28 - Lumen Draconis

Shirou can be seen standing near the remains of the Crimson Spire. He's looking towards the sky in thought, wondering what the best course of action is.

If I go south, I'll have to get through the Hollow Mountains. I highly doubt that I have the means to survive through there. It is a Death Zone after all.

Shirou really had no idea what to do. There was a cliff to the east, but it was too large to scale.

So his only options were north or west.

[What do you think, Ingvild?]

She didn't answer for quite awhile.

[…I believe that the followers of the War Goddess were from the north. I'm not sure if you can get there from here though.]

Shirou looked towards the north. With his new vision, he was able to see quite far. Unfortunately, he didn't have a vantage point, but he would at least see trouble when it appears.

[It looks like we're going north.]

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After Shirou started to walk north, he decided to take this time to check his runes.

Name: Shirou

True Name: Forged In Hell

Rank: Dreamer

Class: Devil

Forge Core: [4/7]

Sword Fragments: [1643/4000].

Attributes: [Spark Of Divinity], [Master Of Swords], [Mind Of Steel], [Anomaly], [Karmic Eye], [Clairvoyance].

Memories: [Washing Pole], [Rebellion], [Shroud of Justice], [Gandiva], [Ghost Consumer], [Bountiful Bed], [Gargoyle's Blackblade], [Bubble Pendant], [Daemonic Forge], [Bottomless Box].

Echoes: —

Aspect: [Sword Incarnation]

Aspect Rank: [Divine]

Aspect Description: [You are a sword who was forged in the depths of hell and quenched with the divine blood of the War Goddess. You were the greatest creation of greatest blacksmith of them all, which makes you a sword above all the rest. All types of weapons recognize you as their master. The blacksmith created you in his own image, and left behind one simple, yet daunting task. Destroy Fate.]

Innate Ability: [Bloodstained]

Ability Description: [The blood of the War Goddess does not flow through you, as swords are not alive. When stained with the blood of the War Goddess, you are able to perform at your fullest potential.]

Aspect Abilities: [Living Sword]

Aspect Legacy: [Fleshforge]

Fleshforge Description: [The War Goddess accepted an offering of humanity from the heroic Forged In Hell. In respect of his sense of Justice, and value of life, she bestowed upon him the ability to truly become the sword itself. This was only possible due to his ability to abandon his humanity for the sake of others.]

Legacy Relics:

First Relic: [Claimed]

Second Relic: [Claimed]

Third Relic: [Locked]

Fourth Relic: [Locked]

Fifth Relic: [Locked]

Sixth Relic: [Locked]

Seventh Relic: [Locked]

As Shirou read through his runes, he realized that he shouldn't have so many sword fragments. He didn't think that there were so many Nightmare Creatures that he would become both a Devil, and get almost halfway to becoming a Tyrant. This was absolutely ludicrous!

The forming of his Forge Core only occurred after Sunny had left, which means that something had to have occurred to give him so many fragments.

Does it have to do with the Crimson Spire?

Shirou did not have any way of finding out, as the Spire had already collapsed. He decided to check something else, specifically his new attribute.

[Clairvoyance]: (Your eyes have evolved to see much farther and in more detail. With this, your prey will never escape your sight.)

It was quite useful for Shirou, who used a bow, and can shoot swords. However, it did not tell him the origin of the attribute, so he had to figure it out himself.

What happened when I got it? It was right after I became… a Devil…

Shirou froze. He must have obtained the attribute due to being a Devil. Nightmare Creatures also obtained abilities at this class, so was it the same for Divine Aspects?

No. For some reason, I don't think it's because of my Divine Aspect.

He knew that there was a reason as to why he got a new attribute. It was because he became a Devil, but he instinctually believed that this wouldn't apply to someone like Sunny.

As per usual, he had no way to test this, so he decided to keep moving forward. The last thing he needed to check was the [Shroud of Justice].

Memory Name: [Shroud of Justice]

Memory Rank: Dormant

Memory Tier: IV

Memory Type: Garment

Memory Description: ["I am the Bone of my Sword. Steel is my Body and Fire is my Blood. I have created over a Thousand Blades. Unknown to Death, Nor Known to Life. Have withstood Pain to create many Weapons. Yet, those Hands will never hold Anything. So, as I pray— Unlimited Blade Works."]

Memory Enchantments: [Dauntless Justice], [Driven by Hell], [Furnace].

[Dauntless Justice]

Enchantment Description: [For as long as the wearer holds Justice in his heart of glass, this garment shall grow alongside the wearer.]

[Driven by Hell]

Enchantment Description: [As the one who had walked through hell itself, fire does not hurt you as much when wearing this garment.]

[Furnace]

Enchantment Description: [Summon flames that can be used on their own, or enhance your Aspect.]

It seemed that the [Shroud of Justice] had received an active enchantment when he became a Devil. He immediately tried to test it out the first chance he got.

Shirou held out his hand, and with nothing but a mental command and some essence manipulation, a weak flame had appeared. It seemed to only be as strong as what would be expected from the Dormant rank.

He tried to use it to enhance [Living Sword], and he started to feel even sharper than before. It most likely increased his defensive capabilities as well.

After around a minute of testing while walking through the now empty Forbidden Shore, he learned that he can increase the quality of the weapons summoned from [Bound Blades]. If he had to guess, he could push his weapons up to the highest tiers of Awakened rank. It would only grow stronger as he ranked up as well.

The flame itself might of been quite weak, but he was sure that it would be quite powerful once he Awakened.

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After around a month of travel, Shirou had finally left the Forgotten Shore.

He was currently walking through a white landscape. There was nothing but snow and the occasional Nightmare Creature. Ingvild had to revert to human form, as she would have been frozen solid as a puddle.

Shirou stopped walking for a moment. He had seen something moving in the corner of his eye. It wasn't close. In fact, it was quite far away. Shirou wouldn't have been able to see it if it wasn't for the [Clairvoyance] attribute.

The issue was that just because it wasn't close, didn't mean it hadn't saw them. In fact, it most definitely had. Shirou saw the silhouette fly into the sky at insane speeds. It's figure was quite large as well, so Shirou was definitely worried about how powerful it could be.

As he got a clearer view, he realized how much danger they were in right now.

Is that a dragon?! Wait, that's more like a wyvern.

Indeed, Shirou was now being chased by a wyvern that was only somewhat larger than him. It's skin was mostly black, with certain parts of it being covered in purple.

After a few moments however, Shirou had calmed down.

The dragon was holding a greatsword in it's jaws.

Based on the physical capabilities of the dragon, Shirou did not think that it could be above the Fallen rank. He might end up having a whole lot of difficulty, but he certainly had a chance.

[Ingvild, set up a barrier of water around me and the dragon. Make sure to add more water if anything breaks.]

Once the dragon landed in front of him, Ingvild had started to make a dome of water surrounding them. After a few seconds, it had already started to freeze. Ingvild was able to change the temperature of water to some degree, and had accelerated the freezing process thanks to the climate.

The dragon seemed wary of what was currently happening. Shirou deduced that it might have been of the Demon or Devil rank.

…I might have gotten a bit too cocky.

The wyvern did not roar, as it would have otherwise dropped the weapon. It started to slowly circle Shirou, who had summoned the [Gargoyle's Blackblade].

The wyvern had attacked first, flying into the air slightly before diving towards Shirou. Their weapons clashed for a moment before Shirou deflected it towards the ground. The wyvern fell headfirst into the ground, and didn't move for a few moments.

…Is this a joke?

The small wyvern started to stand up. It turned towards Shirou with a look of… embarrassment? After that clash, Shirou realized that it was only of the Awakened rank.

I really overestimated it.

Shirou was planning to place the [Daemonic Forge] by using the ice dome that Ingvild had set up. This would allow him to use [Territory Creation], and increase his strength to that of an Awakened Devil.

However, it seemed that it was no longer necessary, because this small(for Nightmare Creatures) winged reptilian was only fast. It was actually quite weak for an Awakened, and although it seemed to have some intelligence, it didn't have the skill to wield that sword.

Shirou looked at the wyvern with pity. The wyvern stared back for a moment before getting enraged. It started to mindlessly rush him, swinging the sword around with the hopes of killing Shirou.

Shirou parried the first attack that reached him before stabbing the wyvern in the torso, piercing it's heart.

"Well, that's a shame. Maybe if you had grown more you might have reached your potential."

[You have defeated an Awakened Devil, Lumen Draconis.]

[You have received an Echo: Lumen Draconis.]

Shirou's eyes widened. This was the first time he had gotten an echo since his First Nightmare. It even wielded a weapon! He didn't think that he would be this lucky.

He dove into his soul sea, and summoned the runes for the echo.

Echo Name: Lumen Draconis

Echo Rank: Awakened

Echo Type: Devil

Echo Description: [Blessed by the moon itself, Lumen Draconis will search for true power, no matter the cost.]

Echo Attributes: [Dragonkin], [Moonspawn].

[Dragonkin]

Attribute Description: [You carry some of the properties of dragons in your blood. However, a wyvern such as you is created for speed.]

[Moonspawn]

Attribute Description: [When under the pale moonlight, you will achieve your fullest potential.]

Echo Abilities: [Glintstone Sorcery].

[Glintstone Sorcery]

Attribute Description: [You can create constructs using your mind as an energy source.]

Shirou did not understand why it had not used it's [Glintstone Sorcery], but he didn't dwell on it. He walked towards where the hill of swords were in his soul sea, and grasped the dark-blue greatsword, which had a strange glow.

For some reason, he did not see many memories. It only showed what had occurred recently, and a little before that. It seemed that this sword was created recently and didn't have a name. Shirou opened his runes and tried to trigger the prompt to turn his Echo into a Blade.

[Reforge Lumen Draconis into a Blade?]

"Yes."

Shirou saw as a large chain had descended from his second Forge Core. Once it had reached the greatsword, it started to slowly burn.

The reforging process had begun. However, Shirou saw a new prompt appear.

[Provide a name for this weapon.]

It seems that the weapon that the Blade wields has to be named. It needed some sort of identity to enforce it's rules upon the world.

Shirou thought for a moment, before coming up with a suitable name.

"Darkmoon Greatsword."