I got into school for nothing - 258
I got into school for nothing (258)
Lesson 50. Dragon's Tomb - 4
["God-Slaying" is a concept especially fatal to transcendents who have acquired immortality by escaping the structure of the world through some means. This concept, born from the Dragon-Slaying concept, which was specialized for a single transcendent race, resonating with its owner's concept and undergoing deification into a god, cannot be wielded by anyone not linked to the artifact.]
Perhaps it was just his imagination, but even Ban Yuwon's own Authority of Language felt humble before the concept of "God-Slaying."
A place that had accumulated energy for at least thousands of years, a Dragon-Slaying Sword forged by combining failures, yet overflowing with the potential to surpass the original.
He had boldly invested the deification he had cherished until now into these perfect conditions, which he could not have replicated with his own power, and indeed, it had yielded a flawless result!
—Crackle!
This was energy deliberately gathered from the ruins over thousands of years.
Originally, it would have been used to completely incinerate the soul of the last dragon and the curse it left behind, but now, it was entirely—no, amplified even further through Ban Yuwon—and concentrated into the sword!
He had secretly thought it was incredibly cool watching Asha draw her sword from her palm, but now, he too could do that! RANOBЕS
‘This sword can't become a familiar. From now on, I guess I'll have to consider it simply a part of me.’
With all the energy that sustained the ruins now siphoned away, the sword, having completed its transfiguration, had a desolate appearance that could no longer conceivably be called the Dragon-Slaying Sword.
However, Ban Yuwon knew full well that this very appearance, as if it might vanish if one blinked, was precisely why the sword was terrifying.
Requiem [Demon-Slaying Blade 2,000, Soul Annihilation 1,000, God-Slaying 500, Resonance 500]
The moment he checked the completed sword's information, Ban Yuwon instinctively realized that he was still unqualified to wield this blade.
The fundamental core concept of the sword, Demon-Slaying Blade, stood at 2,000, roughly twice the power of the Executioner's Longsword he was currently using.
The Executioner's Longsword itself was already almost too effective, to the point of being problematic; wielding a weapon like this now would be practically inviting accusations of being "weapon-carried."
It wouldn't aid his skill development, either.
‘Moreover, the other concepts are utterly chilling. Requiem (a song offered during a mass for the dead) — it's so common and a bit childish, but it couldn't be more fitting. It's a sword that can't be swung without someone dying every time, isn't it?’
Of course, if a situation arose that couldn't be resolved with the Executioner's Longsword, he wouldn't hesitate to pull it out, skill development be damned.
Having confirmed its nature, Ban Yuwon absorbed the Demon-Slaying Blade, Requiem, into his palm.
Although absorbing the sword didn't directly transfer its concepts into his body, he felt a replenishment of immense mana, along with a portion of the sword's demon-slaying and soul annihilation powers adding to his own.
Even without directly gripping and swinging it, it was akin to carrying both an enhancement talisman and a massive auxiliary battery.
So, the remaining problem was...
“Eve?”
“Sishit.”
As Eve opened her mouth, a faintly glowing blade shot out in place of her tongue.
It was a demon-slaying blade.
Its power couldn't compare to Ban Yuwon wielding it himself, but the crucial point was its ability to share that power with other familiars through resonance.
Only Rucell, with her Divine Beast blood, wouldn't dare touch it due to elemental incompatibility, but all other familiars would undoubtedly be dramatically enhanced by its presence.
“I came here for Asha, but I ended up profiting myself...”
—What else would that girl have done here but die? We shared it quite well, didn't we?
That's true.
Having quickly rationalized it, Ban Yuwon resolved to make Asha a beautiful and high-performance necklace in place of the Soul Liberation he had absorbed into the sword, and he raised his head.
The living armor, looking no different from when it had departed, was floating back through the air.
“Did you take care of everything, Livi?”
Nod.
Livi, having reported mission completion, silently sank into his inventory.
Even after he'd killed all the knights, the sound of footsteps echoing within the ruins was steadily increasing, and not only that, but metallic clashes, shouts, and explosions continued to reverberate.
It was all well and good that they had breached the ruins to find the relics, but with everyone belonging to different factions, conflicts seemed to be brewing.
“You can do this, Eve?”
“Sishit.”
“Good, then I'll leave it to you.”
Ban Yuwon left Eve behind and melted into the shadows, unleashing his Gwoeyeonggong.
Left alone, Eve fully unleashed her myriad transformation abilities as a phantom beast, changing into the form of a middle-aged man clad in plate armor.
Needless to say, it was Roccius, the crown prince of this planet Galahad, who had died earlier. Perhaps due to having secured his head, which contained his very concept, it was a form that anyone would inevitably mistake for Roccius.
“Hand over the Holy Sword! ...Roccius!”
Soon, a man whose armor was stained with blood and gore burst into the chamber.
Behind him, knights and soldiers, their armor clanking, poured in one after another.
The structure of their armor was distinctly different, indicating various factions, but it seemed they had agreed to first seize the relic secured by Galahad's side amidst their ongoing battle.
“Is it only you... here? In this space...?”
However, what met their eyes upon reaching the end of the ruins was a vast, empty chamber—due to the Dragon-Slaying Sword having completely siphoned everything away, truly nothing but rock and soil remained—and at its center, only the solitary figure of Roccius stood.
Eve, masquerading as Roccius, faced them in silence, then suddenly extended her palm and drew out Requiem.
“The Holy Sword!”
“It’s the Holy Sword!”
“Could it be true, he actually obtained the Holy Sword!”
As an utterly deliberate performance, its effect was outstanding.
Barely suppressing the urge to applaud their abundant reactions, which wouldn't have come out even with prior practice, Ban Yuwon used Yugi to augment his Gwoeyeonggong, concealing himself even deeper.
He had previously considered the average combat power of Galahad's knights to be negligible, but the newly arriving knights possessed at least the skill level of Roccius.
For reference, Roccius was a powerful individual with a Life rating of about 500.
Irekto, who possessed the blood of giants, had a Life of 250, making Roccius exactly two Irektos. The knights Roccius himself had led were only around 1 Irekto, at most 1.2 Irektos, so Ban Yuwon's underestimation was entirely natural.
‘But these knights are at least 2 Irektos, some even up to 3 Irektos. I can't look down on D-rank dimensions, can I?’
One shouldn't forget that Asha was born in this very D-13 Dimension.
Only Galahad's average level was low; the knights from other planets possessed a strength unfitting for a D-rank dimension!
In fact, Ban Yuwon had an inkling as to why Galahad's level was uniquely low.
‘The ruins must have been constantly draining the planet’s energy, so naturally, it would have been difficult for proper talents to grow compared to the surrounding planets.’
Even in the legends of King Arthur, it's said that the perfect knight Galahad was a Deus Ex Machina, a god from the machine, created solely to be the protagonist of the Holy Grail quest.
This planet was precisely that.
A planet existing solely for the completion of the Dragon-Slaying Sword... There was even a possibility that it was a satellite created by that so-called ancestor.
“Roccius, you must know full well that you are unqualified to wield that Holy Sword.”
“We, too, do not wish for Camelot to monopolize it. Roccius, there’s no need for bloodshed. Let us cooperate.”
“If someone other than you wields that sword, they will surely easily surpass even the Star Prince!”
Those who appeared to be representatives from each planet uttered persuasive remarks, gradually narrowing the distance between them.
Eve conjured a malicious grin on Roccius’s face and re-gripped the sword.
“Foolish...”
The moment someone among them, realizing her intention to fight, was about to utter a harsh remark—
Eve swiftly pushed off the floor and charged, slashing her sword directly forward.
Movements based on Roccius’s swordsmanship concept, which she had obtained from his corpse.
In other words, it was a swordsmanship that couldn't be considered highly advanced, but the power contained within it was immense.
—CRASH!
The trajectory extending from the sword cut down everything in its path—humans, objects, ceilings, and floors alike.
The knight who had first shown hostility, and the dozens of soldiers who followed him, all vaporized.
Literally, they vanished without leaving a single trace behind.
“What...”
“Impossible, Roccius was merely a sub-first grade knight!”
“But that... conversely speaking...”
“If only I could get my hands on that sword...”
The knights who hadn't been caught in the trajectory were utterly frenzied by the sword's power.
When they first heard the news of the ruins' discovery, they thought, 'Surely another treasure like the Holy Sword held by the Star Prince won't appear,' but now that it was revealed, wasn't it beyond their wildest imagination!
“Subdue it! No matter how great the sword is, Roccius’s swordsmanship is not its equal!”
Deluded by the treasure before their eyes, people charged forward with reddened eyes, and all of them were cleaved in half by the sword’s trajectory, vanishing.
Even while witnessing the terrifying sight of bodies vanishing without a trace the moment they were cut by the sword, the humans, dominated by greed, showed no signs of stopping.
He didn’t feel like scoffing at them.
It would probably be the same even for higher-ranking dimensions, or Constellations.
Humans are simply like that.
—What are you going to do?
Ban Yuwon calmly replied to Cellon’s question.
‘I’m going to make the D-13 Dimension peaceful.’
—Yes... My thoughts were right, after all.
Neither affirming nor denying him, Cellon simply assessed him calmly.
—You are more suited to be a ruler than anyone else.
‘I’ve started thinking that recently too.’
Eve’s rampage continued, and it was only after hundreds of people died senselessly, unable to get close to her, that humans finally felt a sense of crisis and backed away.
“Is there no limit?! That’s ridiculous!”
“Retreat... Retreat!”
They desperately turned and fled, even as their legs and arms were severed by the indiscriminately swung sword strikes, and at that very moment, the ruins began to crumble.
All the structures and mana that had sustained the ruins had been siphoned into Requiem, so this was only natural.
“...”
Ban Yuwon was slightly surprised by his own lack of any particular thoughts even as he watched less than 20% of the humans who had entered making their way back alive, yet he still nodded to Eve, who turned to look at him, with a smile.
“Well done. Let’s go back.”
“Sishit.”
Ban Yuwon, having made Requiem disappear and with Eve, now a snake again, coiled around his arm, used spatial movement to return to the spaceship where the Rebel Force mercenaries were waiting.
“Ban Yuwon!”
Ban Yumi, who had been eating a snack stick, abruptly broke it in half as she sprang to her feet and quickly closed the distance to him.
“Ah, Ban Yumi. Crumbs, seriously.”
“Is that important right now? The ruins completely collapsed, and you’re... ”
Reaching out with both hands, she fumbled over Ban Yuwon’s face and body, completely resembling his mother upon their reunion, but the fact that her hands were covered in snack crumbs was a typical annoyance from his sister.
“I’m fine, so relax. And don’t get crumbs on my face. Hm?”
“You...”
Ban Yuwon quietly pulled his sister away and patted her head.
He did that because it usually made her angry, but surprisingly, she meekly pulled away from him.
[You’ve done it again.]
‘Be quiet.’
He grumbled back at Lilyth’s rebuke, who had already returned to his arms, and faced Anneri.
Checking her mirror, she felt Ban Yuwon’s gaze and winked.
“It seems you’ve succeeded in starting a fight. There aren’t many Union Net users, but the news seems to have spread thoroughly within the D-13 Dimension.”
“Who told you?”
“The fan club president.”
Just as I thought.
Ban Yuwon shrugged and checked the period he could remain outside for his special activity.
By Union time, it was now 8 PM on Sunday.
He only needed to return by Wednesday night, so he had a good three days of leeway.
“Then, let’s begin the next operation. Our greatest goal is the completion of an unshakable guardian alliance. Therefore, the objective of this operation is...”
Ban Yuwon, after a moment of choosing his words, firmly nodded and declared:
“Information gathering on Planet Camelot, and the elimination of rebel elements on each planet.”
“Hey, you!”
Not long after that, a call came through on Ban Yuwon’s mirror.
It was a call from Asha.
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