With the massive stone gate swinging open, he cautiously steps inside, staying alert, gripping the broken sword tightly, and prepared to fight if necessary.
...
Contrary to his expectations, the room seems to be cold and lifeless, looking more like a cave within a cave. Inside the gate, the space expands significantly, almost twice as tall as the outside, and everything, from the ceiling to the floor and walls, consists entirely of stone and rocks.
Despite the massiveness of the surroundings, Shuku's focus is immediately drawn to an object situated at the far end of the room.
A grey stone pedestal stands in the center of the flat floor.
"Is that..."
And embedded deeply within the pedestal is a blood-red sword, with an upside-down star symbol at its center.
With the Blade's appearance, Shuku immediately realizes what it is, it's the thing that he has been going to hell for, it's the thing that he and all the slaves in this dungeon died for, and the thing that he is coming for.
"So that is the legendary Blood Blade that Sylvar told."
Without hesitation, Shuku throws away his fractured, unrecognizable sword to the ground, because he has now found his new weapon, his new ally, and his new partner.
Striding toward the stone pedestal with unwavering confidence, Shuku feels as if this is the reward he rightfully deserves after fighting for nearly six hellish days. Yet, even in this moment of joy, he remains vigilant, keeping his alert high.
'This place is scaringly quiet.'
As he ascends the small steps leading to the blood-red sword atop the stone pedestal, with the legendary Blood Blade now within his arm's reach and no obstacles in his path, Shuku feels his anxiety gradually dissipate, replaced by a sense of triumph.
Then, slowly but surely, he grabs the sword's grip firmly with both his hands and begins to pull it out of the pedestal.
"Huh, it's easier than I thought-"
SHEEK!
As soon as he started the pulling, the Blood Blade mysteriously morphs, forming sharp, jagged edges along its grip causing Shuku's hands to immediately start bleeding.
"Ugh-!! Why do I have to Jinx myself?"
Then, feeling that something is wrong, he quickly releases the Blade, realizing that something strange is happening to him, to his body.
He feels like his blood is flowing in the wrong direction, urging him to step back from the pedestal and the sword as far as he can.
It didn't take long for Shuku to grasp why the Blood Blade earned its name. The blade has the power to manipulate the blood of any living being it touches, bending it to its will and shaping it as desired.
As soon as Shuku's hands were cut by the Blood Blade, and his blood touched it, this event occurred. Instantly, he is thrown backward onto the ground by the force of his own blood.
He rolled on the ground until he finally came to a stop, and then his regenerative and healing abilities kicked in.
"Ỵ̸͍̩̠̩̭͈͍̬͕̮̤͖̾͋̀͜Ỏ̴̦̺͊͐͋̑̀Ü̸̢̢͇̦̩̲̺̮̯͛̔̍̚ ̸͇͉̬̟̯̱͉̂̒̔͂̔̿̈́̚A̸̡̡̬̖̠͚̼̙̖̫̲͕̻̺̿͛͆̿̄R̸̠͈̯̟̱̖̿̾͆̊̽̈͠ͅĔ̴̺͖̄̒͗̍͛̃̑̍̓̚͝ ̴̢̢̫̥̤̙̬̘̫̯̒̋̓̒͌͆͊̈̄̅͒̄̚͠͠Ņ̴̡̤̥̳̬͉͕̮͙͛̈́͂̀̈́͆͘͝O̵̧̦̜͊̏T̶̺͚̭̦̲͙̠͙̹̯̩̣͈̈́͛̾̍̉͜͝ ̵̠̞̻̮̟͈̗͇̞̟̪̀̿͐̄̈́̾̒̕͝ͅW̶̭̱͖͉͓̫͉̘͒̑̕O̷̡̲̫͓̰̪͉̦͑̀R̶̨̙̖͙̲̼̘̯̭͖̗̭̹͚̭͐̊̃͊́͐̅́̿̃́̂̍̕̕Ť̸̡̙͔̮̝̯̱̟̦̘̺͙͙̻̽Ḩ̸̛̜̙̲̝͚̀̆͛̀̏͊̈́̓̌̉̚͠Y̷̢̢̛͙̩̼̦̬͕̥̞̫͈͔̻̜͌̑̑̓̐͘.̶͍̆̑̌͑̀͂̈́̉͋́͐̀̉̐"
...
Suddenly, a mysterious voice emerged, much like before. Shuku couldn't see or sense the speaker; the voice seemed to speak directly into his head, just like the previous encounter with the giant lizard, it was the same voice.
"That voice... is it the same one as before?"
"Y̴͔̮̪̰̝̖͕͈̤̌͆̉̈͆̕͠ͅO̷̢͍͖̺̦͔͔͈͈̭̫̬͇̹͑́̄̌̔͐̃̇̋̇̾͆͘̕͝Ư̷̩͉̅̊̾͒̊͛̍̐ ̶̨̨̧̡̪̘̘̻̼̣̜̠͛̈̈́̿̇̚Ä̶̧̫̭̰͇͚͎̥͔̤̤̻͇́͋̏̏ͅR̸͚̆̑́̊͑͜͝E̸̹̹͍̩̟̤̻̮̖̽͆͑̔͜͝ ̷̢̨̥͕̞̩͇͕̘͔̙́̈́͗͋̅̈́̐̎̄́̐̚͝N̴̢͖̩̤̺̿̓̄̅͑̿O̷̡̢̰̮̗̖̪̱̺̼͍̜̦͆͋̏̒́ͅT̸̲͍͙̲̝̪͇̠̰̤͙̳͂̓̌̔̄́̌͜͜ WORTHY." Gradually, the voice became clearer and more serene.
"What?!"
Then, finally, he could hear and understand everything the voice was saying clearly.
"YOU ARE TOO WEAK."
Immediately, Shuku felt irritated by what the voice had told him.
"Seriously?! I came all the way down here, just to be refused by a damn sword?!"
He quickly realized that despite the similar sound of the voice to the one he'd heard before, the tone and content of the speech made it clear that this was not the same person speaking.
No, it wasn't even a person; it was the Blood Blade itself speaking to him. Inside the room, there was nothing else present except for Shuku and the Blood Blade, which seemed to possess consciousness and was the one that had thrown him away with its blood power earlier.
That's it, it's the sword itself that is the final obstacle in this entire dungeon.
"Oh hell no. You're coming with me, I'm going to claim you no matter what. I'm been to hell long enough not to be called weak by a fucking arrogant sword."
"YOU ARE NOT WORTHY." The sword repeated its message, further irritating Shuku.
"Just shut up and obey me!!"
He rushes at the sword once again, attempting to touch it a second time, only to be instantly thrown away by his own blood as soon as he makes contact with the Blade.
This time, he was thrown even harder and farther than before, rolling like a wheel before finally coming to a stop at the gate.
"Urgh..."
Despite being beaten for the second time, Shuku hadn't decided to quit just yet, or more precisely, he couldn't.
"Fine! Just tell me, why?! Haven't I been suffering enough? Haven't I fought enough? Haven't I been tough enough for you?! What else do you even want?!"
He says as he struggles to get back on his feet again, determined to continue attempting to reach for the sword.
"I'm not coming back out there just to be a slave again, I'm going to get you or I'll die right here, right now!!"
Responding to his determination, the Blood Blade suddenly liquifies itself into real blood and shoots two small blood projectiles at him at high speed.
The two blood shots are too fast; each hits his shoulders before he even knows it. Two long, sharp blood sticks penetrate through his shoulders, making contact with his own blood. Immediately, the Blood Blade could control Shuku's blood, even from a distance.
It commands his blood to pull his own body down to the ground and immobilize him, leaving Shuku unable to do anything but struggle in pain.
"ARGHH!!!"
"YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF GIVING ME WHAT I NEED." The Blood Blade continues.
Locked to the ground by his own body, Shuku found himself unable to move anything except his mouth.
"Then what do you need? Tell me!" He yells out, and in response, a firm voice replies.
"BLOOD."
"... Blood??" Shuku is confused.
"I NEED BLOOD, ALL OF THEM!"
Now, as he thinks about it, he realizes that at its core, the Blood Blade is just blood, magical blood that could think for itself like a living being. So it is understandable if it needed more blood to expand and reproduce.
'That makes sense.' He thinks.
Then the Blood Blade continued to crush him down on the ground using his own blood, which was now under its command, trying to kill him slowly.
"Ughh-!!!"
"YOU ARE UNWORTHY, INCAPABLE AND YOUR HESITATION AND MERCINESS ONLY MAKE YOU WEAKER." The Blood Blade continues to humiliate him, using words it felt were fitting to describe him.
And as Shuku hears these words while being pushed down on the ground, he feels a sense of irony. The insult words felt exactly the same as the ones his bully used to tell him, which made him realize something.
All this time, he had been pulled down, insulted, beaten, and ruled over by a powerful tyranny that told him he was incapable, and incompetent compared to them, and that he could never win or defeat them, no matter how hard he tried.
And the Blood Blade is no different, just a bully in the shape of a sword, a great evil power similar to the ones he had vowed to destroy ever since he came to this world.
"Fine! You want Blood? I'll give you blood, I'll give you as much blood as you want to."
If the Blood Blade has eyes, it witnesses in shock as Shuku stands up again on his feet, resisting all the force and pain inflicted on him by the Blood Blade.
Each movement is agonizing, with his own blood as his enemy, attacking him from the inside, trying to stop him from moving any closer toward the Blade's Pedestal.
The regeneration ability, as he perceives it, is more than just regenerating his lost body parts; it can and will keep him alive no matter how messed up and terrible his body becomes—a curse and a gift at the same time.
With the help of this ability, Shuku continues to move forward toward the Blade, even if his body is torn apart, even if he is stabbed a thousand times, beaten a thousand times, crushed a thousand times, and defeated a thousand times.
He is unable to give up and unwilling to do so because he understands that if he wants to defeat his enemies, he will have to become a hundred times stronger than them.
"I'm going to drain every single living being if I have to, I will take away all their blood as much as you ask for! I'll feed you so much blood that you would beg me to stop!!" He shouts at the Blade.
"YOU- YOU ARE LYING! NO ONE HAS BEEN CAPABLE OF THAT BEFORE-"
"You won't know if you don't try!" Shuku replies.
The Blood Blade now loses its calm as it sees someone who could resist its power for the first time, someone with the capability to kill hundreds of beasts in the dungeon all by himself, endure agonizing injuries, and still stays alive to fight for days, and even survive to reach this place.
"YOU- ARE YOU-!"
Only when Shuku stands once again right in front of it after being thrown away numerous times and climbing high stairs steps while being heavily and painfully attacked by the blood in his body does the Blade realize how foolish it was to underestimate this human.
And even more foolish of the Blade to think that he was the first with these capabilities.
"So just SHUP UP AND BECOME MINE!!!"
Shuku resists the force inflicted on his own body and grabs the Blood Blade again, this time ensuring no cuts are made. He immediately pulls it out of the pedestal with full force and strength.
"GAAAHHH!!!"
The Blood Blade itself is also resisting Shuku; the more he tries to pull it out, the more force it pushes against his body.
It's now a battle of strength and endurance between a sword and a human, with Shuku attempting to claim ownership of the sword while the sword tries to stop him with its magical power.
As soon as the sword begins to flinch and shake, signaling that it's finally unstuck from the pedestal's insides, Shuku instantly increases his pulling force to the maximum, exceeding the limit of his body.
"GGGAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!"
And pulls the Blood Blade out of the stone pedestal.
"Haa... Haa..."
Shuku immediately falls to the ground from exhaustion as soon as the Blood Blade is secured in his hand. But then he quickly stands up because staying in this dungeon for too long makes him feel unsafe from just relaxing.
But as seconds pass and the Blood Blade seems to no longer resist, and his own body feels normal, he instinctively sighs in relief.
Then he raises the Blade higher in the air while holding the grip to have a better look at it.
"Damn, this thing looks really high quality."
That's what he thinks after seeing how straight, sharp, and shiny this sword, which people call legendary, is compared to the bent, rusty, and crippled sword he had to live with for the whole past week.
"VERY WELL THEN!" Suddenly, Shuku is startled by the Blood Blade's voice.
"I SHALL GIVE YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO PROVE YOURSELF, I SHALL GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO SHOW THAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF GIVING ME BLOOD, WORTHY OF MY POWER, AND WORTHY TO BE MY OWNER."
"Huh... Now you're talking-"
SHREEK!
...
The Blood Blade moves its tip towards his chest and penetrates itself inside Shuku's heart. Then it gradually moves in deeper and deeper until it finally pierces through his body.
"Ughh..."
Shuku suddenly feels a strange feeling of tiredness, dizziness, and total darkening of his eyes. Quickly enough, he starts to lose control of his body as consciousness begins to fade away strangely.
He sways for a few seconds then begins to roll down the stairs as he falls, landing on the ground after several rolls. However, he doesn't feel the presence of the Blood Blade anymore. If it's penetrated his body, he should feel its impact when he fell, yet, the Blood Blade seems to have vanished.
Then suddenly, he hears the babbling sound of water breaking in from outside the room and glimpses the stone walls around being broken by the waters, with sunlight streaming in, before finally being drowned in the flood and fall unconscious.