The Second Authority

"My King. Is this truly correct?"

"Yep."

"I won't die. I won't die, I won't."

The massive sparring arena at the academy's outer edge. Ilmacheonwang stood there uneasily in the not-yet-opened arena as I drew out the White Savior.

It radiated an aura markedly different from when it had been merely Mythic grade.

I pulled up the White Savior's information window.

"The stats have gone up across the board... and while it's not on the level of the Multicolored Successor, it's gained some rather special abilities of its own."

The Multicolored Successor was an accessory, not a weapon. That was why it had been granted the overwhelming stat of 250 mana, whereas the White Savior hadn't received stats to match. In exchange, it had gained new powers layered on top of its original innate traits.

I shifted the White Savior into spear form.

Ordinarily, a Masterpiece had no functions beyond altering its shape and channeling power. But now was different.

"Oh ho?"

A second white spear materialized beside me — not one of the clone spears I normally conjured through divinity, but a spear born of the White Savior itself. The moment I gripped it, the other spear floating alongside moved in the same direction.

"So do techniques fire off twice as well?"

"Presumably? And if they don't, you won't be needing them anyway."

"Then I'll be getting hit twice as much?"

Ilmacheonwang looked at me with even greater despair.

I hadn't originally intended to use Ilmacheonwang as a test dummy, but Rasty's argument had sounded plausible enough. Few beings in existence could receive this 'Transcendent'-grade weapon, and among them, the one who could take the Silver Purifier's 'Purification' most effectively was none other than Ilmacheonwang.

For the former there was someone like Hwangyeolgong, but striking him would have been awkward. As for the latter — the Progenitor — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she was considerably weakened at present. If she took Purification as an avatar rather than within a mental world, the avatar would simply unravel and send her drifting back to the Void Space. Rasty's manifestation was unstable to begin with, so there was no helping that, but Ilmacheonwang was different. His standing had never been high in the first place, so he carried only a fraction of his true power, and with the Life Vessel in his possession, death was simply not on the table for him.

Testing it in the mental world would work, sure... but then I couldn't stream it.

Nothing to be done about it.

"This will be over quickly."

"...Yes."

"Here we go."

Kiiiiiuung...

Divinity settled into my spear. Divinity settled into the White Savior's second spear. The infused divinity twisted with the spears' rotation, whipping up a colossal storm — a commotion on an entirely different scale from the Spear's Roar I had used on my clone spears before. At last, the twin storms came crashing down over Ilmacheonwang.

"GRAAAAAGH!!!"

"……"

"AAAAAGH!! AAAGH!!"

Aaagh... Aaagh...

"Huh?"

Ilmacheonwang patted himself down. For all the racket of his screaming, not a scratch had touched him.

Pfft... Pfft-hah...

At that, Rasty clapped a hand over her mouth, failing utterly to hold back her laughter, and I too snickered at the entertaining scene. Ilmacheonwang, unable to make sense of any of it, wore a blank expression.

"Wh-what is this?"

"Wow, anyone watching would've thought you were actually dying. What was with all that screaming?"

"What a coward. Disappointing. I suppose you're not worthy of receiving my blood after all."

"??? Pardon?"

"Did you really think I'd put an ally through genuine agony?"

Naturally, I'd been using it with the Fourth Ascension active.

As I recalled the spears and said that, Ilmacheonwang's expression cycled through a whole palette of colors — the look of a man who had no idea how to process what he'd just heard.

"...Did you scare me on purpose? All that talk of experiments and such?"

"It was an experiment. However—"

I turned to Rasty. Her mouth was still curved in a smile, but her eyes were frigid beyond measure.

"There's someone here who won't tolerate experiments that involve causing pain."

"Naturally I wouldn't. It would be utterly moronic."

"O—O King..."

"Only now do you behold this body's greatness?"

"I do! I see it most clearly!"

THUD!

Ilmacheonwang dropped to his knees and slammed his forehead into the ground. It had been barely a day since he'd defected from the Demon Kin's ranks to serve under a vampire, and already he was playing the picture of a devoted vassal.

Perhaps what Ilmacheonwang had needed all along was a liege worth swearing loyalty to.

After that, I shifted the White Savior into its hammer form and set about pummeling Ilmacheonwang to pile up data. He flinched hard at first, but after being knocked flying so many times, getting hit and sent airborne seemed to have grown almost routine for him.

BOOM!

The hammer smashed into Ilmacheonwang twice, and then I recalled the weapon.

"...It doesn't exactly hurt, but it's a rather peculiar feeling nonetheless."

"Getting hit is never fun. Good work."

"Thank you."

"In any case, you've all now seen what the White Savior can do, haven't you?"

The White Savior's Authorities came down to two. The first was 'Transmutation', which let it shift into any form whatsoever. The other was the newly gained 'Replication', which perfectly mimicked the form and performance of the original weapon.

Unlike the clone spears I summoned, this replica possessed a complete physical form, and locked into the original's shape, it reproduced the original's techniques exactly.

"Summing up the experiments so far, it breaks down like this."

"...Although, with a bit of finesse, number four's timing can be delayed a little."

"What about two and three? Can't you use the spear and the hammer at the same time?"

Rasty asked, eyeing the words I'd inscribed in midair. I shook my head.

"The clone is itself a form of Authority."

The White Savior was a Masterpiece forged by Drak. That was why I could handle it with a fair degree of freedom, but its promotion to Transcendent grade had granted it a special ability — one bestowed by Laurelieth herself.

"Until I surpass the power of the one who crafted the Light of Heritage, numbers two and three are out of the question, and even four won't be easy to touch."

"Sounds like she's far stronger than I gave her credit for. This could take quite a while, then."

"Mm..."

Even in a state slightly stronger than my post-Fourth-Ascension self, it had been impossible. At the very least, I'd need to grow further beyond the Fourth Ascension — through something else — before it became feasible.

"Well... I'm sure time will sort it out."

Fwoooosh.

I rested the hammer on my shoulder — its twin floating right alongside it. To be fair, doubling my hammers was quite useful in its own right. Splitting Metamor apart to move pieces of it was simple enough, but this replication, strictly speaking, amounted to adding an entire extra weapon. There was nothing bad about that at all.

In any case, that wrapped up the White Savior. Now came the turn of the Silver Purifier — the real main event of today's stream.

Shing.

A silver blade with a crimson jewel set into the hilt. The moment my fingers closed around the chill-breathing sword, everyone instinctively drew back.

"?"

Not just Ilmacheonwang — even Rasty had retreated.

"...What a loathsome sword."

"It's the natural enemy of the non-living, after all. How do you suppose it would feel to be cut by it?"

I swept the blade lightly through the air. A chill spread along its arc, and at the same time, the vampire blood-aura that had been drifting nearby simply melted away. Rasty kept her own power perfectly sheathed, so that would have been Ilmacheonwang's...

So it can melt down even the aura of a lesser demon?

"Well, I hate it."

"Then, Ilmacheonwang..."

"Might I also be permitted to refuse?"

"No."

"Nope."

"......"

The sword's stats were roughly comparable to the White Savior's. And its centerpiece, the Purification ability, had improved considerably — obvious from that single brief demonstration alone.

"Come over here."

"...Uh."

"If you won't come to me, I'll come to you."

"Will that be safe?"

"Probably?"

I was going to load it with the Divinity of Healing. What would actually happen, I honestly didn't know.

'Purification' had been empowered by Laurelieth, and just as I couldn't yet fully master 'Replication', its strength might well punch through the limits of Healing. No — rather, I was hoping it would.

If it worked as an attack, then even in my Fourth Ascension state, I'd be able to deal damage to enemies off my own power, instead of merely detonating divinity. I didn't fight primarily with swords, but that hardly meant I couldn't wield one.

"That said, something anomalous could still happen, however small the chance. You'd recover ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right away, of course — still, you never know."

"......"

"If you'd rather back out—"

"I will bear it."

Ilmacheonwang nodded, grave and solemn. He didn't need to say a word — as a vampire, he could already feel how dangerous this weapon was. He was about to face, in a far weakened state, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a sword that would have been threat enough at full strength.

I poured the Divinity of Healing into the Silver Purifier. The divinity stirred the slumbering blade awake, and the two began to resonate — the only Masterpiece that had lain dormant ever since the day Michael had given it to me.

Killing intent settled into the Silver Purifier. The Divinity of Healing swelled explosively, and a single technique took shape, unbidden, in my mind. One look at the technique's true form, and I understood. This was—

"A new ability, then?"

"Wait, hold on! That energy is—"

Forty-seven silver arcs came howling down. The Silver Purifier's second Authority — the secret art of the sword that reduces the non-living to nothing.

Slaughter.

Ilmacheonwang was blown apart.

"...Wow."