Chapter 62: I Became a Swordsman in the Middle Ages

How to Kill the Demon King

Ultimate Technique.

A secret art usable only by those who’ve transcended the limits of humanity.

But in gaming terms, it was just an “ultimate skill.”

In most games, you’d just tap the R key and boom—done.

But in Another World, a VR game, it wasn’t so quick.

To use your ultimate, you needed image realization. No, beyond that—conceptual realization.

It sounded complicated, but really, it was pretty simple if you think hard enough.

What’s the most powerful phenomenon your imagination can manifest?

If you could answer that question, people usually called it “attaining enlightenment.”

Some grasped it quickly.

Others needed to endure bone-breaking effort just to glimpse it.

That's why this stage in Another World was called the Wall of Lamentation.

From here on out, the real and the fake got separated.

The corpses of newbies who couldn’t overcome it piled up like mountains.

It’s a shame, really.

Once you get past beyond that wall, it becomes really fun.

“It’s stable, right?”

Cecilia asked as she looked toward Ferna, who was completing the final check.

“Yes! Just like you asked, I’ve turned this entire area into a dungeon space. Whatever happens in here, no one outside will know! Hehe~”

Ferna’s expression was cheerful and carefree.

Cecilia had summoned her all the way here just in case.

‘My Secret Art burns through so much mana, there’s a good chance it’ll be detected.’

The death of the Demon King alone would send out a massive wave of magic.

But what mattered was keeping the origin of that wave—from the Rocky Mountains—a secret.

To mislead any detection, Cecilia deliberately asked Ferna to convert the area into a dungeon.

Inside a dungeon, no matter what chaos ensued, it wouldn’t be detected from the outside world.

“It’s all set. You can head down now.”

“Really…? Are you sure?”

“Might wanna hurry.”

Cecilia gave her a warm smile.

“If you don’t, you’ll die.”

Pale-faced, Ferna bolted without another word.

Only after Ferna’s presence had completely vanished did Cecilia turn to face the precipice, standing on a narrow rock ledge.

She reached into the air.

The air shimmered—space itself warped—until an old sword slowly materialized.

“He gave it to me, so I might as well use it.”

It was a sword Cain had given her.

Cecilia’s Secret Art had such force that even most legendary swords would shatter upon use.

“Hmm. Good grip.”

She held the sword lightly and looked out toward where the Demon King’s castle would be.

— You can’t kill him, but you can attack him, right?

— Yes.

— Then can you suspend the demon king in the sky for me?

It was something Cain and Cecilia had planned in advance.

From this altitude, she couldn’t see the Demon King’s castle.

But if Cain managed to force the Demon King into the sky, she’d have a clear shot.

All Cecilia had to do was wait until then.

“I want to finish this quickly and return to the capital.”

Cecilia giggled to herself, thoughts drifting to soft, squishy sweet desserts.

Oh right, she’d lost Kairon’s champagne collection in a bet.

That meant she'd have to throw a big party for it.

Still, they were in a ceasefire period. Kairon wouldn’t be too mad.

While she was daydreaming in bliss, a disturbance appeared in her vision.

Kuuugugung—!

With a massive roar—

Chrararak!

A ripple like a liquid pool tore open in the sky, and from it, a golden chain spear came hurtling down.

“Oooh… As expected of the next Demon King candidate.”

The chain spear—no doubt Cain’s Authority—dragged a massive Balrog-like demon high into the air.

“That must be the Demon King.”

She could barely make out the silhouette from this very long distance, but she was certain.

The Demon King thrashed violently, but the golden spear pinned him firmly in place.

“My turn, then.”

Cecilia smiled brightly and released the final seal on her mana.

The condition: complete depletion of mana—was now in motion.

“True Name Release. Sword God Cecilia.”

The air around her suddenly turned heavy—thick, crushing.

Cecilia remained still, with a quiet smile on her face.

For just a moment, it was as though the world had forgotten sound—

As though time itself had stopped.

KWHAAAAAAA—!

A colossal vortex of wind erupted into the sky, swallowing everything in its path.

Razor-sharp gales tore into the earth like blades, and even the tiniest particles in the air were caught up in the ruthless storm.

The unleashed wind-element mana began twisting reality itself.

The air trembled. The eerie, sizzling scream of the burning atmosphere sounded almost like the sky itself was in fear.

And that, was why Cecilia couldn’t casually use her Secret Art.

Because it would swallow everything nearby.

‘Why did I have to get stuck with such a pain of an ultimate…’

Cecilia sighed deeply and recalled the day she first unlocked it.

Back in the days of Another World.

Ironically, even though she was ranked 1st at the time, she’d unlocked her Ultimate far later than most.

She’d attained the “qualification” long after the enlightenment hit.

And maybe because it had been such a struggle, that Ultimate she obtained had followed her even after she got isekai’d into the sequel work.

‘A bit nostalgic, really.’

Back then, when she was still playing Another World—

When she never imagined she’d end up in a place like this—

Cecilia used to love watching the scenery.

Another World wasn’t just about grinding levels. With its high degree of freedom, it was far from your average RPG.

After finishing a hunt, Cecilia would always find a high place to sit and just stare at the sky in a daze.

Another World may have been a trash game in many ways,

But there was one thing players always praised:

‘The sky of the past’—a sky that no longer existed in reality.

Another World, which implemented the sky of the era when there was no fine dust or environmental pollution, showed crystal clear constellations.

In 2090, where she lived, the only thing visible in the sky was Starlink.

So getting to see the night sky adorned with countless stars again?

It felt like a sacred blessing.

What she loved most… wasn’t the stars and constellation, though.

It was the moon.

Maybe it was the clarity of the sky, but it always felt like she could see the moon’s very wrinkles.

And so—Cecilia would always reach toward the sky, hand outstretched to the moon, and wonder:

‘Wouldn’t it be amazing… if I could shatter that moon?’

(TL: What the… Give me back my emotional imaginary tears!)

She wonder… did they actually program a graphic for the moon shattering?

Since this game had a notoriously high degree of freedom.

Cecilia was genuinely curious. And honestly, she wanted to try it.

From that moment on, she continued her training with a single goal in mind:

‘I’m going to break this game’s graphics.’

“Ah, it’s ready.”

Cecilia sensed her mana was nearly depleted.

She raised her sword skyward.

Now, she summoned the image she’d envisioned—the one meant to shatter graphics.

An overwhelming mass of energy, released up to her absolute limit—

She compressed all of it into a single point.

KHUAAAAAH—!

The storm that had ripped through the atmosphere now collapsed inward, swirling toward the tip of her sword.

Like a black hole, the sword absorbed every trace of wind from the air.

Countless wyverns that had been flying overhead dropped like flies to the ground.

Not only was the air unbreathable, but there was no longer any atmospheric resistance at all.

———!

The chaos that had ravaged the surrounding landscape abruptly ceased.

All that energy, all that mass, had condensed into the tip of Cecilia’s sword.

And because there was no longer a medium to transmit sound…

Not a single noise could be heard from here on out.

——!

‘Is this the limit?’

Cecilia’s silver eyes flicked to the side.

The space around her, unable to withstand the immense gravity, had begun to crack.

Just as expected of a ‘sword designed to shatter graphics’—

It was now tearing through the very fabric of this world.

—!

Fragments of space, like shattered glass, began falling.

Cecilia flinched slightly.

…Hopefully the Goddess will take care of the rest?

She suddenly remembered the first time she ever used her Ultimate.

Long story short, Cecilia’s attempt to “make the devs cry” had been a success.

— Player…! Please, we beg you! Please change your Ultimate to something else!

That’s because the GM had actually appeared in tears and snots.

…It was a little awkward, but she remembered they’d let her off with a “Thank You GM’s Hairpin”.

So, she had no choice but to come up with a more acceptable variation of her original, world-breaking concept.

With that in mind, Cecilia extended her sword forward.

That’s how she arrived at the name:

“Heaven Breaking Powerless Sword (破天無力劍)—”

Without a sound, her slash tore through the sky itself.

***

Meanwhile, the Windsor Knights had landed in Niflheim and were carrying out their mission just as Cecilia had instructed.

“So there was a reason she told us to gather information focusing on demonfolks.”

“They’re surprisingly unguarded.”

“Everything’s going unbelievably smoothly.”

The city of the demonfolk—once a place of mystery and terror to humankind—

…turned out to be not so different from a human settlement.

They simply held a more extreme reverence for power.

The civilian demonkin were just regular townsfolk.

Still, the main reason they were able to gather intel so smoothly was the chaos caused by the wave of monsters that Cecilia had yeeted from the Rocky Mountains into Niflheim via hurricane.

Whether the demons really couldn’t control those monsters—

They were barely holding it together, scrambling to manage the situation.

“This is unexpected intelligence.”

“We need to get this back to the capital as soon as possible.”

The intelligence they gathered turned out to be vastly different from what they had been led to believe.

— It was true that an invasion was underway, but the Demon King is not dead.

— This wasn’t a chaotic skirmish to distract from internal unrest. This was a meticulously prepared war.

— Within a week at most, possibly within three days at the shortest, an unprecedented Demon King’s army would march.

“Damn it. Who the hell started the rumor that the Demon King was dead?”

“We were on the verge of making a fatal mistake. This was not the time to be on an expedition.”

The Lianen Kingdom was not yet ready for an 'all-out war.'

Their strategy had been simple: exploit the disarray within the demon realm and inflict as much damage as possible before retreating.

But now, that plan could easily backfire into annihilation if the Demon King’s forces launched a counterattack.

This wasn’t a time to push the front line.

It was a time to pull back and defend.

“We’re withdrawing. Signal Cecilia immediately.”

“Yes, sir!”

But then—

“…W-What is that?”

KWA-AAAAAAAH—!!

The sky split in two.

Clouds were cleaved apart, and the blue expanse above was torn open like a gaping sword wound.

The atmosphere itself twisted along the rift, and from within that ruptured sky, darkness and light swirled like a writhing dimensional storm.

As if a forbidden realm, untouched even by the gods themselves, had suddenly been born.

“…Something’s happening.”

The Windsor Knights halted their retreat and stayed just long enough to observe.

Before long, they learned the truth of what had just occurred:

Two Absolutes had clashed.

And only one remained.

The Demon King… was dead.

But in his place, a stronger Demon King had risen to claim dominion.

“This is a disaster for humanity. A demon capable of delivering a slash like that…?”

“…Goddamn it. This isn’t the time to stand here. We need to deliver this news to the capital immediately.”

The Windsor Knights swiftly turned and began their retreat in earnest.

Meanwhile, not far from where they had stood, a lone demon watched them disappear into the distance.

“Your Majesty, shall I give the order?”

It was Luciferia, once Cain’s closest aide—now the second-highest ranked demon in the entire realm.

“No need.”

Cain, now expressionless, slowly shook his head.

“It’s a day of celebration. Let’s keep it bloodless.”

His crimson eyes calmly followed the Windsor Knights as they hurriedly pulled back.

But he wasn’t really looking at them.

He was looking at the figure behind them.

That one girl.

“I sent them back safely.”

Cain’s lips curled into a slow, quiet smile.

“I expect you to keep your promise.”

— Someday, I’ll send a Hero to kill you.

He remembered the words they had exchanged.

“Cecilia Windsor.”

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