Now that the situation was more relaxed, the young man noticed that, surprisingly, he needed both arms to support the excessive weight of the weapon. In fact, as soon as the heaviness of the object revealed itself, it forced the youth to slightly arch his back.
"Damn... who knows what material it is made of... With such a heavyweight, it must be a particular metal..."
Neglecting its excessive weight, another fact that amazed him was the black glow surrounding the weapon.
He was still a novice in the forging world, but with the Obsidian Eyes, he could barely understand and discern its rank.
Until now, he had encountered weapons and shards with their respective ranks, Mortal Artifact without glow, Martial Chaos Artifact with a blue one, Primordial Artifact with a purple one, and Ruler Artifact with a golden one.
As for the one before him, it was pretty weird, as this black mist could only signify that his actual realm was way lower to distinguish and comprehend its actual realm or power properly.
"Could it be an Overlord Artifact?! Or maybe something even more powerful?"
The spear was nearly two meters long, with the main body made of hard black material and a strange protrusion that extended along the entire stirrup.
At first glance, it might seem uncomfortable to hold with that strange bump, but the young man had to change his mind when he found that his palm was moving up and down smoothly.
Indeed, it is a marvelous sight, almost inconceivable.
Besides that, the tip was slightly strange because it did not have a trivial triangle shape, but the two blades on the sides were formed by small curved teeth tending towards the shaft.
That particular blade's shape was probably used to tear apart the prey's flesh, making it an incredibly macabre weapon that looked much more like an instrument of torture.
"A staff made with the Darkos Metal and the tip from the horn of a Darkcrane Wolf. Hmm... rare materials, indeed... and it's not something one in the Mortal Realm can even hold..."
Thanks to Old Mold, the young man had come in contact with countless materials, not only those used for Mortal Artifacts but also for Saints and more dangerous weapons. So, he recognized their identity quite quickly.
It's just that those two particular materials were rare, extremely scarce to find in their continent, because the Darkcrane Wolf was extinct, and the Darkos Metal was exclusive to the dreary lands of the demons.
In the small boat, the young man was not the only one interested in observing the icy spear. In fact, as soon as he took out that weapon, Drunkum's eyes widened exaggeratedly.
"Mmm... boy, you'd better put that weapon back in your space artifact... otherwise, its master may track you and bring the entire fleet of Obscurium to take it back..."
Atlas was too focused on the weapon to notice the grim expression on Drunkum's face, but his warning astonished him: "His master? What nonsense are you saying? How can his master still be alive?"
Gulp! Gulp!
As usual, Drunkum reopened one of his many bottles of wine and took a good sip before replying: "The right question is... How can he not be alive..."
"… It's hard to kill one of those bastards because their souls are completely different from ordinary evil spirits. It's a martial cultivator from the past... an evil being with complete control over his actions and dangerously enchanted by a vile power."
Drunkum continued the explanation, surprising Atlas more and more: "… My attacks have caused enormous damage to his soul, but they are not enough to kill him. Especially considering all the dark related Techniques in his possession... he's a formidable opponent."
The demonic spear had already returned inside Nihiste, safe from the outside world's eye. Still, the old drunkard's words had scared him a bit, especially thinking about the absurdity that such evil creatures could exist.
An Evil Spirit with complete control over his past powers, just like Waret had warned him. Someone with the semblance of a living being. A powerful being that Atlas could only look at from afar.
His current power was so far from that realm that he was like a tiny ant in front of a mighty dragon.
Atlas already had a grim expression on his face, and upon hearing his words, he got worse: "Drunkum... If he's not dead, he'll surely warn his lord... what can we do?"
Gulp! Gulp!
"Hehehe… calm down. Even if I haven't killed him for eternity, it will be impossible for him to return to this world for at least a year. The only thing we have to worry about is that soon his disappearance will cause a lot of commotion in these damned waters… Hahaha."
Drunkum found the situation fun, but the young man had a different opinion.
In fact, seeing that stupid smile on his face, Atlas wanted to punch it so badly: "Dammit... then we should have evaded them... why did you barge in there like a madman??"
Gulp! Gulp!
"We couldn't do otherwise... Anyway, you have me by your side... Don't worry, nothing will happen to you..."
"How dare you say such nonsense? Damn... Last time, I almost died!!!"
Angered by his careless and reckless attitude, Atlas railed at him with all his voice, but the old man just sipped the delicious wine in small sips and kept ignoring the poor young man.
Gulp! Gulp! ...
|||
Many days passed aboard that tiny vessel, and the battles that followed became increasingly bloody.
Among those terrifying vessels formed by the skulls of sea creatures and the small islets that were practically graveyards, Atlas suffered the pains of hell, but he also reaped a fruitful gain.
Incredibly, in those five hellish days, he reached the Peak Stage of the Descendant Chaos Realm.
Unlucky, the speed of growth was rapidly reducing, making it difficult to cross the major realms at the same pace.
Even Astra was almost at the level comparable to a Primordial Artifact. Indeed, tiny threads of purple light were already inside the small sapphire at the base of its handle.
He was one step away from crossing the threshold again, but something had changed after such a grueling journey.
In fact, the little red light in the Soul Compass had become much more powerful, a clear sign that Rose was very close.
Fortunately, ever since he had noticed that change, Drunkum had quelled his thirst for blood, concentrating entirely on the research plan.
"Your beloved is close, perhaps less than a half day's journey away..."
The love story between them was untrue, but he had never deigned to explain the situation during the trip, even after all the vicissitudes they had gone through together.
"Mmm... I'm sure it's a little shorter than that... but how do you think she could have survived in these deadly waters for so long?"
After all that had happened in the past few days, his question was more than fair.
Gulp! Gulp!
"Well... there may be a few possibilities. One of the most logical ones is that the foolish girl has a precious defensive artifact, similar to my unique totem... Or, she has been captured alive by an Evil Spirit and used as... well, you can imagine that by yourself."
Indeed, he could easily imagine what he was hinting at but didn't believe in that possibility and asked: "Hmm... I know this is probably a crazy idea, but...are you sure there is no safe place in Obscurium?"
Hearing the young man's question, Drunkum looked slightly thoughtful but finally shook his head: "Impossible... Nothing can remain pure in a world steeped by this powerful death grasp..."
The old drunkard seemed sure of his statement, but Atlas had a different opinion.
This was especially true after they discovered that one of the old maps given by Uncle Beard accurately described the route they had followed all along. It even indicated all the deserted islets they had encountered.
Of course, what had struck him and made him so uncertain of Drunkum's words was the map's content.
Besides explicitly describing those islets as deserted, there was a much larger island just a few days away in the direction they were going, and unlike the others, this one was circled and marked with a simple little phrase: Bright Life?
Undoubtedly, those words marked by a question mark did not give him much hope, but they still managed to attract the young man's curiosity.
"Look at this map... We have gone through all those islands... And then look at this..."
Drunkum followed Atlas's index finger all along the map, and when he reached the sizeable verdant island at the end of the path, he seemed slightly intrigued, "Hmm... It may be nothing. After all, who knows how old this map is..."
"I've thought about that possibility too...however, we can still check the area and find out if there's anything left."
"Hmm... That sounds like a good idea to me. But first, let's find your beloved..."
In the end, the mysterious island piqued the old drunkard's interest, but fortunately, the main goal remained to find the foolish girl.
|||
The two kept following the direction indicated by the Soul Compass for another half-day, and surprisingly, Atlas discovered that they had come within a few miles of the island shown on the map.
Intrigued by the strange coincidence, Atlas gazed at the horizon, looking for answers, but the only thing he saw was an endless expanse of crystal-clear water.
"Old drunkard... do you see anything in front of us?"
Drunkum had gone back to lounging blissfully in a little corner, but at the young man's words, he was immediately awakened and looked around scrupulously: "Hmm... I don't see anything strange. Why?"
"Well... according to the map, there should be an island in front of us..."
"Don't talk nonsense... probably, the one who drew it was in the grip of hallucinations due to the Miasma of Death..."
"Maybe..."
Still a bit uncertain, Atlas approached the bow and whispered a few words toward the water: "Hey!!! Deepy..."
In recent days, especially after all that had happened, Atlas had not found it necessary to hide his ability anymore.
In fact, he even helped those two longtime friends communicate with each other, gaining the approval and respect of both of them.
"Atlas... what's going on?" Deepy resurfaced shortly after and seemed very happy to be able to communicate with him so freely.
"Do you see anything strange in front of us?"
Even the young man did not think his crazy idea was possible. However, the creature's answer made him reconsider his last assumption.
"What a silly question...of course I see something...there is an enormous island just ahead..."