Chapter 79: Armageddon's Blade

"The support we can get from Einfast is limited. If Celeste truly commits the full strength of the Western Continent to attack us, I doubt they'll be able to devote their entire national power to the war. As for Tatalia, their national strength is too weak—they can, at best, serve as a minor distraction."

　　"Then… should we request General Grutttt and the elite forces stationed in the Saundfest Mountains to return? The base there should have begun construction, but…"

　　"No need for the other troops. Just have him return alone." Theodorus nodded.

　　"Him alone?"

"Yes, just him alone." A cold glint flashed in Theodorus' eyes.

"It seems he's been living quite comfortably. Hmm, let's just leave it at that." Moriel nodded thoughtfully.

"I never expected… Grutt to be your adopted son…" Asa struggled to reconcile the image of that red-haired woman with Grutt's figure in his mind. Upon closer thought, there were indeed some similarities—not in appearance, but in a unique quality that no other person, no other human, no other creature could possibly possess. Asa was both extremely shocked and strangely relieved. It all made sense—only this dragon could have raised a man as formidable as Grutt.

Back in the Turaleone Forest, Jessica had already uttered the words "Moriel's messenger" when she knelt before Grutt. However, she had not elaborated further, and Asa had not pressed for details. Only now did he finally hear the truth from Moriel herself.

"Strangely enough, that happened more than twenty or thirty years ago. I was suddenly awoken from a long slumber by a strange magical fluctuation… It turned out to be the vibration of the highest-level space magic. And then, a baby appeared before me. I still don't know which fool decided to use an incomplete time-space transfer spell on an infant. Even in the old elven days, that was considered forbidden high magic."

"He's probably the product of an affair between an elf and a human. The union of a noble elf and a lowly human was indeed an unforgivable crime in the elven empire. To be honest, I never expected that I would somehow end up with a half-elf as my adopted son. Who would have thought that, in the endless river of time and space, this particular coordinate would collapse right beside me? What a strange coincidence. What is this called... fate? No, that's not the word... coincidence? No... I think it's called "karma". I remember a golden dragon once told me about this word, and it carries a very interesting meaning. Hmm... It's also possible that someone I knew before wanted to entrust him to me, but I have no way of knowing who it was anymore."

The scattered gold coins and various treasures, under the influence of two or three of Moriel's spells, had already been restored to form a small mountain of gold, burying beneath it the dragon-blood altar that sealed her soul and life force. Moriel, now restored to her immense black dragon form, lay atop this golden mound. While her humanoid form was more agile, it seemed this true dragon shape allowed her to rest more easily.

As Asa sat cross-legged on the ground, gazing upward at the massive creature atop the golden mountain, he reflected on his experiences with old companions like Sandru. Moriel seemed to be explaining something to him, but it also felt like she was reminiscing aloud. Though her humanoid form didn't appear to be old, it was hard to measure whether she could even be considered "old." After all, with a lifespan thousands of times greater than that of humans, she must have lived through many more experiences than any human could ever digest or reflect upon.

Moriel's deep, rumbling voice echoed as she spoke, "He actually left without consulting me, running off with that old man Theodorus. Did he think I would stop him? It was his choice, his fate, and I had no right to interfere, nor did I want to. It's just that over the years, I've grown a bit bored at times..."

Asa listened quietly, and once she finished, he spoke, "Alright, you've told me everything you wanted to. Now, can you tell me what I want to know?"

Moriel's enormous dragon head nodded slightly, "You're asking about the Black Star, aren't you? I made an agreement with Akibard not to disclose these matters to anyone inheriting his necromancy guild, but I can share some things with you."

Asa sighed, rubbing his aching joints before continuing, "Before that, I want to know why the path Akibard deliberately left behind seems like a road to certain death."

Moriel's deep, resonating voice continued, "It's simple. Akibard believed such a person deserved to die."

"Why did he deserve to die?" Asa asked, trying to piece together the confusing puzzle.

"Anyone who could complete the meditation technique he left behind, someone who might pick up the Black Star, how could they not deserve death?" Moriel's tone was calm but unsettling. "It wasn't just Akibard who thought that person should die, I thought so too. It's one of the rare moments we found common ground. It's just unfortunate that things didn't go as we expected. Instead of the kind of person we anticipated, it ended up being you, this strange little creature."

Asa, feeling more and more lost in this conversation, pressed on, "But... hasn't Akibard always wanted to wield the Black Star?"

Moriel's massive head slowly shook, her voice laced with a hint of disbelief. "Why would he want to pull out that cursed sword? Though he was an insufferable person, he wasn't insane. He wouldn't think of committing suicide and bringing the world to ruin along with him."

Asa felt the weight of the words pressing on his mind, his thoughts spinning faster. "What exactly is going on here...?"

Moriel's laughter echoed through the cavern, reverberating in a way that seemed to shake the very stones. "Let me start at the beginning, kid. It seems like everything you've believed up until now is far from the truth. What I'm about to tell you will be quite the shock."

She paused, a strange smile curving her massive dragon face as she locked eyes with Asa. "Let me give you an interesting tidbit. That sword hilt, the one you thought was broken by the previous guild leader? Dream on. The Black Star itself contains the accumulated death and darkness of this continent over countless years. It's the power of the souls of countless people. Even Akibard didn't have the guts to break it. The hilt was actually already broken long ago. Akibard only managed to force it back together, and for centuries, no one dared to touch it. It was me who broke it. Five hundred years ago, I ventured into the Spiral Shadow Mountains to destroy that sword, but Akibard and his friends stopped me."

Asa's eyes widened in shock, his voice barely a whisper. "What? Why?"

Moriel watched Asa's astonished face with a curious glint in her eyes, her voice steady but carrying a hint of ancient knowledge. "Let me tell you from the beginning, kid. You are the only one on this continent who can know this."

She paused, allowing the weight of her words to sink in, before continuing. "At least in the history I know, there's no record of when the Black Star first appeared. It's unknown how long ago it was, whether it was a natural occurrence or crafted by some specific race. The southernmost mountains of this continent form the shape of a magical array, and the very essence of the continent is tied to it. Whether it's elves, humans, or other intelligent species, after they die, their spirits and residual magic are drawn into the ley lines, gathering in that mountain. At a single point within those mountains, the accumulated energies of countless souls and magic converge, and that is how the sword was formed."

Asa felt a chill crawl up his spine, the enormity of the revelation overwhelming him. "So… it's not just a weapon... It's a collection of souls?" he asked, barely able to grasp the implications.

"In my time, the elves of the Elven Empire were already aware of the immense power hidden within the Black Star. They understood its danger and went to great lengths to develop protections to prevent anyone from touching it. But, as time passed, the Elven Empire grew too expansive and began to clash with us dragons and the Titans. After several wars, one foolish elven king thought he could use the unimaginable power of the Black Star to defeat us. That fool. How could something born of countless dying thoughts and violent intent be wielded by the living? Even the magic wards created by hundreds of elven archmages were useless. The elven king who grasped the sword became a necrotic monster.

Elves, humans, and even dragons and Titans could not resist the power of the sword. It was the collective energy of the entire continent, the souls of innumerable beings, all entwined into one force. Those who died at its hand were turned into puppets, undead controlled by its will. Eventually, all the remaining races of our world formed an alliance to eliminate the undead elven king. But as our armies gathered near the central mountains, the necrotic king unleashed a spell using the Black Star's power from above the Elven City."

Her voice grew more somber as she spoke of the ultimate tragedy. "That spell was catastrophic. It was a curse that reached far beyond just the city—it affected the entire land around it. The moment the elven king wielded that magic, a new darkness fell upon the world, one that threatened to consume everything."

"Before this, both our dragon race and the elven archmages thought that our magic had reached its peak. But when this spell was unleashed from the sword, we realized just how small and laughable we truly were."

"Countless rains of fire and meteors fell from the sky, the earth trembled, and lava erupted. The Central Mountain Range, which was the heart of the continent's ley lines, became a point where the death and dark energies from the sword spread through the ley lines to every corner. Floating castles in the sky, cities on the ground—everything was destroyed. The scene was like the end of the world."

"The Armageddon's Blade. That was the name of the sword at that time."

"Only our dragon race suffered the least damage in this catastrophe. I was severely wounded, and the others in my clan had to help seal me underground with magic to allow me to slowly recover. It was over five hundred years ago. When I finally woke up, I discovered that not a single member of my clan remained. The Elven Empire, the Titans—none of them could be found. Instead, it was the once lower-class humans who had become the rulers of the earth. I transformed into a human to understand what happened, and I found that your human history is only a few thousand years old, and no one knows anything about the Armageddon's Blade or that apocalyptic disaster."

"Later, I decided to go to the mountain range where the Armageddon's Blade was forged to see for myself. To my surprise, the Armageddon's Blade was still standing there, and there were a few magicians residing there as well. I wanted to destroy the Blade, but they tried to stop me, with the leader being Akibard. Although they were already considered powerful among humans, their fading magical skills were no match for those of the ancient Elven Empire... I defeated them and intended to destroy the Blade."

"But what I didn't expect was that my full-force attack only broke the sword's handle. The dark energy that erupted instantly nearly killed me. One of them, an elven woman, actually took advantage of the moment to use an ancient elven archmage's magic, Soul Extraction, and together with Akibard, they sealed me away."

"The reason they stopped me was simple: if the Armageddon's Blade, the so-called Black Star, were to be completely destroyed, the dark energy it emitted, though much weaker than the apocalyptic disaster, would still be enough to kill half the continent's population."