novelraw Chapter 19 : [Bloodsteel and Nether-Copper]
Chapter 19 : [Bloodsteel and Nether-Copper]
Chapter 19: [Bloodsteel and Nether-Copper]
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The blood-red steel sword and the ghostly green-blue knight’s sword clashed again and again beneath the Twin Moons.
Under the metallic flame reaction, blue sparks burst like fireworks.
The glowing mass of a burning illumination potion bottle hovered high above, lighting up the shattered ruins and piled cargo of the Ancient Imperial Watchtower, making the camp as bright as day.
【Scanner activated】
A phantom cyan-blue screen flickered to life, displaying a complex data panel.
【Target species: Human】
【Biological structural integrity: 93%】
【Stamina: 87%】
【Spiritual Energy: 73%】
“Appraisal magic? You’ve got the time to instant-cast an appraisal spell just to provoke me? Are you trying to insult me with that?” The Bandit Chief Swordsman raised his blood-red greatsword, striking rapidly downward. “Where are you hiding your rune stones and catalysts?!”
Samael did not respond, simply raising his Nether-Copper shield to defend.
After all, he was a newcomer to this world—though his stats were far superior to his enemy’s, his combat experience was nowhere near as refined as the Bandit Chief’s.
Clang! Clang!
The blood-red greatsword struck with precise, powerful blows, each one driving the curved and barbed edge into the exact same spot on the shield with brutal accuracy!
The continuous, rapid collisions and bursts of sparks crackled like frying beans.
The surface of the Nether-Copper shield was pecked out into a shallow dent by the sword tip’s arched blade, but thanks to the shield’s absurd thickness, its overall structure remained unbroken.
【Body status check:】
【Stamina: 99%】
【Stamina: 98%】
【Stamina: 97%】
The shield in Samael’s hand trembled, yet under his undead strength, it stayed firm.
His stamina bar was far too long, and his recovery speed was astonishing—almost mechanical.
Such a barrage would have overwhelmed any other shield-bearing warrior, draining their stamina, shattering their shield, or forcing them to drop it. But to Samael, it merely shaved a sliver off the edge of his stamina bar.
【Scanner activated】
【Detected biological posture: Precision Combo】
【Performs rapid, concentrated, high-accuracy strikes on a single location to forcibly induce an opening in high-defense targets, or to chisel, forge, hammer-shape, or excavate hard materials.】
【Database updated.】
【Recorded in “Artificial Biology - Biological Posture Data Library.”】
【Usable by unit.】
It was something like a combat skill—usable both in battle and for forging or excavation.
Samael seized the opening, flipping his left hand for a backhand shield bash, knocking the enemy’s sword tip aside and breaking the attack rhythm. His right hand suddenly swung forward.
【Activating Biological Posture Data: Precision Combo】
【Target locked: Throat】
The ghostly blue Nether-Copper knight’s sword thrust forward with the same motion—a flurry of rapid, pinpoint stabs, each aimed directly at the Bandit Chief’s throat!
The Bandit Chief was startled, hurriedly raising his sword to block.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Bandit Chief was indeed a skilled warrior.
With one hand on the hilt and one bracing the flat of his sword, he barely managed to use the heavy, wide blood-red blade as a makeshift shield to block three precise strikes at his throat before pushing off and retreating swiftly, dodging out of range.
“...Mocking and humiliating me on purpose, are you?” His face darkened. “First with appraisal magic, now with an anti-heavy-armor, shield-breaking technique—just to mimic my moves?”
He suddenly lunged forward, sidestepping the knight’s sword and weaving close past the shield.
A quick upward slash struck Samael’s sword arm—but only left two faint pale scratches on the armor’s surface.
The shield swung backhanded, but the Bandit Chief ducked under it, retreating once more beyond attack range.
【Detected biological posture: Focused Footwork】
【Forces heightened concentration over a short period to enhance body balance, coordination, speed, and evasion—enabling rapid dodging, agile maneuvers, and swift engagements. Commonly used in complex dance steps, dangerous acrobatics, parkour over rough terrain, and one-on-one duels. Overuse causes mental fatigue equivalent to Spiritual Energy consumption.】
【Database updated.】
【Recorded in “Artificial Biology - Biological Posture Data Library.”】
【Usable by unit.】
Samael swiped the UI notifications aside with a grunt.
A Level-Five Adventurer was indeed different—he had never detected any such combat techniques in lower-ranked adventurers like Randall.
“...Who the hell are you?” The Bandit Chief cautiously raised his sword, circling slowly outside the attack range, probing for an opening. “Your sword, shield, and armor... they must be made of some unknown enchanted metal. Otherwise, how could they withstand so many blows from Bloodsteel?”
Samael didn’t answer.
He simply raised his shield and sword, advancing steadily toward the Bandit Chief.
Clang—clang—clang—each metallic footstep echoed like the measured march of an armored war machine.
Forced back step by step, the Bandit Chief circled warily.
“That lord sent you? Why? No... according to our deal, I haven’t finished his task yet. Why would he send someone to kill me now?”
Silence.
Only the cold clinking of metal.
The Bandit Chief took a deep breath, pulling off his cumbersome Wasteland Beast-Hide robe to reveal a slightly rusted chainmail shirt and a heart-guard beneath.
He raised the robe, then let go—the fur-lined cloak fluttered down in the night wind.
At the instant it hit the ground, his silhouette became a blood-red arc of motion—a sudden slash of scarlet light!
Not good!
Samael’s eyes widened. Just before the crimson arc reached his body, he barely managed to raise his kite-shaped Nether-Copper shield!
Whumm! A resounding boom like a struck bell!
His Nether-Copper frame shuddered violently, the booming ring echoing hollowly inside his armor—as though his body had become a bronze bell struck by a hammer!
【Stamina: 75% (recovering)】
【Body status: Unbalanced (duration 3 seconds)】
That single blow had shaved off nearly 25% of Samael’s stamina! If it had been any ordinary armor or shield, it would have been cleaved in two.
A deep crack now marred the Nether-Copper shield, faintly glowing blood-red—like metal bleeding light.
【Detected biological posture: Charged Impact】
【Utilizes gravitational potential, sprint acceleration, vehicle momentum, or limb centrifugal force to channel kinetic energy into a powerful strike. Extremely effective with heavy weapons. Consumes high stamina.】
【Database updated.】
【Recorded in “Artificial Biology - Biological Posture Data Library.”】
【Usable by unit.】
Samael staggered back two steps. In the next instant, the Bandit Chief lunged, exploiting his imbalance, slipping past the shield to thrust his sword into the gap between Samael’s chestplate and shoulder armor!
Pierce the organs—drain his life dry!
The Bandit Chief gripped his sword tight, waiting for the Bloodsteel blade’s demonic circuits to siphon life energy through the wound and restore his vitality.
But the moment the sword pierced in, he realized something was wrong.
No soft resistance of flesh and blood.
No jarring impact of steel against bone.
No rush of life absorption or healing feedback.
Nothing—just hollow emptiness.
A heartbeat later, the Nether-Copper knight’s sword hilt smashed hard into his shoulder, followed by a familiar backhand shield slap that sent both man and sword flying.
【Body status check:】
【Stamina: 92% (recovering)】
【Body status: Normal】
Samael silently lifted his head, gazing at the staggering Bandit Chief.
【Target species: Human】
【Biological structural integrity: 83% (minor injuries, slight muscle strain)】
【Stamina: 37%】
【Spiritual Energy: 52%】
【Status: Panic】
The Bandit Chief braced himself on his sword, breathing heavily, the imprint of the shield still visible on his face as he stared at Samael in disbelief.
For the first time since he’d obtained his magic sword—he felt fear.
That strike had drained much of his stamina.
The Bloodsteel greatsword, renowned for its unstoppable might—enough to shatter formations and cut through city walls—why? Why had it only made the enemy stagger?
Moreover, Bloodsteel possessed the ability to drain life.
A blow from its blade should have activated its demonic energy circuits to replenish him.
Why?
Why had not a single drop of life been absorbed?
The opponent was even instant-casting appraisal magic nonstop!
That invasive scanning sensation hadn’t ceased for a single moment since the fight began!
The other party was like some perverted voyeur obsessed with peeking at people’s underwear—grabbing onto his every combat movement, tracing every swing and posture with that unseen, probing gaze!
He couldn’t even figure out where this guy hid his rune stones for spellcasting!
Perhaps this terrifying pervert knight, obsessed with voyeurism, had shoved the rune stones into his trousers just to satisfy his filthy fetish!
The Bandit Chief Swordsman shuddered in disgust.
If he were defeated and killed by a bounty hunter—if his ears were cut off to claim a bounty—that would at least make sense.
But to lose to this perverted, voyeuristic knight who kept spamming appraisal magic?
He might be captured and taken to some hidden place no one would ever find, then forced to suffer unspeakable humiliation!
“You... what the hell are you?” he hesitated, gauging the situation.
“What do you want? We can make a deal. Money? Potions? Supplies? Powerful weapons? I can give you all of it—just stop using that appraisal magic to humiliate me!”
Silence.
The shield, the blade, and the tall figure behind them advanced step by step toward him, carrying an oppressive weight like the inevitability of fate itself.
“Think about your companions outside the camp,” the Bandit Chief threatened. “They can’t be as tough as you are! My men are surrounding them right now. If you stop now, we can strike a deal—I’ll recall my men, and your companions outside won’t have to die horribly!”
The steady advance of sword and shield paused slightly.
The Bandit Chief’s eyes lit up—was his threat finally working?
From beneath the tattered hood, a faint sigh echoed within the copper helm.
“I didn’t watch her,” came a melancholic yet sincere voice from within the cold shadow of the helm. “She’s probably having a great time killing them. I feel sorry for you.”
“Wh... what?” The Bandit Chief froze, not understanding. “You care about your teammate, don’t you? Aren’t you afraid your comrades outside will be slaughtered by my men?”
“Not really.” Samael replied truthfully.
Panting, the Bandit Chief drew from his belt a dark-green stamina potion and a blood-red healing potion.
As he staggered back, he bit off the glass tube stoppers and gulped them down in one breath.
His condition was running low, and he didn’t have many potions left.
After all that effort, he’d only managed to scratch the enemy’s shield and force a single imbalance.
All that effort, yet it barely scratched the surface.
He steadied himself, raising his greatsword with one hand—its blade angled slightly across his body, half-guarded before him in a defensive stance.
【Detected biological posture: Blade-Deflection Stance】
【A passive combat stance used by humanoid organisms. Suitable for mid-sized one-handed weapons such as swords or short rods, focusing on parrying and counter-defense. One-handed use only.】
【Database updated.】
【Recorded in “Artificial Biology - Biological Posture Data Library.”】
【Usable by unit.】
“You damned pervert! Stop using appraisal magic to peek at me! Do you have infinite spiritual energy or something?!”
The Bandit Chief screamed instinctively, swinging his sword wildly to shake off the sensation of that unseen gaze fixated on him. His Bloodsteel greatsword accidentally struck the nearby watchtower wall, nearly flying from his hands!
Damn it!
He never fought inside the camp—this cramped place was terrible for long-sword combat!
Clumsily gripping the hilt, he forced himself to endure that disgusting voyeuristic feeling, maintaining his Blade-Deflection stance with one hand while fumbling at his belt for a potion bottle with the other, circling Samael warily to buy time.
This was not an enemy he could face head-on. His only hope was that his men outside would quickly take down that terrifying knight’s companion and divert his focus...
The next second, a mangled bandit corpse flew from the darkness, slamming heavily into the broken wall behind the Bandit Chief—its head crushed like a shattered watermelon.
“What—” the Bandit Chief flinched.
From the darkness ahead came a rasping laugh.
A tall, slender black-armored knight wearing a horned demon helm swung a hammer-spear again and again among the bandits, smashing them like an ironworker hammering metal—joyous, wild, and merciless—shattering one vessel of dark-red liquid after another.
The Bandit Chief instantly dropped his Blade-Deflection stance and turned to flee!
It had come to this—only a fool would stay!
Staying meant death... or worse—capture by that appraisal-mad pervert knight, who might imprison and humiliate him with some mysterious, unspeakable contraption!
His bandit subordinates were nothing but rabble—fugitives and highwaymen lurking on the Empire’s borders, easily replaced.
As long as he still had the magic sword... there was hope!
He activated the combat technique 【Focused Footwork】, downing his last two stamina potions in one gulp, and sprinted madly in the opposite direction from the perverted knight!
Samael froze for a moment, then instinctively activated the biological posture 【Focused Footwork】 as well, trying to give chase—but his speed was far slower than the Bandit Chief’s.
His Nether-Copper body was far too heavy; accelerating required buildup time.
He couldn’t catch up.
Raising his sword, he aimed briefly and hurled it toward the fleeing man—but the Bandit Chief only laughed, agilely dodging aside.
No choice—Samael had no long-range capabilities.
With a sigh, he stopped, turned back, and was about to check on Randall and Elliot—only to see Randall rise, blow his bone whistle three times, then draw his hunting bow.
He pulled the string back into a full moon, aiming at the Bandit Chief’s back.
After the three shrill whistle blasts, a volley of toxin-tipped magic arrows and small fireballs launched from the night shadows beyond the camp, arcing over Randall’s head and streaking toward the Bandit Chief!
As the Bandit Chief screamed, Randall narrowed his eyes and loosed thirteen arrows in rapid succession!
Poison-tipped arrows and flashfire sealed his escape route.
Eleven arrows missed amidst the chaos, but two struck true—one in his calf, one straight into his back.
The poison took effect quickly.
The Bandit Chief fell, convulsing, coughing up bluish-black blood as he fumbled desperately for an antidote vial at his waist.
Samael strode forward, retrieving the Nether-Copper knight’s sword he had thrown, dragging the blade toward the fallen man.
Clang! Clang!
He struck the shield with the sword hilt, ringing out the dreadful tolls of a death knell.
Clang! Clang!
The Bandit Chief trembled, half-collapsed beside his blood-red sword, fumbling to open the antidote vial. His hands shook, teeth gripping the cork stopper— but at the chilling clang of that shield and sword, he flinched, and the vial slipped from his hands, shattering on the ground.
He spasmed a few more times, face turning pale-blue, throat swelling shut from the toxin.
Even if he’d had the antidote, he could no longer swallow it.
His breath and body heat faded, leaving only cold emptiness.
Samael silently gazed down at the corpse, then raised the blood-red greatsword and activated his scanner.
【Bloodsteel】
【Type-II steel variant formed through Spirit Energy phase transition. Forged by blending organic iron during processing—semi-living, possessing bio-spiritual affinity. Capable of conducting Spirit Energy through living tissue and channeling life-sustaining feedback to the wielder via a one-way circuit.】
【Product of overlapping technologies: Level-1 Basic Materials Science and Level-2 Fundamental Phase Transition. Data completed.】
【Missing prerequisite technologies and equipment—manufacture currently unavailable.】
A vampiric sword... Samael scratched the side of his helm.
His Nether-Copper body restored itself automatically by absorbing surrounding heat—he didn’t need such a thing.
Thaleia, with her demonic regenerative ability, didn’t need it either.
“How’s Elliot?” he turned toward the two in the ruins.
“No problem... it’s stabilized.” Elliot was awake but still lying weakly on the ground.
Wounds from Bloodsteel weapons were notoriously hard to heal, draining both stamina and spirit.
Randall had force-fed him six bottles of healing potion mixed with painkillers before he finally recovered.
“Thanks to you, Brother Samo,” Randall sighed tiredly. “I really was too... too young. I shouldn’t have taken such a dangerous job. If I’d just listened to Monk Talan, none of this...”
“It’s fine. Everyone has an age when they overestimate themselves... Youth should come with dreams and ambition.” Samael paused for a moment. “I was like you a few years ago.”
“Brother Samo was once like that?” Randall smiled bitterly.
“Of course,” Samael replied. “But don’t lose that fire and those dreams. This is just a failure born of inexperience. After all, none of us know what the future holds.”
“Maybe your entire life could change overnight. And when you look back one day, the things that once terrified you might seem so distant, so trivial.”
He gazed up at the copper-white Twin Moons, reversed the blood-red greatsword, and handed the hilt to Randall.
“This is...” Randall blinked in surprise.
“Talan and I can’t use it,” Samael said casually. “You killed the Bandit Chief. The spoils are yours.”
“No, no... I barely helped. A weapon this valuable—how could I possibly—” Randall stepped back, refusing repeatedly.
“Take it. You’ve helped us a great deal. In my homeland, we say: if someone gives you a drop of water when you thirst, you must one day repay them with a spring. If someone gives you a meal in poverty, you must one day thank them with a thousand gold coins.”
Samael pressed the hilt into Randall’s hand. “Talan and the others have probably cleared out the lower-ranking bandits by now. They’ll regroup soon. Prepare to tally the spoils.”
“Brother Samo,” Randall said, “I hope you and Monk Talan will take priority in selecting loot—and for the reward split, you should take the largest share.”
“No need...” Samael replied offhandedly, glancing idly over the scattered supplies in the bandit camp—until something caught his attention.
He crouched down before a grain sack at his feet.
A rough woven bag, bulging with wheat grains.
Printed on its surface were clear, familiar words:
【Transport to Kanna Plains, Demon King Varak’s Dungeon】