Enhancement (7)
All eyes were on her.
The Twin Dragon Swords had appeared out of nowhere.
The blades of Chungmugong, lost to the world, presumed forged by the blacksmith Hyun.
Bella extended both hands and gripped the massive hilt of the Twin Dragon Swords.
A one-of-a-kind creation forged by a Master Craftsman.
Awaken
It reacts to your potential and the legend.
What was Bella's potential value?
At just twenty years old, she had already served as vice commander of a knight order in a kingdom.
Her potential transcended common sense.
HP restored to 50%.
You surpass your limits.
You surpass your limits.
You surpass your...
The notifications shifted.
You transcend your limits.
You transcend your limits.
Sssiiiiizzz—
Blue mana erupted from Bella's body like flames.
Measuring level.
Unable to measure.
Unable to measure.
Bella had once heard Hyun-soo's tale.
A single sword that had awakened mana in those incompatible with it.
She now knew this Twin Dragon Swords held a similar power.
The soldier ant lunging at her abdomen locked eyes with Bella as she turned her head—and veered away.
Kee-gi-gi-gik—!
It was fleeing.
The First Calamity, Hellinya, panicked.
What... what the hell?
An unbelievable power was stirring in the woman who had been on the brink of death moments ago.
Hellinya couldn't comprehend it.
Was it the sword's power? Or the woman named Bella's?
Then it dawned on her.
Both.
That sword of unknown origin had awakened the slumbering power within her.
Barad watched from afar.
In five years, Bella would become knight commander. In ten, she would surpass him.
Hellinya grew desperate.
She slammed her staff into the ground.
The space around her ripped open, revealing massive insects.
She summoned over seventy in an instant, her face paling.
Even for her, this was taxing.
The seventy-plus powerful insects swarmed toward Bella.
Diving in alongside them.
Measurement complete.
A new legend awakens.
Bella eyed the seventy-plus insects charging at her.
And something flowed through the Twin Dragon Swords.
It was the mineral that forged them.
The power of the Saga Stone.
The legend of saving a nation reacts to you.
The legend of saving a nation.
That legend was asking.
The voice within it, as if speaking only to Bella.
Why did you say that?
'Fight, even if it kills you.'
Bella's answer was simple.
Because she knew the first sun and the second sun would grieve.
She gripped the Twin Dragon Swords tighter.
I am a selfish person.
And she truly was.
She didn't care for the Sword King's cherished people or the light Hyun-soo embraced.
She only wanted the two she loved to be unharmed.
Then.
You become the protagonist of the legend.
She would become the protagonist of the legend.
What did that mean?
Recorded in history.
Bella moved.
Toward the swarm of seventy-plus insects.
She cleaved down at the mantis leading the charge, its scythe-like hand slicing toward her.
Ku-ka-ka-gak—!
Twice her normal power—no, three times.
A force far beyond him bisected the mantis and swept through the insects behind it.
Her power. The Twin Dragon Swords' power.
The Twin Dragon Swords were a greatsword.
A greatsword was an artifact transcending ordinary blades.
Its drawback: brutally heavy and hard to wield.
But this one was different.
The twin dragon emblem on the blade glowed red.
Su-gaaak—
Kwa-ruruk, kwa-ka-kwa-kwa, kwak—!
Three seconds.
A fleeting moment that made viewers doubt their eyes.
The byproducts of seventy-plus insects rained down from her greatsword, pattering to the ground.
Amid the falling insects.
Ta, ta-ta, tat—!
Bella landed and charged forward.
Over a hundred giant ants moved toward her.
It manifested once more.
Sword Bombardment.
The pinnacle of power that shredded ten giant ants to pieces.
Ku-hoooo—
A force from the Twin Dragon Swords, incomparable to before, raged forth.
For an instant, the figure of a small nation and a great general projected onto her, captivating viewers as history echoed.
A selfish knight. She fights not for the people or the nation, but for the suns she holds dear.
To protect her two suns, she will cleave anything in the world!
The two suns she held dear.
The king Barad, who first reached out to the abandoned girl Bella.
And on the day she lay dying, the second sun Hyun-soo who saved her.
A knight who lived only for those two.
Yes, Bella was selfish.
She swung her sword not for the nation, but for those two.
Ku-ka-ga-ga-gak—
Hundreds of sword qi strands shredded the giant ants blocking her path.
Kicking off the ground, she plunged through the gap, fighting the giant ants alone.
Bella gritted her teeth.
She knew if she didn't kill them, this calamity would reach her first sun.
A massive greatsword slammed down at her as she madly carved through the ant swarm.
Kwa-haaang—
She steadied herself mid-flight backward and pulled the Twin Dragon Swords back.
"This land is ours."
Words she didn't know flowed through the sword.
"The divine one still has one sword left."
To the divine one
Vast power condenses and extends toward the enemy.
Slashes the enemy 27 times.
Ku-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwak—!
The moment the pulled-back sword swung down, the Second Calamity Rogal's body tore apart.
"Kr, krahhh, uwaaaak! Kraaaak!"
Rogal's HP drops below 40%.
Su-gaaak—
Slicing past him without stopping, she charged on.
The First Calamity awaited where she ran.
"D-don't come. Don't come, don't comeee!"
The most wicked calamity.
The villain who devoured territories with ants.
A brutal being who had never known fear.
The First Calamity, whose name alone terrified all, staggered back.
"Ant Arm."
Ku-hoooo—
A massive ant arm summoned from the sky smashed down at Bella.
Hellinya panicked again.
Bella had raised the Twin Dragon Swords upward, bisecting the 6-meter arm coated in saliva in one stroke.
Ku-gu-gu-gu—
Hellinya gathered all her energy.
Insect corpses piled into a mountain to guard her front.
But before that.
Pu-wook—
Bella, now within arm's reach, slashed her shoulder.
"Kee-hyaaak!"
Hellinya's HP drops below 85%.
Damage beyond common sense.
Ku-gu-gu
Even gathering power again and blocking with insects was futile.
Kwa-jaak—
Bella cleaved through it in one stroke and pressed on, unrelenting.
Once.
Kwa-jaak—
Twice.
Ku-woong
Thrice.
Through her silver bob, eyes beautiful yet blade-sharp pierced Hellinya with terror.
Hellinya saw it.
The tip of the Twin Dragon Swords surging toward her throat.
Then, Rogal, recovered, appeared.
She withdrew her sword and upward-slashed the leaping Rogal from above.
The scene was captured on the broadcast screen for all to see.
Rogal was being overwhelmed by Bella wielding the massive Twin Dragon Swords.
Pu, pu-pu-pu-puk, pu-pu-pu-puk—!
What Rogal couldn't believe: she wasn't bothering with guard or parry.
A blade that rippled like waves was the cruelest.
Not slicing, but tearing—inflicting unbearable agony.
Yet Bella ignored the pain.
Rogal felt fear too.
Her Twin Dragon Swords had turned him into a ragged mess.
Amusingly, her HP had dropped to 20% as well.
Even a momentary legend couldn't dismiss the power of the First and Second Calamities.
But Bella kept taking hits, counterattacking Rogal instead.
Finally, Rogal sensed death approaching.
O-sak—
"......!"
This strike would end him.
Rogal, symbol of fear as the Second Calamity.
He crossed his arms over his face.
"H-hiiiik!"
Screaming in terror, no different from an ordinary human.
Su-gaaak—
The Twin Dragon Swords severed Rogal's neck.
History's record concluded.
But Bella couldn't stop yet.
As she turned, she felt a boiling heat at her chest's edge.
"Kuh-leok!"
Gushing blood poured from her mouth.
Awaken ends.
Her flesh crumbled.
Her eyes shook as she dropped to her knees. Hellinya laughed before her fallen comrade.
"Thank you. I was planning to kill Rogal anyway."
Hellinya spoke truth.
Once this disaster passed, Barad would hunt them.
To survive, Hellinya needed more power.
She was known as a summoner.
But her true nature was entirely different.
Her arm morphed into an ant's.
It plunged into Rogal's freshly dead corpse.
Tentacles sucked something in, her arm writhing.
Absorbing it, her form changed.
She became a bipedal, winged queen ant.
The First Calamity strengthens.
The First Calamity strengthens.
The First Calamity...
She approached legend grade.
Kee-heeeek—
Queen's Roar
Paralyzes reason.
"Krahhh!"
"U, uwaaak!"
Blood streamed from people's ears, eyes, and noses.
All trembled at the fully transformed grotesque Hellinya.
"H-how do we kill that...?"
"Legend grade?"
"Insane..."
Amid the fear and terror, Hellinya approached her.
As Bella stared vacantly, she felt power emanating from the Twin Dragon Swords she had dropped.
"...?"
Hellinya, about to slash down with her hand-blade at Bella, wore a puzzled expression.
Bella had smiled faintly.
A smile of faith.
And beyond the barrier.
Notifications hammered a certain man.
The most perfect trinity.
10% additional attack power infused.
Title Strongest Single Shot Creator shines.
Double damage applied.
Hellinya swung her arm to sever Bella's neck.
What is this?
Her arm wouldn't budge, as if gripped tightly by someone.
Telekinesis?
Then.
Kwa-dudududuk—
The barrier tore like pie crust under a ferocious drilling rotation.
Piuuuung—!
A single Baby Arrow shot forth, slamming into her.
"Ku-heeeek!"
Hellinya flew 30 meters.
Pinned to a third-story wall like a cross with the arrow, her gaze turned to the torn barrier.
A man crossed it.
In a brown coat, he boasted massive, rugged build like Barad.
Bella sent a gaze of faith and smiled.
Hyun's Forge guild members' eyes reached him.
As he extended his hand, the Twin Dragon Swords beside Bella moved to their master.
Cheok—
He effortlessly grasped the Twin Dragon Swords.
With his arrival, the long-awaited notification rang for Hyun's Forge.