The “Azure Empyrean Sword.” This weapon, handed down from master to disciple through every generation of Yunkui Summit, held an extraordinarily high rank in its own right.
Measured against every weapon that existed in New Eridu today, only one other could stand on the same tier — the blade carried by the youngest Void Hunter of them all.
The “Ethereal-Slaying Blade: Tailless,” in Hoshimi Miyabi’s hands.
Both belonged to the same category: living Void Hunter weapons.
Arms of this kind had been forged in the old era through the joint effort of its greatest combat powers and its finest research groups, and lodged inside each one was a rule-authority drawn from the root of the Zenless Zone Zero world itself.
The energy held in a single Void Hunter weapon was enough to lift an ordinary person to Void Hunter-class combat strength in an instant.
But nothing in this world came free.
The greater the power, the more outrageous the price demanded in return.
They were called “living” weapons because they retained the traits of living things.
Their wills — their souls, even — went on existing in the shape of a blade.
Each weapon had its own temperament, so each one asked a different price.
Before Hoshimi Miyabi beat it into submission, “Tailless” had stood for pure ferocity and slaughter.
The “Azure Empyrean Sword” in Ye Shunguang’s hands ran on rules far more complicated than that.
Inside the Tranquil Heart Pavilion.
The weight of Miguel’s words left Ye Shunguang unable to answer.
Her lips parted; on reflex she started to reply.
And right then a forceful voice detonated in the depths of her mind, shoving the words back down her throat before they could leave it.
It was the other version of herself, the one dwelling in the Clear-Mind State.
So the girl simply froze where she stood, mouth still slightly open.
To the others watching from the side, the scene could only mean one thing: their junior sister had been frightened stiff by Miguel’s grave warning.
Still, Miguel had given them his assurance earlier, so Ye Shiyuan and the rest bit down on their tongues and said nothing.
Yixuan noticed her disciples’ hesitation, of course.
As their master, there were matters only she could raise.
“Mr.
Miguel.” Her voice was soft, threaded with hopeful inquiry.
“When you suppressed the Azure Empyrean Sword just now, what exactly did you find?
The method to save my sister… have you settled on it?
And what you said before, about the choice of fate Little Guang would have to face — what did you mean by that?” Miguel didn’t keep them guessing.
He glanced at Ye Shunguang, who stood with her head down and said nothing, and guessed the girl was busy holding a conference with her other personality somewhere inside her own consciousness.
He left her to it.
Then he turned to face Yixuan and the others.
“The method for saving her is settled,” Miguel said evenly, laying out everything he’d found.
“In that one instant, using your sister’s body as an anchor, I located the soul and the memories the Azure Empyrean Sword devoured.” At those words, Yixuan’s face — perpetually worn thin with fatigue — lit up with startling brilliance.
Inside those golden eyes, thirteen years of accumulated gloom thinned away, and her breathing quickened without her meaning to.
Ju Fufu and the other two let out long breaths of relief along with her.
But Miguel’s next words froze the newly thawed mood solid again.
“Don’t celebrate yet.” He raised a hand and pressed it downward.
“I found them, yes.
But that portion of her memory isn’t complete.” Yixuan went blank.
“Not complete?” Miguel nodded and pointed at the sword hanging silently in midair.
“Everything from the Fall of Old Eridu thirteen years ago up to the day she joined Yunkui Summit is there.
What’s missing is every memory from before she joined Yunkui Summit.
That part isn’t inside the sword at all.” The statement plunged Yixuan into deep confusion.
“How could that be?” Her brows knit tight; she turned it over and over and got nowhere.
“My sister was with me from the time we were small.
How could a piece of her memory just vanish into thin air?” “That comes down to how this sword devours things,” Miguel said, spreading his hands.
“But it doesn’t matter.
I traced the river of time a moment ago, and I’ve already found the solution.” He paused, and his tone turned remarkably light.
“When the time comes, I’ll take a trip back into the past and fill in the part of your sister’s memory that’s missing.” Out of anyone else’s mouth, that would have been shameless boasting of the purest kind.
But coming from the current holder of the Authority of [Time] in the Zenless Zone Zero world?
It seemed reasonable enough.
Except Yixuan and the others had no way of knowing that!
Forget the Authority of [Time] — not one of them even understood what an Authority was.
So it was easy to imagine the size of the blow Miguel’s words dealt to their entire picture of the world.
In this New Eridu, where Ether and technology ruled everything, the concept of time travel generally lived only in fevered science fiction and the delusions of madmen.
But Yixuan was the head of a sect, after all, and she had seen a great deal.
She understood that certain people and certain things simply stood outside the ordinary world.
After several deep breaths in a row, she forcibly filed away this world-shattering claim under some “miraculous ability” this gentleman possessed.
Once her emotions were back in order, she looked at Miguel again, and there was an awe in her voice that defied description.
“Mr.
Miguel… your methods truly exceed anything we can comprehend.” She glanced at Ye Shunguang, still standing there lost in her own head.
“Since you can restore those memories, will the process of saving my sister still have any effect on Little Guang?” Yixuan had struck straight at the heart of it — the very question Ye Shiyuan cared about most.
Miguel smiled.
“The procedure for bringing your sister back breaks down into roughly two steps.” He held up two fingers.
“Step one: the Azure Empyrean Sword’s power has to be activated and kept in a released state.
Only then can I draw out the memories and the soul it swallowed without resorting to brute force.” “That step isn’t especially difficult.” He lowered his fingers.
“The trouble is mainly step two.” “Because the Azure Empyrean Sword is a living weapon, and it has a temper.
When someone forcibly drags out what it has already eaten, it will fight back.
That’s guaranteed.” “What you’d call a stress reaction.” Hearing that, Pan Yinhu slapped his thigh with the air of a man who knew exactly what that meant.
“Oh!
I get this one!” The Panda Thiren smacked his fist into his palm, small eyes shining.
“It’s like when Senior Sister is eating and you try to snatch the biggest piece of braised pork right out of her bowl!
She’d definitely puff up and claw you!” “Junior Brother Yinhu, what nonsense are you spouting!” Ju Fufu stamped her feet, furious, both ears standing bolt upright.
“I would never claw someone just for stealing my meat!
It’d have to be at least… at least two pieces!” With those two interrupting, the mood in the room loosened a little.
Miguel picked up the thread from Pan Yinhu’s remark.
“Brother Yinhu’s comparison is actually very apt.” He looked at the Azure Empyrean Sword, wrapped tight from end to end in the Power of Creation.
“The moment it starts to resist, the will inside the Azure Empyrean Sword will wake.” “And once the will of a Void Hunter weapon wakes, that means…” Miguel paused for a moment, and the smile on his face drew back a fraction.
“The trial of the Void Hunter weapon is about to begin.” [Author’s Note: First chapter of the day.] ____ 👻🔥Walnut-chan 😉 — Zenless Zone Zero: Rewriting Fate in New Eridu — live on The_Mikudayo 📚 Tired of waiting?
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