Noa and Marnok moved in a synchronized dance of destruction and creation, their forms silhouetted against the roaring furnace like ancient titans shaping the foundations of a world.
Every strike of the hammer was a rhythmic tolling of a funeral bell, the sound of colliding steel and the wet tear of their own flesh echoing against the soot-stained rafters.
Vionette watched them in silence, her crimson gaze fixed on the glowing metal as if she could see the destiny being hammered into its core. Beside her, Elina’s draconic senses reeled, her tail twitching in agitation, wondering whether these two mortals were even sane enough to sacrifice so much for a single length of metal.
“Final! Shot!” Marnok’s roar shattered the tension in the room.
(How is bro aura farming? 😭)
CLAANGG!
He delivered his final strike with the force of a falling star, while Noa, teeth gritted in a snarl of effort, finished his side in perfect unison.
“Quickly, hand it over!” Marnok’s voice was a jagged rasp of adrenaline.
He clamped his tongs around the hilt and walked toward the Quench Tank. As he plunged the violet blade into the cooling liquid, the tank erupted. A pillar of warm violet steam shot up to the rafters like a vengeful ghost clawing its way out of the underworld.
This was the Thermal Shock, a baptism of temperature. It was the moment where the internal structure of the blade was frozen in time, locking the jagged thorns and the razor-thin edges into a state of infinite hardness. It was a process of amplification, turning the dragon-matter’s natural toughness into something that defied the laws of physics.
When the blade finally emerged from the mist, the heat had vanished, replaced by the cold, lethal sheen of violet and black obsidian.
“Holy shit…” Noa stared at it, his eyes wide and reflecting the dark abyss of the steel.
Marnok grinned at the blade in profound satisfaction, his eyes narrowing like a mad god admiring his finished sin.
“Now, for the final touches,” he whispered, his hands trembling slightly with the weight of exhaustion and pride.
He carried the blade toward his enchanted whetstones and the waiting grinding wheel. The sword was still covered in the ‘scale’ of its birth—a crust of impurities and slag.
Marnok pressed the metal against the wheel, and a spray of purple sparks illuminated the room like dying stars.
He ground away the crust on the cutting side, slowly revealing a mirror-bright purple edge that seemed to slice the very air. With the soul of an artist, he left the spine rough, dark, and primeval, showing the original, jagged texture of the dragon scales.
He then spent more than an hour hand-polishing the thorns, his movements slow and reverent, until the tips caught the light like polished black diamonds.
Finally, the master smith straightened his back. He had made the sword Noa asked for, a type of weapon he had always dreamed of crafting.
“It’s done… my masterpiece is done!” He laughed, a sound of pure, unadulterated joy. Then, handing the weapon over to Noa with hands that trembled with excitement, he said, “Here’s the weapon you asked for—truly… truly a god-killing sword.”
Noa held the sword up proudly, the weight of it anchoring him to the floor. He felt the dark pulse of the weapon against his palm, a rhythmic vibration that felt like a predator’s heartbeat.
The handle was carved from a dense segment of Elina’s horn and inlaid with scales that provided an armored grip, feeling as though it grew from his own hand. Along the dark surface, Marnok had etched fine, purple-tinted runes.
The blade itself was a nightmare of geometry. The spine, thick and textured from the dragon horn, flowed into a series of jagged, multi-toothed thorns that pointed back toward the hilt like the teeth of a trapped beast. There was no smooth edge to be found; the spikes themselves were the cutting surface, and they glowed with a low, churning violet light.
It cut with the precision of a razor while the thick spine ensured the blade would never snap under Noa's strength.
This ghostly energy, a manifestation of the negative emotions of Crimvane, flickered over the thorns like a glowing wound held steady in Noa's grasp.
“Marnok, we cooked, buddy,” Noa smiled, his voice low and dangerous. “This is what I was talking about. A perfect sword that fits me.”
Behind him, hearing the compliment, Marnok nodded in satisfaction, his chest swelling with pride.
While Elina processed her thoughts—staring at the blade that was once part of her—Vionette walked toward Noa, her crimson eyes softening as she saw his joy.
“So, Blackie, what is the name?” she asked, a playful side-eye accompanying a smile that softened her expression.
“A name… Mmm.” Noa stared into the violet depths of the steel.
He thought of a name that could carry the weight of a sword born from negative emotions and draconic blood. Then, a word surfaced from the depths of his mind like a bubble of ink.
“…Acheron!” he grinned, his eyes burning with desire.
“Mmm… Nice name for a High Mythic-grade item,” Elina joined in, her voice sounding small against the weapon’s aura.
“A what? Mythic-grade…?” Noa looked at her in confusion.
“Sigh… I forgot I haven’t told you,” Vionette said, resting a hand against her face with a sigh. “I’ll explain it while we go to Eryndor.”
***
Thud… thud… thud!
In the training ground provided by Eryndor, Kaelen slammed his sword against the training dummy, landing each blow with a rhythmic, punishing force that spoke of a man trying to outrun his own limitations.
He was dressed simply in a tight, black, short-sleeved t-shirt that showed the corded muscles of his arms, and long brown pants. His hair whipped with the momentum of his swings, but his eyes were locked on the target, completely unwavering. Sweat dripped from his forehead like rain, soaking into the dust at his feet.
Thud!
He landed another strike, but his expression soured, his lips thinning into a line of frustration.
Tch! Still not quite right. More to the right. He forced himself to continue his grueling training after taking a ragged breather.
Though he had enjoyed himself with Lucien the day before and earned a good amount of money, he couldn't allow himself to forget the necessity of the grind.
Because unlike a cheater like Noa—who had only set foot in a training ground once at Blackmoor just to leave after a few minutes—Kaelen didn’t have that kind of luxury.
While Noa gained his strength like a thief in the night, Kaelen had to earn every ounce of his power. It wasn’t that he was talentless; it was that he didn’t have any ‘Skills’—those reality-warping powers that could overturn a fight in a single breath.
The only way he could rise to the top was through the force of his own hard work and will.
A few meters to the side, Lucien sat on a chair under the shade of the roof. He wore a long-sleeved white shirt with black pants, the fabric crisp despite the heat. In his left hand was a book titled “The Etiquette of the Royal Envoy”, and in his right was an iced drink that looked far too civilized for the setting.
<Lucien, come to the Map Room with Kaelen. We’re starting.>
Out of nowhere, inside Lucien’s mind, Vionette’s voice rang. Lucien lowered his glass from his mouth, the lazy haze fading from his eyes.
<Yes, Lady Vionette. We’ll be there as fast as possible. >
“Hey Kaelen! We’ve been summoned by those two! Let’s go!” he shouted across the training ground.
There were no formalities in his voice, just a simple ‘those two’. They were friends first, and they knew Noa and Vionette only wanted them to act like servants during serious moments.
In a way, it was a cry for help from two lonely children who had finally found people to stand beside them.
Kaelen stopped mid-swing, the blade humming as it cleaved the air. He sheathed his sword with a click and began walking toward Lucien. “Okay. Let’s go take a shower first.”
***
Roswell walked through the castle hallway, the sound of his boots echoing beneath the high ceilings. Beside him, Livora followed with a graceful stride, accompanied by two maids.
They had been informed of Vionette’s arrival, and the air between them was thick with tension.
“I wonder how she’s trying to win this war,” Livora mocked, her voice dripping with poisonous honey.
Roswell slowed down and turned toward her, his eyes flashing with irritation. “I already told you, don’t underestimate them.”
“Hmph!” Livora tossed her head, refusing to concede.
They continued in silence before finally arriving at the Map Room. The maids opened the doors to the room, and the scene that greeted them was far from the disorganized gathering Roswell had expected.
Vionette sat at the head of the table, her presence carefree yet graceful, just like the last time he had met her. But she was no longer in her usual clothes.
She wore a sleek, black-and-crimson military uniform—a fur-collared black coat draped over her shoulders, framing a crimson shirt, a glossy black corset, and a pleated skirt marked by twin red stripes. A leather military cap rested on her white hair, perfectly complementing her thigh-high lace-up boots and the scabbard at her side.
Vionette looked directly at Roswell, her crimson eyes holding a weight that made him freeze mid-step.
It was a military outfit, yes, but it didn't look overly stifling or traditional; it looked as if it had been designed just to match the specific aesthetic of the war.
Avoiding her gaze, Roswell turned to the seat at her left, where Noa sat.
He wore a structured, masculine counterpart to her attire—a long black overcoat draped heavily over a fitted, silver-buttoned tunic and crimson shirt, accented by a braided red aiguillette on his right shoulder.
He was looking at Vionette, examining her outfit with a quiet intensity, while she reached over and grasped his cheek in a brief, possessive gesture.
Roswell’s gaze drifted to the left side of the table, and he froze even more—though this time, it was for a completely different reason. The relaxation he felt seeing the pink-haired girl sitting there was instantaneous, her cuteness acting like a balm against the room's tension.
Lina wore a petite, modified version of Vionette’s uniform, featuring a cropped black jacket adorned with silver chains over her corset and crimson shirt. Her vibrant twintails contrasted with her cap, and with her pleated skirt and thigh-high stockings, she looked like a delicate flower even a demon would hesitate to crush.
But as Roswell looked at the person Lina was chatting with, his relaxation turned back into a cold, visceral fear. Next to the little girl was someone who looked only slightly older, but whose presence felt like a mountain of obsidian.
A-a dragon?!
Elina sat next to Lina, chatting with her in a low voice. She wore an outfit similar to Vionette’s, though instead of a corset, a textured waistband sat above her skirt, and the sleeves of her crimson shirt physically transitioned into glowing, ember-like scales just above her fingerless black gloves.
Roswell stared at her horns, his mind reeling. One of the prideful dragons had somehow been brought into the fold of Crimvane in such a short time. Curiously, he looked at Livora; she was frozen as well, her mockery silenced by the sheer weight of the power gathered in the room.
Opposite Lina and Elina sat Lucien and Kaelen. Lucien’s uniform was the epitome of refined order, featuring a double-breasted, silver-buttoned tunic, a silver braided aiguillette, and a draped overcoat.
Beside him, Kaelen’s attire exuded a heavier, commander-like presence, featuring broadened shoulders with armored lining and heavy battlefield boots.
Lastly, at the far ends of the table, Duke Korneas and Duke Valric sat opposing each other, their own confusion mirroring Roswell’s.
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