Episode 44.
"The End, and 20 Years Later"
We won.
"Krrk, krrrk..."
That Leviathan, one of the Five Aspects which until moments ago had been so formidable, emanating tremendous pressure.
This giant, ferocious ruler of the sea was letting out pained groans, its head severed from its body.
"...It's over."
William climbed atop the still-twitching head and raised Excalibur high.
Vrrm, vrrrrm!
Light gathered.
A mass of powerful energy that destroyed everything it touched.
Thwack!
It pierced Leviathan's head clean through.
"..."
That was the end.
Leviathan, its life completely severed, no longer twitched and passed into the realm of death.
"Haah..."
William, letting out a sigh, slumped down on the spot.
Unbecoming behavior for one called the Sword Saint, who had led countless battles and wars to victory.
But his appearance was different from before.
He had lost one eye to the Thorns of Infinity that Leviathan had fired.
The venom that had seeped into that eye had proceeded to rot it, and thick black fluid was leaking out.
He wasn't the only one.
They had succeeded in killing Leviathan, but the price was steep.
One who had lost an arm.
One whose skin had melted from the poison.
One whose innards were spilling from a wound that would not heal.
If Leviathan had been their final opponent, that would be one thing, but it was far from it.
"Kyaaaaak!"
"Kuuooooo!"
They no longer had the strength remaining to face the rest of the Five Aspects approaching for the finale.
"I'm sorry...."
The only one who was unharmed.
Shin Yoon-chan, wearing a white t-shirt and jeans ill-suited for the apocalypse, conveyed his apology to his friends who had been miserably wounded.
"...Sorry, my foot."
William replied, displeased.
"William's right. It can't be helped. It's not like Exclusive Sacred Treasures appear just because you want them."
"It's not that you're unlucky; we're just lucky."
"Tsk. More nonsense. Say you're sorry one more time and I won't let it slide?"
Even while dying, they worried about their friend.
"..."
Rather, those sincere actions made Yoon-chan uncomfortable.
'Was I... always this incompetent?'
More than ten years ago, after bidding farewell to the captain who had first guided him, he had worked diligently.
Fortune had also smiled upon him, allowing him to claim a seat among the Ten Lords, counted among humanity's strongest.
Since that day, he had never thought himself weak.
In every battle, he had played a leading role, and because of him, the tides of war had turned.
But now?
Never had he been so weak and incompetent.
More so than the day he had bid farewell to the captain.
Far from helping in the battle, Yoon-chan had been completely excluded.
Because he lacked ability?
Impossible.
He was one of the Ten Lords.
His combat prowess and supporting abilities ranked among the top of the final survivors.
But why?
'Exclusive Sacred Treasures.'
The Five Aspects possessed three special authorities.
They were Combat Exclusion, Disarmament, and Mind Domination.
Each was a powerful authority impossible to resist without an Exclusive Sacred Treasure.
In Yoon-chan's case, he possessed one Exclusive Sacred Treasure, allowing him to escape Mind Domination, but he could not overcome the remaining Combat Exclusion and Disarmament.
'I found the combination formula, but...'
He had succeeded in finding the combination formula for one Exclusive Sacred Treasure, but because he could not obtain the last ingredient, he had been excluded from the battle.
He had no choice but to watch silently as his friends were wounded and screamed.
And now.
"Kyaaaaak!"
The rest of the Five Aspects were approaching.
Their chances of victory were zero.
All that remained for them was despair and fear of defeat and death.
"...I'm sorry."
And Yoon-chan had no choice but to once again convey his sorrow at being unable to help.
*
I looked at the white shield lying on the floor.
A red cross shield.
One of the combination ingredients I had searched so frantically for but could not find.
"Damn it. What kind of combination ingredient is a high-grade sacred treasure!"
Complaints were inevitable.
Usually, combination ingredients, if they were sacred treasures, were mostly lowest-grade or low-grade.
But the Red Cross Shield was high-grade.
And the difficulty of obtaining it on top of that.
'Hell has nothing on this.'
You needed a sword obtainable only by synthesizing thirteen degraded sacred treasures, the weapons of the Knights of the Round Table.
And even obtaining that wasn't the end.
'There are two ingredients needed for the combination.'
Fortunately, I had all of them.
One was the Red Cross Shield on the floor, and the other was.
"..."
I stared intently at the scabbard in my hand.
It was merely an old scabbard whose seal had yet to be undone.
Zing!
I focused on the phenomenon that kept occurring.
The scabbard and the Red Cross Shield were resonating.
As the distance closed, the phenomenon grew more pronounced, beyond mere resonance.
Tuk.
The rust on the scabbard began to peel away.
A seal that should have required Vivian's power to release was coming undone.
Tuk, tu-tu-tuk!
Before long, all the rust and dust had fallen away.
The scabbard, its traces of long years gone, became Caliburn, a white scabbard engraved with golden patterns.
[Caliburn
Category: Tool
Grade: Mid-Grade Sacred Treasure
Durability: 100/100
Unique Effect: Manifests powerful healing three times a day
Description: The king's advisor asked. Which is more important, the sword or the scabbard? Then the king answered.
That the sword is several times more important.
But the advisor said the answer was wrong, and that the scabbard is several tens of times more important.
A sword can kill a person, but the scabbard possesses a mysterious ability to prevent blood from being shed, he advised.]
Caliburn.
It was a type of tool that, while lacking offensive ability, could manifest the power of potent healing.
With this, two effects were gathered.
The regeneration of the Red Cross Shield, and the healing of Caliburn.
Gulp-
Seeing myself swallow dryly, it seemed I was nervous without even realizing it.
It couldn't be helped.
'An Exclusive Sacred Treasure that I could only barely obtain one of.'
Remembering that time, it was truly miserable.
Being the only one unable to acquire three Exclusive Sacred Treasures, I had withdrawn from the battle and watched my comrades' horrific fight.
But that was the past.
'With an Exclusive Sacred Treasure, a future like that will not come.'
Because I would obtain an Exclusive Sacred Treasure that protects me from the absolute abilities of the Aspects.
[Fusion]
I immediately manifested the ability.
Flash!
Golden light burst forth.
Honestly, I was trembling.
Because there was a 20% chance of failure, not a 100% success rate.
If I had not learned of the organization called the Black Moon, I might have delayed a bit.
'Every moment is urgent.'
I had no leisure.
Because I had learned that they held the powerful traits, Contract and Foresight.
Now I had to grow stronger by any means.
And this Fusion was clearly a very important key to growing that strength.
Hwaahak!
"Yes!!"
Brilliantly bursting golden light.
It announced the success of the Fusion.
The two combination sacred treasures became one, and that which had clumped together in light slowly began to take a single form, gaining shape.
"...What is this?"
What was finally completed.
It was a massive silver chalice, a form akin to a trophy.
A chalice made from combining a scabbard and a shield?
It was inevitably somewhat random.
But the moment I confirmed its true value with the Appraiser's Eye.
"Good heavens!"
I couldn't help but let out an exclamation.
[Holy Grail
Category: Tool
Grade: Exclusive Sacred Treasure (Enhancer)
Durability: 10/10
Unique Effect: Acquires the Keystone "Turning Misfortune into Fortune"
Increases additional success rate for all enhancements by 10%
Generates 'Sublime Blood' every three days
Description: The drinking vessel used by the Savior at the Last Supper with his disciples.
According to legend, it is said to bring eternal youth, special fortune, and infinite wealth to its owner.]
The Holy Grail.
The drinking vessel used by the Savior at the Last Supper.
It might have been nothing more than an ordinary cup before, but it had become a holy relic performing miracles through contact with the divine being's saliva and breath.
That which is currently used as a metaphor for an unattainable fantasy was now before my eyes.
But the religious meaning was unimportant to me.
'An Exclusive Sacred Treasure!'
The grade column would normally be divided into high, mid, and low stages, but there it was replaced with the words "Exclusive Sacred Treasure."
What did that mean?
It meant this was a very special sacred treasure that only I, an Enhancer, could manifest.
"This is really... unbelievable."
Was it because it was an Exclusive Sacred Treasure obtainable only through Fusion? Its effects were truly absurd.
It boasted three unique effects, each a tremendous effect that could be called a miracle for me.
'To think it's this powerful without any enhancements.'
What was even more surprising was that it had zero enhancements.
Even its pure unique effects, without enhancement effects, full-enhancement effects, or even transcendence effects, possessed utility that would put most high-grade sacred treasures to shame.
If there was a drawback, it was that enhancement was currently impossible.
'To enhance an Exclusive Sacred Treasure requires a somewhat special method.'
That method was not yet feasible.
But there was no reason to be disappointed.
'Turning Misfortune into Fortune!'
The keystone embedded in the Holy Grail.
The most powerful keystone to make the most of my class as an Enhancer was definitely Great Fortune.
That was why I had strived so hard to gather the 'Words of Power,' and had finally found Great Fortune to develop the Enhancer class even further.
Even with that, I had grown strong enough to be called one of the Ten Lords.
But at some point I had stagnated, and wanting to grow even stronger, I searched frantically for clues.
The conclusion I reached was Turning Misfortune into Fortune.
[Turning Misfortune into Fortune: When the failure rate is higher than the success rate, there is a normal probability of reversing the success and failure rates.]
In fact, in the early-to-mid apocalypse, thanks to Great Fortune's effect (doubling enhancement success rate), I could easily enhance various equipment and sacred treasures, but from the late stages onward, it was no longer easy.
Five-star, that is, the final transcendence enhancement alone had a mere 5% success rate.
Double of 5% was 10%.
Even with Great Fortune's correction effect, it was only 10%, and because of that, I failed to enhance numerous sacred treasures, weakening my combat power.
If I had had Turning Misfortune into Fortune back then?
If that 10% success rate had changed to 90%, wouldn't the future have taken another form?
At the time, I had thought of it as mere delusion.
But with the appearance of the Holy Grail, I could realize that delusion through the keystone, Turning Misfortune into Fortune.
'It's not just their future that is changing.'
The deaths of future powerhouses, and the emergence of the Black Moon.
The future I knew was changing, and it was true that I felt anxiety and impatience because of it.
But just as the surrounding circumstances were changing, I too was different from the past.
Turning Misfortune into Fortune, a keystone I had only imagined.
And the Holy Grail, an Exclusive Sacred Treasure I had failed to obtain until the very end of the apocalypse.
The influence this single Holy Grail would exert was probably something no one but me could know.
"..."
Looking at the red liquid sloshing inside the Holy Grail, I bit my lip.
"...Let's do it!"
It was something I had put off until now, something requiring great resolve.
That was Body Enhancement.
It was called the Forbidden Enhancement, with a mere 5% success rate, something bound to fail.