Chapter 18
Renowned Sword Lusen.
Its width is narrower than Arzando's.
However, its length is long.
It takes the form of a typical longsword, but its appropriate weight and balance are exceptionally excellent.
The blade is double-edged, a sword that can be used with either one hand or two.
Gripping Lusen in his hand, he calmly closes his eyes.
What he feels is the wind.
And the sound of bushes rustling.
But soon, the sensation of his skin and the hearing in his ears are shut out.
Only the sword and I.
Nothing else exists in the world.
His dantian tingles.
The First Peak of Manhwa Bongyuk slowly blooms and blossoms. The inherent divine power flows throughout his body, reinforcing his flesh.
Then, it soon reaches his fingertips and wraps around Lusen.
The divine power that gathered like chains intertwines and coils.
The densely gathered aura condenses into one, sharply forming on the surface.
Flash.
He opens his eyes and horizontally swings Lusen.
A simple slash.
Swoosh.
However, what he slashed was far from simple.
Boom! Rumble!
He cleanly slashed through a tree that must have been at least several hundred years old.
Its circumference was so thick that three sturdy men would have trouble wrapping their arms around it, but before Kalias, it was cut as easily as a practice straw bundle.
"Not bad."
The Manhwa Bongyuk he learned this time - Eunhwapgeom.
As Manhwa Bongyuk settles into its place as if coiling in the dantian, his overall physical abilities are gradually improving.
It feels like his constitution is changing.
'Of course, the divine power is lacking.'
Manhwa Bongyuk's First Peak, settled in the dantian, is simply a bud.
Normally, it stores divine power and filters out impurities.
However, when necessary.
The bud unfolds and blossoms, emitting a much more powerful divine power.
What is unleashed with that is Eunhwapgeom.
'It's still lacking to properly unleash it.'
Not only the quality of the divine power, but the quantity is also insufficient.
Although the total amount has clearly increased by nearly a thousand compared to before, it is still not enough.
It is probably due to the problem of purity, which is only at the 4th rank.
That is regrettable, but it cannot be helped.
Because the quality of divine power is not something that can be fixed right now.
"At least I obtained one trait."
Although he cannot bring out the original power of Manhwa Bongyuk, he gained the trait of a Swordsmanship Genius, making it a bit easier to handle the sword.
It didn't feel like anything particularly special had changed, but handling the sword felt strangely easier.
He uses less unnecessary muscles and uses more of the muscles he should.
It may seem like nothing much, but because of that, he was able to advance the path the sword should take more swiftly.
Unnecessary movements disappear.
With that minute difference, seizing the upper hand in a life-or-death match is what swordsmanship is all about.
"My body is slowly getting better, too."
Kalias, who had put the renowned sword Lusen into a makeshift scabbard, draped the Cloak of Twilight he had taken off and turned his head.
'Brans is over there.'
They were quite far apart, but after learning Manhwa Bongyuk, his senses had become even sharper. Had he walked about a hundred meters?
Brans was right there, without fail.
"What are you doing?"
"My lord! I am catching fish!"
Brans, who had entered the quite deep center of the valley, confidently declared that he was confident in catching fish, so just wait a little.
Brans did not move a single inch, cautious like a bear trying to catch a salmon.
'Hmm, that guy has a sturdy build, too.'
He is remarkably useless.
Brans, who had boasted that he would catch fish, ended up not catching a single one, and blamed the valley water for nothing.
"The water quality is different from my hometown, so it seems there are no fish. Tsk."
"...Useless."
Eventually, Kalias played a grass flute.
At his sweet performance, a mountain rabbit perked up its ears and approached.
Playing a little more without moving a muscle, this time a deer approached, full of curiosity.
It was then that Kalias's sword was drawn.
Shing! Thud thud!
The other beasts fled, but the stag could not.
The deer, its neck severed in one blow, died instantly, and Brans rejoiced as he began to skin it and prepare the meat.
"As expected, you are my lord! Wow! You draw your sword once, and the deer's head goes snap! Just like that!"
"Brans."
"Yes! My lord!"
"Shut up and roast it."
"Yes sir!"
He didn't want to admit it, but he was getting used to traveling with the guy.
It's true that he's useless, but there's nothing holding him back in dealing with Brans, so it's somewhat comfortable.
No matter what curses he spits out, the guy replies cheerfully and tries to be helpful. What a strange fellow.
"Brans."
"Yes, I'm right here."
Brans somehow handed Kalias the well-roasted hind leg of the deer.
Some were burned, so they were a little pitch-black.
He handed him the best-cooked one.
"I sprinkled herbs, salt, and pepper so it wouldn't smell gamey."
They were all seasonings brought from Trista. Definitely. The seasonings did their job.
Even while camping, Kalias elegantly cut and ate the deer's hind leg holding a fork and knife.
The deer's hind leg meat was edible.
Perhaps the Glutton trait activated, he only finished his meal after eating a whole deer.
"Brans."
"Yes? Would you like more?"
Brans held what he was eating and made a crying face.
"No, I have something to ask."
"Ah, yes. Please ask."
"Why are you following me?"
He had wanted to ask at least once.
"That's obviously... since that day, my life hasn't been mine, has it?"
Since that day? Not understanding what he meant, Kalias kept his mouth shut for a long time.
"Have you already forgotten? You turned all my brothers into swords and sold them, and went to the casino and slaughtered the Lutens knights, didn't you?"
"I did."
But why does that matter.
"Seeing your gambling skills back then, I, Brans, fell deeply in love."
A man-to-man duel where he bet himself as the wager.
Victory there.
The ruthlessness of slaying in a single stroke the enemies who wouldn't submit to the result. And the resourcefulness of turning a crisis into an opportunity!
"I fell for your manliness, my lord, so I want to offer my loyalty!"
"I see."
"Did you notice? My feelings?"
"Why would I care about your feelings. Get up if you're done eating. We have a busy road ahead."
"Ah, yes."
Brans, scratching the back of his head in awkwardness, stood up and overturned the dirt as if familiar with it, erasing their traces.
And just as he was kicking the deer bones with his feet to erase the traces.
"Uwaaaah!!"
Suddenly, Brans left a death cry and disappeared.
He literally disappeared.
Kalias wondered if there was a mystery he didn't know about, but looking closely, he realized Brans had fallen into a strange pit.
"..."
It seemed quite deep, as the bottom was not visible.
Considering Brans was not visible either, it must be quite deep.
"Brans. I will remember you."
At this depth, he must be dead.
Since he isn't a pilgrim, it would have been hard to survive.
It's a shame, but it can't be helped.
"I'll live for your share, too."
The moment he turned around to put on his backpack alone and leave.
A sound was heard from inside the pit.
[My lord~!]
"What, he was alive."
[You can't abandon me and leave!]
"...I wouldn't do such a thing."
He was quite quick to catch on.
"Can you climb up?"
[That seems a bit difficult! But there's a door here too, and it looks like there's a passage leading somewhere!]
A door? A passage? Then it's not a naturally formed pit.
"Hmm... A door in that deep underground."
One thing comes to mind.
Kalias immediately drew up his divine power to protect his body and went down into the pit.
Whoosh!!
Thud!
Given the height, he braced for impact, but there was no need.
He forgot that one of the abilities on the Cloak of Twilight was fall mitigation.
"My lord! Coming all the way here for me!!"
"Shut up and get out of the way."
Kalias pushed the approaching Brans away and saw the door situated on the wall.
It was not a simple door.
It was an iron door with geometric intaglio patterns engraved on it.
Kalias knows what kind of place usually has such a door.
'A Holy Alchemist's underground laboratory.'
Holy Alchemy refers to clergymen who study alchemy.
They are those who have no great ambition for swordsmanship or lack talent, so they research holy relics and artifacts, which are byproducts of holy relics.
"What is this?"
"It's a trace made by a Holy Alchemist. It looks like a door engraved with Holy Alchemy."
Brans showed a face that he didn't quite understand.
"You can think of it as... a lock made of divine power. It can be seen as a seal, or well, it's easy to think of it as a barrier."
"Aha."
Kalias looked at the iron door made with Holy Alchemy and reached out his hand.
"As expected."
It's a door where Holy Alchemy is still active.
It doesn't open even when force is applied.
An intangible energy is firmly blocking it as if protecting the iron door.
To open such a door, there are usually two options.
Either hope it is opened from the inside, or smash it open from the outside.
Kalias chose the latter.
"Is it okay to break it?"
"He's the kind of guy who went out of his way to make something like this underground. If he had nothing to hide, he wouldn't do such a thing."
Holy Alchemists are precious beings.
They create artifacts close to holy relics, and through various research, they sometimes create items that protect the body or the house. Even the Carpe Royal Castle is full of barriers and traps made with artifacts by Holy Alchemists.
From the perspective of the Order and the Kingdom.
Holy Alchemists are precious beings.
They are beings that must be protected.
However, not all Holy Alchemists produce only such beneficial things.
Where is good and evil in the study of research?
Those who seek knowledge are bound to forget the existence of good and evil.
"Those who have things to research while avoiding people's eyes are usually bad guys."
Slash!
Along with a flash, Kalias's sword returned to its scabbard.
Screech, thud!
The iron door was diagonally sliced in half.
The sword aura clad with Eunhwapgeom easily shattered the barrier of Holy Alchemy.
"Let's go."
"Yes sir!"
However, Kalias did not take the lead. He glanced at Brans.
It was a signal to take the lead.
Brans made a tearful face.
"I still have five holy waters left."
"...You're going too far."
At Kalias's calm demeanor, Brans, as if he had lost the world, began to take the lead pitifully.
Brans, who walked ahead flinching, soon walked normally.
"It seems like there's nothing here."
"I suppose."
It's just a long, long passage.
Kalias raised his hand and emitted divine power to create a bright light.
"The passage splits here?"
"I suppose."
A fork in the road.
After pondering for a moment, he headed right.
'This energy, where have I felt it before.'
A strange sense of deja vu was felt from the right path.
It was then.
There was someone collapsed in the passage.
"Uh, my lord!"
"I know."
A corpse leaning against the wall, dead.
'A Holy Alchemist?'
Hadn't been dead for long.
The condition of the corpse was good, and it didn't emit a rotting smell.
"Why did he die?"
"There are no external wounds."
Maybe he had an illness.
That was the assumption.
Too young for a natural death, and the corpse is too clean for poison.
He might have had a chronic illness or died suddenly.
"We can find out."
A faint light shimmered from the corpse.
Seems like a guy with a lot of lingering attachments.
Kalias immediately turned the corpse into a Corpse Sword.
"Hmm..."
His memories flowed into his mind. Research in the underground.
But the lingering regret of not achieving it.
Kalias looked at the two-handed sword in his hand.
[Logeris]
Rank - Corpse Sword.
Embedded Soul - Logeris Juan.
- A sword imbued with Logeris's grudge.
It wishes for its research to be completed.
"Logeris..."
It's not exact.
But he could roughly figure it out.
Kalias immediately walked into the passage without hesitation.
Among the various piles of documents there, a research journal was buried.
Logeris's research journal.
[Why did God perform miracles only for humans and sub-races, why does He bestow miracles only upon the dead flesh of humans and sub-races.]
[Omitted]
[What is the reason a Corpse Sword cannot be made from a beast's corpse. Why does it not work for monsters either? I felt doubts about that and researched the forbidden.]
Forbidden.
As expected, research by a guy who wasn't confident enough to be open about it.
Research deemed forbidden by the Order.
"God's miracle is only for humans."
Then what about the sub-races?
Are sub-races human too?
To God, humans and sub-races seem to be distinguished as intelligent life born from a single branch.
God probably treats sub-races the same as humans. Because the miracle of the Corpse Sword can also be bestowed upon them.
Beasts stronger than humans.
If monsters stronger than that were made into swords, wouldn't a more powerful sword appear?
There were many pilgrims who had such thoughts. But God's miracle is directed only at humans.
Humans.
Then what is the standard for humans?
Logeris's research started from that point.
A human's upper body with a monster's lower body.
A human's body with a monster's arms.
It was an ugly research journal mixing the desire to create a stronger sword and intellectual curiosity.
Biological experiments forbidden by the Order.
A journal recording the progress of those experiments.
"And so, did you finally find the answer."
A chimera of human and monster.
Majin.
It seems he carried out his research with that as his goal.
The beginning is full of dirty research processes such as intercourse, artificial insemination, and ovulation. However, the guy eventually went through many trials and errors, created several Majin, and killed them to turn them into swords.
"..."
Logeris.
The completion of the research he desired.
That was his final work.
Killing [Roas], the experimental subject with the highest degree of completion, and turning it into a sword.
That was the wish he desired.
"My lord..."
Kalias immediately left the laboratory.
He walked towards the left at the fork in the road.
Swoosh.
Turning his head, the passage that appeared to the side was filled with glass tubes large enough for a person to fit in.
There were things that looked like monsters, and things that looked like humans.
But where Kalias's eyes were directed was the very far end of the biological experiment room.
There, neither human nor monster, something was wriggling inside a beaker.
A synthesis of demon and human.
Is this a human or a monster?
How would God define this?
Even while knowing the truth, he raised his sharp sword.