Chapter 18.1

The Holy Sword was still just as extraordinarily beautiful as when he had first seen it three hundred years ago. It was a weapon that was impossible to consider as merely a ‘sword’ used for cutting things.

It was unknown what type of metal the sword was made from. According to the legends of the Holy Empire, the home of the Holy Sword, it was a sword that had been bestowed by God.

‘It’s surprising that the Holy Empire didn’t try to take back the Holy Sword.’

Eugene circled around the Holy Sword, studying it from all angles. It had a beautiful scabbard and a long hilt that was best suited to being wielded with both hands. The blade itself wasn’t visible, but Eugene clearly remembered just how beautifully and dazzlingly the Holy Sword shone when pulled free of its scabbard.

He had to admit that he wanted it. Such a desire couldn’t be helped. After all, this was a sword personally bestowed by a God. The Holy Sword had been sealed in the central temple of the Holy Empire for a long period of time and it had accompanied them on their journey through the Devildom of Helmuth after recognizing Vermouth as its sole owner.

Although Vermouth himself didn’t end up using the Holy Sword all that often, this did not diminish the importance and value of the Holy Sword. This beautiful sword had cut down countless demons and had even pierced the heart of the first to be slain from Helmuth’s five Demon Kings.

‘….Although after that, it was almost exclusively used as a torch.’

When they defeated their first Demon King, everyone was still immature. While recalling back to that time, Eugene reached his hand out to grab the Holy Sword. It wasn’t like he had decided that he was going to be leaving with the Holy Sword, but for now, he just wanted to hold it.

Eugene grabbed the Holy Sword’s hilt with his right hand. The feeling of wrapping his fingers around the hilt was amazing. Although it outwardly looked like a ceremonial sword that had absolutely no use in actual combat, apart from this fact, it had actually been expertly crafted.

“…Hm.”

The Holy Sword’s scabbard was embedded deep into the floor of the treasure vault. Eugene tried to forcefully draw the sword, but the scabbard would not release its hold on the blade. Eugene grabbed the sword with both hands and tried to pull it out once more using all his strength.

“It’s not working,” he eventually admitted.

The Holy Sword was immovable. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t pull it out.

Just in case, Eugene bit the tip of his fingers to draw blood, then brushed his blood-stained fingertips on the hilt and the sheath of the Holy Sword. The blood that was smeared on the sword immediately vanished into thin air. He tried to draw the sword once again, but it still refused to be drawn.

‘Just like Gilead said, you’ll know once you’ve had a go at it yourself.’

Gilead had meant that it was impossible to draw the sword. Eugene didn’t waste more of his strength on it and cast away any regret. Even if he had managed to draw the sword, it wasn’t like he would have been allowed to keep it.

He took another look around. Sure enough, the vault contained a lot of different types of treasure. Besides weapons, there were also many jewels and accessories. With shining eyes, Eugene began his exploration.

‘This was… Azphel, right?’

Several weapons caught his eye. One was an unusual sword hanging on a wall; the edge of its blade had jagged protrusions that looked like the fangs of a beast. This was the ‘Devouring Sword’ Azphel. It could devour whatever it cut to increase its own strength.

At first glance, its actual power seemed difficult to judge, but Eugene was well aware of how broken this sword could be. It was a sword that could cut magic, a mana-devouring sword. No matter how powerful the spell was, in front of Azphel, it would be worthless.

‘Though only someone like Vermouth could use it to its full potential.’

It was only thanks to the fact that Vermouth was an excellent wizard in the first place that he was able to target a spell’s weak point and crush it in a single blow. So despite feeling more attracted to it than he had with the Holy Sword, Eugene decided to set it aside for now.

Besides this sword, several other familiar weapons had caught his eye.

‘There’s the Dragon Spear Kharbos.’

Although its cooldown was a bit long, as long as you could compensate for that, it was a spear capable of unleashing an attack as powerful as a dragon’s breath with a single thrust.

‘The Storm Sword Wynnyd.’

A sword imbued with the protection of the Wind Spirit King.

‘The Thunderbolt Pernoa.’

A bow that shot bolts of lightning, which could cross any distance to reach its target.

‘The Phantom Rain Sword Javel.’

A sword that could create countless flying copies of itself when mana was inserted.

‘And they’ve even got Gedon’s Shield.’

A deceptive shield that could divert any attack that came into contact with it into a different direction.

These were all weapons that could turn the world on its head if they got out. Eugene shook his head as he clicked his tongue in amazement. So it wasn’t just that they were Vermouth’s descendants; by holding the ownership of so many treasures, the Lionheart clan could back up its status as a great family. Even a dragon would lose its mind in envy when it saw how much treasure had been collected in this vault.

‘…But is this really everything?’

Despite all that was here, Eugene still had his doubts. After all, this wasn’t the entire range of weapons that he knew Vermouth had owned. He couldn’t see the terrifying Moonlight Sword or the Demonic Spear he had really been coveting.

‘The weapons here are only about half as good as those.’

This wasn’t anything strange. After all, three hundred years had passed. During this time, quite a few weapons may have left the treasure vault, never to return.

‘Bastards. They must have known a good thing when they saw it and snatched up all the really cheat weapons.’

Eugene kept clicking his tongue as he shook his head. Although the weapons that were left in the treasure vault were all amazing, he still felt regret for the weapons that weren’t there.

As a result of their loss, he had to prepare himself to make a difficult choice.

‘None of them would count as a waste for me to take, but….’

There was nothing that really grabbed his desire. Since he was still young, he didn’t have to worry about a lack of familiarity with it. No matter which weapon he chose, if he held onto it for a few years, he could slowly adapt to it until he could use it to his satisfaction.

‘The easiest to deal with is Wynnyd, but….’

It was a sword that had been personally blessed by the Wind Spirit King. Just holding it in your hands would allow you to command the spirits of the wind and, of course, it enabled you to use spirit magic. Although it would be impossible for a while, as long as he kept accumulating enough mana, he would even be able to one day summon the Wind Spirit King himself.

An advantage of this sword was that, unlike ordinary magic, spirit magic didn’t consume a lot of the user’s mana. Once the spirit was summoned, any further mana costs were taken care of by the spirit itself.

‘And with it, there isn’t a big demand for innate talent.’

Spirit Magic was usually difficult to get into. If they weren’t born with the trait that made a person attractive to spirits, even an excellent wizard wouldn’t be able to summon a low-class spirit. However, if one held Wynnyd, there wasn’t any need to worry about that, as it bypassed all the requirements for spirit magic.

‘Javel is tricky to wield. Azphel might be a good fit once I’ve learned some magic, but it would be hard to use it well for now. Pernoa… from what I recall, it consumes a whole lot of mana for each shot it makes.’

The Dragon Spear Kharbos didn’t fit Eugene’s tastes. As for Gedon’s Shield? It did have quite the cheat ability, but just like the Thunderbolt Pernoa, it consumed an enormous amount of mana each time.

‘Wynnyd is definitely the most convenient to use.’

Although he had come to this conclusion, Eugene didn’t select it immediately. Instead, Eugene kept looking around the treasure vault with an aimless gait. In addition to these weapons, there were several other treasures that Vermouth had also used.

‘These magic staffs… I’m not really sure how good they are.’

And there were quite a number of magic staffs at that. Since he was still young, he had thought about learning magic as well, but he didn’t want to choose a focus without knowing anything about it.

‘…Oh?’

Having wandered here and there through the treasure vault, Eugene halted in his steps. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked at the inside corner of a shelf. He quickly walked over and reached into the corner.

Lying there was a small necklace.

‘…Why is this here?’

Eugene held up the necklace and blinked in shock. It wasn’t anything special. There was no great magic imbued into it, nor did it have any important symbolism.

It was just an ordinary necklace filled with memories, for it was the necklace that Hamel had worn in his previous life.