"Whoa! You're telling me weapons like this exist in another world?!"
Tsubaki's eyes lit up as she examined the gauntlet on her arm, the surge of strength coursing through her body making her grin from ear to ear.
"Doubling my power for ten seconds... that's insane! What kind of world makes something like this? That's terrifying."
She'd never even heard of a weapon with such an effect.
Tsuna nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that other world is a lot more dangerous than it sounds."
He pointed to the gauntlet Tsubaki was wearing and explained, "That's actually a Sacred Gear created by the God of the Bible using the soul of a red dragon—a weapon meant to slay gods."
"Dragons never really belong to any side, but that red dragon was one of the most extreme cases."
"When the other races went to war, it and a white dragon got caught up in the conflict between gods and devils. Their fight caused so much destruction that both sides had to stop their war just to deal with them first."
"…They what?"
Tsubaki took a deep breath and looked down at the gauntlet again. The idea that dragons in another world would charge straight into a god-and-devil war and wreak such havoc that both sides had to call a truce—it was both ridiculous and impressive.
"In a way," she muttered, "that's kinda badass."
"What were they even fighting over?"
"Interest," Tsuna said simply. "They were born rivals. No matter how many times they died, they'd keep fighting."
"…So they were just born stupid, huh."
Tsubaki's lips twitched. Okay, now she understood what dragons were like over there. No wonder gods and devils joined forces to kill them—having two idiots like that rampaging around would drive anyone crazy.
Still, her attention soon returned to the gauntlet.
"To make something like this, you'd need two dragons powerful enough to fight in a god-devil war. That's way out of my league…"
She sighed. A level five adventurer like her had no business even thinking about that kind of hunt.
"And you'd have to capture their souls too… I don't even know where to start with that."
Just thinking about it gave her a headache.
The idea of forging weapons using monster souls was great in theory—but actually collecting those souls? That was the real problem.
"Honestly, Tsubaki," Tsuna said dryly, "maybe don't make that your goal. If Lady Hephaestus finds out you're planning to sacrifice souls for a weapon, she'll probably headbutt you."
"…Fair point."
Tsubaki hunched her shoulders. Yeah, that sounded exactly like something Hephaestus would do.
If her goddess caught wind of this kind of "sacrificial forging," she'd absolutely drag Tsubaki into the forge and teach her a lesson—with fire.
"Tsuna, does your world have any other kinds of weapons like that?"
"Oh, plenty," he said. "But if we're talking about ones that can actually be crafted, with a touch of magic… the one that stands out most is from Fate."
He closed his eyes for a moment, picturing a radiant golden sword. When he opened them, the same holy blade appeared in his hand.
"A holy sword," he explained. "Said to have been given to King Arthur by the Lady of the Lake."
"Of course, that's just how the legend goes. What I remember is that this sword could convert magical power into destructive light."
He poured a little magic into the blade. The sword glowed gold, so bright it almost hummed with power.
"—!"
Tsubaki froze. Every instinct screamed danger. Her eyes locked on the sword, her heart pounding.
If it had just been a normal magic sword, she wouldn't have cared. Her fists could outmatch most enchanted weapons easily.
But this sword… even without being swung, the sheer radiance of it made her skin crawl. That light alone carried the threat of death.
"What are you two doing?!"
Hephaestus's voice snapped through the room like a whip. Her eyes went wide as she spotted the sword in Tsuna's hand.
That thing looked powerful enough to blow Twilight Manor sky-high. She'd only stepped out to get a drink of water, and somehow, they'd managed to create this.
"Tsuna," she said, rubbing her temple, "you've done it again."
Then she glared at him. "And don't indulge Tsubaki's curiosity like that! The moment anything involves weapons, she turns into a total maniac!"
Ignoring Tsubaki's flustered squawk, Hephaestus stepped closer and inspected the blade, tilting it under the light.
"Huh… this is definitely unusual. It doesn't look like it was forged through normal means."
"I've never seen a weapon quite like it."
Tsuna scratched his cheek, a little sheepish. "Yeah, I was trying to recreate the real one, but… I've never actually seen the original."
"So… what exactly is this weapon you made?" Hephaestus asked, still examining it closely.
"Annihilation Maker can materialize things using imagination as the framework," Tsuna explained. "Normally, it's used to create monsters, but I can also apply that to material objects."
He pointed at the sword. "This one's a physical manifestation of a weapon from a hero's legend."
"It did exist in that world, but the one I made here isn't the original—it's a version based on how that hero's legend described it."
"That's why it doesn't look like a normally forged weapon."
A weapon born from the legend of a hero...
Hephaestus and Tsubaki exchanged stunned looks. For a moment, neither spoke. Then, almost in unison, their eyes lit up with realization.
"Excellia!" they both blurted out.
The goddess of smithing and the best craftswoman in the mortal world—both had the same thought.
They'd never once tried forging weapons using Excellia itself.
Hephaestus's mind raced, her lips curving into a grin. "Forging with Excellia… that's actually a brilliant idea."
She nodded decisively. "It's possible."
"When adventurers face powerful monsters, they gain Excellia as a reward for overcoming the challenge. It's the essence of their achievements—part of their legend."
"If we use that very essence to forge a weapon, the result might carry effects we've never seen before."
"Whoa!"
Tsubaki's eyes sparkled as excitement flooded through her.
With Hephaestus's approval, her enthusiasm exploded.
The possibilities of forging with Excellia—it was like handing her a brand-new world to hammer into shape.
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You can read up to chapter 175 on patreon.com/NiaXD.