News of the Hot Spring Island Incident swept across the Empire.
In the article, Sito had done his best to describe how powerful the force sent by the Empire had been, and how fierce the battle itself was. Even so, the common people still could not truly imagine what kind of fight it had been.
But they understood one thing.
To send Owl to the execution platform, the Empire had dispatched a unit with top level combat strength.
That unit had been wiped out.
Knowing that was enough.
It meant Owl possessed the power to resist the Empire. Add to that the repeated blows he had delivered against the Empire, and his reputation rose higher with every passing day.
As for the title World’s Strongest Sword Master, no one seemed to object to it.
People accepted it naturally, as though Caelum truly had the strength to bear such a name.
In taverns, on streets, in alleys, people began calling him by that title.
For a time, everyone was talking about Owl.
Everyone was talking about the World’s Strongest Sword Master.
"World’s Strongest Sword Master. That is quite the title."
Marshal Garran set down his teacup. A heavy look sat between his brows.
They had misjudged Caelum’s strength, and the result was the total destruction of the Executioner Unit.
The consequences were anything but light.
After a while, Garran murmured to himself.
"Even Kukured was no match for him?"
Before this, he had still been able to treat Caelum’s existence with a certain calm.
Now, the matter had truly become a headache.
What was to be done with someone like this?
Among the common people, discussion surged.
Among the nobles, fury burned.
Yet aside from rage, they seemed to have no way to lay a hand on Caelum anymore. They were trapped between advancing and retreating.
"Utter humiliation!"
"This matter absolutely cannot end here!"
At the Empire’s high level meeting, the nobles slapped the News Gazette headline and Caelum’s wanted poster onto the table. One after another, they gritted their teeth as though they wished to tear Caelum apart.
An entire Executioner Unit had been wiped out.
That was top level strength their families had spent enormous effort cultivating, gone in the blink of an eye.
How could the high nobles not fly into a rage?
"But what measures can we still take?"
Silence followed.
The nobles at the meeting could only sit there with faces flushed red, unable to squeeze out a word.
The frustration was almost suffocating.
The common people delighted in the news, but they did not understand the deeper meaning behind the Hot Spring Island Incident.
It meant that among the people, a force had truly appeared that could contend with the Empire’s highest ranks.
The Empire’s rule had been shaken even further.
This was an extremely dangerous signal.
Surely, some people had already noticed it.
The Empire’s untouchable authority was rapidly weakening.
With the Hot Spring Island Incident as the dividing line, the high nobles who had ruled the Empire for a thousand years began to show signs of decline.
Quietly, the structure of the world was changing.
A new era had arrived.
As the one who opened that new era, the name Owl would carry immense weight. It would be remembered in the Empire’s history and spread through the world under the title of World’s Strongest Sword Master.
"Hahahahaha!"
Atop an ancient ruin, a tall man in a long coat held a newspaper and laughed heartily.
He wore glasses and seemed to be a scholar.
"This world is about to turn to a new Chapter. Everyone, the era that comes next may be far more exciting than expected."
"Dali, we found something new!"
A shout came from deep within the ruin.
The eyes of the man in the coat lit up at once.
"I will take a look."
Hartstead.
The sword training hall.
"World’s Strongest Sword Master?"
The bold words on the front page entered Cerys and the others’ eyes.
For a moment, they stood frozen.
Then cries of surprise broke out one after another.
"Is it talking about Morven?"
"Let me see!"
"The Hot Spring Island Incident... It really is Morven!"
"Is the title World’s Strongest Sword Master not a little too arrogant? Wait, is this real? Is Morven really that strong?"
"The paper says so. It has to be true!"
"Hahahaha, we are fellow disciples of the World’s Strongest Sword Master!"
The disciples of the training hall began chattering all at once, more excited than they had ever been.
No one had imagined that in only half a year, Caelum’s name would resound throughout the entire Empire.
He had even been given the title of strongest swordsman.
For a swordsman, that honor was the ultimate pursuit.
How many swordsmen spent their entire lives chasing recognition like this?
Their blood ran hot.
Cerys tried hard to suppress the urge to set out into the world immediately.
While she had been working desperately to catch up, Caelum had unknowingly climbed to the peak of all swordsmen.
Caelum was destined to become a legend.
And she had witnessed his rise with her own eyes.
She had become both participant and witness to that legend.
It was a strange feeling.
It also filled her with excitement.
When Cerys thought of the fact that the one she wanted to chase was the World’s Strongest Sword Master, she did not feel discouraged.
Instead, the fire in her burned even brighter.
"Half a year left."
She murmured under her breath.
In another half year, she would turn sixteen.
At that time, she could finally go out and see the vastness of this world. She could see its brilliance for herself.
Only after being tempered by the world could her swordsmanship go further.
The master’s attention was focused more on the Hot Spring Island Incident.
Through the surface of the matter, he sensed the change of the era and smiled with relief.
"The Empire is about to change."
"Hm?"
"What do you mean?"
The disciples in the hall were confused.
Inside an ancient and majestic structure, a huge altar stood in the center.
A blue gemstone floated above it, releasing brilliant azure light that pushed back the darkness.
Footsteps sounded.
A figure slowly ascended the altar.
The newcomer was a young man dressed in splendid noble clothing. He had blue eyes and short golden hair.
The young man reached the top of the altar and stretched out a hand to take the blue gemstone.
The instant he touched it, a powerful force began pouring into his body without end.
A faint hum spread.
Invisible power swept through the empty air.
A smile appeared on the young man’s face.
"One of the ancient kingdom’s seven Divine Relics, Azure Diamond."
Azure Diamond’s effect was extremely powerful.
It gave its holder the most indestructible body in the world.
Because of that, the holder would also gain terrifying combat strength.
Unbreakable bones.
Muscles that could not be damaged.
Defense that could not be pierced.
Together, these meant the holder of Azure Diamond could thoroughly surpass the limits of humanity.
They would become the ultimate and strongest living being in the world.
His name was Javier.
His true identity was a player from the hostile system.
Although he was fighting alone, he did not feel he was at a disadvantage at all.
After descending into the world of Legend of the Empire, Javier first joined the Imperial army and became a soldier.
In only two months, he learned one of the Six Forms.
Shave.