68 – The Ultimate Weapon
Castle of the Demon King, Kutranus.
Bersella, one of the Five Great Demon Kings, was struck by shocking news.
The warriors from the human kingdom had finally started to move, and there was news that they had already obtained the Holy Sword and were preparing to subjugate the Demon King.
“H-How did this happen? How did they obtain the Holy Sword so quickly?”
Bersella trembled in fear.
She was scared because she could imagine herself being helplessly killed by the sword of a hero, just like her father, the former Demon King.
The ruler of deceit, Jabye, kneeled before the Demon King and spoke.
“Do not worry too much. The reason the hero obtained the Holy Sword so quickly is because he had a woman named Mileia by his side.”
“Don’t worry? If the hero has obtained the Holy Sword, then I am his next target!”
“My Lord, the time to fear the hero is when he grows and becomes stronger. The current hero cannot even touch one of your fingertips, so please rest assured.”
“Ugh… But you have only failed until now! How can I believe your words?”
“Hmm… It was a mistake that I couldn’t kill the hero, but it’s also true that the current hero cannot touch the Demon King.”
Javiel was stating the truth.
The legend of the hero that descended upon humans was not just a simple legend.
The hero would eventually come to the Demon King’s castle to defeat the Demon King, and that was true.
But the current hero had skipped that process by putting a woman named Mileia in the front.
Without going through the gradual steps, the hero could not become strong enough.
Fortunately, the current hero was far from that path.
And this was the first time such an event had occurred since the existence of the Demon King and the hero in this world.
Javiel was paying attention to that.
The appearance of the hero to subdue the Demon King was an event that always happened as if it were an unavoidable fate.
But this time, the hero had deviated from the path of the hero himself and was behaving strangely.
“Perhaps the power of the goddess and the demon that gave birth to the hero and the Demon King has weakened. Maybe the link that was holding their destiny together has loosened, and that’s why this strange hero has emerged…”
Javiel thought.
It wasn’t just the hero.
The Demon King’s soul had always chosen the strongest among the pure-blooded vampires and turned them into Demon Kings.
At least, that’s how it had always been with the previous Demon Kings.
But what about Bersella?
She was a pure-blooded vampire, but she wasn’t much different from a young, timid girl.
Of course, as time passed, her power as a Demon King would become stronger regardless of her will.
In fact, the monsters all over the continent were influenced by the power of the Demon King’s soul embedded in Bersella’s body.
‘But… no matter how much I think about it…’
The Demon King’s choice was absolute and could not be changed.
However, Javiel couldn’t stop thinking that there must be a candidate who suited the Demon King more than Versella.
Queen Rudmilla of the city of Ainblad, the pure-blooded vampire.
If she had become the Demon King, there would be no trembling in fear or acting out in mischief just by hearing news of a hero.
“S…scary… What on earth should I do…”
Demon King Versella wrapped her head, not knowing what to do.
Lord Bloodstain, the Duke of Blood, who had been quietly watching her from afar, left the room with a thud.
Among the lords who served the Demon King, Bloodstain was the most radical hardliner.
He insisted on purging the human kingdom by mobilizing the Demon Army, exterminating not only heroes but all humans.
But seeing Versella, who possessed the source of that power, the Demon King’s Soul, in that state, it was difficult for Bloodstain to continue watching.
Javiel let out a small sigh as she watched Bloodstain leave the room.
Although they all had the same goal of killing heroes to protect the Demon King, even the demons had differing opinions on how to achieve it.
‘Perhaps we will each take action. I wonder… what will happen…’
Javiel fell into deep thought.
An unheroic hero and an un-demonic demon king.
Even Javiel couldn’t predict the outcome of this story.
All she could do was come up with a plan to stop the hero for her current Demon King.
From Noble mtl dot com
* * *
Fwoosh!
A secluded beach near Kubel.
A fierce flame shot out from the sword I was holding, reaching towards the sea.
The magical flame raced across the surface of the sea, creating a whirlwind and raising a pillar of fire.
“What on earth is happening?”
I muttered as I let go of the sword.
Then, the flames raging above the sea suddenly subsided.
I had been practicing controlling the magic I obtained from Einblade recently.
Whenever I tried to release the magic outward, it would go out of control like a runaway horse.
I had only tried to add a little flame to the sword just now, but I failed to control it and ended up like this.
I closed my eyes and felt the accumulated magic inside me.
I could sense that the color of the magic I had been accumulating so far had completely changed due to the influence of the magic from Einblade.
It was as if a few drops of red ink had fallen into transparent water, affecting even the magic I originally had.
The reason why I couldn’t control the magic was probably because of this.
Even if I obtained new blue magic through magic conversion, it would still be influenced by the magic from Einblade inside my body.
At first, I thought I could somehow solve it through training.
But the more I trained, the worse the symptoms of magic running wild became.
Ironically, the symptoms were less severe when I dealt with the Immortal Beings in the past.
My current state was like trying to open a door and having it break, or trying to drink water from a cup and having the cup shatter.
The only fortunate thing was that this problem only occurred when I released the magic outward.
If the same problem occurred within my body that contained this magic, it would be impossible to live a normal life.
“Hmm….”
“Yunoa possessed a power that was neither human nor demon, making it difficult to control. He had a shallow belief that training could solve this problem. However, the nature of the power itself presented issues that training could not address.”
“No, please let me know about that sooner. I put so much effort into controlling this power. It would have been so much better if you had told me before I exhausted myself with useless efforts.”
“What does a strong adventurer need?”
Suddenly, out of the blue, the narrator asked me a question.
Are you asking me? No, that couldn’t be. In the first place, this guy cannot communicate with me.
What does a strong adventurer need…
Guild-recognized adventurer ranks?
It doesn’t seem right.
After experiencing the life of an adventurer, I realized something. The adventurer ranks given by the guild were not an absolute measure of strength. Of course, there was a difference between Bronze and Silver ranks. But even among Silver ranks, there was a significant difference in skill.
In the first place, the fact that the ranks were divided into only three categories – Bronze, Silver, and Gold – showed a lack of discrimination in strength. And looking at the promotion structure of the guild, it was possible for a Silver rank adventurer to be stronger than a Gold rank adventurer.
I’m not sure if such cases actually exist, but if you don’t undergo a promotion evaluation, your adventurer rank won’t increase.
If your goal is to make a decent living, there’s really no reason to promote from the silver rank to the gold rank.
Of course, there are minor advantages, such as not having to file a transfer notice when changing activity areas, or receiving different treatment among adventurers, once you get promoted to the gold rank. But are there really that many people who are willing to take on the risks of promotion just for that?
I don’t think so.
Then, what else do strong adventurers need?
At that moment, a memory flashed through my mind.
It was when I first decided to become an adventurer.
Surprisingly, I realized that being an adventurer required quite a bit of initial capital, and Meruru and I worked hard to earn money back then.
The reason I earned money was because I needed a sword.
The sword I bought with the money was lost when it fell into a hole in the Horn Gorge.
The sword I currently have was a gift from Venos, a young member of the Caria Tribe.
It was a sword made by refining mushrooms as strong as steel, grown in the underworld.
It was sturdy and surprisingly fit my hand well, so I was still using it without needing to acquire a new sword.
There is also the fact that the power of the attack depends largely on the user’s magical power, so I didn’t feel much need for it.
As my thoughts reached this point, I once again thought about the intention behind the question the narration threw at me.
Perhaps I haven’t paid enough attention to my equipment and have been active without much thought?
The sword of Milaea, a gold-ranked adventurer, was a very long and sharp greatsword.
It didn’t look like an ordinary sword at first glance.
Other adventurers were also wearing weapons that seemed to suit them.
I vaguely remember seeing adventurers carrying swords with blades that emitted a unique light.
Since discovering the existence of magic, I had been focusing solely on enhancing my physical abilities through magic conversion and learning techniques utilizing magic.
However, even in the frequent stories of old warriors, the weapon called the Holy Sword seemed to be essential.
Gear envy.
I had overlooked the importance of good equipment.
This world was full of all sorts of marvelous things.
The problem of magic control couldn’t be solved through self-training alone.
So, perhaps it could be solved through equipment?
By using weapons imbued with magic, or accessories and armor, I might be able to find a solution.
Well, Narration, what do you think of the conclusion I’ve come to?
I asked silently in my mind, addressing the Narration.
But, of course, there was no reply.
* * *