Chapter 97: Divine Art of the Eternal Void [2]

Chapter 96

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Episode 21 - Divine Art of the Eternal Void [2]

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At the top of a hill, there was a small cliff in front of Charlotte.

Beyond where Charlotte stood, there were snow-covered mountains and pine trees as tall as ten-story buildings.

The trees of the Mountains of the End were taller than normal trees anywhere else in the world.

Not far from her, Luminus was sitting cross-legged, gazing at the scenery ahead.

Charlotte turned toward Luminus and said:

"Hey, so why did we come here?"

They had gone so far away from the cave that Charlotte was not sure how far they were anymore, but she guessed it was far enough that no one would hear them no matter how much noise they made.

Or perhaps Adel could still hear them.

Luminus stopped looking at the mountains and looked at Charlotte. Then she stood up and moved to Charlotte’s side.

"I don’t think we’ll stay together for much longer. Both of us have things we need to do."

Charlotte looked at Luminus with widened eyes; in truth, Charlotte was already aware of it.

Even if Charlotte could see Luminus again in Chapter Two, it would not be the same Luminus she had met in this Chapter One.

Luminus would not remember her; she would remember a different version of herself. Her first disciple would be remembered with a different appearance and a different name.

Meanwhile, Charlotte would have to approach Luminus again as if they were meeting for the first time.

’She’s my first master, and even though this world is fake and Luminus herself is fake...’

Without realizing it, Charlotte had grown attached to Luminus.

They might have only been together for the past week, but to Charlotte, it felt as though they had shared far more time together.

From time to time, Luminus spoke about parts of her past when she had been happy and cheerful.

But she never spoke about her tragic past.

And even so, the two women had become more than friends; they were master and disciple.

Luminus stared at Charlotte, as if sensing Charlotte’s emotions and thoughts.

She raised her hand and gently stroked Charlotte’s head with soft movements.

Charlotte did not move Luminus’s hand away; instead, Charlotte slightly lowered her head and looked down at the ground.

"Stop making that face. Even if we’ve only been together for a short time, we’ve known each other long enough. You’re like my friend, but also my disciple."

Then Luminus stopped looking at Charlotte and looked ahead.

"And most importantly, as my disciple, I know I won’t be able to teach and train you personally, so I’ll give you a demonstration to inspire you to keep training, and I’ll pass down my memories of how to train the other Forms of my Sword Arts."

Charlotte did not nod, but a small, quiet "Mhm" escaped her lips. Luminus smiled faintly.

Then Luminus stepped forward and held her sword in a light stance that somehow also felt empty.

Charlotte quickly moved her Will and channeled the void within her emotions. She was aware of what Luminus was about to do.

’She’s really... going to show the Eighth Form.’

Charlotte’s eyes were completely wide open, so much that the cold began irritating her dark blue eyes.

Her pale blue hair swayed slightly in the wind, never once looking away from Luminus.

The void covered only Luminus’s sword, forming a dense mass of dull gray mist, like ash, along the edge of the blade.

Then, Luminus murmured:

"Eighth Form: Eternal Void."

Luminus lowered her sword. To the naked eye, it looked like a slow movement, but Charlotte knew it was not.

The mass of pale gray mist spread outward.

A semi-sphere formed at the tip of the sword, and at the same time, mana created a kind of blinding radiance in front of Charlotte.

Then, in the very next second, the air, the wind, the snowstorm, the dark sky where there was only some kind of portal, and the mountains before her...

Everything split apart, creating a gigantic canyon that stretched for kilometers.

The mountains disappeared. The sky split in two. The portal in the sky rippled and trembled, but it did not split in half.

"....!"

Charlotte’s jaw nearly dropped.

The magnitude of the attack could perhaps split half a continent in two, or at least destroy an entire empire in a single strike.

The canyon stretched for kilometers, with a width of hundreds of meters. Even the snow falling from the sky had vanished, along with the storm clouds.

It was a clean scene; the land had literally been disintegrated.

"W-what the hell was that...!?"

Charlotte could not believe it. She had never seen anything like that with her own eyes, not even in her dreams.

Of course, novels described what attacks of such magnitude looked like, and manhwas did as well, but seeing it in real life was completely different.

If it were not for the portal covering the entire sky of the world, that attack probably would have split the heavens in half and cleared away the clouds, revealing a completely blue sky.

"Mhm, well, it’s not actually that impressive. This isn’t the full power of my Sword Art. Right now, I’m only a 9-Star. If I were a 10-Star..."

Luminus looked at the portal in the sky, and an expression of anticipation and excitement appeared on her face.

"... I could split that stupid dark portal apart and see the blue sky from the fairy tales my mother used to read to me when I was a child."

Charlotte looked up. To her, the sky was nothing special.

She had truly seen it every single day, both in her previous life and in this one.

But for Luminus and the other people of this era of the First Calamity, the blue sky was simply a fairy tale, an anecdote, a story in books, or the descriptions of elders over a hundred years old. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Luminus was like those children who wished to see the blue sky.

Only a transcendent 10-Star being could cut through the portal covering the entire sky of the world.

’She said it in the prologue too. I guess that, for the people of this era, seeing the blue sky is like a dream.’

Even if they could never see it in their lifetimes, the children of this era still dreamed of and imagined a blue sky.

They could not understand how any color other than black could exist in the everyday sky.

’At least the moonlight still passes through the portal.’

Only a faint silvery-white circle could be seen, slightly illuminating the nights.

"So seeing the blue sky is your dream too."

Charlotte asked, even though she already knew the answer. Even so, she still wanted to ask.

"Yes."

Luminus nodded with an expression full of anticipation and excitement.

"And I feel like I’m close to fulfilling my dream."

"...?"

Charlotte’s eyes widened in surprise.

Those words could only mean one thing.

’Advancing to 10 Stars.’

Reaching 10 Stars was not something achievable through talent alone.

Charlotte knew this from her father and also from the other heads of the Five Houses.

None of them, no matter how talented they had been in their lives, managed to reach 10 Stars.

Some said that a Transcendent Body was required; others spoke of a Divine Body or perhaps some kind of Ascension ritual.

There were records explaining how to advance to 10 Stars, but one text completely changed the perspective on it.

’Every advancement is different. Following the same steps as others will ensure you never reach 10 Stars.’

You had to seek your own path, your own way of ascending to transcendence.

Everything had to be discovered by yourself.

That was why the records stopped mattering, even if they explained how to ascend to 10 Stars.

"So that means... you’ve already found your path."

Luminus looked at Charlotte with slight surprise.

"You know something about advancing to 10 Stars."

Charlotte gave a small nod and explained:

"Well, only in theory."

Luminus understood Charlotte’s answer, so she responded to Charlotte’s earlier question.

"Yes, I’ve already found my path, and I feel myself getting closer and closer to 10 Stars."

"I... see. Then I hope you succeed, master."

Luminus smiled, then turned around and said to Charlotte:

"Anyway, enough talking. I already showed you the Eighth Form, so you should more or less understand how it works, right?"

Charlotte nodded.

"Yes, but unless I reach your current level, I would die if I tried to use it."

As the daughter of a ducal house, Charlotte had heard about mastering Sword Arts.

There was a reason why they were divided into different Forms.

And that reason was, in simple terms, to avoid exploding from an excess of power.

The final Form of every sword art represented the entirety of that art’s power.

It gathered all the other Forms into a single one.

"Besides, it gave me tremendous inspiration, master."

Luminus, still smiling, said:

"Good. Now I’ll show you the Second Form and all the others. After that, I’ll pass down the memories of the Divine Art of the Eternal Void to you: how to train each Form, among other things."

Charlotte’s joy increased tremendously. She finally had a Sword Art that, in her eyes, was even better than her family’s.

It was not arrogance; Charlotte understood the capabilities of both the Starlight House’s sword art and Luminus’s. Luminus’s was definitely more powerful.

’Do you see, dad? If I ever have a family in the future, I’ll pass down my sword art to all my children instead of only one, like you do.’

The idea that her father only passed down the family’s sword art to a single person, the heir, had always bothered Charlotte.

"Good, then let’s begin."

Charlotte came out of her thoughts and focused on Luminus once again.