Translator: CinderTL
"Is this... the Mithril Longsword?"
Roland stared at his "old friend," which now floated in the air, its form utterly transformed. He couldn't hide the astonishment in his eyes.
The longsword was unrecognizable from the plain, unadorned weapon he remembered. It was as if a soul that had slept for a thousand years had finally been awakened.
"Quite impressive, isn't it!"
Though he didn't know the details of the contract Roland had struck with the ancient being, Durga, having witnessed the longsword's metamorphosis, excitedly nudged Roland's side with his gauntlet. He let out a loud whistle, then puffed out his chest, his coarse voice brimming with pride.
"Well, Rudolph? My craftsmanship back then wasn't half bad, was it?"
He stroked his thick beard, his eyes—as large as copper bells—shimmering with the light of reminiscence.
"But to be honest, I have to thank that human mage you introduced me to."
"If he hadn't helped me secure that top-tier forge equipped with a Ley Line Furnace, I never could have forged this 'little beauty' so perfectly!"
Before Durga's words had even faded, the Mithril Longsword floating in the air seemed to sense something. It spun gracefully in the air before settling steadily into Roland's open palm.
Roland raised the renewed longsword with both hands, his fingertips clearly feeling the faint pulse emanating from its blade.
He gazed at the ancient inscriptions flowing across the Pale Silver Sword's surface and unconsciously recited them aloud, his low voice echoing through the silent cave.
"With the essence of wind as a guide, shake the mountain range and roar in silence."
"In the hour when the stars and moon fade, tear asunder the ancient covenant."
"Awaken the slumbering spirit, reshape the form of old."
"When the threads of fate intertwine, witness the dawn of the end."
"Henceforth..."
As Roland recited the words, the Mithril Longsword began to transform.
The golden vein running down the center of the blade suddenly flared to life, surging with torrents of powerful energy.
Countless tiny golden particles materialized from the void, converging upon the sword as if summoned.
The blue gem in the hilt erupted with a dazzling brilliance, the sealed starry sky within it seemingly coming alive, its starlight swirling ceaselessly.
The entire longsword began to vibrate at a high frequency, emitting a clear, piercing cry like a dragon's roar.
A visible vortex of energy formed at the sword's tip, and the air grew thick with a suffocating pressure, as if it were about to unleash a world-shattering impact in the next instant.
"Stop! Human, what are you doing!"
The Colossus's panicked voice boomed like thunder in Roland's mind.
For the first time, its massive eye betrayed clear terror, and even the surrounding darkness began to churn violently.
Roland himself realized something was wrong and immediately stopped chanting.
Suppressing the shock in his heart, he quickly shifted his gaze to the end of the inscriptions.
There, a line of small characters was clearly engraved:
"Crystal Calendar 491, Radiant Moon, Rudolph."
"Year 491... That means Rudolph will go to fight the 'Abyssal Eye' in six years..."
Roland's fingertips lightly brushed the sword's blade.
The familiar touch of mithril remained, but he could clearly sense the presence of unidentified mineral fragments mixed within.
These unknown impurities were scattered like stars throughout the blade, and it was they that had completely transformed the longsword's nature.
Staring at the flowing inscriptions and recalling the terrifying energy that had just surged within the blade, Roland understood.
This sword, named "Radiant Moon," had undoubtedly undergone an enchantment process far beyond anything ordinary.
Even with his current mastery of enchantment, he couldn't fathom how such a feat was possible.
The technique that perfectly sealed such immense power within the blade while allowing it to resonate with the wielder was nothing short of a miracle.
"The pact is sealed, human. Now, leave my territory."
The Colossus's voice boomed again, jolting Roland from his reverie.
The voice held a palpable impatience, yet it was tinged with a faint, almost imperceptible trace of wariness.
"We're leaving now," Roland replied calmly, looking up. "But we need to activate the shell ship first."
A low, grinding sound, like boulders scraping against each other, echoed from the darkness—the Colossus's displeased rumble.
Its massive eye lingered briefly on the longsword in Roland's hand before slowly retreating, sinking back into the deeper shadows.
"...Make it quick."
With that final, warning whisper, the overwhelming pressure began to rapidly fade.
Not just the giant eye, but all the remaining Aboleths also retreated like a receding tide into the depths of the cave, vanishing without a trace.
In an instant, the vast underground cavern plunged back into dead silence.
Only the faint blue glow of the surrounding crystals and the chaotic battlefield strewn across the floor bore witness to the harrowing encounter.
As the suffocating pressure finally vanished into the darkness, Durga let out a long, ragged breath he'd been holding, his tense muscles finally relaxing.
He clapped Roland on the shoulder, his voice hoarse with the relief of a survivor.
"Hey, old friend... You've saved my life again."
Roland tore his gaze away from the darkness where the behemoth had disappeared and sheathed the pristine Radiant Moon with a flick of his wrist. He shook his head.
"Now's not the time. That thing retreated too cleanly; its motives are unpredictable. We can't linger here. We need to leave immediately."
"You're right."
Durga's expression hardened in agreement.
He turned toward the shell ship, which had lain dormant for countless ages, his Iron Gauntlet shimmering with a faint light.
Approaching the vessel, the Gray Dwarf Leader pressed his gauntleted hand against a section of the hull where the texture differed slightly from the rest of the shell.
As he began chanting the low, guttural incantation, the runes on the Iron Gauntlet lit up one by one, their pale glow resonating with the shell ship's bleached hull.
At first, only the small area beneath his palm rippled with light. But soon, like a stone cast into a still lake, the radiance surged outward, racing along the nerve-like patterns that etched the ship's surface.
The entire underground cavern was bathed in a cold, pulsing psionic glow.
A low hum vibrated through the massive hull, like a giant beast slowly stirring from its slumber.
Several colossal crystals embedded in the ship flared to life, projecting beams of light that wove intricate, ever-shifting patterns in the air.
Vroom!
A deep, resonant boom echoed from within the ship.
As the sound faded, the shell ship's surrounding glow stabilized.
An invisible force field seemed to have reactivated, lifting its massive bulk slightly off the rock it had been fused to for millennia.
Durga withdrew his right hand and turned to Roland, a smile of both exhaustion and triumph tugging at the corners of his mouth beneath his beard.
"Alright, old friend. This big ship... belongs to us now."
Seeing Durga awaken this Astral Construct—which had slumbered for a millennium—with such ease, Roland couldn't help but look on in astonishment.
"Starting it up... is really that simple?"
"Simple?"
At this, Durga let out a coarse, low chuckle and tapped his Iron Gauntlet with his other hand.
"Old friend, it is far from simple."
"We Grey Dwarves endured ten centuries of enslavement and suffering just to learn to read the scripts of these otherworld bastards. Then we spent another hundred years in blood and tears, experimenting to figure out how to 'speak' with their creations."
A shadow flickered across his scarred face.
"This seemingly effortless press of a button was paved with the bones of countless kin."
With that, he turned to the shell ship and uttered a series of short, clipped syllables.
Following his command, a faint mechanical whirring sounded from the ship's side.
The next moment, a carapace slid open, and a staircase woven from luminous fibers—resembling biological tissue—descended silently before them.
"Come on."
Durga tilted his head toward the stairs.
"It's time to leave this godforsaken place."
Roland nodded, his gaze sweeping curiously over the bio-mechanical entrance as he prepared to step onto the glowing stairs.
Just then, his heart gave a sudden, violent throb.
It wasn't born of fear or excitement, but a strange, utterly foreign pulse that seemed to emanate from a distant realm.
The sensation was gone in an instant, like a pebble tossed into a still lake, creating only a faint, imperceptible ripple. Yet, it was enough to make him pause mid-step.
He instinctively raised a hand to his chest, his brow furrowing slightly.
Though the sudden strangeness brought no discomfort, it left an indescribable sense of wrongness in his heart.
Before Roland could fully process the fleeting anomaly, the strange pulse struck again.
This time, it was no longer gentle. Like a hidden current beneath a calm lake suddenly surging to the surface, it manifested as a sharp, fleeting sting in his chest.
The sensation was so brief that if he hadn't been so keenly attuned to it, he would have dismissed it as a mere trick of the mind.
Roland's brow furrowed deeper as he tried to pinpoint the source of this inexplicable sensation.
As he focused, a line of cold, golden text silently materialized in the center of his vision:
[Trait Acquired: Red String of Fate]
(End of the Chapter)
---------------------------
📖 You are reading [242] Chapters behind.
🔥 Read up to Chapter [634] now, only on 𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝕞.
📚 Read upto [13,000+] Chapters on Site with [10,400+] Free Chapters!
🚫 Also get FREE lifetime ad-free and join the giveaway by joining our Discord!
---------------------------