Chapter 612: Plunge (1)

Naturally, I reacted quickly.

‘You… you bastard. Fuck…’

I kept feeling an indescribable desire from the gray light.

I wasn’t sure, but did it decide that I was to be its owner?

At least, that was more convincing than it being picked up by itself to make me feel guilty. My soul was so disgusting that demons such as Belial and Lucifer were friendly towards me, and it might’ve been attracted to me in the same sense.

‘Didn’t you like pure souls?’

Or perhaps it thought that no matter how much it corrupted others, the result wouldn’t be enough to match my soul. Whatever the case, it was undeniable that it was drooling at me.

The one who wanted to be picked up fought against the one who didn’t want to be chosen.

‘Sh*t.’

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

I began to frown unknowingly.

Why did I suddenly remember Cursed Shrine’s Juliana?

As if she understood what I was feeling, Lee Jihye spoke to me in a sly tone from a distance.

“Wow… You are the real deal. How clean is your soul to make the holy sword react like that?”

‘Jihye, are you being ironic?’

“You’re the one who started asking me if I wanted to be the owner, but… the real deal would recognize the real deal, after all. It seems that my personality isn’t divine enough to be chosen by the Holy Sword. The person the sword will choose is someone transparent on the inside.”

‘You’re not that different. It would’ve gone to you if I hadn’t been there.’

“Can I record this? The chosen warrior has been born. The media will be bustling tomorrow. Cheer up. I wonder if it would be more honorable than seeing the legend of the continent with my own eyes.”

“Stop… Jihye. I’m not in a situation to joke around. If I really become the holy warrior, the Holy Sword Coin will plunge. Plunge! Where would I use a weapon that I don’t know even know how to use?”

“Why? I think it’ll do good…”

It felt like Lee Jihye, who was in awe with her own personality, was delighted with me.

Normally, I would’ve had a heated discussion with her, but… I couldn’t right at that moment.

“Please don’t come out, asshole. I can’t be your owner. There are many other swordsmen, so why are you reacting to an alchemist?’

Brrr.

‘It doesn’t matter?’

Brrrr.

‘It does to me. Let’s not do this. I’ll find someone you want. The situation is a bit urgent right now, so let’s put off our meeting for later. We both have a lot of time anyway. You heard it from Lucifer. If I wait for 2000 years, I’ll be able to shed my mortal skin. At that point, we’ll be together forever…’

Brrrrrr.

‘You can’t wait? Why can’t you take it anymore? Is that what you’re really saying?’

Brrrrrrrr.

We had reached a point where its thoughts had started coming to my mind.

It didn’t sound like words, but I could tell what it was feeling.

I even wondered if our souls were already connected. If a little more time passed, I would probably be forced to sign a contract.

Of course, I also wanted to be the owner of that kind of item. Where in the world was there a person who didn’t like such rarities?

However…

‘The one who should use it is someone who actually can.’

I needed someone who could properly utilize the sword’s maximum efficiency.

Although it was a mythic grade, didn’t it have more power than the Durendal that Kim Hyunsung had?

How efficient would it be if a beginner who couldn’t properly handle a sword tried to wield it?

I didn’t want to put myself down, but it was like hanging a pearl around a pig’s neck.

More than anything…

When dealing with the outer gods and their minions, I needed a strong person who could stand next to Kim Hyunsung. Although I had Cha Hee-ra, she was a kind of card that wasn’t suitable for team plays, and no matter how much Cho Hyejin grew, she was insufficient in many ways to be worthy of being next to Kim Hyunsung.

The same went for Park Yeon-joo of the Black Swan. Wasn’t she the dagger that aimed for our backs in the first place?

It was somewhat unreasonable to deploy an assassin class with Kim Hyunsung. In that sense, Kim Ye-ri was also crossed out.

I felt sorry, but… I didn’t even have to mention the turtle pig bastard.

If I instructed all of the people listed above to catch up with Kim Hyunsung, I was certain that they would suffer from unbearable hardships.

In other words, there was currently no one who could match Kim Hyunsung.

The northwestern region had to be defended against the pigeon-like beasts’ invasion, and to battle against the outer gods, the person had to be in sync with the returner.

He had to respond to arise at any moment, and when necessary, I needed talented people to make sacrifices.

After I roughly quantified the power of the external forces Kim Hyunsung talked about, a holy warrior’s existence became unconditionally necessary.

I wasn’t waiting for the Holy Sword Coin for no reason.

The risk was too great for someone who couldn’t properly wield a sword to try to be cool and blindly pick it up.

And…

‘The side effect, fucker… the side effect!’

I didn’t like the fact that it might consume my body.

A little bit of pain could easily be cured, but that wasn’t the kind of side effect those kinds of swords had.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

‘You’re saying it won’t be that bad? Don’t make me laugh, asshole. I want to live until I become senile. So stop drooling over me, and just grab any good guy…’

Brrr!

‘No, even if I live for a long time, it won’t feel like that if I’m sick. I’ll live until I become a healthily senile…’

Brrrrrr!

‘Doing that won’t be good for you either. Think carefully about it. Juliana is also rotting in the warehouse… If you come with me, there is a high possibility that you are going to the warehouse or in my bag instead of in my hand…’

Brrrrrrrrr!!!

That vibration made my body itself tremble.

Of course, since I had low muscle strength, I couldn’t stop it from sticking out.

I felt like I wasn’t getting through it, so as I flicked my finger, small tentacles came out from the ground, wrapping around its blade.

The appendages pulled the Holy Sword down, which was about to be pulled out, but the tentacles were cut off. It was simply that desperate to try to get out.

Brrrrrrr!

Only its appearance was fine, but wasn’t it still similar to Benignore’s six tongues that Lucifer showed before?

If that one was going to be like that, I might’ve had as well brought that other sword.

‘That one, fuck, can even pull out its tongue. There’s nothing you can do. In this modernization era, who would wield a sword? I took Juliana since she has an automatic attack system… Even if your blade is sharp, I will use it as a cane at best.’

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!

‘No, I’m not criticizing you. I didn’t say that for you to get angry… It was just to give us space to think a little more rationally. Just put up with it for about ten years. After my work is done, I’ll learn some sword skills. Everyone will end up happy.’

Drrr. Drrr.

As they tried to seal it back, the tentacles were swiftly reaching their limits.

They kept covering it up, but I didn’t think they could stop it in the end.

‘No, why are you so clingy to someone who doesn’t want you? I’m saying I will take care of you later. I’ll talk to Lucifer as well. So… just go back in. I’ll find you a good owner. I will find you a really amazing owner… so let’s stop now.’

I didn’t think I could endure anymore.

As the sword was pulled out and the gray light illuminated the surrounding, I was about to give up halfway.

‘Let’s do this later! Later!’

It stopped with a loud sound.

“Sigh… Sigh… Sigh…”

Perhaps it was because of the consumption of a lot of magic power and stamina in such a short time, but I was out of breath, and sweat was dripping down my jawline.

“It’ll remain quiet now, right? Sigh…”

“You tell me. Are you sure you persuaded it properly? What did it say it would do? You reached an agreement, right?”

The conversation didn’t seem to have ended properly, but…

“Ah… I guess so…”

Brr.

It emitted a short vibration, but no further thoughts were passed on.

It seemed that it was neither agreeing nor denying it, but I indeed received its concession under the circumstances. I felt an intermittent trembling when I stroked the ornament on the grip of the sword.

It probably wanted to express that it was angry, but it seemed like petting it that way made it feel good.

‘Yes… you made the right decision. It’s better to settle down only after you’ve met all kinds of people. Gather good experience while you’re exploring the world, then we’ll sign a contract that would last a thousand years.’

Brr.

‘Of course, me too. You wouldn’t like it if I use you with other swords, would you?’

Brrr.

‘I’ve already met some swords, some wands, and other weapons before I settled down. If you compromise too early, there’s a higher chance they’ll cheat on you later. You should have fun while you’re still young, so you’ll no longer think about doing it later on.’

Brrrr.

‘One day, you may regret signing a contract so suddenly… Anyway, you did the right thing.’

There were no more vibrations.

It seemed like it was still dissatisfied with something, but what was important was that it was convinced.

I felt like I shouldn’t be in its vicinity any longer since it seemed to need some time alone.

“What? Are we leaving it like this?”

“For now, it’ll remain quiet. Let’s leave it be today… Let’s start over tomorrow. This time, let’s expand the variety and types of candidates, and at the end, let’s bring a few of the kids who haven’t been able to come here because they failed the initial tests.”

“There were a few people who gave up halfway because they were scared anyway… I don’t think it’ll produce bad results. Instead, you should directly convey the position of the Holy sector since you’re going to meet Pope Basel anyway. Oh, and just to clarify, are you sure nothing else will happen?”

“…”

Honestly, I wasn’t. I felt like it was behaving itself for the time being, but who knew when it would explode again.

I was worried, but the situation was calm enough for me to reply with a nod for the time being.

It was better than going with a completely plunging flow.

But after exactly 35 hours, I had no choice but to grab my head.

-Ah… Ah. We will deliver the birth of the chosen warrior to the entire continent. It must be a familiar face to you. May I ask for a self-introduction?

-First… I sincerely thank the Honorary Cardinal and Pope Basel for giving me this opportunity. This situation is a bit embarrassing… and too sudden, but… I will do my best not to disappoint anyone.

-…

-My name is… my name is Raphael.