No matter how unrealistic dreams may be, they seem very real at the time. For example, you might dream that you are a giant insect eating people. While you’re dreaming, you think human children taste good. When people wake up from such a nightmare, even if they don’t remember much about it, an intense feeling of revulsion can persist.
“Ugh... uh... whoa...”
As he woke up, that’s exactly how Lud felt.
“Master, do you recognize me?”
Sven was standing in front of him.
“Sven...?”
“Yes...”
When he said her name, she trembled with joy. Then she wept as she clung to him.
“Sven... I’m sorry.”
Lud didn’t remember what had happened or what he had done. However, seeing her joy as he said her name told him that he had made her suffer.
“It’s all right! It doesn’t matter now!”
As Sven assured him, it really didn’t matter. Lud had returned to normal.
“Whew... It appears we’ve avoided the worst.”
When he saw them, Meitzer laughed.
“Meitzer...?”
“Yeah. How do you feel? Does it hurt anywhere?”
Lud had come to rescue him, but he was worried about Lud.
“I will call you Douglas Meitzer for now.”
Sven looked at Meitzer warily.
“When I went into Master’s heart, I glimpsed the Saint’s memory.”
“Oh?”
She had seen the Saint killed without marrying the man she loved. She witnessed the moment the European Empire was destroyed, the reappearance of the Saint and her beloved, and the conversation with God.
“What mistake did God make? Why did he apologize to the humans?”
Sven still couldn’t understand the mystery of that moment.
“God fell in love with the Saint. But the Saint loved another man.”
Sven had seen the Saint refuse to become God’s bride and finally take her own life.
“God was sad his love did not touch the Saint. He was supposed to be a perfect being, but his failure thoroughly upset him. To God, however, that was a joyous occurrence.”
He had fallen in love and was able to suffer the agony of unrequited love.
“God had suffered because his own existence was ambiguous, but the Saint had helped him feel alive. He was happy because he could love. He did not mind if she wouldn’t even look at him. He wanted her and her beloved to be happy.”
The people of Europea did not understand that. So they tried to drag the Saint back to God and separate her from her loved one. As a result, the two lovers died.
“When the first woman he had loved was killed, God went mad with rage. He was so angry he destroyed the great empire in one night.”
“That’s...excessive. No... but...”
Sven was surprised, but she could understand how God felt. The one who had given God a heart had been hurt and killed. How could he not wish for the world’s destruction? How could he resist using his power?
“After God destroyed Europea, he brought the two back to life with his remaining power. Then God, the True System, crumbled and scattered. The rezanium pieces spread across the continent of Europea... and here we are today.”
Even with God’s power, bringing the dead back to life was a gargantuan feat.
“As atonement, he entered a contract promising he would make the wishes of her successor come true.”
The Saint’s successor was Sven, and as a new iteration of the Saint, she would inherit a power like divine protection.
“Is that so? I’ve understood that much, so... who is that woman, the woman called the Saint?”
“Well... first let’s go back up to Major Blitzdonner. That situation should be reaching a conclusion soon.”
“The major? Where is he?”
Hearing the man mentioned, Lud looked around. Blitzdonner was nowhere to be seen.
“He went to do what he must.”
Lud’s group headed inside the castle to find Blitzdonner.
Meanwhile in the castle’s large hall, Suzuka and Toolman continued to battle.
“Hyaaah!!”
A katana’s greatest strength was the mobility afforded by its sharpness and ability to cut. Its many slashing attacks were so accurate even Suzuka could not completely defend against them although it was said that her highly polished martial arts could send anyone who touched her flying.
“You’re... a difficult opponent.” The smile she wore was beginning to waver.
“What’s wrong, woman of Yamato? Is that all you’ve got?”
“—?!”
Toolman was suddenly speaking in the language of Yamato.
“I’m surprised. You appear to be quite knowledgeable about my country.” In a cold sweat, Suzuka replied in her own language.
Four centuries ago, there was great internal strife in Yamato. National opinion was split regarding the correct direction toward modernization. The central government and frontier warrior groups clashed fiercely. After that war, many left their motherland. Yamato had once considered itself a warrior state. The warriors who had instigated the strife were from a tribe praised as Yamato’s strongest.
“I’m pleased your sword comes from such a master swordsman. I have encountered someone who can swing it with consummate skill.”
Toolman appeared expressionless and emotionless—doll-like—as he smiled faintly and raised his sword. It was an unusual stance. He gripped the katana with both hands and pointed the tip upward as if hoisting it.
“The Dragonfly Stance of Jigen Style?”
“You know it.”
“Indeed I do.”
It was a stance Suzuka remembered. A friend of her grandfather was a practitioner of the same technique. She remembered how overwhelmed she had been at his ferocious fighting spirit, even as an elderly man.
The No Second Blade Stance infuses the entire body and soul into one sword for striking the opponent. It was the ultimate skill. Without a thought of dodging, the swordsman struck with his entire life force. It was said to be the deepest secret.
“My name is Leia Toolman. However, that is not my real name.”
He did not have a real name. Orphans were gathered by the dozen, assigned a number, and subjected to extremely harsh training before being given a random name.