Chapter 27: A Fair Fight (3)
A perfect victory.
Asher beamed with joy, savoring the moment to the fullest.
But why on earth?
Like a miracle, Asher had somehow escaped the curse of the cursed sword.
In the end, that mysterious man couldn’t evade his own curse and died, leaving Asher as the sole survivor.
The reason? Who knows… but does it really matter?
What truly mattered was that Asher had won.
‘You dared to underestimate me.’
Serves him right.
Asher took pleasure in kicking the man’s corpse, taunting, “How does it feel to be bested by someone you looked down on?”
Could there be anything better?
Suddenly blessed with fortune, Asher’s smile was stretching wider than ever.
Yet, astonishingly, something even better happened.
“It’s been a long time, my son.”
Suddenly, his master walked in from behind.
A dead man, none other than the one he personally had slain, had returned to life!
But was that the important part?
No, what mattered was that his father had returned.
Thus, Asher embraced his father with a bright smile.
For some reason, his consciousness felt fuzzy.
There was an odd sensation in his throat, but Asher shrugged it off.
After all, what’s the point of worrying about trifles when he was this happy?
It was probably nothing to fret about.
*
‘…Why on earth is this guy smiling?’
Such a thought couldn’t be helped.
The sight before me made zero sense.
“I, I love you! Hehe… I love you so much!”
Asher exclaimed, sporting a blissfully foolish grin.
…Does he think he’s dreaming or something?
His face was practically radiating joy.
In this moment, my objective was crystal clear.
I approached the defenseless fool and swiftly twisted his neck.
Oddly enough, he hadn’t even bothered with the most basic magical protection. His neck bones shattered in an instant.
Well, when you think about it, this was technically my first kill. But shock, sadness, or any urge to rattle on about my feelings? Nope, none of that here.
It was to be expected.
After all, I knew what the number 1201 on the girl’s neck indicated.
Feeling guilty for killing someone who had sacrificed over a thousand lives would’ve been downright bizarre.
If anything, I felt more bemused.
‘What on earth was this guy?’
He screamed as if he was about to unleash some secret move. I wondered if I should prepare the amulet right then.
In the end, though, all he did was pitch a fit by himself.
After struggling to reach the boss’s final phase, it was as if he had committed suicide.
It was enough to leave me feeling a bit anticlimactic.
‘Well, at least I got something out of this.’
If it was a formula from the previous work, and if I could reduce the opponent’s concentration to lower its completion rate, I could dispel any magic they cast before it even reached me.
In the right circumstances, this could come in handy during actual combat.
Moreover… there was another unexpected bonus.
‘Who knew the Healthy Body trait could be utilized like this?’
I suffered a bit from side effects, but considering the current situation, it felt like a small price to pay.
It’s a no-brainer.
During the battle, I concentrated all my magical power into one spot.
A normal person’s body would have burst under the strain, but my fist was just throbbing, perfectly intact.
This clearly signified something.
Being healthy had much crazier versatility than I’d imagined.
It was like being able to munch on elixirs, the treasures of martial legends, as if they were popcorn and still be perfectly fine.
Even if I pushed my arm to the brink of bursting, I stayed unscathed.
The text about maintaining a Healthy Body was even mitigating the recoil from self-destruct techniques.
This made it clear.
Whether I upped my magical power or recklessly focused it in one spot, I could use such techniques at will.
I could spam self-destruct techniques without worrying about the risks.
‘Well, if I overdo it, I won’t exactly emerge unscathed.’
Still, this is beyond overpowered!
It’s an obvious conclusion.
What others brace themselves for death to pull off, I can brush off with just a mild case of fatigue.
There’s no legal cheat quite like this.
A grin spread across my face.
‘I debated until the last minute whether to shell out an extra 50,000 won for the premium edition instead of just ordering chicken twice…’
Looking back, that was possibly the best decision I could’ve made.
For the price of two chicken dinners, I snagged the Healthy Body trait and the Emperor Might trait.
The more I ponder on it, the more outrageous it sounds.
Without those traits? I probably would’ve been a goner by now.
‘I absolutely need to gather more traits.’
That thought was inescapable.
Traits are abundant.
Even a lousy trait that can’t block a simple Sleep spell is somehow performing this well.
I’ve spent all my choices, but that doesn’t mean I can’t find more traits.
As I gather allies, I’ll gradually strengthen myself.
As I was rethinking my strategy while examining the corpse, I suddenly noticed something.
The sword he’d been holding.
Only then did everything click into place.
I had been wondering why this guy started laughing like a maniac all on his own.
This was the reason.
Then again, it’s hardly surprising I missed it.
‘I’m really not affected at all.’
When considering Asher’s breakdown or Miss Rubia’s reaction last time, it seemed to emit a rather dangerous curse.
Yet from my standpoint, it’s just a hunk of busted iron.
I didn’t feel any curse at all.
Such things are just treated as mental attacks.
There’s a reason I picked the Emperor Might trait.
This developer truly has a thing for Lovecraftian themes.
Going mad merely from encountering it or having your mind tainted—how many times did I experience those sentiments while playing the previous game?
Indeed, mental attack resistance was crucial.
Satisfied with my prior judgment, I looked back at the sword once more.
‘So, what should I do about this?’
That was a perfectly reasonable question to have.
The sword spat an ominous black light. I couldn’t feel it myself, but it was likely spreading a curse or some junk around.
I just hoped the children managed to escape safely, but if they didn’t get far enough, the potential for them getting swept up in this mess was there.
It’d be best to deal with this ASAP.
And in my opinion, there was only one way to address it.
‘I’ll just have to purify it somehow.’
That seemed the obvious conclusion.
Of course, it’s not as if a holy sword in this condition is utterly useless.
‘Where do you even use a sword that grows stronger the more it curses the world?’
It’s a capability hardly anyone could properly utilize unless they were grossly twisted.
Sure, it could be exploited for mental attacks via its curse-emitting trait…
But that’s just a hassle.
Naturally.
How does one even carry around a cursed sword that takes out everyone in the vicinity?
Siel might somehow handle it, but Miss Rubia would likely just drop dead the moment she got close.
If I don’t aim to spend my entire life avoiding society, I can’t be dragging around a sword like that.
On the flip side, the divine power the sword once possessed was just the type of strength I required right now.
If the world’s in peril, it’s highly probable it’s tied to demons or a Demon King.
To stand against them, having a functional holy sword is essential.
‘…But how on earth do I cleanse it?’
I felt like my mind had hit a wall.
The previous titles had methods for corrupting it, but not for purifying it.
Since the user becomes corrupted by cursing everything in sight, should I go the opposite route?
Would holding the holy sword with a heart overflowing with love for everything in the world change anything?
But then again, I’m not exactly some pathological philanthropist myself.
With all these thoughts swirling, I felt my head start to spin.
However, when other options escaped me, I sighed and grasped the holy sword.
And then…
“……?”
Suddenly, a dark shimmer began to slither up my arm.
Before I could fully comprehend what was happening, that dark energy had entirely integrated with me.
The sword’s blade glowed with a soft, radiant light.
The holy sword was wholly purified.
…My mind felt oddly blank.
Why on earth did this happen out of nowhere? More importantly, what just transpired?
I was in a daze, struggling to understand… but no matter how I racked my brain, the reason behind this occurrence eluded me.
All that remained was the reality that the holy sword was purified the moment I touched it.
And I didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary in my body, either.
Something kept nagging at me…
But I couldn’t fixate on a problem with no solution for my entire life.
Ultimately, I secured the holy sword and set off to locate the children.
Why could this be?
Freeing slaves, dealing with villains, purifying a holy sword—truly following the path of a protagonist.
Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I might’ve taken a seriously wrong turn somewhere.
That was something I simply couldn’t wrap my head around.
The Emperor Might absorbs the corrupted energy of the holy sword.
…The Emperor Might hints at the possibility of transforming into ■■ of ■■.
Your spiritual stature is becoming closer to ■■.
A critical error has been detected.
The path of fate is being reset.
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