Chapter 19
Rogeris's Biological Experiment.
From the moment I turned the nameless holy alchemist into a corpse sword and saw that name, I was seized by memories of the past.
The game company's Easter egg.
Hidden dungeon. Hidden piece.
Secret item.
"Sir, are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
Callias's condition did not look good even on the surface.
He wasn't injured anywhere, but his body and mind were exhausted from the fierce battle.
The demonic human in the beaker, Roas.
Rogeris's experimental subject shattered the beaker and rampaged the moment a sword was brought near it.
The creature did not fear Callias's sword, and even when its limbs were severed, it preyed upon other magical beasts slumbering in the beakers and regenerated.
There was no need to think deeply about whether that thing was truly human or a monster.
He wrapped his sword with the sword aura of the Silver Flower Breaking Sword, and with that, bisected the demonic human and killed it.
[Rogeris's Experimental Subject – Complete]
[Strength + 2]
Rogeris's corpse dissolved into light and vanished, leaving Callias with two swords.
One was the famous sword Lucen, left behind by Esther.
And the other was……
[Devouring Sword - Roas]
Rank – Famous Sword.
Imbued Soul – Mixed Soul.
- An experimental subject condensed from Rogeris's research.
It was his final demonic human, but was turned into a sword by Callias von Zervan.
Unique Ability – Devour.
Devour Count – 0
Devouring Sword - Roas.
A sword with a vicious blade like the fangs of a beast.
The blade, seemingly deliberately shattered, glinted as if it would lust after blood and flesh at any moment.
The Devouring Sword, taking the form of a blade, possessed a unique ability despite being of the Famous Sword rank.
A unique ability that only swords of Spirit Sword rank or above possessed was attached to this one.
Devour.
A unique ability that directly transplanted the creature's nature of devouring blood and flesh.
Though it was of the Famous Sword rank, if the number of devours exceeded a hundred, and further exceeded a thousand, the sword would gradually grow.
A sword that could become a Spirit Sword, or even a Phantom Sword.
That was the Devouring Sword, Roas.
So-called, a growth-type sword.
"But why does that thing have a scabbard? As far as I know, corpse swords don't have scabbards, do they?"
"Normally, that's true."
Corpse swords do not have scabbards.
Even Lucen was placed in a makeshift scabbard, after all.
That was because the place a sword would eventually return to was the embrace of the gods, not something like a scabbard.
However, the Devouring Sword, made from something that was neither monster nor human, was constituted together with a scabbard. The setting was that the gods reject the souls of mixed beings.
Because of that, the scabbard existed.
The Devouring Sword was a demonic sword. A sword with no sanctuary to return to.
Therefore, it appeared before his eyes wrapped in a scabbard.
"Tch."
Callias clicked his tongue.
'If something was going to appear, it should have been a different sword, not a Devouring Sword.'
The Devouring Sword was literally a growth-type sword.
It had the advantage of being able to grow to a high rank, but in the later stages, that very trait became its disadvantage. Even when its rank increased, its unique ability did not change.
While the power of the unique ability grew stronger, it was quite ordinary compared to other Spirit Swords and Phantom Swords.
It devours.
It grows from that.
Just that alone. It was a shabby ability compared to top-rank swords that spewed fire and caused natural disasters.
Click.
Having placed the Devouring Sword back into its scabbard, Callias swept back his falling hair and looked at Brans.
"Did you find the exit?"
"Yes! It's this way!"
He nodded and immediately walked toward the exit.
'Of course, right now I should be grateful for it.'
The only problem was a little regret.
There are many hidden dungeons in Carpe.
Even excluding Rogeris, there were plenty of people conducting experiments tabooed by the Church, including biological experiments.
Among them, there were many holy alchemists who became the Empire's puppets and conducted bizarre experiments. If one discovered and conquered such hidden dungeons, they could obtain better swords. But the problem was……
'They're hard to find.'
The parts concerning dungeons were not something he had conceived, so even Callias himself didn't know well where they were.
These dungeons of holy alchemists were not parts he had conceived.
They were parts arbitrarily inserted by the game director through meetings, and since he hadn't been involved separately, he had only briefly heard about them verbally from a company colleague. Even discovering Rogeris's laboratory this time would have been passed over if it weren't for Brans.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"It's nothing."
Therefore, finding it alone was tremendous luck.
But that was why it was even more regrettable.
'Of all things, a Devouring Sword.'
For Callias, who didn't even have a single Spirit Sword right now, having a Devouring Sword was naturally better than not having one, but human hearts don't work like that.
Thinking of it as a chance to obtain other good swords made it all the more regrettable.
'Still, it can't be helped.'
Until he finds the Pilgrim's True Sword.
The more swords, the better.
High-rank swords weren't like that, but swords of Spirit Sword rank and below often broke.
Thinking like that, the Devouring Sword was good.
Even if this thing broke, it would regenerate on its own if you just fed it blood.
"Since it's come to this. Shall I do some good deeds as a Pilgrim?"
"Sir?"
Brans, not understanding, tilted his head, but soon shut his mouth tightly after seeing Callias's chilling smile.
* * *
A month later, near the northern region.
A snow mountain with falling snow.
A settlement impressive for its wooden palisades and log cabins situated in the middle of it was a place where notorious bandits had settled.
It was a place so cold that white breath came out and the snowfall was fierce, making it easy to lose one's way, a place even mountain rangers shied away from.
Snow Mountain, Enebati.
The notorious bandit group of that place.
The Twin Axe Bandit Gang.
The boss of the bandit gang, Yurmati, was drinking heavily from broad daylight and woke up from his sleep at the call of his underling.
"Boss! Boss!"
"What is it, damn it, first thing in the morning!"
"It's broad daylight. Please wake up, boss! I'm telling you it's a real big deal!"
"What is it then, damn it, my head hurts so stop yelling! It's killing me."
When he grabbed his twin axes, only then did his underling's shouting become quieter.
"The next neighborhood, you know those guys."
"The Blood-soaked Bandit Gang or whatever they're called? Why, did they invade our territory again and collect taxes?"
"No! That's not it, those guys, get this—they all died!"
"Huh? All of them?"
"Yes!"
"Why?"
"Well I don't know that! It's not just those guys. The Blood-soaked, Calis, and Hurz bandit gangs all died off too!"
"……All of those guys?"
"That's what I'm telling you!"
All the bandit gangs in the area wiped out entirely.
Hearing that they died off without knowing the cause, Yurmati, the boss of the Twin Axe Bandit Gang, also sobered up instantly.
"Did the Kingdom army invade? Or the Church? What the hell is this, damn it. No, fuck, why would they suddenly massacre bandits after leaving them alone all this time! What did we do wrong! I'm innocent!"
"You're not exactly innocent, boss."
"Well, that's true."
Bullying the village residents, eating without paying, stealing, taking money, taking women—thinking about it, he had done every wicked deed.
Kwaang!
As he scratched his head in awkwardness, this time the outside became noisy.
The snow mountain Enebati, where blizzards raged.
There, a man wearing a red cloak and carrying two swords suddenly appeared before the Twin Axe Bandit Gang.
"What? Who opened the gate?"
"They didn't open it! The wooden palisade suddenly shattered and he appeared!"
"What? That's absurd……."
Since it was a place targeted by ferocious beasts of the snow mountain, the palisade was constantly maintained and built without a single rat hole.
It was absolutely impossible for human strength to break it.
It was then.
Puhwak!
"Wha— what the fuck!"
The uninvited guest suddenly drew his sword and began cutting down the bandits.
"Gr-grab him! No, kill him!! What are you doing!"
The bandit boss, Yurmati, screamed at the top of his lungs.
The bandits all took out their twin axes and rushed at the visitor who was swinging his sword.
The Twin Axe Bandit Gang was quite famous and the largest group in the area.
Thanks to that, the available personnel exceeded a hundred, and mercenaries with various stories were also recruited.
Counting heads alone, there were more than a hundred.
Furthermore, they were not a ragtag group of drifters and rabble, but a group of skilled individuals.
The bandit boss, Yurmati, who snorted, crossed his arms.
Whoever this madman was, he foresaw a future where the man would soon be drenched in blood and kneeling before him.
But a short while later.
When one minute had passed, Yurmati uncrossed his arms.
When five minutes passed, his face turned pale.
When ten minutes passed, he unknowingly gripped the twin axes resting on his back.
"Fuck……."
Ten minutes.
In just ten minutes, the mountain stronghold fell silent.
It was not the figurative expression of being quiet as a dead mouse. They were truly all dead.
Over a hundred corpses piled up like a mountain, and before them, only a single swordsman fluttering a red cloak stood aloof.
His swordsmanship was flowing and beautiful, but there was no mercy.
The bandit boss saw the rosary hanging around the visitor's neck.
He was a Pilgrim.
A sword pilgrim who served the call of the gods.
"Why! Why are you doing this to me!! If you're a madman, you should go look for swords!"
He shouted with indignation, but the bandit boss soon regretted his words.
And the regret was fulfilled with death.
A short while later.
Inside the stronghold where the boss's head had fallen, the pilgrim's murmur was heard.
"It's not enough."
[Devouring Sword - Roas]
Rank – Famous Sword.
Imbued Soul – Mixed Soul.
Unique Ability – Devour.
Devour Count – 494
"Still, I've roughly matched it……. Do I only need to hunt five hundred more magical beasts now."
The pilgrim's name was Callias.
He was feeding blood to the Devouring Sword - Roas. He had heard that to raise the rank of the Devouring Sword, one needed to feed it an appropriate mix of the blood of magical beasts and humans.
Because of that, Callias had slaughtered those who committed banditry while avoiding Carpe's eyes as he headed north for the past month.
The north was always barren and the snowfall was fierce, so the Kingdom army's reach didn't extend there, making it a region with many criminal groups.
It was the way north anyway.
Callias, on his way, found famous bandit gangs and wiped them all out cleanly.
Since they were cancers of society anyway, he had no aversion to killing them.
The individual circumstances of those who became bandits?
If he had to worry about such things and couldn't swing his sword, he'd be better off being a holy alchemist.
"Heok! Heugh! Sir! Please take me with you too!"
"Brans."
Callias clicked his tongue and inserted the Devouring Sword into its scabbard.
Blood was dripping from it, but there was no need to wipe it clean.
It would greedily suck it all up anyway.
"I thought I'd built up some stamina from traveling with you. Is this your first time in the north?"
"N-north too, but! Hah! It's also because the bag has gotten heavier!"
"Hm."
Lately, he had gained a lot from going around exterminating bandits.
It was full of food that village residents gave out of gratitude, and gold coins and valuables obtained from bandit hideouts.
The artifact [Eldora's Double Bag] purchased in Trista apparently couldn't handle the weight itself, so Brans had to carry quite a heavy weight up the mountain.
'Roughly around a hundred kilograms, I suppose.'
Perhaps because of that, Brans's body had noticeably improved lately.
Not only his lower body, but his upper body muscles were also deeply defined, making him quite an impressive physique.
'Frankly, I thought he'd run away quickly…….'
For someone from a neighborhood punk background, he had quite the grit.
"Where are you going?"
"We have to look around for stuff. A mountain stronghold this size must be full of gold coins and valuables! We can't just leave them behind."
"You said it was heavy."
The bag would only get heavier.
"I'd rather die carrying money than die without it!"
Though he had changed a lot from when he first saw him in Trista.
'His love for money hasn't changed.'
Now or then.
His fondness for gold coins was no different.
Callias, who stood still waiting for Brans while organizing his thoughts, drew his sword once again.
"Did they smell the blood?"
They were magical beasts of the snow mountain.
As expected, the north was the north.
Of course, magical beasts existed even in such mountains.
They were snow leopards, as white as snow.
Naturally, they possessed a body twice as large as ordinary snow leopards and sharp claws.
"That's convenient."
It was time to feed them the blood of magical beasts.
If they were coming to him first, that was all the better.
Callias's Devouring Sword swung indiscriminately once again.
One, two, ten.
Even with the increasing corpses of magical beasts, strangely, their numbers did not dwindle.
'They should be frightened by now.'
Callias looked at the Devouring Sword - Roas.
Roas, shedding a sinister aura, was greedily sucking up the magical beast blood smeared on the blade.
"It must be because it's a demonic sword."
This ominous blade seemed to have something that attracted magical beasts.
Callias dodged the claws and teeth of the rushing magical beasts and endlessly slashed them down.
And a short while later.
"Sir! You need to come over here! Hiiik!"
Brans came running panting from somewhere in the stronghold and was startled.
Beside the rows of bandit corpses, large magical beast carcasses were piled up like mountains this time.
"Goodness, you're covered in blood in just that short time."
"What is it?"
Callias, drenched in blood, roughly wiped his face with the [Cloak of Twilight] and approached Brans.
"There's someone in here, and I think you need to see this."
"Who, that you're making such a fuss?"
"Well……."
When Callias entered the stronghold.
Inside, there were several women who appeared to be attendants and one child locked in a cage.
"A noble?"
The child was wearing clothes made of expensive fabric, looking like a child of a noble family.
Callias, who had no particular interest, was about to rebuke Brans for calling him over just for this, but suddenly flinched and looked at the noble child again.
Black hair like the dark night brought forth.
And alien gray eyes that seemed non-human.
The attendants nearby trembled at the sight of the blood-drenched Callias, but the noble child, as if unafraid, opened both eyes clearly and looked into his.
"You, what's your name?"
When asked, the child stood up from the seat with bright eyes and spoke confidently.
"Emily. Emily von Zervan."
The noble little child was a great noble of the north.
The hegemon of the north.
The same family as Callias, renowned as a distinguished swordsmanship house of the north.
A noble who carried the blood of Zervan.