"Hmm."
Kuberad smiled vividly, looking at Raon's back as he looked through the swords.
'The world doesn't stay stagnant.'
He'd met countless warriors as a blacksmith, from young geniuses to absolute beings that established their Houses to stand at the center of the world.
Every single one of them had left him an unforgettable impression, but the boy standing in front of him was different.
'It's not about his strength.'
The prowess he possessed despite being fifteen years old was certainly amazing, but that could have already happened before in the vast continent.
However, his qualities were different.
Like a blacksmith that forges a sword by hammering the steel, he was sharpening his sword by polishing his mind.
It was an auspicious temperament that could achieve the unification of sword and body in a near future, and the mind's sword later on.
'That's only possible after becoming a Master…'
Raon's prowess was about the level of an Expert. He couldn't understand how his mind had solely reached that level through countless walls.
"The name of Zieghart is going to resound throughout the world once again."
Kuberad murmured that he wanted to see that interesting world and guzzled down the bottle. The cheap liquor tasted sweet thanks to his interesting client.
Whir.
Upon hearing the sudden sound of vibration, he put down the bottle and raised his head.
"Huh?"
The red dagger on the table was wailing, and Raon was extending his hand towards it.
"W-wait."
He must not touch that. He couldn't understand why the dagger he'd left out in a corner was there.
"Stop!"
He shouted in a hurry, but the red dagger was already in Raon's grasp.
"Damn it!"
"Ugh!"
Kuberad suddenly stood up and took Dorian, who was standing there dumbfounded, and stepped back.
"Wh-why are you doing this? I wasn't trying to pick two, I really was trying to pick one…"
"Do you see that?"
"Huh? What's that dagger? Why is such energy…"
Dorian swallowed. A weird red light was simmering up from the dagger Raon was holding.
"It's a possessed blade."
"P-possessed blade?"
Possessed blades were grotesque and cunning blades. They were evil items, ones with negative emotions that tried to control their wielders.
"Damn it."
Kuberad bit his lip. Since the one holding the sword was just a boy whose mind wasn't yet matured, he would definitely easily succumb to the sword's ghastly energy.
"We have to stop him before the ghastly energy reaches his head! Coward, draw your sword!"
"Uh…"
He took up the hammer next to him and urged Dorian on. However, he just tilted his head without drawing his sword.
"What are you doing? It's going to be dangerous if we don't stop him no…"
"No, but we don't really stop him. The young master is the same as always."
"What? The ghastly energy is leaking all arou…huh?"
Kuberad's jaw dropped. It was true that the ghastly energy was overflowing, since it was coming out fiercely.
However, the ghastly energy was only spreading out around the dagger, not managing to even get close to Raon.
Kliiing!
The possessed blade wailed once again. Unlike the strange vibration from before, it sounded more like a dog's scream upon getting caught on a leash.
"A-are you okay?"
Raon, who'd been looking at the dagger, raised his head upon hearing that. He didn't look bewitched by the ghastly energy, as his clear red eyes looked perfectly fine.
"I'm okay. But this dagger isn't just an average weapon."
"Huh…"
Kuberad gasped and fell back.
"Wh-what the hell are you?"
* * *
How dare—
Wrath's serious voice was frighteningly dry.
—an inferior bug target the King of Essence's possessed body.
His wrath was coming from the bottom of his heart. The blue coldness boiled up and mercilessly suppressed the dagger's ghastly energy.
Kliiing!
The dagger screamed, squashed by Wrath's coldness.
I'm going to shatter you into pieces!
Wrath sliced his coldness into thin threads and inserted them into the dagger. It seemed he was trying to kill the dagger itself.
'Stop.'
What?
'Stop there for now.'
Why? It was trying to snatch food from the King of Essence! You'd have been swallowed by the dagger's ghastly energy if it wasn't for the King of Essence!
'I'm not your food, and I wouldn't be swallowed by a dagger like this even if you weren't around.'
You are underestimating the ghastly energy. It's true that the level of it doesn't even compare to the edge of the King of Essence's toe, but for a mere human…
'You didn't even manage to pierce through my defense, so do you really think something like this could manage it?'
Uh…
Wrath's anger stopped at once. He was just staying there, speechless, with his mouth wide open.
'Am I right? So just leave it alone.'
Th-that seriously hurts. You won't be able to die a peaceful death. The King of Essence will chew you up and gnaw on you for over thousands of years…
"What is this dagger?"
Please listen to me!
Raon ignored Wrath, who started talking, and went to Kuberad.
"Th-that is…"
Kuberad looked back and forth between the dagger and Raon with a dumbfounded gaze, then sighed.
"It's a failure I created. It's a possessed blade, just like I said earlier."
"Possessed blade, I can indeed feel the ghastly energy from it."
"You shouldn't just be able to feel it. It should be trying to swallow you right now."
"It was manageable."
"Huh…"
Raon was just stating the truth, but Kuberad groaned dejectedly, unable to understand the situation.
"Possessed blades are blades with ghastly energy. In simple terms, they are blades that are made with the inclusion of people's negative emotions. Inside that blade is…"
Kuberad bit his lip and continued.
"Resentment. And it's a terribly viscous resentment."
"Can you explain it to me?"
"Sit down."
Kuberad pointed at the chair in front of the table. Raon nodded and sat down.
"I-is it okay if I listen as well?"
Dorian took a soft chair from his belly pocket and leaned his body on it.
* * *
"There's a small village called Siren in the south. The villagers were good people that treated a tree called Othello as a sacred tree."
Raon knew about the village. It was a small village slightly outside House Robert's domain. Since the villagers had a good nature without much suspicion, he'd used it as an escape route before.
"The White Blood Religion's believers assaulted that village."
"White Blood Religion…"
Raon narrowed his eyes.
'Those atrocious bastards…'
The White Blood Religion was a huge religious group belonging to the Five Demons alongside Eden and the South-North Union.
They were fanatics that assaulted everything in the world due to their first doctrine, aiming to cover the world with white blood.
"Then, Siren village…"
"There were no survivors. Half the villagers died right there, and the other half were abducted and taken away. They even cut down and took away the Othello tree, which was the villagers' spirit. White blood was the only thing that remained."
White blood wet the earth instead of red after White Blood Religion's assault. It was part of their magic.
"I made that blade using a meteorite piece I had back then and the branch of Othello that remained in that place."
Kuberad looked at the blade Raon was holding with wavering eyes.
"You made a blade?"
"Yes. I was planning to offer them comfort with that blade instead of a memorial. However…"
Kuberad touched his temple and frowned upon remembering that time.
"The white blade and hilt was dyed in red as soon as I completed it. Contrary to my intentions, it incorporated an uncontrollable amount of resentment from the Siren villagers."
"I see."
Raon nodded. Just as he said, the sword contained a tremendous amount of ghastly energy. If someone else had held it, they would've been bewitched by and started swinging it around.
"There's a saying that good people are scarier when they get angry, but I didn't expect it to be this much. Even powerful people couldn't manage the ghastly power, so I had no choice but to keep it with me. I don't understand how you are able to grab it without any problems."
"Hmm…"
He drew the dagger from the sheath to look at it. The blade was completely dyed in red, just like the sheath and hilt—as if it was trying to remember the resentment from that day.
Whir!
The red blade vibrated to spread its ghastly energy. The energy crawling on his hand was even more terrifying and evil than when it was contained inside the sheath.
Clang!
Raon used the Ring of Fire. The five rings rotating around his heart resonated with each other to increase his level as an existence.
Kliing!
Just like when it was pushed back by Wrath, it started screaming upon being suppressed by his level.
"Huh! Seriously."
Kuberad's eyes wavered like a ship on rippling waters.
'He is like an onion.'
He thought he'd witnessed enough about him, yet he was showing another side of himself. He couldn't believe that he was just a child that wasn't qualified as a swordsman yet.
"The sword I forged to comfort their soul is craving revenge. That's why I can't use it as a memorial. I was trying to seal it, but I didn't expect this to happen."
"Didn't you mention earlier that half of them have been abducted?"
"Yes. The White Blood Religion usually kills half on the spot and abducts the other half. I only found half of the villagers as corpses."
Raon closed his eyes after looking at the dagger as it wailed in mortification.
He was abducted by Robert's people during his childhood in his previous life, a childhood that he couldn't even remember anymore.
Since they weren't just abducted but also slaughtered, their resentment must've been even worse than his own.
Whir.
It felt like the dagger's weeping vibration was scraping at his heart with rough glass.
"I…"
Raon opened his eyes once again, and stared at the dagger.
"...have a lot of things to do. I already don't have enough time to take care of it, so I can't really help with your revenge. However, if I ever encounter the White Blood Religion, I'll make your wish come true."
The dagger's weeping sound started to subside in silence.
"Are you willing to come with me?"
The dagger stopped crying. It seemed as if it was pondering about it as its blade trembled.
Whir!
The biggest vibration so far resonated from the dagger. Ghastly energy was also flowing out, but it wasn't harmful anymore.
Clang!
It resonated with the rotating 'Ring of Fire', producing the clear resonance of a sword.
"S-sword's resonance?"
Kuberad fell back from his chair upon hearing the sword's resonance from the dagger Raon was holding.
"I choose this one."
Raon smiled broadly and put the dagger in its sheath.
"A-are you really taking that?"
"Am I not able to?"
"Hah! It's the first time someone confidently told me he's taking a legendary weapon."
Despite what he was saying, Kuberad was making a satisfied and refreshed expression.
What did you just say? Did you say you are taking that cunning thing?
'Yes.'
It's a parasite! How are you planning to keep a parasite with you, one that's targeting the King of Essence's belongings? Are you out of your mind?
'A parasite, huh…'
Raon gave Wrath a sour look.
What! Why are you looking at the King of Essence with that impertinent gaze?
'I figured there wouldn't be any difference between having one or two parasites.'
T-two parasites? Para… no way! Are you referring to the King of Essence?
'Well, it's true. You are targeting my body, just like the dagger.'
You're crazy! The King of Essence is the monarch of Wrath that dominated the entire northern region of Devildom…
'No, it doesn't matter whether you are a monarch or whatever. It's a fact that you are currently sticking to me because you failed at taking over my body.'
S-stick? The King of Essence… ugh! Raon Zieghart! You can't say wherever you want with that hole in your mouth! This is the first time in my entire life I've been humiliated so much!
'But I'm talking because I have a hole.'
Raon decided to ignore Wrath, who was exploding in anger, and turned his head towards Kuberad.
"What is the name of this dagger?"
"I didn't give it a name, since I made it use as a memorial."
"Then is it okay if I name it?"
"Do you have an idea?"
"Since the blacksmith wanted to comfort the villagers, Requiem. I want to name it the Blade of Requiem."
"A Blade of Requiem spreading ghastly energy, huh. That's rather enigmatic."
He snickered and stood up.
"Take it. However, you must keep your word."
"Of course. I'll keep clashing against the Five Demons as long as I wield Zieghart's name."
"Wow, a possessed blade. You really obtained a possessed blade…"
Dorian was eating snacks, spectating them through some strange glasses
"Thank you."
Raon equipped the Blade of Requiem on his lower back and bowed at Kuberad.
"What are you doing?"
"Pardon?"
"You should pick your sword."
"But…"
"I told you I'll give you a sword, not a dagger."
"Ah…"
It seemed he was intending to give him another sword.
"Are you really giving me a sword in addition?"
"Just don't lose. That's everything a blacksmith wants from a swordsman."
Kuberad handed over the sword Raon had been looking at earlier.
"I'll visit Zieghart later to meet Vulcan, so don't give me a cold reception."
"Of course. My family is great at cooking, I'll make sure to treat you well."
"I'll look forward to it."
"I won't forget this favor. Thank you."
"It's nothing special."
Their smiles were as warm as sunlight shining between the alleys.
"Well then."
Raon bowed, then left the blacksmith. As he was about to leave the alley, Dorian's voice could be heard from inside.
"I haven't finished choosing yet!"
____
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