Ch.57Chapter 57 – A Minor(?) Mistake

The weapon used by the Fallen God, the first raid boss of Erasto Chronicle—the “Corrupted Holy Sword” Zebario.

Anyone who has played this game would never forget this weapon.

As players progressed through Chapter 3, a demonic cult caused a riot in Aurelios, the capital of the Gelebrio Empire, resulting in damage to parts of the imperial palace.

In the aftermath, news emerged that something had been stolen from beneath the imperial palace.

It was later revealed that the demonic cult had stolen it to empower the Fallen God, who had been imperfectly resurrected.

The raid’s story centered on the gathering of the continent’s strongest heroes to confront this imperfectly resurrected Fallen God.

The raid boss “Fallen God” was released with a difficulty level far beyond the highest combat power of players at that time.

Every player who participated in the raid couldn’t even reduce the Fallen God’s health by a single bar.

Even the mega-whales who spent over ten million won monthly on Erasto Chronicle participated in the raid.

Despite using the strongest heroes and equipment combinations available at the raid’s release, these mega-whales also failed.

While everyone was criticizing the game company for releasing such an insanely difficult raid, a free-to-play player posted proof of successfully clearing the Fallen God raid.

There was debate about the authenticity of this proof, but the developers officially confirmed that the player had indeed cleared the raid.

When this player posted a strategy guide, everyone who read it complained to the developers, asking, “Did you really have to make it this complicated?”

The key to the Fallen God raid?

It was destroying the weapon the Fallen God wielded—the “Corrupted Holy Sword Zebario.”

As mentioned earlier, since the Fallen God’s resurrection was incomplete, it needed a medium to maintain its physical form in the material world.

That medium was the Corrupted Holy Sword Zebario.

So the Fallen God raid wasn’t actually about defeating the Fallen God itself, but about destroying the Corrupted Holy Sword Zebario in its hand.

Once Zebario was destroyed, the Fallen God would receive a tremendous debuff, becoming so weak that even normal attacks from heroes could reduce its health by several bars.

After this strategy was revealed, the Fallen God became a pushover.

Because of this, Erasto Chronicle briefly became famous across various communities as a game that paid attention to detail in unexpected places.

‘That Zebario was what was hidden beneath the imperial palace? So that’s why the demonic cult attacked the palace!’

I was greatly surprised by the appearance of the Corrupted Holy Sword before my eyes.

I had seen scripts in the game story about something being stolen, but I never imagined that the stolen item was Zebario.

Then why was Zebario sealed beneath the imperial palace in the first place?

“This object is not well-known to people of the Eastern Continent. It is the holy sword ‘Zebario,’ which was used to defeat the ‘Fallen God’ who nearly brought the world to ruin.”

“The holy sword Zebario…”

A weapon that defeated the Fallen God.

But how did the holy sword become corrupted? Did it absorb the Fallen God’s energy while defeating it?

“Zebario was a weapon used by the nameless ‘First Hero.’ That person was also from the Eastern Continent and became a hero after pulling Zebario from the altar of a collapsed temple. The nameless hero overcame countless hardships and trials to defeat the Fallen God, but suffered grave injuries in the battle and never returned.”

What came from the Emperor’s mouth was the story of the nameless hero who had been chosen by the holy sword.

I never knew Zebario had such a story behind it.

“Zebario, which was used to defeat the Fallen God, created its own seal at the very place where the nameless hero defeated the Fallen God. The reason was to prevent the resurrection of the Fallen God. This underground cave is the very place where the nameless hero fought against the Fallen God.”

Eh? Wait, that’s the first I’m hearing of this.

The nameless hero and the Fallen God fought here?

“That’s why the founding Emperor of the Gelebrio Empire built the imperial palace on this land. In other words, the imperial palace itself was built to strengthen the sealing formation created by Zebario itself, ensuring that the seal would never be broken.”

Hmm, so that’s why the demonic cult terrorized the imperial palace and destroyed parts of it.

That would weaken the sealing formation and allow them to steal the corrupted holy sword.

They probably planned the attack on the capital from the beginning, targeting Zebario.

“My explanation may have been a bit disorganized, but according to the cult that worships the Great Goddess, this holy sword, which absorbed the Fallen God’s energy, would soon become corrupted… and once that happened, the corrupted holy sword would serve as a catalyst for the Fallen God’s resurrection. That’s why we built the imperial palace to strengthen Zebario’s sealing formation, and we made a pact that if anyone were to attack and damage the palace, we would consider it the work of forces seeking the Fallen God’s resurrection, and we would help each other with all our might to prevent it.”

Wow, that’s quite a long explanation.

So to summarize, this imperial palace was built to strengthen Zebario’s seal.

And the collapse of the palace is related to the resurrection of the Fallen God.

Then, the reason the Emperor brought me here must be to strengthen Zebario’s seal even further?

“Then, what is it that I must do here, Your Majesty?”

“Fix the altar and the top plate where Zebario rests. They have deteriorated badly over time and need to be replaced…”

The Emperor trailed off, but I could roughly guess what he was trying to say.

The altar’s top plate and the altar itself needed to be replaced, but they couldn’t bring workers here for the replacement work.

It’s not like in my original world where we had plastic, nor do they have heavy machinery here.

Above all, the corrupted holy sword needs to be handled and moved, and in that process, there’s no guarantee that people wouldn’t be enthralled by the Fallen God’s energy residing in the corrupted holy sword.

‘So what you’re saying is that only I can do this job.’

Maybe I should start a specialized maintenance service for seals in the future?

I already have a repair shop, but it only operates on weekends when I can leave the Academy.

Currently, I’m prioritizing repair requests from Academy students, so I probably won’t be able to properly expand my activities until after graduation.

“I shall obey your command.”

“Oh, thank you very much. I will never forget your hard work.”

I didn’t bother asking the Emperor for confirmation about a reward.

Surely someone of the Emperor’s stature wouldn’t be stingy with compensation?

I walked toward the altar, imagining what the Emperor might give me.

As I got closer to the altar, I could clearly see its condition after being neglected for so long.

“This place needs repairs in more than just a few spots.”

The altar was in a very serious condition.

It had cracks all over that looked like they would collapse with the slightest touch, and the top plate where Zebario was floating had a depression in the center due to the pressure flowing from Zebario.

No, it was actually amazing that ordinary stone had endured this much.

‘Let’s start with maintenance first.’

I reached out my hand and imagined a hammer, and the bracelet on my arm soon transformed into a hammer in my hand.

With the hammer in hand, I first swung it at the altar.

—Thud, thud, thud.

It must have been neglected for a very long time; when I hit the altar with the hammer, pieces of stone crumbled and fell.

However, after three strikes with the hammer, the altar was soon enveloped in a faint light and returned to its previous majestic form.

Now that I had fixed the altar, all that remained was the top plate where Zebario rested.

I swung my hammer toward the altar’s top plate.

—Clack, clack. Crack!

At that moment, after striking it a couple of times, the top plate split in two, and Zebario collided with it.

Upon collision with the top plate, Zebario began to sway slowly and emit a terrifying energy.

‘Shit! This is bad!’

Instinctively realizing the danger, I grabbed Zebario with my left hand.

“Ugh!”

As soon as I grabbed Zebario, a burning pain began to creep up my arm.

Perhaps due to the influence of the sealing formation, it felt like Zebario couldn’t exert its full power.

“Patos!”

“What’s happening?!”

From a distance, the Emperor and the Chancellor, sensing that something was amiss, shouted at me.

“Nothing is—”

I raised my hammer and brought it down on Zebario, which I held in my left hand.

I felt an incredible rebound force, but I couldn’t stop.

“—happening!”

I swung my hammer at Zebario again.

—Kiuuuung!

When the hammer struck Zebario’s blade, a strange sound like something wailing was heard.

For some reason, I felt that I needed to deliver the final blow right now.

“—at all!”

Answering the question from the distant Emperor and Chancellor, I delivered the final blow to Zebario.

And then I felt an enormous force pushing me away, was engulfed by a tremendous shockwave, and everything went black.