Chapter 158: The Endseeker
Ruvian’s lips curved into a thin smile.
Without wasting another moment, he lifted the katana slightly and invoked the spell.
[Identify].
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[Item]: The Endseeker
[Types]: Weapon
[Grade]: S
[Description]: Born from the depths of time and space, this blade has wandered across countless realms and timelines, witnessing the rise and fall of worlds beyond memory.
Its true purpose is not known, only the one who crafted this weapon did. But one thing alone is certain — when the true world ends, and an entirely new world begins, this blade will know the way to its promised hand.
[Enchantment]:
◇ [False Provenance]
- Hides the weapon’s true grade and ability from all observations. Shows only the result the wielder wants others to see.
◇ [Shared Progression]
- The weapon grows stronger together with its bearer. As the wielder improves, the weapon’s power also increases. Slightly enhances the wielder’s overall ability during use.
◇ [Flowing Rhythm]
- The weapon follows the wielder’s intent and movement smoothly. Allows easy switching between attack and defense without delay. Improves reaction speed, agility, and control in close combat.
◇ [Slayer Growth]
- The more enemies defeated, the more the wielder grows stronger. Each kill slightly increases the wielder’s overall ability.
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No matter how many times he reread the inspection report of this blade, the enchantments listed on it still felt absurdly insane.
’No wonder most legendary heroes were monstrously strong... they had this weapon with them.’
The boosts weren’t just good.
They were crazily good!
Completely on the borderline of unreasonableness!
Still, as ridiculous as the enchantments were, being able to actually use them to their fullest was another matter entirely. Ruvian would need an absurd amount of mana to sustain them.
Activating relic enchantments wasn’t a one-and-done affair. As long as one wished to benefit from them, mana had to keep flowing — constantly like pouring water into a bottomless pit.
However, that was not always the case.
Some enchantments only required a single infusion to awaken. And others lingered passively, requiring a certain condition to be met before it can be activated.
And this blade, of course, greedily belonged to every single category.
’Ha. Of course it did.’
But more than anything else, the enchantment that truly caught his attention was [False Provenance].
With this, deceiving the academy during the next island examination would be laughably easy.
The relic could masquerade as something entirely harmless, slipping past inspection very easily.
’If I bring this sword with me... my chances of killing that creature on that island would rise significantly.’
’...and I might even stand a real chance against Julian with this.’
Feeling satisfied, Ruvian was about to dispel the spell, but then he suddenly realised that there was something different with the description of the weapon.
Something that did not exist before.
’...Huh? Since when was this here?’
From what he remembered, the description of this blade only consisted of a single line sentence:
[This blade is not meant for this world yet].
But now... why did the description become too long?
’Or am I remembering it wrong?’
Before he could think further, the sounds of battle coming from Silvena’s direction had completely stopped. The clash of steel, the screeches of demons, the tremor of violent magic — all of it had vanished.
Taking that as a sign that she had already finished dealing with the demons, Ruvian turned his head, curious to know how she had fared against all of them.
"Hey, you’re done over there—"
But what he saw next...
...made his thoughts shatter apart so violently that even the fragments failed to remain whole.
The moment Ruvian turned toward Silvena, a cadaverous chill wormed up its way along his spine.
His voice broke off midway, as the remaining words crushed soundlessly in his throat.
For a brief, terrible second, his mind simply... stopped working.
Silvena had already killed the ten Demons.
All of them were dead.
Completely dead!
Their bodies scattered across the floor in twisted ruin, deathly silent for something that had thrashed with such brutality only moments before.
...Which, by all rights, should have brought relief.
But worse still, things had only grown more perilous.
Because Silvena herself was currently being held fast by the neck, hanging just shy of the ground as someone indolently throttled her.
Her fingers were gripping the wrist that restrained her, her expression strained as she struggled to breathe.
Seeing such a sight, Ruvian could only stare. His thoughts crashed into each other in a brutal storm.
Who the hell was that bastard?
Where did he come from?
Another demon?
Someone stronger than Silvena?
Since when? How did he miss it?
What the hell now?
Yet, his body moved forward before he even properly realized it, instinct pushing him to act. But before he could take another step forward...
A cold, serpentine voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Do not move."
’Huh?’
Just then, Ruvian immediately stopped.
It wasn’t because he chose to obey those words, but because of an overwhelming force that had suddenly slammed down on him.
Grinding his jaw, Ruvian endured the pain. His muscles tensed to its limit, his knees on the verge of buckling as the crushing pressure drove him downward, locking his body in place.
’This is... gravity magic!?’
At the same time, Ruvian also realised the strength of these two demons.
They were Greater Demons!
These were the remaining two Greater Demons that Irene had detected while she was dealing with the other three.
’I see... damn it, so they choose to show themselves only after the low-ranked demons already tire us out. No wonder.’
Instinctively, Ruvian activated [Body Enhancement] to fight off the pressure, but it only barely prevented him from being crushed down to the floor. Which, he realised, if this went on, would only bleed his mana dry for nothing.
Then, the demon who was holding Silvena’s neck asked her.
"Hey, beautiful lady. Where is the scroll? I saw you had it with you before. So take it out and hand it over. Refuse, and I will retrieve it myself."
Silvena only offered a thin smile, refusing to give him the answer, but the demon’s grip grew tighter.
Ruvian frowned as he saw Silvena winced in pain.
He could feel the panic rising, but it suddenly went off.
’Now, how do I break free from this...’
Cursing to himself, Ruvian tried to think of a way to escape this situation.
Considering that both he and Silvena had been taken by surprise by these two demon’s sudden appearance, they were at a disadvantage.
’What should I do?’
Then, just when he was wondering what could be done, he heard a voice inside his head.
—"I’m done over here, what’s the situation over there?"
Hearing Irene’s voice inside his head, Ruvian couldn’t help but let out a vicious smile.
’Perfect timing.’
—’Well, to keep it short... we were both dealing with a bit of a problem over here. So, we really need an additional hand.’
For some reason, Ruvian could almost picture the worried look on Irene’s face as she suddenly fell silent.
—’But before that, can you pass a message to our dear young Lady Silvena?’
After saying that, Ruvian’s lips curved into a calmer smile.
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[Chapter 158: The Endseeker]
