Chapter 355: Sword of the Forgotten Emperor
“Yelen?” Eren called out, but he received no
answer. It took him a moment to realize
that the spirit contract mark was missing.
The mark on the back of his hand was gone. Even the mark from his contract with Felona had disappeared.
“Identification!” He tried to use the Identification skill on a simple rock, hoping to find a clue, but the skill did not activate.
“Inventory!” He called out his inventory, but the outcome was the same. The inventory screen he had become extremely familiar with didn’t appear.
“Flight.”
“Strengthen.”
“Speed.”
Eren tried using the Dragon Tongue, but the result didn’t change. No matter which skill he used, nothing worked. It was as if he had lost everything he had come to rely
on.
“Is this the work of the Holy Church?” he wondered, his expression darkening.
He already knew the Holy Church was planning a trap, but this looked too surreal to be their work. Moreover, he had a guardian to protect him or at least wake
him up.
The Guardian was connected not only to his body but also to his soul. So how could he fall for this trap with such ease?
Lost in thoughts, Eren stepped forward. To understand just what kind of place this was, he had to at least step out of the crater first, which was no different than a grand valley for someone of his size.
If one were to measure the depths of this crater, Eren was sure it was more than a few hundred meters at least. Compared to the sheer diameter of this crater, the depth felt almost insignificant.
It took him several hours before he finally managed to claw his way out of the crater.
His clothes were covered in dust, and his body felt completely exhausted, but a sense of accomplishment washed over him as he surveyed the world beyond the crater’s rim.
Unfortunately, the world that he saw left him even more stunned. The world outside the crater was a stark, desolate land filled with even more craters.
As far as the eye could see, the ground was covered in these craters, as if some heavenly punishment had rained down
from the heavens.
Some of these craters were even filled with
blood to the brim, appearing like lakes in the barren world. Unfortunately, no one could drink from those lakes as they didn’t carry water.
Amidst the sea of craters, one in particular caught Eren’s eye. There, in the center of the deepest crater, a sword stood embedded in the earth, its blade shining in the fading light of this world.
“What in the world happened here?” Eren
wondered, his voice barely above a
whisper.
He jumped into the crater where the sword
was present. His body glided down the slopes which guided him deeper until he reached the bottom.
As he descended into the crater’s depths, he was able to feel a sense of attraction which drew him toward the sword. It was as if the sword itself was calling out to him. Eren noticed the sword’s color shifting as he approached. What had once been a dull gray was gradually transforming into a dark green hue that felt similar to his Pendant of Poison.
The moment he stepped within five meters
of the sword, an inexplicable force rose from within his body. The Sword Emperor’s Aura rushed out of his body, shooting out towards the sword.
In this world where he couldn’t even use
any abilities, the appearance of the Sword Emperor’s Aura left Eren stunned.
As the Sword Emperor’s Aura touched the sword, it started trembling. It was as if the sword was struggling against an unknown
force to free itself.
In that moment, thousands of golden shackles appeared to be wrapped around the green sword, keeping it restricted.
The trembling of the Sword intensified, but the sword failed to break through the restrictions.
Eren didn’t know why, but he felt a sense of
sadness as he watched the sword struggle. It was as if the sword was calling to him for
help. Unable to control himself, Eren stepped
closer to the sword until there was only half a meter of distance between them.
He reached out his hand, grabbing onto the Sword to pull it out, despite the presence of the shackles. Unfortunately, he wasn’t strong enough to pull the Sword.
Even as his muscles bulged, the sword
didn’t even come out an inch from the ground.
At that moment, it made sense to give up.
It was impossible to pull out the sword, especially without his abilities. Still, he refused to give up.
If he could use the Sword Emperor’s Aura,
that meant this world wasn’t as restricted
as he thought.
“No matter what happens, I will pull you out today!” Eren exclaimed as he strengthened the Sword Emperor’s Aura
even more.
He was certain that this place held some meaning for him. There was a nagging feeling inside his heart that if he gave up now, he might regret it a lot.
He still had one use of the Pendant of
Poison left. Eren didn’t know if he could use that in this world when he couldn’t even see the pendant of poison around his neck.
He tried to connect to the Pendant of Poison, similar to what he had done when
he used it to kill the Sea Dragon Prince.
To his surprise, a pendant started materializing around his neck, as if listening to his desires. The pendant of
poison started shining, just as brightly as the sword.
More importantly, it boosted his Sword
Emperor’s Aura, merging it with the poison
aura which unlocked the true potential of the Sword Emperor’s Aura. His aura became absolutely poisoned. As Eren pulled the sword with all his might,
his poisonous aura started decaying the shackles around the Sword.
The sword’s humming intensified while the shackles started breaking, one after another.
With the last shackle breaking, the sword
came out with such force that Eren almost
stumbled a few steps back before falling on his butt.
At the same time, he noticed a bright green
light shoot out of his Sword that flew
straight to the sky, as if targeting heaven itself.
Eren’s body was momentarily frozen as he saw a crack appear in the sky, as if space itself was sliced in two.
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