Reed removed Liv Lily from the display stand and handed it to me. Despite making first contact with the weapon, it did not recognize Reed as its wielder, since he already had a demonic sword in his possession. I was hesitant to take it for obvious reasons.
The system said the first Holy Demon Sword was fused into it. It would function as a holy weapon if the right person wielded it, but if a person lacking in character and virtue were to take hold of it, it would turn into a demonic weapon instead. In the latter case, it would possess the wielder and start slaughtering people for no reason. Since Liv Lily inherited the characteristics of the Holy Demon Sword, I could easily end up like Ilion Odrek if I accepted it thoughtlessly.
"You added quite a risky feature into this weapon."
"I wouldn't say so," countered Reed. "I only added it because I found the feature rather useful myself."
That explained why the Cross Flory Lily Scythe looked grotesque in the current shades of black and crimson instead of the elegant silver and white of its holy form. Reed probably made demons handle it upon completion to make it take on its demonic form.
I stared at Liv Lily in Reed's hands. I never considered myself a particularly evil person, but the Holy Demon Sword had extremely high standards of what it defined as a "good person." The only current living example of one who passed the holy sword's test was Tesilid Argente, who strictly abided by the commandments for his entire life. I wasn't sure whether I would meet the sword's harsh standards. What if I fell short of its requirements?
"Are you not confident?" Reed asked.
I sighed and said, "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Well, you are one of the few things that bring me joy."
His taunting actually helped me make up my mind. What choice did I have, anyway? I needed that weapon. So, I grabbed it.
Whoosh!
A turbulent vortex of wind rose from my feet and sent my hair swirling around my head.
"Ugh."
I felt a mysterious shock wave strike my pounding heart, my chest shuddering as I held my breath.
Thump, thump, thump!
â¬Â«System» Warning. Liv Lily has put you to the test.â
I poured my master-level aura into Liv Lily until the pounding against my heart subsided.
"I knew your skills would be sufficient to pass the test. By the way, congratulations on becoming an aura master."
"Can you please shut up?"
I had to stay focused.
"Sure."
An evil energy swirled into the vortex and trapped me in its sinister grasp. It felt as though dark walls had suddenly closed in on me. Then strange voices started to whisper insidiously in my ears.
"Follow Reed."
"Reed is a part of him, so you must love Reed too."
"Why save the world? It only torments him and prolongs his misery, remember?"
"You won't even have to do a thing. Reed will take care of you."
"Your mind and body will finally be at ease once you follow Reed."
Though I tried to ignore them, the voices persisted, urging me toward a darker path. I clasped Liv Lily tight in my hands and tried to shake off their temptation.
An actual voice interrupted this time.
"As I mentioned earlier..."
A part of the darkness that surrounded me crumbled down. Reed made a hole in the wall in the dark vortex and approached me. He took the opportunity to step closer than necessary while my hands were tied.
"I will treat you as my queen if you join me."
His gorgeous face was closer than ever. But I couldn't let his beauty corrupt me because that would make Lord Voice very sad indeed.
"No, thanks."
The dark vortex dwindled down as the divine power glowing out of my body engulfed Liv Lily. The scythe soon started shedding its outer coat, revealing a magnificent pure-white cross flory where the rusty shell of its former self had faded away. Like Tesilid's holy sword, Liv Lily now had the same vibrant sapphire embedded in the intersection of its horizontal and vertical arms.
â¬The Scale that Judges Souls lets out a sigh of relief.â
â¬The Voice that Shapes the World says they never doubted you for a second.â
Reed took a step back and sighed, then said, "What a shame."
But of course, Reed was never one to broadcast his emotions. I felt somewhat bothered by his remark as I reverse-summoned Liv Lily. It felt quite strange to think that I now had a weapon permanently bound to me.
«You are now the wielder of the Holy Scythe.»
There was a hint of hesitation in Agnes' voice, as though she wasn't sure whether this was something to celebrate or not. The fact that Reed had gifted me the weapon probably made her uncomfortable.
Reed spoke once again as he turned his feet toward the exit. "And nowâ"
"Now, I'm going to see if there's more stuff in here to loot," I said, cutting him off swiftly. He stared at me with a puzzled look on his face, so I added, "You didn't expect me to leave a room full of treasures with only one item in my hands, did you? No, that wouldn't do at all."
Reed roared in laughter, then said, "I can't let you wander off by yourself. You're too unpredictable. Tell me what you're looking for, and I will take you there."
"I want a weapon in the form of a wire."
I was actually interested in a chain strong enough to bind Reed with, but thought it wouldn't be wise to share this information. Since Reed volunteered to give me a tour of the place, I figured I might as well make it worth my while and see if I could replace the Spirit King's Harp String with something better.
"This way."
Reed led me to a rack full of wires, attractively displayed like a jewelry case of fine bracelets and necklaces. He stood in a corner and didn't seem to have any intention of monitoring me, which allowed me to examine the items at a distance from him, unobserved.
Hmmm. I expected as much. There were almost a hundred different kinds of wires, but none of them caught my attention.
«He doesn't seem to have anything better than the Spirit King's Harp String.»
"Ah, that's a shame."
«Agreed, it's... Whoa.»
"What is it?"
«Look at the right corner of the lowest shelf.»
As I followed Agnes' guidance, turning my gaze toward where she directed, I almost gasped aloud as well.
Whoa. My reaction would've surely drawn Reed's attention, but fortunately I managed to mask it just in time. The black wire in the corner seemed rather familiar for a weapon I had never seen before. Its barbed wire reminded me of what I saw on Tesilid's left arm. My instincts kicked in. That is not a wire.
Right at that moment, the system managed to see through the glass and offered its evaluation.
â¬Â«Artifact» [Black Chain Limiter]
Suppresses the target's powers. The chain becomes more powerful against beings of greater malevolence. One can free themselves from the chain by doing good deeds or by serving a punishment.â
Every bone in my body told me I had to take that item without drawing Reed's attention. I slid my gaze to the side to check what he was doing. He was leaning on a pillar with his arms crossed and had his eyes closed. Desperately hoping he would stand still for a while longer like the handsome statue he was imitating at the moment, I cautiously reached for the item.
Remembering how the anti-theft system had kicked in when I took the Grand Bishop's Rosary Ring, I brought out a necklace of black pearls from my inventory and quickly exchanged it for the black wire. I managed to make the swap in the blink of an eye.
Phew. I had never done anything like this before, and it made me extremely nervous. Once the deed was done, I relaxed, swiftly placing my new souvenir in my inventory. It was time to act meek and innocent.
"Reed," I called out as I walked closer to him.
The man, who was as handsome as he was corrupt, didn't open his eyes. He seemed to be taking a nap.
"Reed." I called out once again. Only then did he open his eyes and answer me.
"Yes, Ailette?"
For some reason, the way he said my name seemed to ring in my heart.
"I'm done looking around."
"Did you find anything to your liking?"
"Not really. Nothing is quite as good as your gift."
It was obvious flattery, but it made him smile nonetheless.
"Then we'd better get going."
I followed him out again, falling into step naturally with him, as if we were each other's usual traveling companion. As we neared our destination, I began to notice some unfinished parts of the wall, which seemed to suggest the labyrinth had yet to be completed.
Golden sand flowed out of its rifts and gaps like waterfalls. But one of the rifts was quite different. It had a peculiar vortex swirling within it instead of cascading sand like the others. It was clearly a rift of space which led somewhere else. I noted its location and glanced at my right hand to check the distorted blue half-moon that was now imprinted on my palm, the sign of my agreement with Inferinos.
It took us about ten minutes to walk from the storage room to our destination. At the end of the path, we reached a door so immense that it made me wonder if a giant resided in the room behind it. In fact, I would've thought it was just another wall if I hadn't looked up to see the faint outline that indicated otherwise.
Reed opened the massive door, the Chaos and Evil within him letting him do so with a mere flick of his finger. The enormous arched doors spread open slowly.
Clink, clink, clink, clink, clink!
Ominous, cold air flowed out from the widening gap of the doors. It almost felt as if a cold specter had grabbed onto my ankle and tried to climb up my body. Reed entered through the doors, and I followed suit after taking a deep breath.
â¬Â«System» You have entered the [Altar of Chaos].â
A staircase in the shape of a concentric circle spiraled down into a cone at its bottom, creating a scene of visual harmony that was in direct contrast to its setting within the towering Sacred Tomb of Chaos. However, I didn't sense anything particularly ominous underneath. Despite its namesake as an altar, it didn't seem like any sinister ritual had taken place yet.
"Feel free to look around," Reed said casually, sounding relaxed and as if he had nothing to hide.
What was he trying to show me? I gazed down the center to the bottom of the stairs. There was a hole which resembled a well. I slowly headed down the stairs since there was nothing else worth noting in the room. As I neared the well, I noticed the water held within it was dark, which made it difficult to fathom its depths.
Mysteriously enough, it didn't feel like I was walking toward the well. Rather, it felt as though the well was pulling me in. I reached the bottom of the stairs and was about five steps away from the well.
â¬The Voice that Shapes the World carefully watches the â â â â â â with a serious look on their face.â
â¬The Scale that Judges Souls glares at the â â â â â â alarmingly.â
â¬The Architect of the Skyscraper of Suffering is impressed by the design of the â â â â â â â.
â¬The Advocate of Confidentiality is in shock and remarks that this has gone far beyond the scope of the novel.â