Chapter 139
“What, what, what is this……?!”
The Bishop looks stunned at the scene before him.
“You, you, now, now, now, now?”
Unable to form proper sentences in her panic, she stands up and looks at the state of Ascalon in the box. No, she checks the status of the thing that used to be Ascalon.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
The Bishop then collapses into a heap.
“Bishop!”
John, who is next to him, is furious and throws the box he had in his hand and grabs the bishop.
Ascalon, who ends up in my hands.
“Sa──Hitman, what are you doing, why are you breaking an intact holy object!”
And it was such an astonishing sight even for Yoon Kwangsoo that his gaping jaw almost touched the ground.
“I’m not breaking it, I’m making a new one from scratch.”
“What?”
I said, and handed him Ascalon, which had already turned to clay and crumbled.
“This one, can you make a new one?”
“What do you mean, make a new one……are you asking me to make a new Ascalon?”
“You got it right.”
“No, you don’t get it! You think it’s easy to make a weapon like Ascalon? I’ve only seen it a few times, and I don’t even know what it looks like, so how the hell am I supposed to make one!”
He shakes his head and takes a step back as if this is too much to ask.
“What are you talking about, why are you making this into a weapon?”
“……?”
I place Ascalon in his hand.
“Make it into a rosario. Something you can wear around your neck. You can do that.”
“Make it into a rosario…….”
“Father John.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s get the bishop into the church first, we can’t keep him on the dirt floor forever, and……you mind if I ask for an empty room?”
“An empty room?”
Even though Ascalon had been turned to clay like this, it didn’t take away the effect.
The most characteristic aspect of ‘Adornment’ is the material’s ability to change form while retaining its inherent properties.
Of course, its appearance would change the way it was used and alter its effects slightly, but the fact that the most important effects would always remain is a great advantage.
It’s easy to see why it became a must-learn skill for blacksmith players.
“I can’t take the holy relic outside, can I? It won’t take long, please.”
Right now, the most necessary of Ascalon’s abilities is the effect of creating a sanctuary.
Moving Ascalon to another location would change the sanctuary and make it harder to keep the cathedral safe.
“Ah, I see, come inside!”
John rises from his seat, carrying the bishop, and leads the way into the church.
At the same time, he notices the children who have been watching the situation from the doorway, jumping back in surprise.
“Father how…… eh, Lord, Bishop?”
The children are puzzled by the bishop’s shrunken form.
“Sister Marie, would you mind escorting the Bishop to his room, I think I need to take some guests to their rooms.”
“The bishop? Oh, yes!”
John finally hands the bishop to Marie who hurries into the church while John looks at her back and then back at us.
“I’m afraid the guest room will be empty by now, as it was supposed to be for our guests today…… Do you mind?”
“I don’t mind.”
I nod in response to his question and we continue downstairs, past the cellars where the wine is aging, until we finally arrive in front of a room.
“Well, given the nature of the cathedral, there’s no reason for guests to come here, so this is the only place I could make it, I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“No, you must have been quite surprised, but thank you for being rather calm and listening to my request.”
He stops at the front of the room, turns quickly, and smiles.
“It’s okay. I’m sure you have a plan of your own.”
“……?”
I’m expecting him to say something about what I’ve done, but his response is unexpected.
Nothing I’ve done since arriving today has been out of the ordinary.
Destroying a holy object on top of everything else must have been quite a shocking scene, but he slowly shook his head and replied.
“Of course, I’m surprised, too, because the holy object that I’ve been protecting all this time is now just a lump of clay.”
……Also.
“But the sanctuary remains, and Cloud is a dear brother who fought for us, so I’m sure there’s a way to make it work.”
I wonder if this is the mindset of priests.
Seeing that he had decided to believe me after all, I nodded and said.
“Thank you for believing in me, Father.”
“Please take care of Ascalon.”
With those final words, John went upstairs while Yoon Kwangsoo, who was watching the scene in a daze, spoke first.
“……Was the reason you brought me here to make this a rosario?”
Still in disbelief, Yoon Kwangsoo blinked at the melted Ascalon in his hand.
“Yeah, why. Is that too much?”
At my words, he shook his head in disbelief.
“What do you mean, you don’t know how many times I’ve been this excited in my life!”
Yes, that’s exactly how I knew he would respond.
The Yoon Kwangsoo I knew wasn’t the kind of man to turn down an opportunity like this.
“Good, then. Let’s go inside.”
“Yes.”
We walked into the room, which was actually built for guests.
Worn-out chairs, a bed, and a table were all we had, and we’re forced to recreate the holy object with our bare hands but it doesn’t really matter.
This skill can be used anywhere, as long as you have aura and the materials.
“Well, let’s get right to work, shall we?”
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
Surrounding the desk with aura to enhance its hardness, he sets Ascalon down on the table and begins pounding it.
Since I’ve already melted it once, Ascalon is easily transformed.
I watch him for a moment before handing him the casting and sitting down on the bed, holding the piece of Ascalon I’d already broken off.
“Well, I’ll get to work.”
What I’m going to make is a weapon that even a beginner like me can easily make.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
Before long, the sound of constant metal pounding echoed regularly from the basement of the Halla Cathedral.
* * *
I was staring blankly at Yoon Kwangsoo as he continued to tap on the (former) Ascalon and (current) Rosario, as if there was still something left to touch even though my work was done.
At that moment, an irregular sound came from outside the room. It was as if something was rushing over.
“You’re already up.”
There could only be one person running towards us now.
“Where’s Ascalon?! What happened to Ascalon?!”
She, who was supposed to be guarding it, finally stood up.
“You’re awake.”
“You……! What the hell did you do, and where’s Ascalon, where’s Ascalon!”
The first thing she looked for when she woke up was Ascalon.
I sighed and pointed to the (old) Ascalon, still being pounded.
“The Ascalon you’re talking about, it’s being reborn over there.
“Oh, it wasn’t a dream after all?! Why, Lord, have you put me through this trial…….?”
She stumbles down as her legs give out.
Luckily, she didn’t faint like she did earlier.
I turned my attention back to Yoon Kwangsoo, who was still hesitating and unable to control the tears that were flowing.
“Ugh!”
His entire body was covered in waterfall-like sweat from the long hours of wrestling with that ingot.
The clothes he was wearing had long since been taken off.
He was still in a trance, silently slamming his fist down.
Quang!
Divine power surged from his fist.
Kwao!
Flames erupted from his fist as he slammed it down again.
Boom!
The aura in his hand became an unbreakable hammer, forging a new holy object.
The bishop must have sensed the unusual atmosphere, because he stood up, mesmerized, and slowly walked to my side.
“……What is that?”
It’s impossible not to notice.
The trickle of holy power emitted earlier has now filled the room.
She looks mesmerized as she gazes at the new holy object being completed by the aura and I murmur.
“Ascalon. Your new Ascalon.”
“……That’s the Ascalon?”
“Yep. I didn’t think it would be this good either, but it’s more than I imagined.”
Did I mention what the legendary Italian artist Michelangelo once said?
‘I saw an angel in marble, and I carved him until I set him free.’
And the way Yoon Kwang-soo was working with his hands right now, it looked like he was trying to find the angel that was sleeping in the sword.
His fist rises high above his head and stops.
Yoon Kwangsoo stood still, staring at Rosario.
Soon, he raises his other hand to the sky and…….
“I’m done!!!”
He shouts with all his might, signaling the end of his work, and then fell backwards like a scarecrow in the wind.
“Ugh. Hehehehe…….”
Still, there was a hint of relief on his face.
Judging by the aura I could sense…..he had crossed a barrier in his training. The difficulty of Ascalon’s melting was higher than he thought.
No, it’s not surprising since he’s a new creation, right?
Slowly, I walked over to where he was lying and spoke in a small voice.
“I’m sorry for the trouble.”
He had already done enough for me. No, he’d done something that no matter how many people tried, they weren’t guaranteed to succeed.
[Name: Ascalon(★)]
[Class: Artifact]
[Type: Relic]
[Description: A Rosario forged from Ascalon, a sword said to have been used by St. George to kill the evil dragon Fafnir.
It explosively increases the user’s holy power and can activate a sanctuary around them.
When worn, it deals 2.5x holy damage against evil enemies, and up to 7x against dragons.
(This is due to the fact that it has been optimally shaped as a holy weapon.)]
Instead of attacking with a sword, Ascalon can now be worn to use its full effect.
A star appeared next to the name, indicating that it was now Transcendentally Empowered.
“Now, see for yourself.”
I tossed the new Ascalon Rosario to the bishop, who stared at it blankly.
She took it with some trepidation, then checked the contents.
“No, wait……is this possible? How, how can a sword turn into a Rosario?”
Her eyes widened in disbelief and it was the expected reaction.
“You ask the obvious. Ascalon is a holy object, not a holy sword, so I just gave it a more proper form.”
“……?”
Yeah, that’s hard to understand.
What kind of madman would melt down a sword called a holy relic and turn it into a rosario?
You’d have to be a player of my caliber to think of something like that, let alone do it so I understand that dumbfounded look.
And……the best part is this.
The cool feeling in my pocket.
I smiled as I felt the weight of the thing, which felt heavier than its size, and looked at the bishop and Yoon Kwangsoo.
“Now……let’s talk about the Fafnir Raid, shall we?”
