Chapter 292 - Sword of Slaughter

The black flames around Zennarde’s Sword flared erratically, causing Nie Yan to feel like his hands were burning up. He heard a voice whispering in his mind. But when he tried to listen closely, it disappeared without a trace.

Most Legendary weapons represented the legacies of powerful ancient figures, sometimes even developing a spirit of their own.

Nie Yan didn’t find this strange at all.

For example, Zennarde’s Sword carried the memory of its original owner and experienced the Dark Era.

Just as Nie Yan brought Zennarde’s Sword closer to check its properties, ghastly cries rang in his ears. His vision swam as countless malignant souls swarmed toward him. A cold and gloomy energy invaded his body and sought to devour him, causing him to narrowly fall into a panic. However, he quickly realized they were just illusions, accumulated resentment given form after the slaughter of millions of lives. So long as his mind was resolute, he wouldn’t be affected.

Nie Yan took a deep breath, then calmly gazed at his surroundings. The spirits lingered around for a while. But after realizing they could do nothing to him, they vanished like a wisp of smoke.

As Nie Yan firmly grasped onto the rough textured handle of Zennarde’s Sword, it let out a low hum and struggled for a while before finally settling down.

After swinging Zennarde’s Sword around a few times, Nie Yan felt it was a bit too large for his liking. But as soon as this thought surfaced, the sword shrunk to a more comfortable size, its black flames still burning ever so vigorously.

The faint runes engraved along the fuller of Zennarde’s Sword sealed much of its power. He would need to obtain a Holy Spirit Heart before hoping to remove them as well as the corrosive miasma surrounding the sword.

Before removing the seal, Barbarian Kelowitz’s Blessing sufficed in suppressing the evil energy. As Nie Yan gazed at Zennarde’s Sword, he whispered, “I finally have a godly weapon of my own.”

Nie Yan examined the properties of Zennarde’s Sword.

Nightmare Curse of the Dead: Reduces the player’s stats by 50%. (Effect halved by Barbarian Kelowitz’s Blessing)

Description: A godly weapon created by Kallander and imbued with the dark magic power of Dragon King Zennarde. Failing to subdue to the evil energy within Zennarde’s Sword will result in a fatal backlash. Six Divine Seals were placed on this sword by the God of War Kelo.

Properties: Attack 630–636, Critical +30, 10% chance to deal 500% Critical Damage, Ignore Level +12, Ignore Armour

Hell Execution: Chance to instantly execute an enemy when their health falls below 20%. Success rate is determined by level difference and defense. Energy Cost: 100 Cooldown: 5 seconds.

Apocalyptic Extinction (Junior): Inflict the enemy with 5 types of Curses: Exhaustion, Cripple, Disease, Fear, and Corrode. Duration: 3 minutes. Cooldown: 1 hour.

Restrictions: None

-Creator: Kallander

Despite being suppressed by the six Divine Seals of the God of War Kelo, Zennarde’s Sword was still ludicrously powerful. Its attack power was even higher than that of a Level 50 Dark Gold weapon. Its other properties were nothing to scoff at either, especially the two skills: Hell Execution and Apocalyptic Extinction.

The Nightmare Curse of the Dead wasn’t something an ordinary player could bear. Even with Barbarian Kelowitz’s Blessing halving the effects of the curse, a 25% reduction in all stats was still quite harsh. It was tantamount to the player sacrificing a large portion of their health and defense to wield great power.

Fortunately, Nie Yan possessed the Glimpse of Darkness which greatly increased his stats, so a 25% reduction in all stats was no skin off his back. Even though he wouldn’t be as durable, his damage would soar, allowing him to take down opponents even quicker.

For every seal Nie Yan removed, more of Zennarde’s Sword’s power would be unlocked until it was restored to its original state, a true godly weapon!

However, what exactly was a Godly Legendary item?

Nie Yan searched the official website and found an information page regarding the topic. It explained that Godly Legendaries were a sub-category of Legendaries. There were several types of Legendaries. The most common were ordinary Legendaries; items like Nie Yan’s Shadow of Sulgata belonged in this category. Less common were Legendary Sets such as the Grimmar Set. These generally had somewhat better stats than ordinary Legendaries. Finally, above them were Godly Legendaries. These were often created by Legendary Blacksmiths, and had their creator’s name labelled on them. Throughout the history of the Atlanta continent, there were only a handful of Blacksmiths who could create items of such quality: Kallander, Bloem, Hilda, Klump, and Talmacs. These Blacksmiths belonged to the Elves, Humans, Dwarves, and Dragons. The Godly Legendaries they created were used by countless powerful figures throughout history, changing hands from person to person. Zennarde’s Sword was one of them.

Nie Yan recalled how Zennarde’s Sword obtained its reputation because it was used by Dragon King Zennarde. He started dreaming of the unimaginable power he would hold when he removed the final seal on the sword. But even now, it was hard to imagine that any player could find a weapon to rival his.

Nie Yan equipped Zennarde’s Sword as his primary weapon while switching Splitting Edge to his off-hand. Zennarde’s Sword had shrunk quite a bit. It was roughly the size of an ordinary dagger, so it didn’t stand out.

From his past life to the present, this was Nie Yan’s first time using a short sword.

Combat-orientated Thieves generally favoured short swords because their attack was higher and they had a bit more range, while stealth-orientated Thieves preferred daggers. Nie Yan belonged to the latter group. However, with a powerful short sword like Zennarde’s Sword in his possession, it would be a waste not to use it.

With Zennarde’s Sword in hand, Nie Yan leapt off the palm of the statue and activated the Featherfall Jewel, whereupon he gently landed on the ground.

As Nie Yan walked back, he felt Barbarian Kelowitz somewhat resembled the God of War Kelo. Was there some sort of connection? After all, their names did have some similarities.

“You’ve retrieved Zennarde’s Sword. I hope you use it well. Remember, a weapon, no matter how powerful, is merely a tool. It is neither inherently good nor evil. That is decided by the owner.” Barbarian Kelowitz glanced at the weapon in Nie Yan’s hands, then continued, “I hope you’ll purify this sword of slaughter.”

Nie Yan nodded in understanding. Gazing at Barbarian Kelowitz, he asked, “Kelowitz, sir, there’s something that’s been bugging me in the back of my mind ever since you introduced yourself. I hope you can answer my question.”

“Ask away,” Barbarian Kelowitz replied with a smile. Despite being bound by chains and nailed to a cross, he still maintained a calm bearing. Were it an ordinary person, they would’ve long since lost their mind.

“The God of War Kelo, that’s you, isn’t it?” Nie Yan asked. It was highly likely that Kelowitz was called the God of War Kelo in the outside world. To be imprisoned here for nearly a thousand years without dying, even if he wasn’t a god, he should be pretty close to one.

“God of War Kelo is but a mundane title. When you reach a certain threshold, the masses will start worshiping you as a god,” Barbarian Kelowitz answered with a mild expression.

Hearing these words, Nie Yan understood that Barbarian Kelowitz had implicitly admitted to being the God of War Kelo!

“Zennarde captured me, but he had no way of destroying my Divinity and killing me, so he ended up imprisoning me here instead. If I count how much time has passed, I’d say It’s been almost a thousand years,” Barbarian Kelowitz said.

“Divinity?” Nie Yan asked in a puzzled tone. This was his first time hearing about such a term. Then again, God-like existences in Conviction were pretty rare in the first place.

“Divinity is a gift bestowed by God. No matter how many times you die, you will always revive,” Barbarian Kelowitz explained.

Nie Yan chuckled. Going by that description, wouldn’t it mean all players possessed Divinity? Of course, the rules for NPCs and players were different.

Barbarian Kelowitz was the God of War Kelo. With this, everything made sense. He was locked up here because he had lost to Zennarde in that decisive battle during the Dark Era.

The only thing that left Nie Yan puzzled was why the God of War Kelo didn’t die. Why was it that Dragon King Zennarde, who was much more powerful, ultimately passed away because he couldn’t escape the corrosion of time.

However, this would forever remain a mystery, and Nie Yan couldn’t be bothered to inquire. After all, these matters had no relation to his direct benefit.

Barbarian Kelowitz created a magical circle with a wave of his hand, causing a portal that stood about three meters tall to appear out of thin air. It would send Nie Yan directly back to the outside world.

“This portal will send you to a human city. When you obtain a Holy Spirit Heart, return. Hurry up and leave this place. Every 7 days, this volcano will erupt with lava. The next eruption is probably just a few hours away. Youngster, I wish you a safe journey!” Barbarian Kelowitz said.

Seeing as he probably wouldn’t be getting anything else, although obtaining Zennarde’s Sword was already amazing enough, Nie Yan bid farewell to Barbarian Kelowitz, then stepped into the portal.