Chapter 425

Chapter 425: As Fate Ordains (Long Chapter)

Celestial Plane, inside Kurohana’s plane.

After Kurohana told Nix that she had something special coming up pretty soon, she focused all of her attention towards the orb in front of her, showing her the entire process that was happening to Aurus. Surprisingly, Shirohana, the clone that had most of her strength, had stopped meditating over the Law of Reincarnation, deciding to watch the entire forging process unfold with her original body.

“Don’t you feel like they would craft an incredibly weak weapon from how they’re using Aurus as a material?” Shirohana could not help but ask, looking at Kurohana with slight confusion.

“That’s the goal,” Kurohana succinctly replied, her aura now similar to that of what a divine blacksmith would normally have. “What they’re planning to create is a weapon that evolves alongside the user, as well as allows the user to tap more and more power from the weapon itself. In the terms used in Aurus’s world, they’re crafting an Evolving Ignition weapon.”

“Although you might think it’s a bad thing, in the long run, such a weapon would be better for us to use,” she continued. “If anything, the materials they’re using right now are pretty high-tier, so it wouldn’t make sense for the final result to be incredibly weak unless it’s being used elsewhere.”

“I see…” As Shirohana was Kurohana’s clone, it was no surprise that she understood where she was coming from. However, since Kurohana’s strength was the thing that was mostly given to Shirohana, some of the terms her original body used unfortunately flew over her head. Nevertheless, she still got it with a few context clues.

“Now that I think about it, although the weapon would be fully forged down there, it’s not really finished yet, right?” Shirohana asked once more, prompting Kurohana to lightly smile as she responded, “Of course not. What they’re making is only the foundation of the actual weapon I have in mind. The remaining parts will have to be done by me.”

“I should give Misha a call sometime and ask her if she could imbue the power of purity into this weapon,” she could not help but mutter, only for her to look back at the orb with an excited grin soon after.

At that moment, the image in the orb was covered in a jade green light with a hint of white and black strands surrounding it. Seeing those strands, Kurohana could not help but say with great happiness, “Even though some fucker meddled with it, I’m glad everything worked out in the end!”

“In any case, the final piece to this plan would have to stay in Erudinia for a bit longer. Hopefully it appears before the war is in full swing.” She chuckled as she opened up a rift beside the orb, standing up from her seat as she walked towards it. Before crossing the other side, she looked at Shirohana and said, “Before I go, tell Nix that we might head to where the demons are sometime soon.”

“Alright. Take care.” Shirohana nodded.

Whoosh!

…

Maerr-viki Content, inside the one of the Seraph Kingdom’s prestigious halls.

As the sound of metal being hammered mixed with grunts and shouts could be heard throughout the hall, the nascent form of a longsword could be seen on top of the quickly built stage, emanating a faint green glow, acting as a sort of contrast to the incredibly active workforce giving it their all.

“How are you holding up, Verdante?” Zeldrion, who was watching the whole process unfold in front of him, could not help but ask the longsword-shaped being slightly levitating off the stage.

“For the most part, I’m still good,” a voice responded to Zeldrion’s question not long after, soon letting out a sigh. “Then again, I was quite surprised that I would feel that much pain from the conversion process even though I’m an Inanimate.”

Currently, about a day has passed since the forging process had begun. Due to the fact that Aurus was an X-grade Inanimate, and a Spiriveritas on top of that, the process that would allow him to be compatible for forging had taken a long time. And that was already with the strongest mage in their kingdom giving it their all.

Fortunately for them, Aurus had quickly adapted to the pain, which the latter could not help but wonder if it was a side effect of the All-seeing Comprehension Leaf he had absorbed back in the past. Nevertheless, it was good news for the people as materials were soon sent to Aurus, who absorbed them according to Zeldrion’s wishes.

Right now, about three-fourths of the materials needed to form the weapon had already been absorbed by Aurus. The remaining quarter were all high-end materials that needed a lot of care and precision in order to be used to its full potential. Thankfully, all of the mages and blacksmiths that had been hired were incredibly skilled, allowing them to finish procuring all of the remaining items within the span of another half day.

With that, the entire forging process had taken around two days to be complete, with Zeldrion standing far away from Aurus as the best blacksmith he had hired stepped onto the stage. The remaining materials were already laid out near the longsword, which meant that the blacksmith only had to integrate them into Aurus.

Picking up his trusted hammer, the blacksmith looked at Dalton, who seemed to be pondering over something, and asked, “It’s time for us to take the final step. Are you ready, Sir Dalton?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess,” Dalton replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Inwardly sighing in response to how his assistant for this final step acted, the blacksmith decided to place his complaints at the back of his head, knowing that this would probably be the greatest commission he would ever get in his life.

“How about you, sir? Are you ready?” he asked Aurus after that, to which Aurus replied, “Do your best.”

Nodding, the blacksmith closed his eyes, only to open it soon after as his irises quickly turn blank. Soon after, multiple strands of mana extended out of his body as they quickly grabbed the remaining materials, manipulating them to be positioned where they should be for the process to complete.

“[Divine Forger’s Dexterity]!”

“[Blessing of the Artisan Hammer]!”

“[Ephemeral Domain of Understanding]!”

Whoosh!

In an instant, three powerful skills related to blacksmithing had been unleashed, increasing the blacksmith’s abilities in forging to an incredibly high level. Staring at the materials that were faintly glimmering under the effect of his domain, he then shouted, “Sir Dalton, use your best enchantments!”

Hearing that, Dalton responded with a light sigh, scratching his head as he extended one of his arms out. Though, not even a second later, his expression turned into that of extreme seriousness as a massive magic circle composed of multiple layers soon appeared in front of his extended arm.

“The great sage of above, heed my call. [Fivefold Casting].”

“9th Circle. [Total Augmentation of Ferocity].”

“9th Circle. [Total Augmentation of Durability].”

“9th Circle. [Total Augmentation of Spirit and Essence].”

“9th Circle. [Ephemeral Blessing of the Peerless Blade].”

“And lastly…”

“1st Transcendent Circle. [Breath of the Immortal Spirit].”

Swoosh!

As he finished casting his spells, five large balls of light quickly made its way to where Aurus and the remaining materials were, exploding not long after as all of them gained an aura equal to a battle-hardened soldier in the battlefield. Even Aurus in his current form could not help but feel like he had gained as much as strength as he did when he went all out while fighting against Wilhelm.

“[Instant Spell Fusion].” Surprisingly, Dalton still wasn’t done, aiming the magic circle at the blacksmith as he chanted, “8th Circle. [Total Clarity]. 7th Circle. [Quintessence of Concentration].”

“9th Circle, Fused Spell. [Epiphany Beyond Adversity].”

Whoosh!

As a slightly large ball of light was sent towards the blacksmith, the latter’s body quickly absorbed it, making everything with his senses far clearer than what it was before. In fact, with the spell Dalton had given him, the blacksmith felt like he could give 1000% of what he would usually give when crafting, even giving it 10000% of his all did not seem impossible to him right now.

In any case, as the buff applied to him was temporary, he quickly did his work, allowing the remaining materials to merge with Aurus as he utilized his trusty hammer to slowly fuse the two together. Unsurprisingly, the process slightly hurt Aurus a bit as his soul was gradually being melded into the materials. Nevertheless, as the blacksmith was giving it his all, the amount of pain he felt was more or less tolerable, with the process finally finishing around four hours later.

Schwing!

At the very moment the blacksmith hammered the final material into Aurus, a bright jade green light soon radiated throughout the hall while black and white threads could be seen lingering around. Fortunately, this phenomenon did not last for too long, quickly disappearing about a few seconds later as a peerless longsword now hovered on the stage in front of them.

“It’s finally complete…” the blacksmith on stage could not help but mutter as all of the skills and buffs he had before were now deactivated, looking at the final result in front of him with great awe and wonder. Although it looked like a work of art from one side due to its intricately crafted hilt and guard, the aura it exuded at the moment was a stark contrast, giving off the feeling that one slash of the blade could cut down gods and demons.

However, there was a faint feeling of mediocrity added into the aura, prompting the blacksmith to ponder whether or not the weapon was a success. Surprisingly, as if Dalton was reading the blacksmith’s mind, he lightly smiled, saying, “A Normal-grade Evolving Ignition weapon. To think the Seraph Kingdom would finally have something like this.”

Hearing that, the blacksmith could not help but drop down to the floor, kneeling. “This… this has to be the greatest piece of blacksmithing to ever exist in this continent. Not only did I, Alvezar Forruger, contributed to it, but all of the kingdom’s greatest blacksmiths have also collaborated in completing this. Only with this is the supreme heirloom of the royal family truly worthy!”

Seeing that the longsword was finally complete, Zeldrion finally made a move and stepped forward, looking at the blacksmith for a bit before giving him a respectful bow. After that, he bowed towards the other blacksmiths and mages that had help out in this whole ordeal before looking at Dalton, giving him a light nod.

Then, he looked at the longsword in front of him and asked, “Verdante, are you still there?”

“Yeah. Couldn’t feel any better, to be honest.” Surprisingly, the longsword replied, its tone slightly indifferent.

“Good to know.” Zeldrion chuckled in response before grabbing the longsword before him by the hilt, raising it upward as he bellowed out, “From this day onward, the Seraph Kingdom shall now have a blade that would lead us to a better future, to a kingdom that would soar to the skies with great fervor!”

“With that, I, King Zeldrion Seraph, declare that this longsword shall now be named…”

“Eversor!”

“Eversor, huh. Quite a nice name you’ve made up there.”

“Who—?!” Before Zeldrion could even wield the newly crafted longsword towards the person that had responded to his announcement, he was quickly sent flying, only stopping thanks to colliding with the palace’s sturdy walls.

Bang!

Seeing their kingdom’s ruler being sent flying like that, the blacksmiths and mages that were hired could not help but look at the stage, only to become silent as they did not expect such a person like that to wield the newly crafted longsword.

Black hair that reached up the waist, a youthful face accompanied by red irises that would even make entire continents fight for, a pure white dress, and a slightly devilish smile. If it were any other time, they would think that this person was just a teenager messing around. However…

“Nice to meet all of you,” the woman responded. “My name is Kurohana, the Greater Goddess of Reincarnation. I’ll be grabbing your Eversor right here, thank you.”

“A goddess…” all of them could not help but think to themselves. Unfortunately, before they could think about it any further, Kurohana snapped her fingers, rendering all of the people there asleep in an instant. Naturally, she did not spare Zeldrion and Dalton from this, muttering, “I’ll wipe their memories just to be sure.”

As she said this, the longsword she was holding onto could not help but radiate an aura of shock as the being inside it muttered, “Kurohana… is that really you?”

“It’s quite nice seeing you again, Aurus,” Kurohana giggled as she replied. “You didn’t think you’d see me again so soon, right? In any case, you’ve already completed your mission for me.”

“Mission? Wha—” Before Aurus could even respond to her words, Kurohana instantly sent multiple strands of energy into the longsword Aurus was in, quickly allowing Aurus to realize what had happened. “You’re telling me… everything I’ve done so far was all for the purpose of turning me into a weapon? Just so I could be a goddamn weapon?!”

“Uh-huh.” Although Kurohana knew very well that there was more to it, she decided to make things easier for her right now. After all, they would have all the time in the world after this to talk.

“Even the primal instinct that took over my body… you placed that inside me just so you could achieve your goals? W-what kind of sick fuck are you? You’d even sacrifice multiple innocent lives… just for this? Just so I could become your ideal weapon?” Aurus said soon after, feeling intense guilt for the people he had ruthlessly killed. Not only that, he also felt intense shame.

Shame for the utter fool he had become under the machinations of Kurohana.

“You should think of it as a blessing that you’ve become my weapon,” Kurohana indifferently replied, though a light smile appeared on her face soon after.

“In any case, how about we meet someone else first before you come back with me?”

Whoosh!

…

Maerr-viki Continent, inside Verdant Breeze Town.

Just as Argentum thought that this day right now would become one of the days where he had the greatest peace of mind, a being he had never expected to appear showed up in front of him, wielding a longsword that emanated an aura he was incredibly familiar with.

“Hello there, Argentum. It’s very nice meeting you,” Kurohana said as she sat down on the desk with a mischievous smile on her face. Naturally, Argentum quickly stepped back from her as he could not help but focus his attention towards the longsword she was holding.

Seeing where he was looking, Kurohana grinned as she told him, “If you’re thinking what I’m thinking, then yes. This longsword right here is Aurus, your original body. Don’t you feel like it’s a fitting reunion for you two?”

After she finished saying that, she then sent a strand of energy into Argentum’s mind, bombarding him with an influx of information regarding the things Aurus had done from her perspective. In mere moments, Argentum had gone through multiple expressions. Disbelief, shock, and eventually… anger.

“YOU BITCH! I’M GONNA KILL YOU!” he yelled out as he used all of his spells and skills at once, wanting to get at least one punch in. Unfortunately for him, he was up against a Divinity level being.

In the first place, there was no chance at all.

Snap!

With one snap of her fingers, an incorporeal barrier quickly surrounded Argentum, not allowing him to move any further. Seeing as there was no hope for him to dish out a punch, he decided to use words.

“So you’re the culprit that led to Aurus’s demise! To think I was sent to a wild goose chase by a fucking goddess. To think my original body’s current form is all due to your goddamn lies. I swear to the fucking heavens that my soul will not rest until I fucking end you. I FUCKING SWEAR THAT I’LL GET BACK AT YOU OR MY NAME IS NOT ARGENTUM!”

“Hahaha! Good luck doing that,” Kurohana replied, quickly opening up a rift as she left him a few more words.

“If you want to take revenge for your original body, you better reach the Divinity level as soon as possible. After all, up to this point right now, everything…”

“…is as fate ordains.”

…

At a manor in the capital of the Seraph Kingdom, an old man was lazily sitting down on his sofa, watching the idyllic sights beyond the large window in front of him like he always did. However, after feeling a faint yet powerful fluctuation from far away, he could not help but frown, quickly forming a few gestures with his hands as a three-dimensional structure made out of mana soon appeared in front of him.

Whoosh!

As if it was being controlled by an external power, the three-dimensional structure slowly started to rotate, soon opening up a rift that directly connected to another place. On the other side was a man shrouded in gray. Though, it was more correct to say that the man was made out of gray energy.

“What’s the matter, Third Fang? You know very well that calling me is only for emergencies, right?” the man made out of energy asked.

“I know that very well, of course.” The old man known as Third Fang nodded in response. “In any case, I just wanted you to know that Kurohana has finally retrieved her weapon. Our mission to claim it has become unsuccessful.”

“Now that definitely warrants a call,” the gray man said in response, nodding. “But knowing you, you’ve found ways to weaken the final result, right?”

“Naturally,” Third Fang replied. “I’ve made the main material of the weapon form a clone of sorts beforehand, essentially halving its power. Though, it’d be more accurate to call it halving its soul. In any case, knowing Kurohana, she’ll definitely find a way to make use of it.”

“At the very least, she’ll have to waste more material in order to bring the weapon up to its intended level of power,” the gray man replied. “You’ve done a great service, Third Fang. You can return to the base and take a quick respite. After all, our missions are never over.”

“In any case, from this day onward, the great sage known as Kevin shall cease to exist in the world of Erudinia.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll head there as soon as possible,” Third Fang, who was actually Kevin, replied. “For now, just let me stay in Erudinia for a bit more.”

“Alright then. But you better report to base at least a week from now.”

“Got it.”

Whoosh!

After that, the rift disappeared as the three-dimensional structure that allowed it to form in the first place broke apart. Sitting in silence for a bit, Kevin grabbed the cup of tea he had brewed before the call and sipped on it, thinking about what he was going to from now on.

“Ahh. Good tea.”

———————–

After over one and a half years, Volume 4 is finally complete. On another note, the first major arc of this story is also complete, entitled “As Fate Ordains”. Just so you know, the first major arc is just a prologue for the crazy things that’s about t