I Pull Out Excalibur

23 – The Staff of Selection (2)

The successor to Arthur who will appear someday.

The chosen hero for Excalibur.

Merlin had imagined meetings with such beings in his mind countless times over the past few hundred years. Of course, no one could surpass Arthur in greatness… but at least being chosen by Excalibur implied possessing the qualifications.

Not quite like Arthur.

Certainly, someone equipped with the caliber of a hero.

That’s why when the sword was drawn not long ago, the candidates Merlin had considered in his mind were those known as heroes of this era.

The finest swordsman of the era? Or perhaps the leader of the Order of the Sword? If not, then the commander of a prestigious knightly order upholding the traditions of the old knights?

Frankly, the candidates didn’t particularly catch Merlin’s eye, but they just about made the cut. They were individuals renowned for wielding Excalibur, possessing skill, fame, and all-rounded character.

‘However.’

Merlin looked ahead.

There stood a boy, holding the shining sword, wearing a terribly cheeky expression.

Not a master swordsman.

Nor an exceptional personality.

Not completed as a hero either.

A boy without renown or achievements.

The only point to highlight was that he had a history of insulting Arthur, which wasn’t something to earn points for, but definitely to lose them. Merlin mentally scored the boy in front of him.

Far from passing, it was a failing grade.

He brought him in for an interview, but the candidate threw insults and challenges at the interviewer. Merlin felt a headache coming on.

‘Is this… the successor?’

“You, surely, will crumble?”

In response to Merlin’s words, Najin furrowed her brow.

“What does that mean?”

“That sword you’re holding. It seems you still don’t understand the significance of drawing Excalibur.”

Merlin pointed a finger.

Najin nodded towards the sword she held.

“Drawing Excalibur doesn’t just mean you become Arthur’s successor. As long as you hold the sword, you ‘must’ walk the path of a hero. Excalibur will make sure of that.”

The Sword of Selection, Excalibur.

Choosing the destiny of a hero and forcing the one who wields the sword to become a hero. In fairy tales, it’s depicted as incredibly sublime and beautiful, but…

“There are countless obstacles on the path you walk with the sword. Countless trials await you.”

Reality is not so different.

Hardship and trials make a hero. Those who walk the thorny path, always tiptoeing on the boundary between life and death. That is the essence of those called heroes.

“The cursed ones of Camelot, the rebellious knights and their followers, the witch at the end of the world with forsaken creatures…”

Merlin took a step forward. Thorns sprouted wherever she stepped.

“Forcing numerous heroes into death, defiled beings who indulged in the spirits and flesh of those heroes. They will all pay attention to you. Do you think it ends there?”

Merlin sighed.

“Among the countless constellations in the sky above, how many will be displeased with you? And among those living beneath the earth, how many will want to erase you?”

Countless evils.

“Can you endure that?”

Things that necessarily accompany the path of a hero.

“If you were somewhat complete, you wouldn’t even need me to say these things. Whether you’re a swordmaster, a hero, a leader of a group, or even from a noble lineage…”

If you’re a transcendent swordmaster.

If you’re a hero who has accumulated enough achievements and fame.

If you have followers who follow you.

If you have a firm foundation that won’t easily shake.

“If you drew the sword with any of those, what I said would be nothing more than simple advice.”

With any of those, you could withstand the sweeping winds without faltering. Even if you did waver, you would quickly find your footing.

“But you’re not, are you?”

Merlin looked directly at Najin.

“You have nothing. You’ll easily sway in the blowing wind, might even lose your way, and you’re practically begging to become the prey of the strong, a plaything for them, an easy puppet to manipulate.”

The foreseen future for the boy.

“That’s what you…”

“Why are you talking so much?”

Najin interrupted Merlin.

Merlin furrowed his brow.

“What?”

“Why are you talking like that? It’s simple if you get to the point. You drew your sword without even knowing the subject, asking if you can handle that. Isn’t that what you’re talking about? Right now.”

Although Najin’s tone was rude, it wasn’t incorrect. Merlin nodded with a troubled expression. Najin sighed briefly and looked at Merlin.

“As the Archbishop said, I have nothing. It’s a fact that I have nothing special, and if I were to be pickled, I would be. Who wouldn’t know that?”

Even if no one told him, Najin knew that fact better than anyone else. How much he had suffered just to come up to the surface right now.

He had almost died several times, and if it weren’t for Ivan’s sacrifice, he would have already been a corpse rolling somewhere in the underground city.

Am I being targeted by the strong?

Will many things try to question me?

Najin scoffed at Merlin’s warning.

I don’t even know that. When I reached for the sword, I had already resolved to stake my life.

“I didn’t draw the sword without that determination.”

From the moment he crossed the line, Najin had made up his mind.

What he, who had nothing, could uniquely possess. It was only his longing for the stars. Instead of being afraid and giving up already, he would rather be crushed and die.

Najin glanced at Merlin.

He roughly grasped how the Archbishop in front of him was thinking and reacting. It was useless to step back and be afraid. Najin decided to become more confident.

“King Arthur wasn’t that great from the beginning, right? He climbed up from scratch without any foundation, so he was called a great hero.”

Najin, who had read fairy tales many times.

Najin, who had read the meeting of Arthur and Merlin, the scene where Merlin led Arthur many times. Perhaps, there might be a little disappointment mixed in with the words Najin was uttering now.

Merlin in the fairy tale that Najin read.

He was never the kind of being to say such things.

It was Merlin who saw potential in someone who had nothing and made the insignificant into a great king.

“Is it not a bit reckless for someone who guided such a King Arthur to speak like this?”

“Are you provoking me right now?”

“I’m just stating the facts.”

Merlin burst into laughter.

Did he notice the test? It didn’t seem like it.

“Words are something anyone can do.”

But still, it’s not bad.

Rather than being intimidated, the boldness to confidently parry wasn’t bad. Merlin, feeling a slight interest in the boy before her, flicked her finger.

Tap.

In an instant, the tiger that had been stalking alongside her footsteps was drawn into Najin’s eyes. Anything is easy to say with words. But proving oneself always lay in actions, not words.

“If you can say the same even after seeing this.”

Merlin’s steps halted.

“I’ll acknowledge it then.”

The tiger in Najin’s eyes held the reflection of determination. It showed Najin the path he must tread and the battlefields he must reach after drawing Excalibur. The trials he would ‘inevitably’ face.

Similar to what was shown to Arthur centuries ago.

If he could utter the same words after witnessing that, Merlin would reconsider that boy. Thinking this, Merlin gazed firmly at the resolute Najin.

3.

Numerous scenes passed through Najin’s field of view.

Although he was simply observing, Najin felt as if he was the one standing in that place. His body trembled. The vibrating stench made his nostrils twitch, and the pain of his flesh burning in the intense heat was palpable.

The battlefield of the wicked and malicious. A dark realm where countless demons and their contractors soared. There, he had seen many strong ones being devoured by demons while still alive.

The moment his eyes met those of demons, Najin had to surrender his life to them.

Being torn apart, destroyed, and not even finding peace in death, he became their servitor. Without a moment to shiver in the face of a horrific demise, his vision was already shaking.

A battlefield where stars were born and stars set. A stage where stars could truly intervene. There, he had witnessed the dominance exerted by the stars already in the sky. He had seen numerous heroes conclude their journeys, devoured by the stars.

Crushing those who aspired to become stars.

Destroying those who dreamed of stars.

Najin had seen corrupt thrones stealing the stars they possessed. They were greedily enlarging their influence. When they captured Najin in their sight, he felt crushed under something enormous. It was a feeling of the foundation of his existence being denied.

And beyond those numerous scenes.

Najin looked for the last time.

The land of death established beyond the horizon. A place where incomparably colossal beings had taken residence. This time, Najin wasn’t standing there. He was merely watching that place from a distance.

Something rippled beyond the horizon.

It seemed like the waves crashing against mountains, but soon Najin realized what it was. A dragon. An endlessly colossal dragon. Even though he didn’t meet its gaze, the moment Najin recognized its existence, his soul shattered into pieces.

The land of the abyss, Kamran.

The moment Najin faced the boundary of that place, his soul crumbled. As the process repeated several times, despite the efforts of the tiger, the light in Najin’s eyes, which had still been shining, dimmed.

“······.”

Merlin sighed as he watched the scene unfold before him.

This is wrong.

It’s been ruined. How could such a novice endure such landscapes with such a simple-minded spirit? Even the strongest would suffer for months upon gazing at those sights. Some would be completely broken.

Arthur, despite seeing this landscape, stood up immediately, ready to face it head-on, but he said to Merlin…

“That was possible because it was Arthur.”

Who else could possibly become like Arthur?

I had hoped to see a boy who could confidently speak without fear, but perhaps it was all just talk. With disappointment, Merlin reached out towards the boy’s forehead.

His intention was to pull back Excalibur and erase his memories. It would be impossible for the boy to have a chance if he were to crumble here. It would be better to end it here rather than leaving him as prey for the corrupt.

Just as Merlin’s finger was about to touch Nezin’s forehead…

“St-stop.”

A voice was heard.

Nezin’s hand suddenly reached out and tightly gripped Merlin’s wrist. Merlin looked at Nezin, wide-eyed, as Nezin held onto his wrist.

His piercing gaze was focused.

Excalibur was disappearing from his eyes.

Nezin had broken free from the illusion that Merlin had shown him. Nezin’s eyes, now revealed without Excalibur, still shone brightly.

How…?

Merlin was taken aback, unable to register the surprise.

Nezin spoke.

“I know. That I am insignificant. That I am neither noble nor honorable like King Arthur. It’s only natural that I don’t catch your attention.”

Gasping for breath, Nezin continued. His breaths were heavy, and his bloodshot eyes were filled with determination.

“That talk about me being born under a lucky star like Arthur, it’s not true. I don’t think that way. King Arthur was greater than anyone else… He was the most brilliant existence, shining the brightest in the highest place in the night sky.”

He eradicated the darkness of humanity.

He swept away numerous demons.

He cast down false thrones.

He was the great hero who stopped the end of Camelot.

“That’s why.”

Because he was such a shining existence.

“I have to go to a higher place, like King Arthur, no, even higher than King Arthur.”

It holds meaning as a goal.

It is worth the challenge to become a hero who led the era, rather than just being born under a lucky star. Nezin was saying this.

“No matter what stands in my way, I will go on. Because I must hang my own star in the highest place.”

He made a promise to the knight who had not lost his pride.

He swore in a land where no stars could be seen.

“So, I cannot return this.”

Najin tightly gripped Excalibur.

Excalibur still gleamed.

“······.”

Merlin silently watched Najin.

What the blue eyes looked at was Najin, and also someone other than Najin. Merlin saw a very distant past in Najin.

“No matter what stands in the way, it’s fine.”

“I will become the hero who leads this era.”

“By hanging my star in the highest place, it will become a guidepost for those who follow me. And for that, I need a symbol. Just like this sword.”

The first meeting with Arthur.

Merlin recalled Arthur’s unwavering appearance in the future he had shown.

“So, I cannot return this.”

“From now on, this sword must become a symbol with me.”

“A symbol of victory, glory, and hope.”

Remembering Arthur shouting like that.

Merlin let out a long, very long sigh. Though Najin couldn’t see Merlin’s face because of the flowing hair that bowed down, there was a smile on Merlin’s lips.

“That statement.”

Merlin, with a serious expression, looked up.

She took the first step back. Without pressuring the boy anymore, Merlin opened her mouth.

“That statement of Arthur being the fortune of the era.”

“So, it’s just empty words······.”

“You have to prove it. You arrogant kid.”

Najin blinked.

Merlin’s attitude had changed since a little while ago. Merlin shrugged and swept her hair away.

“Honestly, there’s not a single part I like about you, but I can acknowledge your mental strength and charisma.”

He fell short of passing marks.

But he saw potential. Because he saw potential, Merlin hesitated. The decision she had to make from now on might be a significant one, maybe she had to hang her own star.

The dilemma was both long and short.

In the end, what came to mind in the moment of decision was the testament left by Arthur, the sword she had carried.

“If someday a new owner of this sword appears.”

“I hope you will guide them.”

“Do not believe that it is a choice left by my will. Do as you wish. Judge with your own two eyes. Just like you did to me.”

And Arthur, at that time, smiled and said.

“If even a slight glimpse of light appeared.”

“If even a faint possibility was seen.”

“It is your responsibility to make it bloom.”

“That is why it is the Staff of Selection.”

She saw the possibility.

She also saw the light.

Reflecting on the past, Merlin saw the present.

“Though it doesn’t please me.”

She couldn’t deny the possibility.

Merlin’s lips curled into a smile as she looked into the eyes of the boy that still shone. It was a smile filled with interest or anticipation.

“Listen closely, young one.”

Merlin reached out her hand to Naejin.

“You are the one who must take responsibility for the words you have spoken and prove them. You must prove whether Arthur is the chosen one of this era through your life.”

Naejin snorted.

“If you fail, I will kill you with my own hands. The punishment I will deliver will be postponed until then. But if you give up or run away, I will strike you with lightning right in that moment. It’s best if you don’t even think about retreating.”

Her outstretched hand stopped in front of Naejin.

It was positioned to clasp hands with his forehead or neck. Naejin opened his eyes wide as he looked at the hand laid in front of him.

What’s there to do? Merlin furrowed her brows at Naejin’s insistent stare. She growled.

“Not taking it? Do you want to die?”

Reluctantly, Naejin grabbed Merlin’s hand.

The moment they clasped hands, Naejin’s vision shook. The sensation was similar to what he felt when he was pulled here. However, it was a slightly different sensation.

In the shaking vision, Naejin saw it.

The constellation being engraved on the back of the hand held together with Merlin. It was a constellation composed of eleven stars. It was the constellation held by the Staff of Selection.