Lunar Eclipse.
Those who knew Number One in my previous life described the technique this way.
The power to kill the inhuman.
It killed that which was not human.
The principle was simple.
It twisted Aura in a direction that could not exist.
If you asked whether that was even possible.
‘It is.’
Ralke’s Secret Arts worked on exactly that sort of principle.
Strictly speaking, Lunar Eclipse could be called ‘another’ of Ralke’s Secret Arts, reworked by me.
- ?!
A thin line appeared across the flame.
With a harsh scraping sound, the flame was slowly cleaved in two.
The flame began to blaze as though screaming.
Then the forest shuddered once.
‘That’ll hurt.’
I smirked as I stared at the flame.
I had controlled the force so I could gauge my opponent, so it wouldn’t be extinguished.
It would simply hurt.
The flame flickered violently for quite some time, as though writhing in pain.
Then its form suddenly changed.
- Why, Sigmund?
“……!”
It took the form of ‘someone I should not be seeing.’
Before I knew it, I had taken a step backward.
The person before me was…… the Commander.
Not the Arwin of the ‘present,’ but the Commander stood there.
‘Damn it.’
There was no way the Commander had truly come back to life.
This was probably the flame playing tricks on me.
This was the Sanctuary.
It was a place where it would not be strange for an illusion of what I feared to appear.
The Commander pointed her sword at me.
- Vice Commander, Sigmund.
“…….”
- Why did you betray me?
The illusion wearing the Commander’s form glared at me as bloody tears streamed down her face.
No.
That wasn’t the Commander.
It was Arwin, my sister.
This damned Sanctuary’s illusion had overlaid the Commander’s appearance onto her.
‘Is it getting back at me for interfering with the Trial however I pleased?’
I still did not know exactly what that flame was.
But I could at least guess that it might be some kind of spirit connected to the Sacred Flame.
‘Ha.’
Did it think I would be unable to move properly if it showed me an illusion like this?
What a joke.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
The trembling slowly began to subside.
The illusion remained unchanged.
But once I forced myself to cool my head and looked again, its movements were awkward for the ‘Commander.’
Right.
It was Arwin.
The person before me wasn’t the Commander, but Arwin.
She merely looked like the Commander to my eyes.
It was certainly unexpected, but that was all it was.
I had been through far too much to succumb to a mere illusion.
- Sigmund, answer me. Why……
‘Ah, Commander.’
I gave a bitter smile and gripped my sword.
Why had I betrayed her?
Only one reason immediately came to mind.
Because I had no choice.
But was that really all?
CLANG—!
Our swords collided, and the sharp sound of steel rang through the forest.
Every time our blades met, images of the past came to mind.
At some point, it felt as though my opponent was neither Arwin nor the Commander.
It was me.
‘At this rate…….’
It feels like I’m the one undergoing a Trial, not Arwin.
I gave a bitter smile and swung my sword again.
CLANG—!
Each time the sword drew a line through the air, its path changed little by little.
Number One’s sword took on heat.
The heat it gathered became flame, then blazed into the Sacred Flame.
‘Ah.’
Number One was gone now.
The one standing here was not Number One.
It was Sigmund Messiah.
FWOOSH—!
The Sacred Flame blazed.
***
‘Hot.’
Arwin frowned as she swiftly knocked aside the illusion’s sword.
She was quite confused now.
‘It’s supposed to be an illusion…….’
That powerful, foul-mouthed being was supposed to be an ‘illusion,’ not her younger brother, yet something had felt strange for a while now.
It felt like her real brother.
It was completely different from her younger brother, yet for some reason, it still felt like him.
‘No. It’s an illusion.’
Every time that thought arose, Arwin steeled herself again.
Logically, there was no reason for her younger brother to be here crossing swords with her.
That was an illusion.
A Trial.
Once she defeated it, it would be over.
“Hoo.”
At some point, the illusion’s entire atmosphere had suddenly changed.
At first, its swordsmanship had clearly been that of an assassin—stealthy and thick with murderous intent.
But now, anyone could tell that it was the sword of a ‘Messiah.’
CLANG—!
The sound of steel.
Every time a single metallic clash filled her ears, the Aura wrapped around her sword rippled.
Little by little, it grew hotter.
Her breathing, her body, and then…….
‘The Sacred Flame……!’
She could feel it instinctively.
This was a sign that she was about to advance to the next stage.
It felt like she only needed a little more.
Yet frustratingly, the same seemed to be true for the illusion.
Every time their swords met, it grew stronger.
It even seemed to be growing faster than she was.
Reflexively, she asked,
“You’re an illusion, right?”
“…….”
The illusion did not answer.
It merely opened its eyes wide and swung its sword once again.
But there was something different about the illusion’s sword.
Rather than trying to oppress her, it seemed to be guiding her.
Was it because this was a Trial?
“I have to pass this Trial. Even if you’re wearing my brother’s face, that changes nothing.”
“Is that so?”
Instead of giving a proper answer, the illusion smirked and spoke briefly.
“Do come.”
“……!”
In those words, Arwin sensed the presence of her ‘younger brother.’
And yet at the same time, it somehow felt as though it wasn’t her brother at all…….
It was a truly complicated feeling.
To erase that confusion, she increased the speed of her sword.
Dozens, hundreds of sword paths tangled together intricately, drawing vivid lines through the air.
‘It’s hot. But…….’
I’m getting better.
Little by little, she was growing accustomed to breathing that should have been unbearably hot.
And little by little, the color of her ‘Aura’ began to fade.
It was a kind of turning point.
“Hoo.”
Arwin gritted her teeth.
She had already pushed the Sacred Flame to its limit.
It would not have been strange for her to collapse at any moment.
She was only continuing to fight by forcibly clinging to consciousness because she could not allow herself to fall.
‘Not yet.’
She believed she carried many burdens on her shoulders.
If she showed even the slightest opening, the First Wife and the First Young Master would tear into her.
That was why she always had to be strong.
She had to succeed.
Only then could she protect what mattered.
But.
‘Right now, this is a little fun.’
She felt as though she could keep going simply because swinging her sword was enjoyable.
Giving herself completely to that impulse, she revealed her ‘Sacred Flame’ without holding anything back.
It was proof.
Arwin’s conviction became a single ‘proof,’ setting the Sacred Flame ablaze and revealing its true color.
CLANG—!
Clear beads of sweat flew from Arwin’s face into the air.
Even as she gasped for breath, she smiled as though she could not contain her delight.
“Ah.”
The illusion’s eyes widened.
The illusion had also noticed that the color of the Sacred Flame surrounding Arwin was changing.
But there was one thing Arwin herself did not realize.
Her Sacred Flame was no longer merely wrapping around her sword.
FWOOSH—!
Her hair.
Her eyes.
Her breath.
All of them had become one with the Sacred Flame and were burning.
Fifth Stage of the Sacred Flame Physique.
It was proof that Arwin had finally come to harbor the ‘true Sacred Flame.’
A strange gleam flashed through the illusion’s eyes.
As though surprised by Arwin’s appearance, it revealed an opening.
Now!
Arwin decided that this moment, while the illusion had stopped, was her chance to seize victory.
‘That is an illusion.’
Steeling herself once more, she wrapped her sword in the Sacred Flame.
CLAAANG—!
Then she thrust her sword with all her strength toward that ‘opening.’
For an instant, brilliant light flared as the Sacred Flame swallowed the illusion.
***
Anyone who goes through and overcomes a Trial is bound to grow.
I knew exactly what kind of crisis the Commander had faced, how she had overcome it, and how she had grown.
And I remembered the color of the Sacred Flame when she awakened it.
‘Blue, like the sky.’
Blue Flame.
It was practically the symbol that defined the Commander herself.
And in this life, Arwin reached the Fifth Stage faster than I had expected and obtained a Sacred Flame of her own.
But there was one difference from before.
‘Why…….’
Its color was different from the Sacred Flame the Commander in my memories had obtained.
It was not blue, but a pure white without the slightest impurity.
Not Blue Flame.
White Flame.
“Haa, haah……!”
Arwin had manifested her Sacred Flame and was staring directly at me with her sword held steadily at the ready.
Her sword had definitely reached me, but it was not enough to completely take me down.
There was a vast difference in combat experience between us.
On top of that, I knew all of her fighting methods and habits.
From the beginning, this was a fight she could not win.
But.
“You did well.”
I spoke as I looked at my sister, who was still panting heavily.
At those words, she stared at me for a moment with wide eyes.
THUD.
Then she staggered and collapsed.
I quickly moved forward and caught her before she hit the ground.
“……It wasn’t Blue Flame.”
Frowning at the unexpected development, I examined my sister.
Yes.
My sister.
Not Arwin.
Not the ‘Commander.’
Simply my sister.
I should have accepted her that way from the very beginning, yet I hadn’t.
Wasn’t it ridiculous?
From the moment I was born as ‘Sigmund,’ my sister was inevitably going to be different.
The ‘Commander’ I remembered was gone as well.
That was only natural.
Yet I had tried to deny that obvious fact.
Why?
“I was trying to deny my sin.”
I claimed that I was wracked with guilt, yet I had tried to wash away the sins of my previous life through my sister.
I had forcibly superimposed the Commander from my previous life onto my present ‘sister,’ even though I knew neither of them would have wanted that.
What a farce.
“It is over.”
At that moment, a deep voice came from behind me.
I turned my head and found Father standing behind me before I had even noticed his approach.
“How was it?”
“Exactly as you felt.”
Father calmly examined my sister.
“She proved herself admirably and awakened a Sacred Flame of her own. The original purpose of the Trial has always been for one of the bloodline to prove themselves.”
“That’s right.”
“Arwin has sufficiently proven that essence. She passes the Trial.”
I let out a quiet breath.
With that, I had achieved what I had set out to accomplish today.
“I saw the flame.”
“So did I.”
Of course he had.
Father was someone who could ‘clearly’ perceive Noise, whom I could barely see properly.
He would surely know what that flame was as well.
“There is no need to think too deeply about it. It is a spirit. A fragment of a spirit that has existed in this Sanctuary for a long time and became sacred.”
“Then the one attached to my sister…….”
“That, I do not know. Spirits do not normally attach themselves to members of the bloodline like that. However…….”
Father’s gaze deepened.
“Perhaps it saw something.”
Then he turned his eyes toward me.
“More importantly, did you not feel it as well?”
“What do you mean?”
“The forest imposed a Trial not only on Arwin, but on you as well.”
“……!”
Something immediately came to mind.
That distasteful illusion of the ‘Commander’ that had been overlaid upon my sister.
“You also proved yourself and, in a sense, passed the Trial. Though it was certainly not through the proper procedure.”
“Ah.”
“The Sanctuary invariably grants ‘something’ as a reward to members of the bloodline who pass its Trial.”
Father spoke to me.
“Raise your sword. Show me your Sacred Flame.”
“My Sacred Flame…….”
As though entranced, I followed Father’s words and raised my sword.
FWOOSH.
The Sacred Flame slowly ignited along the blade.
Then, just as Arwin’s had, the ‘color’ of the Sacred Flame began to change.
Even though I had yet to reach the Fifth Stage, it changed as though that were only natural.
The color that revealed itself was.
“It is blue.”
Father nodded as he spoke.
“Blue, like the sky.”
Blue Flame.
The Commander’s color.