Leon raised his eyebrows. Why did Aurora's declaration of "committing herself to him" not sound like a joke?
By the way, she wasn't even in a condition to say that, okay?
Her body had been cut apart thousands of years ago.
Now only her soul remained here.
Could she really want to have that kind of close relationship with him like this?
What kind of new situation was this?
"Uh-huh, you should stop with the flirting. You should know I'm a very reserved man."
"Ah, well, that's really a shame. But what just happened? You actually used an enormous amount of magical power in the sanctuary. Isn't it going to be drained away?" Aurora asked in surprise.
She herself couldn't gather any magical power.
But Leon used his magic without restraint, as if he had no limits at all.
"The Holy Realm can't absorb it as fast as I can spend it. Besides, I have an ocean of magical power. If I really wanted to unleash it all, it'd be enough to blow up the entire Sanctuary."
Leon pointed to his heart as he spoke.
"Wow~ That's incredible."
Aurora clapped her hands and praised him.
She had never thought that, as a Witch of Calamity, there would come a day when she would seek security in someone else.
Aurora tightened her grip on Leon's arm and moved forward with even more determination.
The two soon reached the center of the sanctuary.
A bloodstained door,
chained shut by massive links,
stood there like the room where the final boss would be waiting in an RPG. And before the door, a sword was embedded in the ground.
It was a beautiful sword, ornate and decorated with gemstones. Rather than being used to kill, it looked like it should be treasured as a work of art.
"It's obvious at first glance."
"Yes, it's obvious at first glance."
Leon and Aurora understood the meaning immediately.
As long as they pulled out this sacred sword and cut the chains on the door, they could free the core of the sanctuary hidden behind it, and everything would be resolved.
But—
"I can't draw this sword." Leon shook his head.
"Eh?"
"The ancient text on the pedestal says only those who are descendants of heroes are qualified to wield this sword."
Leon pointed at the pedestal where the sword rested.
He was completely fluent in the ancient script and understood its meaning instantly.
It was an old cliché: only the chosen one could draw the sword. The kind of thing you saw in novels all the time.
Aurora quickly bent over to check, and to her surprise, found it exactly as he said.
"Then what should we do?"
"Either way, let's at least try pulling it out first."
"Eh?"
Before Aurora could react, Leon stretched out his hand and gripped the sword's hilt.
CRACK!
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-?!"
Aurora let out the loudest scream of the day.
In her eyes, the sacred sword, which should have been impossibly strong, looked like it was cracking apart. The hilt gripped by Leon was about to snap, and tiny fractures appeared along the blade itself.
This was something that should never have happened, but it was being forced to. Leon wasn't a descendant of any hero, had none of the bloodline qualifications, yet still tried to draw the sword with brute force.
The Sacred Sword wanted to resist, but it couldn't.
Yet the rules still bound it, preventing its release.
In the end, the sword could only break.
"It's going to shatter! Stop it, quick!"
"Eh? You really can't pull it out?"
"You're overreacting."
Aurora stared at Leon in shock. This man had to be far stronger than she thought.
Even though he wasn't qualified to draw the sword and couldn't pull it out no matter how hard he tried… Leon's power was enough to break the Sacred Sword itself.
"But what do we do now? Where are we supposed to find some descendant of heroes?" Aurora asked, a little discouraged.
Leon simply sat down on the ground and rested casually.
"Don't worry. One of my subordinates is also in this sanctuary. Just wait until she gets here."
"Oh, she's a descendant?"
"Well, yes. Her awakening rate is extremely high."
Leon closed his eyes and focused.
He confirmed Alpha's location within the sanctuary.
The blonde elf was heading in their direction. If it was her, she'd surely be able to wield this sword with ease.
"There's still some time before Alpha arrives. Well, I might as well take this chance to study."
"Study what?"
"Even though this sanctuary is just a separate space formed by coincidence, I have to say its structure is brilliant. If I can master its principles, I might be able to create a similar space myself."
Leon narrowed his eyes, anticipation gleaming in them.
He possessed the power to control space. If he could understand the sanctuary's structure, he could create one of his own in the future.
His own pocket world.
"I should be able to learn everything before Alpha gets here."
Leon spoke with confidence. After all, as a genius, he had photographic memory.
—
Meanwhile, on the other side of the sanctuary,
Alpha was leading the Night Raid in exploring the space. But at this moment, they had no idea Leon was already waiting for them at the end.
"Damn it, damn it! You demons actually cut the few hairs I had left! Do you even know how important those hairs are to a middle-aged man?"
Archbishop Jack was wallowing in the pain of his broken strands, as if Epsilon had severed not just a few hairs, but his very life and limbs.
"You're too noisy. Do you want me to cut your tongue too?"
"Sorry, I'll shut up."
Cowards, at least, were quick and decisive enough.
But Jack was still nervous and uneasy.
Because this sanctuary housed not only Aurora's memories, but also a vast number of secrets about the cult — information that should never be leaked.
[But it doesn't matter. Unless you have an extremely high concentration of Awakened blood, the Holy Domain won't open to outsiders of the cult… Wha—?!]
At that moment, Alpha removed her mask.
Looking at that breathtaking face, Jack felt like he'd seen a ghost.
"You—you actually awakened to this level!"
"Haha, are you surprised?"
"Impossible! How can this be possible! Even if you mastered the lost method of awakening through demonic possessions, you could never awaken this perfectly! This is something even the ancients couldn't achieve back when the secret method still existed!"
Jack's eyes went wide as he stared at Alpha, utterly disbelieving.
But the blonde elf showed a proud smile:
"We don't have any lost awakening method. All of this is a gift from that person."
"What do you mean? Did you develop a new awakening method? That's even more impossible! Even with hundreds of years of research, the cult's scholars never found a single clue."
"What's impossible for you is different for the master. I can say without hesitation — it only took him a single week to research the method of awakening."
When Alpha said this, all the girls in the courtyard instinctively puffed out their chests, brimming with pride.
Our master is amazing!
"W-what?!"
Jack's jaw nearly hit the ground in shock.
Alpha placed a hand over her chest, as if to boast.
"And I was the first person to be awakened by the master. I am the greatest masterpiece he ever created."
---
(End of Chapter)
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."