Chapter 278 – 278. Crafting Demigod Arms (2)
“By the way, Hyuna. What are you trying to do here?”
“To make a weapon.”
“Weapon? Who is it?”
“Mine.”
“Uh… ? Really?”
Erin had never seen Eunhyun’s weapon properly before.
When he accompanied them through the previous Arcis labyrinth expedition, he had experienced some of his powers, but even that, Eun-hyeon, who easily conquered the inside of the dungeon, had never shown his strength.
The fact that he was trying to make his own weapon now stimulated great curiosity in Erinn’s mind.
“Can I watch?”
“Huh?”
Hearing the unexpected words, Eunhyeon looked at Erin with a puzzled expression.
He answered with a bitter smile as he faced the two shining eyes filled with curiosity.
“That wouldn’t be fun.”
“I’ll see you though. I miss you. How to make weapons.”
“Okay.”
Arriving at the blacksmith’s side with Erin, Eunhyeon went straight to the furnace.
He ignited the inside of the furnace to create a spark, then reached out into the air.
Ugh
The ‘Hammer of Vulcanos’, imprinted in his own soul, appeared and was held in Eun-hyeon’s hand.
As soon as the divine power was injected into the hearth, the roaring flame turned into a sacred fire containing divine power and began to heat up the inside of the forge.
“Oh… !?”
Startled by the rapidly rising temperature inside the forge, Erin shook her shoulders.
Before long, he muttered blankly while staring at the roaring white flame.
“The color of the flame…”
It’s pure white
While staring blankly at the flames emitting tremendous heat, it was the nine-tailed fox who recognized the flames.
[Holy fire…]
‘… What is the torch?’
[It’s literally a holy flame.]
‘Is it wrong to just fire?’
[Wrong. Can it be said that the fox fire created by my magic and the fire created by other general magic are the same?]
‘No? It’s different.’
The fox fire created through the magic of the nine-tailed fox emits a blue light.
Unlike the fire-attribute magic that was manifested in the world through elaborate spells, fox fire is the power itself formed by condensing more refined and dense magical energy.
‘Then those pure white flames…’
[Like my fox fire, it’s a cohesive force on a huge scale. The difference between the fox fire and that torch is the difference between whether the source of the power that forms that flame is the ‘magic power of a divine beast’ or ‘divine power’.]
‘Um… Is it greater than Miho’s strength?’
[…]
The nine-tailed fox could not easily answer Erin’s question about who had the upper hand after comparing the two powers in an instant.
Comparing it to his own strength, an existence that reaches its peak at the same level as the ancient dragons in the underworld, is truly arrogant.
However, since it was a question of a young girl born out of pure curiosity and no malice, it is ambiguous to get angry at this subtle feeling.
This girl, a girl, doesn’t know the value of the power she’s using, but she doesn’t know too much.
The nine-tailed fox kept his pride as much as possible and put an explanation in his mouth to convince Erin.
[It is foolish to compare that divine power with the power of this world. Because it is not a power that can exist in this world in the first place.]
No matter how powerful it is in this world, it is meaningless to compare it with a power outside the standard that cannot exist in this world.
‘But Hyun is wearing it.’
[So that’s great.]
Originally, it is not absolute that a being from the lower world uses the power of a higher dimension, but the possibility is so slim that it is close to that ‘absolute’ value.
At least the nine-tailed fox hadn’t met such a being for a long time, since the earth was destroyed and this world was recreated after being integrated.
[I don’t think it was like that when I first saw it…]
As Gumiho first robbed Erin’s body, he remembered the first time he met Eunhyeon.
At that time, a human who could only use the power of a goddess who had been granted it, possessed divine power in his own body, threw off his human mask, and raised his status as a half-god.
[It must have been because of the help of that goddess.]
He doesn’t know what background and process he went through.
However, it was certain that what had the greatest impact on Eun-hyeon’s growth was the unbiased affection of the goddess who devotedly cared for her, embracing his soul.
‘Miho.’
[What else are you trying to ask?]
‘If Hyun and Miho fight, who will win?’
[…]
The gumiho remained silent again.
The cheeky thing that puts humans and themselves on the line of comparison was nothing more than a trivial question stemming from curiosity that was not mixed with malice, like ‘If mom and dad fight, who will win?’.
[I do not know.]
Even the gumiho himself could not easily come to a conclusion.
‘Uh? Why?’
[Even if he possesses divine power, his body is human. If you compare it to me who regained full strength, it is not a problem that can be easily concluded.]
As for the quality of power, of course, Eunhyun, who is the power of the upper world, has the upper hand.
However, in terms of body specs, Shinsoo himself has the upper hand.
Besides, there was another reason why the Gumiho couldn’t easily decide whether to win or lose.
[That guy, if necessary, will definitely prepare at least one way to defeat me.]
In battle, there are many factors other than the difference in strength or physical specifications that can determine victory or defeat.
For example, strategy, tactics, technique, etc. How effective you can come up with a solution to the problem you are facing.
Things like that.
The nine-tailed fox was proud that he had built up things that were second to none through a lot of experience after a long time of training, but he didn’t look down on his opponent either.
The difference in accumulated time and effort may be less than his own, but he is an opponent that cannot be underestimated.
Erin was impressed when she heard Gumiho’s honesty and sincerity.
‘Is Miho really that great? Isn’t it about being able to fight Hyun on an equal footing?’
[… What the hell is the standard in your head for what you eat? Isn’t it normal to feel great about that guy who explained that he could compete with me normally? How on earth can you come to the exact opposite conclusion?]
While Shin-soo and the girl were arguing again in their heads, Eun-hyeon finished all preparations and exhaled a small breath.
“… Whoa.”
Then, he placed his empty hand on his chest.
He gestures as if pulling something out of his body, and then the divine energy is pulled out of his chest and begins to form a small sphere.
Eventually, the pure white orb of condensed divine power was placed on top of the anvil.
It wasn’t that something was firmly fixed around it, but the pure white sphere didn’t move at all, as if it were firmly attached to the anvil and fixed.
Finally, he tightened his grip on the hammer and started working in earnest.
Kaaang!
As she slammed the ‘Hammer of Vulcanos’ as hard as she could at her white orb, Erin flinched as she felt an intense surge of energy with a light sound.
‘I didn’t say I was making weapons… ? That…’
It is not the type of iron or metal used to make weapons.
If I had to explain it, it was a divine sphere extracted from Eunhyun’s body and condensed.
[The weapon that guy is trying to make is not just an ordinary weapon. That’s now…]
What Eunhyeon is training by beating the hammer is his soul itself, which contains divinity.
Realizing what he was trying to do and what feat he was trying to accomplish, the nine-tailed fox murmured softly.
[… MiX bastard.]
◆ ◆ ◆
Caang!
The sound of swinging a hammer and beating the material on the anvil to forge it hit my ears.
The only thing he was staring at was a part of his soul on the anvil.
Every time I hit the hammer, I feel a strong sense of exhaustion, as if all the divine power in my body is being sucked out.
However, the reason why he can continue to wield the ‘Hammer of Vulcanos’ without stopping is thanks to the effect of ‘Cornucopia’ that Proserpina gave him as a gift.
Without this, Eunhyeon wouldn’t even have the crazy idea of using her soul to make a weapon.
[He doesn’t have to do that anymore, but he always invites himself to walk the reckless path…]
If you make a mistake and fail because part of your soul is damaged, it is a dangerous madness where you are not even sure what side effects will come to you.
That’s why he didn’t explain in detail to Illyana and Eleanor.
The premonition that if he explained the risk in case of failure at the same time as he said it, he might tear himself away, was obvious.
However, the reason why Eun-hyeon tried to do this crazy thing is to counter the advanced demons who have the possibility of crossing over to the lower world someday.
They are on a different level from the low-class demons born in the underworld, and the intermediate-level demons who are born very rarely.
There was a class gap that could never be crossed.
At the time of the war with the demons on Earth, Eun-hyeon, who knew the level of the demons, was convinced that if the demons were to come over to the lower world, he would never be able to fight them with the current level.
This was a contingency plan for the unexpected.
And through this process, there was a fact that Eunhyeon had to confirm.
‘I never fail.’
Eunhyeon replied to Belldandy’s concern.
Eunhyeon had a strong conviction that her end would not be here.
Although he was just an unfounded intuition that he himself could not clearly explain.
No, it did exist.
Even the basis for that was a thought I had recently had.
Caang!
By endowing the hammer of Vulcanos with divine power, the work of realizing the white sphere, which is one’s ‘part of the soul’, into a ‘concept’ and ‘object’.
Even without stopping the process of consuming enormous concentration, stamina, and divine power, Eunhyeon did not stop thinking about him.
‘Was it really a coincidence that I was able to meet Master’s spirit in the village of the moon at that time?’
The reason he came to the village of the moon was because after his marriage to Illyana and Eleanor, he decided to relieve his burden of Sylvia.
There, when he visited, the power of the World Tree was declining, and the war with the Dark Elves, which had been quiet for nearly 300 years, was beginning.
Moreover, a reunion with Siete, which Mediah did not want at all, was a trick.
‘Even though the timing was good, it was really good.’
It was really terrible things, but the fight that took place during that honeymoon finally raised Eun-hyeon to a higher level.
That made Eunhyun feel very uncomfortable.
It’s as if someone is deliberately giving them hardships and helping them grow.
It felt similar to the way he was providing a platform for Erin to grow, but even though the method was similar, the cause, purpose, direction, and fundamentals themselves were different.
In Eunhyeon’s case, she feels like a racehorse running on someone else’s rail.
The running racehorse did not even realize that it was a rail laid only for itself.
I can’t even see who laid the rails.
The questions and doubts that I had in my heart for the first time start to rise higher, biting tail after tail.
‘Why was I able to survive in the first place?’
This is because Belldandi persuaded the other gods to resurrect Eunhyeon.
‘Why did the earth perish, but was he able to survive?’
It is because he succeeded in pushing all the demons into the Demon Realm that exists on the other side of the void and sealing them at the end of the sacrifices of many people.
‘Why did so many people like Hyeonseong hyung, Siete Master, and Brunak have good feelings for me, who have no talent, and teach me enthusiastically?’
Even though I had no talent, I put in effort, expected it, and saw the potential.
‘Why was I able to be chosen by the three goddesses?’
Verdandi said he chose him because he had the potential to twist the destiny he was destined to create, a future that even the gods couldn’t see.
The opportunity to see that possibility was that Eun-hyeon ate her family, she killed the lowest level demon who tried to kill herself, and changed her own destiny, which was supposed to die.
‘Why did my fate change?’
It was a phenomenon that even Berdandi could not properly explain.
An expediency-oriented development that is happening only to Eun-hyeon, which even God cannot properly understand.
I felt intuition that something different from the power of ‘Creating Destiny’ given to me by Skuld existed.
Eunhyun’s conclusion is simple.
‘Someone is helping me and guiding me in a certain direction.’
