CH-69 : Siegsesta, the Sword of Intent

 Chapter 69.1

After performing meaningful self-study all day I took Ray to my treasure vault hidden in the underground dungeon of Deruzogedo after school ended.

Ray was looking around in astonishment after seeing the sheer amount of magic tools and weapons.

"All these yours Arnos?"

"I collected them all 2000 years ago."

"Hou. The story of you being the demon king of tyranny is gradually starting to feel more real."

Ray's voice is definitely distracted as he talks to me while looking around.

To this man, the demon swords in front of him are far more important than the demon king of tyranny from 2000 years ago.

"Choose whatever you like."

Ray starts looking at the demon swords one by one.

All these swords are excellent articles from the age of myths but its hard to say if any of them are as good as Initeio to him.

Initeio is a good demon sword but it's not very powerful. Even though it can slash magic formulas it doesn't mean it can negate all magic. The user must use their own ability to cut the magic.

One example would be if you shot a mass of magic attacks and the user couldn't cut them all. Or the time when Misa used Initeio and was unable to cut the complicated formula of Demon Ice Demon Fire Rivalry Wave ｢Jie Gureido｣. You could also just fire a wave of pure magic with no formula which would be very hard to cut with Initeio.

Even though it can cut through anti-magic, barriers and formulas its pretty mediocre as a sword due to its power being greatly dependent on its user. In the hands of Ray, it becomes a fearsome demon sword that can defeat both offensive and defensive magics. The slashing of all its opponents magic at the sword tournament was due to Ray's skill.

Initeio was a good matchup for Ray due to him not being very good at magic but good with a sword.

"Nn…?"

Ray stopped and turned his eyes to the corner of the vault.

"Can I try that one?"

"Aah."

Ray draws a demon sword from its sheath. The sword's body is a silver so beautiful its enough to fascinate the eye.

"Nice."

Fumu. Has that one attracted your eye? It's quite a strange one.

"Unique sword Sigshesta. It's a very troublesome demon sword."

So Ray can try it out I create a statue in front of him using ｢Ibis｣.

"Try to cut it."

Ray steps in front of the statue and swings Sigshesta down faster than the eye can follow.

"…Fuuu…!!"

The sword passes through the statue cleanly but nothing happens. It's fully intact.

"Oh."

Ray smiles at the sword with interest.

"Sigshesta's blade changes for the demon using it but it's a tricky sword to use. If you don't focus your mind and heart completely it won't cut anything."

Even one stray thought or idle idea and the sword won't show its full potential. Sigshesta only turns into a demon sword when your mind, body and soul are concentrating on one thing and that's easier said than done. That's not something that can be easily achieved.

Not to mention such single-mindedness on the battlefield will get you killed right away. To make matters worse, preparing wholly for your opponent's attack doesn't mean the sword will acknowledge it as single-minded dedication.

"Can you use it Arnos?"

"I can, but in my case I just force it to obey me. As far as I know, only one person has ever been able to truly master Sigshesta."

"I'd love to fight that a person. Is that demon sword user still around Arnos?"

I laughed.

"No. He said he wanted to reincarnate. He gave me that magic sword to put here."

Sigshesta is the demon sword my right-hand man Shin used 2000 years ago.

"If it's you though, you might be able to use that sword."

"Why?"

"Because you resemble that fellow a lot."

Ray smiles his refreshing smile

"Am I that reincarnated person?"

"I don't know yet. Are you aware of anything from back then?"

Ray thinks about it while staring at the sword.

"I feel like I've lived in another age apart from this one but I don't have any memory of it."

I see.

"If you master that sword you might remember something."

"Why's that?"

"A unique sword changes with its owner but the spirit of a previous owner can reside in the blade. If you were that previous owner you should be able to sync with the thoughts left in the blade."