## Chapter 375 – 375. God’S Atlantis
375. God’s Atlantis
“This sword has accumulated too much malice. It’s on the verge of becoming a cursed blade. It seems to be made from dragon scales… Unless there’s been a massacre of humans in a short period, this wouldn’t happen… This sword is dangerous.”
“Dangerous? A sword is just a sword.”
“It’s difficult for someone who isn’t a craftsman to understand the state of a sword. Whenever you wield that sword, haven’t you felt a headache, or a sudden surge of bloodlust? You must have felt the urge to harm yourself.”
“No. I haven’t felt anything like that…”
I suspected Damon was lying. As far as I could see, the Hwaryeon Flying Sword was perfectly fine. Even looking at it again, it didn’t feel ominous enough to be called a cursed blade.
“But is it really to the point of becoming a cursed blade? I’ve never heard of a weapon turning into a monster if you kill a lot of monsters.”
“I see you don’t understand. Let me explain in more detail. When I say malice has accumulated, I mean the lingering thoughts of the dead. Negative emotions like fear, bloodlust, hatred, despair, and anger. Most monsters act on instinct, so even if you kill countless of them, those thoughts won’t accumulate.”
“…So, if you kill people, those thoughts easily cling to the blade.”
“That’s right. In this case, you would have to massacre hundreds of people…”
Damon looked at me with a wary gaze. I pretended not to notice.
“How can I prevent those thoughts from clinging to the sword?”
“You can maintain it diligently. But usually, it rarely gets to this point. The sword usually can’t withstand it and breaks, or the thoughts are removed when the sword is repaired. This sword is so exceptional that it’s turning into a cursed blade.”
I thought about it quietly.
To me, the Hwaryeon Flying Sword was still just a good sword to use. It was a sword I had grown very attached to. Even if it turned into a cursed blade, I had no intention of throwing it away. And wouldn’t it be beneficial to me if it turned into a cursed blade?
“If it turns into a cursed blade, doesn’t the sword get stronger? I can handle minor side effects.”
“Minor side effects…? You’re underestimating cursed blades. There’s a reason they’re called cursed blades. Driving the owner insane is the least of it; they ultimately lead everything to ruin.”
“But the weapon does get stronger, right? I can handle the side effects. What do I need to do to make it a complete cursed blade?”
Damon shook his head, looking at me with pity.
“A weapon doesn’t get stronger when it turns into a cursed blade. It just changes. For example, the attribute enhancement effect of this sword might change for the worse.”
Attribute enhancement effect. From what Damon said, it seemed the Hwaryeon Flying Sword had the effect of enhancing not only lightning but other attributes as well. This was the first time I’d heard of it.
“…If it changes, what would it change to…?”
I felt uneasy.
“I don’t know. It’s likely to change to a curse-type attribute.”
“……”
I did some calculations in my head. What were the chances of getting an effect better than attribute enhancement?
‘…And I can’t be sure that the side effects of a cursed blade won’t affect me. It might not be affecting me now because it hasn’t turned into a cursed blade yet…’
Above all, I quite liked the attribute enhancement ability.
Having made my decision, I looked directly at Damon and asked,
“How do I get rid of those thoughts?”
Damon’s face brightened.
“It seems you’ve realized the danger of cursed blades! The best thing to do is to reforge the weapon. But… if the thoughts have accumulated to this extent, it’s not possible with just reforging. You’ll need a priest’s blessing… or a large amount of holy water.”
“……”
Priests and holy water.
It wasn’t difficult to obtain them. With enough money, I could get them easily. But to get a priest, I would have to go out of this area and come back in. Since space-time teleportation scrolls didn’t work in this area and its surroundings, it would take at least five days.
In the case of a priest, I would have to get Elena’s permission again and bring them here. It would cost more money and time than I had anticipated.
As I was racking my brain, something suddenly popped into my head.
“How about this? It’s holy water, but it’s a little different.”
“Hmm? Let me see.”
What I handed him was the holy water that came from the random draw. It was a little different from the one in this world, but it was still holy water.
[Holy Water
Drinking or applying holy water might bring good fortune?
Price: 2 Points
※Caution
The effect and duration vary depending on the amount.]
I had about four bottles of it, as it occasionally came out of the draw. I had just been storing them because I couldn’t find a use for them.
Damon carefully examined the holy water.
“It’s a little different from what I know, but it’s definitely holy water. I’ll try it with this. It should work.”
“Are you going to reforge it?”
“Aren’t you the knight of the Duke? I should do at least this much for you.”
Damon grinned.
“And this kind of thing doesn’t happen often, so it seems quite fun.”
“You bad Damon! Are you going to have all the fun again?!”
“I don’t intend to do it alone. This kind of thing doesn’t happen often, so we should all do it together. Don’t you think?”
“That’s right! We should all do it together! Hahaha!”
I looked behind the dwarves. Dozens of empty beer bottles were scattered on the floor. It seemed they had each downed two or three bottles already.
‘They’re not going to cause an accident while working drunk, are they?’
I was uneasy, but I had no authority to interfere with the dwarves, so I had no choice.
***
Life as a guest of the Iron Root Dwarf tribe was reasonably comfortable. The dwarves treated me like a precious guest, sharing their unique cuisine and stories. From my perspective, it wasn’t great, but I didn’t show it.
“Sir Sung Yoojin. Is the Duke in good health?”
“The Duke is healthy.”
The dwarves were very interested in Elena. Although their races were different and Elena ruled over them, they respected her rather than hating her.
I heard that Elena had saved them from being plundered by a greedy demon.
‘…Is that a female dwarf? It’s hard to tell the difference between men and women.’
The women also had beards and were short and stocky. The only difference between male and female dwarves was the presence of breasts, but it was hard to tell when they were fully clothed.
I had once peeked at the female dwarves bathing. But they were definitely not my type.
Their breasts were protruding, but they didn’t feel big. Their waists were straight without curves, and their hips didn’t protrude either. Their private parts were covered in hair like a chin beard. Their genitals were the same as humans.
‘Ah. I’m craving a woman. A woman!’
I had just returned to reality and had sex with Han Harin, but I wanted to hold a woman again. My body in reality and my current body were completely different.
I couldn’t pounce on a female dwarf. I wasn’t that starved, and just looking at a female dwarf’s face would make my dick droop.
“Sung Yoojin. There’s a problem.”
Damon, with a serious face, came to the house where I was staying.
“What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with the Hwaryeon Flying Sword…?”
“No. It’s not that. The reforging of that sword is going well. The effect of the holy water is better than expected.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“We’re short on materials. This time, a young dwarf made a mistake in organizing the warehouse, and there was an error in the materials in the warehouse. There’s enough to make swords, but… it’s far from enough to make armor.”
“…Do we have to go to another area and buy iron ore?”
“Iron ore? We use ironwood. And it’s not iron that we’re short on.”
“Then what are we short on?”
“We need the sap of the white ironwood. Without the sap of the white ironwood, ironwood is no different from ordinary iron.”
“Then why don’t we just make it without the sap?”
“Do you really want that? Without the sap of the white ironwood, armor that would be at least A-rank will be made into C-rank armor. Is that okay?”
“……”
The rank was dropping by two whole levels. Of course, it wasn’t okay. This was a serious problem. A masterpiece was about to become a mass-produced item, so it couldn’t be anything but serious.
“Is there no solution?”
“We don’t usually enter the ironwood forest at this time. It’s a time when monsters and ghosts are rampant… But if you help, it might be possible.”
I got up. I was restless anyway, since I didn’t have a woman and nothing to do.
“What do I need to do?”
***
The ironwood forest behind the village was eerie.
Even though it was daytime, a thick fog blocked the sunlight, and iron trees with no leaves were scattered here and there. The ground was black and hard. As soon as I entered the forest, the temperature dropped sharply. It was similar to the cool weather of dawn.
I walked through the ironwood forest with Damon.
“Aren’t you afraid of the ironwood forest?”
“? Why would I be afraid of this place?”
“The ironwood forest is a place where this gloomy atmosphere brings about fearful delusions, and those cold iron trees evoke instinctive fear. Especially this thick fog. During this time when the fog is thick, even we dwarves try not to enter the ironwood forest.”
“Hmm. It is eerie. But aren’t the things that come out of here just monsters? We can just kill the monsters.”
“Indeed, you are brave, as befits the Duke’s knight. Let me tell you an interesting story. Last time, a young dwarf came into the ironwood forest and peed like a child, and he slipped on his own pee and lost consciousness. Then, a banshee suddenly appeared and possessed the unconscious guy’s body and went on a rampage.”
“Is that an interesting story?”
“That young dwarf will be teased for the rest of his life. Isn’t it interesting?”
“Yeah. Well, it’s interesting.”
I was indifferent. What did that young dwarf have to do with me?
Damon, embarrassed by my reaction, closed his mouth for a moment before opening it again.
“There are three types of monsters in the ironwood forest. …Hmm. Did I mention that?”
“You didn’t go into detail, but you said that ghosts were rampant.”
“To be precise, there are banshees, monster rats, and ironwood trees.”
“Are ironwood trees also monsters?”
As far as I knew, ironwood trees were just trees with the properties of iron. They were mysterious trees that turned into iron when refined in a special way.
“Ironwood ghosts. They’re possessed by banshees. Unlike other ironwood trees, they’re hard to recognize, so they’re the most dangerous. You should be careful too.”
Strictly speaking, there seemed to be two types of monsters coming out of the ironwood forest. Monster rats and banshees.
“Putting aside the monster rats… how do you defeat banshees or ironwood ghosts? From what I saw in the village, it seems like there are few warriors.”
“That’s…. Oh, a banshee has appeared.”
Wooooooo.
A banshee appeared in the air. It was a pale, ghostly woman. Her face was gaunt, she had no eyeballs, and her body was swaying like paper. There was nothing appealing about her.
Crack.
As I unleashed lightning, Damon stepped forward first.
“You asked how we defeat banshees? I’ll show you myself.”
Damon grabbed his hammer and rushed towards the banshee. Although he was small, his momentum was fierce like a tiger, and he was agile.
Kieeeeeeek!
The banshee cast a curse. It was a curse that made one’s mind depressed and slowed down the body. I resisted the curse by using mana, but Damon just charged forward. The banshee’s curse couldn’t stop his legs.
“Where do you think you’re going! Flapping your dirty, filthy, rotten-smelling skirt! Die! You ugly hag!”
Damon swung his hammer at the banshee.
I thought his attack wouldn’t work. Ghost-type monsters like banshees were basically immune to physical attacks. Unless you used mana, you couldn’t physically harm them.
But what followed was different from my expectations.
Kieeeeeeeek!
The banshee screamed and fell to the ground.
“I’ll give you rest!”
Damon kept pounding with his hammer. The banshee couldn’t withstand it and eventually turned into smoke and disappeared. A small amount of blue powder was left in its place.
“Oops. I need to collect the powder before it blows away in the wind.”
Damon squatted down and swept up the powder.
“I didn’t sense any mana being used… how did you defeat the banshee?”
“Did you forget what we dwarves are good at?”
“…What does drinking beer have to do with it? Was the banshee’s weakness beer?”
