“This is crazy!”
Kriel moved swiftly.
Not only was fighting for honor, but decisively dealing with an enemy was also part of a knight’s quality. Kriel grabbed the woman by the collar and slammed her to the ground.
“…Huh?”
It was a blow so swift that it halted Morgina’s thoughts, even as she approached with her mace in hand.
Morgina was even more bewildered by Kriel’s reflexive attack. He wasn’t the type of person to treat an ordinary person so ruthlessly.
He wouldn’t beat up a normal person like that. But now, he’s outright slamming her into the ground and starting to pummel her. Which means…
This wasn’t an ordinary person.
Morgina increased the weight of her mace, which she had tempered just enough for intimidation purposes. A heavy whoosh cut through the air.
[What’s going on?! What is this?!]
Orishin shouted in confusion. On the surface, it looked like Kriel was suddenly ganging up on some woman of marrying age.
“Get over here and help!”
Morgina yelled urgently. What kind of opponent had taken on a human form that could pose enough of a threat to alarm even Kriel?
Whether it was a doppelgänger-type monster, a demon who mistook Kriel for an ally, or a polymorphed dragon, every suspect on the list was extremely dangerous. It was clear they needed to be eliminated immediately.
“Wait.”
At that moment, a calm voice flowed out, completely different from the tense situation. It was a beautiful and melodic sound.
“Master, why did you strike me down?”
Kriel froze for a moment. He couldn’t comprehend why anyone would call him “Master”.
To be precise, he didn’t want to understand.
“Do not reject your rightful destiny. You defeated me in battle, and so, you are my legitimate master.”
Kriel instinctively realized that the being before him posed the greatest threat to his long-term plan for a happy, healthy life with a sound body and mind.
The master of one of the Seven Demon Weapons? As if I’m not already struggling enough with my class!
“Morgina, take it down!”
With that, he cast aside any concern for dignity or nobility and shouted bluntly. After all, the only ones around to hear him were Orishin and Morgina, weren’t they?
“It’s pointless.”
The ashen-haired girl spoke in a slow deliberate voice that almost felt leisurely.
“Just as I cannot defy my master’s will, even if my physical form is damaged, it will not harm my essence.”
[Wow, you’re screwed.]
Orishin, who was the first to grasp the meaning of the ashen-haired girl’s words, muttered blankly. Morgina shifted her gaze to the horse head ghost clicking his tongue in midair.
“What do you mean?”
[Well, from what I can tell, that thing seems to be connected to Kriel’s soul.]
“What? What kind of crazy nonsense is that?”
[Hey, calm down and listen, you violent saintess. You know Kriel isn’t exactly your standard knight, right?]
Morgina gritted her teeth and nodded her head, though reluctantly. She couldn’t deny it after what she’d witnessed during the Western campaign.
[And as far as we know… well, non-standard knights sometimes have the ability to absorb things like the physical pain, mental pain, or even the souls of the opponents they defeat, right?]
Kriel released the hand that had been gripping the ashen-haired girl by the collar. He had too many suspicions now. Morgina, who still couldn’t comprehend the situation, pressed for answers.
An abyss being that could claim Kriel had defeated it in a “battle of strength”. It wasn’t hard to guess its identity.
“I bound Gratuon and sent it off to the Holy City. The sword wasn’t even broken or anything. So how…?”
Morgina looked at Kriel with trembling eyes. Kriel’s hand instinctively went to his forehead.
“Master, would you like me to explain on your behalf?”
“Be quiet….”
At Kriel’s words, the ashen-haired girl clamped her mouth shut and nodded.
[Here’s the thing. As far as I know, battles between abyss beings don’t always end with physical destruction. Sometimes, the loser just breaks mentally, and that’s enough to settle things.]
Orishin rattled off various examples. Tales of one demon submitting to serve another after a loss, or of a demon taming a monstrous beast with nothing but a gaze to turn it into their war steed.
[In a case like that, it seems Gratuon might have surrendered at some deep, subconscious level.]
Morgina felt the back of her neck stiffen. That kind of thing was attached to her Champion. She was going to take him to the main Eve Kaha Church and try her best to persuade him to join.
At this rate, it was not Kriel but the elders of the Church that she would need to persuade.
[Still, something’s strange. I’ve never heard anything about Gratuon having a sword spirit.]
Orishin tilted his head and was lost in thought. Although there was little information about the Seven Demon Weapons, if such a concrete sword spirit had existed, it would have been nearly impossible for the record keepers of the Holy Kingdom to overlook it.
Had the warriors who wielded Gratuon until now simply lacked the ability to awaken the sword spirit? It’s not an unreasonable thought.
Orishin felt something was off, but he himself could not figure out exactly what he felt off.
While Orishin and Morgina continued their academic discussion about the nature of the abyss, Kriel closed his eyes and dove inward into his inner world. He did so to connect with what he referred to as the “system” which was an innate mechanism that taught him how to use his skills.
To Kriel, his inner world felt like a constellation. Each star represented a power he could wield. Though the system didn’t provide user-friendly explanations like a game, Kriel instinctively understood what each star symbolized and what effect it would produce.
…Damn it.
Sure enough, there was a new star he hadn’t seen before. A blue star. Its color was completely unfamiliar.
The skills related to the class the system provided are red, and the techniques I’ve acquired through physical training in this world such as basic fighting spirit manipulation are yellow.
He contemplated the shimmering blue light inside him. The essence of the star became clear to him. If he had to name it, it would be called “Ethereal Blade”. The power to harness the force of the demon sword.
Kriel had known for a long time that this half-baked system didn’t support convenient features like deleting skills.
He opened his eyes and stared at the sky.
“So this is your way of pushing me to fully embrace the abyss, huh…?”
Damned heavens. Just what is the heavenly pantheon doing if they can’t even prevent something like this?
***
[Tuon, make me some food.]
“I don’t take orders from those weaker than me.”
[What did you just say?!]
Kriel, who had given up on hurling curses at the heavens, turned to Morgina for advice on resolving the situation. He held onto a faint hope that the elder priests at the main Eve Kaha Church might know something helpful.
Morgina, on the other hand, insisted, “We should probably focus on whether you’ll survive without getting stabbed first when meeting them,” and the two put their heads together to brainstorm.
Meanwhile, the Gratuon sword spirit who had been ordered to “sit still,” obediently remained seated on a tree stump.
The reason Kriel didn’t recall Gratuon back into his inner world was simple. If, by any chance, this was judged as using an “Abyss Skill”, the consequences could be unimaginable. For now, Kriel decided to leave Gratuon in her human state.
Orishin who was tasked with keeping watch amused himself by teasing Gratuon sword spirit while carefully observing her reactions.
[Wow, that’s fascinating. This came out of Gratuon? The main body of the sword should still be in the holy city, but I don’t feel any connection to it.]
“Logically speaking, the sword is not my main body.”
[Huh?]
“I possess all the functions of Gratuon, which makes me the true main body. The sword sealed in Temris is merely a shell.”
[Ah, sure. Whatever you say, Mr. Bigshot. So, Tuon, what exactly can you do?]
“I can dominate those weaker than—”
[This brat again?]
Orishin remembered the personality of the sword spirit well. Its pride was absurdly strong, usually ignoring questions outright, but it had a tendency to respond when provoked.
The sound of footsteps approached. Kriel who was looking drained came trudging toward them.
[Hey! Did you come up with any good ideas?]
Instead of the depressed Kriel, it was Morgina who answered.
“…We don’t know for sure yet, but we’ve decided to head to our church as originally planned.”
[Is that reckless strategy going to work?]
“I can vouch for our Champion here. They wouldn’t attack him on sight… probably.”
Morgina spoke with feigned confidence, though she didn’t seem entirely convinced herself. Kriel turned to the sword spirit and asked,
“Can you transform into a sword?”
“If that is my master’s wish. It is my duty, after all.”
Blue cracks spread across the entire body of the ashen-haired girl. They were the same color as her two eyes. The blue light emanating from the cracks engulfed her whole form, and as she finally transformed into what resembled a crystalline figure in the shape of a human, the crystal shattered into countless fragments.
It was a dazzling destruction, like shards of stained glass or sunlight breaking upon the waves. Each fragment gathered together and merged into a new form.
When the light subsided, a sword of the same ashen color that had been the tool of Kriel’s chest treatment.
“I see the shape has changed.”
The sword’s design was subtly different. The Gratuon Kriel had previously faced had sharp, menacing spikes that stood out, but this new form was simpler and evoked the image of a cross.
While the blade remained entirely ashen, the single exception was a blue gemstone embedded in the center of the crossguard.
Hearing Kriel’s remark, the gemstone flickered briefly as if to respond.
[I have shed my old shell. Why should I look the same as before?]
For a moment, Kriel was taken aback by the realization that the sword could speak even in this form. Meanwhile, Orishin muttered to himself,
[You have three swords now. Should you hold one in your mouth or something?]
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