Ch.794I Should Probably Head Out Now.

As they say, experiencing something once is more effective than explaining it a hundred times.

After listening to my explanation, Demian changed the shape of the holy sword to resemble the silver greatsword he had been carrying, following the technique I taught him.

“So, if you overlap the two swords and press down on the light orb in the middle…”

“Oh, like this?”

Demian placed the holy sword on top of his silver greatsword and awkwardly pressed down on the white sphere floating in the middle of the holy sword’s blade. As if trying to capture the light of the holy sword and insert it into the silver greatsword.

Then.

– Whoosh!

Brilliant holy light leaked through Demian’s fingers as the silver greatsword and Juwaieuzeu began to melt and merge together.

This was the expected result.

The power to change the sword’s form for players who preferred weapons other than swords was, strictly speaking, closer to the ability to fuse their preferred weapon with the holy sword rather than simply changing the holy sword’s shape.

“Oh…!”

Demian let out a gasp of admiration at the strange sight of metal melting and mixing on its own.

His cheeks flushed slightly with excitement and anticipation, like a boy who had just received a fascinating new toy.

Such a natural expression. Was this also evidence that Demian had awakened to normal emotions?

As my uncertain speculation gradually turned into conviction, I watched Juwaieuzeu changing its form as it fused with the silver greatsword.

When the holy light that had illuminated our faces dimmed, only a massive sword that looked capable of severing a dragon’s neck in one strike remained in Demian’s hand.

The blade was longer than my height, with a width of about 20cm.

Complex holy inscriptions were engraved on both sides of the blade, and a snow-white crystal was embedded in the center of the cross-guard that barely supported the massive blade.

Was the simplified design compared to the Juwaieuzeu that Carlos wielded a reflection of Demian’s taste?

The holy symbol of Elpinel attached to the end of the hilt, which had grown about one and a half times longer, emitted the characteristic blue light of silver.

“…It’s beautiful.”

Demian caressed the snow-white blade with a satisfied smile.

When I was controlling Demian, I used Juwaieuzeu in the form of an ordinary longsword, but seeing him caress this absurdly oversized holy sword as if entranced, it seemed the Demian of this world had quite twisted tastes.

Despite already concealing a massive greatsword between his legs, he was still obsessed with increasing the size of his weapon.

Well, as long as he can handle it properly, there’s no problem. The larger and heavier the sword, the more powerful its slashing force will be.

Besides, unless someone knew the holy sword in detail like Lacy or Leopold, no one would recognize the current Juwaieuzeu as Carlos’s sword, which was another advantage.

After excitedly swinging the sword in the air a few times, Demian took the opportunity to use the miracle of healing to recover his arms and spine, which he had said still felt numb.

Even though I had only taught him how to use the sword’s abilities, he was using them skillfully. I thought he might be able to handle it perfectly after just a few real battles.

– Woooong!

Demian seemed particularly fond of the spatial storage function, opening pure white holes in the air to put the sword in and then opening them again in various places to draw it out.

He tried opening a spatial pocket behind his back to grab the hilt and draw the sword, or opening one near his side to draw and swing the holy sword simultaneously.

Later, he even clapped his hands together and spread them wide to produce the holy sword, or opened a spatial pocket in the air a step ahead, then drew the holy sword that was stuck in the ground as if it had fallen there, nodding in satisfaction.

He looked exactly like a child who had received a gift.

Are you enjoying it?

No, I don’t even need to ask. I can tell just by looking at your face.

I smiled slightly, wondering what he was so excited about, and took out my last cigarette to watch his antics.

—-

About five minutes passed like that.

“If you’re done playing, why don’t you sit down?”

After throwing the cigarette butt into the campfire, I spoke. Demian finally seemed to calm down and nodded, sitting down across from me. A bit too far to warm himself with the heat of the fire.

“Why are you sitting so far away? Are you afraid I’ll get angry because you wasted five minutes?”

That’s disappointing. Even I can understand that much.

It was childish behavior, but it’s not uncommon for men to act like children when faced with something they’ve always dreamed of, and as a swordsman, he must be overjoyed to have obtained such an incomparable sword.

As the elder, I should be understanding.

“No, that’s not it…”

However, Demian shook his head as if that wasn’t the reason and slightly lowered his eyes.

“If that’s not it, then what?”

“Well… how should I put this. The smell of blood is so strong that it makes me dizzy when I’m close to you.”

“…Ahem.”

I silently glanced down at the likely source of that blood smell, then cleared my throat and turned my head away, overwhelmed by embarrassment.

Well… I had dried it with heat, but the smell certainly remained. It might have even become more concentrated as the moisture evaporated.

…I should wash up before going back.

—-

After a short meal and rest in suffocating silence, we began preparing to leave the Crystal Cave—no, the Sky Mountains—and return home.

I had originally planned to teach him the true name of the holy sword hidden within the shell called Juwaieuzeu, its true abilities sealed with that name, and how to release them… but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to speak.

My intuition seemed to be telling me that there was no need to say it—that it would be meaningless to tell him.

It seemed that to awaken the true power of the holy sword, Demian needed to discover it himself through his own strength, rather than having someone spoon-feed him the information. Though that might just be my imagination.

Well… it’s not a power he needs right away, so it doesn’t matter.

After all, one of the conditions for releasing the true power of the holy sword—”absorbing a massive amount of silver”—had already been fulfilled thanks to the silver greatsword.

The other conditions… like obtaining the heart of a spirit beast, dragon’s blood, or slaying five thousand monsters, weren’t conditions that could be fulfilled right now anyway. He could work on those gradually later.

“But… how are we supposed to get out of here?”

“What do you mean?”

Demian sighed, pointing at the stone ceiling high above.

“The ceiling is completely sealed because you destroyed everything around the lake. I have no idea how thick it is—do we have to break through all of that?”

Ah, I forgot to tell him about that.

“Don’t worry about that. This underground ravine is a space maintained by the power of the holy sword. So, now that the holy sword has been drawn—”

I shrugged lightly and, recalling the original work, explained what was about to happen.

“It should start collapsing soon.”

“…What?”

Just as Demian stared at me with wide eyes.

– Crack!

With a splitting sound like a thousand-year-old tree breaking in half, the cliffs around the now-darkening cavern began to crack all at once.

Like rivers flowing to the sea, the cracks spread endlessly until they reached the ceiling high above.

…Looks like it’s time.

In game time, it took about two hours from the moment the holy sword was drawn. It’s happening a bit faster than I expected.

– Rumble!

Following that, the cracks in the cliffs gradually widened, and the entire underground ravine began to shake violently. Like a giant stirring from sleep. A clear sign of imminent collapse.

“…Haschal. So, the way out is…”

Demian asked hesitantly with a slightly pale face. I nodded, confirming his suspicion with a grin.

“Yes, we need to climb up while avoiding the falling debris. Simple, right?”

Collapse always starts from the weakest point. In this space, where would the weakest point be?

Obviously, near the ceiling where the debris has piled up haphazardly.

“Oh, by the way, I’m out of Karma of Murder power so I can’t fly. You’ll have to carry me. You have enough strength left for that, right?”

I held out my hand with a joke about “safe flying, please,” and Demian looked back and forth between my hand, my face, and the ceiling where dust had started to fall with a dumbfounded expression.

“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and fly.”

“……”

As I patted his shoulder to urge him on, Demian stared at me with a strangely contorted face for a long time.

For some reason, his gaze felt like he was looking at filth scattered on the street. But that must be my imagination.

If Demian had any conscience, he wouldn’t look at someone who had given him such a good weapon as if they were filth, right?

The Chosen Hero of the holy sword couldn’t be such an ungrateful person. Right?

The silence that made it seem like he was contemplating whether to leave me here and fly away alone must also be my imagination.

“Did you use up all your strength to spread your wings against that creature earlier? That would be troublesome.”

If we couldn’t fly up, we’d have to endure the falling rocks and collapse while breaking through the ceiling, which was an ordeal I’d experienced enough of in the game.

I thought we wouldn’t have to go through that trouble since Demian had gained the ability to fly… but could it be?

“Haaah… fine. Hold on tight.”

Fortunately, it seemed Demian still had enough energy to fly high into the sky.

– Grab!

Despite sighing deeply for reasons I couldn’t understand, he grabbed my arm, lifted me up, and spread his white wings to take flight.

“…I didn’t mean for you to carry me like this.”

I had intended to just grab his left arm and dangle from it, but I never expected him to support my back and legs with both arms like I was a lady.