Chapter 146. Holy Sword Restoration (2)
Clang!
Every time Vulcanus' Hammer came down, an immense amount of divine power scattered into the air around them, filling the forge with the resounding clash of metal.
The only sounds were the steady rhythm of hammering the orichalcum melted by the holy fire. The onlookers watched this sacred scene in silent awe, unable to utter a word.
"Still at it?"
Iliana, who had come to check on the progress with Terezia in tow, stared at Eunhyeon's hammering and asked.
"How much time has passed?"
"Hmm, about six hours?"
"I see."
Iliana eyed Riod, who nodded calmly and resumed gazing intently at Eunhyeon's work, her expression turning skeptical.
"No way... he's been hammering like that nonstop for six hours straight?"
"That's right."
Iliana frowned at Riod's matter-of-fact affirmation.
"He's insane... Stop him right now and make him rest...."
"Can't do that."
Riod grabbed Iliana's wrist as she moved toward Eunhyeon, halting her.
"Hey, let go! Don't interfere."
"You're the one interfering."
"What? Me, interfering? Can't you see how he looks? He's soaked in sweat! If he gets dehydrated...."
"Give it up. You think I didn't try? He's completely lost it. Six hours straight in front of the furnace, just hammering away. The guy's a maniac."
Anies, now resigned to the situation, advised Iliana with a bored expression in response to her outburst.
"......"
Iliana fell silent, staring fixedly at Eunhyeon.
He wore only a thin white shirt, which was drenched in sweat pouring down like rain, clinging transparently to his skin. Sweat poured from every inch of his body, and the droplets falling from his chin evaporated instantly upon hitting the hot floor, synchronized with the hammer's strikes. In the forge, where the temperature soared from the blazing flames, Eunhyeon—closest to the furnace as he tempered the metal on the anvil—endured the most scorching heat.
Clang!
Suddenly, the rhythmic clanging stopped.
"Huuuuh...."
Using tongs, he lifted the glowing red-hot blade, still radiating fierce heat, and unhesitatingly tossed it back into the furnace.
"Water!"
Anies reflexively grabbed the canteen beside her and hurled it to Eunhyeon at his shout. He caught it deftly, uncapped it, and gulped down the contents to replenish his fluids.
"Huuuuh. Oh, Iliana, you're here?"
"You... how long are you gonna keep this up?"
"Hmm, well, until the holy sword's blade is fully forged?"
"And when's that?"
"No idea."
"...That make any sense?"
"Holy swords are finicky. Gotta keep going until the sword itself is satisfied."
"The sword gets satisfied?"
Riod voiced his doubt at Eunhyeon's words.
"Holy swords are a bit different from regular weapons. They have their own will and choose their own master."
"...Father?"
"...I've never heard such a thing."
Abros and Alex, who had been silently watching the work, looked utterly surprised.
"Of course not. The ones who've wielded this sword have always been the heads of the Armitas ducal family and their heirs. Their blood was approved by the holy sword from the start. Over time, that fact must've gotten twisted and forgotten, huh?"
"...Even though you knew my plan to hand the holy sword to the second prince to solidify his claim as crown prince and prove his legitimacy?"
Abros narrowed his eyes and glared at Eunhyeon, who responded nonchalantly.
"And?"
"You knew my plan, so why didn't you mention this sooner?"
If the holy sword rejected the second prince even after revival, it could create a real mess.
"Your Grace, seems like there's a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding?"
"My goal is to revive the holy sword so one of the kingdom's people can be chosen by it, giving the kingdom a powerful guardian. Whether that's the second prince or someone else doesn't really matter to me."
There was always a chance the second prince could gain the holy sword's approval, following the ducal family.
The Holy Sword Durandal had originally been the royal family's blade, granted to the ducals long ago—so the Pernias royal blood might still be acceptable.
"...What if it falls into the hands of a villain?"
"That's pointless worry. This sword chooses its own wielder."
The holy sword tests the user's mindset and, if they meet its standards, acknowledges them as master and bestows a tremendous blessing infused with divine power. That blessing's source is the god's power embedded when the sword was forged. Ultimately, the sword's will mirrors the god's.
'And the divine power within this godly weapon is probably...'
Once Eunhyeon identified the faint divine origin in the sword, deducing the conditions for mastery wasn't hard—he could infer from the god's nature. Likely one of the seven goddesses who created this world, he thought.
'Not Lady Minerva's power. That leaves six candidates.'
Having received her artifact Aegis and felt her power, Eunhyeon could assert the sword's divinity wasn't Minerva's. Finishing his thoughts, he turned back to Abros.
"Your Grace, I'm not some errand boy or fixer here to solve all your problems. I told you from the start—we're in a 'symbiotic relationship.'"
"...You did."
In the end, Eunhyeon and Abros were just allies helping each other toward their goals.
Eunhyeon had provided massive funds, now aiding the restoration, and fulfilling Abros's long-held wish. But it was all because Eunhyeon needed it too—who the sword chose didn't concern him much.
Demanding more would be shameless, and Abros realized he'd grown overly reliant. Frowning, he accepted Eunhyeon's point.
"Well then...."
Wrapping up the talk and his brief rest, Eunhyeon plunged the tongs back into the roaring white-hot furnace. He pulled out the heated blade and resumed the endless hammering.
Clang!
"Haa... who the hell's gonna stop him...."
"Where you off to?"
As Iliana sighed and turned to leave, Riod glanced at her.
"He hasn't eaten in six hours. Gotta make something for him."
"What?"
"Huh?"
Riod and Anies stared at her in disbelief.
"What? Why're you looking at me like that?"
Iliana scowled at their dubious faces.
"...You're cooking?"
"Never thought I'd hear you say that."
"Why not! Can't I cook?!"
"No... even twenty years ago, when it was just us, you never lifted a finger."
"You're one to talk—you hated cooking so much you lived off energy bars for twenty years."
Riod recalled visiting Iliana's place before Eunhyeon's revival, stunned by the piles of energy bar wrappers and boxes.
"What? Those little cookie things? How'd you survive on that?"
Anies scanned Iliana's body skeptically, her face hardening.
"I was wondering what you ate to get boobs that big, and the secret's those biscuit lumps?"
"Nah, she's always been like that."
As Anies muttered seriously while eyeing her figure, Riod snorted in dismissal.
Abros and Alex pretended to ignore the trio's crude banter, focusing on Eunhyeon. Alex, shocked that world-saving heroes talked like this, looked embarrassed and averted his gaze.
"No need, witch. My daughter already went up to prepare some simple snacks for him."
"...Pardon? She did?"
Iliana scowled briefly before hastily switching to polite speech.
"Elenoa said she'd make something easy for the man to eat and headed up. Shift change for the sanctuary barrier soon, so she'll be down shortly."
"......"
◆ ◆ ◆
Clang!
Hammer, hammer, hammer again—endlessly bringing it down.
The strikes had repeated dozens, hundreds of times, leaving afterimages that bordered on hallucination.
Yet Eunhyeon didn't stop.
Beyond the scorching heat charring his skin—verging on burns that turned flesh to blackened meat—Anies's sanctuary barrier healed it instantly.
That wasn't all. It amplified the divine power in his body and Vulcanus' Hammer, enhancing the holy fire—not ordinary flames—to temper the orichalcum even stronger.
For that, he gladly endured the quickly healed burns.
Physical damage healed automatically via the barrier.
What mattered was the stamina to swing and the tenacity to persist.
Each strike sucked in his divine power and the barrier's divinity; he gauged the sword's completion by measuring the intake.
'Still, still not enough.'
With every blow from Vulcanus' Hammer, the blade greedily devoured the divine power from Eunhyeon and the barrier—yet it craved more, unsatisfied.
Hummm.
How much time passed? Finally reaching a point where it could express its will, the holy sword stirred, vibrating with divine power.
The quivering blade seemed to scream, "More, more! Not enough—give me more!"
Like a vicious cycle: devouring divinity to grow, then craving even more.
But Eunhyeon knew this was the sword regaining its ego.
'Yeah, got it. If you wanna eat that bad, go ahead.'
So whenever the blade wailed, he infused even more divine power into Vulcanus' Hammer and struck with full force.
Clang!
Hummm.
The blade convulsed wildly from the overwhelming divine strike.
Eunhyeon raised the hammer again, charged it, and slammed down on the trembling sword.
Claaang!
Hummm!
It shuddered violently again, desperately signaling: 'Stop, too much. Slower, gentler, smaller amounts.'
Eunhyeon ignored it.
Claaaang!
Huuuummm!
Struck again, the blade swung side to side like a pendulum, straining to escape the anvil.
'Lots, fast, hard strikes.'
Eunhyeon realized this was the final sprint to completion.
He poured divine power to the hammer's absolute limit, raising it high—his forearm bulging—as he prepared the last blow.
Sensing the unprecedented divinity in the towering hammer, the sword froze rigid atop the anvil, as if terrified of what was coming.
'Here goes!'
Claaaang!
The final strike unleashed all the hammer's divinity. The holy sword absorbed it and erupted in blinding white light.
"Aaaagh! Fuck! Eye bleach!"
Anies screamed, shielding her eyes from the forge-filling brilliance.
Seconds later, the light faded, revealing on the anvil a silvery blade gleaming as brightly as Eunhyeon's hair.
"......?"
Eunhyeon tilted his head at the reborn sword's odd state. Overloaded with divinity, it trembled all over—had there been side effects? As he reached for the hilt.
Hummm!
"Huh?"
The hilt jerked away, repelling his hand.
Eunhyeon stared dumbfounded. Holy swords lavish blessings on approved masters but act like normal weapons otherwise—no special reactions.
"What the actual fuck is this...."
He had no intention of wielding it, but the blatant 'rejection' irked him anyway.