Chapter 6

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Chapter 6: The Path of Power

Midi took the count to the family’s arsenal. As compensation for agreeing to act as an obstacle, the Senator’s faction had agreed to several conditions, including selling swords and armor from the Sais family to the iron-poor Asreks territory at a reduced price.

The first batch of swords had arrived. Midi recalled even his cautious father praising their quality.

The longswords stood neatly on racks, meticulously maintained by the artisans. Each blade Midi drew bore the Sais family emblem on its hilt, proof of their renowned craftsmanship.

Midi tested one against a spear from their own armory. The blade sliced through the shaft effortlessly.

“The Sais claim they used rare spinel in forging, making these swords cut iron like mud. Even discounted, they charged twice the normal price.” Midi studied the gleaming edge. “But while with Fenrir’s group, I overheard the real additive wasn’t spinel.”

The count tensed. “What was it?”

“Black hard stone.”

The count inhaled sharply.

Though both minerals enhanced blades, black hard stone crumbled under acid. Such fraud was rare in Belmar—the stone came from the Delos Empire, making it costly here. No sane smith would waste expensive imports on flawed weapons.

Yet when the count poured acid on the blade, corrosion spread instantly. Minutes later, the sword snapped under its own weight, the clang echoing like a blow to the count’s chest.

Count Ingman steadied himself, then gripped Midi’s shoulder. “Well done. If the Senators abandon honor, so do we. Leave the rest to me.”

Midi smiled faintly. This might be his first genuine praise from his father.

Despite memories of two decades, others still saw him as the careless heir. His role ended here. He trusted his father to save their house—his own duty was to perfect his tasks.

“Father, let Lothran procure rare materials. I need them for… stamina potions before the academy trial.”

“Still partnering with Fina Hamilton?” The count mused.

Once a Senatorial pawn in Fina’s team, Midi now bridged their house to the Queen’s faction—a far stronger ally for a mere count.

Seeing his son’s growth, the count nodded. “Do it. Lothran will provide whatever you need.”

By dusk, hardening agents, bloodstones, soul crystals, and rarer herbs filled the castle laboratory. The count’s doting hadn’t changed, though their relationship had.

Midi feigned urgent experiments after dinner, forbidding disturbances. He checked his pack, lowered a rope from his window, and slipped past the heightened guards—child’s play for one who’d roamed here for decades.

Under winter moonlight, he trekked thirty kilometers to a barren canyon. Hunters avoided its jagged cliffs, unaware of the cave within.

There lay a chained broken sword.

Its imprisoned demon god had saved him once. When the Delos army sacked their lands, Midi—fleeing his father’s corpse—stumbled here. The entity granted power to survive. Now, he’d claim it earlier.

But back then, the awakening was far from perfect.

Rather than an awakening, it had been more like the demon god trying to seize control of Midi’s body while facing resistance from the youth’s consciousness. When imperial search teams attacked again during this struggle, the conflict got interrupted midway, leaving the fusion rate between host and demon god perpetually low.

Because of this, Midi struggled for ten years to use even basic Demon Swordman skills.

Yet despite everything, the demon god attached to his left arm still granted immense power to this spoiled noble-turned-amateur swordsman. It helped him defeat renowned Demon Swordmen including Fenrir, then hailed as the world’s strongest.

Now looking back, Midi realized the demon god within that broken sword had been an exceptionally rare entity. Since his reincarnation seemed connected to that demon god’s final act, Midi resolved to fuse with it properly this time. He planned to undergo transmutation at Belmar Duchy’s grandest magic array as a Demon Swordman for optimal results.

What power would emerge from this union?

The thought alone thrilled him.

Hours later, Midi reached the canyon.

Boulders littered the cracked earth where no plants grew. Without water sources or animal traces, the pale green moonlight made it resemble either a gateway to the abyss or a silent graveyard.

Almost there.

Midi pulled his coat tighter. Though he’d only visited this place once in his current life, every detail remained sharp in his memories. Despite knowing the cave’s location, he waited thirty tense minutes to confirm no pursuers followed. Only then did he enter.

Navigating damp stalactite passages, squeezing through narrow cracks and crawling into hidden tunnels, he finally emerged into a vast underground space.

An underground river formed a still lake here. Moonlight from ceiling cracks blended with orange-glowing moss on the walls, creating an otherworldly scene. At the lake’s center stood a white pebble island where a broken sword protruded from sand, flanked by an ancient chain of unknown metal.

Midi’s entire consciousness snapped toward it. His heartbeat synchronized with the sword’s rhythm.

The demon god waited here.

Suppressing his excitement, Midi stopped at the water’s edge. He unpacked potions and materials prepared earlier – preparation came first.

Most swordsmen fused with demon gods accidentally. Without warning, their left arms mutated through parasitic possession. That’s how most Demon Swordmen were born. Midi’s previous fusion during chaotic circumstances had been terrible luck.

But now things differed. Midi knew exactly where the demon god resided. More importantly, he knew methods to improve fusion compatibility when prepared – knowledge gifted by Alice the Mist Sorceress, an expert rivaling Queen of Magic Fina in strength.

Among their trio, Alice possessed the deepest knowledge and strongest magic. While Fina led the Hawk Brigade as its standard-bearer, Alice provided steadfast reinforcements from behind.

Yet even Alice’s vast powers couldn’t separate a fused demon god. Her potions and magic arrays could only ease conflicts between Midi and his parasitic entity, slowly improving their fusion rate.

This time differed. Midi held advantages of timing, location, and foreknowledge from rebirth.

This time, he’d achieve perfect fusion – accomplishing what no Demon Swordman in history had ever managed!