Chapter 1284 |
‘Is that thing asking me to go to him? For real?’
Siegfried was dumbfounded by the lance’s command. He had never imagined, even in his wildest dreams, that a mere weapon would boss him around like this. Of course, the lance wasn't something he could call a mere weapon.It was a Universal-rated weapon, after all.
A single Universal-rated item possessed the power to destroy or change the entire world, and one great example of it was the Rabbit Foot of Regression in Siegfried’s possession.
Who knew that a pendant the size of a keychain could turn back time?
Siegfried suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Quandt.
“Universal-rated artifacts are not easy to wield—especially weapons. Among all artifacts, weapons tend to be the most stubborn ones. So based on my judgement… It might be impossible for Your Imperial Majesty to control this weapon a hundred percent.”
“Yes. And it feels as though the weapon is developing a will of its own during its creation process. We will have to wait and see, but one thing is certain. It will be impossible for anyone else to handle that weapon unless it is Your Imperial Majesty.”
One word stood out from his conversation with Quandt—Ego. Some items possessed an ego of their own. Just like humans, their personalities differed greatly from each other, and it was usually influenced by their rating or attribute.
Needless to say, it was understandable or probably even normal for a Universal-rated weapon to be haughty and arrogant. In fact, it would not be strange at all if it tried to devour Siegfried.
The answer to that was with the materials used to craft it.
The Demon Lord’s Heart, the Vampire Lord’s Soul, and the Eye of the Storm were all materials sourced from demonic creatures. These materials possessed enough malicious energy in them that any ordinary human who dared to get anywhere near one of them would instantly lose their mind or die.
Its personality being twisted was only natural, as it was crafted from those three materials.
But…
‘Is this thing crazy?’ Siegfried growled inwardly, anger blazing in his eyes.
This was the battlefield.
Here, countless people were fighting with their lives on the line.
Even while Siegfried was wasting time with the lance, the Four Heavenly Kings were mercilessly slaughtering the Proatine Imperial troops and the allied troops.
“You’re not going anywhere, Siegfried von Proa!”
“You’re not going anywhere, Siegfried von Proa!”
“You’re not going anywhere, Siegfried von Proa!”
The lance had blasted away dozens of clones, but more clones swarmed in and blocked Siegfried’s path yet again.
Despite the dire situation, this damned item had the nerve to boss his owner around?
‘Trying to boss me around when it’s just a damn weapon?’ Siegfried thought, grimacing in anger.
“T-that's a Universal-rated weapon!”
One of the Adventurers, who was not under the influence of the Elixir of Transcendence and simply joined the Marchioni Empire for the rewards offered, suddenly cried out after recognizing the Universal-rated lance.
Thud! Whoosh!
The Adventurer hurriedly disengaged from battle and ran toward the lance as fast as he could. He had no idea what was happening, but he knew that a Universal-rated weapon had suddenly dropped from the sky.
Getting his hands on that ultra-rare weapon was the only thing on his mind right now, which was understandably so, as anyone else would have done the same. Unfortunately, excessive greed was always bound to bring disastrous consequences.
The Adventurer swallowed a hard lump in his throat and stammered, “W-Whoa… I d-didn’t imagine I’d get to have an i-item like this for f-free…”
Unable to resist the temptation, he reached out and grabbed the lance.
Chwaaak!
“Eh…?”
A vortex of energy shot out from the lance and ripped the Adventurer into shreds before he even realized what had happened to him.In the blink of an eye, he was turned into a bloodied mess, leaving no traces behind.
A Universal-rated weapon was not something that anyone could simply wield, and those deemed unworthy by the lance would be ripped to shreds by it.
‘I told you to come here.’ The Universal-rated weapon commanded Siegfried once again. ‘Are you going to let these worthless scums lay their filthy hands on me? Or are you scared you’ll get ripped to shreds just like this piece of trash?’
Siegfried grinned icily and said, “You dare boss me around? You’re the one who has to come over here.”
Wooong!
A pulse of energy gathered in his hand, and he aimed his palm at the lance, activating the Flying Sword skill. Then, the lance dislodged from the ground and floated in the air before getting sucked straight into Siegfried’s palm.
Siegfried grabbed the lance and gripped it tightly.
[Alert: You have obtained Annihilation’s Grasp!]
As soon as the notification popped up in front of his eyes—
“Aaaarghhh!” Siegfried groaned in agony.
The handle of the Annihilation’s Grasp unleashed powerful sparks that tried to rip through his palm.
“Huh?”
Siegfried suddenly found himself transported to another dimension.
***
Meanwhile, Deus was staring far into the sky toward the east.
Flash!
Shwoooong!
Another white pillar of light shot straight up into the sky from the Jukai Jungle, making it the second one coming from it.
The First Red Dragon and the God of Blacksmiths, Vulcanus, fidgeted nervously and asked, “H-Hey, what do we do about this? This looks bad, brother!”
“...”
“Is this truly how things will end?”
“Why are you making such a fuss out of it? Nothing’s happened yet,” Deus retorted curtly.
“B-But still—!”
“We will find out soon enough,” Deus cut him off. Then, he looked back at the pillar of light and added, “There’s still time. What are you so worried about?”
“A-Ahem…”
“Someone will probably stop it.”
“Are you talking about your disciple, brother?”
“Who else is there? That brat’s the only one who inherited my powers.”
“But he’s still far from complete, no? You know better than anyone else that he can’t stop what’s about to unfold with his current powers.”
“So what?”
“If you think he’s this world’s only hope, then shouldn’t you bestow a bit more of your teachings so he—”
“I already did.”
“Hm?”
“Did you expect me to be a pushover like you, elder brother?” Deus glared.
“N-No, that was not what I meant—”
“I have everything there was to do, so stop worrying so much.”
“O-Okay, if you say so… It’s just that things are a bit—”
Deus cut him off yet again and said firmly, “I trust my disciple.”
“Do you trust him that much?” Vulcanus asked, sounding surprised.
“Yes, he's a talentless fool, but his grit is stronger than anyone else. I’ve scoured the world and found no one as stubborn as him. He has what it takes to make the impossible possible, and he also wields the power of invincibility I have bestowed upon him.”
“Hmm…”
“Don’t you think doubting him after all that would be strange?”
“W-Well, you have a valid point.”
“Truth be told, his opponent this time will be like no one he has ever faced before, so I am indeed worried. But I’d rather place my trust in him and wait patiently.”
After those words full of conviction, Deus turned around and walked away.
***
“Where am I…?” Siegfried muttered, looking around at the void surrounding him.
Just then, someone who looked exactly like him appeared and walked toward him.
“Hmph! What a disappointment! Such a weakling is my—”
Siegfried cut him off, “Shut up. I’m busy, so let’s do this later.”
“That doesn’t concern me. I don’t care what pathetic situation you are in.”
“Hm?”
“I don’t think that you have what it takes to be my master. If you wish to be my master, then you will have to—”
Unfortunately, Siegfried was not in the mood to listen to some item’s clichéd speech.
Time was of the essence.
The battle had already entered the most important stage, so Siegfried couldn’t afford to waste time in another dimension, chatting with some item’s ego.
‘Diplomacy through fists. I’ll let my fists say hello first before talking to this guy,’ Siegfried thought, making up his mind.
Wooong!
He unleashed the World of Despair and dragged the avatar of the Annihilation’s Grasp into it.
“...!”
The ego within the weapon flinched when it was dragged into an entirely different void than the one it had created. It planned to drag Siegfried into its domain, beat him up, and steal his body.
However, it hadn't expected that Siegfried would create another domain within its domain and drag it into it.
“Let’s see how many hits it will take before you die,” Siegfried said with a grin.
“Ha! A weakling like you dares to—argh!”
“This is.”
“Aaaack!”
“My world.”
“A-Aaack!”
“In my world.”
“Gah!”
“I’ll throw the punches.”
“Ghhrk!”
“And you get hit.”
“Arghh!”
“Got it?”
“Gaaaaah!”
Siegfried mercilessly beat the ego again, and again, and again.
‘This guy’s going to gobble me up if I don’t show him who’s boss now,’ Siegfried thought. He knew very well what the Annihilation’s Grasp—no, the Demon Lance’s intentions were. It was a demon in the form of a lance, one planning to steal Siegfried’s body the moment he showed any signs of weakness.
Thus, Siegfried decided to use violence to educate the ego on who was the boss between them. It mattered little to him whether the ego died or not, as he would rather kill this arrogant ego than let it walk all over him.
“Remember this.”
“Aaaack!”
“I’m your master.”
“Gaaahk!”
“And you’re my slave.”
“Kyaaahk!”
But that was it…
Wooong!
Siegfried had no plans to waste any more time beating up the ego. He charged up his most powerful skill—Touch of Death.
“H-Hold on! T-Time out! Tiiiime! Enough! Enouuuugh!”
“Hm? You got something to say?”
“I-I yield! I lost! You won!”
“Hmm… Nah, I don’t think so. It looks like you still have some fight in you.”
“NO! You’re wrong! I yield to you!”
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Y-Yes! Let’s talk about this later! Oh right, I thought you had some urgent matters? Let’s resolve that together first!”
“I thought that was not your problem?”
“T-That was…!”
“I don’t think I need some third-rate evil spirit in my weapon. Let me send you to the afterlife.”
The ego grimaced and growled, “Did you just call me a third-rate evil spirit…?”
“Why? Got a problem?”
“N-No… sir…”
“It’s fine if you have a problem. I mean, it won’t matter once you’re dead.”
“M-My vessel will be destroyed if you kill me! The weapon will shatter into pieces!”
Siegfried suddenly stopped in his tracks and thought, ‘Hmm… That will be a problem for me.’
The last thing he wanted to see was the destruction of the Universal-rated item he had painstakingly worked to complete.
“L-Let’s fight the enemy for now and talk later!”
“Hmm… Should we?”
“I’m a weapon that grants invincibility! Wield me in battle and I shall slay all of your enemies for you!”
“Fine, if you say so.”
Siegfried decided to spare the third-rate evil spirit for now. After all, he needed all the help he could get right now, so he decided not to press the matter anymore.
…At least for now.
***
By the time Siegfried opened his eyes again.
Woooong!
The Annihilation’s Grasp calmed down in Siegfried’s hand. The lance that was trying to look for an opening to steal his body was now nowhere to be seen. However, that did not mean the lance had become easy to use.
Just wielding it placed a huge burden on Siegfried, as it devoured his HP, Primordial Force, and Stamina like a demonic beast with insatiable hunger.
Everyone knew that a Universal-rated weapon was bound to be powerful, but no one really knew just how powerful it was. In fact, even the most powerful Adventurer in the game, Siegfried, struggled to wield it.
‘Let’s see how powerful this thing is…’
The situation was so bad that he did not even have the luxury to flash his Rune of Insight at the Annihilation’s Grasp. He had to use the Universal-rated weapon in his hand and charge through the enemies right this instant.
‘Show me what you got,’ Siegfried said to the lance in his hand before thrusting it straight toward the clones of Duke Randoll swarming at him.
It was purely a basic attack without any skills.
All he did was thrust the lance forward, just like he always did with his +10 Sky Piercer.
Chwaaaak!
The lance cut through the air and—
Whiiiiing!
—It rotated at absurd speeds, almost like a drill, and kicked up a powerful vortex.
“Aaaaack!”
“Grrahh! Graaack!”
“Aaargh!”
The clones of Duke Randoll standing in a straight line before the Annihilation’s Grasp were ripped apart, shredded beyond recognition.
The vortex left a trail of blood behind, and that was not all. The vortex traveled at least one hundred meters further and laid waste to everything that dared to stand in its path.
Thousands of Duke Randoll's clones were massacred at once, creating an awe-inspiring spectacle. Indeed, the Annihilation’s Grasp lived up to its Universal rating.