Chapter 212: The Divine Sword

"Ehhhh..." Xiao Tao let out a bewildered groan at the sudden attempt to shift all the blame onto him.

"You probably don’t know this because you disappeared somewhere right after coming here, but this world is about to face a calamity that occurs once every hundred years! You and I were summoned to deal with that calamity, but you selfishly ran away on your own, and that’s why we’re in this situation! If the Hero and Saintess had been together, we might have been able to deal with this calamity properly. But there’s no way I can handle it all by myself! That’s why I’m leveling up, and this masochistic prince is acting as the Hero’s replacement, your stand-in!"

"Is the calamity you’re talking about the beast tide known as a Monster Stampede?"

"Oh? You know about it, handsome? That’s the one! And Taotao, there’s something else we need too. The Divine Sword Velikorya you took! Give it back!"

"Um, you mean... the one I was given back then...?"

"That’s exactly what I’ve been saying! Don’t tell me you lost it!"

Everyone’s eyes turned toward Warren.

Qiu Nuoya already knew that the sword was the Divine Sword Velikorya, but he had never expected its identity to be exposed like this.

"Um... You mean this?" Warren removed the sword from his belt holder and placed it on the table.

Seeing it, Shangguan Wan’er tilted her head with a slightly puzzled expression. "Why does he have it?"

"I was scared of it, so I gave it to Warren."

"What!? You gave it away? That’s the Hero’s Sword! Do you even understand what you’re saying!?"

"I-I didn’t know! Nobody told me anything!"

"That’s because you ran away without even listening to what anyone had to say!"

"I-I don’t even know why I was thrown out into the outside world! You keep saying that I ran away, but I don’t even know how it happened myself! Stop blaming me for everything!"

Xiao Tao finally seemed to have had enough and poured out everything he had been holding back. He was now breathing heavily, his shoulders rising and falling.

He certainly had his own side of the story. Shangguan Wan’er had not made even the slightest attempt to listen to him since the beginning.

"Um, the Divine Sword Velikorya has a search mission posted by the Adventurer’s Guild, right? Are you really sure this is the Divine Sword Velikorya? When Xiao Tao had it, it was a knife, but when I held it, it changed into a longsword. Is the Divine Sword Velikorya supposed to be a sword like that?"

Warren cautiously addressed Shangguan Wan’er.

"If the minister gave this to Taotao, then that’s obviously what it is! I don’t know either! Hey, Lucien, is this really the genuine sword?" Shangguan Wan’er turned toward Prince Lucien and pressed him for an answer.

"Hmm. The design does seem somewhat different from the Divine Sword Velikorya I know, but are you certain that this is the sword Minister Cassian gave to Xiao Tao?"

"It’s the only thing I obtained after coming to this world, so I’m certain! I finally thought I had gotten rid of it, so what’s this about now!? If you want it, just take it!"

With Xiao Tao speaking in near desperation, the prince reached out toward the sword.

The moment his hand approached it, the sword suddenly struck his hand away as though it had been repelled. The blade began trembling violently.

"Oh? What’s this...?"

"My, my. It seems the sword doesn’t like the prince."

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"It seems that sword chooses its wielder of its own accord. If this really is the Divine Sword Velikorya, then perhaps it chooses its Hero according to its own will. Why it chose him is a mystery, though. Even the summoned Hero does not exactly seem like the type who would make a good Hero. Perhaps this sword has its own unique criteria for what makes someone worthy of becoming a Hero."

"Wait, hold on! Does that mean I have the qualities necessary to become a Hero!?"

Warren asked Viktor eagerly, but Viktor immediately shut him down.

"It is merely the will of the sword, so I cannot say for certain."

So the Divine Sword Velikorya really is the Hero’s Sword.

Qiu Nuoya wished he had tried touching it at least once. After all, weapons with special status effects like that were incredibly cool.

"The chosen legendary Hero."

Just the sound of those words was enough to stir the childish part of Qiu Nuoya’s heart.

"Who does that sword think it is, choosing its own wielder!? Besides, I need that sword! If Lucien has been rejected by it, then I’ll use it!"

This time, Shangguan Wan’er reached toward the sword.

The reaction was far more extreme than before.

The sword fled from Shangguan Wan’er’s hand as though it were the opposite pole of a magnet. The more she reached for it, the more violently the blade shook and moved away from her.

The sight was almost comical.

"What the hell is this!? This is seriously pissing me off!"

After chasing the Divine Sword Velikorya around for a while, Shangguan Wan’er finally lost her temper.

Unfortunately, there was nothing Qiu Nuoya and the others could do about it.

"Taotao! What the hell is going on!?"

"How am I supposed to know!? You’re the one who knows more about this sword than I do!"

"Don’t get cheeky with me!" Shangguan Wan’er stepped away from the sword and reached toward Xiao Tao.

The Divine Sword Velikorya immediately reacted as though it had sensed that Xiao Tao was in danger. It darted between Shangguan Wan’er and Xiao Tao and began repeatedly smacking Shangguan Wan’er.

The attacks were hostile, but not quite murderous. The blade had not even been drawn from its sheath.

It seemed that the sword simply wanted to drive Shangguan Wan’er away from Xiao Tao.

Qiu Nuoya and the others could only stare in stunned silence as they watched the Divine Sword Velikoryabehave like this.