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Kin of the Goddess of Chaos
Murellia concentrates magical energy in her eyes and probably activates some kind of skill. As she was staring at me, I began to feel something strange.
“Ufufufu! This is amazing! What in the world is this? An Intelligent Weapon? And it’s not just Space-Time Magic, but Dimensional Magic?”
What the hell are you doing Appraisal Block! Apparently all of my disguisal skills have been seen through. Murellia, with her eyes shining with a brilliant light, pushes her wicked palm towards us.
[Fran! Murellia found us out! She’s trying to do something! Stay sharp!]
“Nn!”
We probably won’t be able to escape anymore. We’ll have to rely on Fran’s superhuman reaction speed. However, what happened next was beyond any of our imaginations.
“Come.”
[Wh-?]
The next thing I knew, I was in Murelia’s hand instead of Fran’s. I tried to figure out how she could’ve done it. Maybe some skill? I don’t think it was magic since she has already demonstrated she doesn’t have Chantless or Chant Annulment.
“! Master!”
“Master? Ah, this sword’s name. Isn’t that a strange one.”
Fran, who had me swiped out from under her nose, was furious.
“Fran! Don’t show an opening!”
“Keh-”
Fran was blown backwards by Valkyrie’s kick. She didn’t suffer much damage because of the defensive barrier she has up, but it was a big hit, I’m still worried.
[Fran! This is your chance!]
Murelia, who possessed immense power, drew me.
[I’ll let Murellia equip me, you have to attack in the opening that creates! Don’t worry about me!]
[... Understood.]
I managed to convince myself of my words, and Fran took out another sword and turned to face the Valkyrie.
“Aw, what’s wrong? Your movements suddenly got a lot worse! Can’t fight without your magic sword~?”
“Shut up!”
The number of hits Fran landed started to decrease and the amount of hits she took began to increase. Skill sharing is still active, but I can’t offer any support, and I can’t afford to make a careless move right now. That being said, I can’t miss this opportunity. I choose to believe in Fran for this chance to land a serious blow on Murellia.
“[Sigh], well then…”
Ding dong!!
The moment Murellia attempted to do something, and electricity enveloped her body. If I had to guess, she probably tried to equip me. This is what I’ve been waiting for! The moment you show any weakness, I’ll assault you with magic and a telekinetic catapult!
However… that opening never arrived. Murellia is still holding me as if nothing happened.
“Hm? What was that tingling?”
That’s it. There’s no way that’s it, right? She’s not awakened, and thunder damage is still neutralized? No, as long as she’s a Black Catkin, it wouldn’t be strange for her to have high resistance against thunder damage. Or is she strong enough for it to not work at all? Both are equally likely.
In any case, the fact remains that she tried to equip me. In other words, she has some sort of interest in me. When it comes to this high leveled of an opponent, no opportunity should be passed up. Even if it’s a shitty bet, you should take it if you can.
[... Are you going to equip me?]
“Ahaha! This is amazing! I got one! It’s not like a person at all! I could’ve sworn I saw a soul, but I didn’t think it’d actually have one! I want it! I want this sword!”
She’s like a kid when she’s frolicking like this. However, this sort of personality means she may take the bait.
“Divine punishment awaits if an unworthy person attempts to equip me. This time around was the Punishment of Lightning. Though, if you endure the punishments, you become worthy to equip me.”
Encourage equipping me while tickling her self esteem. Casually tell her about the punishment for equipping me. If Murelia tries to equip me at this point, the punishment will surely be far worse. Although the lightning strikes were prevented, the god’s death punishment can’t be prevented by Murellia. In the worst case scenario, it’ll do an incredible amount of damage to her.
“... Heh? Divine punishment? You don’t say. Well, you don’t have to be equipped then I suppose!”
Tch. You were thinking more calmly than I thought… I thought you would equip me to keep the momentum going. I guess I have to switch strategies.
“Are you afraid? How disappointing. I guess I was wrong. I should’ve figured you wouldn’t be able to equip me.”
This time, I tried to provoke Murellia. She seems to be strangely prideful, and there’s a chance she could get provoked into equipping me.
“I’ve already received divine punishment. I hate the gods, but I don’t underestimate their power any longer. But even so… divine punishment you say?”
[... Indeed.]
“Hmm, perhaps you are a sacred sword, or are affiliated with some god? No, I wonder if talking about divine judgement is just some sort of defense mechanism, as I was just talking about how our tribe was cursed… I’m sure it’s something interesting. My goodness, is it alright if we talk a bit more? It’s my first time speaking to an intelligent weapon.”
Ah. The provocations failed. But there still might be a chance for her to equip me. Let’s see if these words will do it.
[You wish to speak with me? Of what?]
“I wish to know who made you. Was it a divine blacksmith? Or was it another human?”
[I don’t know. I do not possess memories of that time.]
“Is that so, well then`”
[If you please, it is my turn now.]
“Oh? Isn’t this interesting? What do you want to know?”
[Are you a dungeon master?]
“I am not.”
[What? Then, what- ]
“Stop. Isn’t it my turn now?”
[... Go ahead.]
It looks like Fran has regained her composure and is still fighting with the Valkyrie. Then, maybe I should start gathering some information. Since we’re on the subject of asking each other questions it should be a good opportunity to do so.
“You mentioned that you don’t remember when you were created, but how far back do you remember?”
“My memory only begins recently. From just before I encountered Fran, my wielder.”
I didn’t want to take a chance lying, as Murellia may have some kind of skill that sees through lies. It was highly possible that she possessed some sort of lie-detecting skill as she accepted it without question when I said I didn’t remember being created.
It’s risky to give this information, but if I get caught in a lie, she might not let me continue asking her questions. In that case, it’s better to accept new information even if that means I have to give up knowledge in return.
“Hmm, does that mean you were only recently built? Or is that the seal on your memories was only recently unlocked…”
[It’s my turn now. You said you’re not a dungeon master? Then who are you? I recall you earlier saying that you could use the power of the dungeon…”
“Do you really want to know? Well, it’s because I’m a dungeon sub-master. This allows me to spend the master’s points.”
[Sub-master? Points?]
“Let’s remember the order. Next is me. What’s with your name?”
Is she making fun of me… Well, it can’t be helped. I’m used to it now, and I’m actually rather attached to it, but at first I thought it was a strange name.
[It is the name given to me by Fran. I previously had no name.]
“Just a moment, you had no name?”
[It’s my turn now. What does ‘point’ mean?]
It was a word that Murellia used, so I’ll pretend I’ve never heard it. Though, I still use self-evolution points.
“Why do you want to know that? It’s okay, but you can’t tell anyone, okay? They are points given by the Goddess, so-called GP. As they are bestowed by her, you can use points to extend the range of the dungeon or to summon demonic bea- Huh? What’s going on?”
Murellia, who was in the middle of an explanation, was surprised for some reason. After an awkward moment, she continues her conversation.
“Well, anyways, there are many ways to get points. For example, killing  creatures that are inside your dungeon. And the stronger and more experienced a killed individual is, the more points you get from them. There is the option of drawing magic from the ground to convert into points, but it is hardly efficient.”
As Murellia explained this to me, she opened her eyes as if she was surprised. No, wait, she actually is surprised.
“I knew it! I can talk about it after all! Hahahaha! Why?”
Murellia suddenly exclaims with a joyful expression. I’m having a hard time understanding.
“Hey, you have something to do with dungeons, don’t you?”
[What?]
“Hmm, it might not be surprising if you turn out to be a Godblade… Are you kin with the Goddess of Chaos?”
[Well, that’s something I would like to know as well.]
I was told that I was related to the Goddess of Chaos before, but I didn’t receive any further explanation.
[Why do you think I am?]
“People who are affiliated or bound by dungeons are restricted in their actions. One of these restrictions is the ability to speak of the dungeon to other people.”
Now that she mentions it, Rumina was saying something along the same lines. But she’s able to talk about it normally with me. Maybe it’s that she didn’t reveal anything of a level worth omniting? But her description was quite detailed.
Rumina wasn’t able to talk to me about the details of a dungeon. But now that I think about it, Fran and Urushi were also there, maybe she was restricted for that reason?
“I wasn’t originally a member of a dungeon. A few years ago, a combination of the power of a dungeon and a human sorcerer named Linford summoned and bound me to his will with the permission of the Evil God. Linford, that annoying geezer! That wicked man ruled over me as a maiden of the Evil God, and then forced me into being a Dungeon Submaster! He made me dedicate myself to the hateful gods that destroyed us! I can’t rise up against that usurping small-fry’s clan just by being a dungeon submaster, but I also can’t resist the dungeon’s contract! However, I can talk to you about it for whatever reason! If I can understand why, I might be able to worm my way out of the dungeon’s contract!”
Woah woah woah, I might be crazy, but a name I definitely can’t ignore came up! Did she just say Linford? He’s an old sorcerer, and his name is Linford, this can’t be just a coincidence.
“Is your sorcerer named Linford Laurencia? He possessed monstrous powers and was over like a hundred years old?”
“Oh? Do you know him?”
“Pretty sure the guy you’re talking about died after we fought him on another continent.”
“Aa! I knew it! Fairly recently, the power that tied me to the world suddenly weakened, I knew I wasn’t imagining it! Ahahaha!”
I didn’t expect to hear Linford’s name in this country. In other words, I guess that means he was scheming in this country before coming to Barbora.
[If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly was Linford trying to do?]
“Ufufu, since I’m in an especially good mood right now, I’ll enlighten you!”