Soul of Searing Steel

It had always been claimed that weapons were a warrior’s best friend. Indeed, it was not untrue at all, as a weapon that allowed one to exert their power to their limits was no less than a good companion with whom they have bonded in spirit.

Therefore, by basing upon that statement, there would always be some who would try their best to create weapons that were self-aware and possess a spirit, skipping the phase where the warrior would break it in to arrive at the highest level that was connected mind and spirit.

Still, it was not to say a weapon that could genuinely bond with a wielder in mind and spirit would naturally be considered the ‘best friend’ and would allow the wielder to unleash their greatest abilities—because the weapon possessed a will now, and it would therefore no longer be merely the warrior picking the weapon, but the weapon picking its owner too.

And rarely would there be any person who could really instill subservience unto sentient weapons, to have them willingly be used.

As a matter of fact, it did not mean that weapons were a necessity for those rare few individuals either.

***

On the first of January in Starfall year 849, seventeen minutes past midnight in the basement of the Graveyard Church in Northern Moldavia.

Very frequently cleaned, the Church had no signs of dust at all, as it glimmered in the pale golden light of pyroxene that stuck out like a store thumb amidst the nighttime illumination of the present age where magical power energized everything. As they moved along the basement that was brimming with the pungent odor of steel, Ying and Ling arrived before a door, and neither the silver-haired girl nor the black-haired boy hesitated to reach out.

And then, the door was opened.

All at once came the sound reminiscent of a fully-armed legion, with the humming of blades and the knocking sounds of shields being hammered upon. The siblings could feel dozens of different echoes from weapons at once, spreading a burdensome atmosphere of slaughter.

To Extraordinary individuals who were of a lower level, such a sight could have truly left them shaken and drowned them in an alternative state of mind, increasing the success rate of the contract making that would ensue. On the other hand, neither Ying nor Ling were of lower levels—being Supreme-tier now and never really human in the first place, they were quite simply divine armaments.

Just like every other weapon hidden there in the basement.

As such, entirely unaffected, the pair hence strode forward into the underground chamber.

“Eh? It’s you two again?”

Noticing that the visitors were not human but its own kind, a lance which had been stabbed into the ground exuded a spiritual touch of puzzlement. “Is it time for maintenance again? It’s not really necessary, actually—the servicing spell circle that the Head of the House had updated before is just awesome. I’ve never felt so strong before, and it’s like I could eat a human. RUA!”

“Definitely.” On another side, a shield which appeared to have been knocking at itself with stunning hammering echoes also extended a spiritual contact. “I actually feel that my mind is a lot better, my thoughts much clearer. It’s like my mind is so lively now.”

Soon, dozens of divine armaments across the entire basement had almost released spiritual touches at the same time, a noisy contact that was capable of driving a psionic user out of their minds. Still, neither Ying nor Ling could do anything about it, and they simply shared a glance before shaking their heads.

Then, putting their hands together, the clear clapping echo instantly held down every voice.

“Alright, alright,” Ying said. “Dear seniors, we are here not to provide you with upkeep this time… truth be told, there is no need for maintenance since all of you are so spirited.”

“One way or another, we have something important to announce today,” Ling continued, spreading his hands to extend his power, linking every divine armament present together. “From here on, all of you will no longer remain here in this basement.”

With those words, powerful energy spread away. As the energy that Ling released enfolded every divine armament at the scene, streaks of powerful radiance began to flash—then, as tides of mana began to surge, many human forms of different appearances materialized in the basement.

There were the old but seemingly noble men, youths who resembled Ying and Ling themselves, along with those with more ordinary human appearances. The dozens of human forms which the divine armaments had assumed appeared to be surprised as well that their bodies were so abruptly exposed.

“…Now hold on a moment, Ling… and you, Ying.”

Staring in a tinge of shock at the hands of his human form, a young man who had transformed from the lance just then appeared not as excited by the prospect and hence wrinkled his brow at both Ying and Ling. “What is the meaning of all this? I can also sense our pact with the House of Radcliffe being severed…or more correctly, intercepted.”

“Come to think of it, it’s weird that there has been no new divine armaments moved in here over the last few years—could it be that the Head of the House has no heir? Or has he given up on divine armaments?”

A composed woman who had transfigured from a shield clenched her fists and shook her head, sweeping her long blue hair back and forth. “No. The contract on you both is still there, so he shouldn’t be giving up on divine armaments… so does this mean that he is giving up on us?”

That particular guess was not actually unreasonable—all in a split second, the human form of those divine armaments had thought that the new Head of the House found maintaining ‘failures’ of divine armaments such as them too troublesome, and had therefore simply cut their contracts so that they would look for a way to move on.

In other words, having them survive by themselves.

” Sigh. That’s not actually what’s happening.”

Even Ying’s cute face was screwed up as she listened to those thousands of unusual theories, and she said in a pained and helpless tone, “It has been mainly Master’s orders back when he left. That’s all there is to it.”

“‘When the divine armament production line eventually stabilizes, everyone would slowly accept all of you as a new lifeform, and it would also be the moment to restore freedom to the divine armaments that generations of Radcliffes have passed down.’ That was what Master had said, word for word, and we are simply carrying it out in his absence.”

“Yes.” Ling nodded over at another corner and stepped up, helping up the human form of a few divine armaments that had been left unused for centuries and as such, fell to the ground because they had forgotten how to walk. “The production line has pretty much been completed just a few days ago,” he said, shrugging. “The output numbers are not high, but making them widespread is a matter of time with the rate at which they are spreading. It is even possible to disseminate them across the cosmos.”

“From now on, the people of Mycroft would probably be ushering in a new age where every person possesses a divine armament—Master has described it as having an AI assistant for everyone, which I find quite true too.

***

Be that as it may, while Ying and Ling thought that their explanations were simple enough to be understood, they did not know that what might appear to be common sense to them did not exist at all in the heads of the antiques that had been stored in the basement for centuries.

“Divine armament production line?” The lance youth was left at a loss.

“We are becoming common?” The shield lady fell into pondering.

“Disseminating across the Mycroft civilization?” A longsword man was scratching his head.

“The cosmos, and other civilizations?” A dual blade twins asked in one voice. “No, what the heck are you even saying?”

“But that’s not even the most important thing…”

The face of the most spirited lance divine armament who had recovered was actually slowly contorting in anger. “What is the incumbent Head of the House even saying? ‘Restoring freedom to the divine armaments that generations of Radcliffes have passed down’… what is he even saying?”

“Are we not free in the first place?!”

“That’s right,” the shield divine armament replied solemnly as well. “Unused weapons must be sealed and hidden. The freedom we have is the freedom in which we had chosen on our own accord to wait, and we will fulfill our pact even if the person who made a contract with us should perish. Being buried in the mud is our freedom, and as we wait for our eventual deaths, instructing next generations of divine armaments about common sense and necessary knowledge is precisely the duty of us ‘failures’ who have not been chosen.”

“By the way, could it be that the incumbent Head of House has no heir? Why are there no new divine armaments brought in?”

“…I would first have to apologize, as that’s definitely because master did not think about taking good care of all of you…certainly, to say that restoring your freedom is an insult by the House of Radcliffe to your loyalties.”

As she listened on to the incessant doubt and retort by generations of divine armaments in the basement, Ying coiled her long hair in distress and rolled her eyes, seemingly drawing knowledge from her memory vault to handle the present scenario. “To be honest, seniors, technology has developed too rapidly now. If you don’t adapt yourself to the times, you’d really be left behind!”

Even as she spoke, Ying deliberately released her Supreme-tier presence, allowing the formidable force to stir in the small basement and silencing every divine armament instantly. “It’s because Master has thought about that, and as such, would have all of you get in touch with the world outside as soon as possible, so that you would all not be phased out from the present even if all of you have clearly accumulated much over time.

“…So, where’s the Head of the Family now?” the lance divine armament then asked, his expression still troubled after a moment of silence although he probably agreed with Ying. “In the end, we are all are divine armaments belonging to the Radcliffe family. It would be better to have the Head of the House himself to issue his command.”

“He is…”

Both Ying and Ling sighed together, and said, “He is now training by himself in some place. Not even us could meet him.”

“Compared to that, it’s better that all of you come out and follow us to the production line for a little makeover—the Radcliffe Family property is simply diverse and the Head of House doesn’t care for administration, while we have our own tasks to do as well… if it hasn’t been because we have the time, we wouldn’t have come to trouble all of you.”

With those words and under both Ying and Ling’s firm urging, the puzzled and doubtful divine armaments left the basement where they had stayed for over centuries, blankly arriving at the world outside.

Then, what appeared before their eyes was not the image of the old, plain, and cold Moldavian City resembling a fortress that existed in their memory vaults.

Instead, it was an arcanely powered city filled with towering buildings, illuminated so brightly that even night was bright as day, brimming with vigor and bustle.

Colossal statues standing over hundreds of meters tall towered between different parts of the city, with magically powered cars speeding at every direction over the avenues. Beside the roads, there were not only humans, but elves, dwarves, as well as many other minority races such as murlocs, even curious beings from otherworld civilizations, with a particular Rund standing out—the metal orb being was hovering in the air, with many human children sitting on it as it darted here and there, prompting cheers and laughter.

Resemblance notwithstanding, if not for Ying and Ling repeatedly insisting that they were in Moldavia, the divine armaments would have believed that they were in a different world.

” Sigh. That is a violation of Molavian flight regulation… well, I’ll just send a warning over later.”

Unlike Ying, who was nodding in agreement with the harmonious interaction between different beings from different civilizations, Ling’s professional instincts kicked in as he took in the sights. But even if he was about to write a fine, he held back since the timing was not right.

“Do you see, seniors? The world now is no longer the world before. Likewise, our duties as divine armaments are also different from before.”

Nonetheless, there was not much else to say—every other divine armament was basically stunned.

“What’s going on…”

A divine armament from the last generation, which had probably been moved to the basement just a few decades ago, rubbed his eyes—a low-cost one and the youngest next to Ying and Ling, he was seriously suspecting that what he was seeing was an illusion. “Isn’t the Radcliffe family an ordinary Northern noble family? When…when did they develop to such greatness?”

The divine armament could even see airships floating in the skies, carrying large silver screens that were broadcasting both advertisements and the portrait of a man with black hair and red eyes—a portrait that everyone knew belonged to the current head of the Radcliffe Family, Legendary champion Joshua van Radcliffe.

The great commander of the combined governments of Mycroft, one of the creators of the Mana Net and the founder of the Cosmic Invitationals tournament…in the briefest of time, the divine armaments was filled in with every detail of the current Head of the Family.

“Do you understand now? It’s no longer the past, and there’s no time for dillydallying.”

Shocked? Then you are on the right track!

Ying was actually very pleased with the stunned reaction of the divine armaments, since it would have been a rather troublesome matter to have those metal ore brains (literally speaking) obediently follow their instructions for upgrades. “Either way, we aren’t saying that all of you are to leave the Radcliffe family—there are many vacancies amongst our clan’s many properties, just as we need people whom we can trust to manage certain matters. If any of you are willing, you could continue working in the family business.”

“Even if any of you wouldn’t want to work odd jobs, there’s a set of cultivation practices tailored to improve us divine armaments—believe me, this is an age that is far more vast and open than what any of you would imagine. Moreover, the possibilities that each of you hold are greater than you think.”

And it was the truth.

***

Time flew and change had arrived rapidly. As the whirling needles of the clock moved on, the first Cosmic Invitationals had concluded months ago. The tournament itself had strengthened the ties and exchanges between civilizations across the cosmos, with the swiftly distributed Redemption Beam systems reaching out to every corner of the stars.

Even if the true champions of pinnacle powers did not join the competition involving millions of civilizations, everyone truly understood each other’s abilities and depth then. It had been a bottom-up battle that resembled sermons of different depth, with participants and spectators all benefiting. Those who had performed outstandingly were even rewarded with astonishing opportunities and resources, enabling meteoric rise.

As an example, the champion of the single-player division for Gold-tier had come from a civilization of psionic bodies that were not famous, but were born spiritually strong. They did not have physical bodies, but were instead made of pure Psi and partial mana and elements, naturally growing to Gold-tier in adulthood. Their spiritual prowess was far beyond that of most races, and with the advantage of being immune to most attacks, they had a strong foothold in Gold-tier where most individuals had yet to train themselves to the limit in most aspects.

After that individual from the civilization calling themselves the Almonds had won gold in the singles division, many other civilizations had extended an olive branch, indicating their willingness to provide resources to aid their growth. There certainly were conditions, since there were rarely any free lunches in the world, with the Almond civilization swiftly agreeing to Mycroft terms, commencing a bilateral partnership in the spiritual discipline.

Meanwhile, the winner of the Supreme-tier division was Lisa, a Drakonid girl from the world of Kronos and one of Joshua’s apprentices. In truth, after Lisa had tapped into her Ancient Dragon bloodline when she had ascended to Supreme, even training in the legacies of the most powerful individual at the moment, the sheer power she could muster left every opponent who underestimated her due to her smaller size speechless—with a single strike that could match Legends and sent a deific earth elemental flying up in the air, every spectator had questioned what their eyes were seeing.

On the other hand, a machine race in a Calamity civilization known as the Galactic Protectors had won for the Legends group. An unusual civilization which fought ruin with ruin and war with war, it had been one of those defeated by Joshua during his Sermon, but they were also slowly unveiling themselves to the worlds beyond as Joshua’s declaration of peace was very much to their tastes.

Being the machine creations of the Protectors, they had judged their own makers to be the primary target for peacekeeping and as such eradicated them. Even so, as the epoch passed, the machine collective which was once under exclusive control of core commands developed ‘Free Bodies’ capable of independent thought. While they still served core commands and would bring peace to worlds, they could think for themselves—in fact, the Free Body who had won the Invitationals was the most powerful being amongst the Protectors, its true form being a steel-grey Void continent that carried seventy-eight weapons capable of decimating worlds, along with various defensive plugins that could counter various attacks…which basically meant it was carrying all of the weapons at its civilizations disposal in its own body, ‘going all-out’ from a certain manner of speaking.

Still, the single division champions were not too interesting. The more powerful civilizations were not making a move since Joshua was not present, since it would be a distinct case of bullying otherwise…all in all, while Ultimate Legend and High Legend were both Legendary, the gap between them in a fight was greater than the gap between a Mortal and a Legend.

In a nutshell, the single duel competition mostly presented the depth of an individual’s civilization and legacy, while group duels were more chaotic and emphasized the importance of matching each other.

The Gold-tier winner of the group battles was Mycroft’s Elite Party from their External Exploration Department. Amongst their members were Priest, Constantine, Clark, Said, and Vein, with their leader Priest delaying his ascension to Supreme for the competition. In fact, the purpose of group battles was not strength in one aspect, but a partnership with the capacity to react against all kinds of foes—the reason that the Almond individual could win the singles battle was thanks to his luck of not running into any opponents who could naturally suppress spiritual abilities…or there perhaps were some, but they had been eliminated by other participants.

But when it came to group battles, composure was everything, just as advantages could be nullified and disadvantages exploited, and the participants had to possess an edge in every aspect to ensure that they could repel their opponents through sheer ability—the Elite Party was very much perfect in that respect, winning against every opponent with an unsurprising performance, steadily crushing their opponents like moving mountains to claim the crown.

“After all, we did go through many challenges in our otherworld explorations, such as Evil Gods, ruins with distorted dimensions, old lairs of foreign races, and primeval realms full of thunder elementals…we often clashed with feral Supreme or Tyrant-class magical creatures and survived several Legendary conflicts, bringing us solid combat experience and molding our will—it is our conviction that where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

When interviewed by official journalist and Invitationals organizer Ying, there was a meaningful look in Priest’s eyes—his tone was also volatile, as if endless emotions were overflowing. “We have to ensure that we make zero mistakes in each otherworld exploration, or we would be biting the bullet in some way no thanks to the Crow Mouth, even dying in the process…uh, what is a Crow Mouth? It’s nothing too important actually, just a whetstone which paves our path ahead.”

Over on the corner, Clark the Rider, who had been silenced throughout the competition, had wanted to protest but was stifled, with everyone else nodding in agreement.

In-jokes notwithstanding, the winners for the Supreme-tier group division were a team of mixed races, which included Light of the Bloodmoon Abyss, Elma of the Amos Court, Syndicate the Balrog from the Abyss, Zero One of Karlis, and Arlwa of Mycroft.

There were not many who thought well of the group, which was composed of members from different worlds and did not seem to show much compatibility, but their later performances left the spectators utterly taken aback—the luminous orb which appeared to be just a pet instantly expanded up to the size a small star, while the Amos who resembled a transparent humanoid had summoned a stunningly massive Void warship. Then, the balrog which resembled a Drakonid actually turned into a colossal Slime brimming with endless thunderbolts, while Zero One, who had assumed an ordinary steel sphere form akin to a Rund, had suddenly turned into a metal titan over several hundred meters tall…while the human Arlwa was really human.

To be fair, there were times when one would be left upset when they imagined that there would be surprises in store…which in itself was a shock.

Either way, with the surprises over and done with through the fixtures, they claimed the crown.

Light, the team leader of the very unique combination, revealed how emotional it was when interview by official press officer Ling.

“Ding-ring, ding-ring-ring, ding-ding-ding-ding-ring. Ding, ding-ring!”

“I see.” Ling replied as if in understanding. “So, you’re saying that this isn’t even your final form, and that you would have been able to match another candidate who didn’t join the tournament to greater effect if nothing surprising happened…she could transfigure as well, right?”

“Ding-ring, ring-ding-ring, ring-ring!”

“Hmm, that is for sure. Many of your members had actually joined the singles division…even so, you are so humble even if your team has been crowned winners. How impressive!”

“Ding~” (A rather proud jingle)

The curious interview trended when it was uploaded to the forums.

[Whether you’ve understood it or otherwise, I already have.]

[Ding-ring, ding-ring-ding-ring, ding-ding-ring!]

[No, you could’ve listed the name of the other members of your team—if you could get first place with a team that isn’t your final form, what would the final form even be?]

[The Transformers…such a weird name. Who had decided it?]

Meanwhile, Black had been challenging the difficult AI and fighting in Grand Colosseum day and night and therefore overslept on matchday. When she finally heard the interview, she was crying tears of regret.

Nonetheless, the Legendary group match was not broadcasted live, just as there was no recorded footage shown after the match. Actual details were only spread amongst the leaders of different civilizations, and it appeared that the match itself had not ended yet, leading to an elongated battle of which nothing was made public yet.

However, as the press officials, both Ying and Ling knew that the group battle was essentially an exchange of fighting techniques and a probing of each other’s depths for different civilizations. In fact, each civilization had dispatched more than a single team, but there was no mention of an actual crown. All in all, there was nothing much to be probed out without the exertion of full power or the prerequisite of dying in battle—the many participants were simply using the Invitationals as a platform to resolve the differences between different civilizations.

More than that, it was the only way where conflict amongst races could be handled after Joshua’s declaration of peace…given that it was a battle which involved blood grudges and actual discord, it was not suitable to be shown along with the competition live broadcast which was all too peaceful.

Either way, every participant had been proven incapable of beating the Class Ten AI of the Grand Colosseum.

Concluding her remembrance of the past, and after the antique divine armaments were brought to the Moldavian divine armament production line and consecutively upgraded with new parts and energy circulation, Ying also said goodbye to her brother.

“Well, I am off.”

Spreading her hands, flowing silver mist appeared over the silver-haired girl, with a streamline steel armor materializing over her body and enfolding her tightly. A blue gem hung on the center of her chest, glimmering with a radiance like flowing water.

“It’s been hard on you, sister.”

Sitting on a chair in the office, Ling sighed and turned on a screen, as if to tend to administrative duties. “Master’s tasks has always been so difficult, nor would he tell us the reasons behind them…but it would suffice to just complete them.”

“It’s been hard on you too, Ling. The matter about the divine armament production line and distribution of divine armaments are all thanks to your planning…from a certain point of view, it’s basically the establishment of a brand-new race, and you would be the one to govern over everything, the de facto leader of the new species.”

The clear voice of the silver-haired girl spoke from behind the steel armor, but Ying’s tone sounded both emotional and lonely. “You’ve always been helping master in such important matters, while I could do nothing apart from fighting…haha, that’s not it either, since I did learn much over the years, even if I’m not as accomplished as you are in that respect.”

“What are you even saying?”

In return, the mouth of the black-haired boy twitched and he shook his head. “There is only fitting, no best—I busy myself with the mundane tasks that do not hold much meaning for Master himself and handle the logistics for all of you. Even so, dear sister, you are helping Master because you are able to accomplish Master’s orders directly. Honestly speaking, it is just that we have different task, so there is nothing to be emotional about.”

“In the end, we are a part of Master, and every single thing we do is to alleviate the burdens upon him—and at the moment, he is conducting a vital experiment and ascension in the Vortex of Creation. At the same time, what we have to do is to maintain stability in all things, ensuring that Master would be able to see a world which he is content with when he steps out of that trial.”

“I know all that.”

The momentum of the steel armor was activating, while a portal was opening itself at the same time. As the dimensions were twisted apart, Ying’s voice seemed to become incorporeal, “Battle is not a must even as a weapon—being able to handle troubles for Master is the greatest assistance we could provide him with. I know and I understand that weapons are merely tools to solve problems, just like how we could turn divine armaments from being weapons to being an AI assistance. In the same manner, blades could be used as medical equipment, construction tools, or even kitchen utensils.”

“It is just that I am still a little upset. Even if it would be just once, I want to be needed by Master as he is now, to be wielded as a weapon… it doesn’t have to be multiple times, just once would be enough.”

“Goodbye, brother. I am having you listen to me grumbling again.”

“Goodbye, sister. Still, that doesn’t even count as grumbling.”

Watching as the pale-blue dimensional portal opened and disappeared, Ling settled into his office seat and rubbed the center of his brow a little tiredly. He did not go to work at once, but instead looked up to the familiar ceiling over his head.

“And at least, you did accompany Master in his earlier battles,” he muttered to himself, “while I was not with him more than a few times.”

“But so what? I don’t find that regretful, nor would I stubbornly persist on my identity as a weapon. We are Master’s hands—his plans would be realized through us, and we should precisely be working hard in this time when he is away, to accomplish what he has entrusted us, during this moment when he depends on us to bring his plan to fruition.”

***

There was no one else who understood that man more than his own weapons.

That man who had been selfish, alone, and only ever journeying by himself was so egotistic that he would not share the faintest of tribulations with any other person.

Even in sinning, he had chosen to shoulder it all individually in the lonely reaches of a faraway dimension.

However, two beings were the exceptions to that rule. Even if he had tactlessly taken away their right to fight alongside him, that man had still passed on a part of his own responsibilities to them.

That included the responsibility of being the Head of his own house, the responsibility of being Liege, noble as well as leader…he should not have been ignoring all those responsibilities—those very vital responsibilities. However, there were other greater responsibilities that existed upon those as well: responsibilities concerning civilization, Order, as well as the very future of the Multiverse itself.

In the face of the darkness surging towards them, the warrior stood far ahead. Be that as it may, behind him, there were always things to do—things to be dealt with by others, things which he would have to share with others.

It was the responsibility of those two.

He had conveyed tasks and commands, entrusting his own mysterious plans to the divine armament siblings, even placing a part of his own future and opportunity in their hands.

If the value of a weapon was to solve problems for the wielder, there was no doubt that the weapons which could resolve every aforementioned issue would be a godly weapon, rare found even across the Multiverse.

“And that is why, sister, you should not make light of yourself.”

“Whether it is you or me, we are godly weapons that are hard to come by in the Multiverse to Master.”

With that musing, the black-haired youth lowered his head and went to work.

Meanwhile, faraway and on the other side of the Void, the silver-haired girl also looked forward with a firm gaze as she began her own long journey.

They were weapons belonging to Joshua van Radcliffe. Even if they appeared insignificant, they would cut down any lurking threat and resolve the worries of the man himself.

“This has been the second year since Master has left Mycroft for the Vortex of Creation.”

***

Indeed, it had been two years after Joshua van Radcliffe had entered the Vortex of Creation.

The moment of departure was approaching.