Chapter 146:
The atmosphere suddenly turned tense.
Perhaps it was because I murmured out loud of how interesting things were turning out, Allen’s face turned pale.
“I-interesting? Nea, what do you mean by that?”
Daisy and Zerva shared similar sentiments as Allen.
“Fighting with these monsters are interesting. That’s all I meant.”
I continued on calmly staring at those expressions seeking denial.
“And unfortunately, my memories are yet to return.”
What was spoken was completely the opposite of what I meant……
But that was enough to resolve the anxiety and tenseness of the companions.
“I-is that so? O-of course, committing such a massive one-sided annihilation must be fun indeed.”
After all, humans tend to believe in what they want to believe in.
Or perhaps, the hero of the fallen world already had a peculiar personality like this.
On my way here in the carriage, I tried to understand Neal’s personality.
‘They said that he was a battle crazed lunatic.’
So this should be enough as an answer for them.
I stretched my neck and spoke as if I was tired.
“But I don’t think I can continue fighting today since I’m too tired.”
At that, Zerva nodded with a calm expression.
“……That’s understandable. Even a hero does not have unlimited mana and divine powers after all.”
“So i’ll be resting for the rest of today. It’s not like we are planning on proceeding without resting a single day.”
“……Please do so. We’re near the entrance of the demonic realm anyways, so we should be able to set up camp for the night as soon as we exit.”
“Then it’s decided. Let’s go out.”
To be honest, declaring that you need rest after a single battle was enough to be cursed at.
The ones who reached a level of super human needs to camp out from being tired?
It was the height of profligacy
And since the demonic realm is an enemy territory, if your traces can’t be erased, it’s unwise to retreat.
At least a gesture of attempting the traces should be taken.
Even more so if the holy sword is used to leave traces of divine powers.
But the companions agreed to my suggestion without a care.
“You’re right, we should rest at the beginning of the demonic realm. As Neal said, we should rest for tonight.”
Daisy quietly spoke with a smile which urged the other companions to move quickly.
‘What a relief.’
I thought while looking at that scenery a step away from them.
‘At least I won’t have to kill them here.’
Even considering that demon lord with unknown identity and abilities on top of its underlings.
‘I should be able to kill them all later without a problem.’
Taking care of them can be something for a later occurrence.
With an organized mind, I moved away.
A premonition for a fierce battle, which I haven’t felt in a while, could be felt.
»————- ★ ————-«
As soon as the night fell, I left my tent.
“…….”
After expanding my Aura Sense through the Mana Circuit, I could not feel the presence of my companions.
I quietly left the area towards an unnamed mountain outside of the camp.
It was an average sized mountain, but good enough to be used as a training ground.
“This should be good enough.”
After deciding that I was far enough from the camp, I unsheathed the sword from my waist.
Holy Sword.
The legendary sword said to be only bestowed upon the apostle of Dragon Lord was in my hands.
……Well, appearance-wise, it looked rather inefficient, but its effects were inconceivable.
Starlight, Desire, Punishment.
The three exclusive effects of the holy sword demonstrated an insane amount of power.
And using it in battle further proved just how ridiculous it was.
But this holy sword was like an event limited item that can only be used within the 16th floor.
It would be best to absorb one of the abilities through Sword Sense.
So…….
‘If all goes according to plan, this will become useless later on.’
Now it was time to make a proper choice.
Starlight and Punishment.
I thought hard for a few hours, but neither choice would be the most efficient.
「Activating skill ‘Sword Sense’.」
「You can select an item within the blade category to learn it as a form of a skill.」
I was once again reminded of how greedy humans can be.
「Selection Complete.」
「You have learned the skill ‘Starlight (S-)’.」
「Remaining use of the skill ‘Sword Sense’ – 1/2」
After all…….
「Selection Complete.」
「You have learned the skill ‘Punishment (S-)’.」
「Remaining use of the skill ‘Sword Sense’ – 0/2」
I didn’t bother choosing one of the two, but I ended up choosing both of them.
With no certainty to get a skill like Sword Sense ever again, I ended up choosing both abilities of the Holy Sword to absorb.
But surprisingly, I had no regrets.
‘Sword Sense might’ve been wasted with this, but the Holy Sword also had abilities far beyond other ones…….’
With the effect of Punishment raising every stat, on top of using the power of dragons, it was an excellent ability.
「You’ve exhausted the use of skill ‘Sword Sense’.」
「Skill ‘Sword Sense’ is Destroyed.」
Seeing the skill get destroyed made me disheartened, but it soon disappeared.
It was rather replaced by joy from seeing the new skills in my status window.
At that moment.
「The Dragon Lord frowning seeing that a puny existence is possessing the holy sword.」
As before, an unexpected message from a god appeared.
“…….”
It surprised me quite a bit due to its abruptness…….
‘……But it’s never good to react too excessively.’
While I remained calm trying to not appear as surprised, a new message appeared.
「The Dragon Lord has realized that the holy sword possessed by the puny existence is a fake.」
「The Dragon Lord takes back the attention it gave to the puny existence.」
They gave me attention and took it back on their whim.
‘What. Even is this…’
I was rather skeptical, but it was best to not attract the attention of divine entities.
I took relief in the fact that the attention was gone, and confirmed the skills by opening up the status window.
‘……So there’s no change in the ability.’
Starlight, and Punishment did not get any change in its abilities.
The description was the same as well.
There was nothing else that changed from the previous time that I used the Fire Dragon’s Eyes to check.
Even if I couldn’t use Punishment, After trying out Starlight, I could immediately tell what changed from before.
Shhhing!
“Oh.”
Now, starlight was not limited to the sword, but I could manifest it anywhere I wanted.
It could be manifested through my hand, and as long as it was within 10m of me, I could create it to my will.
However, it was difficult to control as it had a tendency of wanting to explode as soon as it got manifested.
‘Now that’s a bit of a let down.’
Once Starlight was activated, precise control was difficult.
Almost like the explosion of carbonation after shaking a can of soda.
In the same manner, its direction could not be altered either.
I thought that it was due to using the holy sword as a medium, but rather, it was the opposite.
‘So the holy sword was actually controlling its directions…….”
In battles, I’d have to use Starlight pretty strongly.
And with these unbiased explosions, I’d also have to face the consequences of its explosions.
“…….”
After thinking about it standing still, I realized that this did not matter with the current issues at hand.
‘……I wonder if I can use divine powers to control the explosion itself?”
Now if this explosion occurred right after manifestation like a can of soda, things would be different.
Then what if I were to create a type of a shell to hold the explosion as soon as I manifest the Starlight?
Of course it wouldn’t be an easy feat, but if I succeeded, I could at least slow down the explosions.
And even control the direction of the power as well.
‘I’ll have to test it out at least once.’
After activating the Starlight at the minimum strength, I tested out the theory.
「Activating skill ‘Starlight’.」
Shhhing!
To conclude, this attempt was a great failure.
Booom─!
When I tried to create a shell using mana, it exploded even bigger than what I manifested.
Its repelling force was so great that even I did not expect it.
My palms that manifested Starlight were half gone, and my ears were ringing.
「Activating skill ‘Ashy Blood’.」
“…….”
Of course, the skill ashy blood immediately activated itself to heal all the injuries and pain.
But, a wave of irritation came over me due to the new problem.
If I were to control Starlight with mana, it will create a reaction.
I attempted this a few more times, but the results did not improve.
I’ve put my body through multiple injuries to try more things, but Starlight and mana did not have a good compatibility.
‘What if this doesn’t work?’
I worried that I wasted my Sword Sense for a useless exclusive effect…….
But after a few more tries, I could understand a new fact.
That Starlight did not react to divine powers.
‘So I can’t use mana, but divine powers are okay…….’
It was rather absurd, but I assumed that it was because they both had similar affinity.
With no reactions to hinder me, I was able to create a shell to cover the Starlight.
But because my divine powers were painted black due to my potential of grim reaper, its appearances were rather ominous. At least it didn’t explode.
However, an issue arose.
Pzzzzt─!
The starlight trapped by the shell started to run amok and the intensity of light increased.
And the moment the starlight shone through the black shell.
「Administrator ‘Hero of a Fallen World’ is asking what on earth is this.」
「Administrator ‘Iron-blooded Monarch’ is flabbergasted by the fact that you managed to control an untameable power.」
「Administrator ‘White Crane Sword Saint’ is looking brightly towards this acquisition of new technique’.」
Rounds of messages appeared from the administrators.
Disregarding those messages, I concentrated on manipulating the orbs of starlight slowly.
Seeing the wavering of the starlight made me frown.
‘If this explodes, I definitely won’t be safe.’
To think that I could enhance the skill in this way.
I most likely won’t self-destruct with this, but I’ll have to use a few of the items or use up the souls I’ve absorbed previously.
And that’s not something I wanted.
Like opening the can of well shaken soda, I opened a hole from the shell created solely from divine powers.
Towards the direction of the sky so no traces will be left.
And
Crash─!
Followed with the sound of an explosion hitting the eardrums, a Dark light shot through the sky.
The clouds covering the moon were pierced through, and a bright moonlight of a full moon shone down.
Almost as if the darkness itself was dispelled.
»————- ★ ————-«
“…….”
It was beyond my expectations.
I couldn’t find any other words to describe this technique.
Perhaps because the dark divine powers functioned as the shell, the starlight was also affected?
I wasn’t sure, but I was sure that it was rather positive.
After seeing the bright moonlight, I let out a laugh.
“……I guess I don’t have to use the Counter Shield to counterattack anymore.”
It seems that I managed to create a battle ready technique in a while.
If I can recombine this method, then the Light Saber that can only be used with the Counter Shield can be reborn as well.
It was not a prediction but a certainty.
「You got the achievement ‘The Heir of Dragon Lord.’.」
「You’ve acquired the Special Power ‘Dragon Transformation’.」
「Currently, you are unable to obtain the power due to the limits of the special assignment.」
「The powers can be obtained normally after the competition of the trial.」
And I am assuming that the technique that I just did fulfilled some type of condition as I got the achievement of Heir of Dragon Lord.
‘Dragon Transformation?’
And it was satisfactory to get special power as the achievement reward…….
「The Dragon Lord is perceiving challenger Han SungYeun’s existence.」
「The Dragon Lord is widening their eyes at challenger Han SungYeun’s achievement.」
「The Dragon Lord is greatly interested in challenger Han SungYeun.」
Another bothersome entity might’ve been added.
「The Dragon Lord is proposing the position of apostle to challenger Han SungYeun.」
“I decline.”
「The Dragon Lord is proposing the position of apostle to challenger Han SungYeun.」
“I decli…….”
「The Dragon Lord is proposing the position of apostle to challenger Han SungYeun.」
“…….”
「The Dragon Lord is proposing the position of apostle to challenger Han SungYeun.」
「The Dragon Lord is proposing the position of apostle to challenger Han Sung…….」
「The Dragon Lord is proposing the position of apostle to challe…….」
……The most bothersome entity out of all.
[To be continued.]
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