Chapter 40: Creation of the plain silver sword
It was another vision.
In this dream, Bryce saw his father standing in casual clothes, a white shirt, long black pants, and rugged boots, not looking like someone with a hero bloodline. His blue eyes and silver hair were lifeless, and he also stood a little hunched, seemingly tired.
"But I need you to fuse Excalibur with a different sword. Evan, Master Evan, only you can do that," said Arthur in a whisper, not hiding his urgency or a request from the bottom of his heart.
Master Evan, a dwarf, scoffed and jumped onto his seat, "Master Evan now! You weren't so respectful last time, Arthur. Out of all heroes chosen for divine equipment, you had the decency to bid farewell to me, though. It wasn't 'Goodbye, Master Evan', but a crude 'I'll share some stories with you, Evan.' So, do you have any interesting story to share after all those years of absence? Why did you even disappear from the scene, Arthur?"
Evan took out a pipe and smoked on it.
Because of him, the scene between the two men became quite odd. After all, Evan simply looked like a kid in his early teens, having a baby face with smooth skin, beardless, and absolutely none of the maturity on his small body — only his eyes shone with experience.
If he hadn't taken out a pipe, it would have looked like Arthur, the man in his early thirties, begged a kid. Well, Evan, with a pipe, also looked weird.
"To be a hero means to be cursed, to be a demon lord means to chase an impossible. Only a few can endure temptations, Master Evan. I couldn't, I sinned, and I ended up becoming exactly like my father. To fix the gravest mistake, to not follow my father's steps, I must scheme until it's not too late. Master Evan, I'd love to tell you some stories, but I don't have time. I also believe fusing these two swords will take time," Arthur said, then took out the crimson sword. "This sword's appearance should tell you some story, though."
Evan's eyes widened upon seeing the Sword of Dracula. Just from a glance, he didn't doubt it was the vampire's king's sword, his favorite weapon, which he used to keep the presence of his race strong and influential on the scene. The dwarf sucked more on his cigarette, blew a cloud of smoke, then jumped off his seat.
"Rumors have reached my ears, Arthur. Vampires did their best not to let a word out, but a few knew that someone had attacked the Crimson Kingdom at night. Their losses are severe, too severe, but I didn't expect it was you! So Isaac has been hit by Excalibur's curse, and you snatched his sword. But why vampires? They have an active demon lord, but she doesn't give a crap about them and their first vampire demon lord, though he was powerful enough to match Chaos and Annihilation, made the mistake of calling himself a god.
"I can't see through your plan of fusing these two swords together, Arthur," Master Evan said, glued to the Crimson Sword, examining it with his blacksmith's eyes.
He didn't get an answer to his question, for Arthur remained silent.
Evan continued, "Tinkering with a divine weapon is also dangerous. Excalibur, in particular, has been sent by the Lord to stifle a commotion amidst his believers and to quickly erase the cause. A hero who wielded this weapon had a flashy and abundant power to influence the masses, but at its peak, amidst the warm and holy rain, his gaze remained cold and unapproachable. It's because of a daughter of the Lord living inside the sword, isn't it?"
Arthur faintly smiled, a rare smile in his situation, and replied, "If, for you, the hero's eyes were cold and unapproachable, then you must have heard the story from a demon's side. For others, it's a simple concept — the masses need a hero, not a friend. While demons see a cold killer, humanity sees a determined hero fighting for their cause, someone they should cheer, support, and pray for.
"Demons see Excalibur's real self, though, for she's as cold as you said. I wish I could see her earlier, to at least have a talk with her — if it only happened, I wouldn't have ended up as scum." Arthur said with an apparent yearning for Excalibur, his words confusing Evan.
Though the dwarf could understand demons seeing the weapon's real self, to see Excalibur and have a talk with her could mean many things. It probably wasn't to own and get more strength from the blade, for Arthur didn't seem like a power-hungry hero.
He already had enough power to threaten Pope and demon lords known as Last Bosses.
"Well, fusing two swords should be possible, but for that, I'll need a lot of stuff," Evan said, carefully examining Arthur's face. When the hero nodded, ready to sacrifice everything, Evan continued, "My workplace is not enough. I'll need you to speak with Black Dragon to let me use his volcano."
Arthur nodded, "If he refuses, I'll fight him to death."
The dwarf did his best to hide his fear of these two fighting against each other.
"To calm down two opposite energies, I'll need the blood of hybrids," Evan clicked his tongue, for those hybrids were the worst clients, then looked up at Arthur's face, "And I believe silver scales of moon guardian will finish the job. You're lucky since their guardian sheds its skin this year. I don't think you will be able to just ask for them, though."
"I didn't expect that, but I can visit them," Arthur replied, confident in himself and his resolution.
Evan nodded, getting excited about the new creation, but without anything transpiring on his face, "Moon Guardian doesn't carry any mana or any other energy. When the Demon Lord of War took a fancy to the Moon Goddess, he challenged the clan and fought against Moon Guardian and Moon Goddess. These two came out victorious, and the horny demon lord complained how the beast was like a void monster, turning everything into nothingness within its mouth."
Arthur knew the story but wasn't knowledgeable about the silver scales, so he thanked the dwarf for the explanation and turned around. The Crimson Sword returned to his inventory.
When the hero parted his lips, Evan first brought out his last concern: "Excalibur's soul is still a problem. It will be like me creating a room next to hers. She won't have any access to it, but since it will be made out of demonic energy, she will surely aim to take it over and purify the other side. This might end up with the Sword of Dracula getting broken or utterly gone from the world."
Arthur, facing the dwarf with his back, surprised him, "I have thought about it. Crimson Sword also has a soul inside now. She'll do the job. I believe there's nothing more, so I will start gathering essential stuff, Master Evan.
"We have only eight months," Arthur added.
-
-
-
-
Bryce woke up, his eyes squinted.
"I shouldn't make promises too early."
He recalled his talk with Excalibur and started feeling sweaty — too sweaty, in fact!