Proving One’s Ability (1)

There is only one way to break the seal of Arkazenon, the Emperor of Thousand Swords.

It is to insert all ten swords required for unsealing into the Bladelake.

Ian had already met this condition before coming here.

The Infernal Demon Sword Infernachs, the Weighted Sword Atellas, the Ghost Sword Quiennio, the Thunder Emperor Sword Astrape…

Five swords as chief rewards from the Sword Dragon Hall, two obtained from the Sword Ghost and from the Heavenly Sword Knights Commander, and three that were already in the Bladelake.

With all of them combined, he had gathered the perfect set of ten swords required.

“……”

Taking the unsealed Arkazenon in hand wasn’t difficult, nor did it take long.

Descending through the temple’s staircase into the ruins, Ian found the seal already undone.

The seal’s stele stood open like a stone coffin, and Arkazenon floated above it, emitting a soft glow.

All Ian had to do was approach and take Arkazenon in hand.

‘Arkazenon… So this is what it looks like.’

Its appearance was as if countless blades had been randomly melted and fused together.

Some blades were green or blue, and some were engraved with ancient runes.

Yet, despite its disordered exterior, the sword’s interior mana circuit was as intricate as the complicated magical devices of ancient civilizations.

‘Astounding.’

This was an artifact far beyond what any human could craft.

Various mystic blades, each with unique abilities, were interconnected and resonated in perfect harmony.

Ian sensed it the moment he grasped Arkazenon.

‘Amazing. The nickname “Emperor of Thousand Swords” fits it perfectly.’

This was an empire of swords and simultaneously the emperor of all blades.

Every sword present nearby—

The swords the Heavenly Sword Knights wore on patrol, those stored in the armory, even the ancient masterpieces slumbering in the Bladelake.

‘While holding Arkazenon, I can sense them all.’

It was a bizarre sensation.

It felt as if every sword nearby had become an extension of Ian’s own body.

Just like you instinctively know where your hands are without looking with your eyes…

He could precisely feel every sword’s position, weight, and even the unique abilities each contained.

The same was true for divine swords like Heliodin and Vladiark.

To test it immediately, he pulled Heliodin and Vladiark out of his subspace; both moved freely and delicately with no issues at all.

He could levitate them and launch them rapidly like javelins, spin them like boomerangs, or make them whirl in place fiercely like drills—all without using his hands.

Channeling aura into them midair required a bit of concentration, but at his level it posed no problem.

He was sure even Sword Spirit Release would be possible—he could sense it intuitively.

‘Moreover… Hah. There’s even this?’

Ian gazed at the blue window floating before his eyes.

—《List of Summonable Swords》—

◆Black Snake Fang : Can be summoned. Required magic power (3,600)

◆Blue Jade Sword Aquamarina : Can be summoned. Required magic power (3,650)

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◆Infernal Demon Sword Infernachs : Can be summoned. Required magic power (12,000)

◆Ghost Sword Quiennio : Can be summoned. Required magic power (15,000)

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◆Thunder Emperor Sword Astrape : Can be summoned. Required magic power (58,000)

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─────────────

He could summon any sword stored in the Bladelake through Arkazenon.

The sole requirement for summoning was magic power.

No constraints of location or time.

—《List of Swords Stored in Arkazenon》—

◆No swords currently stored.

────────────────

It even offered a function to store swords, just like a subspace artifact.

The swords he summoned could be placed in this list for safekeeping.

The status window could be turned on and off at will.

‘This is insane… I only played with it for a moment, but it’s incredible. Far more usable than I expected.’

In the future, if he wielded Arkazenon on the battlefield against tens of thousands of demons, and operated Vladiark, Heliodin, and countless other masterpieces all at once, even standing still, he could unleash a spectacular display.

He could literally sweep away the demons from the battlefield as if erasing them with a giant eraser.

He still didn’t know why such an outlandish divine artifact had been sealed under the first family leader’s temple.

Perhaps the first family head left it as a secret weapon for future generations in case of a crisis for the Heavenly Sword family, or perhaps it was an irreplaceable part needed to maintain the Bladelake’s system.

If he took it out of here, it might cause trouble for some systems in the Heavenly Sword Palace.

‘But I can’t just leave such a fantastic sword here. It’ll be extremely effective in fighting the demons. Let’s just not break it.’

Whenever he had time, he decided to use the Authority of Projection to copy Arkazenon and prepare a few spare ones.

That way, even if something happened to the palace’s system, he could immediately put Arkazenon back, and if it ever broke, he could replace it right away.

—Wooong.

Ian placed Arkazenon in his subspace and cautiously exited the ruins.

—Clatter…

After returning to the surface, he quietly restored the temple floor tiles to their original state…

“Sword Spirit Release. Quiennio.”

He whispered, rendering himself invisible with Quiennio, and evaded the patrols of the Heavenly Sword Knights.

Now that he had acquired Arkazenon, it was time to return to Sunshine Castle and execute his next plan.

* * *

Late March, age nineteen.

A letter arrived from Aris.

The construction of the demon containment facility was almost finished, she said.

It was scheduled for completion before April ended.

The personnel to manage the facility and operate the equipment had apparently all been arranged on Aris’s end.

Test operation was already finished, so in April all systems could be activated immediately.

‘Impressive.’

Despite her difficult personality, Aris was more meticulous and reliable in her work than anyone.

‘Then it’s time for my role.’

He needed to bring in demonic humans and demons to fill the containment facility.

‘And it’s about time to recruit fellow knights.’

To ensure tight coordination before the battle with the Demon Dukes, he needed to start gathering companions soon.

‘Demonic humans and demons for the containment facility. Companions to recruit for the order.’

Conveniently, he had a way to accomplish both at once.

‘I need to meet Scarlet.’

Scarlet Ravierre.

The ancient vampire whose clan and home were taken by the Demon Cult.

‘Has it been five years since I last saw her?’

It had already been five years since he rescued her from a den of demonic humans.

‘Time really flies.’

Scarlet had left to rescue her kin, who were kidnapped by the Demon Cult.

She was probably still fighting desperately to save them.

If she had already saved them all, she would have made contact somehow through Nightingale.

Given that there hadn’t been any news, she must still be busy rescuing her blood relatives.

‘I’ll meet her, help rescue her kin, and round up any useful demonic humans along the way.’

That was Ian’s plan.

‘Scarlet… she must be safe, right?’

He had spent all this time growing so he could truly help her. It would be troubling if she was no longer safe.

Of course, if anything had happened to her, Nightingale would have contacted him: ‘Apostle of the Night, we can’t contact your acquaintance. Search may be necessary,’ or the like. Since there was no such message, the odds were high she was safe.

‘I’ll only know for sure once I meet her.’

Scarlet said she would leave traces of her activities at Nightingale.

So, by going through Nightingale, he should be able to find her easily.

Ian headed for Nightingale.

* * *

One of the seven sects of the Grand Cult of Sin.

The Sin of Greed Cult.

In one of its secretive branches.

A dark chamber where ominous blue candlelight flickered.

A splendid gold table embedded with jewels was filthy with melted wax.

“… Disgusting.”

At the seat of honor sat the Sin of Greed Cult Leader.

A high-ranking executive directly beneath the Sin High Priest of the sect.

Bertolf gritted his teeth, clutching the hem of his gold-embroidered robe.

“That makes four already…”

Another high-ranking vampire the Sin of Greed Cult had kept quarantined had escaped.

This was the fourth so far.

“Ever since that disgusting bat escape five years ago…! Everything has gone wrong!”

After a high-level vampire, once held by one of the demon-organization subsidiaries under the Sin of Greed Cult, escaped, she rampaged through the other organizations, freeing more livestock and slaves in droves.

—Bang!

Bertolf pounded the gold table in irritation.

“Grr…”

“… Hmph.”

Yet, even with the crisis, the attending bishops only let out quiet sighs.

“Kaahh!”

Frustrated, Bertolf bellowed.

“At least give me an answer! Why are you all sitting here if you have nothing to say? You occupy those bishop seats—if so, offer up a solution!”

“W-well…”

One bishop raised his hand hesitantly.

“What if we request assistance from the High Priest? We’ve been holding off for various reasons, but now, with the situation being what it is…”

“Absolutely not!”

Before the bishop could finish, Bertolf snapped.

“This must be resolved by us! Absolutely!”

The High Priest of Greed was far in the north, preparing a grand plan.

Should he fail to solve even an issue of this scale—and trouble the High Priest—the High Priest would surely strip Bertolf of his position.

Then, the High Priest would find a more competent demonic human and grant them the title instead.

In the Grand Cult of Sin, losing one’s rank this way was practically a death sentence.

The new archbishop would come to take everything from the former archbishop.

“Well then…”

Another bishop raised a hand cautiously.

“What if we make use of the Eye of the Sun?”

The Eye of the Sun.

One of the divine artifacts held by the Sin of Greed Cult, and unrivaled in suppressing vampires.

As its name suggests, it condensed the power of the sun immensely. Used against a vampire, no matter how powerful, it could weaken them by several levels.

However—

“That’s… a bit drastic,” an elderly bishop objected.

“The Eye of the Sun is currently being used to seal Noxcar’s power.”

Noxcar.

The most powerful and highest-ranked vampire currently quarantined under the Sin of Greed Cult.

Her regeneration was so transcendental that only just the usual sealing devices could not suppress her—hence, the Eye of the Sun was deployed to rein in her power.

“If we misuse it… It might be like releasing a dragon to catch a wolf. It’s too dangerous.”

“… But we have no alternative. If we don’t come up with new measures now, the vampires will keep getting us the same way. Things are deteriorating faster. We have to take risks and choose something decisive.”

—Murmur murmur.

The bishops debated, weighing pros and cons.

“Hm…”

After listening silently for a while, Bertolf slowly raised his hand.

All eyes turned to Bertolf.

Gazing at the bishops, he spoke quietly.

“The younger bishop is correct. We will use the Eye of the Sun.”

“… B-but! Archbishop!”

The elderly bishop’s eyes widened.

“If you do so, Noxcar’s seal—!”

Bertolf calmly waved his hand.

“Noxcar is already greatly weakened from long imprisonment and mana extraction. Even for her, it will take time to recover fully. Without the Eye of the Sun, it’ll be fine to keep her confined for about a month at most.”

“If… if you say so…”

“Time is key. We must capture them all within a month. Leak tempting information to the vampires. Tell them where their prisoners are being held. Set the Eye of the Sun at those locations and lay a trap. Once they come to rescue their kin… activate the Eye of the Sun and subdue the vampires at once.”

Vampires could not resist the pressure of the sun.

They would be swept up all at once.

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

Hmm, the leader of the Noxcar family, which Scarlet belongs to is still alive…

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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