Episode 678
Chapter 173: Chasing the Sword (3)
The sword had been flying nonstop for four full days. Four days of relentless flight, sweeping across the entire continent and seas without pause.
Its speed was so incredible that the group could only keep up for the first ten minutes or so. After that, they had to rely entirely on allied and allied air defense networks and eyewitness reports.
“Damn it, where the hell is it headed?”
Quikantel’s voice was thick with frustration.
No one had expected such an emergency. For four days straight, she hadn’t even closed her eyes, flying across the world in pursuit.
Of course, for a dragon, flying for four days straight wasn’t a big deal, but maintaining full speed almost every moment was exhausting.
Who would have thought the day would come when they’d be chasing a sword?
“My sword… can I even find my sword…?”
Like all warriors, Hedo cherished his longsword deeply. No blacksmith in the current era could craft anything like it, and it was a trophy earned after a fierce battle with a monster from the Black Sea in his youth—making it all the more precious.
So to see that sword tearing through the skies for four days straight was enough to make Hedo’s stomach churn.
His pale complexion, oddly at odds with his muscular frame, showed his fatigue. Sandra kept offering half-hearted, bored attempts at comfort.
“It’s a shame the sword ran off, but hey, look on the bright side—we’ve been on a four-day aerial date together, Hedo. Think of it as a memory you’ll never forget!”
Those riding on Quikantel’s back admired how Hedo never once harmed Sandra, despite her teasing.
“We’re starting to get a sense of the destination, Lady Quikantel. Just a little more patience, please. And Tower Keeper, please endure a bit longer. I can only apologize.”
Until then, Hedo’s sword had been running wild like a mad dog, darting north, then south, then east, then west—driving everyone chasing it insane.
It felt as if the sword was deliberately toying with them.
Naturally, during those two days, not only Hedo’s own retainers but also Ziphl, Kinzello, and others—
“Ugh… what is that?”
“Looks like a dark meteor falling!”
“Oh no, isn’t that a remnant of chaos? We need to run!”
—fishermen scattered across the seas were all talking.
“Could that really be a remnant of chaos!?”
“Quikantel the Silver Dragon is chasing it!”
“Look, the 12 Riders and the Barmel Alliance are here too! Are they trying to suppress the chaos?”
“Jin Runkandel!”
“To Regent His Highness and Jin Runkandel, a toast!”
Even the people of various cities living peaceful lives under the protection of the Barmel Alliance, Dante, and other powerful factions had come to know.
In other words, after four days, more people knew about this incident than those who didn’t. Secretly entering the sixth tomb of Temar had become impossible.
“Sorry? Do you think an apology will bring the veil back to me?”
“I promise to take responsibility and compensate for the damage somehow.”
“It’s already irreversible…! Our family’s ships and you, miss, have already been exposed!”
Indeed, during the pursuit of the sword, the group had encountered several pursuit squads from other factions. The chaos dragon of Runkandel, the black ships, Kinzello and Ziphl’s vessels—all had seen Sandra and Hedo.
“Sir Hedo…!?”
“Isn’t that Miss Sandra beside him? Why are the two of you on leave with the 12 Riders…?”
“Come to think of it, that flying object looks a lot like Sir Hedo’s sword.”
Hedo’s muscular build was so distinctive that anyone who had seen him once could recognize him from afar. Denying it was pointless, though they tried.
So Hedo already dreaded the explanations he’d have to give when they returned.
Currently, the Barmel Alliance and Ziphl were in a temporary alliance, and Hedo was treated with special status within his family.
The problem was that he hadn’t reported any of this in advance.
“Why is that a problem? It’s obvious that the moment Hedo goes out with me, I’m going on a date with Jin.”
“It’s a problem because you didn’t report that you were helping the 12 Riders examine the sword, miss…”
“Tower Keeper, why didn’t you report it?”
“Because I didn’t want to get tired.”
Hedo hadn’t informed his family about the crucial role the veil played when they entered the fifth tomb last time.
Though the ancestors had already been checked, if Ziphl suspected any connection between him and old Runkandel, it would have meant annoying procedures.
Besides, he was also hiding the fact that he escaped the snowfield earlier than other Ziphl members thanks to Jin, so it was an uncomfortable situation for Hedo.
“I just didn’t expect things to get this tangled.”
Though he’d been snapping at Jin, Hedo knew deep down this was his own fault.
“Have I become too complacent, spoiled by the consideration of the family head and leaders?”
He wasn’t too worried about being reprimanded later.
The real problem was Sandra.
“Is it because you want to protect Sandra Ziphl?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t understand. Does your idea of protection include allowing certain experiments on Sandra?”
Before the sword went berserk, he had this conversation with Jin.
As he said, Sandra had avoided “very dangerous” experiments only because of Hedo’s presence.
Ziphl knew exactly what Hedo wanted. It wasn’t greater power, or stronger opponents, or rising to a position above all others.
It was only Sandra’s survival.
That’s why Ziphl often turned a blind eye when Hedo broke the rules. Even when suspicious incidents involving him occurred, they didn’t investigate seriously.
In the end, everything Hedo did always benefited Sandra—and thus Ziphl as well.
But this time was different.
If Jin became stronger again because of Hedo’s sword, or if the historical manipulations tied to old Runkandel were disturbed, Hedo would have no grounds to protest even if Ziphl threatened Sandra.
“If a full investigation starts, my killing of the phantoms in the Sota Desert and letting the 12 Riders go after pretending to be Ainas could be exposed…”
Hedo hoped this wouldn’t happen and that the matter would be resolved cleanly.
But his wish was not to be.
“Huff, huff. The sword… it’s stopped!”
Quikantel gasped, breathing heavily.
In the middle of the sea—called the Sword Sea by Hupester and the Magic Sea by the Lutero Magic Federation.
“Lady Quikantel, we passed through here on the first day of flight, but now this sea is the destination?”
“Maybe it’s just a brief stop… but it doesn’t look like it.”
As Jin answered, the sword stopped for the first time since it began moving.
The blade slowly rotated like the hands of a clock, then pointed directly at the sea.
As if to pierce it.
Fshhh, shhhhhh—!
With a tremendous roar of air tearing and bursting, the sword struck the middle of the sea.
Then something incredible happened.
Kuuuuuuuu…!
Literally, the sea flipped upside down.
Like a giant had bundled several mountains and hurled them like stones, an enormous wave spread out, and the towering seawater nearly touched the clouds.
Quikantel and her companions raised their shields to push back the seawater. The weight of the impact was as heavy as a sincere attack from a superhuman, transmitted through the water.
Perhaps the whole world shook for a moment. And the power the sword unleashed was the spiritual energy it had absorbed from Jin four days ago.
Such a commotion would normally take a long time to settle.
The sea would continue to churn, pushing tsunamis toward the shore, and until the disaster ended, there was nothing people could do.
But what the sword caused wasn’t a disaster—it was a divine revelation.
The spiritual energy pouring from the sword moved on its own, touching the bare ocean floor revealed beneath.
Like carefully brushing off dust from a precious, forgotten object, the energy seeped into the seabed.
“My lord, the energy is pulling something like a building up from the ocean floor!”
Valkas’s eyes widened.
Everyone else saw the same scene. Like a legend often told in various regions, a hidden civilization beneath the sea was being revealed.
Even Hedo, who had been gripped by worry until moments ago, was momentarily stunned, staring at the sight.
All who watched were filled with awe.
When Olmango had once parted the sea to retrieve a giant shell, it was shocking—but compared to what lay before them now, that seemed trivial.
“Wow… darling, is that your ancestor’s sixth tomb?”
Jin was about to answer but exchanged a glance with Valeria.
“Isn’t it the pocket dimension inside the sword?”
A small blue window of record magic opened before Valeria.
<Jin Runkandel finally opens the … pocket dimension contained within the sword.>
The record window displayed those words.
“…Right, the pocket dimension inside the sword has opened. We didn’t enter the sword through a dimensional gate; it seems the pocket dimension embedded in the sword is emerging outward.”
So the sword had been flying all this time to find a place where it could release that space.
“But this doesn’t seem to be Solderet’s pocket dimension. If it were his, the name would be clearly stated.”
Valeria sighed softly, puzzled. The more important issue was right in front of them.
“We’ve found it!”
[The aircraft has stopped! Cease the attack and first confirm the status of that thing and the traitors!]
This was the command from the pursuers who had emerged from Zipple and the Garden of Swords.
They had been chasing the Sword just like the Balmel Alliance until moments ago, but their paths had crossed, leading to a skirmish.
“Anti-air unit, we’ve located them. The commander is in critical condition, so do not use force!”
Kinzel’s group was in the same situation.
Once again, three massive factions had converged in the middle of the sea.
Jin and his group couldn’t hear those voices due to the distance, but they were aware that these forces were nearby.
Jin’s gaze remained fixed on the sea, where the spirit-infused water poured down like waterfalls from all directions.
Even far off, where the fleets and dragons of each faction floated, the spiritual energy had already spread.
Anywhere the spiritual energy reached became the Sword’s pocket dimension.
In other words, everyone chasing the Sword had already stepped into this pocket dimension… making a battle inside the tomb unavoidable.