Terminally-Ill Genius Dark Knight

Chapter 195

Chapter 195

195: Paracelsus

“So… Old man, why do I have to learn this? A sword is meant to cut, right? Do I really need to learn something like medicine, which is meant to save people? Isn’t this something priests learn?”

I often talked back to my master like this.

Whenever I did, Celsus would always seize the opportunity to smack the back of my head.

“Have you forgotten the meaning of the sword you’re learning?”

“I know, I know. [The Living Sword]. It means saving people. But does that make us saints? From the moment we stain our hands with blood, we’re no different from murderers in the eyes of others.”

“You brat! How dare you call me that! You still look like that even now! With the talent you were born with, surpassing mine, it’s laughable to see you waste it like this!”

“Damn it. If only you weren’t the Sword Emperor…”

Celsus always demanded a certain mindset from me when handling the sword.

For the first few days, he didn’t even allow me to hold a sword. I thought he was just showing off his techniques because he was the Sword Emperor.

It didn’t sit well with me.

But as time passed, I decided to follow along, pretending to be obedient.

There was nothing else to do.

I had no reason to look for anyone, nor did I want to.

Remember?

Everyone who was once by my side had either become corpses on their way to the afterlife or, even if alive, were no longer truly living.

Was there any need for me to seek them out and say, I’m fine, as if to comfort them? I just lived my life as it was.

In the process, I became interested in the sword, and I learned that the master before me was one of the continent’s seven stars, known as one of the three Sword Emperors.

Thinking about it, it was really a chance encounter.

If you ask me if it was a satisfying revenge, I still don’t know about Aeloi’s matter. I think about it every time I learn the sword he taught.

What does it mean to have a sword that saves people?

That day, what was the intention behind the sword I swung to save Aeloi?

What did I desire?

“Hey! Snap out of it! Where do you think you’re dozing off?”

Tak! The crisp sound of bamboo echoed.

No, What is this really?

Celsus first corrected my posture. He said the sword I learned was rough, something I picked up unconsciously just for survival, but to reach the pinnacle, I needed to take a few more steps.

He said I couldn’t reach that level without correcting my stance from the beginning.

So, he changed my posture and completely overhauled my breathing technique.

It was clear what made the real knights different was their breathing technique. While others might barely manage to strike once per breath, knights were different.

Depending on the situation, they could freely execute multiple sword techniques cutting their enemy, or use unconventional sword paths. This was a definite advantage.

Being able to attack multiple times meant they could control the pace of the battle at will. For a knight, such an advantage was a significant strength.

But back then, I didn’t understand that at all.

“No, I hear that even in my current state, I’m good enough! There were no problems when I was active as a mercenary, and it was fine when ‘dealing with’ ( Note: He uses ??? which is a very rude word ) those noble bastards… Ah!”

“What do you mean by dealing with? 'Dealing with? I thought you just had a bad habit of speaking rudely to your teacher, but you can’t even watch your words?”

“No, what am I supposed to do if I was never taught properly in the first place?”

“That’s why I’m giving you etiquette lessons now. Hmph, now you understand the depth of your master’s generosity, right? You brat! Where do you think you’re running off to?”

**********

I often skipped my master’s lessons.

Although I had a competitive spirit, the environment wasn’t suitable for it to be fully demonstrated. Master Celsus would always repeat the same thing.

“If only there was someone talented enough to humble that pride of yours.”

“Ha, do you think such a person exists anywhere on the continent?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! The continent is full of ridiculously strong people.”

I got angry and asked the old man.

“Then, Celsus, the other two Sword Emperors must be much stronger than you, well?”

“….Yes.”

“Ng?”

I was slightly taken aback by his unexpected answer.

Knights, mages, and other similar professions naturally hold their heads high, and my master, Celsus, also took great pride in being called a Sword Emperor by the public.

But why?

When the topic of the other two Sword Emperors came up, his expression darkened unusually.

He continued.

“The other two, besides me. They are ridiculously strong. Ulysses… her [Heaven-breaking Sword] is so powerful it seems like it could pierce and shatter the heavens. Theo von Reinhaver wields a black sword so desolate and beautiful that it could turn day into night. Beyond this, there are countless other swords. Disciple…. listen well. You are still nothing more than a novice among the innumerable swordsmen.

"….If I’m a novice, then those I’ve killed must be fools.”

“Yes, exactly. There’s always a higher sky. Don’t forget this and engrave it in your heart. Even I, one of the three Sword Emperors, could never win if one of them attacked me.”

I quickly left.

Celsus.

The fact that my master was steeped in a sense of defeat didn’t sit well with me.

If you’ve beaten me, then don’t spout such nonsense because you’re overwhelmingly stronger than me. It makes me feel pathetic.

“Ha, I don’t know about anything else, but I can see you have an inferiority complex towards those two. Old man! I won’t become a knight like that. Understand? I…?”

You, whom I trusted, shouldn’t say such things.

It makes me feel like I’m nothing.

I swallowed those words and turned away.

A few days after that conversation.

I went to Celsus’s residence to confront him, only to find him on the verge of becoming a cold corpse.

Bloodstains and traces of blood were everywhere, indicating a battle beyond my imagination.

What happened?

It wasn’t an accident.

Who would dare target Celsus?

Is there anyone bold enough to target one of the three Sword Emperors?

“Cough…! Disciple… come here… I have something to say before I go…”

“Old man! Stop talking nonsense and get up. I’ll get angry.”

I tried to revive him using the medical techniques the old man taught me.

But all his blood vessels had already been severed.

There was nothing I could do.

The old man continued.

“I have something… to say. If not now, I won’t be able to… This is a request.”

Master. It was at that moment that I inherited the name Celsus. To add, I swore to catch and kill the bastard who did this to my master…

As I watched Celsus take his last breath, I thought

Ah, it’s been taken from me again.

**********

Paracelsus recalls the last words his master uttered.

— Now you must have realized. [The Living Sword] is not just a sword for killing people, but it’s also not a sword wielded solely to save lives as its name suggests. A sword is ultimately meant to cut someone down. Don’t forget that.

— It’s too early to pass it on, but… it’s a gift.

— Take my name.

— From now on, your name is Paracelsus, meaning you will surpass me.

**********

“If it’s winter, I’ve already endured it harshly.”

Paracelsus calmly speaks as he crosses swords with his opponent. He glances at his opponent, one of the three Sword Emperors, a genius knight with immense influence, as the name suggests.

But what does it matter?

In the past, Paracelsus fought to protect what he loved.

But he failed to protect anything, and he lost his sense of direction.

This wasn’t good. Bad memories. But he could overcome them.

Thanks to his master.

Celsus.

Sacrificed in the last emperor’s secret struggle, his master told him to take the name Paracelsus, meaning to surpass him. From then on, that would be his name

From that moment, he thought,

At least, I will live in a way that does not disgrace the name Paracelsus gave me.

But…

Even Celsus, in his later years, told him

— Don’t go against the imperial family. You will only see blood. You can change everything only after completing the sword. Even I have not reached that point…

— Do not attempt it until you reach that point.

Ulysses shatters Paracelsus’s thoughts and looks at him with arrogant eyes.

“Step back. This is not your place to interfere.”

“Explain to me what kind of place I should be interfering in?”

Paracelsus, while being pushed back, continues to execute the [Salvation Sword]

He tries to hold her back somehow.

Does he know he can’t turn this situation around?

Of course, he does.

'It’s laughable. After everything I learned from the old man? I’m still stuck here. I can’t change anything on my own, can’t I?’

Paracelsus thinks this and smiles faintly.

He still smiles, thinking of his master. His feet were scorched against the ground, and a sharp pain rose in his wrist, but he endured it without concern.

If he strays even a little here, he will surely be killed.

But even at this moment, he thought to himself

'…But. Old man, did you know?’

At that moment.

Paracelsus prepares a full-powered attack. It was prepared in an instant, and even Ulysses didn’t notice.

The reason was simple.

First, she didn’t expect such power from this fledging.

Second, this required the most precise control among the sword techniques of the Sword Emperor Celsus she knew.

It could be activated silently, which was its unique advantage.

Before anyone realized, Paracelsus deflected the sword and used the recoil to distance himself, murmuring softly.

Living Sword, the third form of the initial stage

Concealment (??)

A sword technique named for hiding one’s traces.

The third form, Concealment, hits the enemy.

This is a type of spatial sword technique that disappears and reappears, where a crescent-shaped flying attack vanishes, only to reappear right in front of the opponent and tear them apart.

However, even for Paracelsus, hailed as a genius, this technique is still difficult to execute more than once. Thus, he focuses all his nerves and has no choice but to entrust his back entirely to Leon.

But…

Now it’s okay.

A way to deal with these terrible bastards has just appeared.

Paracelsus, with all his might, deflects the sword and shouts.

“Aren’t you late? Noble sir——!!”

'There’s someone I know who can change this situation.’

One person Paracelsus knew.

Among those Paracelsus remembers, there’s one who always finds a way, even when he thinks he’s in the worst situation and can’t overcome it.

His identity is none other than the one who taught him his first defeat.

“Shut up. Commoner.”

The arrogant, but the only noble ally. Nox von Reinhaver

Hihinggg—!

Nox rides Carl and immediately jumps in, drawing the black blade.

Stormbringer. He pressed the sword, which had consumed its fill of mana, onto top of Paracelsus’s sword. That’s it, with all his might, he pushed it into the sword that was receiving Ulysses’s attack.

“Damn it.”

Kiiiing——!

The sound of three swords clashing and the shockwave that shakes the earth fills the battlefield.

Nox’s voice follows in the next moment.

Black Sword, the initial stage, third form.

[Black Blade Falling Petals]

A black rose, imbued with musk, blooms under the Sidus’ hall in front of the first prince.