Chapter 10

Episode 10. I Seduced Him First (3)

When Keter didn’t listen, Vulkanus aggressively adjusted his grip on his hammer.

Though currently a blacksmith, he was a former combatant who had smashed countless monster and knight skulls. His intimidating presence couldn’t be ignored, even by high-ranking knights.

Yet, Keter calmly pointed to the bow and asked, “What’s this thing’s name?”

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

“Amaranth. It has a nice ring to it.”

*Whoosh!*

The moment Keter mentioned the bow’s name, Amaranth vibrated. In an instant, it transformed into a liquid and lunged at Keter’s right hand. Unable to corrupt his mind, it aimed to dominate his body first.

*Thud!*

Vulkanus’s hammer swung mercilessly toward Keter’s head, intending to knock him out before he could become the “Mana Arrow Shooter.”

*Crash!*

The hammer’s destructive force was enough to kill an orc in one strike. But Keter caught the attack with his bare right hand.

*Crack!*

The black iron hammer, ten times harder than regular steel, trembled violently.

Despite Vulkanus swinging with all his might, Keter only staggered slightly. Taking two steps back, Vulkanus muttered, “Tch, too late. He’s already the Mana Arrow Shooter…”

Vulkanus was convinced that Keter’s monstrous strength came from Amaranth, believing he had already been corrupted by it.

But Keter shook his right hand and said, “Ouch, my hand. Old man, you’re trying to smash my head out of nowhere? That’s something the Ruquer folks would do.”

“Huh?”

Keter’s mind was perfectly clear.

Only then did Vulkanus sense something was off. From what he had witnessed, the Mana Arrow Shooter would lose their sanity, and their eyes would turn completely black.

But Keter’s eyes were still Sephira’s—deep, with a mix of purple and gold.

‘How is this possible?’

Looking closely at Keter’s right arm, Vulkanus realized Amaranth hadn’t fully corrupted him. It had swallowed his hand but couldn’t advance past the wrist.

‘I’ve never seen this before.’

Amaranth continued its attempt to corrupt, extending black tendrils that tried to climb through Keter’s veins. But—

“This guy. Don’t interrupt adults talking.”

Keter flicked the wriggling black tendril like swatting a mosquito, and it fell limply back into his hand.

‘This is absurd!’

To handle Amaranth like that!

Over the years, countless heroes had tried to wield Amaranth. All failed, either becoming berserk Mana Arrow Shooters or barely managing to form a “contract” for a short time.

Even contracts inevitably brought misfortune to their users, and Lord Basil was one such victim. Vulkanus had promised Basil to seal Amaranth away forever in a place no one would find.

Yet, he had secretly hidden it in the warehouse, driven by a dwarf’s instinct to treasure exceptional weapons like life itself.

“Old man. Why did you leave such a wild thing here? Were you waiting for its true owner to appear?”

Keter, sharp as ever, had hit the nail on the head. Vulkanus swallowed dryly.

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

“Oh, this?”

Keter lifted his right hand, now blackened by Amaranth’s corruption.

“I’m not controlling it. I’m just locking it up. It’s too arrogant, trying to take over someone’s body.”

“That’s even stranger! Locking it up? Kid, did you learn magic? No, even a grand mage couldn’t seal a cursed artifact like this…!”

Keter pointed at himself with his thumb and said, “I told you. I’m a bit special.”

“…….”

Vulkanus gripped his hammer tightly, deep in thought.

‘I can’t figure out what kind of guy he is.’

Keter wasn’t wrong.

Deep down, Vulkanus, as a blacksmith, wanted to find Amaranth’s true owner. Despite its curse, sealing away such a magnificent artifact forever went against his soul as a craftsman.

But no one had ever fully controlled Amaranth. Not the previous lords, nor even the current lord, Basil.

Basil had managed to form a contract with Amaranth to wield the “Mana Arrow,” but after a certain incident, he broke the contract and entrusted it to Vulkanus, urging him to seal it away forever and never mention it to his family.

Vulkanus had remained silent, agreeing without words. He never mentioned Amaranth to Basil’s children, but…

He had tested them.

Whenever Basil’s children came to choose a bow, he always called them here under the pretext of testing them.

Among them, only one had sensed Amaranth’s presence.

Chevil El Sephira, a prodigy of the Sephira family.

Like Keter, Chevil had been tempted by Amaranth and even held it, but his immense willpower allowed him to resist the temptation.

“I don’t want to entrust my future to anyone else. I will carve out my own path.”

With those words, Chevil left the family to study in the Sammael Empire.

‘But now, this lunatic has not only found Amaranth but even subdued it?’

Honestly, Vulkanus wanted to tell Keter to give Amaranth back. Handing such a cursed artifact to a suspicious bastard he’d just met was unthinkable.

But Amaranth seemed to have already fused with Keter’s body. And Keter didn’t seem like the type to give it up willingly.

“Kid, listen. Even if you’ve locked Amaranth away now, if you try to use it, it will force a contract on you.”

“Sounds like a match made in heaven. I like contracts.”

“Listen to the end! Amaranth will grant you seven Mana Arrows. Six of them are yours, but the last one belongs to Amaranth. The six will hit as you command, but the last one will fly as Amaranth wills. You can’t escape misfortune.”

“If it’s not my misfortune, I’ll just make it someone else’s.”

“Sigh…”

Vulkanus sighed.

He realized no amount of talking would make Keter give up Amaranth.

‘If I tell Basil, will he make this kid give it up? Probably not. I promised to seal Amaranth away, so how can I ask for help after breaking that promise?’

The last resort was to kill Keter and take it by force.

‘But even that doesn’t seem easy.’

Keter had blocked his hammer with one arm. Though he didn’t look muscular, Vulkanus knew from experience that some people’s muscles grew internally, not externally.

Elves were a prime example. Of course, Keter showed no signs of elven heritage.

If not, then he must have learned a technique to compress his muscles—a skill typically used by assassins.

Reluctantly, Vulkanus focused his dwarven ability to peer into Keter’s inner self. Though he despised using this racial trait, he needed it now.

And after a moment—

‘…Incredible ambition. But there’s no malice. How does someone so young reach such a state?’

Vulkanus couldn’t help but be amazed.

Most who gain great power at a young age become arrogant and obsessed with strength.

Drunk on power, they try to solve everything with force. Over time, their voices carry killing intent, and their bodies reek of blood.

But Keter had none of that.

Though domineering, his voice was cheerful, and his body emitted a calming scent that made people let their guard down.

‘…Even now, he holds no hostility toward me despite possessing Amaranth. Such incredible self-control.’

Though Vulkanus denied it, his dwarven blood had already acknowledged Keter.

This man was the true master of Amaranth.

“Sigh.”

When was the last time he sighed this much? Vulkanus spoke with a troubled expression.

“I’ll say it again. Amaranth is cursed and has a will of its own. If you fall under its control and become the Mana Arrow Shooter, you’ll end up killing those you care about with your own hands.”

“I have a thing against being ordered around. Domination? Not my style.”

“Your confidence is second to none. Even so, your possession of Amaranth won’t remain a secret. Everyone will know. I’ll make sure of it. Basil will be wary of you. And yet, you…”

“Your lecture’s too long. My patience only has room for one more sentence.”

“If you show any signs of becoming the Mana Arrow Shooter, you’ll die. By Sephira’s arrow.”

Vulkanus hoped Keter would feel even a hint of caution or fear.

But Keter just scratched his ear.

“The more people who want to kill me, the better. Doesn’t really faze me.”

“Sigh, what about that hand? If you keep walking around with it blackened like that, you’ll attract even more attention.”

“I’ll educate it to behave.”

“Who knows how long that’ll take. Follow me. I’ll give you a usable glove.”

As a blacksmith, Vulkanus didn’t fully accept Keter.

But that aside, Keter had subdued Amaranth, and that was that.

Respect for the strong was deeply ingrained in the dwarven soul.

As Vulkanus led the way out of the bow warehouse, reaching for the door—

*Creak!*

The door opened from the outside, revealing an entirely unexpected figure.

* * *

Taragon El Sephira, the fourth son of the Sephira family.

He was an utterly ordinary man—average in looks, talent, and personality. Had he been born in peaceful times, his mediocrity wouldn’t have stood out.

But the problem was that Taragon was born into a prestigious noble family during a precarious era, and among exceptionally talented siblings.

The eldest, Hisop, possessed outstanding charisma and leadership.

The second, Mail, had a sharp mind that could learn anything with ease.

The third, Anis, was a prodigy in archery.

But Taragon had nothing to boast about. He wasn’t particularly bad at anything, but he wasn’t good at anything either.

Though he had the natural strength and keen eyesight of the Sephira bloodline, making him stronger than the average person, he was the weakest among his siblings.

Eventually, Taragon’s mediocrity drew negative attention, and his sense of inferiority deepened.

But what truly pushed Taragon’s impatience to the extreme was when Chevil, five years his junior, began to shine.

Chevil was hailed as the greatest genius in Sephira family history—a prodigy so talented that even the Lilian Kingdom had nothing left to teach him.

Even the conservative and stability-oriented Lord Basil had risked opposition to send Chevil to study in the Sammael Empire.

While his siblings excelled in their respective fields, Taragon had achieved nothing. No one had asked him to prove himself, yet he was plagued by the need to show something.

But an impatient, ordinary man couldn’t accomplish much. Every attempt to prove himself ended in mistakes and accidents.

One day, Hisop called Taragon and said, ‘Taragon, since we’re all busy with external affairs, you protect our lands.’

Hisop had taken the time to offer advice, but Taragon misinterpreted it.

‘You’re useless, so just guard the house.’

That’s how he took it.

‘I can do it too! Just give me a chance.’

From then on, Taragon began to spiral.

He constantly interfered in family matters, offering opinions, but his excited and poorly thought-out suggestions were almost always useless.

At first, his siblings humored him, pretending to listen, but as his behavior worsened, they grew weary.

Even the naturally gifted siblings believed Taragon would eventually realize his mistakes on his own and fell silent, leaving the slow-witted Taragon in a worsening state.

‘I want to prove it. That I can contribute to the family too. Then Father will acknowledge me.’

Taragon assumed that his lack of talent was why Basil never spared him time. In reality, the lord was simply too busy to pay attention to anyone.

Recently, Taragon had tried to forcefully draw the family heirloom, the super-heavy bow ‘Agareth,’ and ended up dislocating his shoulder.

And just as that incident was fading from memory—

Keter appeared.

Already desperate for achievements, Taragon’s focus zeroed in on Keter.

‘If I expose that guy as a spy, Father and my brothers will finally notice me.’

In Taragon’s mind, Keter was unquestionably a spy, a villain, a traitor.

After the siblings’ meeting, Taragon, searching for Keter, witnessed him entering the bow warehouse with Vulkanus.

‘Vulkanus took that guy to the bow warehouse… Could he be a traitor too?’

Taragon’s state was so poor that he even suspected Vulkanus, who had served the Sephira family for 200 years by crafting bows.

Taragon pressed his ear to the warehouse door, eavesdropping on their conversation. When he heard about Amaranth, it was like thunder and lightning struck his mind.

‘Amaranth? It’s here!’

A few days ago, Taragon had snuck into Basil’s study and secretly read his memoirs.

The memoirs were dry, devoid of emotion, simply recording the day’s events objectively.

But one sentence had set Taragon’s heart racing: the Demon Bow Amaranth.

The power of Amaranth, as recorded in Basil’s memoirs, was beyond imagination.

By forming a contract with Amaranth and becoming the “Mana Arrow Shooter,” one would be protected by jet-black armor. The armor provided near-immunity to all attacks and excellent environmental adaptability.

Even more astonishing was Amaranth’s arrow, the “Mana Arrow.” It could track enemies within 1,000 meters and never missed.

But that wasn’t all.

It could tear through steel like paper and carried a powerful curse that would kill anyone it grazed within five steps.

Taragon had tried to turn the page, but Basil’s sudden return forced him to hastily put the memoirs back.

The next page, which he didn’t see, detailed why Basil had broken his contract with Amaranth.

-“Power easily gained comes at a price. I realized my confidence in wielding Amaranth was mere arrogance only after I killed my wife with my own hands.”

Had Taragon read this, he would have given up on Amaranth without hesitation. No matter how much he desired power, he wasn’t so far gone as to sacrifice his family for it.

Remembering only Amaranth’s strengths, Taragon had searched the family estate high and low for it.

But unlike Tempest and Agareth, stored in the family’s underground treasure vault, Amaranth was nowhere to be found.

He had eventually given up the search—

‘Keter, you’ve helped me.’

Keter had found Amaranth for him.

What a joyous occasion.

‘If I become the Mana Arrow Shooter… Father, my brothers, Chevil, even the knights! They’ll all look up to me.’

Taking a step back from the door, Taragon trembled and began to giggle.

“Hehehe.”

Taragon was already lost in his fantasy. Himself, the Mana Arrow Shooter, revered and loved by his family.

Anyone nearby would have been horrified. The whites of Taragon’s eyes had turned black. Amaranth, unable to fully possess Keter, had turned its temptation toward Taragon instead.

Taragon, with his intense desire for recognition, was easily dominated by Amaranth’s allure.

“That… is mine.”

Corrupted by the Demon Bow, Taragon flung open the warehouse door where Vulkanus and Keter stood.