Gear Up!!

What she said made sense and stemmed from experience. This was the benefit of having an expert. It was like a walking cheat, and that expert was also your lover! I couldn't hope for the situation to be better than this.

"Okay, let me browse to find the right weapon." My eyes became distant as my consciousness fell on Guide.

After some time, I retracted my focus to Airi and said, "I found a suitable weapon. It's called a Tailblade, made from titanite and silver. It gives me +7 attack, though I think that only applies to All-Craft monsters. I don't know how sharp it is to real life creatures though."

"You can test it out by killing some criminals," she casually suggested. To her, killing people was no different than squashing cockroaches. Those long years of becoming the last boss affect her mentality.

"No, I'll pass on that." I politely refused and began to craft the weapon, luckily, I had some silver left. Thus, Tailblade was born.

It had a standard look. Black hilt with a white blade like snow. So pure and clean it was reflecting my face like a mirror. The color was a complete opposite to Zero's black katana.

I swing it around as a test. It felt comfortable like it was tailored for me. The weight felt perfect and when I swung it, it felt like a part of my hand. I also noticed a faint connection with it...

Don't get me wrong, Zero's black katana is also great. I also sense connection with it, but it belonged to Zero in the first place. It made me hesitant to connect with it more. However, this sword...

My lips curved up and I nodded, satisfied, "This sword is great!"

[Its sharpness is almost on the same level as my katana, Ryuta.] Zero's voice rang in my head. He was a swordmaster. He held many swords in his lifetime. He knew how sharp a blade was from a glance.

"Truly? I don't have to worry about facing enemies, then." I looked at the sword with confidence. I'm aware of how sharp his blade was. Steel is no different from cutting butter. A tree is no less. It feels like I can cut anything.

"Does your ability grant you an item that can enhance a weapon?" Asked Airi.

I checked the Guide and nodded as I found it, "Yes, it does. It's called Recalibration. To make it, I will need four Aurorium, three Celestium blocks and one Aqua Quart.

"Damn, these materials aren't easy to find. Aqua Quart aside where I can find it in the deep ocean sea bed, Celestium blocks only existed in Zaham at its highest temperature. I'm not worried about the temperature, but the monsters lurking." I informed them and reaching the end of my words, my tone filled with a bit of hopelessness.

"Let's put aside enhancing them and instead focus on something else. We can make it after we know more about what Jahil is trying to do with the Demonic Sect. I can't help but think he's planning something big," she said, slightly restless and anxious.

Knowing that she used to stand at the peak of humanity as its enemy and still restless thinking about Jahil. This proved how much of a threat Jahil was.

This line of thought flashed through my head and the gravity of the situation became clear all of a sudden.

"Let's hurry up then." I destroyed the furnace and Crafting Star. I checked my inventory to see what I had gained so I'd know what things I could craft. Though, the materials I had were quite random and I doubt I could craft anything with it.

As I was looking, I noticed the Brain Jelly sitting in the corner of my inventory. What a nuisance, let me remove it.

Just as I was about to, I noticed a tap on my shoulder and I lost my footing as I floated. I retracted my attention to reality.

"Ryuta, go!" Airi yelled urgently without a warning. I looked at her and wanted to ask what's going on. At this moment, she stood before me, protecting me with her right arm spread. I didn't need to ask as the answer lies before us

A humanoid figure covered in all black. It had no facial features as it akin to a mannequin. It stood still with its featureless face 'looking' at us.

I sensed an incredibly thick evil coming out of him, coupled with a sinister feeling crawling on my back and an intense smell of blood lingering in the air.

"Must die." It said, pointing its finger at me. This prompt Airi to aim her hand at it and a red magic circle took form below its feet. It looked down, confused at the strange circle.

Just before it could think, a large mouth came out of the circle and closed its mouth with the mannequin. I looked at it, thinking it wasn't over when I heard a pained groan from her.

Boom!

The mouth exploded into bits! The magic circle turned into fragments like a mirror being crushed into a million pieces!

Next, it disappeared and materialized behind me! My eyes enlarged in surprise. A dreadful feeling loomed. I quickly turned my body around and blocked its attack.

I didn't know where it would hit, yet I vaguely knew it aimed for my neck. So I blocked that spot with the sword.

Sparks flew everywhere. I managed to block it. However, the impact caused my body to fly and crashed into the wall. Blocks were flown everywhere as a result. I coughed out blood and checked my health bar. One heart left!

My heart sank in despair. A single attack reduced my health bar to only one heart! If I didn't wear any armor, I'd die! I'm grateful that I'm still alive, even though it last short time.

My consciousness faded and exhaustion washed over me. I tried my best to keep my eyes open, yet futile. I descend into deep darkness and fell unconscious. The blocky cave became normal all of a sudden.

Meanwhile, Airi engaged in an intense fight with it as she cast innumerable spells towards him.

Lightning, fire, ice, every element that existed on earth came out of her magic circles, bombarding it. The thing avoided her attacks. However, the incoming attacks were incredibly fast and it couldn't dodge all of them.

Once it got hit, its movement slowed down and was immediately struck by innumerable elemental attacks.

Airi didn't stop as she prepared another attack. She opened her mouth and a black ball materialized out of the thin air, absorbing the energy around it. As more energy was consumed, the black ball slowly turned into a ball of light.

She hadn't finished and needed more time. Just to be safe, she needed that thing to stay still. Therefore, she aimed her palm at the creature and shot out a purplish energy ball, the size of a kiwi.

Due to bombardment of thousands of elemental spells with different debuff effects, it couldn't move. The purple ball hit it. The black mannequin stopped moving as though paralyzed.

"Turn to ashes." Her words echoed in the underground as the ball of light descended to the ground. She looked back at Ryuta and cast a protective spell.

An inch away from the ground, it burst into light. The initial flash of blinding light illuminated every crevice, casting eerie shadows against the rocky walls. The intense heat instantly vaporized any nearby objects, leaving behind charred remnants and scorch marks etched into the stone.

As the shockwave teared through the cramped space, it created a violent whirlwind of debris, sending rocks and dust hurtling in all directions. The force of the blast causes the cave walls to tremble and quake, threatening to collapse inward at any moment. The air becomes thick with smoke and ash, choking those unfortunate enough to be caught within its grasp.

The detonation unleashes a wave of unimaginable destruction, tearing apart the very fabric of the cave and reshaping its once familiar features into a twisted landscape of devastation. The cacophony of destruction echoes off the walls, drowning out all other sound as it reverberates through the depths of the earth.

Amidst the chaos, a haunting silence descends, punctuated only by the occasional drip of water and the settling of rubble.

The aftermath reveals a scene of desolation, with the cave's interior now a charred and fractured shell of its former self.

The once serene sanctuary of stone has been forever transformed into a grim reminder of the awesome power of nuclear weaponry.

The dust gradually faded away, revealing two people inside a blue barrier with cracks evident. Not far from them, the black mannequin stood strong.

Airi walked out of the barrier and her palm crackled with lightning. That wasn't the end as her claws became sharp and she imbued vague concepts of death in it. She slowly walked in its way.

Behind her, the cracks on the blue barrier recovered.

"Why did you protect him?" It asked, almost monotone. She halted her steps when she noticed its life force fade away slowly. The mannequin has little time left.

"Because I loved him. Now, why do you want him dead? Who do you work for?" She asked coldly.