Ch.84Countdown (4)

“Phew…”

After receiving the sword from Canon, I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

I instinctively felt that if I drew the sword recklessly, I would be completely dominated by it.

‘With my current abilities, I shouldn’t attempt to unite with this sword…’

When entering the state of unity between sword and wielder, the boundary between myself and the sword disappears, allowing me to handle the sword as if it were my own body.

In that state, although mental energy consumption is rapid, all abilities generally improve—reaction speed, concentration, swordsmanship, ability to find the sword’s path, and so on.

That’s why when I fight, I would normally enter this state first.

But with this sword in hand, I shouldn’t enter that state of unity.

Even if the boundary between myself and the sword disappeared, I needed to maintain control, but I lacked the ability to do so against this sword.

“Haah…”

After composing myself and figuring out how to wield the sword, I finished my deep breathing and looked ahead.

There stood Reisen, wearing an expression like someone watching an amusing clown, waiting with a sneer.

“Tsk tsk… Do you think anything will change just because you changed weapons? You seem to have illusions about good weapons…”

“Well… if this were just an ordinary fine sword, nothing would change.”

No matter how good a sword one wields, unless the person wielding it changes, the already collapsed balance cannot be restored.

It’s like how a novice who just picked up a sword couldn’t defeat even a single ogre despite holding a famous blade.

“But… this isn’t just an ordinarily good sword.”

In this world, unlike typical games, there were no equip restrictions based on stats or functions.

Even if a bow was made from a branch of the World Tree, there were no game-like item restrictions such as [Dexterity 300], [Strength 250], or [One Acknowledged by the World Tree].

‘You might not be able to wield a greatsword if you lack strength, but that’s a physical limitation, not an equip restriction.’

However, even in such a world, there were very, very rare items that did have equip restrictions.

The Holy Sword carried by the Hero was a prime example, as were the sacred artifacts scattered throughout the world by the Evil God—the ones the Apostles were after now.

These items had one thing in common.

The stricter the restrictions, the more the item’s inherent abilities were enhanced.

‘It’s like Geirr from Norse mythology, I suppose.’

Reisen didn’t seem to imagine that the object in my hand was such an item.

It was a natural reaction, since restrictions were typically only placed on items like the Hero’s Holy Sword or the Evil God’s sacred artifacts.

So rather than words, I decided to demonstrate with action, taking a stance to draw the sword.

Click- Shing-

The sword, temporarily satisfying its restrictions in exchange for Vulcan’s divine status, slowly began to be drawn from its scabbard.

The God-Slaying Sword still seemed unsatisfied with my qualifications, but it allowed itself to be drawn heavily, as if just this once.

Simultaneously, the sword’s aura, which only I had felt while holding it, filled the entire area.

Sensing this aura, the Zombie Dragon and Cecilia, who had been fighting fiercely, stopped their battle at the same time and looked in my direction.

Lilly and Kitsune, who had been preparing for their next clash, also stopped their movements and looked at me.

Canon, who was right beside me, trembled with her tail fur standing on end, pressed down by the sword’s aura.

“Nyaaah! All my fur is standing on end!”

And Reisen, who had been quite composed until now, showed a similar reaction.

“What…!”

“I told you, it’s not an ordinary sword.”

Sensing the aura contained in the sword, Reisen immediately moved Vargan.

BOOM-!

Vargan charged at me with such speed that he shattered the ground he stood on, his body wrapped in an ominous purple aura.

Enveloped in that aura, Vargan went berserk with greater power and speed than before, ready to end my life in an instant.

‘A technique that temporarily enhances a Death Knight’s abilities at the cost of permanent damage.’

It was a technique I had never seen before in all my clashes with Vargan.

Thanks to this, I could clearly feel how much Reisen had underestimated me and how much he now feared the sword I held.

“Ragnarok.”

Vargan, who had approached right in front of me, swung his axe with all his might.

It was a technique I had never been able to overcome despite clashing with it several times, and it contained even greater power than before.

But facing such a strike, there was no fear on my face.

“Heh, if you wanted to stop me, you should have done it before this sword came into my hands.”

BOOOOOM-!!!!!

Vargan’s strike, powerful enough to destroy his own body, created a tremendous roar.

But that strike did not tear me apart.

Clang-

Vargan’s lightning-charged axe was blocked by the half-drawn blade of the God-Slaying Sword and could advance no further.

The strike that had been so difficult to block before was now stopped so easily that I felt almost deflated.

“This sword is disgustingly good…”

As I laughed hollowly, the wings folded behind my back spread wide as if stretching.

These wings, unsuitable for flight and rarely used in combat, were finally showing their presence after a long time.

“Hmm…?”

Reisen looked at me with puzzled eyes as my wings spread during our power struggle.

He seemed even more confused since the wings appeared to have no use in combat.

“I didn’t know I could use my wings like this either…”

Flash-

The fully spread wings absorbed the sword’s aura and began to emit a light that could be perceived as sacred.

The light emitted covered everyone in this place and pressed down on those judged to be enemies.

In particular, the purple aura surrounding Vargan’s body was completely torn away by the light.

Canon, who witnessed this scene from the side, reacted as follows:

“W-what… it looks so sacred!”

“Pfft. A sacred succubus—that’s quite the mismatched description.”

“Hmm… is it? But it really does look sacred, that’s why I said it!”

Though we were in the middle of battle, I burst into laughter at Canon’s words.

In this world, there was an immense distance between the succubus race and the word “sacred.”

Unless it was some kind of roleplay, there probably wasn’t a single truly sacred succubus in existence.

‘Well, now there’s one, I suppose.’

I then put strength into both arms and pushed away Vargan’s axe.

And at the same time, the sword completely left its scabbard, fully revealing its blade to the world.

Clang- Slash-

The empty scabbard fell to the ground with a sound, and the next moment came the sound of something being cut.

What was flying through the air, spraying blood, was Vargan’s right arm.

“I want to blame you, but… I won’t for now.”

If Vargan had been a little more decisive and able to strike down his son who had become an Apostle, Gagap might not have ended up like this.

Perhaps less blood would have been shed than what was flowing now.

But I didn’t blame him.

I didn’t express anger at his actions.

How many parents in this world could be harsh to their own children?

‘Probably few, since even that bastard Arges couldn’t do it.’

So I had no intention of saying anything more to him.

Before being a king, Vargan was a father, and I thought he had already paid enough for the consequences of his choice.

“I don’t know what the afterlife is like, but rest well with your son there.”

“Kugh…!”

Reisen reached out toward Vargan.

It seemed he wanted to make him self-destruct as a last resort, but my action was a bit faster.

Slash- Crash-

With one swing, I cut off Vargan’s head, and with the following sword energy, returned the vessel that had forcibly held his soul back to dust.

The body that returned to dust was soon carried away by the wind.

After watching this scene for a moment, I turned my gaze to Reisen, who was expressing his anger, perhaps because his creation had been destroyed.

“Well, I think that’s enough of this puppet show. Why don’t you stop hiding behind corpses and come out?”

“Do you know the value of the corpse you just ground to dust? Finding something with that much strength without damage is nearly impossible.”

“Well, I’m not sure. But considering your age, don’t you think you’re a bit too old for playing with puppets?”

I looked at Reisen with eyes that viewed something disgusting.

Just by holding this God-Slaying Sword, the world I saw became wider and deeper.

Because of this, I could see facts with my own eyes that I couldn’t see before.

“Just how many souls have you consumed to make your body look like that?”

“Hehe, I’ve only eaten as much as one eats bread in a lifetime.”

Now I could see why Reisen hadn’t died despite his body being torn apart.

The thousands, tens of thousands of souls forcibly swallowed into his body, serving as Reisen’s life force, were revealing that secret to me.