Chapter 85: Zana e Madhe.
Suddenly, from the blade began to sprout flames of a pale green, very close to the moon’s tone. They extended firmly along the metal, adhering to its surface with a strange regularity, without dispersing or rising in waves.
Almost at the same time, the first brambles emerged from the sword’s base. Thin, covered with thorns, they advanced over the table and coiled with determination, gaining ground in a matter of seconds. They didn’t grow randomly. They followed a defined path, surrounding the wood and intertwining with each other. Between their sections began to open flowers of an intense blue, with smooth, well-formed petals.
Lloyd leaned back upon noticing it.
The gesture was short, measured. His eyes remained fixed on the sword, attentive to every change. The greenish reflection of the flames mixed with the shine of his pupils, accentuating that emerald tone. The air entering through the window stirred his black hair, lifting some strands that moved softly around his face.
The brambles stopped expanding and began to close around the sword.
Their growth became precise. They adjusted to the blade and hilt, surrounding them firmly. The thorns were oriented outward, while the blue roses settled between the branches’ sections, distributed with clear order.
Then the sword finished defining itself.
The blade showed a clean shine, crossed by reflections reminiscent of fragmented glass surfaces. The edge stood out for its sharpness, with edges that caught light from different angles, creating brief flashes at the slightest movement.
The hilt, now integrated into the whole, was wrapped by the brambles. The roses aligned along the spine, fitted between the branches, providing a marked contrast against the metal.
Everything was fixed in place.
The transformation had concluded.
"Impressive... excellent!" Lloyd exclaimed upon taking the sword in his hands, without taking his eyes off its surface.
He held it carefully, adjusting his grip while turning it slightly to observe it under the light. The shine it gave off wasn’t strident, but constant, settled in the blade as part of its own nature.
There was something different about it.
It wasn’t just about its form or visible changes. Lloyd perceived it in the sensation it transmitted when holding it. A defined presence, stable, as if the sword had stopped being a simple object.
The change went beyond the physical.
He had altered Belial’s name. He didn’t limit himself to using it; he reorganized it, modifying its structure until fitting it into a new order. That process directly affected its essence, molding it to integrate it into the sword functionally.
The result was clear.
The sword no longer depended on an external source. It generated its own energy, sustained by that new core Lloyd had established. A spiritual engine, built from what had previously been a sealed demon.
Lloyd lowered his gaze slightly toward the blade.
Now it remained to verify it.
He activated Leviathan’s pupil and directed his attention to the sword, ready to examine every detail of the result.
[Zana e Madhe]
{Quality: Legendary}
«This is not a simple sword, it is something that goes beyond a simple object, because it has soul and will of its own.»
«The Zana is a sword in itself that was born thanks to the fusion of two mythic artifacts, while at the same time absorbing the moon’s light and primordial fire.»
«By possessing a [Spiritual Engine] the sword is capable of producing its own energy, though this property is more effective at night, and if the moons Sin and Selene shine completely in the night sky, the spiritual engine will produce a practically unlimited amount of energy.»
«This sword at birth was chosen as heiress of the authority of [****] and the reincarnation of the silver fairy princess, so it is destined to become the queen of the night itself. Moreover, the sword is therefore a heroine.»
«The sword is capable of symbiosis with its owner, and being absorbed by him. Upon doing so its master will have the ability to invoke certain characteristics of the sword.»
— Illyrian Garden: the sword is like a portable garden, in which blooms a very special flower. Protected by planted thorny brambles, and blooming as blue flowers of great beauty.
However, let not their appearance deceive. The brambles are capable not only of sealing movement, but of absorbing the vital energy (whether spiritual, magical, elemental or demonic) of their victims.
Be careful if you are caught with these brambles because they will begin to grow inside your body.
As for the flowers, they are extremely beautiful but also very poisonous. They can affect the minds of their victims, from taking away their own will to making them go mad with pain.
— Spectral Flames of Eternal Night: flames of great beauty, they are pale bluish-green reminiscent of the two moons’ glow.
But let not their appearance deceive you. These flames are not uncontrolled like the primordial flames were, they are flames that on the contrary, are at their user’s utmost will.
They can burn or even be pleasant. Their nature is an oxymoron, because they are destructive and creative, aggressive and peaceful, according to their user’s desire.
They always share these two opposites in their nature, but can show or express one side according to their user’s desire.
The flames don’t burn matter but burn any spiritual element. Whether magic, spirit, soul, demonic essence or vital energy, these flames are capable of burning it.
But they are also flames capable of feeding and healing body and spirit. In fact, they will attract spirits like flies to honey.
«These properties are mere adornments that can be amplified according to their different forms.»
«In its sword form, Zana is capable of making cuts that expel lunar spectral flames or planting Illyrian thorny brambles in wounds. However it is also capable of taking three different forms from this.»
[Zana e Bardha]
It is Zana’s aspect that brings good fortune.
Takes the form of a white rifle like Sin and Selene, with silver runic inscriptions.
This rifle allows fixing a target, upon doing so it [seals their fate] making it impossible for them to dodge or avoid being hit by the rifle’s attacks.
They can only destroy or block the attacks, but it will be difficult because these are guided.
They are moonlight shots, with various forms.
— Light blades that are capable of ignoring all physical obstacle and defense, because they pierce through the target’s spiritual organs, and seal part of their power.
— Stardust, is a form of shot that can be consecutive and chained that causes moonlight explosions capable of transmitting heat. These shots travel at the speed of light but are possible to block.
[Zana e Verdha]
It is quite the opposite, because it is linked to bad fortune and curses.
In this aspect the sword transforms into a spear with rocket made of cursed-looking wood, which coils in the shape of a drill.
This spear uses energy to spin and spin, the more time passes the more it spins, and the more it spins the more energy it produces.
When attacking with the drill it concentrates and poisons the user with a black "miasma" capable of rotting or deteriorating any material.
As if forcing it to acquire its most deteriorated form, as if it were crystallized misfortune.
Moreover the spear can also launch a blow in the form of a whirlwind of this same miasma, capable of piercing through and crushing everything it reaches.
[Zana e Zeza]
In this form, the back acquires the aspect of a sinister black scythe, concentrating all the destructive power of the primordial flames.
Its cut produces the [Infamous flames of death], because the wound gives off black flames capable of consuming everything, uncontrollable, that will not stop burning until killing their victim.
The sword separates the flames from its user’s control making them no longer control them, but also saving them the physical repercussion it entails.
These flames while not as powerful as pure primordial flames, remain completely abominable, and must be used with care.
____
Lloyd stood looking at the sword, completely impressed by what Leviathan’s Pupil had revealed to him.
First, that was a legendary artifact! Artifacts that could easily be worth the same as buying a small country.
Relics with overwhelming power, but it was normal! That weapon was impressive in power.
Certainly, it wasn’t as impressive as other legendary artifacts Lloyd knew, that was clear.
But it had incredible evolution potential.
Added to this was not only its ability to create its own energy, something Lloyd was seeking when rewriting Belial’s name, but also that weapon was a "heroine" in itself, with an unknown authority, but it was still an authority!
Most likely Lloyd would have to awaken it someday, but he wasn’t in a hurry.
Though he really wanted to test it.
"Congratulations Bernard Sargas, you’ll be the first on whom I test this beauty," Lloyd said with a malicious smile.
Now that he was ready, it was time to finish off that corrupt noble once and for all.
