“Fortune won’t do it this time. As I can’t feel an ounce of mana in you, you will be ripped to shreds in seconds. I don’t know how you’re okay, but run away.”

“He looks like he has no intentions of letting me go.”

“I’ll try to stop him!”

To Davey, Princess Illyna was a girl who did not show her emotions easily. Her title as the Imperial Princess would have made her so; however, she was excessively obsessing over this, as if vampires were her sworn enemy.

Hiding a bitter smile, Davey grabbed Princess Illyna, who was struggling to activate her mana, by the shoulder and pulled her back. ‘This is a timid revenge for getting in the way.’

“Oh?” As Davey pulled her shoulder, he lightly pinched Princess Illyna on the back of her neck.

“Kyak?!” Princess Illyna winced at the sudden impact and turned to look at Davey, who quickly pinched her by the collarbone. Then, she collapsed like a string puppet without strings. “Keugh?! Wha… What is?!” She was bewildered, as she did not understand what had just happened to her body.

Davey didn’t turn away without explanation, since he felt bad. He could feel Princess Illyna’s stare, which demanded an explanation from him. “I don’t know why you have such a grudge against vampires, but don’t get in the way. It’s my job to handle this.”

Princess Illyna widened her eyes in shock as Davey’s killing aura burst out. She mumbled blankly, “Ho… How are you…”

Leaving Princess Illyna behind, Davey made a fist and held out his left hand as if he was measuring the distance. Then, he dragged his left foot out while taking a short breath.

“Growwwl!! Croak!” At the same time, Baltian, who kept inhaling the blood-red fog, charged toward Davey like a bullet. Since the blood-red fog was the optimum environment for him, his speed and power were that much more enhanced after inhaling such a large amount of fog.

Blade energy definitely did not work very well, and Baltian also had a certain amount of resistance toward magic. Undead-type monsters had resistance to most things except one…

“Grrowwl!!” Unlike when he was attacking others, Baltian certainly let out a nasty killing aura toward Davey. It was Baltian’s instincts, as he despised Davey deeply even after losing his mind.

As Baltian smashed down with his enormous fist, wanting to render Davey into pulp, the latter kept his left leg steady and strong. He then hit Baltian’s wrist to the side with his extended left arm.

Baltian was powerful, but Davey also had great muscle strength; perhaps he learned it from his first swords teacher. As such, Davey knew very well about the strengths and weaknesses of having great strength. With just a slight shift of balance, Davey could easily evade Baltian’s attacks. ‘Freakin’ die from the same type of attack.’

[Heavenly Destroyer Demonic Blood Explosion]

As the black fist aura of the destructive demonic attack began overflowing, Davey penetrated his palm into Baltian’s heart with folded fingers. Then, without hesitation, he rotated his hand. Booom!!! From Davey’s hand that was touching Baltian’s heart, the hands of a black demon-like figure came out and swallowed Baltian. A strong vibration and an enormous mark on the wall were left behind.

* * *

A shocked Princess Illyna stared at the situation in front of her eyes. Perhaps this was similar to when a huge demon crushed a small presence. She couldn’t help but shudder at the chilling sensation. “What is that?” Princess Illyna could barely stand herself back up because of the strong vibration, but she silently watched as the giant and monstrous Baltian helplessly collapsed onto the ground.

Even an idiot would know that Baltian was stronger than before, but Davey had evaded his attacks so easily. Then, an eerie hole was pierced right through Baltian in a single blow, which was seemingly made with a simple push of Davey’s palm.

Baltian only sustained minor injuries even when attacked with a high-level ‘Expert’ blade energy and the destructive ‘Longsword’. It was unbelievable to see him explode without being able to fight back. To add to the mystery, Princess Illyna could not feel even an ounce of mana in Davey.

‘Was that humanly possible? How could a human who seemingly doesn’t have an ounce of mana in him knock out a monster with a single blow while releasing black and white energy currents?’ Princess Illyna could not believe her eyes.

“Phew.” Dusting his hands in satisfaction, Davey ignored Baltian, who was bleeding dark blood, and slowly approached Princess Illyna.

Perhaps it was because of Davey’s killing aura, or the strange, unfathomable strength he just showed, but Princess Illyna seemed somewhat scared of him. As Davey marched toward her, she realized that she was backing away from him.

Trip!

“Ahh!” Since she moved without thinking, Princess Illyna tripped over her own foot and fell down with a cute scream.

Davey didn’t understand why Princess Illyna was fearful, but he noticed her uneasy stare and the change in her usually chilly demeanor. After glancing at her, Davey stood still as if deep in thought, then smiled at her. His previously cold appearance and killing aura were nowhere to be found. “Ah, I feel so satisfied now. It serves him right.”

“What?”

“Let me borrow your sword.”

Princess Illyna looked puzzled at Davey’s sudden request. All she had was the half-broken large sword. Although she was called the ‘Master of the Divine Sword [Caldeiras]’…she was yet to materialize the sword. “This is already broken…”

“Not that.” With a big grin, Davey pointed at Princess Illyna’s chest; more specifically, he pointed at the small brooch that held her overgarment together. “This.”

Riiip!! As Davey ripped the brooch off without hearing her answer, Princess Illyna’s eyes flew wide open. Her only thought was that this was unbelievable.

“I need some items for the boss, so let me borrow your powers, Mr. Divine Sword.”

12. 9-Circle Divine Magic, Change 

Surtr was the ‘Thousand-Day Blacksmith’, who was promoted to being a hero after dedicating his life to making numerous weapons. The weapons included the ‘Sword to Save the World’. He named one of his life’s masterpieces [Caldeiras], which meant ‘The White Savior’ in ancient spirit language.

Surtr had the ability to create a legendary sword with just normal material, and a junk sword was given immeasurable power when smelted by his hands. He was a magic blacksmith, blessed by the spirits. His ability to smelt a sword with mana was famous all around the continent, since the two swords that were called his life’s masterpieces and the ten legendary swords were treated as national treasures in the continent.

All the magic swords were outstanding, but [Caldeiras] was particularly exceptional. Made by sacrificing his own life span for his close friend, the Sword Lord Ares, this sword by Surtr was so well-made that Ego was embodied in it.

‘Ego’ was the person’s sense of self, and a sword that had its own consciousness could unleash power on its own. It sounded astounding, but Davey, who knew the truth, knew what kind of guy ‘Ego’ was. If one was curious about what kind of person she was, they would be able to tell by listening to this loud, headache-inducing whining.

-Hey! Who are you to take hold of me! Let go?!

‘Shut up.’ Of course, Davey had already heard about ‘Ego’ and her temper from the famous ‘Master of the Divine Sword’.

-Wh… What?!

‘Just cooperate. If you don’t, your master is going to die.’ Davey spoke calmly, but the sword vibrated as if ‘Ego’ was flinching. Davey muttered, “A sword that can vibrate. It’s a pretty perverted hobby, just like I’ve heard.”

If the ‘Thousand-Day Blacksmith’ Surtr heard this, he would’ve screamed that he was going to beat Davey to death. He wouldn’t have cared that Davey was his student. Of course, since he was in the Hall, he could not hear what Davey said.

‘People talked ill about the King when he wasn’t listening, so this isn’t a big deal.’

-Hey!! How dare you take me for that kind of thing?!

[Caldeiras]’s loud screaming wasn’t audible to anyone but Davey.

“H… Hey…” Princess Illyna struggled to call out to Davey. She was using the Divine Sword’s power to barely maintain consciousness, but thanks to Davey taking the brooch, she looked like she was now at her limit. It was probably difficult for her to even be lucid right now. She was very talented, but she just met her match.

Whoosh… As Davey released his powers and lowered his arm, an intense white light burst from the brooch in his hand. It was made by compressing an orichalcum ingot that had been carefully molded for a thousand years.

‘It was a legendary sword for a reason.’ 

As Davey calmly let his powers flow into the brooch, a huge whirlwind seemed to surround him. Soon, a sword made of a bright light began to take the form of an enormously large sword. It was about 120 cm long and the blade itself was over 10 cm wide. Compared to the current owner, Princess Illyna, who was only about 155 cm tall, it was probably as big as she was.

[Caldeiras] was a pure white sword. It had a remarkably smooth blade, and an aura so sharp that one could cut themselves just by looking at it. The strength of its warm holy power was so strong that it gave Davey a headache. Perhaps this was normal, since it was the sword of the Sword Lord and a weapon smelted by the only magic blacksmith in the continent.

Davey silently lifted [Caldeiras] and slid his fingers across the side of the blade. “It’s definitely really well-made.”

They said that ‘Seeing is wanting’; it was natural for humans to want a well-made item after seeing it. However, Davey unhesitantly shook off the thought of wanting the sword. It wasn’t even his in the first place, and it didn’t suit him well, either.

-I haven’t even been able to wake the contractor yet, but ho… How are you using my strength?!

Ignoring Caldeiras’ screaming, Davey swung the sword as if he was cutting the air apart. Pahh!! At the same time, a strong wave of force surrounded him before scattering gradually.

The monster, Baltian, who was wandering around the red fog unaffected, had exploded after Davey used [Demonic Blood Explosion] without adjusting his strength. It seemed like there were no enemies left, but that wasn’t the case. It was obvious that Baltian, the monster gone mad, was certainly not the person who orchestrated this entire situation. The high-ranking vampire, who infected Baltian, was the one responsible.

Davey silently pointed the tip of his sword in the air and pulled it back. Then, he lowered it and slashed straight up, lifting his sword again.