Chapter 25 - Blood Devourer
[Devourer's Blood Bathed, Twice-Reforged Blade of Blood Devourer
Grade: Forge II - Beyond Infused
Enchantments: Super Structural Integrity
Materiality Binding: Rune Infusion
State: Unbalanced
Trait:
Blood Devouring
Self Infusion]
"Name could do some work," Liesel exhaled. "Devourer, maybe..."
"Yeah, that sounds dangerous," Auram nodded.
"How does it look?" Liesel asked. She didn't care about the name enough to argue with Auram.
"I am impressed. The Custodian says if you had used the Mindeater's Materiality Core, it would've been Soul Forged IX, Half Step into the Ruler's Authority," Auram said. "He says you can still try that."
Liesel shook her head. "It's a weapon, and no matter how high it can reach, I am the one who would hinder its potential. So I'd rather save the Mindeater's Core for myself."
Ruler's Authority was the highest grade a weapon could have, and just the possession of it granted a mortal the right to challenge the throne of the ruling Emperor. Even Soul Forged weapons were a step too far, and she might attract the wrong type of eyes upon herself. Not that butting heads with the Chancellor's son favored her position even slightly.
Forge II was not a high rank. Most Ascendants would have at least an artifact that was Forged Twice, if not higher. Her original sword would be default Forge I, as that was the lowest rank any smithed weapon could have, and those were basically just normal weapons. This one was a bit more special. The Beyond Infused title meant that the material infused into the original blade had been of a far higher value than the sword itself. It was just a mark that, at some point, that imbalance would need to be reckoned with, or it might damage or outright destroy the sword.
[Blood Devouring: Absorbs the blood of its victims.
Self-Infusion: Infuse the prey's blood into the material state of the blade. Might increase Forge Rank upon meeting the conditions, external materials maybe necessary to cross the threshold necessary.]
[Rune Binding: In the Materiality-Enforced state, stabbing a passive rune would bind it to the blade. Can be used once. Enhances the power of the rune. ]
Liesel nodded to herself as she waved the windows away. She still didn't understand the reason why it had happened. She had killed the Mindeater, and that shouldn't have triggered such a mutation. At the moment, except for the special colors, it seemed like an oddly normal sword. The Blood Devouring trait wasn't going to help her against an opponent, nor was the infusion. Super Structural Integrity might be helpful, but that was not going to cut through the steel surface of the Door Guardian. She had hoped she'd find the last piece needed to kill the armor here.
Maybe the Custodian wants me to use the Mindeater's Core on it, and a Soul Forged weapon might be able to destroy it.
"I am not wasting such a precious resource on this," Liesel mumbled.
It had to be just this, Liesel was sure. The Custodian clearly had a vision, and that vision was unquestionably not one that Liesel was talented enough to walk.
She still sheathed the sword and strapped it to her belt. She wanted to fight with the sword, but Yehia noticed her as soon as she left her room. For the next hour, her sword was observed by basically everyone. They even got to swing it before her and test its sharpness—though a cut in the center of the dining table was far from the optimal use of a demon-touched sword. Of course, no one tried to infuse Materiality into it. For one, they didn't know what it might do, and it was sort of the norm and proper manners regarding such things.
Liesel approached the Door Guardian, crossing the invisible line on the ice. It unsheathed its blade. She spread Materiality through her body, then concentrated her Material Sense into a meter-wide area in front of her. The weight of the guardian in its sword felt like a hot rod hovering over her skin, and she could trace its movement in a much finer way than her eyes could have tracked. Of course, it took a portion of her mental fortitude to keep it sustained in such a manner, but this was good practice. And if there was one thing she had in spades, it was mental endurance.
Before it had even moved, her Perception informed her through the slight, almost imperceptible adjustment in its tendency. And then came the strike, fast and heavy.
Liesel guarded, using Materiality to strengthen parts of her upper body. Her sword remained steadfast upon contact. She twirled the strike downward when it applied pressure. She infused Materiality into the sword and jabbed at its face. It glided back, as Liesel had expected. So she swung it in a downward arc, landing on its wrist. A loud tinkechoed as her sword bounced off the misty white talons.
This text was taken from NovelFire. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Liesel frowned. Before she had the opportunity to even understand it, the sword came at her again. Liesel channeled Materiality into her arm, layering it until it was white, and it bore the brunt of the strike. She thrusted her sword at its wrist, which it dodged carefully. She dispelled the layering, evaporating the impact before it rampaged inside her body. Even so, her entire body was rattled by the impact. She channeled Materiality and stabbed at its hand again. The Door Guardian was too quick for her to connect, and she was already retreating, fending the sword away.
Away from the red line, she settled onto the ice, exhaling, as Auram manifested beside her.
"It's stronger than before," Auram uttered as she settled on the flat side of the blade.
"It is," Liesel nodded. She lifted it and observed the tip. There was a slight white dust on it. It was the point that had made contact with the demon's unprotected wrist. Liesel brushed it into her palm. "Or it is the first time anyone has managed to reach its claws."
"Maybe..." Liesel blinked.
She grabbed a Materiality Core from her satchel and absorbed the energy from it until she was full, and then she channeled it into the Impact Rune jewel resting on her wrist. Slowly, the rune manifested over her hand.
She kept pouring every ounce of Materiality into the rune gem until it was done. Unfortunately, there was no way to keep the Impact Rune sustained until she refilled the lost Materiality into her body. So she picked up her sword and stabbed the rune.
Half bracing herself to be on the receiving end of the impact for once, she waited.
But that didn't happen. Instead, the energy flowed through the blade and manifested as the rune on its flat surface.
Liesel soaked Materiality from the orb again and pushed it into the blade, and the rune was even brighter.
Is this enough?
Her nerves were aching by the third time she had replenished her energy. Her head also felt a little sluggish from using Focused Perception. Even so, the penalty was worth it for the amount of information she gathered on her opponent within the narrow pie.
Now, the problem was that she couldn't strike its sword first, as that would detonate the Impact Rune. As it swung its sword, she layered her arm, and she knew there were only so many times it would work before the Guardian figured out a way to cut past it. It struck her arm, and she enforced her shoulder and arm as she thrust the sword at its hand.
Thak!
The tip touched the white crystalline wrist. Then the Impact Rune blew up. The white dust was blown away, and beneath it was an ashen grey hand that was remarkably human, wrinkled and scrunched around the bone. It let go of the sword and caught it from the other.
The next moment, the guardian's sword wound back, followed by a swing cutting through the air. She felt its hiss on her neck. She raised her sword, pushing all the Materiality into her arm to brace for impact. The blow pushed her back, and she stumbled as her shoe stuck to the ground. The Guardian followed, swaying its sword in a lethargic arc.
Liesel barely managed to keep herself from falling over and batted the strike, which barely had any strength left, to the side. Her arms burned with pain. She stepped back again, crossing the red line.
The guardian paused. Liesel's body relaxed. But her Focused Perception was very much operated manually; it didn't come undone immediately. That moment of attention toward it was enough time to feel the Guardian's dilemma between abiding by its rule or pursuing her swivel towards violence in real time.
Liesel felt it before it attacked. If she hadn't, it would've cleft her in half.
It thrust its sword again, lunging forward like an arrow. Liesel stepped to the side, using her sword to deflect it, but the strength behind the blade far surpassed Liesel's imagination. It was like she had used a stick to hit a tree's trunk. Sword's trajectory remained sharp, and she jumped—the blade grazed the side of her abdomen.
Because I know it is vulnerable, it won't allow me to escape now.
It hadn't recovered its other hand and was using only one.
Liesel kept moving back as it pounced over and over, trying to dodge as much as possible. It was not as agile as she had thought. Having fought it several times, she could predict most of its strikes, and some part of her brain insisted on disengagement. To rebuild her stamina and prepare for a battle that could be won.
The Door Guardian stopped following her as she managed to retreat to the mist wall.
It raised its hand, and the mist behind Liesel hummed. Liesel could see it from the corner of her eye. It was starting to sway, and very soon it was swirling like a tornado. The razor-sharp air hissed in her ears as the mist formed a climbable wall behind her. The wall of cold and gusting blades slowly began to creep and clamp around her from all sides, forcing Liesel to approach the center.
The knightly armor withdrew to its sheath and stood there, sword drawn, open stance, inviting her to fight.
Liesel exhaled. She took out a Materiality Orb and soaked her dried soul with it. She created another Impact Rune and stabbed it with her sword. Then she replenished her Materiality again. Her soul veins were burning already.
I can try it once more.
Liesel took out the vial of magic resistance solution from her bag, and then she approached the guardian.
"Should I call the others here?" Auram asked. "I can still leave the mist."
"I don't think they can help me, and you'd be exposed to much greater danger," Liesel said. Except for a few, she trusted the rest of them as much as she trusted Kurvam, and even someone like Fiya could very easily shed all of her gentle nature as long as she was indoctrinated enough. Even Liesel herself wouldn't trust her own past self to resist capturing the spirit four years ago.
"At least, I can heal your injury."
"It's fine," Liesel said. It was barely anything. "You should preserve your energy for now. If I do need healing later, you can do it."
"Why do you always refuse my help?" Auram whispered as she floated away from Liesel.
"I did accept your help, though," Liesel said, though it would never reach the Spirit's ear against the roaring currents. "If I don't repay it, I cannot accept any more of your kindness."
Liesel spread the Materiality into her veins and stretched it thin into every corner. Liesel sharpened her focus into an even narrower window, barely wider than the armor's shoulder.
It took the first strike again, as she had been expecting. Liesel enforced her limbs and stepped back. The sword crashed into the ice. Its fighting style had changed slightly. It was less calm, unbalanced, and, above all, crude. She stomped onto the giant blade into the ice, lunging forward. She slapped the vial of magic resistance solution onto its face with her right hand. The liquid melted the sheen on the steel, turning into vapor. It yanked its blade free as Liesel struck its face with her sword.
The Impact Rune exploded directly against the armor, and without the magical resistance, it dented inward. Not enough to kill it, of course.
Liesel had already enforced the arm, gripping the sword tightly. The impact still lurched her entire body against the impact. She found her balance on her other foot and swung her sword again, this time perfectly capturing the moment to slice off the grey arm.
It fell to the ground and immediately turned into ashdust. The wind stole it away in a blink.