“…What?”
“Why should I take responsibility? I did my best, and the seal was released due to an ‘unexpected accident.’ I have no reason to shoulder the blame.”
“……”
“From the start, this isn’t the life I wanted, and if we’re talking about responsibilities, those arrogant six stars…”
Crash!!
The hammer struck Ryuin, who was encircled by iron.
Ryuin brandished the Iron Soul Sword and swiftly retreated, while I accelerated and recalled the hammer I had thrown.
“There’s no need for a conversation.”
He only thought about the damage he suffered, never considering the harm done to others.
Unfortunately, this is a type I’ve seen way too often.
‘Ancient Beast.’
Most ancient beasts had this kind of mindset.
For such types, physical conversation is often more effective than verbal.
I checked the chat window urging kill more vigorously than before and stacked the Roar of Acceleration thousands of times, aiming for Ryuin once more.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
“Ugh…! Why are you doing this to me?!”
Ryuin struggled with all his might, trying to harness more power from the Iron Soul Sword, but it was just a matter of time.
If the six stars couldn’t defeat more than three, what more could he do?
No matter how much innate spiritual power and a powerful weapon like the Iron Soul Sword one had, if the user was just a young child, efficiency would surely drop.
In the end, the explosion’s origin erupted on Ryuin.
With the explosion, Ryuin flew away, coughing up blood, and the Iron Soul Sword slipped from his grasp.
[Did you die?!]
[Please, just die…]
[Ah, so refreshing! Hahahaha!]
[Cut, cut, cut!]
[Wow!]
[Hahahahahahaha!]
[You died well, lol.]
[Comfortable~~~~~]
[Still doesn’t know why he’s being hit, that’s legendary! Hahaha!]
I lightly jumped up, grabbed the Iron Soul Sword, and naturally unleashed its power, wrapping Ryuin in rock.
He got a bit hurt but wasn’t dead.
His thoughts may be impure, but he hasn’t actually tried anything yet.
All I did was limit his spiritual power and sever the bond between the Iron Soul Sword and spells, so he wouldn’t be able to do anything now.
As I held the Iron Soul Sword, I instinctively understood.
“Oh.”
It releases.
[Level 1 information restriction has been lifted…]
[Sub – The source of the Ore Monster has been cleared.]
[A mass of experience points has been obtained.]
[5 fragments of the Ore Monster acquired.]
[A new quest has arrived.]
The restriction is lifted.
The moment I obtained the Iron Soul Sword, the core item of this dungeon, the quest would naturally be cleared.
Just as I was about to check the quest and prepare to bring this to Yena, another message obscured my view.
[TIP. The Ore Monster, Iron Devourer, is not actually a ghost. It’s merely a non-living being that consumes ore. People mistook it for a great ghost. Be careful! Spells have little effect on the Iron Devourer…]
Perseverance…!
[?]
[???]
[What the hell?!]
[Huh?]
The sword shatters.
The already unstable Iron Soul Sword crumbles like a snack, and all its fragments begin to burrow into the ground towards Ryuin.
I clutched the fragments obtained from the quest.
A few pieces returned to me, but about 60% went back to Ryuin.
Yeah, the Iron Devourer isn’t a ghost.
After all, the Iron Devourer’s essence is faint—it’s a being closer to a non-living entity.
Despite this, I believed that we had severed the bond completely because the dungeon’s system and the spells stabilizing the weakened seal had their uses.
The rocks surrounding Ryuin were blasted apart as well.
“Something’s off,” Ryuin said as he got to his feet.
■
I feel dizzy…
What just happened?
Ryuin, the master of the Iron Soul Sword, straightened himself, piecing together his disheveled body.
He was just trying to escape from that strange woman demanding he hand over the Iron Soul Sword.
This weapon had been given to him since he was a toddler, and no one denied that the sword belonged to him.
Ryuin is the Iron Soul Sword, and the Iron Soul Sword is Ryuin.
But now, when he wanted to live freely, a woman appeared demanding that he surrender his sword.
It was ridiculous.
Truly a ludicrous story, and I wanted to give her a piece of my mind, but she was a formidable opponent who could even outmatch the fierce Six Stars.
In the end, I couldn’t avoid her, took a big hit, and when I came to, this was the situation.
‘What… what the hell happened?’
The Iron Soul Sword is still in my hand.
It feels a bit damaged, but I sighed in relief that it wasn’t taken from me.
‘I need to escape.’
I can’t win against that monster.
For now, I have to break free and plan for the future to fully leverage the Iron Devourer’s abilities.
No matter how monstrous it is, if I use the Iron Devourer’s powers, there would be no enemies I couldn’t defeat.
‘For some reason, that woman seems to be frozen too. If I don’t get away now…’
“If you don’t break free…”
-…Destroyer.
“?!”
Hooook…
Suddenly, the sky turns dark.
The ground shifts, and the woman named Lily, who had been staring blankly at him, vanishes.
Before he knows it, he’s standing in a dark cave filled with rocky formations like iron, where he can see a faint light emanating from gray eyes.
“…Domain expansion? Who are you?”
– Danger. Contractor. Escape. Position deviation.
“…What?”
A few short words echo throughout the space.
It’s as if a brain-dead creature is spewing out a few words it knows.
Ryuin panics, but he’s not completely clueless; he quickly comes to a conclusion.
“Don’t tell me… you are the Iron Devourer?”
– Hurry. Move. Consciousness this way. Outside main body. Now. Opponent impossible.
“Crazy.”
He never thought the Iron Devourer would actually talk to him!
Ryuin jumps in surprise.
The Iron Devourer wasn’t a ghost that normally spoke.
Even if sealed in a sword, it’s a ghost’s nature to express some will somehow, but the Iron Devourer had never done that even once.
This was true even during the era when the Six Stars managed things, and Ryuin, who inherited that, had never felt the will of the Iron Devourer either.
It merely drew out the power of the Iron Soul Sword.
Ryuin is ecstatic.
“So you could talk?! Why didn’t you say so earlier? This is great! I need some strength to deal with that crazy woman!”
-…Impossible.
“Why? If she gets her hands on you, you won’t survive either, you know? That woman killed all those old men from the Six Stars. She’ll lock you up inside that sword forever…”
– I know.
“…You know?”
So the Iron Devourer knows that woman named Lily?
Ryuin tilts his head.
He’s never seen or heard of such a woman before.
Of course, Ryuin, who has been cooped up in the Safe House, doesn’t know many people, but he regularly checked the information about upper sorcerers with the Six Stars.
Still, he’s never seen a woman named Lily, either back then or now.
Brrrr…
The space trembles.
As the flashing gray eyes flicker and tremble, Ryuin also swallows nervously.
-…Lily.
“Lily? Huh? What’s that woman to you?”
– Destroyer. Celestial Being. Monsters. Nightmare. Soul prison. Possession.
“…?”
– Death. Impossible.
“You can’t kill her?”
So even the Iron Devourer can’t catch her?
“What now?”
Ryuin thought he couldn’t kill her simply because she was strong, but the Iron Devourer corrected his thoughts.
“Different. Conceptual reason.”
“…Concept?”
“Higher power. Necessity. Death. Not permitted.”
“What, what?”
“Even the Destroyer.”
“???”
“Time. A lot consumed. Must escape.”
Crash!
The space shook.
The realm of the Iron Devourer was slowly breaking apart, and through small cracks, the outside situation was visible.
Ryuin’s body was desperately running according to the will of the Iron Devourer, and behind him, Lily was swinging her hammer and chasing after them.
He thought he understood why the Iron Devourer called her the “Destroyer.”
KABOOM!!!
With one swing of her hammer, the terrain was obliterated, and the countless rocks the Iron Devourer had set up crumbled to pieces.
Truly, a force worthy of being called the avatar of destruction.
“Hey, hey hey! She’s catching up! Run away fast!”
“Danger. Self. Body. Move. Efficiency high…”
“Of course it’s your ability, so you’d move faster! Hurry up! You said you couldn’t even kill her! If we run to the other side of the world, we might survive!”
“……”
Creak!
Ryuin’s body stopped.
“What, what’s going on! Why did you suddenly stop?”
“Method. Found.”
“Oh?! What is it! Hurry up and tell me!”
“Outside the main body. Mental entity this side. Efficiency. Not coming out.”
“So?”
“Contractor. Body authority. Complete transfer. Main body power. Usable.”
“…? Aren’t you already using it?”
“Different. Contractor. Included. ‘High power.’ Use. Permission needed.”
“……”
He couldn’t understand what it meant.
Most of the words about high power and concepts were incomprehensible, but he felt a strange sense of anxiety with no choice left.
What was certain, though, was that he desperately needed the Iron Devourer’s help to stop the woman charging at him like a bulldozer.
In the end, Ryuin nodded.
“…Alright.”
“Wise. Choice.”
His vision darkened…
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