When I Tried Strengthening 【Rusted Sword】, It Evolved Into An Overpowered Magic Sword

Chapter 48 My sacred treasure

Name: Rusted Sword

Rank: F

Level: 10

Attack Power: 10

Benefits: Strength +0, Endurance +0, Agility +0, Magic +0, Vitality +0

Skill: [Evolution]

Durability: 0/20

Complete loss of durability resulting in artifact destruction.

My [Rusted Sword] had completely lost its effectiveness as an artifact.

Why is my [Rusted Sword] broken?

I haven’t done anything…

“――!”

Recalling a moment from earlier, I suddenly realized.

Just a while ago, I felt a sharp pain in my back.

Then I was blown away, rolling onto the pile of stolen goods.

It must have been the “big club” that the demon was wielding, which struck my back.

“…That must be when.”

I looked at my [Rusted Sword], now broken in half, and gritted my teeth in frustration.

The [Rusted Sword] I had sheathed on my back acted as a shield and was destroyed in the process.

Thanks to that, I wasn’t knocked out in one hit, but the [Rusted Sword] was shattered inside its sheath.

I can’t fight anymore with this.

A destroyed artifact loses its divine power and benefits, rendering its skills and magic unusable.

I can’t evolve it into my trump card, the [Cursed Magic Sword].

At this rate…

While I was secretly clenching my molars, the green demon had somehow appeared in front of me.

“Ugh――”

I let out a sound that was more of a groan than a scream in shock.

I tried to retreat, putting strength into my legs, but the demon’s grip came faster.

It grabbed my collar and slammed me roughly into the ground.

Feeling a sharp pain in my back again, I let out a soundless cry, and then it stomped on my stomach.

It must be receiving immense benefits from the club artifact. With tremendous force, I was pinned to the ground.

“Ah… ugh…!”

“All the stuff those little brats gathered is my collection. Every single thing those damn humans have belongs to me. So don’t go touching my things without permission.”

Seeing the veins bulging on its forehead, it was clear that it was driven by rage. It must have been extremely upset about its stolen goods being disturbed. But I, fueled by my own anger, somehow managed to retort.

“It’s not… yours!”

“Huh?”

“Don’t act like everything you forcibly take from others… is yours…”

This creature was nothing but a thief. None of the items here were truly its own. Yet, it brazenly claimed ownership over everything it had stolen. Among those items, there must have been things that were precious to their original owners.

“Hah! Then they should have held onto them tighter. If they could be taken by my brats, they weren’t that important to begin with. Be it tools, artifacts, or even human ‘lives.'”

“…?”

Human lives? Hearing that, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of confusion. What was it talking about…?

“Sometimes, those brats bring back ‘human kids.’ I make sure to claim them as my own too. Well, they’re so noisy with all their crying that I usually kill them right away.”

“――!”

Human… children? They kidnap children and claim them as their own? And then kill them? These innocent children? Deciding that something isn’t important just because it can be taken…

As my quiet, burning rage grew, the creature added fuel to the fire.

“Hey, did you know? When you crush a human kid, it makes the most hilarious sound! Like smashing a bag full of water onto the ground…”

“Shut… up…”

“Those crying kids make the best sound when they go ‘splat!’ It’s absolutely hilarious! You’d definitely laugh if you heard it! ‘Cry-splat!’…”

“Shut up!!!”

I screamed. Forgetting the pain in my back and stomach, I let my anger explode inside my head.

“What do you think a human life is? Don’t treat it so lightly like an object! I will never forgive you!”

I yelled angrily as I grasped the creature’s foot that was pressing into my stomach with my left hand. The demon barely acknowledged my resistance, responding with a thoroughly bored expression.

“And what are you going to do about it? What could a weakling like you possibly do?”

“…!”

“And I’ve told you over and over. Everything the little brats steal becomes my ‘property.’ Since it’s mine, I can do whatever I want with it.”

“What… did you say…?”

“No need to panic. I’ll do the same to you now. It makes a really funny sound, so listen closely. Well, not that you’ll hear it after you’re dead.”

With that, the demon raised its massive club. The club swung high above my head with a terrifying whoosh. If it hit me now, I’d be smashed beyond recognition, just a stain on the cave floor.

Am I going to be killed by this creature… this monster that treats human lives, children’s lives, so carelessly…?

Looking up at the green demon while it stomped on me, I saw it smirk, mocking me.

“Die, you idiot.”

“…!”

The club descended like a boulder. As the demon pinned me down, I struggled to shake off its foot, but it was futile. I couldn’t escape in time. As the club rushed towards me, I faced my imminent death.

…However, at that moment.

“Yah!”

A flying kick slammed into the demon’s face.

“Gah!”

The green demon, struck squarely in the face, was sent flying into the pile of stolen goods, just like what had happened to me earlier. It crashed headfirst into the pile with a tremendous noise.

I stared at the scene in a daze. Am I… saved?

The person who delivered the flying kick to the demon called out to me in an oddly cheerful voice, snapping me back to reality.

“Hey, hey, Rust, I’m glad I made it in time.”

“G-Gem…?”

I finally realized that the person in front of me was Gem, the kind-hearted, tomboyish woman. Why was she here?

“I heard a really loud noise and couldn’t help but follow it. Then I saw you being attacked and was shocked. Oh, and don’t worry about Dia; she said she’d be fine on her own.”

“I-I see…”

Gem explained quickly. Was it the sound from when I was blown away earlier? Or the noise from when the pile of stolen goods collapsed? Either way, Gem heard it and came here. I was saved just in time. I couldn’t be more grateful.

As the demon who was blown away stood up from the pile of stolen goods, it glared at Gem with its yellow eyes.

“What’s with all these intruders coming into my room one after another?!”

“Oh, I guess that didn’t hurt at all. Well, yeah, without a divine weapon, you can’t damage demon armor.”

Even though her flying kick seemed incredibly powerful, it couldn’t harm a demon without a divine weapon. Realizing we were still in a dire situation, I managed to sit up and kneel on the ground. I considered our options. Should we try to escape? But could we really outrun the demon? And we couldn’t just leave it here. But I didn’t have the strength left to fight.

What should we do…?

While I was pondering, Gem suddenly looked at my feet and broke into a bright smile.

“Ah, that’s my divine weapon…!”

“Huh?”

Following her gaze to the ground, I saw the two long swords that had fallen earlier. Golden and silver, shining brilliantly. When I was hit and blown away by the demon, I had held onto them until the last moment, so they ended up here too.

Gem looked at the two long swords with sparkling eyes, like a pure-hearted child. So these were indeed Gem’s divine weapons. Thank goodness.

“You found them for me! Thank you!”

“Somehow, yeah. But which one is yours…?”

As I spoke, I picked up the two long swords at my feet and held them out to Gem. Not knowing which one was hers, I handed both over. Wondering which one was her divine weapon…

“I told you not to touch my stuff!!!”

The green demon, who had been watching our brief exchange, leaped towards us with a roar. It sprinted, scattering the stolen goods, wielding its bloodied club high above its head. Faced with this terrifying sight, I instinctively tensed up, but Gem remained composed, showing no sign of concern.

She reached out for the longswords.

In front of me, silently pondering which to take, Gem grabbed both divine weapons with both hands.

“Huh…?”

To my bewildered eyes…

Was this her response to the demon? Or perhaps an answer to my question?

While staring down the charging demon, Gem readied the two swords and declared:

“Both of these… are my divine weapons!”

In that moment, Gem disappeared from my view. Simultaneously, the demon’s triumphant yell abruptly ceased. When I realized it, Gem stood behind the demon, poised with the swords. The demon bore an “X” shaped gash across his body.

“W-What…?!”

The demon stared wide-eyed in astonishment, then slowly collapsed to the ground. Without a scream, it dissolved into particles of light, vanishing in an instant.

A temporary silence settled over the once chaotic warehouse of stolen goods. The only thing left behind was his large club, presumed to be its divine weapon.

“…”

Witnessing this fleeting event, I couldn’t close my gaping eyes. Speechless and breathless, I stared fixedly at Gem, who wielded the two divine weapons.

I knew it myself. I was deeply confused right now.

Gem had undeniably defeated the demon with two divine weapons. It was something that defied all common sense.

Fundamentally, each person could possess only one divine weapon. More accurately, the “Rite of Blessing” could only be received once, strictly limiting it to one weapon per person.

Among divine weapons, there were pairs that functioned as one, such as gauntlets or boots, always connected by a cord or similar means, sharing properties and abilities.

Yet, Gem’s two longswords were completely independent divine weapons. I had seen it clearly. Each one had its own distinct properties and abilities—names, ranks, levels, attack powers, magic, skills, and even “blessings.”

For each of these two divine weapons to harbor their own blessings meant that Gem contained the power of two potent divine weapons within herself.

If I were to describe her in one word, she would truly be an “extraordinary human.”

“Uh… so…”

Thus, I struggled to grasp that reality.

Yet deep down, I secretly found myself beginning to understand.

Gem had been chosen as a “hero” in the Gray village due to her receiving powerful divine weapons. I had heard she was sent on a journey to defeat demons, but I harbored slight suspicions about it. In this day and age, would they really send a young girl on a demon-slaying quest just because she received strong divine weapons? Could there be some other reason? These thoughts nagged at me. However, if Gem truly was an exceptional “dual-wield swordsman,” possessing two powerful divine weapons, perceptions would inevitably change. People around must have thought that someone who received the blessings of two potent divine weapons could surely defeat any demon.

Even before that, having received two divine weapons, she might be seen as someone “tasked with a special mission,” which wouldn’t be surprising.

Another thing that I understood was Gem’s incredible, almost superhuman “moves.”

When she delivered a flying kick to the demon, the attack was so powerful it didn’t seem like a normal human’s strike. Her final blow was executed with an astonishing speed that was nearly impossible to follow with the eyes.

It was beyond ordinary.

Even with the significant blessings from divine weapons, she was in a state of half-equipment error at that time, so the blessings were not even complete.

Therefore, it was natural for me to feel uneasy. How could she achieve such movements in a state of half-equipment error?

However, if she carried the blessings of two divine weapons within her, it would make perfect sense for her to wield immense power, even in a state of half-equipment error.

Yes, it was as if she had recreated the “high-blessing super combat” that I had envisioned in my mind.

She had reached the realm I was aiming for… the ideal extreme.

“Haa~! I’m so glad I found them safely~! I promise not to lose them again~!”

Unaware of my astonishment, Gem affectionately rubbed her cheeks against the two longswords.

Eventually, she noticed my gaze and turned to me with wide eyes.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Rust-kun?”

“Um, well… Gem-san, do you really have two divine weapons?”

A question at this point might seem belated.

I might be asked what I had been seeing all this time.

Yet, I couldn’t help but ask.

Until I heard the truth directly from her lips, I couldn’t bring myself to accept the reality before me.

After all, I had never heard of such a person existing in the past, nor had any hero’s tale depicted such a thing…

“Yep, that’s right. The Sun Sword and the Moonlight Sword. Both of them are my divine weapons.”

“…”

Gem-san admitted it calmly.

That she was the person who had received two divine weapons.

That she might be the first in history to be known as a “dual-wielding swordsman.”

That she embodied the ideal, the goal of mastering powerful divine weapons.

…No, wait, hold on.

Before anything else, there was something I had to tell Gem-san. Or rather, something I had to caution her about.

Just as I was thinking about it, it seemed she realized it herself. Gem-san tilted her head slightly, a nervous sweat and wry smile appearing.

“Oh, uh… Did I forget to mention that?”

“You didn’t mention it at all!”

Why didn’t she say such an essential thing first!

When searching for divine weapons, isn’t it necessary to tell me about that beforehand!

She could have mentioned it when I asked what kind of divine weapons they were!

But despite my exasperation at her continued absent-mindedness, having seen plenty of Gem-san’s natural and tomboyish behavior up to now, I couldn’t help but think, “Well, it can’t be helped.”

This was who she was. This was Gem Alexand.

Natural, tomboyish, innocent, ignorant of the world’s ways, extraordinary in every sense—a truly exceptional girl.

And so, I convinced myself.

Above all, she had helped me in a dangerous situation and showed me something “very good.”

All’s well that ends well. Not that I’m saying everything is perfect, but I’ll refrain from saying anything more to her.

However, at least let me say this one thing.

Feeling a rush of exhaustion, I breathed heavily and said to Gem-san,

“Thank you very much, Gem-san.”

“Huh? Isn’t that my line?”

Anyway, with this, we successfully completed the quest to find the divine weapons.