Chapter 793

The glowing orb left after defeating the Starry Whale. Its true nature was unknown, but at least it didn’t seem to be a dangerous object.

After absorbing the orb, I waited for a while, wary of any side effects, but no symptoms appeared.

If it had been poison or a curse, my Holy Mark and Damien’s Holy Sword would have resisted the orb from penetrating our bodies.

The fact that the Holy Mark and Holy Sword remained still was proof that the orb wasn’t harmful, even if its benefits were unclear.

So, I stopped pondering the orb’s true nature and gestured to Damien, who was staring blankly around with a slightly furrowed brow and an open mouth.

There were countless things to ask and teach the new wielder of the Holy Sword.

“So, how do you feel?”

“Feel…?”

Up close, Damien’s expression was strangely twisted. It was a mix of confusion, awe, excitement, and unfamiliarity—like a country bumpkin stepping into the city for the first time.

“You’ve become the wielder of the Holy Sword. Has anything changed emotionally?”

Like suddenly feeling the urge to save the world or awakening a sense of agape love for humanity. That kind of thing.

If you’re the protagonist who’s just obtained the Holy Sword, those feelings might naturally bubble up, right?

“Changed…?”

Damien, who had been staring at the pure white blade in his hand, shook his head after a moment of thought.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

Damien nodded and began to explain in more detail, his slightly trembling voice clearly revealing his confusion.

“I don’t know how to describe this feeling. It’s like something has filled the emptiness in my chest. Everything has changed. Everything feels so… vivid. My heart is pounding strangely, and I feel like crying, but at the same time, I want to smile.”

His rambling was hard to follow. Even Damien himself seemed unsure of what he was saying.

“My head feels dizzy like a storm is raging, my chest feels hot like I’ve swallowed fire, and it’s like tiny lightning bolts are running through my arms and back.”

“Ah, your arms and back are probably like that because they were shattered and then healed.”

“…They were shattered?”

Damien narrowed his eyes and looked at me.

His gaze seemed to ask what on earth I had done to his body while he was unconscious. The fact that he immediately suspected me was unfair… well, actually, I was the culprit, so I guess I can’t complain.

I cleared my throat lightly and explained that if it weren’t for the Holy Sword, he would have been a cripple crawling on the ground.

“Ahem, it was an unavoidable accident. Thousands of monsters and even a Void Being appeared. How could I have perfectly protected someone while dealing with all that alone?”

So, instead of protecting him, I had to ask for his cooperation. As my weapon. That was the gist of my explanation.

“…I guess so. Thanks for protecting me, Ha-shal-leur.”

Of course, Damien probably thought that while I wasn’t paying attention, he was hit by a monster’s attack, breaking his arms and spine.

But… in the end, Damien recovered, and thanks to his lance, we easily defeated the Starry Whale. So, all’s well that ends well.

Yes, if the result is good, everything is good.

The wheels of conscience in my chest spun smoothly, agreeing with my thoughts.

“Anyway… your head is dizzy, your chest is hot, and everything you see and feel has become incredibly vivid, right? It’s like something is welling up, making it hard to control your eyes and lips. Am I right?”

Thanks to that, I could shift the topic to Damien’s emotional state without feeling guilty about his injuries.

“Yeah. That’s how it is. Do you know why I’m feeling like this, Ha-shal-leur?”

“Hmm…”

I rested my chin on my hand, tilting my head slightly as I pondered.

The change I expected was for Damien to awaken a sense of heroism or love for humanity due to the Holy Sword’s influence, but his current state was completely different from my prediction.

His constantly changing expressions, the way he felt like crying or his chest was welling up… what could it be?

It reminded me of an old legend about a blind sorcerer who sacrificed his daughter to a deep-sea deity in exchange for the Eye of Wisdom.

Once his vision was restored, he could see things he had never seen before, so it was only natural for him to be moved.

If Damien reminded me of that legend… did it mean he had gained something he had been lacking? Like…

“Emotions, perhaps?”

That was the only guess that came to mind.

As far as I knew, the only thing Damien lacked was the ability to understand emotions due to a mental condition.

Thanks to me or Milia, he had recently started to grasp emotions, albeit faintly…

And now, swept up by the Holy Sword’s power accumulated over centuries, perhaps his mental issues had been completely purified.

Or not.

“Emotions…? Is this what emotions are? Something so complex and confusing?”

His bewildered expression only strengthened my belief that he had gained emotions.

The old Damien always had a subtle sense of detachment, no matter what expression he wore, but now his face was completely natural, without a hint of that detachment.

Would Milia be happy?

“Maybe, maybe not. We’ll have to wait and see to be sure.”

I shrugged lightly, reserving judgment.

If I jumped to conclusions and it turned out to be wrong later, it would be embarrassing.

There were far more important things to discuss than uncertain matters.

For example—

“Speaking of which… that Holy Sword. Do you know how to use it?”

Things like how to manifest the Holy Sword’s abilities.

—

As expected, Damien had been acknowledged as the Holy Sword’s wielder, but he had no idea what its abilities were or how to manifest them. Just like I had been.

It was inevitable.

This wasn’t a game; it was reality. Just picking up a weapon wouldn’t make a status window pop up listing its damage and effects.

Unless you heard it directly from the weapon’s creator, you had to figure it out through trial and error, just like I did.

Normally.

…In other words, Damien didn’t have to go through that hardship.

Why? Isn’t it obvious?

Because I’m here.

Durandal wasn’t highlighted much in the original work, so its abilities were unknown, but there’s no way I wouldn’t know the abilities of the Holy Sword, the protagonist’s essential equipment.

The Holy Sword’s abilities, characteristics, true name, and enhancement methods—I remembered all of it.

So, all that was left was to naturally explain what I knew.

I lit a campfire, sat Damien in front of it, and began explaining everything he needed to know in a long-winded manner.

Of course, I first had to confirm if my Life Force Technique had truly run out.

I planned to make it seem like I had learned about the Holy Sword’s abilities from Rotholandus, but if Hersela was awake, she would immediately see through the lie.

‘Our dear Heavenly Demon, how are you feeling? Have you returned from wherever you went?’

[……]

Fortunately, Hersela seemed to have completely fallen asleep. It wasn’t a silence of refusal to answer; there was simply no response.

—

The Holy Sword, Juwaiyoz.

Forged by Elpinel herself and bestowed upon Carolus, this divine sword, the greatest of its kind, held seven authorities.

The first authority, Divine Engraving.

Through the sacred runes engraved on the blade, it could manifest all miracles of the Elpinel Church Order, including healing, purification, and blessings.

From what I remembered, with sufficient power, it could even unleash the highest-tier attack miracle, “Wrath of the Heavens.”

A pure white beam of Elpinel’s divine light that annihilated everything in its path.

Due to its setting as a miracle version of Saint Gustav’s authority, players often called it the “Gustav Holy Cannon” instead of its original name, “Wrath of the Heavens.”

However, because it consumed an enormous amount of Holy Power, in the original work, it was more of Lacey’s signature move than Damien’s.

“…I can use something like that? I’ve never even learned how to perform miracles.”

“No problem. The one manifesting the miracle isn’t you; it’s the Holy Sword. All you have to do is supply the Holy Power needed to manifest it.”

“Holy Power? How am I supposed to…?”

Damien frowned. It was a natural reaction. The only power he had was the Hero’s Feats and a bit of mana. He didn’t have a single drop of Holy Power.

“No need to worry about that.”

Of course, from my perspective, it was an unnecessary concern. That’s what the Holy Sword’s second authority, Flow Reversal, was for.

“The second authority, Flow Reversal, is like a massive conversion device. No matter what kind of power you possess, it can convert that power into a completely different type.”

It could convert the Power of Feats into Holy Power, or mana if desired, and vice versa—it could even turn Holy Power or mana into the Power of Feats.

This authority allowed players to fully utilize the Holy Sword’s abilities, no matter their class.

However, converting mana into Holy Power and vice versa was impossible.

—

By the time the campfire, fueled by Rune Flame, had died down, I had spent the time explaining the Holy Sword’s remaining abilities to Damien.

The Piercing Authority, which could inflict damage even on beings with special protections like the Blessing of Invulnerability or the invulnerable skin of Void Beings.

The Blessing that bestowed grace upon the wielder’s soul, enhancing the power of Heroic Tales or unique magic.

The indestructible durability, much like Durandal.

The Summoning Ability, which allowed the sword to be stored in a pocket dimension and summoned at will, eliminating the need for a scabbard.

And the Shape-Shifting Ability, which, under certain conditions, allowed the sword to change its form according to the wielder’s desires.

Excluding the Holy Sword’s true name and the new abilities unlocked upon releasing that name, I had explained everything I knew.