170
Clang-! Clang-!
That day, as always, Dwenno was forging weapons.
In the rarely visited cave.
Relying on the magical lamps, Dwenno continued his work silently.
Lissinas and Luna were deeply asleep after enduring long battles.
The two figures, who were covered by a blanket, showed no signs of waking up despite the loud hammering.
This place was right in the middle of Erebus’s territory.
Nerves would surely be on edge.
Even in normal circumstances, it would be difficult to sleep here, yet the two women showed no signs of waking.
They were merely leaning on each other’s shoulders, resting their heads together in deep slumber.
It must have been from immense fatigue.
“Perhaps, in some sense, our situation is desperate.”
Swooshhhhh-!
The sound of rain falling outside the cave could be heard as Kyle frowned.
Just the sight of it was irritating.
It was black rain that drained vitality. Kyle glared at it as if he hated it.
“It’s because of me.”
“Huh?”
Confused by Dwenno’s sudden statement, Kyle showed a perplexed expression.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m referring to Aron.”
The hand wielding the hammer stopped.
“If the sword hadn’t broken, perhaps Aron wouldn’t have lost his life.”
Dwenno’s voice trembled slightly.
Dwenno was the blacksmith, and Aron was the warrior.
Dwenno’s weapons were most used by Aron, so the trust between them in the party was much deeper than anyone else’s.
Moreover, Dwenno and Aron were more than just friends.
Even though the party leader and the oldest among them was Lissinas, she had spent a long time deep within the dragon’s domain and lacked worldly experience compared to Kyle.
Luna, the young lady who had only ever concentrated her efforts in magic studies.
Kyle had much worldly experience from working as a mercenary, but it wasn’t very diverse.
Contrarily, Dwenno was rich in worldly experience.
The admirer who celebrated beauty, and explored all over the world even at a young age.
Though he was often teased for being a perverted weirdo, Dwenno was the only one in the party that could truly be called an adult.
Of all the members, Aron relied heavily on such a Dwenno.
Dwenno’s hands trembled.
“If my weapons were… just a bit stronger… if they could endure Erebus’s attack…”
Clang- Clang- Creak-
Hot tears streamed down from Dwenno’s eyes.
The fallen tears landed on his massive hands and evaporated.
The tools of Dwenno created in the powerful flames.
Therefore, Dwenno was also a user of potent flames.
But Dwenno hated his flames.
The essence of fire is destruction, and for Dwenno, who loved the beauty of the world, it wasn’t a pleasant attribute.
“What is beauty in the first place! If only I were more skilled! If only I had concentrated more on crafting weapons! Aron wouldn’t have… wouldn’t have…”
Dwenno didn’t cry in front of Aron’s d*ath.
He was the possessor of the strongest mental strength among the party members.
In desperate situations, he kept his cool, quietly becoming the pillar of strength for the group.
However, now that emotions have finally caught up to him…
Seeing Dwenno shiver with emotion, Kyle gritted his teeth.
“Don’t say stupid things.”
Kyle clenched his fists tightly.
“Both me and Aron have survived countless times thanks to the weapons you made.”
Kyle stared directly at Dwenno.
“If you don’t believe in yourself and keep blaming yourself, then what does that make the last moments of Aron when he trusted you?”
“…”
“You have to pull yourself together. Now, all we can do is move forward, no matter the cost.”
“…”
“It seems so. But, Kyle.”
Clang- Clang-
Dwenno began hammering again.
But his expression remained heavy.
“Weapons are born from fire.”
“…”
“And the source of Erebus’s power is the unquenchable flame.”
Clang- Clang-
The sound of the hammer striking the metal echoed throughout the cave.
“Can the weapons forged in my fire really withstand the power of Erebus?”
Dwenno’s voice was filled with insecurity.
Flames are always consumed by stronger flames eventually.
The uncertainty that the weapon he forged might fail, leading to Kyle’s d*ath.
Even a dwarf with a steel-like mental strength could not stand against the undying flame.
“I won’t d*e.”
“…”
“And as I said before, I will trust you till the very last second.”
Kyle sent a look of unwavering trust.
“Though you’re such an irksome guy, I’m surprised to see how much you’ve grown.”
“…”
“Now, that’s more like it.”
Kyle gave a hollow laugh.
“Indeed… my artwork is immortal.”
Dwenno’s amber eyes sparkled as he looked down at his weapon.
Clang-! Whirrrrr-!
The yellow flames flickered as Dwenno wielded his hammer.
“Then… can the weapons I forge also be immortal?”
Crash- Gasp!
Kigors broke the display case and picked up Dwenno’s sword.
Whooshhhhh-!
“Oooooooh!”
The mana swirling around Kigors’ body grew stronger.
Roar-! Roar-!
Dwenno’s sword began to resonate, emitting a sound as if echoing with Kigors.
‘What? Why is Dwenno’s sword reacting to this guy?’
Dwenno’s tools could, in a sense, be considered the polar opposite of anything from Tartarus.
Weapons crafted to subdue Erebus and Tartarus.
Weapons imbued with the will and essence of a blacksmith like Dwenno.
Something that should instill fear in demons, yet he appears to gather strength by wielding it.
“This is my resurrection, Cursed King Kigors!”
Kigors’ presence became clearer.
It was evidence that he was regaining the strength of a Legion Commander.
‘Whatever it is, it’s clear that Dwenno’s sword is giving him power. He mustn’t hold the sword!’
If the Legion Commander regains his full strength, there’ll be no way Leo can handle it.
Leo gathered his mana.
Flash-!
Kigors’ eyes turned toward Leo.
In an instant-!
Creeeak-!
Leo heard a crackling sound as if something was splitting in his head.
Thud-!
Leo’s face contorted in pain.
“To receive such a curse and still be alive? Are you really just a first-year novice.”
Kigors wore an expression of disbelief.
‘A curse.’
In an instant, hundreds of curses were affixed to Leo’s body.
From the lowest to the highest level curses.
He quickly dispelled them with a release technique but couldn’t handle those he didn’t understand or those that were overpowering.
‘There’s a limit to just using a release technique.’
Leo and Kigors were simply not in the same league.
There was no way to fight him with just skills.
‘If the Legion Commander resumes his strength here, in the very center of Lumeran?’
Tartarus was certainly aiming for this.
‘What to do?’
As Leo gritted his teeth, the left sleeve of his jacket emitted a light.
The Pholium he had gained as a quest reward in Luna’s world.
But this Pholium was just an empty shell from Hero’s World.
It should have had no power left.
Yet, this now glowing Pholium was surprising Leo.
Leo’s eyes widened.
A fresh emerald green light.
It was neither aura, mana, nor spiritual energy.
Certainly not magical energy, but some other kind of force.
‘Divine power?’
It was also a form of divine power that Leo had encountered before.
‘Pibua?’
The light then transformed into a grayish hue.
A force Leo recognized.
‘My power?’
More accurately, it was Kyle’s power.
This power gradually took on a form, then-
Whirrrrr-!
Turned into a bright yellow flame.
“Graaah?”
At the same time, the weapon Kigors held also emitted a bright yellow flame.
‘Is this Dwenno’s flame?’
Whirrrrr-!
“Kyaaaah!”
Dwenno’s flame attached itself to Kigors.
The agonizing Kigors angrily tossed the sword away.
Clang-! Swooshhh-!
The sword slid toward Leo.
“Ooooh!? Insolent brat! What have you done to the sword!”
Kigors shouted out in rage.
‘No. It’s not like the principal has done anything.’
Leo looked at his hand.
‘This sword is reacting to Dwenno’s will.’
Dwenno’s will and flame are embedded in all the weapons he has created.
The flame has awakened.
‘My power has awakened.’
Leo inherited the essence of Dwenno’s power.
Dwenno, who was loved by fire and possessed strong immunities against it, handed over this essence of flame to Kyle in his final moments.
But that essence of flame vanished when Kyle died long ago.
‘Knowledge remains, but power naturally doesn’t remain. But.’
Dwenno’s flame was revived in Leo’s hand.
‘Pibua must have done something with the Pholium.’
The god he met in Luna’s world must have done something.
Leo bowed his head.
Clap-!
Whirrrrr-!
The bright yellow flame burned even more fiercely.
However, the flame didn’t affect Leo at all.
Dwenno hated his own flame.
Because destruction is the essence of flame.
But…
‘Flame does not necessarily only mean destruction!’
Dwenno hated fire, yet he sought to bring benefit to the world with its power.
Holding the sword, Leo felt as if he could hear the sarcastic voice of the old dwarf nearby.
‘To just lie down like this, the weapons I’ve forged would cry out.’
‘Thanks, Dwenno.’
Dwarf Dwenno, the blacksmith of the gods.
Even though he showed more interest in creating beautiful works of art than weapons, he was a peculiar dwarf.
Dwenno, who wanted to spread beauty to the world and be remembered as a great artist by future generations, ultimately didn’t achieve his dream.
The only known fact about Dwenno disregarded art and only mentioned his creation of the strongest weapons.
‘There was no other option.’
Dwenno’s flame burned away the curses.
‘Because of you, I was able to keep fighting to the end.’
Dwenno’s flame was ultimately extinguished by Erebus.
‘Your weapons… even those black flames couldn’t destroy them.’
But the tools he so meticulously crafted with that flame—
‘Could always be trusted with our lives.’
The resolve he left behind remained unbroken to the very end.
Kigors’ eyes focused on Leo.
The power Pibua instilled in the Pholium gave Leo no new capabilities.
It merely awakened the power of Dwenno Kyle had long lost.
A miracle connecting the past and present lives.
But even that couldn’t change anything.
“Leo Flove! Hand over the sword of the Sword King!”
“This sword?”
Leo smiled and adjusted his grip on the sword.
Whoosh-! Gwa-ga-ga-gak-!
“?!?”
From the hilt to the tip, the sword glowed in golden light before transforming into an overwhelmingly beautiful sword.
The blade was adorned with exquisite patterns.
“That’s… what exactly is this?”
“Just one correction.”
Leo grinned.
“This sword is not the Sword King’s sword.”
Bang!
Leo adjusted his grip on the sword.
Shaarrrrrh-!
Golden wings enveloped the sword.
The awakened Magical Sword released potent magical energies after millennia.
The Golden Sword crafted by Dwenno.
This was not a weapon for the Great Hero, but a masterpiece Dwenno meticulously crafted to assist other heroes in the extermination team.
Leo called out its name.
“Daemon Slayer.”
Gwa-ga-ga-gak-!
As if responding to the call, the Daemon Slayer emitted an even brighter radiance.
Gwa-ga-ga-gang-!
Leo hurled the sword.
The Daemon Slayer, wrapped in golden wings, pierced right through Kigors.
Kigors disappeared, unable to even let out a scream, as he broke through the great western wall.
Leo scratched his cheek as he observed the great western wall, now punctured.
“It’s going to cause a commotion.”
Though he had aimed for the side without books, the professors would undoubtedly go ballistic with fury upon seeing this.
“The principal will probably handle it.”
Leo chuckled and checked his condition.
“Master!”
Arti in her human form, transformed by a polymorph spell, ran toward Leo.
Fiora perched on top of Arti’s head.
“Amazing! You look like a pretty boy on the outside, but you’re tough on the inside and so bold! I seem to have chosen well in following you as my master! Churp-”
While Arti wiped saliva from the corner of her mouth, Leo muttered to himself.
‘Why is there always one pervert in my life, whether in this life or the previous one?’
Leo clicked his tongue and produced a summoning circle.
“Let’s head back first.”
“Huh? But the inside of Lumeran is in crisis.”
“It should be fine since I’ve dealt with this somewhat, and… there’s someone I have to meet. It’s an order, so stop arguing and just go.”
When Leo finished speaking, Arti, who had hesitated, clutched her heart and exclaimed ‘Hueek!’ before returning through the summoning circle.
Once left alone, Leo departed from the Great Western Arch.
“He’s fled.”
Calian landed on the first floor of the Hero’s Tower and spoke calmly.
The sculpture Silatuna had been holding back Calian fled right after that momentary fight.
Simply to deter Calian for that short moment, she had revealed her identity.
‘What is she after?’
Calian narrowed his eyes and looked up.
Flash!
As he noticed the gold light flashing, a sword flew through the air and embedded itself in the ground by his feet.
Bang!
Calian’s eyes widened upon seeing the sword.
‘Klessis?’
A cherished sword he had wielded since his youth.
It was already old and worn out when he first held it.
But it never broke and was a very powerful sword, holding immense mana.
This beloved sword now looked like a brand-new in front of him, an aspect Calian, its owner for a lifetime, had never seen.
Surprised, Calian reached out.
Gwa-ga-gak!
The sword reverted to its original form, as if the magic was dispelled.
Calian’s eyes shifted as he perceived the remnants of mana left on the sword.
‘Leo Flove?’
He realized that the last person to wield this sword was Leo.
‘What exactly happened?’
While Calian was puzzled about this, something else flew toward him and smashed into the ground before him.
The Sword King, upon recognizing it, dispersed the dust with his ki.
His eyes flickered upon seeing it.
“Kigors?”
“Sword King…!”
Kigors’ eyes were wide open.
“Why are you alive?”
“Graaah!”
In response to Calian’s question, Kigors quickly tried to retreat.
Even if he was old, the Sword King was still the Sword King.
He couldn’t confront Calian with his current strength.
‘Almost succeeded.’
“Though I don’t know how you’re still alive…”
Goo-oo-oo-oo-oo-!
The Sword King’s aura trembled.
“I have no intention of letting you live.”
In a matter-of-factly manner, the Sword King swung his sword from below upward.
Hwaack-!
It felt as if the air was split in two.
The few steps between Calian and Kigors.
The air was cleaved along a straight line between them.
Kigors’ eyes widened as he felt his vision distort.
The Legion Commander, who dreamed of resurrection, thought.
‘Finished.’
So futilely had the opportunity for resurrection vanished.
Phwoosh-!
bl**d splattered.
His distorted vision turned upward toward the sky.
He saw the split sky.
As if the clouds had been cut apart.
‘You’ve become even more monstrous, Sword King.’
*
“I thought the timing was perfect.”
Thump- Thump-
Silatuna grumbled as she left behind the commotion in Lumeran that had been disrupted by a sudden demon invasion.
She thought it was a perfect timing.
‘Do I need to predict and arrange everything perfectly like Hel Kaiser?’
But such precision didn’t suit her taste.
Silatuna preferred smashing everything in sight to crafting intricate conspiracies, befitting her role as a Legion Commander.
“Well, the Curse King is done for. My efforts here in Lumeran have come to an end.”
For this operation, she had utilized all the chess pieces within Lumeran.
She could no longer exert influence within Lumeran anymore.
“Kind of a shame.”
While smacking her lips, Silatuna curled her lips.
‘Not that I made no progress at all. The Sword King is certainly getting weaker.’
There wasn’t much time left for the currently most threatening hero.
Just knowing this fact alone was a great gain.
‘It’s time to return to the main body and deliver the information…’
“Where are you going?”
“”
At the voice from behind, Silatuna narrowed her eyes and turned around.
“Hmph? You little whelp smells like milk.”
Silatuna smirked scornfully, but Leo smiled back and said.
“It’s been a while. Silatuna.”
![[TS] The Protagonist is Conquered](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1743806812-5548-TS-The-Protagonist-is-Conquered.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] The Protagonist is Conquered")
