“Why now… of all times…!”
“Ughhh!”
Sylvia gritted her teeth, holding onto the precariously protruding hilt of the sword lodged in Aslan Vermont’s mouth.
No matter how hard she tried, the sword wouldn’t budge.
As the young Sylvia approached with a cold, expressionless face, Sylvia had no choice but to kick Aslan away.
“Guh!?”
The young Sylvia immediately gave chase, swinging her sword.
Sylvia barely managed to dodge and flee, but the gap between them only shrank further.
With nearly identical physical attributes, there was no way to widen the distance.
‘Nothing is going my way! Damn this cursed sword!’
Sylvia felt a maddening sense of injustice.
From the moment she acquired this sword, she couldn’t touch any other weapon.
It was bound to Aslan’s body, requiring her to draw it directly from his mouth.
Sure, the sword made her stronger, but the penalties were overwhelming.
She wanted to discard it more than anything.
And now, of all times, it was acting up!
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
“Tsk!”
Sylvia lunged at the young Sylvia, aiming to snatch the dagger at her waist.
But the moment her hand touched the dagger, it slipped away, as if repelled by magnetic force.
‘Ugh, absolutely useless…’
The only weapon she could wield refused to cooperate. She had nothing but her fists and mana.
But now, even her mana was inaccessible, leaving her with bare hands as her only option.
Meanwhile, her opponent had full access to both weapons and mana, despite their equal physical capabilities.
‘How am I supposed to win this?’
Facing a superior opponent was a guaranteed loss.
It wasn’t even a fair fight to begin with.
‘What do I do? If I fight, I’ll lose for sure. Should I keep running and hope she tires herself out? But our stamina is the same. She’ll exhaust herself at the same rate…’
The young Sylvia charged at an alarming speed, forcing Sylvia to dodge and run with everything she had.
There was nothing else she could do.
‘Without my sword… without my sword, I’m nothing…’
Without a sword, she was powerless.
Without her master, she was weak and helpless.
There was nothing she could do in this situation.
As tears welled in her eyes, Sylvia suddenly froze.
“Huh?”
“…?”
Just as young Sylvia was closing in with a relentless assault, she abruptly turned to look behind her.
Her gaze locked onto Aslan, and without hesitation, she bolted toward him.
“No, stop!”
Sylvia’s heart sank as she chased after young Sylvia.
In mere moments, young Sylvia was upon Aslan, her sharp blade aimed at his forehead.
’I have to stop her!’
The distance was too great.
There was no way she could reach him in time, and she had nothing to throw.
At this rate, Aslan would lose his head in a single strike.
She had to stop her, but there was no way.
Tears trickled down Sylvia’s cheeks as she clenched her eyes shut.
At that moment, a powerful desire surged within her chest, radiating outward.
“What? A barrier!?”
Clang!
Just as young Sylvia’s sword was about to split Aslan’s forehead, the blade struck something invisible and ricocheted away.
Young Sylvia froze in shock, her movements halting.
Sylvia, equally stunned, stood there with her mouth agape.
“What…?”
A barrier spell?
Her mana-sensing ability had been destroyed, leaving her incapacitated.
How was a barrier spell even possible?
The only way she could use magic with this body was through Aura…
“This ungrateful, stupid idiot…”
But Sylvia had no time to dwell on these questions.
That wretch had nearly killed her master.
That insufferable brat!
Fury filled Sylvia’s mind. Her stance shifted from retreat to offense, and her fists clenched tightly.
The sudden change in atmosphere made young Sylvia flinch.
“Can’t fight without a sword? Can’t do anything without my Lord? That’s nonsense…”
Step, Step.
With every step Sylvia took forward, her presence grew heavier.
This was nothing like her earlier desperation.
Was she truly nothing without her master?
No. As a knight sworn to protect him, it was her duty to shield him, not the other way around.
Was she truly nothing without a sword?
Absolutely not. The barrier magic had come from her bare hands, without any weapon.
Even Aura had emerged from her unarmed grasp.
Aura didn’t rely on the quality of the sword.
A Sword Master wielding a cheap blade didn’t lose their mastery.
‘Rank’ is something that is given to a person, not a sword.
Therefore, Aura was something that was drawn from a person, not a sword.
It was a state where one awakens after practicing swordsmanship.
The end lies not in the sword but in the wielder.
Sylvia had forgotten this simple truth.
‘I had awakened Aura long ago… I just didn’t realize it until now.’
Aura had to be drawn by her own hands.
But she had always relied on her master and the exceptional quality of her sword.
Never once had she taken it upon herself to draw a blade.
So, despite having all the components to awaken her Aura, it was no wonder she had failed until now.
“Hah…”
“Have you lost your mind?”
Sylvia let out a hollow laugh, and young Sylvia frowned, tilting her head in confusion.
It was laughable.
The Aura had been within her all along, and she was only realizing it now.
There were no shortcuts to strength.
Neither allies, mana, nor even the finest blade were necessities.
All she needed was her own body.
In this world, the only thing she could truly rely on was herself.
She had realized it far too late.
She was already strong enough.
Only after discarding all luxuries and losing everything did she finally understand.
Sylvia pushed off the ground with nothing but her bare body, charging forward.
Her clenched fist, mimicking the grip of a sword, began to glow with an intense crimson light, taking the form of a blade.
“A S-Sword Master?!”
Young Sylvia gritted her teeth and swung her sword, but Sylvia’s crimson flash easily shattered the blade into pieces.
Caught off guard, young Sylvia retreated, raising a barrier of reinforced mana to shield herself.
“Give up! It’s useless!”
“…!?”
But Sylvia’s crimson Aura blade sliced through the barrier like glass.
Another barrier formed instantly, only to be shattered again.
As this cycle repeated, young Sylvia’s mana reserves began to deplete, her limbs trembling.
Meanwhile, Sylvia’s crimson light, which had been amorphous at first, solidified into a cross-shaped longsword.
Her stature and physique, once identical to young Sylvia’s, began to grow and strengthen.
“Arghhhh!!!”
Finally, young Sylvia, drained of mana, let out a primal scream and charged recklessly.
It was a desperate, last-ditch attempt, even if it meant using her bare fists.
She darted past Sylvia’s Aura, closing the distance into what she thought was Sylvia’s blind spot.
“Gotcha?!”
“Not yet.”
“…!”
Sylvia’s palm pressed against young Sylvia’s chest, signaling the end.
Boom!
A massive explosion of Aura erupted from Sylvia’s hand, sending young Sylvia flying into the distance.
She collided with rocks and rolled across the ground before coming to a halt.
Aslan hurried over to check on her.
She was bleeding profusely and unconscious but still breathing.
“She’s alive. Thank goodness.”
“I’d like to kill her, but…”
“Hey, that’s your younger self. Get a grip.”
“I know, my Lord. For daring to raise a blade against you, death would be a fitting punishment… but I’ll let it slide this time.”
“…”
Sylvia unclenched her fist, her anger subsiding, and looked at Aslan.
Now back to her adult form, she radiated a quiet intensity that made Aslan gulp nervously.
Even in her calm state, her fury was palpable.
“What do you intend to do now? I still think we should engrave a mark on her.”
“No, we can save her without restricting her freedom with a seal.”
“As you wish. Then let’s move her to the fortress city—wait, what?”
From Aslan’s chest, a brilliant white light emerged.
The light coalesced into the shape of a sword before embedding itself into the air.
“…!?”
A rift in time opened where the sword pierced the void, large enough for a person to pass through.
Through the rift, a familiar scene unfolded—a summer day at the Vermont estate.
Children paced anxiously, seemingly waiting for something.
It was unmistakably the present timeline.
“My Lord, we must go now. The sword’s malfunctioning, and if we miss this chance, we might never return.”
“I can’t leave her here. I won’t abandon her.”
“My Lord, the rift is shrinking rapidly. You have five minutes to decide.”
“Damn it…”
The rift began to close.
Aslan stood before the unconscious young Sylvia, his eyes shut tight.
If they left her here, she’d be caught in a mana storm and perish.
But there was no way to carry her to the fortress city and return within five minutes.
The only way to ensure her survival was to act decisively.
There was only one option left.
“Sylvia, help me. We’ll have to destroy her heart and engrave a mark inside it.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
With tears brimming in his eyes, Aslan made his decision.
Sylvia, having awaited his command, stepped forward with a faint smile.
Some events were inevitable.
