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Chapter 406
Spear Saint Bellion’s obsession with enhancent was truly sothing to behold.
Fortunately, he also happened to be quite a lucky man.
“Good grief… I an, I’m glad to get the protection materials, but still.”
Thanks to the weapons he deliberately broke during enhancent attempts, the number of protection agents and polishing compounds he recovered was surprisingly large.
In the end, only after successfully creating an 11-enhanced Gellard’s Star did he finally leave, wearing a deeply satisfied expression.
“Heh heh heh. This should be enough to knock that old geezer down a peg.”
The muttered words he spoke on his way out sohow lingered in my ears.
For soone hailed as one of the strongest on the continent, he really did have the sensibilities of a child.
Bellion was known for living unusually youthfully for his age, but sotis I couldn’t help thinking—doesn’t he ever act his age?
…Though, to be fair, I wasn’t really in a position to say that.
In any case, thanks to Bellion’s greed, I ended up with far more enhancent protection agents and polishing compounds than expected.
Strictly speaking, these so-called protection agents and polishing compounds were nothing more than condensed masses of special materials, so fusing them with ordinary tal wasn’t particularly aningful.
“Strange material. Unique power clinging to it. Still not enough?”
“I think I’ll need a bit more for stability.”
That was only natural, considering that the Book of Fate retrieved from the Progenitor Dragon’s ruins was an item that could not afford even a single failure.
Throughout all this, Lucifer hadn’t said a word, nor had he shown himself.
Honestly, I preferred this over him scheming sothing behind the scenes, so I didn’t see it as a bad thing.
All in all, a lot had happened over the past few days.
The biggest change involved the Stars.
Those who received enhancents from were the Sword Star, the Spear Star, and the Radiant Star.
However, having sohow heard the news, the Earth Star and the Bow Star also ca to requesting enhancents.
What truly surprised was the Bow Star Yuhav’s luck—it was beyond imagination.
“Hehe. Thanks. I’ll put it to good use.”
“Ah… um. You’re not going to push it further?”
“My intuition’s screaming at . This is where I should stop.”
Bringing with her a mountain of extrely valuable materials as paynt, she enhanced her great bow to 11 in a single attempt and left just like that.
anwhile, the Earth Star who had co along with her attempted a 7 enhancent, only for his weapon to be destroyed in the process.
Unlike the others, it seed his weapon wasn’t of particularly high quality—it couldn’t even undergo transformation.
Staring blankly at his shattered weapon, he said he’d bring a better one next ti before leaving.
In the end, thanks to the Stars’ pride-fueled competition, I unintentionally amassed quite a lot of protection agents and polishing compounds.
Still… I hadn’t t the other Stars.
At this point, I thought at least one or two more might show up.
Stars like the Sage Star or the Authority Star—I didn’t even know what they looked like, so I found myself mildly curious.
Of course, it wasn’t like it mattered if they never ca.
“Father!”
When I stepped out of the workshop, I was greeted by Grivy, with Sur perched on her shoulder and Serqet sitting atop her head.
She must have just co back from playing in the dirt—her clothes were sared with soil.
“You should brush the dirt off your clothes.”
As I lightly dusted her off, Grivy burst into giggles, ticklish.
“Father! Grivy wants enhancent too!”
“Enhancent? Of what?”
“Enhance Grivy! Make super strong! I’ll get this big!”
Perhaps because she was a spirit, her sense of logic was fundantally different.
Grivy bounced up and down, wishing to enhance her very existence.
A thought crossed my mind.
Enhancent couldn’t be applied to living beings.
But did spirits count?
I’d never dealt with spirits in the Hall of Enhancent.
I’d never even tested whether contracted spirits fell under that category.
I’d simply assud that since they possessed life, it was impossible.
Of course, I had no intention of enhancing Grivy.
There were other ways to make her stronger, and even if she wasn’t an ordinary spirit, the idea of attempting a risky enhancent on her didn’t sit well with at all.
Where would I even swing a hamr on that tiny body?
“Grivy. Enhancents are for weapons.”
“But Grivy’s tough! My whole body is a weapon!”
Yes.
That much, I knew.
“Still no.”
“Hiiing…”
She drooped her head, her face crumpling into a pout.
After a brief mont of thought, I picked her up.
“I’ll give you sothing else instead.”
“Sothing else?”
“Yeah.”
I took Grivy back into the workshop and crafted a safety helt using a light yet sturdy ore.
It looked exactly like the kind of helt you’d see at a construction site in my previous life.
After striking it several tis with a hamr, a faint glow seeped into it.
It did cost one protection agent in the process, but…
All things considered, it was a decent trade.
When I placed the helt on Grivy’s head, her eyes sparkled.
She fiddled with it, clearly pleased, then broke into a radiant smile.
—Piiik!
Perhaps jealous of Grivy’s new hat, Sur smacked his lips and stared at .
That brave little face clearly said, What about ?
“Hm… alright. Sur gets one too. And Serqet?”
Serqet rely slumped limply over Grivy’s shoulder, showing no interest.
That one preferred snacks over items, after all.
I made Sur a horned helt suitable for him.
Tiny as it was, I mixed in orichalcum, so durability wasn’t an issue.
Sur’s eyes shone as he stared at it, then shoved his head into the helt.
After flapping his small wings to adjust its position, he puffed out his chest like a proud general.
“Wow! Sur looks amazing!”
Piiik!
The brave chick had beco even braver.
“By the way… don’t you want a weapon?”
“A weapon! Grivy wants a weapon too!”
After so thought, I made her a small gardening trowel.
Of course, it wasn’t an ordinary one.
I enchanted it with various spells and even enhanced it, so its true value was hard for even to estimate.
Grivy hung the trowel upside down at her waist like a sword and ran off to show it off, taking the two spirits with her.
She might have infinite stamina, but thankfully, she rarely caused serious trouble.
And with how cute and affectionate she was, it was impossible not to want to give her more.
No wonder Grivy’s popularity among the Cascadia estate staff and the knights of the Demon Realm was explosive.
Whenever she wandered the halls, maids and servants would slip her snacks, and she’d often be found stuffing her cheeks full, munching happily.
“When did you get here?”
Just as I was stretching out to enjoy so sunlight after sending Grivy off, Isna appeared with Rebecca in tow.
“I heard the news. About your enhancent ability.”
“Here to ask for it?”
She held out the orichalcum sword I’d gifted her before.
“It’s not hard to do. How are things going?”
“We’ve almost pinpointed Garlan’s location. Once the weapons are ready, we’re going to eliminate him.”
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“Need my help?”
“Even if I do, it’s sothing I need to handle myself.”
“Still, let know if you need support. If this is really connected to them, don’t do anything reckless.”
Isna was strong.
But honestly, she wasn’t in a great position to face an Outer God.
The reason I’d entrusted her with authority in the Closed World was precisely because I believed that rely possessing that authority wouldn’t be enough to defeat the Outer God Yog.
I’d debated many tis whether to tell her this.
But in the end, I kept silent.
It simply wasn’t ti yet.
“So. Once things are sorted, tell . I’ll help.”
“Thank you.”
She thanked , her expression complicated.
“So, how far can you enhance it?”
“As far as possible.”
Alright.
Might as well try.
I took her sword and struck it with my hamr.
And then—
“What? Is this a bug?”
[Orichalcum Longsword 15]
An indomitable masterpiece radiating overwhelming montum was born in a single attempt.
I could confidently say this was practically unprecedented across all of Labyrinthos.
“Hey. Are you using hacks or sothing?”
“What’s a hack?”
“Never mind… why did this succeed?”
“There’s a thod.”
It seed she knew sothing about enhancent that even I didn’t.
Co to think of it, that made sense.
In the Closed World, I must have used multiple abilities in tandem.
And Isna had witnessed that firsthand.
So it wasn’t strange that she knew of a power I didn’t consciously recognize.
* * *
Running through the estate to show off Leon’s gifts, Grivy tightened the chin strap of her helt as it wobbled on her head.
“Huh? Grivy, what’s that?”
“This! Father made it for !”
Grivy bead proudly.
“Wow… that’s amazing.”
As Arsha responded with sparkling eyes, Grivy puffed out her chest even more.
“And—and! I got this too!”
She showed off the trowel at her waist, smiling brightly.
To anyone else, she’d look like a child heading out to play in the dirt.
But Arsha could only smile awkwardly.
That tiny, unimpressive tool beca sothing entirely different in Grivy’s hands.
—Piiik!!
At that mont, Sur, sitting atop Grivy’s helt, chirped bravely to assert his presence.
“Uh… Sur? What’s that?”
A horned helt sat snugly on Sur’s head.
On a tiny chick, it looked impossibly small—and unbearably cute.
“It’s adorable!”
As Arsha exclaid, Sur proudly puffed out his chest.
“Grivy’s going to play in the dirt! Wanna co, Arsha?”
“Um… sorry. I still have howork. Let’s play after I’m done.”
“Promise!!”
With that, Grivy scampered off.
Two years ago, playing with Grivy had been fun.
But lately, Arsha felt she needed to grow up.
‘Brother and Sister were already managing the territory at my age…’
Though still young, her family had shouldered heavy responsibilities even earlier.
Even if she couldn’t take responsibility yet, Arsha believed she should at least be useful.
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
lissa and Leon kept telling her to play instead, offering only basic education and never pushing her too hard.
She knew it was overprotection—but from their perspective, Arsha was still soone who needed to be sheltered.
‘I can do sothing too…’
She thought that, but didn’t want to cause trouble by acting rashly.
“Let’s go. History and economics class next—”
That was when it happened.
As Arsha watched Grivy’s back with regret, a faint whisper echoed near her ear.
“Huh?”
Drawn by the strange resonance, different from ordinary sound, she wandered toward the back of the estate.
And there, she saw it.
A tiny, unidentified lifeform.
“Did you… call ?”
At her voice, the curled-up creature stirred.
Was it an animal her brother had brought back?
Before she could think further, Radon—the golden monster mistaken for a cat—appeared from nowhere, standing protectively in front of her and hissing at the unknown being.
At the sa ti, the Beast Tar’s crest on Arsha’s hand began to hum violently, releasing the aura of Nessi—the King of the Deep, the Forbidden Sea, now practically the King of the Ocean.
Kainia, the small black dragon who usually slept on Arsha’s lap during lessons, appeared as well, wrapping protectively around her and glaring at the creature.
Then—
It moved.
At first, she’d thought it was just a fluffy, cute animal.
She was wrong.
As it slowly stood, it revealed a body about the height of a human waist.
Yet it was absolutely not a normal lifeform.
Its grotesque appearance alone inflicted severe ntal shock.
Arsha froze in place.
The creature stared directly at her and muttered sothing.
“Tekili…? What does that an…?”
Trembling, Arsha staggered backward.
Why was sothing like this here?
How did it get in?
She had no ti to wonder.
Instinct scread that it was dangerous.
Then—
Shrrrk!
As if waiting for that mont, its entire body rippled, and it lunged at Arsha with the speed of a striking serpent.
She couldn’t even react.
But a cat’s reflexes were nothing like a human’s.
Radon leapt instantly, his light-infused nyan-nyan punch smashing straight into the creature’s tentacle.
Crunch!!
At the sa ti, a massive magic circle ford behind Arsha, and from it erged a colossal fist that crushed the monster completely in a single blow.
It was Nessi’s fist.
“H-haah… h-haah…”
Only then did Arsha co to her senses, collapsing to the ground.
Her face pale, she couldn’t even scream, and soon lost consciousness entirely.
What she had seen was never ant to exist in this world.
Sothing darker.
More terrifying.
A predator from the unknown.
And in that brief mont—
Arsha had instinctively resonated with it.
And understood.
That it had slipped into this place, silently and secretly.
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