Ch.115Tower of Magic – 4

Serena crushed the half-broken gauntlet under her foot, completely shattering it, then picked up a rusty sword lying on the floor.

The severely rusted object, barely deserving to be called metal, trembled continuously in her grip. Serena didn’t even flinch.

After a brief battle of wills with Serena, the rusty sword seemed to surrender as the blade’s trembling suddenly stopped. The oppressive mana pressure around them eased slightly.

“Are you alright, Serena?”

“What do you mean, my lord?”

“That sword. Didn’t you hear anything in your head, like it asking you to swing it around?”

“I might have heard something like that right after grabbing it, but after infusing it with mana a few times, it quieted down. It’s nothing to worry about now. Thank you for your concern, my lord.”

If the souls trapped inside that sword could hear her, they’d be weeping tears of injustice.

Those vengeful spirits who had foolishly picked up the demonic sword out of bravado, only to be enthralled and killed by it, must have been working hard to make Serena share their fate. But she had completely suppressed them all.

Though it looked like nothing more than an ugly piece of scrap metal at first glance, it was still a sword that had absorbed quite a few human souls.

Based on my past experience holding it, I suspected there were at least a hundred souls bound within it.

Of course, it had failed to absorb my soul.

“Well, even World Eater obediently follows your commands, so a mere rusty sword couldn’t possibly defy you. At least it knows its place.”

The moment I finished speaking, Serena’s expression subtly changed, and she tightened her grip on the sword.

The entire sword became enveloped in blue mana. The trembling that started at the handle soon spread past the crossguard to the blade and tip.

Serena gripped the sword handle even more firmly. The veins on the back of her hand bulged prominently. Pieces of rust tried to break free but were trapped by the blue mana covering the sword, floating within it.

The trembling subsided before long. As the rusty sword’s vibrations became docile, the blue mana pressing down on it dispersed into the air. Serena loosened her grip.

“I think it got angry because I called it a ‘mere rusty sword.'”

“Was that anger? I did sense some intense vibrations. Since it’s just a sword that dared to defy you, my lord, I’ll crush it right now if you command.”

“No, leave it be. It was just throwing a tantrum because its owner wasn’t swinging it around. Probably wasn’t serious.”

“A… tantrum, you say?”

Her tone was thick with incomprehension.

“Does that sound strange? I guess we’re not close enough for me to call it a tantrum. Let’s say complaint or grievance instead. Yes, grievance is most accurate. It was complaining that I was insulting it while not even bothering to wield it.”

At my words, Serena looked at the rusty sword in her hand with a peculiar gaze. As her blue eyes focused on it, even the subtle trembling of the blade stopped completely.

That thing is afraid of Serena.

It must have realized she was powerful enough to deliberately infuse it with mana beyond its limit and shatter the sword itself, so it became docile.

I’m not sure why it still wants to live so desperately even when confined to existence as a rusty sword. Nothing to do but accept it, I suppose.

“Then I can consider this a sword with consciousness. I’ve heard about ego swords before.”

“Ego sword, huh? Not entirely wrong. Except this one has multiple souls forming consciousness inside it. At least a hundred, I’d say. All those souls desperately crave purpose, which is why it can move on its own like this.”

“Purpose, my lord?”

“Yes, purpose. For example, World Eater’s purpose is to drink blood and use it as nourishment to manifest the demon residing in the sword. Doesn’t it tremble and demand more blood?”

“It does.”

“That’s its purpose. In the case of this rusty sword, its purpose is simply to rust all the metal in the world. I don’t know why it wants to do such a pointless thing, but that’s what it is.”

I held out my hand, and Serena, understanding my intention, handed me the sword. A familiar acrid smell and tingling sensation of rusty iron filled my mouth.

It was a signal that it had begun to corrode my body.

Rust gradually spread across the hand holding the sword. It was a cunning trick to completely stiffen my hand so I could never let go of the sword.

Dozens of voices whispered simultaneously in my head, urging me to swing the sword quickly, to put everything down and move according to instinct.

I ignored them and accelerated my regenerative abilities.

As my entire body reset and returned to normal, the voices echoing in my head vanished completely. The rust that had been spreading on my sword hand had also disappeared without a trace.

After that, the sword tried to corrupt my body several more times, but each attempt failed as my ultra-regeneration ability restored everything back to normal.

Despite all its attempts to corrupt me failing, it still wouldn’t give up. Watching the rust climbing up my hand, I slightly waved the sword toward Serena.

“Well, this is what it’s like.”

Seeing my hand rotting away, Serena’s eyes gleamed dangerously. She looked ready to chop the sword to pieces the moment I gave permission.

I stopped Serena with a glance and knelt down to pick up a wooden box lying nearby. I placed the sword inside and closed the lid, feeling faint vibrations through the box.

Since this is categorized as a demonic sword, it will eventually corrode this wooden box too—make it rust away.

It just takes incomparably longer for wood to rust completely compared to metal.

I secured the latch to seal the wooden box and stood up with it tucked under my arm. Serena still looked displeased with the sword confined in the box.

When I held out the box to her, Serena quickly took it and infused it with mana. The box rattled furiously before quickly settling down.

“There are probably a few more like this one. Not as active, just stirring on their own.”

“If you wish, my lord, I will destroy them all.”

“Destroy what I’ve collected? Just leave them be. They can’t get out of the magic tower no matter what they try in here. They weren’t planning to leave anyway, so it’s fine.”

“If that is your will, my lord.”

True to its name as a magic tower, this tower stretched upward for nearly ten floors, but the place I needed to visit now was the basement.

The upper floors stored relatively safe weapons, while the basement housed weapons that could kill multiple people if you were unlucky.

The items placed in the upper part of the tower at least don’t immediately cause mental corruption or control the user’s body as soon as you grab them.

When you have both safe and dangerous items, you should obviously check the dangerous ones first. Especially since I’ve left this place unattended for almost ten years, who knows what might happen.

‘There’s also something I need to meet.’

I glanced at World Eater fastened at Serena’s waist. Noticing my gaze, Serena asked:

“Do you need something, my lord?”

“Can I borrow World Eater for a moment? I have a use for it.”

“Since it was bestowed upon me by you, my lord, you may take it whenever you wish.”

Serena said this while respectfully holding out World Eater with both hands. When I grasped it, the blade hummed with a faint vibration.

Having been thoroughly tamed by Serena during the nearly ten years, it didn’t attempt to manifest a demon in my body. If it had tried, Serena would have destroyed it.

I began descending the circular stone staircase that hugged the wall. Serena followed behind me with the wooden box in one arm.

Although the tightly packed bricks prevented sunlight from entering, illumination magic circles drawn throughout the area ensured the path wasn’t too dark.

Sensing the ominous energy that grew stronger as we approached the basement, Serena quickened her pace and moved close beside me.

“My lord, if you don’t mind, I would like to enter first.”

“Huh? No, that’s not necessary. Besides this one, there are hardly any that can move on their own. At most one or two, and they can’t see us because they’re weapons. They can’t sense presence or mana either. We probably need to get much closer before they react.”

After descending the rest of the stairs, the basement surrounded entirely by brick walls came into view. Defense magic circles were drawn on every single brick covering the walls, ceiling, and floor.

Various weapons and armor were displayed at regular intervals. Every one of them was something I had deemed dangerous and placed in the basement.

After looking around the basement, Serena offered her assessment:

“…The mana is fluctuating very unstably, my lord. I don’t think this is a particularly good place.”

“It’s not supposed to be a good place. Why else would there be magic circles plastered all over the place?”

At my words, Serena frowned even more than when she first entered the basement. She seemed to have figured out who had drawn these magic circles.

“Put the box in that empty space over there, and feel free to look around. You can touch things if you’re curious. You won’t be corrupted by anything here.”

Befitting the weapons I had deemed dangerous, some here would activate just by being touched, and in the worst case, some could destroy a person’s mind just by being looked at.

Of course, those were sealed in boxes with binding magic and kept in isolation, so there’s no need to worry. And Serena would probably be able to resist their mental domination anyway.

Because Charlotte wasn’t affected, so Serena wouldn’t be either.

Like a proper sword-wielding knight, as soon as Serena put down the box where I pointed, she immediately picked up a long sword nearby.

It was a sword with a mix of blue and white that looked cold just by looking at it. White frost emanated from the sword, spreading in all directions.

I think its name was Frozen Frost. Anyway, it had a very peculiar name.

It’s a sword that immediately freezes the arm of whoever grabs it, but Serena was swinging it around as if nothing was wrong.

Leaving Serena behind, I carried World Eater across the basement. Noticing me moving away, Serena quickly followed and stayed by my side.

“I said you could just look around if you wanted.”

“I cannot be separated from your side, my lord.”

Serena’s gaze was resolute. If I forced her with a command, she would stay away, but why should I? I silently turned my head, indicating she could do as she pleased.

The vast basement had narrowed into a cramped corridor. Iron doors stood firmly on both sides of the corridor. These were the rooms sealing the weapons that could corrupt minds just by being looked at.

After walking for several minutes down the corridor that was barely wide enough for two people, we finally arrived at a certain door.

Unlike the iron doors we had passed, this was a simple wooden door.

However, the number of defensive magic circles placed on it was anything but simple. Seeing this, Serena stepped forward and enveloped her entire body with mana.

While Serena fixed her gaze on the door, ready to blast away anything that might jump out, I gently pushed the door with the tip of World Eater.

The door opened with disappointing ease. It was hard to believe such an enormous amount of defensive magic circles were layered on it, given how easy it was to enter.

Serena still looked suspicious, but when I boldly went inside, she reluctantly followed me.

The inside was ordinary.

In the center of a square room made of simple stone walls sat a large box, and something was placed on top of the wooden box.

It was a scabbard decorated entirely with red jewels. Serena’s eyes widened slightly at the sight.

“My lord, is this…?”

“It’s probably what you’re thinking.”

I lightly raised World Eater. Serena’s eyes darted back and forth between the scabbard placed vertically on the box and World Eater.

“…Could that be World Eater’s true scabbard?”

“Correct. You figured it out.”

Saying that, I drew World Eater from its fake scabbard. An ominous red energy overlaid the blade.

It was time to have a conversation with the demon after a long while.