Chapter 1104
Absolute Shortcut
This was a holy sword personally forged by the Flame Heavenly Envoy… yet it contained such a strong “bestiality” of the Path of Love and the essence of the Twilight Path.
Just holding it could shake one’s mind. But it lacked the unique “stagnation” and “closure” of the Twilight Path; instead, it was frantic and uncontrollable.
Rather than a holy sword, it was a monster with a metallic shell.
This level of demonic nature… if it didn’t come from its creator, it could only come from its materials.
During the Sky-Piercing Tower ruins, Eivass had already learned that the Beast Lord was born when the sun fell—fragments of the sun fell into the sea, and “something” in the deep sea accepted the Heavenly Envoy Fragment of the Path of Creation from the fallen “Taiyi.”
After all, Pillar Gods were also a type of Heavenly Envoy, just Arch-Heavenly Envoys with the highest authority within their path… just like the Crown Heavenly Envoy and the Ring Heavenly Envoy, they all held Heavenly Envoy Fragments.
At that time, the Sky-Earth connection was not yet severed, so it climbed ashore directly—
Imitating the scaled and winged ones, it transformed its flexible tentacles into limbs; it grew fur for warmth and bones for walking… finally walking from the deep sea to the land, becoming the Lord of Ten Thousand Beasts.
—Its previous race was self-evident.
The Beast Lord could only be a sea monster.
A sea monster from the “Forbidden” Path, like the Abyss Heavenly Envoy and the Amber Heavenly Envoy!
Its shed remnants would naturally possess the residual power of both the Beast Path and the Forbidden Path—and after the Pillar God’s succession, it naturally turned into the aura of the Path of Love and the Twilight Path!
“…So that’s how it is.”
Eivass frowned slightly. “Flame Heavenly Envoy is truly… bold. The residual molts of a Pillar God… you dare use such a thing to forge a weapon?”
He had originally intended to use more unrestrained words to describe this recklessness, but he ultimately chose more gentle and restrained terms.
The Beast Lord first accepted the Heavenly Envoy Fragment and then gradually shed its original body. This was also a form of self-severance, much like Hengwo’s ten self-severances… only the Beast Lord physically cast aside its original sea monster body, thus casting aside its forbidden power.
This also meant that the Red-Hilted Sword must contain a massive amount of forbidden power—
“The Golden Sword contains all of Hermes’s Disciple power,” Haibasha looked at the “Red-Hilted Sword” with only half a red hilt remaining, her gaze complex yet tinged with a hint of nostalgia. “In its most complete form, it was a golden sword that looked like a giant cross. It had a golden hilt and scabbard. Its blade was as pale as a spine, and its blade and spine were also coated in a layer of gold.
“Hermes’s power of balance was sufficient to seal and suppress the power of this demonic sword. Before it, any shield formed by Extraordinary Power was as fragile as paper, and no physical shield or armor could block its blade.
“…That’s at least much more advanced than the current sealing method.”
Haibasha looked at its hilt, her lips pursing slightly. “I don’t remember its hilt being wrapped in amber and sacred wood before. I almost didn’t recognize it.”
“This was forged by Merlin…”
Eivass immediately provided the answer. “Before the Knights Of The Round Table were even formed, this sword killed a very powerful knight. Merlin feared that this sword would continue to delude people, so he sealed it. However, it broke free again and was taken up by Sir Galahad.
“After Sir Galahad’s death, no one could wield this sword. Merlin, fearing someone would seize its power again, destroyed it in a certain way…”
Yes, Eivass believed Merlin’s sealing was actually a form of destruction.
It was just that he dared not—and could not—destroy a creation of a Heavenly Envoy, so he had minimized its might as much as possible.
“Merlin deemed this sword a living, mind-corrupting monster, so he smashed its blade into fragments, blunting its sharp claws and teeth; he destroyed its scabbard to remove its fur and scales that protected itself; then he forged a new scabbard from sacred wood, encasing the original scabbard, and poured amber over it to seal it, thus forging shackles and a prison.
“After completing these seals, Merlin made it the key to the Shrine, so it bathed daily in the sacred fire of the Candlemaster, sealing its demonic nature in this way.”
“Simply redundant… and a waste.”
Haibasha shook her head, frowning deeply. Her husband’s past work being damaged in such a way made her feel a little pained.
But she also knew that this sword could indeed drive people mad… and it contained extremely terrifying power; mortals truly could not handle it well, so she didn’t say anything more.
She merely confirmed with Eivass. “Since you already know the true power of the ‘Red-Hilted Sword’… are you still going to discard it to forge a new sword? That is a blade capable of cutting through all Extraordinary barriers.”
Eivass merely retorted, “And the price? Is it to gradually lose reason, to lose oneself? A demonic sword that makes one’s thoughts become permanently more extreme… no matter how radiant and sacred its appearance, at least it is not a ‘holy sword’ to me.”
“Great power always comes with a price.”
Haibasha replied without hesitation. “This is also a form of balance. And from a rational perspective, this is already a very cost-effective price… it neither demands life and flesh, nor sacrifice of soul and memory, nor does it require committing sins or tormenting the soul. It merely makes one more frenzied every time they have a wicked thought.
“Because of this, this sword can only be wielded by saints and madmen—the former can ensure they have no wicked thoughts, while the latter, having already gone mad, doesn’t care about this degree of madness. Just as a cup of dirty water can pollute a bucket of clean water, but cannot pollute another bucket of dirty water.
“And you—My former His Majesty the Pope. You happen to be both a saint and a madman. To be blunt, this sword was born for you. And it doesn’t have a curse like ‘you must use it forever once you start using it.’ If you feel something is wrong, can’t you stop using it at any time?”
Sherlock nodded upon hearing this.
As someone of the Path of Wisdom, he also didn’t think there was anything wrong with this sword.
In his understanding, Eivass really liked such “clever tricks.” He enjoyed frequently utilizing items or techniques that required a price to be paid, and then cleverly dissolving those prices or canceling them out.
But for some reason…
Eivass merely frowned in silence.
From Haibasha’s words, the Red-Hilted Sword, in its complete form, should possess both the power of balance and the power of the forbidden—balance to break through the defenses of Extraordinary Power, and the forbidden to erode physical defenses.
In other words, this sword could break both shields and armor, dealing true damage.
As expected of a top-tier holy sword… among all holy swords, only this sword, in its nascent stage, had to bear an extremely powerful curse of vulnerability; even after restoring to its complete form, it had a curse that caused one to gradually lose their mind and become frenzied upon use. This curse was not even a true curse, thus it could not be dispelled.
And by paying such a huge “price,” its power was therefore the strongest among all holy swords. This was also a principle of balance—while other holy swords at least added attributes, this one even deducted attributes.
This level of power was practically a must-have item for fighting Heavenly Envoys!
A shortcut.
An absolute shortcut.
The most difficult aspect of fighting Heavenly Envoys was to break through their positional defenses by obtaining extra “priority.” And the power of this sword was so immense that Eivass, with it, could easily slay a Heavenly Envoy… perhaps even a Ring Heavenly Envoy could be easily defeated!
(End of Chapter)
