Make Dark Fantasy Great Again

Chapter 87 'Huh?' Risir suddenly felt a foreign sensation. Something had entered his inner self and taken up residence there. It was a similar feeling to when Verdandes had suddenly moved in. -Hey. It was then that a woman's voice was heard once again. 'Could this possibly be Rodan's master's voice...?' Risir belatedly realized the identity of the foreign substance that had taken up residence in his Inner World. For unknown reasons, it seemed the ego that had been contained within the sword had transferred to his Inner World. -Insolent fool. How long do you plan to ignore my words? It was an unconscious action. Risir traced the source of the voice and focused his mind on his Inner World. A pure white world where nothing existed. There, a tall woman stood with her arms crossed. Her dark blue bob cut harmonized with her cold expression. Risir immediately recognized that she was Rodan's Master. Because he could feel the same lawless intimidation from her that he had felt from Rodan. "Yes, now I can finally see your face clearly. You're cuter than I expected." A subtle smile appeared at the corner of her lips. "What are you standing there dumbfounded for? Without revealing your name to the one who will be your Master." "..." Risir's brow furrowed. The one who will be your Master? What about the one who is your Disciple? "Wasn't Rodan your Disciple?" "He's a cute one." Cute? Risir doubted his own ears. "But he's too soft." Too soft? Risir doubted his own ears. "When it comes to swordsmanship, if you teach him one thing he learns ten, but that pathetic personality of his just won't improve. When will he ever grow out of being just a strong brat?" "Ah..." He seemed to understand how the situation was unfolding. For instance, that was it. She had grown tired of Rodan's arrogant personality and decided to let him go. Having been caught up in the natural disaster that was Rodan once before, Risir could deeply understand her feelings. "Certainly, there are aspects like that." "..." She looked at Risir meaningfully and wore a sinister smile. "That's right. It seems that way to you too. Well, from the perspective of people like 'us', there's no one who looks as pathetic and half-hearted as that guy." "?" Risir felt a sense of unease for a moment. Because her appearance was somewhat different from what one would expect of a 'Master tired of her Disciple.' 'Even if she was disappointed, still. Isn't she speaking too harshly about someone who was once her Disciple?' Moreover, judging by Rodan's reaction, she didn't seem to have completely severed the master-Disciple relationship with him yet. "If you take me as your Disciple... what are you planning to do about Rodan?" Though it should be a matter concerning her Disciple, she spoke as if it were no big deal. "At first, I was thinking of taking him back if he managed to draw this sword. But the more I watched, the more I felt it was hopeless. He can never become like us. A defective product that's neither this nor that. I misjudged the person." "..." It was an incredible situation where the one who had been Swordmaster Rodan's Master was evaluating him higher than Rodan. However, all he felt was discomfort and uneasiness. This wasn't what Risir thought a master-Disciple relationship should be like. -My Disciple~ Sorry to say this, but when I took in Risir, I didn't think about the consequences~ '...' In any case, it wasn't right. He had no intention of becoming this person's Disciple. "I'll speak my honest thoughts. I have no intention of becoming your Disciple." "Your opinion doesn't matter. What matters is that I've decided so." Despite the content being so extreme, her manner of speaking didn't feel arrogant at all. Based on countless experiences, it was an imperial attitude of believing that whatever she desired would naturally come to pass. For a moment, curiosity preceded his aversion. Why would such a person take interest in him? When Risir voiced his question, she drew a sinister smile. "Why? Because you're the same kind as me." "The same kind?" "I know. How much blood you've stained those hands with." "...?" "There's no point in pretending to be innocent." That sinister smile became even more distorted, turning into a demonic laugh. “Come on, tell me all about yourself. What have you done? How did someone so young end up with so much blood on their hands?” Overcome with joy, she extended her hand toward Risir. Believing he would gladly accommodate her. As mentioned repeatedly, he must surely be the same kind as her. The condition for drawing the sword. The condition for awakening her true ego. It was a body and Soul stained with blood. A killer asked a killer(?). "?" The killer(?) tilted his head in confusion. "What blood?" "...?" At that naive appearance, the killer belatedly felt something was wrong. Something was amiss. *** [Attempting interaction with 'Ego Sword: Blue Lotus'] [Activation condition: Karma 0] [Conditions not met] ['Ego Sword: Blue Lotus' rejects you] [You have resisted] *** [Attempting interaction with 'Ego Sword: Blue Lotus'] [Binding condition: Karma -300] [Conditions not met] ['Ego Sword: Blue Lotus' rejects you] [You have resisted] *** [All conditions have been satisfied] [You are bound to 'Ego Sword: Blue Lotus'] [You have resisted] ['Ego Sword: Blue Lotus' is bound to you] *** Blue Lotus? Oh, you mean Clana. If you’d said she was the crazy woman from ages past who marked her kills with flowers, I’d have understood right away. Indeed, Blue Lotus was a notorious battle maniac and killer in her time. She was like an evil spirit who wouldn't hesitate to do anything as long as she could cross swords with people and see blood. Her slaughter only stopped after two Swordmasters set out to eliminate her. You know, right? How stubborn Swordmasters are when it comes to sword-related matters. The fact that such people coordinated an attack shows just how powerful she was. ...But now that I think about it, it's ridiculous again? What? Oh, not that. The name Blue Lotus. Even such a crazy killer gets the name Blue Lotus, while someone modest and pure like me... -Crawling Library Eloran <Dialogue keyword: [Ego Sword: Blue Lotus]>- *** [Title: What the hell is this?] Content: 'You have been bound to [Ego Sword: Upright Will]?' It suddenly took up a weapon slot and won't come out? -: Congratulations. You have been selected as the owner of Upright X-will. -[Author]: What the fuck I never applied -: You interacted with it while meeting the conditions yeah It's basically consensual -[Author]: What fucking conditions did I meet lol I'm a Mage lololololol -: It prefers Mages -[Author]: ? -: When it sees Mages who raised their strength stats, it clings to them saying 'You actually want this too' -[Author]: No I raised the stat to use Moonlight Sword moves what the hell So this is what those occasional warnings about being careful of Upright X-will in the guides meant lolol -: It stood upright... (sword crying emoticon) *** [Title: Is this a translation error?] Content: 'You have been bound to [Ego Sword: Blue Lotus]'? Isn't it supposed to be the opposite? -: The ego contained in the ego item is so massive that it reversely chooses the possessor (not owner) according to the setting yeah -[Author]: But the ego items I picked up before weren't like this? -: Normal ego items show up as 'XXX with ego' and when activated ask you to give them a name calling you master -: Really, what kind of immodest item has its own name, it should ask its master to give it a cool one -[Author]: Then what is this Can't use it? -: The performance is good... the performance is good but... -: Their exclusive skills and traits are fucking arbitrary They activate and deactivate as they please, same with item stats yeah -: Damn I was fighting a boss and it wouldn't fucking die I thought the boss was made wrong but turns out the ego sword had deactivated I was basically beating it with an empty sword for 40 minutes -[Author]: No fuck Listening to this it's such trash that I tried to throw it away but why won't it get discarded -: You're bound to it -: It's judged as a Curse so you have to complete a quest to remove it -: Note that quest conditions increase with each repetition -: But dude how did you get bound to Blue Lotus? -: That's the one you get from killing Rodan right? -: Yeah -: Wasn't the binding condition karma -100? -: Activation condition is karma 0, binding condition is karma -300 -: Karma -300 what the hell have you been doing -[Author]: I hated seeing male characters so I killed them whenever I saw them -: Is this that Dark Lily group or something? -: Keeping people like this confined to the online world is truly a positive function of games -: Oh -: By the way, when you're bound to an ego item, something called 'Affinity' appears Manage that well yeah if it drops the penalties are terrible so if you can't manage it do the ego erasure quest before Affinity drops go go *** Blue Lotus Clana. She struggled to understand the situation. A completeness she hadn't felt when in Rodan's hands. Now, she had regained her complete power and ego. This was only possible through Resonance with an ideal subject as the sword's possessor. However. From their brief conversation, she painfully realized that the new possessor was far from her ideals. How could such a person have drawn the sword and awakened her complete ego? It was incomprehensible. However, one thing was certain: he was not qualified to possess her. Having made her judgment, Clana immediately tried to sever the Resonance with Risir. An object abandoning its owner. It would have been impossible under normal circumstances, but Clana's strong ego made it possible. She had always been the one who chose, and also the one who discarded. Just as Clana had unilaterally drawn Risir into her Inner World, she now tried to unilaterally cast him out. "..." "...?" But Risir remained completely still. He just stood there quietly, staring blankly at Clana. "What the hell is this guy doing?" She shook her head in exasperation. -Shing Then she drew her sword and approached Risir. If she couldn't banish him, she would simply make him leave on his own. In reality, she was merely a weapon that had lost its body and depended on its possessor, but here she was complete as she had been in life. -Bang! Clana kicked off the ground and rushed forward like an arrow. Her body moved faster than the eye could follow. When Risir's eyes barely managed to catch up with Clana's body, a cold blade was already touching his neck. Just as Risir's head was about to be severed- -Whoosh! "...!" The sword sliced through empty air. An unknown force had acted to return Clana's body to its original position. Clana paid no heed and kicked off the ground once more. -Bang! -Whoosh! "..." This series of events continued to repeat. Until the cold killer's eyes were filled with bewilderment. Eventually, she arrived at one possibility. The possibility that this place might not be her Inner World after all. "Impossible." Clana immediately denied it. For the possibility she feared to come true, one premise had to be supported. The premise that her ego had been bound to the other party's ego. For instance, it would only be possible if Risir were her master. Therefore it was impossible. Because Clana had never acknowledged him as her master. Since becoming an object, she had never once had a master. All of Blue Lotus's possessors had revered and followed her, and were casually discarded according to her whims. "Hey. Let me out of here." She commanded Risir in a cold voice. It was the moment when the presence of the killer who had once dyed the world in terror was about to crush him. "...!" Suddenly Clana's five senses stood on edge and sent her a warning. The world had turned upside down. The pure white space where nothing but the two of them existed had transformed into an endlessly stretching Desert. -Whooooosh!!! There was a sandstorm that covered the entire vast Desert. With its presence, the Desert that had been under scorching sun instantly became night. It was a disaster. A realm of providence that human power could do nothing about. Such a disaster moved with its own ego. It headed toward Risir, expressing its will with thunder-like roars. "What, really?" Risir's appearance when confronting such a disaster was simply nonchalant. His eye level. His attitude. It was as if he were dealing with a small child. Clana felt a headache from severe cognitive confusion. When she briefly closed and opened her eyes, the Desert had vanished without a trace. In the pure white space that had unfolded again, Risir and a small Spirit faced each other. Eventually, the gazes of Risir and the small Spirit turned toward Clana. Clana reflexively stepped backward. "Wh-what the hell..." A trembling voice leaked from the cold killer's lips. Just where was this place? And who were they? "...!" It was then that another 'incomprehensible' phenomenon struck. Clana's gaze wandered through empty air. As if she could see something in that void where nothing existed. "Affinity...?" *** [You have been bound to the target] [Affinity is activated accordingly] [If Affinity decreases, corresponding side effects may occur] [Affinity: 6%] *** "Hey!" "...Yes? Oh." Risir came to his senses at Rodan's call. It had been about three minutes since Risir had grabbed the Ego Sword and entered a dazed state. "What is it, what happened!?" Swordmaster Outer Sword spoke in a state of lost composure. He had sensed something amiss from Risir's unusual reaction. "Don't tell me you heard Master's voice!?" "...Yes, I heard it." "...!" Rodan urgently approached and grabbed Risir's shoulders. "What did she say, what did she say!?" "..." Risir spoke while avoiding Rodan's gaze. "She told me to become her Disciple?" "What?" That Master took in a new Disciple? While I'm still here? Swordmaster Outer Sword's pupils shook violently.