Surviving as a Barbarian in a Fantasy World

Chapter 272: Holy Sword (2)

[Wait! Are you insane?!]

The Holy Sword was astonished.

Devouring the Fragment of God right after being warned about its dangers!

But it was already too late—the fragment had been swallowed with a gulp.

[Spit it out immediately! How... how was it done? Right! You have to hit your chest hard! Stick your fingers down your throat! Spit it out!]

The Holy Sword was in a frenzy.

And fittingly, the power sleeping inside the Fragment of God awoke.

The immense power of a god began rampaging inside his body, attempting to destroy his flesh from within.

It was an explosion of violent force, as if a bomb had detonated inside his body.

Even a hero-class warrior, even Karin, would be coughing up blood and left in a state of fatal injury.

But for Ketal, it didn\'t feel like much.

\'It\'s weaker than the beast of mystery.\'

The divine attack was no match for the wild rampages of the beast of mystery he controlled.

And then—

Rrrr...

The beast of mystery stirred.

It growled discontentedly, as though displeased by the divine power desecrating its domain.

And with a roar, it began to rampage.

It tore into the divine power that was trying to destroy him, biting and gnashing.

\'As expected.\'

Ketal\'s expression was one of calm anticipation.

There was no way that troublesome creature would sit still while something else rampaged in its domain.

The divine power, eager to shatter Ketal’s body, panicked.

It hastily gathered its strength to resist the beast of mystery.

But the beast devoured it greedily, crushing and tearing it apart.

At some point, the divine power stopped resisting and tried to flee.

But ultimately, it was trapped inside Ketal’s body.

There was no escape.

Slowly, the beast of mystery began to consume it.

[W-What?]

The Holy Sword, who had been anxiously watching, suddenly realized something.

The divine power that had been shaking Ketal\'s body was disappearing.

No, more than that—Ketal’s mystery was increasing.

The beast was tearing, biting, and devouring the divine power.

And finally, even the fragment of the divine essence was consumed entirely by the beast.

Burp.

The Holy Sword heard a satisfied burp.

She let out a groan.

[Oh, ohhh...]

"Hahh."

Ketal laughed contentedly.

The divine power within the Fragment of God, the holy essence.

It had all been absorbed by the beast of mystery, greatly increasing his mystery.

Ketal raised his arm and controlled the power of mystery.

It moved far more swiftly than before.

"Not bad."

Ketal muttered with satisfaction.

Then, he frowned.

"...But I’m still not at the superhuman level."

Even after devouring all of the Holy Sword’s power, he was still just at the peak of first-rate.

It was agonizingly close.

Like water barely lapping at the edge of a dam.

\'Do I need a bit more?\'

Or was it something special he lacked?

Ketal stroked his chin.

"Hmm. Well, this is good enough for now."

To think he\'d acquire something equivalent to a Dragon Heart so easily.

In any case, Ketal was satisfied.

Meanwhile, the Holy Sword groaned.

[Oh... this is insane.]

The Holy Sword realized what had happened.

The Fragment of God, along with the Holy Sword’s power contained within, had become a part of Ketal.

[What... exactly are you nurturing inside you?]

"A troublesome creature."

Ketal answered casually.

[What on earth...]

What on earth are you nurturing?

The Holy Sword was about to ask when there was a knock on the door.

When Ketal opened it, there stood Kretein.

Ketal smiled.

"Has the decision been made?"

"...Please follow me."

Kretein swallowed nervously and tried to remain calm.

Ketal followed him into the inner sanctum of the Holy Sanctuary, where he met with the saint in private.

The saint bowed calmly.

"You’ve arrived."

"You’ve received an answer, I see. What was it?"

[Ugh...]

The Holy Sword groaned in anxiety.

After a moment of silence, Penlero responded.

"...The great Elia has spoken. Let him do as he wills."

It wasn\'t a confirmation.

Nor was it a denial.

It was an ambiguous response, leaving the decision up to Ketal.

"They’re leaving it to me, huh?"

"...It seems so. May I ask what you plan to do?"

"Hmm."

Ketal stroked his chin and glanced at the shattered Holy Sword.

Though the sword had no heart, it seemed as if it did, beating visibly.

After a brief moment of thought, Ketal made his decision.

"I’ll keep it."

After all, he was the one who had broken the Holy Sword.

He had to take responsibility for it.

‘Looks like I’ve gained a noisy companion.’

[Yesss!]

The Holy Sword let out a cry of joy.

Penlero nodded, understanding.

"I see. Then the Holy Sword is yours. But... I apologize for bringing this up..."

Penlero trailed off.

Ketal, catching his drift, replied.

"You mean I can’t tell anyone, right?"

"...Yes. I’m sorry."

The Holy Sword was broken, and most of its power had been lost.

While the god didn’t reject Ketal, it hadn’t exactly accepted him either.

It wasn’t a situation where he could claim to be the true owner of the Holy Sword.

Ketal nodded.

"It’s fine. Do as you see fit."

Keeping it a secret worked in Ketal’s favor.

If people started calling him the Holy Sword’s owner and boasting about it everywhere, it would disrupt the fantasy journey he sought.

It was a good outcome for him.

Ketal’s answer made Penlero sigh in relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

"Thank you. Then please rest well. We will prepare everything and inform you when it\'s done. Oh, and the broken blade of the Holy Sword also belongs to you. We will make sure it is ready for you."

"Got it."

Ketal parted ways with Penlero and returned to his quarters.

[Yesss! Thank you for not abandoning me. I’ll try to be as quiet as possible since you dislike noise.]

"It’s fine. I have to take responsibility."

After all, it was Ketal who had broken the Holy Sword.

He had even devoured the power inside it.

As an adult, he needed to take responsibility for his actions.

The knowledge of the Holy Sword could be useful to him, an outsider.

Its inherent divinity might also come in handy when dealing with minor demons.

‘But I can’t carry it around forever.’

No matter how responsible he was, he couldn’t carry the Holy Sword around for the rest of his life.

He needed a solution.

"Isn’t there any way to repair it?"

Ketal asked, though he didn’t look earnest.

After all, it had taken all his strength to break it barely.

And all the power within it had been drained.

It didn’t seem possible to restore it now.

[Uh... it’s not impossible?]

"Hmm?"

But Ketal was surprised by the unexpected answer.

"It can be repaired?"

[I\'m not sure if all the power inside me can be restored, but the sword itself can definitely be fixed. I was created by the God of Blacksmiths, after all.]

And there were people in this world who worshiped the God of Blacksmiths.

[The Holy Sanctuary of the God of Blacksmiths. The Dwarves who serve him live there. The Dwarven stronghold, Mantamia. The saint there should be able to repair me.]

"There was a way after all."

Ketal’s face brightened.

Now that he thought about it, it made sense.

If a god had created it, surely it could be repaired.

The solution was simple.

He just needed to visit the Dwarven stronghold, meet the Dwarves, meet the god, and get the Holy Sword repaired.

Afterward, depending on the situation, he could return the Holy Sword to its holy place.

Now that his body was no longer at risk, it would be a happy ending.

The Holy Sword’s tone was rather reluctant.

[Personally, I wouldn’t recommend it. Isn’t it a hassle to travel such a long distance? Besides, Mantamia is hidden from this world. Although its location is in my memory, it is not easily accessible. And no, I am not saying this because I fear I might disappear again.]

"Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to handle that part well. Anyway, I’m counting on you until then."

[Hmm… I am uneasy, but… since this body has been entrusted to you, I have no choice but to follow your lead.]

"That makes you sound like some kind of servant."

[But it’s a good situation for me. The risk of disappearing is gone. Not bad. Ah... Ahh.]

"What is it?"

[I-I’m sleepy…]

"...Is the Holy Sword even capable of sleeping?"

[No. Normally, I wouldn’t be. But because you broke me, I’ve lost a lot of power, so I think I will periodically fall into a dormant state. Ah… I’m sorry. I’m going to sleep for a bit...]

After those words, the Holy Sword fell silent as if it had indeed gone to sleep.

Ketal, who had been staring at the sword for a moment, let out a small laugh.

‘I’ve got myself a peculiar companion.’

The noisy one reminded him of the young apprentice who had followed him around, calling him "master" across the snowy white plains.

‘That kid sure talked a lot too. I wonder what he\'s up to now.’

Ketal laid down on the bed.

* * *

The next day, the temple of the God of Swords made an announcement:

The owner of the Holy Sword had appeared.

However, by the will of the god, the identity of the owner would remain a secret.

This left people in shock.

The owner of the Holy Sword was always revered as a hero, their fame spreading across the continent, and they wielded great power to fight against demons.

Never before had their identity been kept secret.

Some people speculated that the temple was lying due to some issue.

But the temple swore on the name of the god.

Under the absolute authority of that being, the questions hiding the truth never surfaced.

Amidst the confusion, the festival ended.

Only a select few within the temple knew the truth.

And among them, only Helia, the Saint of the Sun God, knew everything.

"This… this is truly something that can happen."

Helia stared at the broken Holy Sword in Ketal’s hand with an odd expression.

The sword murmured in surprise as it looked at her.

[This woman… She’s remarkable. A mortal human can possess this much divine power?]

At that moment, the saint squinted her eyes.

"...Is the Holy Sword saying something right now?"

"Yes. It\'s saying that you’re impressive."

"Thank you."

[Wow. She can even sense what I’m saying? This is truly amazing. Is she some kind of divine incarnation?]

The Holy Sword was genuinely astonished.

The saint narrowed her eyes.

She already knew.

That Ketal had broken the Holy Sword.

And because of that, the sword’s mechanism wasn’t functioning properly anymore.

Helia quickly came to a conclusion.

The aid of the great gods was gone, and the hero could not appear on the earth.

In their place, Ketal was standing with them.

She smiled and bowed slightly.

"As the owner of the broken Holy Sword, I look forward to working with you from now on."

"Indeed."

"This isn’t bad at all. Although I knew it was necessary for the world, I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about it."

It was a strange statement.

Ketal looked at the saint curiously.

"You... you knew, didn’t you?"

Helia had realized the true nature of the Holy Sword.

"Who knows? What do you think?"

Helia responded in an ambiguous tone.

"As one of the beings of this world, I look forward to your assistance. If you ever need my help, feel free to use my name. Until then, we’ll meet again."

The saint left the temple of the God of Swords.

As she departed, she looked up at the high sky.

There, the sun that illuminated the world was shining.

Looking directly at the sun would normally blind one’s eyes.

But without any protective gear, she stared straight at it.

After a moment, she murmured,

"...The descent of the Holy Sword means that a crisis is approaching."

Even if the gods could not intervene for a while, summoning the Holy Sword to empower the world indicated that a great evil was moving.

"But your Holy Sword is broken. Now, your ability to interfere with the world is limited."

The saint smiled slightly.

"Was this part of your plan? Oh, great Sun God. I only regret that I couldn’t see the look of surprise on your face."

She murmured cheerfully as she returned to the sanctuary of the Sun God.

Ketal remained at the temple for a few more days to deal with the aftermath of the Holy Sword.

During that time, he had one goal.

To duel with Elian, the disciple of the Tower Master.

He had been looking forward to fighting a hero-class mage of the continent once the chaos had settled.

But that became impossible.

Because the demons had begun to descend in earnest upon the earth.

* * *

[The rift has opened sufficiently.]

The writhing entity, Necronovix, murmured.

The four demon lords of Hell had gathered in one place.

[The world is in chaos. Several divine sanctuaries have crumbled, weakening their influence. Dark magicians are running rampant, expanding our domain. Now, we can intervene.]

[We’re late. The original plan was supposed to happen six months earlier.]

[It’s because of that barbarian. Whatever the case, he is certainly our enemy. We must capture and kill him.]

"He’s mine."

Materia, the Mother of Demons, smiled faintly.

"If any of you touch him, I’ll kill you myself."

[Do your best. Then we leave it to you, Abyss.]

[Understood.]

The mechanism-like demon, Abyss, moved.

The device expanded, creating a passage.

Clatter.

From it poured a demonic energy so powerful that it instantly turned the four demon lords into mere spectators.

It was a demonic energy far greater and stronger than theirs—an energy belonging to the Lord of all Demons, the God of Evil.

Materia murmured in an excited voice.

"Oh… Ohhh… My Lord Demon King..."

[Please.]

Necronovix spoke reverently.

[Tear the barrier apart.]

From beyond the passage, a terrifying presence stared at them.

And in the darkness, a finger moved.

Crack!

The space shattered.

It wasn’t a localized event.

The entire world began to crack.

With just the movement of a finger, the entire world was affected.

Both the mighty and the ignorant all felt it.

That the world they knew was breaking.

Kaaaaaaaaang!

The barrier collapsed.

The earth had once belonged to the demons.

But the gods, unable to tolerate their tyranny, had descended and driven them out.

In the process, the earth became the gods’ domain.

That was the record of the world.

And now,

That ownership had been destroyed.

The earth no longer belonged to anyone.

[Thank you, Demon King. As per your will, we will begin the descent.]

Rumble…

The passage closed.

Abyss\'s mechanism groaned and fell apart.

"You did well, Abyss."

[…I need to recover.]

"Rest well. Now then."

[Let’s begin.]

The four demon lords commanded the beings of Hell.

[It\'s all-out war. Crush and trample the earth. Make it ours. Everything is for the Demon King’s descent.]