Chapter 419

Chapter 419

For Sale. Fallen Lady. Never Used.

Episode 419: My Alchemical Romance (3)

I examined the dagger in my hand closely.

The hilt subtly curved to fit the shape of my fingers and my grip, clinging perfectly with just a light hold.

“The weight is… quite heavy.”

That was natural. Although it had been refined multiple times, it was made by melting down the entire massive corpse.

Above the hilt, a familiar lion-shaped carving was etched. It glowed eerily, dyed black like obsidian.

Given the strangely familiar feeling, it must have been created by properly mixing Solari’s divine power and my own magic.

Considering that divine power and magic usually don’t mix, just creating a structure where they coexist without interfering with each other like this is a tremendous achievement.

I lifted my gaze a little further up.

The hilt and crossguard were clearly custom-made, but unlike them, the blade looked ordinary at first glance.

It was the shape commonly called a dagger. A straight, double-edged dagger, about a span long, making it easy for slashing, thrusting, and throwing.

However, only its form was ordinary. The material forming the blade exuded a bizarre aura found nowhere else.

A thick black line ran straight down the center. Wrapped around it, as if swirling, were patterns of white and red lines engraved on the blade.

It was ominous and sinister.

From the clearly beautiful patterns, an inexplicable chill crept up my spine.

I could feel it… but for some reason, it didn’t seem like it would harm me.

I stared for a long time, but still couldn’t quite understand it. In times like these, the status window is the best.

Ding!

[Dagger of the Dragon and Lion that Swallows Light]

A dagger forged solely to kill Evil Gods.

Its blade, with a texture closer to bone than metal, regularly spews ominous light. Like a pulsating heart.

Its radiance is dyed black, but because of that, it can cut through the deepest darkness.

But beware.

Pure enmity and murderous intent have become a terrible curse that brings even gods to death. A powerful curse from which the user cannot escape its influence.

Only one prepared for death can wield this dagger.

…However, the final fragment inserted by an alchemist during the forging process has created a miracle for only one person.

The name of that fragment is love.

-On attack, grants 30% chance for additional Light-elemental damage.

-Critical hit damage increased by 500%.

-When fighting Evil Gods and their followers, additional attack chance and critical hit chance are fixed at 100%.

-Ignores rule distortion of divine bodies.

-Upon activation of additional attack, user also shares the same damage (However, this option does not apply to Yandel Lindelheit).

“…What is this?”

A startled voice escaped me without thinking.

And rightly so, wasn’t this like a cursed demonic sword popping out after strengthening a holy sword? Anyone would be surprised by this.

And what about its performance? Even with just the simple damage amplification option, its specs are top-tier, and it even has an additional option that allows even a lower being to wound a god.

Perhaps in return, there’s a penalty that the wielder also takes the same damage when an additional attack is activated… but since I’m an exception, it’s a restriction that’s as good as non-existent for me.

The reason is probably, as written in the last line of the description, that it contains Faye’s love.

“…”

Thinking about that, I suddenly feel a bit embarrassed.

Unaware of my feelings, Faye looked up at me with a serene expression.

“Junior? What’s wrong? Is there something you don’t like?”

“You say that, but your expression says there’s no way that’s true.”

“Of course not! This time, even though I aimed high, the result exceeded expectations! Honestly, I’m even curious why the Unyielding Steel’s blessing didn’t descend upon this dagger!”

“It’s probably because of a lack of divine power. He must have used all his strength creating the giant golem previously, and…”

A faint warmth emanated from the dagger’s murderous aura. I gripped the hilt tightly, careful not to lose it, and continued.

“This dagger is already complete. I think the Unyielding Steel’s intervention would actually be a hindrance.”

“…”

Faye had a blank expression for a moment, then, a half-beat later, understood my words and began to grin.

“I-is that so? If you, the owner, say so, then it must be! Anyway, are you just going to keep looking at it? Shouldn’t you give it a swing?”

“I’d like to, but to properly use this, I need to swing it against an Evil God or their follower. But I’ve probably killed them all.”

If my memory serves me right, all the cultists and monsters were cleanly absorbed by the twin-headed giant, and that twin-headed giant has now melted down to become new equipment.

It would be faster to teleport to the Western Front, which the Levantin Empire is responsible for, than to search for Evil God followers in this vicinity.

Faye tilted her head, watching me sigh heavily.

“There are lower-level monsters, though?”

“…Huh?”

“Monster materials are tough yet elastic, so they’re good materials. There’s probably a place somewhere around here that raises some useful monsters.”

“Isn’t monster breeding illegal?”

“Don’t worry. We’re not raising them; we’re just keeping them confined for a bit before slaughtering them.”

“That sounds like the same thing…”

“Not at all. The rule is to kill all captured monsters within ten days, right? If you just follow that, there’s no problem. This isn’t just a law that applies in Nidavellir; it’s international law, you know?”

“Oh…”

I didn’t know that.

I’ve been here for a while, so it’s not like I lack common knowledge of the Eurelia Continent. But there are still some things I don’t know when the conversation goes a bit deeper.

For reference, in H&A, if you just killed a monster, it would drop items, and items never got damaged.

In other words, it must be a setting that was removed for game convenience.

“This law came about because of certain monsters whose materials become unusable due to rapid decomposition the moment they die. You can’t use preservation magic on every single one, can you?”

“Indeed. Unless it’s an expensive material like troll’s blood, most materials wouldn’t be cost-effective.”

“Exactly! And monsters that aren’t cost-effective are usually weak.”

So that’s why there are low-level monsters. I understood everything.

“Alright, Senior Faye. Let’s go.”

At Faye’s and my request for a monster, the dwarves initially looked bewildered.

If the purpose was performance testing, they had sturdy metal dummies, defective armor before melting, and ordinary livestock. They must have wondered why we were specifically looking for monsters.

But once I briefly explained the dagger’s effects, they eagerly rushed to guide us.

We arrived at an iron cage in the basement. Inside, a Kobold was bound by thick iron chains, had stakes driven into its main joints, and, to top it all off, was wearing a muzzle with thorns.

“No, isn’t this an excessive measure for just a Kobold?”

“That’s because you’re from the Levantin Empire, Junior, so you feel that way. In Nidavellir, iron is abundant, and there’s an overflow of crude tools made by novice artisans from that iron. This one was probably just something lying around in the warehouse that they took out.”

As Faye giggled, I looked closer again and noticed some clumsiness.

Things like the irregular spacing of the chains or the twisted axes of the stakes—those kinds of beginner mistakes.

“So that was it.”

I nodded vaguely and looked at the Kobold with a pounding heart. It had a pathetic expression, as if sensing its imminent demise…

“Grrr! Woof! Krooo!”

“…”

Yep. This is a monster.

The creature threatened us, drooling like a lunatic. If it hadn’t had a muzzle, it would have been gnashing its teeth too.

Thanks to that, I can kill it without guilt. It was going to die soon anyway, even if it wasn’t by my hand.

Of course, I don’t intend to just stab it first. There are things to check beforehand.

“Hmm…”

As I gripped it, a satisfied hum escaped me unconsciously, the grip feeling as if it had always belonged there, perfectly conforming to my hand.

If just holding it feels this good, what would it feel like to swing it? I lightly swung the dagger into the air.

Whoosh.

“Oh.”

Despite its considerable weight, it didn’t feel heavy when swung, and its trajectory remained steady.

It was a strange sensation, as if the dagger moved on its own, and my hand simply followed. At the moment of the swing, the dagger’s weight was completely imperceptible.

I was initially flustered, but after swinging it a few more times in the air, I understood perfectly.

“Is the exquisitely balanced center of gravity correcting my movements?”

To think that just the center of gravity alone could help my arm extend straight out. The artifacts Faye made always boasted good performance… but in such delicate aspects, she likely couldn’t match a blacksmith.

Conversely, blacksmiths are far less capable of handling the materials themselves than Faye, so it’s probably just a simple difference in strengths and weaknesses.

Anyway, I swung and thrust the dagger this way and that, engraving its feel into my body. Thanks to the sensation of it being originally mine, without needing to get used to it, it didn’t take long.

One unique thing was, perhaps due to the material, the magic was greatly amplified the moment my telekinetic magic touched it.

It’s probably because part of my body was used as a material.

I nodded inwardly and looked at the tightly bound Kobold.

“First, just lightly graze the outer part…”

It was the moment the sharp tip of the dagger barely, just barely, pierced the Kobold’s hide.

Boom!

Suddenly, a black light erupted from the dagger, filling my vision. I instinctively blinked and looked again in the direction of the Kobold.

“Huh?”

There was only a massive crater, with no trace of the Kobold. As if it had evaporated.

“…”

I don’t know. What is this? It’s scary.