Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

CH730 House Skywalker Revival

***

"The Sword Emperor?" Saul repeated blankly. "Who is that?"

"To me? An annoying drill sergeant who kept trying to force me onto the path of the sword." Alex replied whilst examining the Skywalker Sword in his hand. "But to this world..."

His gaze sharpened slightly.

"He was one of the strongest beings it’s ever produced. A juggernaut from an ancient era, the greatest pure swordsman of his age... and a hero."

Saul stared at Alex in confusion.

However, Alex merely offered a faint smile and didn’t elaborate further.

Instead, he focused his Spiritual Force on the sword itself.

’The blade contains a remnant of the Sword Emperor’s Will.’ Alex analysed inwardly. ’Combined with the providence accumulated from generations of reverence and care by House Skywalker, it gradually developed a rudimentary ego.’

His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

’Not truly sapient. Not even fully sentient. But enough to choose who it accepts as a wielder.’

Alex lightly rotated the blade in his hand.

’Anyone the sword rejects would be struck directly by the Sword Emperor’s remnant Will—the Will of a Class 7 existence. In a world where the Navi have effectively suppressed the power ceiling to Class 5, this remnant Will is enough to inflict permanent mental damage to nearly anyone who dares touch it.’

After all, true Legendary-class experts would likely forge weapons suited to themselves rather than gamble on subduing an unknown heirloom.

Alex’s thoughts continued drifting.

’The sword probably sensed my connection to its original master. That’s why it didn’t attack me.’

Then another question surfaced.

’But how did the first Skywalker Patriarch wield it in the first place...? And somehow even bind it to his bloodline afterward?’

No matter how he looked at it, Alex kept arriving at the same conclusion.

Plot arm—

Cough.

Fate.

’Fate and Destiny, huh...’ Alex mused silently.

His brows furrowed.

"I somehow don’t like the sound of that."

The words slipped out unconsciously.

He disliked the notion of invisible hands pulling at the strings of his life.

After a moment, he shook his head and looked back at the sword.

’Now then... what exactly am I supposed to do with you?’ He wondered inwardly. ’I already have the Draconic Baton covering most of my combat needs.’

’That’s yet another thing I’ll need to figure out, huh...’ He sighed inwardly. ’I’ll deal with it later. For now, I can at least use it as a symbol of identity.’

Finally, Alex turned his attention towards the Seal itself.

There were actually two items resting upon the pedestal.

A token... and a ring.

The palm-sized token represented the authority of the Skywalker Patriarch, while the ring functioned as an official signet seal used to stamp House Skywalker’s correspondence and decrees.

Though both were important, the token held greater significance at the moment, since it served as the true proof of succession over House Skywalker.

Both artefacts bore the emblem of the ancient House.

At the centre of the crest was a rhombic sun positioned on the head of a humanoid figure wielding a black sword. Flanking the central figure were asymmetrical wing motifs—a phoenix wing on the right and an eagle-like wing on the left.

Alex stared at the emblem for a moment longer than necessary.

’Even this seal somehow relates back to me...’ He shook his head helplessly.

"Young Master Alex, over here." Saul suddenly called out.

Alex turned and saw the old clergy examining two books resting atop a stone table.

He walked over, picked them up, and skimmed through their contents.

His eyes widened slightly.

"One of them contains the exclusive combat techniques of the Skywalker Patriarch—techniques that can only be used alongside the sword." Alex said. "The other is House Skywalker’s Combat Energy cultivation method."

"With those..." Saul looked at him meaningfully. "You wouldn’t merely be pretending to be a successor of House Skywalker. You could genuinely revive the family."

Alex slowly nodded.

’Everything has fallen into place far too conveniently.’ He thought inwardly.

Others might assume the last remnants of House Skywalker left these things behind in hopes that their lineage would someday rise again.

But after the endless chain of coincidences surrounding this matter, Alex was no longer convinced it was mere chance.

Still...

Even if some unseen hand had arranged this board from the shadows, the pieces had already been placed before him.

And now that they had been, Alex had little choice but to step onto the board and play the game.

He recognised that he might simply be overthinking things.

Perhaps he was merely reading too deeply into a fortunate sequence of events. After all, he had recently accumulated a significant amount of Providence, and Providence wasn’t merely tied to Fate—it also encompassed Fortune.

Maybe Fate wasn’t the only force at play here.

Perhaps Fortune was also subtly guiding events in his favour.

’This wouldn’t even be the first time I’ve relied on Providence.’ Alex sighed inwardly. ’Every power comes with a price eventually.’

Unaware of the youth’s thoughts, Saul continued inspecting the treasury, occasionally explaining the purpose of certain artefacts and heirlooms left behind within the vault.

However, from Alex’s perspective, none of those treasures could compare to the value of the sword, the seals, and the two books.

At least not for their current needs.

"You’re here." Alex suddenly said as another presence entered the vault.

Udara walked inside whilst Alex and Saul were still examining the items the final survivors of House Skywalker had preserved within the chamber.

"The others?" Alex asked.

"They’re cleaning up the spider corpses. There are too many of them, so everyone was needed." Udara replied.

Her gaze swept across the hidden vault.

"What is this place?" She asked curiously.

"Most likely the Sword Emperor’s meditation cave." Alex replied casually. "The founder of House Skywalker probably discovered it later and converted it into a hidden family vault."

Udara’s eyes widened.

"Sword Emperor? Your Sword Emperor?" She asked instinctively.

Alex immediately frowned.

"What do you mean ’my’ Sword Emperor?" He asked flatly. "That sounds strange. Only you and your sisters should be referred to as ’mine’."

Udara instantly blushed.

Then, realising Saul was present, she quickly looked towards the old paladin apologetically.

"Please ignore me. Young Master Alex is... quite the lover. He says things like that with a completely straight face." Saul smiled warmly, clearly entertained by the interaction between the young couple.

"I merely spoke the truth." Alex replied with a shameless smirk.

Udara’s face reddened even further, much to his amusement.

After securing everything within the vault into the Sanctuary space, the trio finally left the hidden chamber and returned to the cavern above.

There, they joined the others in harvesting the Crypt Spider corpses for valuable materials and beast cores before storing everything away within the pocket-dimension Sanctuary.

Some time later, the group returned aboveground only to discover that night had already fallen.

They had no choice but to make camp within the ruined city.

Alex initially grew worried about Dread and the other horses left outside Anakor.

Fortunately, whilst the Rune Knights regrouped with the others inside the castle, Senu had flown out of the city to watch over them.

However, after linking with Senu’s vision, Alex quickly realised that he had been worried about the wrong thing.

He didn’t need to worry about the horses.

He needed to worry about whatever unfortunate creatures had targeted them.

A pack of predator beasts had surrounded the horses, cautiously circling them whilst waiting for an opening. Senu had been preparing to intervene when Dread suddenly released a cold snort.

A dark, primal aura erupted from the Nightmare Horse’s body, enveloping not only himself but also the other horses around him.

The aura stirred something savage within them.

Snort!!

The horses released unified snorts as their eyes turned cold and violent.

Then they charged.

Instead of fleeing from the predators, the horses chased them down mercilessly.

Hooves thundered across the ground as they trampled the beasts beneath them.

Those fortunate—or unfortunate—enough to survive the initial stampede were swiftly finished off by crushing kicks and stomps that shattered bones and cracked skulls apart.

Only then did Alex remember something important.

Nightmare Horses weren’t herbivores.

They were omnivores.

And, much like humans, they could be terrifyingly ruthless when provoked.

Alex chuckled wryly and finally stopped worrying about Dread and his newfound gang of murderous warhorses.

The following morning, the expedition party departed Anakor City and reunited with their mounts outside the ruins.

As they left, Alex glanced back at the towering city walls standing proudly against time and ruin.

’Since I’ve decided to inherit your name...’ He thought silently. ’Don’t worry, House Skywalker. I’ll make Anakor great again.’

With that, Alex turned away and mounted Dread’s back.

The group immediately began their rapid withdrawal from the Great Berserk Beast Forest.

Surprisingly, the return journey progressed significantly faster than their trip inward.

Part of it was due to the shorter route they chose.

But the greater reason was the horses themselves.

After slaughtering their would-be predators, the mounts had become noticeably bolder and more aggressive. Their confidence alone increased the expedition party’s travelling speed tremendously, allowing them to leave the Great Berserk Beast Forest nearly fifty percent faster than before.

However, after exiting the forest, the group did not set course for the Hollowcrest Wildlands.

Instead, they headed directly towards Qulin City—capital of House Cyrindale’s Oxborn Duchy.

***