2062 Sacrificial Blade


    [Flame Conduit] was perhaps one of the most straightforward enchantments of the Blessing, as well as one of the most consistently impactful. Although other traits of the soul sword were more astounding, Sunny was secretly proud of this one the most.


    It had two functions. One allowed the Blessing to serve as a fulcrum for Neph''s flames, channeling them in a more compressed and focused manner. In other words, she could use the Blessing to control fire more easily or produce jets of flame — rays of light, maybe — that were narrow and sharp enough to slice apart the most durable of tangible objects.


    This was especially useful because these rays had much greater length and reach than the blade of the sword itself. Since Sunny and Nephis often faced enemies of a much greater size than their own, such an ability was exceedingly convenient to possess on the battlefield.


    The second function was more subtle, but had been infinitely more difficult to weave into existence. It drew upon the nature of the blessed alloy and the innate affinity of the soul sword to Neph''s soul flame, increasing the efficiency of her Dormant Ability when applied to the Blessing.


    Simply put, it made the result of augmenting the silver longsword greater without affecting the potency of the Ability itself. The increase was not too drastic, perhaps adding a few tenths to the overall strength of enhancement... for now, at least. Sunny hoped that as the Blessing grew more powerful, this function of the [Flame Conduit] would evolve further, as well.


    Needless to say, such an enhancement was a real boon, especially because it did not demand an additional cost to be paid. Even though it did not double the efficacy of the soul flame augmentation, it still increased it by a considerable amount... and if Nephis poured more of her flame onto the soul sword, the effects would only mount.


    Sunny was quite satisfied with himself greatly for achieving this feat. That pattern of the overall spellweave had been incredibly intricate and complicated, having demanded a similarly stunning amount of effort to design.


    The [Purifying Light], in comparison... was not something he could take full credit for. It was another enchantment that differed from his original design.


    The soul sword would grow stronger and more deadly when wielded against creatures who had succumbed to Corruption, as if its light was antithetical to the appalling darkness dwelling within their souls. Purifying it... in a quite final manner.


    That went well with the essence of her Transcendent Battle Art, of course, and would be useful against enemies capable of wounding and destroying the souls of living beings.


    But fundamentally, the [Blessing of the Fire] was aimed at something else.


    It was aimed at Nephis herself, and her ability to burn her soul in order to ignite with incredible power. Like she had done in Twilight, and while escaping from the clutches of Condemnation as well. Neph''s self—sacrificial act of igniting her soul was a form of dealing direct damage to it, too.


    So, if she ever had to mutilate her own soul severely — meaning that she had faced a truly overwhelming enemy — the sword would become exponentially more powerful the worse the state of her soul became. If she sacrificed one soul core... two, three, six of them... it would grow stronger and stronger, until its power reached a limit that even Sunny was afraid to imagine.


    And that was it, the sword he had created.


    A beautiful sword.


    A deadly sword...


    And would cut down the Sovereigns much sooner.


    Sunny sighed.


    It was worth the effort.