"Could you put it a bit more simply?" Ray furrowed his brow and pressed further. "You mean there is a way to enter the seminary now, it's just… that method is something no one has been able to accomplish so far?"
Cantarella nodded gently. "That's correct."
As she spoke, she rose slowly and walked toward the railing of the open-air balcony.
The night breeze stirred her cascading hair. She leaned forward slightly, resting against the edge of the stone balustrade, her gaze cast toward the deep, distant night.
"Do you still remember… my former identity?"
"Former identity?" Ray paused briefly, then answered, "You mean… the Saintess?"
"Mm." She turned her face to look at him. "Through rigorous selection within the family, I ultimately became a Saintess candidate, and was able to resonate with the Sentinel, Imperator. But regarding that matter… I never told you the full story. To truly become the Sentinel's Resonator, merely passing the trial is far from enough."
She paused for a moment, her voice soft yet clear.
"One must also resonate with a specific ritual instrument."
"Only by obtaining its acknowledgment can one become the true Resonator of the Sentinel."
Ray said nothing, simply gazing at Cantarella in silence.
She took a light step forward, walking toward the outside of the room. "Come. I'll take you to see it."
...
...
Ray followed behind Cantarella as they made their way through the castle's deep, secluded corridors. Their footsteps echoed softly through the stone passageways.
After who knew how many twists and turns, Cantarella finally stopped before a wall draped with an ancient tapestry.
She reached out and traced her fingers over a certain intricate embroidery pattern along the edge of the tapestry.
With a faint, nearly inaudible click of some mechanism, the wall silently slid inward, revealing a flight of stone steps descending into the darkness below.
"This is the place."
Cantarella lifted her skirt and stepped into the dim passage without the slightest hesitation.
Ray followed close behind. The stone door shut behind them, sealing away all light and sound from the outside world.
At the center of the hidden chamber stood a statue of a winged horse, the true form of Imperator.
And before the pedestal of the statue, a longsword was driven straight into a stone platform.
Cantarella walked up to the sword, her fingertips gently brushing over the ancient patterns on the scabbard. "The power Imperator wields is the authority over separation and space. Thus, He was able to sunder a portion of His own power, its frequency identical to His own essence. This is the Divine Sword—Tyrvine."
"This is the sacred blade in which the Sentinel sealed a part of His power. It is also the ritual instrument used to select His Resonator."
"To resonate with this sword is to resonate with the Sentinel."
"In other words, only the true Resonator can draw it forth from this stone platform."
Ray stepped beside the stone platform and studied the seemingly unadorned longsword with intense concentration. "So… this sword is the key to unlocking the seal in the high heavens?"
"Very astute." Cantarella continued, a complex emotion flickering through her eyes. "Before I succeeded as head of the family, I attempted to resonate with Tyrvine… but I failed."
"No, perhaps it wasn't a failure. It's more that I… am missing a crucial part of those memories. But I still remember certain fragments, the Sentinel's aberrant husk suspended upside down in the high heavens, and this sword being the sole key capable of opening a path to that Sonoro."
"As for the last time it was raised… it's so distant that I can no longer recall clearly."
"Perhaps… it was centuries ago."
"At the very least, in all the records of the family, there has never been any account of anyone truly drawing it."
Cantarella shook her head, and a soft sigh drifted faintly through the hidden chamber.
"Now do you understand? Why I said… that no one, to this day, has been able to set foot inside that high tower."
Ray looked thoughtful. "I see. May I… take a look at this sword?"
Cantarella folded her arms and shrugged lightly. "Of course. After all, it's nothing more than a symbol now."
As she spoke, she gracefully stepped back a pace.
Ray slowly extended his hand, reaching toward the sword that had lain silent for centuries.
Cantarella stood quietly to the side, her expression calm and undisturbed.
She understood better than anyone, no matter how unfathomable Ray's strength might be, it was absolutely impossible for him to truly move this blade.
Only one who had received the Sentinel's acknowledgment could awaken the slumbering Tyrvine.
The Fisalia family had passed down its legacy for hundreds of years, yet not a single person had ever been able to truly draw that sword.
Let alone an outsider.
Until
Her pupils abruptly contracted.
Just as Ray's fingertips were about to touch the hilt, she distinctly saw the sword within the stone platform… tremble, ever so slightly.
Wait… did Tyrvine just… move?
Did my eyes deceive me?
No… that's not it!
Ray hadn't noticed her shock. He simply closed his fingers calmly around the ancient hilt and took hold of it.
He closed his eyes, drew a deep breath, and gathered the full force of his power—
Preparing himself for what might be a futile contest of strength.
Yet in the very next second—
He didn't even feel the expected weight or resistance at all.
Just a light grip, a gentle pull, as if he were merely picking up something that had always belonged to him.
The Divine Sword Tyrvine, driven deep into the stone platform, silent for a thousand years, was drawn out by him with effortless ease.
The moment the blade left the stone, the very air in the hidden chamber seemed to freeze solid.
Then, a holy radiance flowed from the body of the sword and surged into the tacet mark on the back of his hand.
It wasn't just Cantarella, even Ray himself was stunned.
He looked down at the longsword in his hand, bathed in that sacred, glowing halo, and could scarcely believe his own eyes.
He stood frozen in place for several long seconds before turning around mechanically, his face a mask of utter bewilderment as he looked toward Cantarella.
"Y-you said… that aside from the Sentinel's Resonator, it was absolutely impossible for anyone to draw this sword!"
"Th-this… I…" Cantarella's lips parted slightly. Those wisteria-violet eyes, always so effortlessly composed, were now filled with a shock that bordered on utter loss of composure.
She drew a deep breath, closed her eyes, and raised a hand to rub her temple. "Wait… give me a moment to process this first."
What on earth was going on?
Why was he able to draw Tyrvine so easily, as effortlessly as plucking a rose from a vase?
Had the seal loosened?
No. Absolutely impossible.
Just a short while ago, she herself had attempted it. The sword had remained as immovable as a thousand-year-old boulder.
In the brief silence, only the faint glow emanating from the sword flowed soundlessly through the chamber.
After a moment, Cantarella reopened her eyes.
She walked closer, step by step, her gaze winding around Ray's face like chains, as if trying to pierce straight through his eyes and stare directly at some deeply hidden truth.
Her voice was very soft, yet it carried an almost piercing inquiry.
"Ray… what exactly are you?"
Backed into the corner step by step, Ray could only raise his hands in innocence, forgetting even to lower the sword he still held. "I… I don't know either. What if… what if this really is just an accident?"
Cantarella narrowed her wisteria-violet eyes slightly. She reached out and gently lifted his chin with her fingertip, gazing into his eyes in a way that allowed no retreat.
"An accident? The Fisalia family has guarded this for centuries, and such an accident has never happened before. And that's not all… You can ignore Leviathan's whispers. You can devour the Black Tide without being corrupted by it. And now, even this sword has acknowledged you."
"Just how many secrets are you hiding inside you?"
Having said her piece, she finally withdrew her hand and took a small, somewhat resigned step back. Yet her eyes remained fixed on his face. "However, since you were able to draw Tyrvine, even if you are not the Sentinel's Resonator, it at least proves that there exists some connection between you and the Sentinel that transcends all common sense."
She paused, and a flicker of almost dangerous curiosity suddenly flashed through her eyes. "That only makes me all the more curious…"
"Curious about what?"
"Just how powerful a child born of you would be."
"…"
Ray gripped the sword, utterly speechless for a moment.