Book 1 Chapter 170

170

Clang-! Clang-!

That day, Dwenos was, as usual, making weapons.

Inside a secluded cave.

Relying on magic lamps, Dwenos continued his work silently.

Licinas and Luna were in a deep sleep from long battles.

Wrapped in blankets, the two showed no sign of waking up despite the noisy hammering.

This was the heart of Erebus's territory.

Their nerves must have been on edge.

Even if it weren't for such a situation, it would have been difficult to sleep, but the two women showed no sign of waking.

They were just leaning on each other's shoulders, heads together, in a deep sleep.

Such was the fatigue accumulated.

'In a way, it's a desperate situation.'

Whoosh-!

Kyle frowned, watching the incessant rain falling outside the cave.

It was the kind of rain that annoyed him just by looking at it.

It was then, as he was glaring at the black rain that gnawed at life force, as if he hated it.

"It's because of me."

"……?"

Kyle made a bewildered expression at Dwenos's sudden words.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Arion."

The hand that was hammering stopped.

"If the sword hadn't broken, Arion wouldn't have lost his life."

Dwenos's voice trembled slightly.

Dwenos was a blacksmith, and Arion was a warrior.

Arion was the one who used the weapons Dwenos made the most, so the trust between them in the party was deeper than anyone else's.

Furthermore, Dwenos and Arion were not just friends.

The party's leader and the oldest was Licinas, but she had lived deep within a dragon's territory for a long time, so her worldly experience was even less than Kyle's.

Luna was a lady who had devoted herself only to magic studies.

Kyle had a lot of worldly experience as a mercenary, but it wasn't diverse.

Unlike them, Dwenos was rich in worldly experience.

A troubadour who had explored all corners of the world from a young age, praising beauty.

Though often bickering that he was a perverted eccentric, Dwenos was the only one in the party who could be called an adult.

Arion, the youngest in the party, relied heavily on Dwenos.

Dwenos's hand trembled violently.

"If my weapon had been a little more… sturdy… if it could have withstood Erebus's attack…!"

Drip- Drip- Hiss-

Hot tears flowed from Dwenos's eyes.

The fallen teardrops landed on his large hand and evaporated.

Dwenos's weapons were born from powerful flames.

Thus, Dwenos was a user of powerful flames.

But Dwenos did not like his flames.

The essence of fire was destruction.

As Dwenos loved the beauty of the world, this characteristic was unwelcome.

"What is beauty anyway! If I had been more capable! If I had focused more on making weapons! Arion wouldn't have… wouldn't have become like that…"

Dwenos did not cry at Arion's death.

He possessed a stronger mental fortitude than anyone else in the party.

In desperate situations, he kept his composure and silently became the party's pillar.

But eventually, those emotions had burst now.

Kyle clenched his teeth, watching Dwenos tremble.

"Stop talking nonsense."

Kyle clenched his fist tightly.

"Both Arion and I have kept our lives countless times thanks to the weapons you made."

Kyle looked Dwenos straight in the eye.

"If you don't trust yourself and blame yourself, what does that make Arion… or me… who trusted you until the very end?"

"……"

"You have to pull yourself together. All that's left for us is to move forward, no matter what."

"…Right. But Kyle."

Clang- Clang-

Dwenos began hammering again.

But his expression was still heavy.

"Weapons are born from flame."

"……"

"And the source of Erebus's power is unextinguishable flame."

Clang- Clang-

The sound of striking the weapon echoed throughout the cave.

"Will the weapons made from my flames… be able to withstand Erebus's power?"

Dwenos's voice was filled with anxiety.

Flame is always destined to be consumed by stronger flame.

The anxiety that his weapons might not hold up and Kyle might die.

Even a dwarf with steel-like mental fortitude had no choice but to break before the immortal flame.

"I won't die."

"……?"

"And as I said before, I'll trust you until the very, very end."

Kyle showed unwavering trust.

"No matter how I think about it, you make weapons better than works of art."

Kyle laughed.

"You said the beauty you create is immortal, right? A weapon made better than your artwork will also be immortal, then."

"It's amazing how a foul-mouthed fellow like you has grown so much."

"…Now you sound like yourself."

Kyle let out a dry laugh.

"Yes… my artwork is immortal."

Dwenos's reddish-brown eyes sparkled as he looked down at his weapon.

Clang-! Whoosh-!

Yellow flames flickered with Dwenos's hammering.

"Then… the weapons I make can also be immortal."

***

Clang- Grab!

Kigors shattered the display case and seized Dwenos's sword.

Rooooooar-!

"Oooooh!"

The magic power coiling around Kigors's body began to grow even stronger.

Hum-! Hum-!

The sword made by Dwenos began to resonate, humming as if in communion with Kigors.

'What is this? Why is Dwenos's sword reacting to him?'

Dwenos's weapon was, in a sense, an object diametrically opposed to Tartaros.

A weapon created to subjugate Erebus and Tartaros.

It contained the will and essence of a blacksmith of Dwenos's caliber.

It was an object that brought ill omen to demons, yet he was gaining power by holding it.

"With this, I, Kigors, the Curse King, shall be resurrected!"

Kigors's presence began to become clearer.

It was proof that he was gradually regaining the power of a legion commander.

'Whatever it is, Dwenos's sword is clearly giving him power. He mustn't hold the sword!'

If he regains the legion commander's power like this, Leo will have no way to stop him.

Leo stirred his magic.

Flash-!

Kigors's eyes turned towards Leo.

Instantly-!

Crack-!

Something cracking was heard in Leo's head.

Thud-!

Leo's face contorted.

"You're still alive after receiving such a curse? You. Are you really just a first-year brat?"

Kigors wore an incredulous expression.

'Curse.'

In an instant, hundreds of curses were embedded in Leo's body.

Starting from low-level curses to high-level curses.

He quickly dispelled the curses with unbinding rituals, but he couldn't counter curses he didn't know or curses that overwhelmed him with powerful force.

'There's a limit to simply countering with unbinding rituals alone.'

Leo and Kigors right now were literally in different leagues.

He couldn't fight them with skill alone anymore.

'A legion commander is going to be resurrected like this? Right in the heart of Lumern?'

Tartaros had been aiming for this.

'What do I do?'

It was when Leo gritted his teeth.

Hum-

Leo's left arm glowed.

It was the Folium obtained as a reward for conquering Luna's world.

But this Folium was merely an empty shell brought from the Hero's world.

Yet, the Folium, which should have no power, was now glowing.

Leo's eyes widened.

A fresh, light green glow.

It wasn't aura, nor magic, nor spirit power.

Nor was it mana.

'Divine power?'

And it was the power of a god Leo had met before.

'Pibwa?'

The light instantly transformed into a grey hue.

It was a power Leo knew.

'My power?'

More precisely, it was Kyle's power.

The power then began to take on a form.

Whoosh-!

It became a bright yellow flame.

"Argh?"

At the same time, bright yellow flames flickered from Dwenos's sword held by Kigors.

'Dwenos's flames?'

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh-!

"Aaaargh!"

Dwenos's flames transferred to Kigors.

Kigors, writhing in pain, roughly threw the sword away.

Clang! Swish-!

The sword slid towards Leo.

"Swordsman! What did you do to the sword!"

Kigors roared in anger.

'No. The principal didn't really do anything.'

Leo looked down at his hand.

'The sword reacted to Dwenos's will.'

All weapons made by Dwenos contained his will and flames.

Those flames had awakened.

'It reacted to my power.'

Leo had inherited the essence of Dwenos's power.

Dwenos, who was loved by flames, also possessed a strong resistance to flames.

At his last moment.

Dwenos passed the essence of the flames he possessed to Kyle.

But that essence of flames disappeared long ago with Kyle's death.

'It's natural for knowledge to remain but power not to. But.'

Those Dwenos's flames were resurrected in Leo's hand.

'Pibwa must have done something to the Folium.'

The god he met in Luna's world.

He must have done something.

Leo bowed his head.

Grab-!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh-!

The bright yellow flames burned even more fiercely.

But the flames did not affect Leo.

Dwenos disliked his flames.

Because destruction was the essence of flames.

But…

'Flames don't always just cause destruction!'

While Dwenos disliked flames, he tried to benefit the world with their power.

As he gripped the sword, he felt as if he could hear the old dwarf's taunting voice in his ear.

'To be lying down over just that much, the weapons I made for you will cry.'

'Thank you, Dwenos.'

Dwenos, the divine blacksmith.

An eccentric dwarf who was more interested in creating beautiful works of art than making weapons.

Dwenos, who wished to spread beauty to the world and be remembered as a great artist by later generations, ultimately did not achieve his dream.

Apart from art, the only known anecdote about Dwenos was that he created the strongest weapons.

'It couldn't be helped.'

Thump-

Dwenos's flames burned away the curses.

'Because of you, I could fight until the very end.'

Dwenos's flames were ultimately extinguished by Erebus.

'Your weapon… didn't break even against those damned black flames.'

But the weapons he forged with those flames.

'I could entrust my life to them until the end.'

The will he left behind did not break until the very, very end.

Kigors's eyes turned towards Leo.

The power Pibwa left in the Folium did not give Leo any new power.

It merely awakened Dwenos's power that Kyle had possessed and that had disappeared long ago.

A miracle connecting past and present lives.

But that alone could change nothing.

"Leo Flobe! Hand over the Sword Saint's sword!"

"This sword?"

Leo smiled and gripped the sword more firmly.

"I'll give it to you if you want."

Whoosh-! Crrackle-!

"……!"

Kigors's eyes widened.

From the base of the sword's body to its tip.

It shone with a golden light, transforming into a sword so beautiful its radiance seemed almost too much.

Beautiful patterns were embroidered on the blade.

"That's… what on earth!"

"Let me correct one thing."

Leo smiled.

"This sword isn't the Sword Saint's sword."

Clench-!

Leo gripped the sword again.

Shimmer-!

Golden wings enveloped the sword.

The magic sword, awakened after thousands of years, radiated powerful magic.

The golden sword made by Dwenos.

This sword was not a weapon for a great hero.

It was Dwenos's masterpiece, meticulously crafted for other heroes aiding the subjugation team.

Leo called its name.

"Demon Slayer."

Crrackle-!

As if responding to the call, Demon Slayer emitted an even more intense light.

Flash! Crrackle-!

Leo threw the sword.

Demon Slayer, enveloped in golden wings, pierced Kigors.

Kigors couldn't even scream as he went straight through the Great Library wall and disappeared.

Leo scratched his cheek, looking at the gaping hole in the Great Library wall.

"It's going to be chaos."

He aimed at the entrance side where there were no books, but if the professors saw it, they would surely foam at the mouth and raise hell.

"The principal will shield me, I'm sure."

Leo chuckled and checked his body's condition.

"Master!"

Arty, polymorphed into human form, rushed towards Leo.

Fiora was perched on Arty's head.

"Awesome! You look like a handsome boy on the outside, but you have this inner toughness, kind of? And your touch is so bold! I think I picked my master well! *Slurp*-"

Watching Arty wipe drool from her mouth with her arm, Leo muttered to himself.

'Why do I always have an pervert around me, whether in my past life or this one?'

Leo clicked his tongue and created a summoning circle.

"Go back for now."

"Huh? But Lumern is in crisis."

"I've roughly dealt with that, so there won't be a major crisis, and… there's someone I need to meet. That's an order. Just listen without arguing."

Arty hesitated at Leo's words, then gasped and clutched her heart at the last remark, before returning through the summoning circle.

Left alone, Leo departed the Great Library.

***

"He ran away."

Kalian said calmly, landing on the first floor of the Hero's Tower.

The fragment of Silatuna that had been blocking Kalian had fled immediately after a momentary battle.

Literally, it had revealed its identity just for that brief moment to stop Kalian.

'What on earth is it aiming for?'

Kalian narrowed his eyes, then raised his head.

Flash-!

At the same moment he perceived a golden flash, a sword flew and embedded itself at his feet.

Thud-!

Kalian's eyes widened at the sight of the sword.

'Clessis?'

His beloved sword, which he had wielded since his youth.

It was a worn-out sword from the moment he first held it.

But it never broke and was a powerful sword containing enormous mana.

That beloved sword was now before him, looking brand new.

It was a sight Kalian, who had been its owner all his life, had never seen before.

Surprised, Kalian reached out.

Crrackle-!

The sword returned to its original form as if a spell had been broken.

Kalian's eyes twitched, recognizing the lingering mana on the sword.

'Leo Flobe?'

He could tell that Leo was the last person to wield this sword.

'What on earth happened?'

It was when Kalian made a bewildered expression.

Whoosh-! Crash-!

Something flew and slammed into the ground in front of Kalian.

Seeing it, the Sword Saint blew away the dust with his aura.

And his eyes twitched.

"Kigors?"

"Sword Saint…!"

Kigors's eyes widened.

"Why are you alive?"

"Argh!"

At Kalian's question, Kigors tried to retreat in a hurry.

No matter how old he was, the Sword Saint was still the Sword Saint!

With his current power, he couldn't face him.

'I was almost successful.'

"I don't know how you're alive, but."

Roooooar-!

The Sword Saint's aura pulsed.

"I have no intention of letting you live."

The Sword Saint dryly swung his sword from bottom to top.

Whoosh-!

For a moment, the air seemed to split.

A few steps between Kalian and Kigors.

The air split in a straight line between them.

Kigors's eyes widened.

He felt his vision distort for a moment.

The legion commander, who had dreamed of resurrection, thought.

'It's over.'

So vainly.

The opportunity for resurrection was gone.

Thwack-!

Blood splattered.

His distorted vision turned to the sky.

He saw the split sky.

It was split as if clouds had been cut.

'He's become even more of a monster, Sword Saint.'

***

"I thought the timing was perfect."

Step- Step-

Silatuna grumbled, leaving the now chaotic Lumern after the sudden demon invasion.

He thought the timing was quite perfect.

'Do I need to predict every detail perfectly and plan like Hell Kaiser?'

But that wasn't his style.

Silatuna was a legion commander who preferred to smash everything in front of him rather than plot conspiracies.

"With this, the Curse King is completely finished. And so are my efforts in Lumern."

For this operation, he had used all the pawns within Lumern.

It was no longer possible to exert influence within Lumern.

"What a shame."

Silatuna licked his lips, then curled the corners of his mouth.

'It's not that there were no results, but. The Sword Saint is definitely getting weaker.'

The end of the most threatening hero was not far off.

Knowing this alone was a great harvest.

'First, I need to return to the main body and deliver the information…'

"Where are you going?"

"……!"

Silatuna narrowed his eyes and turned his head at the voice from behind.

"Hmm? A milky-smelling brat has arrived."

Leo chuckled, looking at Silatuna, who was sneering, and said.

"Long time no see, Silatuna."