A familiar sensation of a hand resting on the head.
Though muffled, the welcome voice of a old friend reached Tiger Beetle.
"That was a close one, Dragon Fly."
"Ah, sorry about that. You did great, Tiger Beetle."
After patting Tiger Beetle's head, Dragon Fly stepped forward toward Diverte and spoke.
"Now, I'll leave the finishing touches to you. I'm at my limit too."
Tiger Beetle's legs wobbled as the tension released, leaning against a large crate behind.
"Leave it to me. I'll wrap this up quickly."
"Yes. I'll rest for a bit then."
Seeing the massive greatsword slung over Dragon Fly's shoulder, Tiger Beetle smiled.
Kourong-gu, the god of blacksmithing of the Grong.
With a red cloth wrapped around his hand, Kourong-gu raises his hammer high and strikes the iron on the anvil.
Without rest, he forges weapons for the brave Grong who will chop the pale snake's body into pieces and smash its head, which makes one want to vomit just by looking at it, onto the ground.
Kourong-gu despises the pale snake. He curses it, resents it.
The pale snake, whom Kourong-gu hates the most.
He wants to gouge out its eyes, cut off its tail, pull out its fangs, wrap them in its slithering tongue, and throw them into the furnace to stoke the flames.
He forges weapons by hammering the red-hot iron.
A thick-bladed greatsword. A long-handled axe. A heavy-tipped mace.
The sound of hammering pleases Kourong-gu. His song echoes through the forge:
Brave Grongs, wield my weapons. My weapons, forged over a thousand days, Will pierce armor and shatter shields blessed by the goddess.
Courageous Grongs, avenge me.Take my weapons and kill the pale snake to bring me joy.
I will give you weapons that inspire courage. Look into the snake's eyes. Dodge its fangs. Beware of its tail.
The red dragonfly. A human taller than the Grong, the red dragonfly.
The only human to whom Kourong-gu has given a weapon. In exchange for his cherished greatsword, Kourong-gu made the human swear to answer his call until the day he breathes his last and to train relentlessly.
Oh, my only exception, the human dragonfly. I give you this sword, wrapped in red cloth resembling my tongue.
My one exception, this sword is special. This sword I give you is the largest, The strongest, and most durable among my many weapons.
Your blood is our contract. Draw my emblem with your blood and claim your sword. Call forth the sword meant only for you.
No need to shout. No need for much blood. Draw the sigil. Draw my sigil with your blood. Thus, your sword will appear wherever you call it.
The greatsword forged by Kourong-gu, the god of blacksmithing of the Grong, slung over Dragon Fly's shoulder, had a distinctly different appearance from ordinary greatswords.
The long hilt meant for a two-handed grip, the tip of the blade not pointed but broad, abandoning the idea of thrusting.
The blade was three to four times wider than other greatswords, and its thickness was impressively heavy.
At 3.5 cubits (175 cm) long, the surface of the black steel was inscribed in the Grong language with phrases in red: 'Forged in the name of the god, so slay our sworn enemy, the pale snake.' and the terms of the exceptional contract with Dragon Fly.
The thin cloth wrapped around the hilt, adorning it, shimmered with a faint red glow even in the darkness, swaying gently with Dragon Fly's steps.
"You've waited long enough, you crazy-eyed freak! I won't go down as easily as before, so brace yourself!"
Dragon Fly lowered the greatsword from his shoulder and walked toward Diverte, closing the distance.
"Hehe… Hehehehe. It's just a bigger sword~"
Though Diverte was laughing, licking his own fangs with the tip of his tongue, his stance was cautious, shifting his grip on his sword and moving carefully while observing his opponent's movements.
The killing intent was faint, but the pure fighting spirit emanating from Dragon Fly and the overwhelming presence of the massive weapon in his hand made Diverte hesitate.
Whoooosh
The heavy sound of the wind as Dragon Fly's greatsword sliced through the air was audible. It was strong enough to make Diverte's hair flutter, even from a distance.
"Hmm! It's been a while since I've wielded the frog god's greatsword."
Dragon Fly was swinging the enormous greatsword of Kourong-gu, which, due to its size and weight, an ordinary person could barely lift off the ground.
"Alright! I've adjusted to the weight enough. Let's begin, blue eyes."
As soon as he finished speaking, Dragon Fly charged at Diverte.
Holding the sword's hilt with both hands, he raised it over his shoulder. Despite carrying such a massive weapon, he moved at an unbelievably fast speed, appearing in front of Diverte in an instant and lifting the heavy greatsword high.
"I'll split you in half!"
With an explosive shout, he swung the greatsword down, but Diverte quickly twisted his body and leaped back, avoiding the shadow of the descending blade.
Crash
The stone floor of the warehouse cracked, and the spot where the greatsword landed was deeply dented. Small stone fragments and even smaller debris scattered in all directions.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Gripping the greatsword with his right hand, Dragon Fly pulled it from the dented floor and pursued his opponent without giving any respite.
He swung the lowered greatsword, and like its master, the Snake Bane, filled with fighting spirit, raised its head toward Diverte.
Kagaaaagaaagaaak—
Diverte quickly raised his sword to deflect the trajectory of the greatsword that was relentlessly aiming to cleave through his heart, producing a grating sound of metal on metal.
"Don't worry, Rheabella. I'll… kill him soon! Very soon… very soon…"
After deflecting the greatsword's attack, Diverte steadied his staggering body, planted one arm and both legs on the ground to gain speed, and charged toward Dragon Fly with his curved sword filled with killing intent.
"Who the hell are you talking to, you crazy-eyed freak!"
Dragon Fly's eyes sharpened. Then, he swung his sword vertically toward Diverte with a sharp cry.
Diverte's sword, enveloped in a dark, murky green aura, clashed with Dragon Fly's greatsword, and both stepped back a few paces.
"You… you can't defeat us!"
Along with Diverte's voice, an alien wave of mana reached Dragon Fly.
After Diverte's scream-like shout, he closed the distance in an instant, pointing his sword and appearing before Dragon Fly.
A series of rapid attacks, laden with thick killing intent, were directed at Dragon Fly.
"Tch. Annoying."
Dragon Fly clicked his tongue in irritation as he parried Diverte's incoming sword.
The sword danced wildly, its attacks swirling around like dozens of blades covered in killing intent, coming at him like a spinning wheel of death. Accompanying these swift attacks was a sharp, grating sound that continuously assaulted Dragon Fly's ears.
"Be careful, Dragon Fly! It's an attack that dulls your senses!"
Tiger Beetle shouted toward Dragon Fly. The sharp sound of the blade was a precursor to Diverte's eerie attack, which dulled the senses and disrupted balance, accompanied by a woman's singing voice.
"Yeah! I was just about to deal with that annoying noise!"
After responding to Tiger Beetle, Dragon Fly took a deep breath. Then, he paused for a moment, pulled back the greatsword in his hand, lowered it, and swung it toward the approaching Diverte.
In that brief moment, he concentrated his strength into the greatsword and delivered a single strike toward Diverte. A clean, horizontal slash parallel to the ground, without any tremor.
It was a strike devoid of flair or the finesse born from long experience, but it carried a different kind of intent from mere killing—a strong will to cleave through the opponent and emerge victorious in battle.
And with it, a slight intention to stop the irritating attack piercing his ears. This strike hit Diverte squarely.
"Argh!"
Diverte tried to block the greatsword aimed at his waist by raising his sword, but the force was equivalent to being directly hit by a club swung by a powerful ogre, sending him flying toward a stack of grain sacks in the warehouse.
"Haaaaa!"
From within the misty cloud of flour and dust, Diverte's scream echoed.
"Oh! That seemed effective. That's definitely a cry of pain, right?"
"Well… he makes a lot of strange noises, so I'm not sure."
Thud
The sound of a grain sack bursting was heard, and Diverte's shadowy figure emerged through the dust, charging toward Dragon Fly.
"Get out of my dream!!!!!"
Spitting out the black blood in his mouth, Diverte shouted. Despite his shattered arm and a broken collarbone with bones protruding, his movements did not stop.
Burning the last of his life force, Diverte launched his attack. A powerful wave of mana burst from his body, strong enough to push away the surrounding dust and flour mist.
With furrowed brows and narrowed eyes, Dragon Fly watched Diverte's shadow. Diverte flew toward him at such speed that there was no time to react, his sword aimed to pierce Dragon Fly's throat.
As Diverte felt the sensation of his sword piercing flesh and tried to push harder with his twitching arm, something strange happened.
"Hngh!"
The sword wouldn't go any further. He tried to extend his arm further to stab the neck of Dragon Fly right in front of him, but instead, he felt the tip of the sword pulling out of the flesh.
Then, he felt a force pushing him back, as if something was burrowing into his body.
When Diverte looked down, he saw a red cloth embedded in his chest.
The other end of the long cloth, moving as if alive, was connected to Dragon Fly's greatsword.
The red strap of the Snake Bane, blessed by Kourong-gu, had the power to protect its master.
As a mechanism to fill the gaps naturally created when wielding such a massive greatsword and to protect the user, Kourong-gu's blessing activated, deploying its function to block Diverte's life-threatening attack on Dragon Fly.
"Too shallow! That's why it didn't reach."
"Ugh… Urk! Get… get out of my dream. From Rheabella and my dream…!"
With blood gushing from his mouth, Diverte screamed. Even as his life ebbed away, his final cries reached Tiger Beetle and Dragon Fly.
Along with the chilling scream, a dark aura surged violently from Diverte's entire body.
Like the ominous, turbulent waves of a black sea before a storm, Diverte unleashed a flood of malevolent emotions.
"…"
With the red cloth still embedded in his chest, Diverte raised his sword to strike down at Dragon Fly.
Clang
The sound of thin metal falling rang out.
Tiger Beetle, who had approached unnoticed, clashed swords with Diverte. At the same time, Dragon Fly's greatsword made a swift horizontal slash, cutting through Diverte's body.
Diverte's upper body fell to the ground. The red strap returned to its master, coiling back around the hilt of the greatsword.
Looking at his broken sword on the ground with trembling blue eyes, Diverte tried to call out the name "Rheabella" with his last breath, but his voice failed him, and he sank into eternal silence, like submerging into a still sleep.
"Phew… That was a dangerous opponent."
"Hmph! He was worthy of making me draw Kourong-gu's greatsword."
"But… we've made a mess of the warehouse. We'll have to explain this to the client."
"How about persuading them that it's collateral damage that can happen during work?"
"Oh, that's a good idea. Anyway, let's treat your wounds first. I happen to have an ointment made from the roots of Telasia, which is good for sword cuts."
"You're always well-prepared. Thank you."
"It's part of my vocation."
Amid the debris of broken wooden crates and scattered items in the warehouse, Tiger Beetle rummaged through pockets to find the ointment and approached Dragon Fly, who was sitting down.
The flying dust settled, and a calm stillness began to fill the warehouse once more.
"It was a tough night!"
"Yes, Dragon Fly. It was a grueling night."