.

“It’s alright. It was an order from me.”

“Pardon?”

“With the Lord absent, we had no choice but to keep him there temporarily to prevent the scandal from spreading. It has been closed for a long time, with no one going in or out. And….”

Grantel lowered his head with a heavy expression.

“Isn’t it an honor to have his name erased from the Elsyde House soon anyway?”

At his words, the two mages also nodded silently.

The acting head of the House, Grantel’s intention was clear.

The attempted theft by a direct descendant of the House would be buried as if nothing had happened. To prevent unnecessary noise.

Grantel sighed heavily.

“The life of the main House depends solely on reputation. We must always keep that in mind.”

“…….”

Of course, no one raised any objections.

They couldn’t allow a groundless rumor to tarnish the prestige of the main House they belonged to.

In the Empire, ‘reputation’ was very important.

The main Houses were especially so.

─The pillars that support the Empire, the main Houses.

The twelve powerful main Houses, each representing a field of magic, literally serve as the pillars that make up all of the Atlas Empire's society and support the Empire.

And beneath them were countless prestigious magical families, each making a name for themselves in the same fields.

In other words, if it was the ‘main House’ Elsyde, the ultimate center for gathering mages in each field of the Empire?

They had to be even more sensitive to reputation.

Therefore, even the possibility of their status being diminished by rumors had to be thoroughly eliminated.

As it always had been.

“You may all return now. I apologize for the disturbance late at night.”

At Grantel's words, the other two mages silently looked at each other and nodded.

Enoch Elsyde would be quietly released just before dawn.

Because nothing had happened tonight.

***

Enoch rose from the cold stone floor of the chamber.

The Underground Prison where Enoch was confined in the original story.

The dark space was unfolding before my eyes, just as expected.

If I didn't know the location properly, I could just induce them to imprison me here directly.

‘Besides, this way, I won’t be suspected.’

Given Enoch's current situation, where he was about to be disowned, it wouldn't be strange to see him struggling vehemently ‘to manifest magic’.

I chuckled inwardly.

‘A direct descendant of the House being imprisoned after theft, huh.’

Even so, I thought the situation was getting out of hand…….

But it couldn't be helped. There was no other way.

‘Anyway, so far, it’s going according to plan.’

If I had stolen a mediocre magical tool, I wouldn't have been imprisoned; I would have simply been confined to my room.

But the item I laid my hands on this time was an ancient relic that was being specially researched within the House.

I judged that wouldn't end with a simple confinement.

‘But this will only be temporary. There’s no other choice for them but to release Enoch.’

Eventually, the House would detain Enoch for a while and then release him.

Along with a suggestion to act as if nothing had happened.

‘Since they’re a main House that lives off reputation, no one will want this to be known publicly.’

As evidence, Enoch was not wearing any restraints.

The way the main House handled things, which I had seen countless times in the original story, was that predictable.

‘So, before morning, I have to find clues about what Enoch did here.’

I turned my head and looked at the other side of the Underground Prison.

I had cleared several times. But in fact, this place, the Underground Prison, was not a map that the user could enter in the original story.

So…….

In the end, to know what’s here, I had no choice but to explore it myself.

‘I don’t have time to spare.’

I picked up one of the torches stuck in the prison entrance and immediately moved.

As expected, I would have to return from here around dawn. I had to finish everything before then.

Step, step.

I slowly moved forward into the darkness, relying on the light of the torch.

Each time I took a step, white dust accumulated over the years rose up and swirled around me.

Even though it was an Underground Prison, it seemed like a place that hadn't been used in recent years.

Well, that’s right.

‘Since this is such a remote place that Enoch was confined here until the age of 13, hidden from the eyes of others in the past.’

Since it was practically a closed facility, it was unlikely that anyone else had entered.

Looking around with eyes accustomed to the darkness, the dark and cold empty scenery of the Underground Prison came into view.

‘To think Enoch was trapped in a place like this until he was 13.’

If this were modern times, it would be an absurd case of child abuse.

I walked further inside.

But contrary to my expectations, even when I reached the end of the prison, there was nothing particularly unusual.

‘There’s no way there’s nothing here?’

In the setting, this was where the original Enoch awakened his powers in the past. Something must be here.

…Wait.

Suddenly, he stopped, noticing something.

A vertical crack in one side of the wall, hidden in the darkness of the room.

It just looked like an ordinary gap at first glance, but I already knew its identity because I had seen similar structures several times through the game.

「Hidden Underground Chamber」

One of the old architectural styles of the Empire, a structure that often appeared in ancient-themed underground maps such as dungeons in the original game.

A kind of hidden stage concept where you could proceed with side stories that didn't exist even in the strategy guides, or obtain rewards that were usually hard to get.

Of course, as a seasoned player, I knew how to open this place.

Above the entrance to the secret chamber, a geometric pattern in the shape of a flame was engraved.

A secret chamber with a fire-type magical security device.

One of the simplest locks to solve.

“This is just perfect.”

I raised the torch I was holding and brought the flame to the pattern on the wall.

Then, in an instant, red mana flowed along the wall like a complex circuit, making a small noise.

Whoosh─

Originally, the proper way was to open it with fire-type magic, but was a fairly open-ended game.

Perhaps it was out of consideration for players who had not acquired the relevant magic for some reason? In the game, you could often use tricks using surrounding objects in this way.

Creak, creak.

Soon, with a heavy noise, one side of the prison wall slowly opened.

Whirr─

At that moment, a gust of wind blew from inside the wall, extinguishing the flame of the torch I was holding.

Seeing what was in front of me, I doubted my own eyes.

“This is…….”

It was as if I had come to a completely different world from the prison I had been in just a moment ago.

Beyond the wall, a vast empty space stretched out.

The high walls of the underground had cracks all over them from the passage of time.

Moonlight that had seeped in through the cracks quietly shattered, casting a white light over the entire room.

And taking on that pale color, a cold metallic light cast a long shadow on the floor─

─A single sword.

It alone was quietly standing, stuck in a rock.

The moonlight reflected on the sharp blade of the sword cast a path of pale light leading to me.

As if possessed, I walked straight along that path towards the sword.

In the underground where the silence of the night resided, each step I took on the surface of moonlight towards the sword.

Each time I took a step, a white afterimage resembling a ripple echoed there.

As I approached the sword, the shaded back of the room, which the moonlight had not yet reached, came into view.

Enoch's black eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at it.

‘A statue?’

Beyond the sword, a statue in the shape of a person was standing.

Carved in the shape of someone wearing a flowing robe, the face was not visible. But it was clear that its gaze was strictly watching Enoch, who had entered this place.

Click.

Having reached the sword, Enoch reached out as if possessed and grabbed the hilt.

When he put strength into his arm and pulled, the blade came out of the rock surprisingly smoothly.

Whoosh-

A faint tremor of metal that had come out of the rock flowed through my fingertips.

It was definitely a sword I had never held before.

But the feeling and weight in my hand were somehow familiar.

To the point where it was as if I had been holding a sword for a long time.

And at that moment.

A pale sentence silently appeared before my eyes.

? ‘Enoch Elsyde’ Unique Trait Activated:

A sentence that came too suddenly.

Slightly flustered, I took half a step back, and then semi-transparent letters were arranged in the air before my eyes.

?Trait

Successor of the Sword

?Grade

Unique

?Effect

Using the sword as a medium, you can absorb the experiences of the user who used that sword.

Enoch’s eyes widened for a moment.

A system message written in a familiar font.

There was no mistake. It was the same interface used to display the characteristics of characters in the game. It was exactly the same.

“……Trait?”

And at the same time, Enoch frowned as if he had discovered an unexpected fact.

[Trait] was an important element that served as an indicator of the character's talent, skills, and overall performance in the game.

Enoch, who was just a simple expendable supporting character.

The fact that he, like any other character, had a ‘trait’ was completely unexpected.

‘Since he wasn’t originally a playable character, it’s natural I wouldn’t know….’

What’s more, it was a ‘unique’ grade, which only a few characters in the original story had.

‘Maybe all the other characters in the original story each had their own unique traits and skills, but the player just didn’t recognize them?’

A new sense of amazement ran down my spine.

All I had was a brief record from the setting book, but there was something like this.

“But the Successor of the Sword in , isn’t this a setting collapse….”

No. Even putting that aside, what on earth did the words written in the effect section mean?

Enoch looked at the sword he had drawn.

“…….”

In the cold blade, his deeply sunken black eyes reflected the moonlight.

‘Using the sword as a medium, you can absorb the experiences of the user who used that sword, huh….’

Whoosh!

And at that moment.

Suddenly, the moonlight that had been shining around Enoch disappeared as if it had been consumed by something. The scenery of the basement was covered in pitch-black darkness.

Soon, the surroundings were completely submerged in darkness.

‘What, what is this?’

Enoch hurriedly looked down.

I was standing on the floor, but on something transparent that I couldn't call a floor.

My sense of direction had disappeared.

A world made up only of flickering shadows.

The only thing that existed there was Enoch himself, standing with a sword.

Swish.

And suddenly, something shimmering appeared about ten steps away in front of me.

Just now. A man wearing the same clothes as the carved statue.

With the hood of his robe pulled down low, he was quietly looking this way.

Above the head of that unidentified figure, a familiar font of letters floated like a ghost.

? 「The Empire’s Last Sword Saint」

At that moment, Enoch’s eyes widened.

The interface that appeared above the heads of characters in the game.

‘It’s exactly the same way the names of the characters were displayed in the original game.’

But I had no idea who that was.

‘There wasn’t such a person in the original story?’

Besides, a ‘Sword Saint’.

No one in had such a strange title.

It wasn’t even the proper form of a person.

It was just a form of crimson shadows mixed and swaying into someone’s silhouette.

Rather than a living person, it was closer to the form of a three-dimensional shadow.

But despite the vague shape, there was one thing that was certain.

In his hand, he held a sword that was exactly the same as the one Enoch had just drawn.

And the next moment, the shadow slowly stretched out its arm. The tip of his sword was pointed at Enoch.

Clang─

The sharp sword light shone fiercely for a moment.

‘……!’

Instantly, a chilling sense of crisis swept through my whole body. The instinctual warning to avoid it rang in my mind.

But almost at the same time.

The shadow swung its sword like a ray of light.

Swish!

In an instant, Enoch’s vision shook violently.

For a moment, time seemed to stop, and everything seemed to be in slow motion.

‘What happened?’

The world was spinning.

No, that’s not it.

What was spinning was his head, which had been cut off from his body.

A belated realization came to him.

Ah, I’ve been beheaded.

‘No….’

Am I dying like this?

Thud.

A view of the ground, smashed into the floor.

The cold spreading across my cheek.

Soon, all senses fade away.

The surrounding vision slowly dimmed.

This was Enoch’s, my first death.