A Godblade’s Might
Dias began to speak after seeing Erza off so he could continue interrogating Celldio’s subordinates.
「It looks like we’ll be able to use what we just learned to force Marquis Ashtonah into a bit of a hard spot.」
「Why?」
One of his illegitimate children had gotten themselves involved in some sort of scandal. I mean, that mattered and all, but it wasn’t really anything that delivered a major blow to his reputation. I couldn’t see how it the event could make a high-standing noble suffer any significant consequences.
As far as I was concerned, this whole incident was Celldio’s own fault to begin with. He was a druggie, one that extorted the common folk and ultimately killed himself by attempting to wield a cursed sword. Again, his actions were scandalous, but lacked impact. They weren’t significant enough to mean much of anything at all to anyone with a marquis’ social standing. This was only emphasized all the more by the fact that the guild was apparently already aware of the illegitimate methods Celldio had used to make himself an A ranker in the first place.
「The reason stems from his interest in and pursuit of Godblades. Godblades are so overwhelmingly powerful that they’re able to repel entire armies. He would be suspected of treason if word of his intents got out.」
「I see.」
『But weren’t there already rumours about Celldio searching for Godblades to begin with?』
「There were, but his position differs greatly from his father’s, as one is an adventurer, and the other an aristocrat. It’s perfectly acceptable for adventurers to seek out Godblades. In fact, you may as well go ahead and call the act natural. Wielding a weapon that powerful can be considered a sort of universal desire those in our trade happen to share.」
I felt like we were starting to get into technicalities, but I did still understand what Dias was trying to get at. He was more or less saying that Celldio’s actions weren’t considered suspicious unless his father was also factored into the equation.
『Oh yeah, you mind showing me that list again?』
「Sure.」
The list contained many names, but failed to mention Alpha, Berserk, Ignis, Gaia or Diablo.
Apparently the reason they hadn’t been noted was because their locations were known; there was no point in having Celldio look for them.
The only one whose location we knew was Diablo, the Demon Lord’s Blade. It was somewhere in the kingdom of Fyrias, the place Prince Flut and Princess Satia, the twins we sailed with, hailed from. We didn’t actually know what the sword was capable of, but we were at least aware that it was able to allow their small kingdom to fight off the major military military power known as Reidos.
Dias told us where the other four were.
The most surprising two were Ignis, the Brilliant Flameblade, and Gaia, the Earth’s Edge, as both were owned by S ranked adventurers. The guildmaster explained to us that their wielders were already extremely powerful on their own, and that the Godblades had only boosted their power levels further. The combination of their abilties and their weapons caused them to go far beyond anything anyone could possibly expect from a mere A ranker.
Ignis’ wielder was known as a hero, and apparently was currently engaged in the act of fighting against the evil forces found on the Goldishian continent.
By contrast, Gaia’s wielder kinda just did his own thing. He wandered from place to place, and would only show up once every few months in order to sell materials, namely ones he harvested from the high ranked magic beasts he happened to come across on his journeys. Apparently he was last spotted in Chrom, the continent in which the Beastkin’s country was located, just earlier this year.
Alpha and Berserk were located in Brohdinn, a continent to the north. The two most powerful kingdoms in Brohdinn each owned one of the two blades. Unsurprisingly, the two aforementioned countries were at each other’s necks, but the Godblades kept them in check and prevented them from engaging in any large scale conflict. It’d been several hundred years since they last descended into total war, reason being that they were clearly aware that any conflict that involved two opposing Godblades would cause enormous damage to both parties.
Their knowledge wasn’t derived from common sense or logical thought, but instead, first hand experience. The Godblades’ wielders had caused over 100,000 deaths when they engaged each other in combat about 300 years prior. The forest in which they fought had been reduced to a mere wasteland, and remained as such to this day.
『That honestly sounds pretty damn terrifying. Where sort of abilities do those two weapons happen to have?』
「Alpha’s actually pretty famous, as it grants its wielder the Half-Deify skill.」
「Skill effect?」
「I guess the best way to put it would be to say that it causes its wielder to ascend.」
「Ascend?」
『Iunno about you, but that doesn’t really sound particularly useful or intimidating to me.』
Dias’ description was a bit lacking, it didn’t allow me to form a decent mental representation of the ability.
「Well, the Half-Deify skill basically raises all the caster’s stats and skill levels while also enhancing their body for better performance.」
『Ehhh… It still doesn’t really sound all that impressive.』
「Doesn’t seem strong.」
「I do agree that Alpha’s skill sounds somewhat plain but it’s actually said to be the most powerful Godblade. Half-Deify raises its Alpha’s wielder’s stats by a factor of 10. It also allows said wielder to see through every single form of stealth, gaze at things thousands of miles away, and hear every last conversation that happens within an entire country’s confines. Moreover, it immediately maxes all of its wielder’s skills. Does it sound a bit more impressive if I put it like that?」
Okay, yeah. The sword sounded like something that more or less hyper-boosted its wielder while also drawing out their latent potential. I don’t know why I expected anything else from a Godblade.
「They say that a single slash from Alpha’s wielder can tear through a hundred soldiers, a second can fell a rampart, and a third can tear down an entire mountain.」
『That kinda sounds like bullshit, but I’m a bit tempted to believe it given that Alpha’s a Godblade.』
「The most terrifying part about Alpha is that it can keep its wielder in an enhanced state for over half a day. Those that face it are left helpless, all they can do is hope they wake up to find that they were only having a nightmare.」
Wait, it can let its wielder maintain that ridiculously powerful form for over half a day? Holy shit, that’s enough time to raze several major cities, or perhaps maybe even an entire country.
Berserk, the Godblade pitted against Alpha, was just as terrifyingly powerful.
「Berserk’s effects are quite similar to Alpha’s. It enhances its user’s body, raises its user’s stats, and levels up its user’s skills. Moreover, the enhnacements it grants are actually even greater than the ones Alpha grants.」
『Wait, are you sure? Why would Alpha be the better Godblade if Berserk’s got a better buff?』
「Berserk is technically stronger from a numerical standpoint, but it can’t be considered the best Godblade because it comes with a dreadful side effect. Its user is deprived of their ability to discern friend from foe and is forced into a homicidal rampage. To make matters worse, it kills its wielder as its effect ends.」
『That sounds pretty nasty, but it seems like it could end up being pretty effective if you just threw its wielder into enemy lines.』
Using the blade sounded inhumane, but also quite efficient.
「Unfortunately, that doesn’t really work. What do you think happens once Berserk’s wielder annihilates all the enemies in its vicinity?」
『Iunno, nothing? I’m assuming you could just retrieve the Godblade and call it a day.』
「How exactly are you supposed to retrieve it? Its wielder will attack you if you approach it.」
『I mean, you could just wait for the sword’s effect to fade. It shouldn’t be too hard to retrieve once the wielder dies.』
「You’re right, but who’s to say that the blade’s original owner will be the first to arrive on site?」
Dias had a pretty good point. It was possible for one’s enemies to get to the blade first.
「And that’s not all. Like Alpha, Berserk’s effects also remain for the better half of a day. That’s a long time. There’s been a case in which its wielder ended up making his way back to his own country and razing a large city after demolishing the enemy’s capital. It really isn’t something you can use on the fly. It always causes heavy losses on both sides. That said, it’s the perfect card to use if you find that yourself without any other option.」
In a way, you could say Berserk was like a nuke. You coudln’t really use it without worrying the consequences potentially coming back and biting you in the ass.
「And I’m guessing that’s why the country that has Alpha hasn’t managed to slowly push the country they’re up against into some sort of corner?」
Based on what Dias told us, there wasn’t really any point in attempting to go after any of the Godblades whose locations were known, as they were all possessed by either S rankers or countries. It didn’t seem like it would be possible to buy or steal them from either of the two types of entities mentioned.
『And I’m guessing that’s why Celldio was supposed to be looking for Godblades without obvious location markers on them?』
「Exactly. So back on track, there isn’t a country out there that doesn’t want to be in possession of a Godblade, so there must be a whole slew of information available. That said, I’m surprised the marquis managed to gather as much as he did.」
Dias made yet another valid point. Cellio had been provided with a good bit of information regarding the Godblades’ appearances and abilities.
The Warmount Blade — Chariot
Charriot’s form resembles that of a conductor’s baton. It is capable of creating golems of all shapes and sizes and manipulating them thereafter. The golems tend to be made of metal and are capable of both flight and emitting beams of light. It was demonstrated to be capable of simultaneously creating 1000 small golems about 15cm in height each. These golems were able to annihilate over a fleet of ships 100 strong in an instant as per the battle of Gallelia. It was last spotted somewhere on the continent of Kapul.
The Blade of Wisdom — Cherubim
This Godblade has already been destroyed, but its vestiges should be collected if deemed possible. There are no confirmed details regarding its abilities. Investigating the blade through the use of skills has led to the conclusion that it was a sword with an angel engraved onto it. It was likely to have been destroyed in the Kingdom of Kranzel.
The Seeker’s Godblade — Explorer
Explorer is shaped like a monocle. One investigation has led to the conclusion that has the ability to perceive the happenings of an entire continent, but there are no confirmed details regarding its precise workings. It was last seen on the continent of Jirbard.
The Blade of Imprisonment — Hell
No confirmed details. The only mention of it is in a 500 year old document that described it being used in Chrom. The location in which it was said to be used is now a barren wasteland in which it is impossible for any sort of organism to thrive. Its abilities are said to relate to the manipulation of poison.
The Raging Dragonblade — Lindwurm
The only confirmed detail is that it is shaped like a sword.
The Moonbeam Blade — Moonlight
Apparently grants its user the ability to repel any and all attacks.
The only really detailed description was the one about Chariot, but even then, it failed to mention any sort of pinpointed location.
「How interesting. Not even I knew much of what was written here. I’m surprised they’re actually even trying to retrieve Cherubim. I presume the marquis’ goal must be to conduct some sort of research…」
『Do you think it’s possible for them to actually learn anything?』
「I can’t draw any conclusions, but I can say that I doubt they’d bother doing something that wouldn’t provide them any benefit. Either way, the marquis keeping his activities a secret raises several major red flags.」
His actions weren’t technically illegal, but there was no doubt that he would be suspected of treason if he started doing research on weapons and kept it a secret from the state.
「Would you mind letting me hang onto this? It’ll serve as a good piece of evidence.」
「Nn. Don’t mind.」
「Thanks.」
I’d already memorized everything that had been written on the sheet anyways.