Chapter 87: Arc Blade (2)
“Just what the hell is going on!”
Black Market, situation room of the undersea warehouse.
The security team leader who had kicked the door open shouted in an urgent voice.
“Report the situation right now!”
“I-it seems intruders have entered inside the warehouse…….”
‘It seems’? You’re calling that a report? Explain the situation properly!”
“I want to, but…….”
At the team leader’s words, the employee spoke while sweating profusely.
“All internal communication networks are completely down…….”
“Down?”
“It looks like…… a hacker has infiltrated…….”
“What?”
The team leader shoved the employee aside and stared at the monitor.
“A hacker……?”
This place was the undersea warehouse of the Black Market, a location boasting the strictest Electrosphere security in the world.
Five highly skilled hackers were constantly monitoring the external firewalls.
Critical devices individually had siege barriers of Grade 7 or higher and dozens of high-performance Black Ice densely installed.
A place where it was said that directly attacking through the main gate would be easier than infiltrating via the Electrosphere.
And now that very undersea warehouse had been hacked.
As the team leader wore an expression of disbelief, another employee shouted from the side.
“Warehouses numbers 13 through 18 are flooding!”
“What are you talking about now?”
“We think the intruders may have broken in from the ocean side…….”
That too made no sense.
They broke through several ters of reinforced concrete walls?
And in a place located underwater?
The team leader looked at the CCTV screens.
Most were pitch-black and powered down, but on so screens he could see seawater pouring in.
“My god…….”
After staring blankly at the sight for a mont, the team leader muttered like a sleepwalker.
“Number 3……. What’s the situation in warehouse number 3……?”
The warehouse where the most important item was stored.
That place, at least, had to be protected no matter what.
The team leader’s wildly shaking eyes turned toward the CCTV marked with 「No. 3」.
Fortunately, the warehouse shown on the screen looked intact.
Even the ‘coffin’-shaped object inside it.
“Concentrate all forces on warehouse number 3 imdiately!”
At the order, the guards began to move.
‘That thing must be protected at all costs.’
If they failed, it wouldn’t end with simply getting fired from their jobs.
“Mobilize all external personnel as well!”
“E-external personnel, sir?”
“Yes! Right now!”
As the team leader barked orders, spraying spit, he failed to notice.
That a small bug was crawling on his shoulder.
Arc Blade.
The weapon once used by the legendary swordsman known as the Supre Swordsman, Lee Hamin.
Judging by its appearance alone, it was not sothing one could call a ‘sword’.
It was rely the handle of a sword, standing alone.
“No way, isn’t this broken? At this rate it’s just an ordinary stick.”
Garcia grumbled while inspecting the Arc Blade from every angle.
Diesel observed him closely.
‘As expected, he doesn’t know how to use it.’
In a way, that was only natural.
Even in the past, the only person who could properly wield the Arc Blade was my older brother, Lee Hamin.
Moreover, it had been over seventy years since my brother disappeared.
Not only would no one know how to use it, but even information about the weapon itself would be scarce.
‘Well, even if he knew the thod, he wouldn’t be able to use it.’
The Arc Blade hid two secrets.
One of them was that an extrely weak ‘ego’ dwelled within the weapon.
An ego injected as a kind of security concept, designed to respond only to its owner’s commands.
‘They called it a soul command.’
A thod where it read and followed the thoughts the owner ford in their mind.
The problem, however, was whether the ego engraved in that weapon was still intact.
Having been subrged deep in the sea for a long ti, the probability that it was damaged was not low.
〈Arc Blade.〉
I called the weapon’s na in my thoughts.
But there was no response.
Several hypotheses ca to mind.
‘Could it be that it doesn’t recognize as its owner?’
Perhaps it had judged that Diesel lacked the qualifications.
No matter how much I had my brother’s body, it was ultimately a thod that read commands from the ‘soul’.
But I erased that assumption the mont it surfaced.
‘That’s definitely not it.’
The owner of that weapon was .
I was certain of that.
Because the mont I faced the Arc Blade, I felt a faint connection with so presence inside it.
‘Then maybe it really is broken…….’
The worst possible scenario.
Even outwardly, its condition did not seem normal.
‘Still, judging by the fact that I can sense its ego, it’s not completely broken.’
A faintly felt connection.
From that, I could guess that even if it was damaged and couldn’t function properly, the ego part was still alive.
But if that were the case, it should have responded to its owner’s call.
‘If that’s not the problem…….’
There was still one more possibility.
The biggest reason the weapon wouldn’t respond.
That was.
The thod of ‘calling’ the weapon was wrong.
‘Hmm…….’
One sentence had been circling in my head for a while now.
The reason I hadn’t said it was because it was too embarrassing to utter.
‘Ha……. That bastard brother, seriously……. Was he always like this?’
I knew there was a ti when my brother had been obsessed with fantasy novels.
Perhaps because of that influence, the nas he gave things were generally mortifying to say out loud.
‘It can’t be helped…….’
In the end, I whispered as quietly as possible, as if ashad.
[O sword that protects the greater cause and guides with light, Arc Blade. Your owner calls, so open your eyes and obey your owner’s command. Rise and annihilate your owner’s enemies…….]
[……?]
I barely managed to recite the sentence to the end while forcibly ignoring Sis’s gaze beside .
Then.
A reaction appeared from the Arc Blade.
“Huh……?”
The weapon’s handle began to vibrate weakly.
Like a wireless electronic device establishing a connection.
“Hmm……. Ah……! Does it react when you insult it?”
Watching that, Garcia jumped to a strange conclusion.
Thinking that calling the weapon ‘trash’ earlier had worked, he began hurling insults in succession.
“You short little thing.”
“That’s all the size you’ve got?”
“What could you even kill with sothing like this!”
“You useless, blunt stick.”
The funny thing was that the Arc Blade actually reacted to the man’s words.
‘……So they said it had a weak ego.’
As the vibrations grew more intense, Garcia got excited and spewed even more insults.
While everyone’s attention was briefly drawn away like that, I slightly lifted my finger.
“Uh……. It worked. It worked!”
At that gesture, the Arc Blade went bwoong, floating up into the air.
Garcia stared at it blankly, thinking he had succeeded.
〈Slowly spin around in place.〉
I could have made it fly straight into my hand like this, but instead I decided to put on a bit of a performance.
If a knight around Level 7 noticed sothing strange, things would definitely go awry.
[To wield the Arc Blade, I heard you must first be chosen…….]
[S-surely…… the weapon didn’t choose that man as its master?]
At the astonishing sight, the spectators who were still lingering in their seats began to murmur.
Garcia seed to like those words, a smile forming at the corner of his mouth.
“Yeah. From now on, I’m your master!”
It seed I had erased most of the suspicion, but it was still too early to call it back.
This ti, I moved the Arc Blade to make it circle through the air.
“Oooh……!”
It made one full rotation, drawing a large circle.
Gradually widening its trajectory, it slowly moved closer to the audience seats.
“Hahaha! lissa, what did I tell you! I said I’d definitely been chosen!”
I wondered if she might doubt it, but fortunately there was no such sign at all.
Well, who here could even imagine that soone could actually wield the Arc Blade?
“Now, co! To your new master……!”
At last, Garcia spread both arms wide upward.
But the weapon made one final large circle, then went to a completely unexpected place and landed.
“……?”
All eyes in the auction hall focused on a single spot.
Straight at Diesel, who was holding the Arc Blade in his hand.
“……You, what are you?”
Garcia’s face, full of anticipation just monts ago, twisted.
Even the Old Butler, who had maintained a relaxed expression the whole ti, seed to sense sothing suspicious and looked at Diesel.
At that mont.
[Sis.]
[Got it.]
At the sa ti as my words, closed channels connected with several people in the audience.
[Huh…….]
[So it was true.]
[To think he can really handle the Arc Blade…….]
While I manipulated the sword, Sis was persuading the others based on the information I had given her in advance.
Because of that, everyone already roughly understood what was happening.
‘No need for a separate explanation.’
I spoke bluntly.
[I’ll deal with Garcia. But I need ti.]
At that, one man answered first.
[How much?]
He was a large-built Physical Guard sitting in the lowest row of the VIP seats.
[About two minutes.]
[Then I’ll step in and…….]
[Wait, you’re better off taking the butler. I’ll buy ti with Garcia.]
The woman who suddenly cut in was the lee Mage sitting right next to .
[I specialize in that sort of thing.]
[Alright. Then the lee Mage takes Garcia, and you, Guard, handle the Old Butler.]
At my arrangent, a final voice asked.
[By the way, does that weapon need charging?]
The mage sitting in the top row of the VIP seats spoke as if he knew about the Arc Blade.
I didn’t bother hiding it as I answered.
[Is it possible right now?]
[Yes. Which type would you like?]
[Radiance-type would be good.]
Mana that manifested as brilliant light.
Radiance-type mana was the most difficult to handle even among the ‘energy’ categories.
[Hold it tight.]
With the mage’s words, mana gathered into the Arc Blade.
‘…….’
Despite the considerable distance, the mana was infused without a shred of waste.
That alone told how extraordinary my opponent’s skill was.
Along with that, the second secret hidden within the Arc Blade was revealed.
This weapon was sothing that ‘devoured’ mana.
‘Considering my brother couldn’t even use a lick of mana, it’s kind of an ill-suited weapon.’
But for my brother, that point was never much of a problem.
Around Lee Hamin, there were always talented mages by his side.
‘Especially the mana Lee Hayun imbued was truly incredible.’
A special weapon whose power varied wildly depending on the quality of the charged mana.
That was the true terror of the Arc Blade.
[Alright, it’s done.]
Though it wasn’t at the Archmage-level I rembered, high-density, pure Radiance-type mana was swirling within the weapon.
At the sa ti, I ford the structure of a magic formula I had been preparing since earlier.
Pajijijik……!
Blue sparks burst in midair.
At the ominous Lightning-type mana fluctuations, Garcia deeply furrowed his brow.
“Hey, you butler bastard.”
“…….”
“This is an exceptional situation. You admit that, right?”
After tossing that remark toward the Old Butler, he drew his golden sword.
Without taking my eyes off Garcia, I threw a mana stone into the electrical sparks.
‘Good thing I carried a few just in case.’
Soon, the flickering lightning took on a shape.
The form of a Type-15 Lightning Spirit.
〈Yuter.〉
〈Contractor. The situation is urgent.〉
〈Yeah. Support properly on your own.〉
The mont my words ended.
The golden sword strike unleashed by the Ripple Knight flew toward the audience.
But before that.
Pshushushuk……!
Brilliant radiance surged forth from the handle of the Arc Blade.
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