The Sealed Weapon
The celestial race was known as the tribe of the spear.
That was how vast their understanding of the spear was — their aptitude, their technique, their mastery of every motion a spear could make, all of it blessed with transcendent correction beyond mortal limits.
Drdrk.
But I preferred a hammer far larger than any spear.
The reason?
"Trash."
KWAAAAAAAANG!!!
An overwhelming act of violence that no delicate little body should ever have been capable of. And the sheer, glorious feel of it in my hands.
"GRAAAAAK!!! Y-you damned byproduct!!!"
Its pincers shattered into fragments. They were so massive that the debris came raining down like a scarlet downpour.
Amid the falling wreckage, I gripped the hammer summoned from empty air and leapt high into the sky.
A slender hand and a fragile arm, wrapped around the hammer's haft. How could anyone wield — let alone swing — a weapon several times larger than their own body?
It was the question everyone who ever faced Lily and her hammer always asked.
But it was, frankly, a stupid question.
"Pathetic divinity."
Arguing common sense with a celestial was laughable in itself. Celestials were born with power twisted enough to overturn every law of physics and every convention the world held dear.
Which meant these thin arms were more than enough to swing it.
The colossal hammer, laden with divinity, came crashing down on the creature's head.
CRUNCH!! Its body slammed downward, caved in so far it became one with the ground itself.
KWAAAAAAAANG!!!
The already rock-hard shell burst apart, exposing the raw flesh beneath. One strike of merciless force — a hair deeper, and it would have died on the spot.
The monster trembled all over, its gaze — suddenly dropped to the level of a mere insect — fixed on me in animal terror.
Thud.
Thud. Thud.
Someone was approaching.
At the end of its reddening vision loomed a hammer radiating snowy white light. No — what it saw was Lily.
"Y-you...!"
"If you'd just stayed buried quietly in the deep sea, you'd still be alive right now."
Why on earth had it crawled out? Darkness — and two blue eyes burning brighter than any white light — gazed down at it in perfect stillness.
The monster felt, once again, the same emotion it had known long ago in the presence of a celestial.
Absolute powerlessness. A violence of merciless force that could overwhelm even its own monstrous strength. And then...
"Trash."
Fear.
"...Y-you! There's no way a madwoman like you is some mere byproduct! Y-you must be — you ARE a celestial! The real thing, I'm certain of it!"
"I'm human, actually."
"Don't make me laugh! As if a half-blood like you could ever—"
GRAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
The hammer, which had been resting idly, came down and flattened it again. One of the pincers that had barely survived the first blow followed the rest into ruin.
Torture isn't really my thing, so I suppose this would do.
Dozens of interlocking rings etched themselves across the snowy white hammer, and a colossal feast of mana whirled into being above my head. A magic circle vast enough to seal even an ancient demonic beast — a spell inspired, long ago, by the sealed temple of the ancient beast Griffin.
"I'll be sure to pass along my regards to the Kraken."
Who knows — we might even meet again someday.
CRACK!
"...Why is this here."
I looked at it with my eyes. I gripped it in my hand. I felt the power within it.
It's certain. This was the Scarlet Predator, beyond any doubt — the weapon containing the soul and power of the ancient monster, Karabus. I had cut down that giant crab-thing, and sealed everything he was into this hammer.
Type ⊙ Hammer
Requirements ⊙ Level 50 | Strength 30
Stats ⊙ Power 7 | Strength 2 | Durability 10
Enchantments ⊙ Strength Up | Shell | Frailty | Seal
Notes ⊙ Equipment in which someone's power dwells. With the right special something, its true power might be unsealed.
Lily woke up?
And here I thought she'd frozen lol
oh
isn't it just trash though?
what's with the notes field
Seal?
what's this Seal thing
legendary hidden piece, right? break the seal and a legendary pops out
what's the "special something" supposed to be
???
the raw stats are totally ordinary though
looks like a lore item — she can actually take it?
"So you like that one, Crab."
"...Why is this here, exactly?"
"? Didn't I tell you, Crab? These are the weapons the crabs of the Crab Kingdom used to wield, Crab."
Crabnius muttered that it was strange, then dug through the spear-type weapons with a pincer. Most of them had specs similar to this hammer's.
"Well, whether they actually forged them themselves, I couldn't say, Crab. It's been nearly a thousand years, and the First Empress erased everything — there's hardly any proper history left to speak of, Crab."
"......"
"Take as many of the weapons here as you like, Crab."
Why would they be here? I should have left everything I was behind in that place.
No — before that.
Are you telling me that place was Doen's past?
If so, how many years had passed? Could I even find the weapons I once used? Maybe, just maybe...
Lily? Hello?
"Ah."
My vision came back to me. The grip was slightly dented, probably from squeezing it far too hard — though the thing was sturdy enough that you could barely tell.
A single chat window drifted into a world that, until a moment ago, had held nothing but the crimson hammer. Everyone in chat seemed puzzled by my odd behavior.
I was on stream, wasn't I.
Right. I'd found a clue to the past, but in the end, I'd returned to the present. Unless I intended to go back there, focusing on my life in reality was the right call.
Not that I had any intention of going back.
"Ah, sorry about that! I just really wanted to try out a hammer. And look — there it was, perfect timing!"
I hefted the hammer with a sheepish grin and let it settle naturally against my shoulder. That weight. It really did feel wonderful. This is why you use a hammer.
?
lmao where did that sudden energy come from 😂😂😂😂
she WAS going on about hammers before, tbf
Lily knows how to use a hammer too??
Lily's good at everything
well if they're handing them out, grab it all — though sounds like we can only take a few
loot everything first, GO GO
?
we can't take it all?
it's a story dungeon, so we'll probably get to pick from the loot pool
meanwhile look how completely at ease she is holding that thing lmao
"Heh heh. Alright then — let's take the lot."
After all, I'd just picked up a long-time slave... no, an old grudge. I might as well enjoy myself.
somewhere a chill just ran down my spine
"She entered the Secret Vault... Crab..."
This was becoming rather inconvenient.
Crabdon, the devoted servant of Crabcrous, had infiltrated Crabnius's palace in secret, acting on his master's orders. The infiltration itself had been easy enough — the Crown Prince's palace was crawling with spies as it was. The problem was that his current target, Lily, had entered the Imperial Secret Vault.
Letting an outsider set foot in the Imperial Secret Vault could, conceivably, be spun into an accusation of defying the imperial authority...
But the prince is already a lost cause — too far gone for such petty plays, Crab.
The Crown Prince was a falling star. The Emperor himself was already leaning toward handing the succession to the Second Prince. He paid little mind to affairs of the Crown Prince's own palace, let alone anything that wasn't his own court.
And if she's entered the Imperial Secret Vault, she must have wanted something substantial to draw the otherworlder in, Crab.
She was an otherworlder with power, so she would have demanded compensation to match — and Crabnius, no doubt, had obliged. For Crabdon, whose own budget amounted to a seat in the next imperial court and a few pearls, the situation had become deeply troublesome.
"What could she possibly have been given, Crab?"
If it meant surrendering imperial property, surely even Lord Crabcrous would balk. That one would sooner order a man killed than part with a single treasure of the great Empire. This was, after all, a master cruel enough to poison the Empress — the living symbol of the Empire itself.
"...Nothing for it, Crab."
Crabdon was quietly making his preparations, bracing for the worst, when—
Creeeeak...
At last, Crabnius and the otherworlder emerged from the Imperial Secret Vault. The Crown Prince wore a drained, haunted expression; the otherworlder came out beaming, bristling with weapons dangling from every limb.
She really does resemble a merfolk, Crab.
The Crown Prince and the otherworlder parted ways. From the eavesdropped conversation, it sounded as though she would be moving soon — before long.
If he meant to act, it had to be now.
"Ah! Who might you be, Crab?"
"I'm the new head butler, Crab. And it looks like you're off to bring the new knight her refreshments, hm, Crab?"
"That's right, Crab!"
"I have words to deliver anyway, so I'll take them myself. Return to your post, Crab."
"Oh? Are you certain, Crab?"
"Quite sure, Crab."
"U-understood, Crab."
The crab servant bowed his head politely and pitter-pattered away down the corridor. Left alone, Crabdon stared for a long moment at the spot where the servant had stood — then quietly slipped poison into the teacup. A brown venom, dissolving seamlessly into the tea.
"Don't resent me too much, Crab."
It is, after all, the will of the man who would be the next Emperor.
"Who might you be?"
"Ah, I am the new head butler, Crab. I've brought your refreshments, Crab."
There sat the otherworlder on the bed, diligently polishing a hammer far larger than herself, looking delighted about something. Handling a weapon many times her own size was a little odd, certainly — but the uncannily refined strength on display sent a chill down any crab's spine who watched.
She's no ordinary one after all, Crab.
Crabdon calmly arranged the poisoned offerings alongside the ordinary snacks on the table, then allowed a suitable interval to pass. Fortunately, the otherworlder drank the tea at once.
The effect takes hold one day from now — slightly faster than what we used on the Empress.
If the proposal landed, he would deliver the antidote. If it didn't, he would use the poison itself as leverage to reel her in. Either way, the scheme held.
Crabdon parted his lips with his most ingratiating smile.
"The truth is, I—"
"The Second Prince."
Clink.
The otherworlder set her teacup down. A jolt of cold horror shot through him and he shot to his feet.
"Am I right?"
"...H-how did you know, Crab?"
"What did you expect, muttering to yourself loud enough for anyone to hear?"
That? He hadn't merely whispered on purpose — he'd gone so far as to use the Sound-Eating Clam, a special magic tool designed for exactly this.
His two bulging eyes began to tremble.
"Th-that's correct, Crab. I came on the Second Prince's orders, to make you an offer, Crab."
"Then this is pointless. I've already finished my arrangements with the Crown Prince."
"Whatever you received — I don't know what it was beyond that hammer — but I can offer you something greater, Crab."
"It won't work. I've never once betrayed anyone."
"......"
Too late, then.
He wanted to press the persuasion further, but somehow he doubted more words would get him anywhere. Which left only one course of action...
"It's already too late, Crab. The poison has already taken root in your body, Crab."
"...Poison, you say?"