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Every sword was pointing in the same direction.

Toward the center of the Ancient Sword Mausoleum.

A longsword was deeply embedded in the black rock.

Its blade was perfectly straight, its entire surface a pristine silver-white, devoid of any decorative patterns.

Sunlight fell upon it, reflecting a concentrated beam of holy swordlight so brilliant that it made John’s eyes ache.

The hilt was heavy and archaic. The moment John’s gaze settled on the sword, a tingling sensation spread across his scalp.

The space surrounding the blade was distorted.

Perhaps it was because visible ripples of white holy radiance were continuously spreading outward from it.

As he approached, John finally noticed three characters engraved near the base of the blade, close to the hilt.

”Bladeborne.”

He patted the dragon’s back.

Ophelia folded her wings and landed steadily beside the Ancient Sword Mausoleum.

John leaped from her back, landing on the black rock.

”My Lord! My Lord, you’re here! Right over here!”

Raistlin came running out of the Ancient Sword Mausoleum with his staff in hand, his face practically glowing with excitement.

”Bladeborne’s soul is inside that sword! Hurry and awaken him...”

John raised a hand to silence the old man’s excited chatter, then walked toward the center of the mausoleum.

[Hero Recruitment Scroll]

”Awaken.”

The scroll dissolved into golden flames in his hand.

The instant the light flowed into the silver-white longsword—

Bzzzzng!

A sword’s ringing cry resounded throughout heaven and earth.

All ten thousand swords beneath John’s feet began to tremble simultaneously.

Clang—!

The first sword rose from the ground and flew into the air.

Then the second, the third, the tenth, the hundredth, the thousandth...

All ten thousand swords soared into the sky.

Silver-white, pitch-black, crimson, azure—countless different sword lights intertwined above the Crimson Desert, forming a vast sea of swords that blotted out the sky and the sun.

They swirled around the center of the Ancient Sword Mausoleum.

John stood directly in the middle of the vortex of ten thousand swords.

”My Lord! Get away from there!”

Raistlin rushed up from behind and grabbed John by the arm.

Six-colored light suddenly flared beneath their feet. The two vanished from the center of the mausoleum and reappeared a hundred meters away, in a safe location.

The moment they retreated—

The ten thousand swords resonated as one.

Every blade converged toward the center, forming a silver pillar of light that shot straight into the heavens.

The pillar pierced the sky, splitting the Crimson Desert’s heavens in two.

A tall, imposing figure slowly emerged from within the pillar of light.

The man wore a set of worn, faded silver-white Templar plate armor. Ancient holy runes were engraved across his breastplate, while his pauldrons bore several scars from battles long past. Heavy knight’s boots protected his feet.

At his waist hung the same silver-white longsword they had seen moments earlier.

Bladeborne stood atop the pillar formed by the ten thousand swords. He glanced down at the Ancient Sword Mausoleum beneath his feet, then raised his eyes toward John in the distance.

He chuckled softly, stepped out of the pillar, and walked toward John one step at a time.

Ding!

A system notification rang out.

[Lord ”Tyrant” has successfully established a contract with the SSS-Rank Hero ”Bladeborne”!]

[Hidden synergy condition fulfilled!]

[Congratulations, Lord ”Tyrant”! You have unlocked the training rights for the Six-Star unit: Swordsman!]

[Obtained: Six-Star Unit Training License · Swordsman ×1!]

[Obtained: Six-Star Unit Altar Stone ×1!]

The corners of John’s mouth lifted slightly. He was just about to speak when—

”Bladeborne!”

Raistlin slowly approached from behind, leaning on his staff. An unmistakably mischievous glint flickered in his cloudy eyes.

”Heh heh! Finally, I’ve caught you!”

Bladeborne turned toward him, his brow furrowing.

”Why is it you?!”

Raistlin planted his staff firmly on the ground, six-colored light swirling around its tip.

”You little brat—!”

His voice suddenly rose.

”What you owe me is finally coming due today!”

Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, Raistlin swung his staff forward.

A pillar of crimson fire erupted from its tip, hurtling straight toward Bladeborne’s face.

Bladeborne’s pupils contracted sharply. He pushed off the ground, his body sliding several meters sideways like a fallen leaf caught in the wind.

The pillar of fire grazed his armored shoulder, exploding into the sand behind him and leaving a deep, charred crater.

”Raistlin!”

Bladeborne’s right hand rested on his sword’s hilt. He drew the blade a few inches from its sheath, silver-white swordlight flickering along the exposed edge.

”What is wrong with you?! If you hadn’t stabbed me in the back all those years ago, would the gods ever have captured me?!”

Raistlin was practically beside himself with excitement. He slammed his staff against the ground again.

”I’ve waited so long for this day! Hahahahahaha!”

He raised his staff high. Six-colored light gathered at its tip, compressing into a fist-sized sphere of mixed elemental energy before hurtling violently toward Bladeborne.

Bladeborne drew his sword.

A slash of holy radiance burst from the blade, cleaving the elemental sphere cleanly in two.

The two halves flew past his shoulders and exploded behind him, producing two enormous, multicolored mushroom clouds.

”Old man, have you completely lost your mind?!”

Bladeborne’s figure blurred.

Flash Step!

He appeared behind Raistlin in an instant, his Holy Blade sweeping horizontally with a streak of silver light.

”You’re the one who broke into my Templar Hall and stole its treasures first!”

Raistlin reacted almost immediately. Six-colored light flashed beneath his feet, and his entire body retreated dozens of meters in a blur.

The swordlight struck the spot where he had been standing, carving a deep fissure into the ground.

Standing a hundred meters away, John watched the two battle so fiercely that heaven and earth seemed to tremble. The corner of his mouth twitched.

”These two...”

Judging from their own accounts, neither of them could exactly be called innocent.

Ophelia walked over from the side, her silver hair whipping in the shock waves of their battle. A hint of excitement flickered in her dark golden, slit-pupiled eyes.

Since Raistlin had been resurrected first, his level was considerably higher than Bladeborne’s. He unleashed wave after wave of elemental bombardment.

Bladeborne, however, was incredibly agile. Whenever he was pushed to the brink, he would slip outside Raistlin’s field of vision at the last possible moment, only to reappear and land another strike.

The two fought from the Ancient Sword Mausoleum to the dunes, then from the dunes into the sky.

Raistlin swept his staff through the air, summoning six elemental tornadoes.

Bladeborne used Flash Step to enter the center of the tornadoes, his silver holy swordlight slicing through all six simultaneously.

Raistlin wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. He waved his staff again, and the six-sided crystal embedded in its tip blazed with dazzling light.

Six different elements converged above his head, compressed together, and fused into a single mass.

[Elemental Burst]

It was the same skill he had used to annihilate the monsters in Frostspine Mountains.

Bladeborne stood opposite him, silver-white holy radiance swirling around his body.

[Radiant Judgment]

Space behind him distorted violently. A towering, several-dozen-meter-tall phantom of a holy knight slowly materialized in the air.

The apparition wielded a longsword identical to Bladeborne’s, except several times larger.

Its blade alone was fifty meters long and five meters wide, forged entirely from pure holy radiance. Its silver-white brilliance illuminated the skies above the Crimson Desert.

The phantom holy knight slowly raised its enormous sword, mirroring Bladeborne’s movements before bringing it crashing down with tremendous force.

Both sides had reached the peak of their power.

A gray pillar of light and a silver pillar of light collided in midair.

A visible shock wave expanded outward from the point of impact.

The two beams devoured each other. Gray-white and silver-white light merged, rapidly expanding into an enormous sphere.

Raistlin gritted his teeth, the veins on his withered arms bulging as he pressed his staff against the sphere and forced it forward.

Bladeborne gripped his sword with both hands, layers of holy radiance gathering around his body. The veins at his temples throbbed visibly.

Both men’s faces had turned bright red from the strain.

If the sphere exploded now, everyone within several kilometers would be caught in the blast.

And Raistlin and Bladeborne, standing at its very center, would fare no better.

”Enough.”