Reincarnated with the King’s Power

Chapter 1

[Edan.]

I called out the name of my friend, who was well over fifty.

His silver hair, a symbol of the Eurasians, was stained red, and his two sturdy hands were dyed jet-black.

[You foolish fellow, stop pretending to be asleep and open your eyes.]

Woong- woong- wooong.

The mysteriously-looking sword trembled for a long while.

“Adamas……”

Edan's closed eyes slowly opened into a thin slit.

[We won.]

“……Is that so. Is it finally dead.”

He was from a collapsing royal family.

A genius who had achieved the level of a Sword Master and come closer than anyone to the limits of a mortal, the most finely sculpted one in my thousands of years of sword-life.

10 years, no, 5 years. If he had been given just that much time, he would have opened a new era in place of the declining empire.

A fellow like that.

“Cough……”

Leaning against a collapsed wall, he coughed up blood.

Drip, drop.

Fragments of his innards were mixed with the blood flowing down the blade .

Chiiiiik.

Smoke rose from the blood-soaked blade. It was because the Authority of Protection engraved on the sword recognized Edan's blood as poison.

“I'm going to die too, I suppose.”

[Stop spouting nonsense and ignite your mana heart. At this rate, you'll be completely consumed by the poison!]

Circulating the mana within one's body to neutralize poison. It was a basic countermeasure for one who had reached the level of a knight.

A superman like Edan should have been able to evaporate the poison in an instant.

And yet.

“Kahak……”

He merely coughed up more blood a few times. The poison that had already infiltrated his body had destroyed his mana circuits.

[Stop playing around. I'll supplement your mana, so focus on recovering.]

Edan let out a smirk.

Pure white mana erupted from the blade. That immense mana soon flowed into Edan.

“Cough…… Cough……”

The poison eating away at his body was not easily neutralized. He now vomited something that could have been either blood or poison.

“I should leave some last words before I die.”

Edan weakly opened his mouth.

[…….]

The cheerful voice from his childhood, the solemn voice as a king, were still so vivid.

Now, it was just faint.

[Foolish words.]

My friend, the invincible knight, was facing death.

Watching the process of a hero's birth and demise was not a very pleasant thing.

[Where did that bravado you had when you proposed to the Saintess go?]

“That was over twenty years ago. What are you talking about?”

Edan chuckled, his body shaking.

[You fool. To me, it's as clear as yesterday.]

As always, I could not easily accept the death that had come for my friend.

A bitter look bloomed on Edan's face.

“I'm sorry, Adamas. I couldn't break your seal.”

Just like my other friends, Edan also offered a foolish apology.

Ignoring him, I stirred my mana once more. I forced myself a bit to manifest my Authority.

Hwaaak.

For a moment, immense mana covered his body.

Tzzzzzzz.

An unidentified radiance scattered around pushed the mana away.

[This…….]

A sigh escaped me unwittingly.

It was a power that could turn a snot-nosed kid into a saint, yet now it couldn't even slow down my friend's death.

[What a goddamn curse!]

Using the Authority of the Watcher, I looked for the source of the curse. Not far away, I saw the remains of a ‘Grotesquery’ that had been torn to shreds.

Grotesquery.

A monstrous creature that even I, who had lived for thousands of years as a sword and encountered numerous mythical beings, had never seen before.

It was the culprit that had suddenly appeared on the continent ten years ago and caused several waves by controlling monster lords.

The countless curses it used were still lingering in the area like traces, and even Edan could not last 10 minutes against its transcendent power.

[That bastard is tripping us up even in death.]

Contrary to my words, I quickly analyzed the creature's curse.

‘Three are threatening.’

The ‘Curse of Extreme Poison’ that brought down even the strongest Sword Master.

The ‘Curse of Blood’ that passes down suffering to the bloodline.

Lastly, the ‘Curse of Shackles’ that protects these damned curses from being broken.

[If the curses leak out, it would be perfect for discussing the end of humanity.]

If that happened, the first to die would be the nearby Kingdom of Eurasia, and Edan was not unaware of that fact.

“I'm going to die anyway.”

[A 9-star fellow like you is making a fuss. I'll figure something out, so…….]

“Take care of my descendants. You're the only one I can ask.”

Edan's voice was clear. The corners of his lips were slightly raised.

“At this rate, all three curses will be passed on. I just need to take the curses with me.”

[What!?]

“A magic sword with such vivid memories would surely remember the day we first met, right?”

Of course, I remembered.

[You said Eurasia would bring down the empire and usher in an age of peace, didn't you?]

It was a dream he spoke of like a habit.

“That is also the dream of the countless knights who died here, Adamas.”

[…….]

Edan no longer coughed up blood, nor did he struggle.

I knew what that symptom was.

Terminal lucidity.

The fellow who had already steeled his resolve was mustering his last strength just before death.

[You idiot. Without you, the kingdom won't be safe either. Is independence some kind of a joke?]

They had lost most of the knights they had painstakingly trained on the way to reach the Grotesquery.

Even if they protected the kingdom from the curse, they would not be able to avoid the empire's subsequent attack.

[If you die here, do you know when I'll wake up?]

“……”

[If you die, Eurasia has no hope.]

“……”

The sight of my friend with his head bowed was truly unsightly.

It wasn't that he didn't know. It's just that since I was the one who always gave him the answers, he must have thought I'd have some trick up my sleeve this time too.

Bastard. A righteous one all on his own.

So, in the end.

[You just want to die a cool death, don't you? Anyway, I knew it ever since you were hitting on the Saintess.]

“You can joke in a situation like this……”

[Shut up and get ready. We need to hurry if we want to increase the chances even a little.]

“……”

A reply was not needed.

Mana was already surging from the blade.

Grip.

Using the sword as a lever, the dying Sword Master pushed himself up.

[It will be so agonizing that you'll think death is a blessing.]

“Alright.”

[Still, endure it, Edan.]

Using my friend's body as a medium, I poured out the Authorities I had saved.

The Curse of Blood, the Curse of Shackles.

The two spreading curses rushed in.

Edan's battered body could not contain all of them.

‘I'll seal them in my body.’

I spread a curtain over the area and drew in the curses.

Time flowed slowly.

Before I knew it, the blood he coughed up all over my body had pooled on the ground.

The stench of poison in the blood was thick. It meant Edan's death was just around the corner.

[Hold on a little longer.]

The two curses rushed into the sword.

Grrrrrrr.

The atmosphere, the Authorities, trembled violently.

Crack. Craaack.

Cracks appeared on the blade.

A pain as if my heart was being gouged out followed.

[Kuh…….]

A groan escaped me from a pain I had never experienced, not even when I'd deflected a giant's fist or split a dragon's breath.

“A……da……mas……”

Drip.

An extreme poison, which could hardly be called blood anymore, trickled down the hilt.

Craaaack.

The cracks spread like a spiderweb.

‘I won't let them go.’

I wrapped a thick layer of mana around myself and Edan.

[‘Authority of Protection’ deactivated.]

[‘Authority of Regeneration’ deactivated.]

[‘Authority of Search’ deactivated.]

Of Reinforcement…… of Element…… of Domination…….

I had no eyes, no ears, no head, yet ominous messages continuously reached me.

In my thousands of years of sword-life, this was the first time I'd encountered such a vile curse.

[‘Authority of the Watcher’ deactivated.]

My vision blurred. It was because even the Authority that had served as my five senses had been sealed.

It didn't matter. The process of accepting the curses was already in its final stages.

Thud.

I could vaguely see the figure of my friend with his head bowed.

‘Leave the rest to me.’

I sucked in the Curse of Extreme Poison.

Woong. Woong. Wooong.

Craaack. Craaaaaack.

The cracks expanded uncontrollably.

There were results. As my Authorities disappeared and the cracks accelerated, the resistance of the curses was gradually fading.

Grrrrrrr.

The slowly flowing time gradually returned to its original pace.

After a brief moment, I, the sword, became able to accept the three curses into my body.

If there was one thing I had overlooked, it was that I too had lost all my Authorities.

Finally, the vibrations subsided.

‘My body feels heavy.’

This was the backlash that came the moment the user met their death.

It was time to end the journey I had shared with Edan.

I am Adamas.

An Ego Sword with hundreds of Authorities, a master who guided numerous heroes to the path of the sword, and the friend of the hero who saved the continent from the ‘Grotesquery’.

As always, when I opened my eyes again, a new master would be waiting.

‘I'll be asleep for quite a while this time.’

With that as my last thought, my consciousness faded.

How much time had passed?

“I can't believe it.”

An old man's voice seemed to come from afar.

“In that case……”

“Yes. It seems he's over the critical point.”

“Ahh…… You've worked hard!! As expected of a priest from the Pantera Temple!!”

“I was merely following the teachings of God faithfully. It was all thanks to the Head Chamberlain……”

It's noisy.

Edan's request, the pain of my blade shattering into pieces, the déjà vu of my Authorities being sealed.

Everything felt distant, like a dream.

‘Ugh…….’

Waking up beside a new master. It was a moment that had been repeated countless times, but my body felt unusually heavy.

‘Is it because my Authorities were sealed?’

Come to think of it, most of the time, I had naturally fallen asleep due to my partner's death.

But the number of times my main body had received such a huge shock could be counted on one hand.

‘There isn't a problem with my Authorities, is there?’

It was around the time I felt such anxiety.

“Young Master Killian has woken up!!”

“Such a miracle……”

“Report to the Acting Head of the family.”

When I opened my eyes again, I usually met my new partner in a quiet place.

By now, I should have been able to see the surrounding scenery expanded through my Authorities.

‘This is troublesome. As I thought, there's a problem with my Authorities…….’

At that moment.

A headache hit me along with tens of thousands of afterimages.

“Ugh……”

A groan escaped me unwittingly.

“Young Master!!!”

“Ughh……”

A voice shouting right in front of my nose echoed in my head.

But wait a moment.

The one who just groaned…….

“Young Master, can you hear me?!!”

“……?”

“Young Master, please open your eyes! You can't leave this Haman behind!!”

“……”

Leaving the incomprehensible sensation behind.

I opened my eyes.