Chương 111: Draw Your Sword, Young Man

A pack of wolves surrounded them.

grimace in pain.

Shaen gripped his longsword and used [Swiftness] to circle the wolf pack twice, instantly turning the ferocious wolves into a pile of magical particles.

"It should be around here."

The increasing number of demon wolves along the way indicates that they are getting closer and closer to the Sanctuary where the Sword of the Warrior is located.

"Found it."

Frilian looked up at the valley ahead.

Xia En followed her gaze and saw a huge cherry blossom tree standing deep in the valley.

Cherry blossoms cascaded down like a waterfall.

Each flower branch is adorned with a small icicle. Despite being surrounded by ice and snow, the delicate flowers still bloom freely in the cold.

It makes people feel the freedom and uniqueness of life.

"It's so beautiful, I really want Philon to see it too—" Frillie stood beneath the cherry blossom tree, looking up at the rare and beautiful sight.

"The 'icicle cherry blossoms' blooming in winter are my favorite—" The flowers are blooming happily.

Xia En looked at the emotions flowing in Frilian's eyes, and then at the huge flowering tree in front of him.

I feel they are very similar.

"Um?"

Hearing Shane's mutterings, Frillie responded with a puzzled "hmm".

"I said, this flower is a lot like you: strong, cold, yet radiant."

After Shane finished speaking, Frillie glanced at him with considerable surprise.

"What, am I wrong?"

Frillie frowned.

"This really doesn't suit you."

Xia En was speechless.

In this situation, any liberal arts student would be tempted to compose a poem. Honestly, it's rare to see someone being poetic, and you, you have no sense of romance!

Frilian slowly climbed up the huge roots of the [Ice Pillar Cherry], picked up a giant mushroom comparable to a pot lid, and turned to call to Shane.

"We're leaving, we're going back."

Xia En was startled.

Instantly, I remembered the 1. 8-meter-tall "Zhangqiu scallion" I ate in my past life — Just then.

The ground suddenly shook.

"ah."

As the tremors caused the surrounding snow to swell, a landslide occurred, and Frillie immediately stumbled.

With lightning speed, Xia En grabbed her and then launched a Shadow Strike, arriving at the top of the hill.

After managing to steady herself, Frillie looked into the distance.

There was a ravine there, and faint howling sounds could be heard coming from that direction. The tremors just now also came from that direction.

"Monsters are attacking the Sanctuary."

The two exchanged a glance.

Frilian grabbed Shane by the collar and, as usual, activated her [Flight Magic], bringing the two of them above the [Sanctuary].

Sure enough, there was a cave below.

A number of demonic wolves had gathered in front of the cave, among which the leader had a blue face and fangs, and vaguely resembled a human.

"That must be the 'Mountain Lord' that the village chief mentioned. It is indeed quite strong. It looks like it will evolve into a true demon soon."

"In just eighty years, these guys have evolved to this extent. It seems I really did arrive a bit late."

Frillie revealed her staff.

At this moment, the seemingly powerful [humanoid demon wolf] was violently ramming into the cave's barrier.

The two exchanged a glance. Shane slid down the mountainside to the back of the demonic wolf, while Frilian flew into the air and instantly unleashed more than a dozen magic spells. A barrage of lightning-like magical attacks rained down from the sky, instantly killing the small demonic wolves that had gathered there.

Taking advantage of the dust and smoke from the magical attack, Xia En concealed himself and activated [Shadow Strike] and [Swiftness], silently arriving behind the so-called [Mountain Lord].

The sword pierced through.

Instantly, the various attributes on the longsword were activated and took effect in turn.

The humanoid wolf, shrouded in a host of negative status effects, staggered a couple of steps before crashing heavily onto the snow with a thud.

Xia En stepped over the dissipating corpse of the [Humanoid Demon Wolf] and walked straight to the front of the cave.

He wanted to see what the legendary "Sword of the Warrior" was really like.

Throughout history, many heroes have come to the Sanctuary to try and pull out this sword, but it has remained unmoved.

After that, as the legend was embellished, it evolved into the absurd tale that "only the hero who can defeat the cataclysmic disaster can pull out that sword."

Xia En stood still in front of the cave.

Instantly, two golden characters appeared before his eyes.

[Questioning the Heart] There are only two simple words, nothing else.

The cave is empty!

Xia En was slightly surprised.

At the same time, he noticed a faint golden mist swirling around the cave.

Xia En could sense a mysterious aura emanating from it.

In an instant, he seemed to understand.

There is no such thing as a sword of a hero in this world.

This is merely a trial set up by the legendary "Goddess" for the world to test their conscience.

Everyone who comes here will see the projection of their own inner self—the family they want to protect—and will see the holy sword that can save the world. So they live here and protect it for generations.

Adventurers who wanted to defeat the Demon King saw the "Hero's Sword" and became obsessed with finding out who the real hero was and who was qualified to defeat the Demon King.

As these legends spread day after day, people began to believe that there really was a sword that could save the world and end suffering. But in fact, the goddess had told the world from the beginning: there was never any savior sword, only the courage to recognize this truth.

Therefore, neither the Holy Sword nor the Hero's Sword can be drawn.

Ask your heart, ask your heart, ask about the reality before your eyes, ask about the reality of people's hearts.

The question is: Do you have the courage to face the reality of this world?

In that instant, Shane suddenly understood the meaning of the profession of "Sage".

Those simple and profound terms are precisely the truth in the eyes of the wise.

With a snap, in the instant his thoughts shifted from chaos to calm, the entire barrier of the [Sanctuary] shattered, and fragments carrying magical particles fell in a flurry.

Golden mist slowly dissipated inside the cave.

Frilian landed next to Shane.

She stared questioningly at the empty cave, and asked, "You drew the Holy Sword?"

Upon hearing this, Xia En smiled.

"Yes, it's out."

"Where?"

Xia En patted his chest.

Frillie looked puzzled; she didn't understand.

Xia En didn't explain further, turned around and leaped up the hill.

"Let's go, I still have to go home and take care of the kids."

Frilian activated her [Flight Magic] and instantly caught up.

"So, where exactly is it—?"

Xia En remained silent, only glancing back at the now-empty cave.

From now on, the Village of Swords will no longer have to worry about the incursions of the demon wolves.

Back in the village.

Frillie immediately went to brew some medicine for Philon.

Xia En came to Philon's bedside.

The little girl was covered in sweat, her cheeks were flushed, and she was gritting her teeth, as if she was desperately enduring something. Even the way she looked at Xia En had become unfriendly.

"??"

Shaen looked at Shutark, wondering what was going on and whether he hadn't been taken care of properly.

Shutark shrugged innocently.

"I don't know either, I've been angry since just now."

"As you instructed, I feed Philon a cup of water every now and then," Shutark said, holding up the large teapot in his hand.

"Look, the first two pots of water are all gone, and she's already started drinking the third one."

As they were talking, Philon's weak voice, tinged with anger, drifted from the bed.

"Shut up."

"Fool."

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