Chapter 10: I Was the One Who Seduced It First (3)

When Keter didn’t listen, Volkanus gripped his hammer more aggressively. Though Volkanus was currently a blacksmith, he was formerly a combatant who had smashed countless monsters and knight heads. His intimidating presence couldn’t be ignored, even by a high-ranking knight, but Keter just casually looked at the bow.

“What’s this thing’s name?” Keter asked, pointing at the jet-black bow.

“This is your last warning. Put down Amaranth. I’ll give you the finest bow, not these pieces of trash.”

“Amaranth. It rolls off the tongue nicely.”

Voong!

Amaranth vibrated the moment Keter mentioned the bow’s name. In an instant, it transformed from a bow into a liquid form and enveloped Keter’s right hand. Since it couldn’t take over his mind, it was trying to take over his body first.

Voosh!

Volkanus mercilessly swung his hammer at Keter’s head, trying to knock him unconscious before Keter became the Marksman of the Demon Arrow.

Thud!

The hammer was destructive and powerful enough to kill an ogre instantly. However, Keter caught the attack with his right palm on the spot.

Vrrr...

The hammer, made of black iron, which was ten times harder than regular steel, shook violently. Volkanus had swung with all his might, but Keter was only pushed back slightly.

Stepping back two paces to steady himself, Volkanus muttered, “Damn, is it too late? Has he already become the Marksman of the Demon Arrow...?”

Volkanus was certain that Keter’s incredible strength that blocked his hammer came from Amaranth. He believed Keter had already been taken over by the Demon Bow.

But Keter, shaking off his right hand, said, “Ow, my hand. Grandpa, why are you trying to crush someone’s head all of a sudden? That’s something that Liqueurians would do.”

“Huh?”

Keter was completely normal. Volkanus finally sensed something was off. From what he had witnessed, the eyes of the Marksman of the Demon Arrow turned completely black as they lost their sanity. However, Keter’s eyes were still those of a Sefira: deep, with a mix of purple and gold.

How is this possible?

Volkanus looked closely at Keter’s right arm and saw that Amaranth had not completely taken over. It had swallowed his right hand, but had not gone up past his wrist.

I’ve never seen that before.

Amaranth sent black tendrils up Keter’s arm, still trying to take over, but—

“Hey, the adults are trying to have a conversation. Stop it.”

The wriggling black tendrils limply retreated back into his hand as Keter swatted them away as if catching a mosquito.

This is impossible...! To handle Amaranth like that!

Volkanus was shocked. Over the years, many heroes tried to control Amaranth. However, they all failed, either going berserk as the Marksman of the Demon Arrow or, in rare cases, making a contract with it to control it briefly. Even those who managed to make a contract inevitably faced doom. As Besil was also one of the victims, Volkanus and Besil promised they would seal Amaranth away forever in an isolated place.

However, Volkanus secretly hid Amaranth in the storage room because of his instincts as a dwarf, which drove him to cherish exceptional artifacts like his life.

“Grandpa, why did you leave such a troublesome thing here? Were you actually waiting for its rightful owner to appear?” Keter asked.

Keter, quick-witted, had easily figured it out.

Volkanus swallowed hard.

“... Who are you? How can you control Amaranth?”

“Oh, this thing?”

Keter raised his right hand, which had turned completely black from being taken over by Amaranth.

“I’m not controlling it; I’m just keeping it locked up. It had the audacity to try and take over my body.”

“That’s even more unbelievable! Locking it up? Did you learn magic or something? No, even a Grand Wizard wouldn’t be able to confine a cursed artifact like that...!”

Keter pointed at himself with his thumb and said, “I told you I’m quite an exceptional guy.”

Volkanus gripped his hammer tightly, deep in thought.

I can’t figure out who this guy really is.

Keter wasn’t wrong. Deep down, Volkanus also wanted to find a right owner for Amaranth as a blacksmith. Though it was cursed, his soul as a blacksmith didn’t want Amaranth, an exceptional artifact, to be sealed away forever.

But until now, no one had been able to fully control Amaranth—not even the past patriarch nor Besil. Besil had managed to make a contract with Amaranth and control Demon Arrows. But after a certain incident, he broke the contract with Amaranth and handed it over to Volkanus. Besil pleaded to Volkanus not to mention Amaranth to his family and to seal it away forever so that no one would ever find it.

Instead of saying he would, Volkanus responded to Besil with silence. Since then, he hadn’t mentioned Amaranth to Besil’s children either... but he had subtly tested them. Whenever Besil’s children came to receive a bow, Volkanus would always call them here, telling them to choose a bow as a test.

Among them, only one person noticed the existence of Amaranth. That person was the genius of the Sefira family, Cherbyl El Sefira. Like Keter, Cherbyl discovered Amaranth by its temptation and even held it in his hands, but he resisted its lure with immense willpower.

“I do not want to entrust my future to anyone else. I will make my own path.”

With that, Cherbyl left the family and went to study abroad in the empire.

But now, this rascal not only discovered Amaranth but made it submit to him?

Honestly, Volkanus wanted to ask Keter to hand over Amaranth because giving such an artifact to a suspicious bastard he had just met today was absurd. However, it seemed that Amaranth had already fused with Keter’s body. Besides, it didn’t seem like Keter would give it up easily.

“Listen, Bumpkin. You may have trapped Amaranth for now, but if you try to use it, it will force a contract.”

“That sounds perfect. I like contracts,” Keter replied.

“Let me finish! Amaranth will grant you seven Demon Arrows. Six of them will be yours, but the last one will belong to Amaranth. The six will hit your targets as you intend, but the final arrow will go where Amaranth wants and bring inevitable misfortune.”

“I’ll just turn the misfortune onto someone else.”

“

Sigh...

”

Volkanus realized that no words would make Keter return Amaranth.

Would telling Besil make him give up? No, that won’t work. I promised Besil to seal away Amaranth, and I have no right to ask for his help after breaking that promise.

The last resort would be to kill Keter and take Amaranth.

Even that doesn’t seem easy.

Keter had blocked his hammer with one hand. Even though Keter appeared to lack muscle, Volkanus, having seen much in his time, knew that some individuals developed their muscles internally, such as elves. However, Keter didn’t have any characteristics of an elf, which meant that he must have learned a technique to compress muscles. As far as Volkanus knew, that kind of technique was typically used by assassins.

Volkanus had no choice but to concentrate and look into Keter’s mind. It was a dwarven ability that he despised, but it was necessary now.

... An immense ambition, but no intent to kill. How could someone so young achieve such a state?

Volkanus, who looked into Keter’s mind, was surprised. When someone gained immense power at a young age, they often became arrogant and come to rely solely on that power. They sought to resolve issues with brute force, and over time, their voice became filled with an intent to kill, and their body exuded the scent of blood.

But Keter was not like that. He was overwhelmingly powerful, but his voice was cheerful, and rather than smelling of blood, his body emitted a reassuring scent that put people at ease.

... Even now, he harbors no hostility towards me while holding Amaranth. That takes remarkable self-control.

Volkanus denied it, but his dwarven instincts had already acknowledged Keter as the true owner of Amaranth he had been searching for.

“

Phew.

”

He couldn’t remember the last time he sighed this much.

With mixed emotions, Volkanus said, “I’ll say it again: Amaranth is cursed and has a will of its own. If you fall under its control and become the Marksman of the Demon Arrow, you’ll end up killing your loved ones with your own hands.”

“I sort of have an allergy to commands. Getting controlled or whatever won’t happen to me.”

“You’re probably the most confident person in the world. But even so, you won’t be able to keep the fact that you’ve taken Amaranth a secret. Everyone will know; I will make sure of that. Besil will also be wary of you. Even knowing this, you...”

“Your lecture is too long. My patience can only take one more sentence.”

“If there are any signs of you becoming the Marksman of the Demon Arrow, you will die by the arrows of Sefira.”

Volkanus hoped that Keter would feel some sense of caution or fear, even slightly. However, Keter just scratched his head.

“There are already quite a few people who want to kill me, so it doesn’t really resonate with me that much,” he said.

“Ha, what do you plan to do about that hand? If you keep walking around with it black like that, it will draw even more attention.”

“Once it’s trained, it will behave properly.”

“And who knows when that will be? Follow me. I’ll give you a nice pair of gloves.”

As a blacksmith, Volkanus didn’t acknowledge Keter. However, Keter had subdued Amaranth, and that was undeniable. Showing respect to a strong individual was deeply ingrained in his soul as a dwarf.

Just as Volkanus was about to lead the way out of the bow storage and reached for the door—

Creak!

—the door opened from the outside, and someone unexpected appeared.

* * *

Taragon El Sefira was the fourth son of the Sefira family. He was an extremely ordinary human being—in appearance, talent, and personality. If he had been born in a peaceful era, this ordinariness may not have been seen as a flaw. The problem was that Taragon was born into a prestigious noble family during a very turbulent time. To make matters worse, he had exceptionally talented siblings.

Hissop, the eldest, possessed outstanding charisma and leadership skills. The second son, Myle, was incredibly clever and could learn anything quickly. The third, Anis, was a prodigious genius in archery.

However, unlike his siblings, Taragon had nothing to boast about. He wasn’t particularly bad at anything, but he wasn’t particularly good at anything either. His naturally powerful strength and excellent vision as a member of the Sefira family made him superior to ordinary people, but he was the weakest among his siblings.

Eventually, Taragon’s ordinariness drew attention in a negative sense, and his sense of inferiority deepened. But what made Taragon’s impatience worse was when Cherbyl, who was five years younger than him, began to stand out.

Cherbyl was hailed as the greatest genius in the history of the Sefira family. He was such a prodigy that it was said there was nothing more to teach him, not just within the Sefira family but throughout the entire Lillian Kingdom. Even Besil, who was conservative and cautious, sent him to study in the Samael Empire despite the risks and opposition.

While each of his siblings made contributions to the family by using their strengths, Taragon had achieved nothing. No one had ever asked him to prove himself, yet he was constantly tormented by the compulsion to do so. However, a person plagued by impatience could not do anything well. Every attempt to prove himself resulted in mistakes and accidents.

One day, Hissop called Taragon over.

“Taragon, since all of us are busy with matters outside, please take care of our land.”

Hissop had taken the time to offer advice, but Taragon could not interpret it properly.

“You’re useless, so just stay home and guard the house.”

That was how Taragon misconstrued it.

“I can do it! Just give me a chance.”

From that moment on, Taragon started to go astray. He constantly tried to involve himself in family matters and voiced his opinions. However, the opinions that he suggested in an agitated state were usually useless and full of flaws. At first, his siblings humored him and pretended to listen, but they grew weary as it got worse instead of better.

His naturally talented siblings grew silent, believing that Taragon would eventually realize things on his own like they had. For Taragon, who was slow-witted, this only worsened his situation.

I want to prove myself. I want to show that I can be useful to the family. Then Father will acknowledge me.

Taragon erroneously assumed that Besil didn’t spend time with him because he was incompetent. In reality, the patriarch was simply too busy to pay attention to anyone.

Recently, Targon had dislocated his shoulder while trying to pick up Agareth, the heavy bow that was also the family heirloom, in an attempt to prove himself.

And just when that incident was being forgotten, Keter appeared. All of Taragon’s focus, which was already looking for an opportunity to prove himself, was now directed at Keter.

If I can prove that he’s a spy, my brothers and father will finally pay attention to me.

In Taragon’s mind, Keter was undoubtedly a spy, a villain, a traitor. After the family meeting ended, Taragon searched for Keter and saw him entering the bow storage with Volkanus.

Master Volkanus is taking that bastard to the bow storage... Could he be in collusion?

The fact that he was suspicious of Volkanus, who had been crafting bows for the Sefira family for two hundred years, showed how bad a state Taragon was in.

Taragon pressed his ear to the door and eavesdropped on their conversation. When he heard about Amaranth, it felt like thunder and lightning struck in his head.

Amaranth? So that’s where it’s been!

A few days before, Taragon had accidentally discovered Besil’s memoirs while visiting his study. The memoirs were dry and emotionless, merely recording objective facts about the events of each day.

However, there was one sentence that made Taragon’s heart race: it was about Amaranth, the Demon Bow. The power of Amaranth, as described in Besil’s memoirs, was beyond imagination. When one made a contract with Amaranth and became the Marksman of the Demon Arrow, they were protected by the Armor of the Night, which provided defense that was tolerant against almost all kinds of attacks and excellent environmental adaptability.

The most astounding aspect was the arrows fired by Amaranth—the Demon Arrows. These arrows could track a target within a thousand meters and would always hit their mark. Not only that, they could tear through steel like paper and carry a potent curse. A mere graze of the arrows could kill a target within five steps.

Taragon tried to turn to the next page, but Besil returned at that moment. He had no choice but to hurriedly put the memoir back in its place without reading further. On the following page that he missed, Besil had vividly described why he broke the contract with Amaranth.

—Power gained so easily comes with a price. I realized that my confidence in controlling Amaranth was nothing but arrogance only after I killed my wife with my own hands.

Had Taragon read this passage, he would have given up on Amaranth without hesitation. Despite his desire for power, he wasn’t so corrupt that he would sacrifice his family for it.

Only remembering the positives about Amaranth, Taragon scoured every corner of the family estate to find it. Unlike the Tempest and Agareth, which were kept in the family’s underground treasure vault, he couldn’t find Amaranth anywhere.

Eventually, Taragon gave up searching for Amaranth, but—

Keter, you’re helping me out.

Keter had found Amaranth. How wonderful this was.

If I become the Marksman of the Demon Arrow... Father, my brothers, Cherbyl, and the knights will all look up to me!

Taragon stepped back from the door, trembling and laughing.

“Hehehe.”

Taragon was already lost in a delusion. He imagined himself excelling as the Marksman, his family admiring and loving him. If anyone else had been with him, they would have been horrified as the whites of his eyes had turned pitch black.

Amaranth, trying to escape from Keter, had resorted to seducing Taragon as an alternative. As Taragon was overwhelmed by his intense desire for acknowledgment and recognition, he easily succumbed to Amaranth’s temptation.

“That... belongs to me.”

Consumed by the Demon Bow, Taragon flung open the door to the bow storage where Volkanus and Keter stood.