Imperial Throne

Chapter 171 : New Ability of the Demonic Sword

Chapter 171: New Ability of the Demonic Sword

Arka’s expression revealed a hint of surprise. “Really? In the Bourbon Secret Vault, there was really another component?”

But unlike Arka’s delight, Ion and Yam’s expressions looked slightly unpleasant.

They knew Cindy could resonate with the Demonic Sword, and that there should be some connection between them. However, they never expected the connection to be this deep: when Yam returned with the sword component, Cindy had already confirmed it through the Demonic Sword.

Seeing Yam’s expression darken, Arka also realized something was wrong and couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.” Yam looked at his daughter with a complicated expression, then took out the Sword Guard he carried and placed it on the table. “I’m just surprised that Cindy’s resonance with the Demonic Sword is so strong. Even without holding it, she could already sense it.”

Cindy didn’t realize the deeper meaning behind Yam’s words and instead spoke with a sense of pride, “Because I am the sword-bearer! As long as the Demonic Sword isn’t too far from me, I can sense its location and emotions.”

“Emotions?” Ion keenly caught a key word.

“Mm.” Cindy nodded, her face showing a trace of slight confusion. “I’ve only recently started feeling this. It’s vague, but if someone nearby has a strong emotional reaction, I can sense it… Just now, Aches oppa seemed a bit sad.”

Everyone couldn’t help but turn their gaze toward Aches, which made him feel a bit awkward.

“Last night, I felt a very strong desire and excitement from the Demonic Sword. I asked it what was going on, and it said there was a new component.”

At that moment, Ion recalled that after Yam returned, Cindy had indeed disappeared for a while. Back then, they were all busy entertaining Dean, so they hadn’t paid much attention. After all, within the Lord’s Manor, it wasn’t as if Cindy could really vanish. Only now did he realize that during that time, Cindy must have come to the study to communicate with the Demonic Sword.

“What else did the Demonic Sword say?”

“Nothing.” Cindy shook her head.

“Perhaps it’s not a bad thing.” Ion gently patted Yam’s shoulder. “In the past, whenever the Demonic Sword sensed a component, it would react very strongly. But this time, it didn’t. Only Cindy noticed… Yesterday, that Knight Commander of the Kasein Family was also here. If there had been a commotion, did you consider what consequences that might have caused?”

“I was overthinking it.”

Yam took a deep breath. He glanced at Arka, then at Aches and Liam, and ultimately said nothing more.

Cindy was his daughter, but if he became overly worried just because she was his daughter and wanted to shield her from all danger, then what right did he have to ask Aches to accept the marriage alliance arranged by Marquis Visen? Even Arka understood that in order to seek benefits for Liam, he had to make certain sacrifices. As the patriarch of the Soderbell Family, if he acted so selfishly, how could he convince others to follow him?

Yam handed the Sword Guard on the table to Cindy and also passed along the pair of red gems he had been keeping.

Realizing what was about to happen, Cindy’s face couldn’t hide her excited delight.

“Are you ready?”

“Ready!” Cindy tried hard to put on a serious and solemn expression, but the excitement in her eyes was hard to conceal.

Yam nodded, then turned to take the Demonic Sword down from the rack and placed it on the table before unwrapping the white linen cloth.

Cindy carefully moved the Sword Guard in her hand closer to the Demonic Sword.

In the next moment, a powerful suction force suddenly emanated from the Demonic Sword. Before Cindy could even react, the Sword Guard and the two red gems in her hands immediately turned into three streams of light and shot toward the Demonic Sword.

In the following instant, a burst of bright light exploded within the room.

Yam and the others were momentarily blinded by the brilliance and had to close their eyes quickly to relieve the stinging pain caused by the intense light.

No one knew how much time had passed.

When the light gradually dimmed, everyone cautiously opened their eyes.

All eyes instinctively turned toward the Demonic Sword’s position.

What they saw was that the Demonic Sword lying on the table no longer looked the same as before.

Now presented before them, the Demonic Sword’s hue remained as abyssal black as always, but between the sword hilt and blade, a new Sword Guard handguard had appeared. Each side of the Sword Guard was adorned with a circular red gem; the blood groove at the center of the blade now had a distinctly visible red-lined pattern; the Counterweight Ball at the end of the hilt had also turned silver-white, contrasting sharply with the black hilt.

If previously, the Demonic Sword looked like an unremarkable black iron rod—

Now, the Demonic Sword had become refined and elegant in design, its shape more reminiscent of a cross longsword.

Yam reached out and lifted it.

Then he was stunned to discover that the Demonic Sword was significantly lighter than before, and the sense of balance when holding it was vastly improved, making it much easier to wield.

“How is it?” Arka and Ion asked.

“Judging purely by feel, this sword seems to have become easier to use,” Yam said in a deep voice. “Even though it’s a two-handed sword, there’s no awkwardness even when I hold it with one hand. Previously, I had to adapt to it, but now it feels like that’s no longer necessary.”

Yam placed the longsword back on the table and then moved the sword hilt in front of Cindy.

“See what new abilities the sword has gained.”

Cindy nodded and placed her small hand on the sword hilt.

After a while, a look of shock appeared on Cindy’s delicate little face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did something go wrong?”

Yam and Arka hurriedly asked.

“The number of Purification uses has increased to twenty-six!”

Twenty-six!

Yam and Arka exchanged glances.

Each of them had used two Purification charges, totaling four uses. If the Demonic Sword now still had twenty-six uses left, that meant it originally had thirty Purification charges!

“Also, the Purification effect now works on Fifth-Tier magical beasts.”

“Fifth-Tier?!” Ion, who had remained calm until now, couldn’t help but grow excited. “Are you sure it’s Fifth-Tier?”

“Yes.” Cindy nodded. “The Demonic Sword told me it can now affect anything below Fifth-Tier.”

Fifth-Tier!

Yam instantly realized the tremendous value this implied.

If awakening began at Second-Tier, then the Soderbell Family could produce seven Fifth-Tier Bloodline Users.

And if it began at First-Tier, then they could produce six Fifth-Tier Bloodline Users.

This was nearly equivalent to announcing that, given enough time, the rise of the Soderbell Family was unstoppable!

Though it hadn’t reached the Sixth-Tier bloodline required to obtain the title of Count or Marquis, if they could possess six to seven Fifth-Tier Bloodline Users, even a Sixth-Tier bloodline holder might not dare to casually provoke the Soderbell Family.

“Is there more?” Ion asked again, doing his best to keep his breathing steady.

“There are two new abilities.” Cindy nodded. “One is Repose, the other is Blood Seed.”

“What are their effects?”

“For Repose, the effect is that as long as someone sheds a certain amount of blood, they can leave a mark on the Demonic Sword. If that marked person dies, the sword will sense it and allow us to locate the deceased, similar to how it senses sword components.”

Upon hearing this, Ion, Yam, and Arka immediately understood the value of this ability.

For those like Yam and Arka who had used the Purification effect, if they died in battle and their bodies weren’t recovered, the Purification charges they used wouldn’t return. The only way to reclaim those charges would be to retrieve their bodies and absorb their Power of the Bloodline back into the Demonic Sword. Thus, the Repose ability became especially important.

“What about Blood Seed?”

“You have to kill a Forest Witch first.” Cindy tilted her little head and then clumsily repeated the information conveyed by the Demonic Sword.

After hearing her explanation, Yam and the others finally understood why the Forest Witches and the Bourbon Family had such a deep hatred, to the extent that the Bourbon Family would attack without hesitation upon seeing the Demonic Sword.

Because the so-called Blood Seed ability was actually a special result formed by killing Forest Witches and extracting the power of their blood.

This result could enhance a Bloodline User’s aptitude and potential to a certain degree. The exact improvement depended on the number and strength of the Forest Witches killed. In other words, if the witches killed were strong and numerous enough, it could even allow an ordinary person with no bloodline talent to transform into a shocking genius.

However, this was something only possible in theory.

In practice, no one even knew where the Forest Witches were hiding. Given how united their kind was, killing one would likely provoke a whole group, escalating quickly into relentless retaliation.

“We’ll set the Blood Seed matter aside for now. But we must act on Repose immediately,” Ion said. “You all, including Aches, are about to use the Purification effect. Since these two abilities clearly complement each other, we can’t ignore that.”

“Liam is still young. Let’s wait another ten years.”

“Agreed.” Arka nodded.

He was quite pleased at the moment.

Because the increase in Purification charges meant Liam’s future was now secure. If Monica could truly bear a daughter, then even Anna’s previous ambition to annex the Kasein Family could become a reality.

But this excitement quickly faded.

Because, if in the future Liam married Monica’s daughter and bore a child as monstrously talented as Burton, who then replaced the Kasein Family as the lord of the Red Eagle Territory—but if that child wasn’t the sword-bearer of the Soderbell Family in that generation, then what would they do?

Just thinking about this gave Arka a headache.

He decided that this matter must be discussed properly with his father and Yam. Otherwise, it would surely cause problems down the line.

Since Liam and Cindy didn’t need to shed blood, the two children were quickly sent out of the small study.

Yam and the others then each shed blood in turn, confirming their life marks were left within the Demonic Sword, before leaving the study one after another.

However, just as Aches was about to leave, Yam spoke up and stopped him.

“Aches, I think we need to have a serious talk.”

“About your fiancée.”