Chapter 794

As they say, experiencing something once is more effective than explaining it a hundred times.

After listening to my story, Damien followed the technique I taught him and transformed the shape of the Holy Sword into something closer to his own greatsword, Jin.

“So, you overlap the two swords and press down on the light orb in the middle…”

“Ah, like this?”

Damien placed the Holy Sword on top of his greatsword, Jin, and clumsily pressed down on the white orb floating in the middle of the Holy Sword’s blade, as if trying to capture its light and merge it into Jin.

Then.

– Whoosh!

A brilliant divine light burst from Damien’s grasp, and Jin and Juwaiyoz began to melt and fuse together.

This was the expected result.

The ability to change the Holy Sword’s form, strictly speaking, wasn’t about altering its shape but rather merging it with the wielder’s primary weapon.

“Wow…!”

Damien’s eyes sparkled with amazement as he watched the metal melt and mix together, his cheeks slightly flushed with excitement like a child who had just received a new toy.

Such a natural expression. Was this a sign that Damien was regaining normal emotions?

As I felt my uncertain speculation gradually turning into conviction, I watched Juwaiyoz merge with Jin and change its form.

When the divine light that had illuminated our faces faded, only a massive sword remained in Damien’s hand—a sword so large it could decapitate a dragon in one swing.

The blade alone was longer than my height, and its width seemed to be at least 20 cm. Intricate divine runes were engraved on both sides of the blade, and a pure white crystal was embedded in the center of the cross-shaped guard.

Compared to the Juwaiyoz wielded by Carolus, the design had become simpler—perhaps reflecting Damien’s taste.

The emblem of Elpinel at the end of the elongated hilt glowed with Jin’s signature blue light.

“…It’s amazing.”

Damien stroked the white blade with a satisfied smile.

When I controlled Damien, I used the Holy Sword in its standard longsword form. Seeing him now, mesmerized by this massive, steel-reinforced greatsword, it seemed this world’s Damien had some… unique preferences.

Even though he already had a massive greatsword hidden between his legs, he still seemed obsessed with making it even bigger.

Well, as long as he could wield it properly, it wasn’t a problem. The bigger and heavier the sword, the more powerful its strikes would be.

Plus, unless someone like Lacey or Leopold, who knew the Holy Sword well, saw it, no one would connect this Juwaiyoz to Carolus’s sword.

After swinging it a few times in the air, Damien even used the Healing Miracle to recover the lingering numbness in his arms and spine.

Even though I only taught him the sword’s abilities and basic techniques, he was already using them skillfully. With a few more battles, he’d probably master it completely.

– Vroom!

Damien seemed particularly fond of the sword’s subspace storage function, opening pure white portals in the air to store and retrieve the sword, testing it out in various ways.

Pulling the hilt from a portal behind his back, or swinging the sword as he drew it from a portal near his side.

Later, he even clapped his hands and opened a portal to pull out the sword, or created a portal in front of him and let the sword drop into his hand as if it were falling from the sky.

It was like watching a child who had just received the best gift ever.

You like it?

No, no need to ask. It’s written all over your face.

I chuckled, amused by his excitement, and lit my last cigarette while watching his antics.

—

About five minutes later.

“If you’re done playing, why don’t you sit down?”

I tossed the cigarette butt into the campfire and spoke. Damien finally calmed down and nodded, sitting across from me—a bit too far from the fire’s warmth.

“Why sit so far away? You think I’d get mad over five minutes of fun?”

I felt a bit hurt. Even I could understand that much.

Sure, he acted a bit childish, but it’s not uncommon for men to turn into kids when faced with something they’ve always dreamed of. And as a swordsman, getting such a rare treasure sword would naturally make him ecstatic.

As the elder, I should be understanding.

“No, it’s not that…”

But Damien shook his head, his gaze slightly lowered.

“Then what is it?”

“Well… how should I put it? The smell is just too strong. Being too close makes me feel a bit dizzy.”

“…Ahem.”

I glanced down at the likely source of the smell and coughed awkwardly, turning my head away.

Well… the heat might have dried it, but the smell was definitely still there. If anything, it seemed even more concentrated now.

…I should probably wash up before heading back.

—

After a suffocating silence and a quick meal, we prepared to leave the Crystal Cave—no, the Sky Mountain Range—and head home.

Originally, I planned to teach Damien the true name of the Holy Sword hidden within Juwaiyoz, its sealed true power, and how to unlock it… but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

My intuition was telling me it wasn’t necessary—that explaining it wouldn’t make a difference.

Perhaps awakening the Holy Sword’s true power wasn’t something that could be taught. Damien needed to discover it on his own. Or maybe I was just overthinking it.

Well… it wasn’t an immediate necessity, so it didn’t matter.

After all, one of the conditions for unlocking the Holy Sword’s true power—absorbing a massive amount of Jin—had already been met thanks to the greatsword.

The other conditions… like the heart of a Spirit Beast, dragon’s blood, or slaying five thousand monsters, weren’t things we could achieve right now. We could work on those later.

“But… how are we supposed to get out of here?”

“What do you mean?”

Damien sighed, pointing at the rock ceiling high above.

“Thanks to you blowing up the area around the lake, the ceiling’s completely blocked. I have no idea how thick it is. Are we supposed to break through all of that?”

Ah, I forgot to mention that.

“Don’t worry about it. This underground canyon was maintained by the Holy Sword’s power. Now that the sword’s been drawn—”

I shrugged, recalling the original story, and explained what was about to happen.

“It’s going to collapse soon.”

“…What?”

Damien’s eyes widened as he stared at me.

– Crack!

With a sound like a thousand-year-old tree splitting in half, the cliffs around the cavern began to crack.

The fissures spread endlessly, reaching the high ceiling.

…Looks like it’s time.

In the game, it took about two hours after drawing the Holy Sword for this to happen. It’s a bit faster than I expected.

– Rumble!

The cracks in the cliffs grew larger, and the entire canyon began to shake violently, like a giant waking from sleep. The collapse was imminent.

“…Hashal. So, the way to escape is…”

Damien hesitated, his face slightly pale. I nodded with a smirk, confirming his guess.

“Yep, we just need to climb up while avoiding the falling debris. Simple, right?”

Collapses always start from the weakest point. And in this space, the weakest point was obviously near the ceiling, where the debris had piled up.

“Oh, by the way, I’m out of Life Force Technique, so you’ll have to carry me. You still have enough strength for that, right?”

I jokingly held out my hand, asking for a safe flight. Damien looked back and forth between my hand, my face, and the ceiling, which was starting to crumble.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and fly.”

“……”

I tapped his shoulder, urging him. Damien stared at me with a strange, twisted expression, silent for a long time.

For some reason, his gaze felt like he was looking at trash scattered on the street. Probably just my imagination.

If Damien had any conscience, he wouldn’t look at someone who just gave him such a great weapon like that, right?

The hero chosen by the Holy Sword couldn’t be that ungrateful. Right?

The silence, as if he was considering leaving me behind and flying off alone, was probably just my imagination too.

“Did you use up all your strength earlier when you spread your wings? That would be a problem.”

If we couldn’t fly, we’d have to climb up while avoiding the falling debris and breaking through the ceiling. I’d had enough of that in the game.

I thought we wouldn’t have to go through that now that Damien had flight abilities… but maybe?

“Sigh… Fine. Hold on tight.”

Thankfully, Damien still had enough strength to fly high.

– Grab!

With an inexplicable deep sigh, he grabbed my arm, lifted me up, and spread his white wings, taking off.

“…This isn’t what I meant.”

I had intended to hang onto his arm, but I didn’t expect him to carry me like a princess, supporting my back and legs with both arms.