[Vol. 9] Chapter 59: Flame Spear [World Burner]
The ice demons valued martial strength, and as one of the best among them, Veranica had always loved weapons. Naturally, her eyes first went to the massive spear covered in flame-like cloud patterns.
But even though her build was already tall and strong, the spear was still far too big to be used easily. Lying in the ice coffin, its shaft was as thick as a normal person’s thigh. It looked less like a weapon and more like a steel beam meant to hold up a house.
If you really thought about it, the spear seemed just right for the giant from the murals. The one several meters tall, called the Fire God [Faer]. Perhaps this really was the weapon that god left behind after his fall.
If that was true, then wasn’t this a divine weapon?
Even though Veranica already knew that anything placed inside the ice coffin couldn’t be ordinary, the thought still made her heart pound violently. A divine weapon was far more precious than any magic weapon, something that only existed in legends.
As far as she knew, throughout the snowy lands, the only known divine weapon was the one worshipped at the headquarters of the [Eternal Winter Temple], controlled by the line of High Priestesses. If this spear was truly one, then its value was beyond imagination!
But after her excitement, Veranica began to worry.
Even if she could use it, how was she supposed to take away something this huge? After all, she was just a prisoner on Icefang Island. Here, it was already hard enough to fill her stomach, let alone have access to high-level storage items or other advanced magical equipment. She couldn’t just carry this giant thing around on her back, could she?
Testing it, she lightly touched the fiery red patterns on the spear’s body. She only meant to check its weight to see if it was possible to take with her, but—
The very instant her palm made contact, a sudden, indescribable tremor rushed through her, like being struck by lightning. Her whole body shuddered!
“Ugh…!”
In that moment, countless broken, scattered images seemed to flash into her mind, as if they were being passed to her directly from the spear. The stabbing pain was so sharp it made her groan unconsciously. Yet, she still clutched the weapon’s grip tightly and refused to let go.
She didn’t even know why she was doing this. Maybe it was that same strange intuition guiding her again, telling her that if she let go now, she would lose something extremely important.
Fortunately, the strange effect faded as quickly as it came. In just a few moments, the flashes disappeared, leaving only the strong sense that she had formed a deep connection with the weapon. The fiery red spear responded as well. Before her eyes, it began to shrink on its own, until it became a size and length that fit her perfectly.
“It can do this…?”
The captain grabbed the spear in surprise. Its weight felt just right, smooth and natural, almost like an extension of her own body.
She spun it in place with a few neat movements, and then, with just a thought, red light flared. The spear instantly turned into a streak of crimson energy that flowed into her body and vanished. On her right wrist, where her hand had been gripping the weapon, a beautiful crimson flame-shaped tattoo appeared.
In that instant, Veranica felt her mind connect fully with it. A clear name appeared in her heart, as if the spirit of the spear whispered it to her.
[World Burner]
“What a powerful name… what strong spirit… this really is a divine weapon?”
She muttered in awe. Warmth flowed out from the flame tattoo of [World Burner], spreading through her body. It cleared away the damage caused by the clash of fire poison and ice poison earlier. The warmth circled through her again and again, making her whole body feel more alive, more agile, more powerful.
The benefits of having a divine weapon… could not be described in mere words.
Feeling the mental connection formed at the edge of her consciousness, along with the flood of complicated information about this weapon, Veranica was thrilled, but also a little puzzled.
She had never actually seen a divine weapon before, but she had at least heard some old myths. Things like gaining great benefits, being able to change size, or hiding inside the wielder’s body, those were easy to understand. But normally, didn’t divine weapons require some kind of special process to recognize their master? Like the so-called “drip blood to claim ownership”?
Wasn’t this too simple, just picking it up and that was it? And what was that stabbing pain and those strange visions she had just experienced?
Could it have been something the great god Sinong had prepared in advance?
Veranica couldn’t figure it out, and the inscription inscription hadn’t mentioned anything like this. The divine weapon didn’t suddenly produce some spirit to explain either, unlike in storybooks.
After trying a few times to summon and recall the spear, and becoming more familiar with the feeling, she could only put aside her doubts for now and turn her attention to the other items inside the ice coffin.
Honestly, just obtaining the divine weapon [World Burner] was already more than enough. As the saying goes, “too much is as bad as too little.” Veranica wasn’t greedy enough to think she should take everything at once.
Besides, neither the strange blank book nor the odd crystal gave her the same sense of closeness the spear had. On the contrary, both gave off a faint sense of danger. If possible, the ice demon girl really didn’t want to touch them carelessly.
Especially that thick book with no title on the cover. The aura it gave off made Veranica feel deeply uneasy. It was as if it didn’t belong here at all, like it should never have existed in this place.
But since these were things left behind by the great god Sinong, and the inscription had mentioned them, she couldn’t just ignore them. After a short hesitation, Veranica still reached out her hand, intending to at least take a closer look at the book.
However—
“Snap.”
Just before her fingertips could touch the book, a slender, pale hand suddenly appeared out of nowhere at her side, firmly stopping her movement!
“!?”
Veranica was shocked, she had never expected another person to be here in such a hidden place. But years of fighting between life and death had trained her reactions far beyond normal. Her body moved faster than her mind. The moment her wrist was grabbed, she swung her elbow straight toward the other’s face without thinking, her strike carrying unstoppable force!
This attack was not only fast and fierce, but it also carried the faint insights she had just gained from the divine weapon [World Burner]. As her arm cut through the air, flames roared around her strike, producing a sharp sonic boom. This was without a doubt the strongest attack she had ever unleashed in her life!
“Not bad strength… but you’re still lacking a bit of finesse.”
With this calm comment, the person who had suddenly appeared simply raised her hand and lightly waved it. A cold wind swept through like a gentle breeze, yet it effortlessly diverted Veranica’s seemingly unstoppable strike to the side.
Stunned, Veranica looked up, and saw flowing ribbons drifting like snowflakes, beautiful and dazzling. When her vision cleared, a girl as pure and ethereal as snow itself was standing gracefully beside her.
“Of course, you don’t need to belittle yourself. If this were earlier, it wouldn’t have been so easy for me to block that strike.”
“You…?”