I Pull Out Excalibur

14 – The Sword of the Stars, Excalibur

The boy doesn’t know.

How brightly the stars shine.

The boy doesn’t know.

How warm the sun is.

He couldn’t enjoy what everyone took for granted. The place where the boy was born was a deep underground city untouched by starlight or the sun’s rays. Even if he looked up at the sky, all he could see was the dim ceiling of the underground city.

Born among the discarded, the boy dreamed and longed while gazing at the ceiling that didn’t reveal the stars.

He wanted to have stars.

He wanted to become a being that emitted its own light. Like the knights in fairy tales, like heroes, he wanted to be a being with a brilliant light. Holding an old and worn-out fairy tale book, the boy dreamed.

Even though he knew it couldn’t come true.

Even though he knew it was an overwhelming desire.

The boy couldn’t let go of his dream.

2.

The first thing children in the underground city learn is how to give up. To be precise, it’s more about realizing than learning, but the children of this city come to realize it suddenly from a very young age.

That they will rot away here for their entire lives.

That they can never escape this city.

No matter what they do, they can’t rise above. So naturally, they learn to give up and resign. It doesn’t take long for the sparkling eyes of children dreaming to become as hazy as the fog that covers the underground city.

Najin was no exception.

Najin knew his talent. He had never boasted about it, but he had a rough idea of how vast his talent was.

‘It’s hard not to know.’

Najin had good eyes. He had keen observation skills, sensitivity to changes in others’ expressions, and a quick wit. That’s why Najin had been watching all along.

Every time he swung the sword.

Whenever he did something.

To see the surprise on Offen and Eiban’s faces. Sometimes, he would force himself to hide that surprise and act as if it didn’t matter. Even though he was not naive enough to not understand their intentions.

He knew. Everything.

That his talent didn’t fit in this city, that his talent was abnormal in the eyes of the strong Eiban and Offen, that Eiban was trying to control his growth by restraining his talent, he knew it all.

He just closed his eyes and blocked his ears, pretending not to know.

“It doesn’t matter anyway, since I won’t be able to rise.”

No matter how brilliant his talent was.

No matter how enormous his talent was.

He knew that he would eventually rot in this city.

That’s why he had always resigned himself. Even if there was light in front of him, he wouldn’t reach for it if it was beyond his reach. Because it was a light that he was not allowed to have.

Acceptance. Surrender. Forget. Shake off.

In this way, the boy had constantly stripped himself (of confidence). He had stripped and stripped, but there was something that he couldn’t ultimately strip away.

A longing for the stars.

Najin looked ahead. There was a dream that he couldn’t let go of. Excalibur, the emblem of King Arthur, which was closely tied to the beginning and end of Arthurian legends. When he gazed at the shining sword like a star, Najin had a premonition.

That he couldn’t strip this away either.

“No matter how twisted things become, I won’t be swayed.”

The boy lives for today.

Like all dreaming children, Najin’s pupils were shining at this moment. Not with the dim twilight of the underground city, but with a platinum color like stars.

Beyond the line drawn by Eiban, beyond the border that the esteemed people of the upper district had drawn for all of this city, Najin clenched the sword.

Snap.

The moment Najin clenched the sword of the stars.

The thirteen stars engraved on Excalibur shimmered. Connecting star to star, they formed the shape of a constellation.

And then, there was a rumble.

The Holy Sword began to resonate. The majestic sound of a sword cry that spread across the underground city after hundreds of years of silence. It was not just a story confined to the underground city.

Although it couldn’t be known here because stars couldn’t be seen.

The moment Najin clenched the Holy Sword, the celestial bodies in the night sky shook. The largest constellation that hadn’t moved for hundreds of years rose to its feet.

3.

The vast meadows of the Britannia Empire.

Gerard raised his gaze to the sky instead of swinging his sword. The quiet night sky was trembling. A tumultuous night sky. Gerard felt the shaking of the seven stars he had hung in that place.

He may not have become a Grandmaster, but he was a knight with stars.

The elderly man known as the Empire’s Greatest Sword, the sole Swordmaster of the Empire, smiled as he gazed at the sky.

The highest point of the Sword Sect.

Caron, who was tending to his sword, looked out of the window. Beyond it, the vast night sky unfolded. Feeling a tremor in the six stars he had hung there, he set aside the sword he was maintaining and approached the window. Opening it and looking at the turbulent center of the night sky, he saw the constellation revered by the sect.

The Throne, the Sword of Selection.

The constellation that had remained silent for many years was now stirring. Caron sank into contemplation at the sight of the restless stars.

Caron, the master of the Sword Sect, sensed that he had missed the opportunity to obtain the Holy Sword.

The execution ground of the Bloodline Sect.

Yuel, who was tilting a wine bottle while spreading a blood-stained sword, suddenly looked at the sky. The six stars she had hung there trembled, prompting her to lower the emptied bottle with a clink and look up at the sky with a twisted smile.

Yuel Lazian, the head of the Bloodline Sect.

The assassin, upon realizing that there was one more person to kill, laughed while gazing at the night sky.

The Trial of the Stars. Those who possessed the qualifications to challenge the Selection realized, as they looked at the night sky, that someone had completed the trial.

And then.

Astrologers studying the stars and astronomers observing the movements of the stars. The Platinum Tower, where they gathered, was turned upside down by the unexpected movements of the constellations. Numerous constellations were swirling violently. Since the Thrones had never shown such a significant movement, they were astonished, but…

With the realization that all these movements were caused by a single star, they had to doubt their own eyes. The star that had never moved in hundreds of years was now in motion.

The largest star.

A constellation composed of twelve stars.

The Sword of Selection was in turmoil.

It wasn’t just them looking at the sky.

Adults, children—everyone was looking up at the sky. Astonished by the shaking night sky, some were also fearful.

The sky is trembling.

The stars are in turmoil.

The resonance that began in the underground city below the deep ground was transmitted beyond the underground city to those living above ground, and even to the night sky beyond.

A tumultuous night sky.

The small constellations swept up in the movement of the largest star screamed, and even in the midst of that colossal flow, the constellations that held their positions in silence were silent. Those who remained silent were the ones who had become stars in the era of heroes long ago, who had crossed the continent with King Arthur.

They realized.

That the great hero who led an era was on the move.

And.

One of the Thrones.

The constellation closest to the Sword of Selection, which had accompanied the beginning and end of King Arthur’s journey, and sealed the original Excalibur.

The Holy See, the Staff of Selection.

The magician of the lake, Merlin, opened his eyes wide.

The lake she resided in. Because Excalibur, which should have quietly sunk to the bottom, was radiating light. It was a change that hadn’t occurred in hundreds of years.

Hundreds of years ago, at the end of the journey, Excalibur lost its light along with its owner. After being returned to the lake by the first knight, Excalibur no longer emitted light. But now, at this very moment, Excalibur was scattering radiant starlight.

Merlin’s lake was tinged with platinum.

Then, a flash.

Excalibur transformed into light.

Including the original Excalibur that had been sealed at the bottom of the lake, all the copies of Excalibur scattered throughout various cities on land were transformed into light.

The scattered lights gather.

Now towards the one that has become one.

No one can see the procession of that light.

Even if it were Merlin. The only one allowed to witness it with their eyes is a boy who has passed the trials of the stars.

In the blink of an eye, it happened.

A sudden change. Merlin knows better than anyone else what this change means. Because he knows, Merlin nervously bites his lips.

Someone completed the trials of the stars.

The Holy Sword that nobody had chosen for hundreds of years.

Excalibur has selected its owner.

It appeared, in other words.

The existence that will continue the footsteps of its own king. The existence that will write the next chapter of the unfinished Arthurian legend that day.

It’s not just Merlin who felt it.

The end of the world. The land of Camlann where the stars fall.

The place where Arthur’s journey ended, where Arthur sacrificed himself and stopped everything, so the beings in the land where time does not flow also witnessed the tremor of the night sky.

The cursed dragon writhed.

The witches of the fallen things smiled.

The betrayer of the Round Table rejoiced.

The fallen stars of the distant past enraged.

At this moment.

All those who fell into the underground city.

The many strong ones who tread upon the land above them.

And the transcendent beings shining in the sky above them.

The End of the World, Cursed Things of Kamran.

All of them were captivated by the changes brought about by the boy at the lowest point. They paid attention to the waves caused by the boy, to the changes the boy would bring.

Creak!

The sword was unsheathed.

By the hand of one boy.

Kuwoong, kuwooong…

The sword began to cry.

By the boy who had nothing.

The resounding sword cry. The overwhelming starlight.

In the city of those who had forgotten the light of the stars, the most brilliant starlight flooded. The wave of starlight dyed the underground city of Artman pure white. In the midst of the overflowing starlight, the boy assumed a stance.

He grasped the sword in a posture reminiscent of a sentence he had read countless times in a fairy tale book, conjuring the image of King Arthur.

Arthur was the only one who could draw the sword that no one else could. Even without exerting any force, the sword was pulled out of Arthur’s hand as soon as it touched him. It was because the sword recognized Arthur as its owner.

Najin was the same.

The moment Najin grabbed the sword, Excalibur was automatically pushed out of the rock.The holy sword, adorned with twelve stars, was selected by the boy.

Shrrr.

Excalibur finally revealed its complete form. A platinum-colored blade. The hilt decorated with twelve stars. The long-lost sword that had lost its light sparkled in the boy’s hand.

The shining sword heralds

the beginning of a new history.

After hundreds of years of stagnant history, it began to move. In Artman, a legend that had been waiting for the next chapter to be written for hundreds of years began to have new sentences added.

The boy who held the sword of stars was named Najin.

From a place where stars were invisible, the boy who reached out his hand toward the stars finally grasped them.

4.

As Ivan cut through the crowd of addicts rushing towards him and escaped through the tunnel, he raised his sword and looked up at the sky. Although there were plenty of addicts to be dealt with, in this moment, it was unavoidable.

Because stars had appeared in Artman.

The majestic sound of bells resounded throughout Artman. The overflowing, dazzling starlight. It was a scene that the people living in this city had long forgotten.

“…”

Even Jorse, who had been opposing Open and Ivan, fell silent and gazed at the sky. The starlight bursting out from the center of the underground city shone in their eyes. No one could tear their gaze away from that light.

Because their dreams were placed there in the upper district.

As stars rose, the ceiling of the underground city was no longer a ceiling. The pitch-dark ceiling of the underground city now became the expanse of the night sky. Ivan chuckled as he looked at the star shining alone in the night sky.

Ivan, the knight chasing the stars.

Once called, the knight felt joy and despair as he looked up at the twinkling star. It seemed like someone had created that starlight. And Ivan knew what was going to happen next.

“Najin, you damn brat.”

Ivan groaned.

“What the hell did you do?”