I got into school for nothing - 257
I got into school for nothing (257)
Lesson 50. Dragon's Tomb - 3
The situation was unfolding quite interestingly.
Despite reaching the end of the ruin, with nothing to call a trophy in sight, the contract between Roccius and the mercenary group had fallen apart.
From Roccius's perspective, then, should he simply let them go?
Of course not.
With the contract broken, the mercenary group had no obligation of secrecy. If they were to leak any information about the ruin to the outside, it was obvious that an even greater danger would descend upon planet Galahad.
Even if it was a ruin confirmed to contain nothing, many would still flock to verify "if there truly was nothing."
'As soon as he decided he needed to kill us, he slew the traitors on his own side.'
Furthermore, it was also the granting of one last chance for them to reclaim their honor.
"The affairs of our dimension must be resolved within our dimension. They cannot be spread to external dimensions."
"...Your words are true, Lord Roccius."
"You saw through everything, Lord Roccius. We will follow you."
And Roccius's gambit paid off; the knights who had been contemplating betrayal now emotionally sided with him, turning their swords toward Ban Yuwon's party.
"Reinforcements are coming soon! We just need to hold them until then. All we have to do is prevent them from using spatial magic!"
The lie Roccius had told earlier was now exposed.
When Ban Yuwon discussed intruders in the ruin, Roccius had appeared astonished. But that surprise wasn't at the mere fact of intruders, but rather at Ban Yuwon's ability to detect them so quickly.
Because they weren't intruders, but a knight order deployed by Roccius himself.
Literally, reinforcements.
In other words—his apparent haste in exploring the ruin had been nothing more than a ruse to deceive them; he had intended to kill them from the very beginning.
"Tsk—these bastards are looking down on us!"
"Don't sound like Vegeta."
The other mercenary group members scoffed at the knights, who had so swiftly changed their stance.
Only Ban Yuwon, facing Roccius who had drawn his sword on him, subtly revised his assessment of the man upwards.
Setting aside the sloppy contract he'd drawn up, his meticulous deployment of forces, which even managed to circumvent Ban Yuwon's spatial magic, was certainly commendable.
One could simply say the knights lacked conviction, but he had, against all odds, managed to win over even those who were definitively traitors.
However, if he made two mistakes, they were these:
Firstly, he was oblivious to the existence of Tikke, who, at this very moment, was scanning the ruin from high above planet Galahad.
Secondly, he was hopelessly misjudging the power disparity between himself and the Rebel Force mercenary group.
"My apologies, but the commission contract is void. You'll have to die here."
Had there only been three knights, he wouldn't have been so triumphant.
Hearing overlapping footsteps approaching from beyond the passage, he wore an expression of absolute certainty, convinced of his victory.
In this situation, which could only be described as an utter mess, Ban Yuwon was thinking.
'Is that the device meant to eliminate the Dragon Factor? It was probably designed for the Dragon-Slaying Sword to be plunged into it, right?'
Completely ignoring his presence, Ban Yuwon was re-evaluating the meaning of this space.
[It must have been accumulating specially modified energy for thousands of years. This entire facility essentially existed for that one purpose.]
—...Yuwon, are you perhaps planning to do something with the replicas you secured here?
'Close. Add one more thing to that.'
[Soul Liberation.]
That was the correct answer.
Honestly, he possessed no knowledge of the principles utilized in this facility, but...
Soul Liberation [Soul Sealing 1,000, Demon Breaking 500, Ancient Knowledge 1,000]
And wasn't there, right here, an item that could grant him knowledge!
"It's him! We just need to stop him!"
But even as he prepared to commence his work, bothersome insects sought to interfere. It was time for those whose purpose had ended to withdraw.
"Anneri."
"Shall I?"
"Please."
Adios, Roccius.
You will die here.
But you won't stay dead.
"Fine, I'll deal with you first. Commander... Even with a spatial magic user among you, you're a nascent mercenary group. You bit off more than you could chew with this commission."
"I wonder which side bit off more than they could chew."
Anneri stepped forward, stopping the other members—Seldon in particular—with a single hand.
The next instant, as if a blade had flashed from her fingertips, the heads of the knights flanking Roccius soared into the air.
It was uncanny how her skill seemed to change every time one saw her.
"Wh—?!"
"Want to know something?"
That dumbfounded expression, in the instant the lives of the knights he'd lured to his side with such a ridiculous charade were so vainly snuffed out.
Anneri, with one hand, removed the metal mask that had obscured her face, revealing a captivating smile.
"For a ninja to stand directly in front of their target, it means the operation is already over."
Anneri had finally done it.
He'd generally expected it, but to openly speak that word!
Ban Yuwon, pretending not to hear her words, turned away and grasped the cross, Soul Liberation, in his hand.
Whether Anneri was starring in a ninja action flick or a horror thriller, it made no difference.
[Absorbing Ancient Knowledge 1,000.]
He felt a pang of guilt over this situation, where he had arbitrarily taken an item that once belonged to Asha, strengthened it, and was now even extracting some of its concepts.
To offer an excuse, at first, he had merely kept it, thinking it might help him gather information about her past or the D-13 Dimension... He never imagined it would end up having such a crucial use.
He decided that when he returned, he would honestly confess to Asha and apologize. The very next instant, a staggering 1,000 units of Ancient Knowledge, extracted from Soul Liberation, flowed into Ban Yuwon, mercilessly rocking his mind.
[Acquiring vast knowledge concerning history, magic, martial arts, barriers, and Authority, your internal concepts have grown uniformly.]
'Ah, this is dangerous.'
Instinctively sensing danger, he circulated his Won-gi to strengthen his entire body. At that moment, the ancient knowledge absorbed throughout him explosively boosted all sorts of concepts.
[Yugi 400, Gwoeyeonggong 350, Giwon Sword 1,300.]
[Leadership 400, Charm 400.]
[Monstrous Strength 300, Elemental Magic 650, Photon Magic 350.]
Messages of Authority poured down like a raging torrent.
In any case, these were merely the changes occurring within Ban Yuwon's internal concepts, textualized and displayed by the Authority of Language. Thus, if he concentrated, he could perceive them himself easily enough.
'Since everything grew uniformly anyway, I'll just look at what grew exceptionally.'
[Gaining enlightenment related to ancient transcendent beings, the depth of Riding and Curse has reached 500. You can now skillfully control even mythical races of higher standing than yourself when riding them, and can endure the curses of transcendent beings.]
[Gaining enlightenment related to ancient incantations, the depth of Covenant has reached 200. You have realized that oaths made with words possessing stronger magical power influence not only yourself but even the world.]
Beyond these, various other Authorities also grew, but these were the most significant.
And the knowledge Ban Yuwon desired most was, of course, included within it.
'I found it. ...It's possible.'
First, he checked the number of Dragon-Slaying Sword replicas in his inventory.
The experimental blades within the ruin totaled thirteen.
All of them, to become true Dragon-Slaying Swords, were lacking in some aspect—whether it was magic, Authority, will, or soul—and were thus twisted in some way.
But if all the power they contained were unified, every condition required to forge a true Dragon-Slaying Sword would be met and then some.
'All of these, fuse.'
Of course, fusion was nothing more than an imperfect combination.
But the concept of synthesis remaining to Ban Yuwon was, at most, only about 20.
A woefully insufficient amount to combine thirteen swords.
Therefore, Ban Yuwon decided that after initially combining them through fusion, even if the result was somewhat skewed, he would then refine them again.
Since he possessed the complete knowledge of how to create the Dragon-Slaying Sword, and even Soul Liberation, the very essence of that technique, it was not a difficult task.
[Consuming Fusion 390, thirteen swords are fused into one. You have obtained an Overloaded (578%) Dragon-Slaying Sword. It has been completed as a sword more powerful than its original purpose, but its unstable internal concepts are in a state where it's unknown when they might run wild.]
Fortunately, the result wasn't too bad.
Since all thirteen swords were originally created for the same purpose, they blended successfully without any resistance when fused.
Of course, the concepts were haphazardly mixed, appearing fine on the surface but a chaotic mess within, thus necessitating a refinement of concepts.
Ban Yuwon hurriedly manifested Codeword and Domination in addition to Giwon Sword, refining the flow of concepts within the Dragon-Slaying Sword and stabilizing it.
It wasn't perfect, but there was no need for it to be perfect just yet.
'Now, to synthesize Soul Liberation into this.'
Only after acquiring the ancient knowledge did he become certain.
Soul Liberation was both a compass to draw the descendant bearing the dragon's curse to this ruin, and the final key to completing the Dragon-Slaying Sword.
It was a key absolutely necessary to enter the ruin's final section, and simultaneously, equipment the descendant would inevitably be wearing.
Considering its essence was the same as the Dragon-Slaying Sword, it wouldn't be strange at all for it to undergo a transformation along with the sword the moment it was plunged into the groove in the center of this room.
"In that case, I'll do exactly as intended."
"Ban Yuwon?"
As he walked to the center, his sister grabbed him in surprise, but he merely winked lightly and passed her.
At the end of Anneri's clash, Roccius's head, which had flown into the air with only its neck remaining, just like his subordinates, was coolly caught and passed to Eve.
Except for that, all the corpses were conceptualized.
"I've gained everything there is to gain. I'll stay and finish up, so please retreat first."
"But..."
Wiping her blade clean and sheathing her sword, Anneri frowned.
"It's strayed quite a bit from the original purpose, is that alright? The goal was to instigate these fools and start a big show, but who knew they'd suddenly rush in like this?"
"It's fine, I've gained more information than I imagined. And as for the big show..."
"Sissit."
Having neatly dealt with Roccius's head, he stroked Eve's head, who had already returned to her snake form, met his gaze, and let out a hiss.
Most situations could somehow be resolved with just this cutie.
And today was no different.
"You can leave it to Eve. You all should go out and wait for now. I'll attach Lilyth to you, so no matter what commotion erupts on this planet, you'll be able to wait quietly."
[Hmph, I'm always doing my part, but Master always only dotes on my older sister.]
Just like Eve, Lilyth, who had returned from her shuriken form to a small doll-like appearance, left his embrace with a coy expression and settled onto his mother Kang Eunyoung's shoulder.
The other women, who had secretly hoped Lilyth would come to them, sent disappointed, resentful glances towards Kang Eunyoung. But the next moment, as Ban Yuwon snapped his fingers, they all vanished from that spot.
"Alright, shall we begin?"
"Sissisit."
Because the overload hadn't been fully resolved yet, concepts of gold leaked out here and there, and he drew the Dragon-Slaying Sword, which crackled like sparks.
Naturally, the Dragon-Slaying Sword did not recognize Ban Yuwon as its master.
He was not a Dragonoid, nor was he a descendant of Camelot—the kingdom founded by the dragon's traitor.
But he was the master of the master key, Soul Liberation.
He took it out and activated the Authority of Soul Flame.
The moment he tore off a part of his soul, whose depth had greatly increased after gaining ancient knowledge, and infused it into Soul Liberation.
It was as if the sound of a puzzle piece clicking into place could be heard.
—Ah, perhaps?
"Completely removing the Dragon Factor, and in the sublimated body, only its soul remains. Something like that must have been the plan."
Strangely enough, the Dragon-Slaying Sword no longer rejected him.
Having begun to resonate with Soul Liberation, it had come to recognize him as its rightful master.
Ban Yuwon plunged it into the groove without hesitation.
At that moment.
All tangible and intangible energy of this ruin began to be sucked into the Dragon-Slaying Sword.
Even the inscriptions and drawings carved in metal on the walls of this hollow peeled off, one by one, and melted into the Dragon-Slaying Sword!
"Oh, they're coming, they're coming."
What was coming? A legion from another planet, having pinpointed the ruin's location through the signals sent by the knights who had died here, was approaching.
Of course, in terms of arrival order, Roccius's knight order, who had made the first move, would be the fastest. But frankly, their presence was hardly significant in the drama that was about to unfold.
"Livi, come out."
—Clank!
The living armor, wielding the beloved sword of the deceased Professor Lyu Cheolmyeong, burst out of the inventory.
Since most situations could be resolved with just Eve, Lilyth, and Tikke, it had been quite a while since Livi had actively participated. Perhaps because of that, it seemed quite excited.
"Just kill all the ones who've entered inside now and come back. Leave no traces, understood?"
—Creak!
Opening and closing its visor, which revealed nothing inside even when opened, Livi, having finished its unique expression of emotion, floated into the air to greet the intruders.
Confirming that, Ban Yuwon added strength to the hand holding the Dragon-Slaying Sword, placed Soul Liberation on it, and granted Synthesis 10.
And after a brief hesitation—he added a precious concept, which he had obtained and stored during a previous Solo Exploration, to it.
—Crackle!
An immense resonance of energy erupted between Soul Liberation, the Dragon-Slaying Sword, and Ban Yuwon.
The power that utterly destroyed the Dragon Factor swept through every corner of him, but naturally, nothing happened.
The energy, not diminished in the slightest, surged through Ban Yuwon's body, mixing with his Won-gi and evolving into a more potent power.
Eventually, poured once again from within his body into the Dragon-Slaying Sword, it resonated with Soul Liberation—.
[Soul Liberation and the Dragon-Slaying Sword are synthesized. Immense energy sublimates the sword's structure from its foundation.]
[The soul fragments absorbed by the sword resonate with its master, connecting to the origin.]
[Mutant Authority brings forth miracles based on the user's knowledge and experience. Under the influence of Domination, Judgment, Rebellion, and Covenant, Deification and Dragon-Slaying combine, evolving into the top-tier concept of God-Slaying!]
At last, the synthesis began!
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