806 A Northlands With Only Myself

Snowflakes kept falling down as snow swiftly accumulated on the ground. It was as if a naughty child was coloring the entire world white with a crayon.

I looked blankly at everything before me. My breath was visible in the air. All the mountains spreading out were covered in white.

The entire world had suddenly become like this the moment that I brought out my sword.

Endless snow stretched all the way out to the horizon. A frozen waterfall sat above a lake of ice. The distant snow mountains seemed like a background, yet they also seemed to be close by.

“Elisa… Harloys?”

A strange spatial sensation had affected my senses. I was the only one remaining in this quiet world.

It was so silent and cold. I was really unaccustomed to such a world with nothing in it.

I took one step forward. All I heard was crunching snow.

“Is anyone there!?”

The only response I received was the echoing of my shout within the snow mountains.

I tried to be on guard against this world, but found myself unable to concentrate on being defensive. My instincts told me that there was no danger here, that I was the only one here, and that this was a safe haven just for me.

“What type of evil curse is this?”

I couldn’t understand. What type of curse could have instantly trapped me in such a domain?

Was this a Soul World? No, I hadn’t sensed any magic.

A teleportation curse? Forcefully teleporting me would almost be impossible.

Was all of this real? That was even more impossible. I was just in the Fire Elemental Plane which had endless flames, and I was facing the current Fire Elemental Goddess. It would be impossible for such a domain of ice to appear.

Such a land of ice and snow wouldn’t be suitable for fire elemental creatures at all. It would be far more suitable for an ice mage like myself…

“Eh?”

Only now did I discover that I was holding a translucent ice sword rather than my familiar Dawn Holy Light sword.

This crystal-like longsword had a blade which was more than 2.5 meters long, which far surpassed common sense. Its streamlined body had no decorations on it at all. Its natural curves seemed abnormally beautiful.

This sword naturally existed without any decorations. Its translucent blade seemed as thin as an insect’s wings, making me wonder if it would shatter with the lightest touch. It seemed more like a piece of artwork than a weapon.

However, the chill emanating from it reminded me that this Northlands ice magic sword was definitely a vicious weapon.

Northlands had no hilt. Its entire body was a blade. Without me realizing it, my right hand holding it was now covered in blood. However, the blood transformed into red snowfall before it could even drip onto the ground.

Blood flowed on the blade as an icy chill swirled around it and mysteriously attracted my attention.

“This is a vicious sword.”

I mysteriously started feeling this. I instinctively knew that this sword desired to take lives, no matter if those lives came from the enemy or the wielder. This sword’s purpose for existing was to take lives.

I inserted the sword into the ground and helplessly sat down on the snow. I then confusedly lay down as I gazed at the endless snow and white clouds in the sky.

I finally figured it out after seeing this sword. No strange curse had taken me here at all. It was clearly I myself who brought me here.

The reason?

“Ha, so I was nothing more than a coward after all, even though I resolved myself already…”

Would a person truly be able to lie to themselves? I always felt that it was possible as one would believe even lies to be the truth after saying it enough times. However, it seemed that I had lost control this time.

Perhaps even my Northlands sword was more honest than I was. It chose a method for me that I couldn’t accept—to run away.

I had originally thought that my Northlands ice magic sword would require some more time to complete, since I was still unable to draw the truest Northlands in my heart. However, it seemed that what I lacked before were just some emotions.

Despair? Pain? Confusion? Resolution? I was uncertain which emotion had completed this sword for me, since the Northlands wouldn’t lack any of these emotions. However, I knew that I absolutely wasn’t thankful.

Escaping from reality was meaningless. Stalling the pain’s arrival would only make waiting for the pain to arrive become a type of torture. What was destined to happen would still happen.

My power level foundationally increased due to the completion of this sword. Northlands’ power was also far stronger than what I had expected. Yet, I wasn’t happy about this at all.

Why had it made this decision for me right when it was born? Had it detected the anxiety in my heart? Had its abilities gone out of control right after its completion? Fine, knowing the reason wasn’t all that meaningful…

“It’s alright now. Let me go outside.”

I never thought that I would one day be talking to my own sword. However, what made me feel the most helpless was that my words were useless.

“I said, it’s fine now. I’ve already resolved myself. Let me go outside.”

I suppressed a mysterious anger. Was I angry at my sword or at myself for how pathetic I was?

Time kept passing by, yet this boring scenery didn’t change at all. My frustration changed into a burning anger in my chest.

“Don’t interfere in my business! You’re just a mere sword! You’re nothing more than a part of me! You can’t make decisions for me! Let me go outside! Your current actions are meaningless.”

Even though I knew that words were useless, a mysterious frustration in me transformed into angry roars that echoed in the snow mountains until everything quietened again.

I was doing something meaningless in this snow and ice world where only I was present. Finally, my flames of frustration died out as every minute ticked closer to the end of the world.

Time was being wasted as the end of the world neared. Confusion and fear mixed together in my mind. I had wasted four or five hours here already. My previous angry shouts changed into murmured begging.

“…I’m begging you, let me go out…”

The next instant, the entire world vanished as I saw my familiar home again rather than those snow mountains.

Had my Northlands sword reached its limit? Or was everything too late already?

However, something about the scene before me seemed unusual. My maid was swinging a hammer around… er, I meant swinging my cat around by its tail. Judging by how energetic Harloys’ shouts were, it seemed like I hadn’t left for all that long!?

“Roland, save me! How come you disappeared for a moment just now? Where did you go?”

“How long did I vanish for?”

“Two or three minutes. Stop wasting time and hurry to save me! Eh? There’s tears of ice on your face. Could it be that…”

“That’s just a mistaken impression! Do you want me to save you or not!”

I swiftly wiped my face. I didn’t even know what to say now. It seemed that Northlands’ power was far stronger than what I had expected. I was even rather afraid. I also felt regret, but finally I felt relief. At the very least, I hadn’t made a decision that couldn’t be taken back.

Staying by myself in that world of snow and ice for several hours had helped me to finally calm down after my emotions had undergone so much turmoil there.

A future with only one possible path? Never. I had always believed that there was no such thing as only a despairing end for the world. Even when in despair, there was still endless hope. It was just that we had yet to grit our teeth hard enough to wait for an opportunity to come, and that we had yet to find the only possible hope.

“A world of despair? A situation of despair? I’ve experienced far more despairing times than this. Crying isn’t suitable for me at all when facing the world’s end. As long as there’s still a sliver of hope… No, even if it’s an absolute situation of despair, I’ll still create a path of hope!”

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