"...Why does it feel like it's been so long?"
I entered the Dungeon to try out [Infinite Sword Emperor].
When I reached the Dungeon's dark, damp Fifth Floor, I spotted a monster far off in the distance.
Maybe because the gap was so wide, the monster hadn't noticed me yet.
"My body is made of swords."
As I began the chant, I felt something hot spreading through my entire body.
"My blood is iron, my heart is glass."
I held back the magic that kept trying to burst out in every direction and continued chanting.
"Beyond the sword, for the sake of a single blade,"
"■■■■■■!!!"
Hearing the chant, monsters came looking for me.
"Without a single success, without a single failure,"
I wanted to speed up the chant, but if I pushed it any further, it was bound to tangle, so I had to hold the monsters off with Gan Jiang and Mo Ye.
"I forge swords that shatter endlessly."
"Kieee!!!"
"Yet the flame has not gone out,"
Even if I was a non-combat blacksmith, at LV.5
I could handle Fifth Floor monsters with my bare hands.
But I had no intention of doing that.
I needed to test [Infinite Sword Emperor].
"And so this body is made of infinite swords."
The moment the chant ended,
the wasteland of swords spread out before me.
"So this is what it means to unfold my inner image?"
"Kiruk!?"
Once [Infinite Sword Emperor] activated and the inner image unfolded, I understood it instinctively.
"Kieee!!!"
The kobold screamed and charged at me.
But—
"Kik!?"
One of the swords planted in the wasteland was drawn out and pierced straight through the kobold.
"So every sword here... can be used."
Just as I finished checking, the kobold vanished, leaving behind a magic stone, and [Infinite Sword Emperor] was released.
And then,
"!?"
A tremendous wave of fatigue and weakness crashed over my body, and my legs gave out beneath me.
"Damn... just using it for a moment and this happens..."
Thanks to my natural recovery ability, if I rested a little, I'd be able to move again soon, so I leaned against the Dungeon wall.
Even if I drank a potion, I'd probably recover quickly, but unfortunately I didn't even have the strength to reach out an arm.
"Haaah..."
"Kiiiii..."
"A goblin..."
While I was resting against the wall, a goblin happened to come up to me.
The goblin's attacks weren't fatal, but if it kept hitting me, it would be pretty damn unpleasant.
"Keraunos!!!"
I had resigned myself to just taking it, but suddenly a bright yellow bolt of lightning burned the goblin to ash.
"Are you all right?"
"You're..."
"Ah, I'm Bell Cranel."
The rabbit-like adventurer I'd seen before appeared and easily dealt with the goblin.
"...Thanks for helping me."
"Not at all!"
"But why did you help me?"
"Well... I want to become a hero. Heroes are people who help others, aren't they?"
"A hero?"
"Yes!"
Bell Cranel smiled brightly as he spoke about his dream.
And somehow, that expression felt familiar.
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