The Fated Sword: The Duke's Second Life

Chapter 5

Maxwell returned to his study room after leaving the imperial garden. Throughout the journey, his mind kept returning to his conversation with Consort Shera, especially the subtle change in her expression when she realized that Maxwell no longer treated her the way he once had.

For now, however, Maxwell chose to keep his suspicions to himself.

He could not afford to act recklessly.

If he had truly been given a second chance, then every step he took from this point onward had to be carefully calculated. Even the smallest mistake could alter the course of the future, and Maxwell still did not know how much had already changed simply because he had returned to life.

As soon as he entered his study, he closed the door and walked toward the large desk in the center of the room.

The room was exactly as he remembered it from his previous life. Wooden bookshelves covered the walls, military documents were neatly arranged across the desk, and several maps of the empire's territories lay spread out on the right side of the room.

However, one object immediately caught Maxwell's attention.

An ancestral sword hung directly behind his luxurious chair.

The sword rested inside a dark-colored scabbard, its hilt decorated with ancient carvings. For generations, the weapon had been regarded as nothing more than a family heirloom passed down from one generation to the next.

No one in the Maxwell family truly knew where it had come from.

Even Maxwell himself had never considered the sword important.

Not until the night of his death. Not until the sword brought him back from the dead.

Maxwell stood before it and slowly reached out his hand.

Before his fingers could touch the hilt, however, the golden engraving in the center of the wooden display suddenly lit up.

The glow was faint at first, almost like the reflection of candlelight.

Then it grew brighter.

Maxwell immediately pulled his hand back and took a step away.

“What is happening?”

The golden engraving began to tremble.

Light spread across the entire wooden display, forming a circular pattern that Maxwell had never seen before. The atmosphere in the room changed, and a strange pressure suddenly filled the space.

Instinctively, Maxwell reached for the sword at his waist.

But before he could do anything—

Ding!

A clear sound echoed throughout the room.

Maxwell's eyes widened.

A yellow screen suddenly appeared before him.

There was no frame.

No visible source of light.

The screen simply floated in midair, directly in front of him, while black letters appeared across its surface one after another.

<Allow me to introduce myself. I am Onxy, the guardian of your Ancestral Sword, Maxwell.>

Maxwell remained completely still.

His eyes were fixed on the strange screen.

Then the same voice sounded again.

<You are the fifty-ninth heir I have been assigned to guide. Today marks your awakening and the second chance that has been granted to you.>

Maxwell's breath caught.

“The fifty-ninth heir?”

He stared at the screen cautiously.

“Who are you?”

New words appeared.

<My name is Onxy. I am the guardian consciousness bound to the Maxwell family's Ancestral Sword for generations. My purpose is to guide the chosen heir until he reaches the limits of his potential.>

Maxwell turned toward the sword hanging behind his chair.

All this time, he had believed it was nothing more than an ancient weapon.

Yet something had been living within it.

Not a human. Not an ordinary spirit.

A consciousness that had been waiting for an heir for generations.

“Then why me?”

The screen flickered slightly before new words appeared.

<Because you have fulfilled the conditions for awakening.>

Maxwell frowned.

“The conditions for awakening?”

<The heir must experience death after losing all hope, yet still retain the will to protect what he considers precious.>

Maxwell fell silent.

Memories of that night immediately returned to him.

The flames, the blood and the betrayal.

Liora standing before him.

And the unbearable pain he had felt when he realized that he had lost everything he had spent his life protecting.

Maxwell clenched his fists.

“So you witnessed everything?”

<I detected your death. I detected your desire to return. However, I could not alter your fate without the Ancestral Sword's consent.>

Maxwell stared at the screen seriously.

“And the sword chose me?”

<Correct.>

Silence filled the room.

Maxwell tried to process everything he had just learned.

If what Onxy said was true, then his resurrection had not been a coincidence.

His ancestral sword had been waiting for him.

But why now?

Before Maxwell could find an answer, the yellow screen changed again.

<As your starting balance, you have been granted 1,500 points that can be used for various functions.>

Maxwell immediately raised his head.

“Points?”

<Correct. Points are the primary resource of the Ancestral Sword system. They can be used to unlock abilities, enhance your physical attributes, acquire certain knowledge, exchange for special items, and activate various functions that will become available as you progress.>

Maxwell's eyes narrowed.

“How much can I buy with 1,500 points?”

For the first time, a strange symbol appeared in the center of the screen.

Several options then appeared beneath it.

<Ancestral Shop>

<Heir Attributes>

<Abilities>

<Information>

<Purification>

<Storage>

Maxwell read every option carefully.

His heartbeat quickened.

If the system truly had the ability to grant him extraordinary powers, then his second chance was not simply about returning to the past.

He might actually have the power to change his fate.

Yet Maxwell did not immediately choose any of the options.

“Onxy.”

<I am listening.>

“Are all those abilities free?”

The screen immediately displayed a new message.

<No.>

Maxwell let out a quiet breath.

“I thought so.”

<In addition to requiring points, some abilities have specific requirements. The more powerful the ability, the greater the price. Certain abilities will also remain unavailable until the heir reaches the required level.>

“Then show me what I can purchase right now.”

<Request accepted.>

The screen changed.

A long list appeared before Maxwell.

But it was not the names of the items that immediately caught his attention.

It was the option at the very top.

<Ability: Truth Sight>

Price: 1,000 points.

Maxwell read the description.

<Allows the user to detect lies in another person's words and reveal the degree of discrepancy between their spoken words and their true intentions. Effectiveness depends on the heir's level and the target's strength.>

Maxwell's expression changed.

Shera.

Her name immediately surfaced in his mind.

If this ability could truly help him recognize someone's lies, then it would be a weapon far more valuable than any sword.

But Maxwell did not purchase it.

Instead, he smiled faintly.

He felt that he was not completely alone in facing the future.

In his previous life, he had possessed strength, armies, wealth, and complete trust in people who had ultimately betrayed him.

Now, he possessed something no one else in the world knew about.

An ancestral sword and a guardian named Onxy.

And a system that might transform a duke into someone even the power of the Imperial Court could not easily touch.

However, Maxwell understood that such power also carried danger.

He looked at the yellow screen.

“Onxy, one more thing.”

<Please ask.>

“If I use this second chance to change the future, what will happen to the fate I already experienced in my previous life?”

For several seconds, the screen remained silent.

Then new words appeared.

<Fate can be changed.>

Maxwell released a quiet breath of relief.

But the next sentence slowly turned his expression serious.

<However, every change will create new consequences.>

Maxwell stared at the words.

<The greater the changes you make, the greater the possibility that events that never occurred in your previous life will emerge.>

The room fell silent again.

Maxwell finally understood something.

He was not simply reliving his life.

He was beginning a new life with knowledge of the past.

That meant even the future he thought he knew by heart could no longer be trusted completely.

Maxwell lifted his head and looked at his reflection in the blade of the ancestral sword.

“Then we begin here.”

His hand slowly closed around the hilt.

“I will never allow anyone to decide the ending of my life again.”

The golden light within the sword's engraving suddenly flared.

The yellow screen in front of Maxwell flickered once.

Ding!

<Confirmation accepted.>

<The heir's first mission has been unlocked.>

Maxwell's eyes narrowed as another window appeared before him.

<Mission: Change One Fate.>

<Time Limit: Seven Days.>

<Reward: 2,000 points.>

<Failure: Lose 500 points and increase the possibility of unknown fate variables emerging.>

Maxwell stared at the screen for a long moment.

Seven days.

He had only seven days to change something he did not even know about yet.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

“Interesting.”

If Onxy wanted to test him, Maxwell would accept the challenge.

However, he had no idea that this first mission would lead him to someone who should never have appeared in his previous life.

And when that person finally appeared, Maxwell would realize that the second chance given to him was far greater than simply taking revenge on Shera and Darius.

"Good!"