Durandal died! That’s not too big of a deal, but mini-DalDal shattered! The tribulation lightning bolt ate Durandal’s spirit body and then his weapon body went crack! Then mini-DalDal broke to bits! Before I could do anything, Durandal’s spirit seed dropped out of mini-DalDal’s hilt and fell right onto the phoenix egg! Then it merged into it instead of bouncing off! This is a disaster of epic proportions! What’s going on!? “Hey! Durandal!” I’m going to smash this stupid egg and take him out!

“Wait! If you break that egg now, the spirit seed will disappear as well!”

…Huh? What was this elder saying…? I glared at him and stuffed the egg into my pouch. This was all his fault! “It was your formation, wasn’t it!? You caused Durandal to die!” That’s right! Durandal suddenly flared up and stopped mid-attack during the final lightning bolt. His swords just fell out of the sky! I reached for my waist and grabbed…, grabbed…, right. Mini-DalDal broke. What do I fight with now!? “Breaking Tail!”

The hateful man in front of me didn’t react as my tail swept from underneath and in between my legs. With a muffled thump and squelching sound, it crashed into the man’s jewels. His eyes widened as he vomited out a mouthful of blood and fell onto his face.

“Ancestor!” someone shouted. I didn’t know who, and I didn’t care either! I grabbed the fallen man by his neck and hoisted him into the air. If I didn’t have mini-DalDal, then I’d use a substitute blade! All of these bastards were responsible for that filthy trick that killed Durandal. I’m going to tear every single one of them to pieces!

My vision turned white, black, orange, and red as I activated my Unrelenting Path of Slaughter. I infused all my qi into my temporary weapon and swung him as hard as I could. Disciples went flying and my weapon lost a few limbs, but I kept bashing people with him. Bash, bash, bash. Bash, bash, bash. Bash, bash, bash. Bash, bash, bash. Bash, bash, b…. He broke. A twitch caught my eye and I looked down. Someone was trying to crawl away from me, so I grabbed his leg and replaced my weapon with him. People were running away from me, but when I had the thought to run after them, I teleported in front of them instead. What was this sorcery? Well, it didn’t matter!

I’m not sure how long I activated my Path of Slaughter for. I’m not sure about anything really. I just wanted to vent my anger at these bastards for killing Durandal like that! But once I was done, there was no one left. Just blood and bones and bits of mangled flesh floating around. The crater that was created by the tribulation was covered by a layer of knee-deep blood. Ah. Durandal…. I pulled out the egg and hugged it to my chest. Was Durandal really in here? If, if it hatches, will Durandal come out?

An ear-piercing screech rang through the air, and I quickly stuffed the egg back into my pouch. A phoenix was flying above me, circling overhead. This stupid bird. How dare it lay an egg that absorbed Durandal! I’ll go up there and strangle it with my bare hands! …But I can’t fly—I teleported!? Caught it! The erect peacock plummeted to the ground and I landed on its back. It let out a strangled cry. Oi, I’m not fat. What was it crying for? Wait a minute…. I shouldn’t kill this bird just because it annoyed me. I need it to incubate the Durandal egg. If Durandal hatches as a phoenix…, I think I’ll cry. Durandal…, please be okay. Please, don’t leave me. You promised not to leave me. Why? Why did you leave me again? Again! I hate you, you stupid sword spirit! Durandal…. Durandal…. Durandal…. My chest hurts so much.

“L-Lucia?”

Who was that? Ilya? And Softie.

“Lucia? Are you alright?”

“No.” I’m not alright. How can I be alright!? Durandal just died a stupid death! I could’ve saved him if I tried. If I didn’t threaten those stupid bird people to help him with a formation! I should’ve used all my treasures to block the lightning for Durandal instead! If I weren’t so greedy, Durandal would still be here, hugging me and patting my ears! Why am I so greedy!? Why!? Why…? …Durandal’s worth much more than every treasure I have. And I lost him. I fell to my knees and smacked the bird in my hand against the ground. It stopped moving, and I shoved it into the pouch. The blood covering my legs and waist was warm and wet. A very, very familiar feeling.

“Lucia….” Something soft pressed against my back. Arms wrapped around my waist, and a cold cheek pressed against my neck. “What happened?”

“S-Softie?” It’s hard to speak. My nose is stuffy. My eyes are watering. My lips won’t stop trembling. I don’t deserve to live. I let Durandal down. I’m such an idiot! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid greedy squirrel!

“Stop!” Softie grabbed my forehead, but that didn’t stop me from slamming it into the ground again. She hissed in pain, but she didn’t let go. Why wasn’t she letting go? Why was she even here? What was she doing? “Lucia…. Tell me what happened. Everything’s going to be okay. Do you hear me? Everything’s going to be okay.”

“D-Durandal broke a-apart and merged into an e-egg.” I’m ugly crying. But that doesn’t matter. Nothing matters if Durandal’s not around.

“Can I see the egg? If his core didn’t break, I might be able to save him,” Softie whispered. She stroked my back and patted my tail. There was something so comfortable about her embrace. It was warm and soft and perfect to cry in. I sniffled and reached into my pouch. Where…, where did the egg go!?

Softie yelped as I bolted to my feet and tore the pouch off my waist. I took out a bed from my interspacial ring, and then I flipped the pouch over and emptied its contents onto the soft mattress. An unconscious phoenix fell out. Then a red egg. Then a red pearl that looked like a … spirit seed! I grabbed the spirit seed and stared at it. This was Durandal. It had to be Durandal! I need a weapon! But all the exquisite swords Durandal had were broken….

“Congratulations, Lucia.” Softie smiled at me and patted my arm. Hmm? What was she talking about? “That’s Durandal, right? Sometimes, spirit seeds can absorb treasures; though, most of the times, they’re absorbed by the treasures instead. It looks like Durandal became stronger after fusing with a phoenix egg.”

“Then … he’s not dead?” Durandal’s alive! Well, he’s still in seed form, but he’s alive! I need to get a super strong sword to stick him into! “Softie! Where can I find the best sword available?”

“Hmm? In Kong County, any sword in our Shadow Devil Sect’s treasury can be counted as a top-tier sword.” Softie nodded. Was it that easy? “But they’re only at the peak of spirit realm. If you want an earth-realm-ranked sword, then you might be able to find one at the King Province Exchange. Or … if you’re really feeling up to it, you can look for a sky-realm-ranked sword in Kang Country’s Imperial City.”

Hmmm. I think I’ll plant Durandal into one of the Shadow Devil Sect’s swords. The sooner Durandal reappears, the less stressed I’ll feel! “Do you have a good sword on you right now?”

Softie shook her head. “I only use whips. But I’m sure Elder Sky has a few nice swords with him.”

“Then it’s settled! Give me—”

Don’t you dare stick me in anything other than a sky-realm-ranked sword!

“…A second.” What was that? “D-Durandal?”

That’s right.

“You’re really alive! I’ll stick you in a sword right away! Then we can break you later and stick you in a better one, yeah?”

Stop! That won’t work. I can’t speak for long. Promise me you’ll put me in a sky-realm-ranked sword.

“Eh….”

Promise me!

“Eh….”

Lucia! If you don’t promise me, I won’t have sex with you ever again!

“Promise! I promise! I’ll stick you in a sky-realm-ranked sword!”

Good. It’s time for me to … hibernate. I believe in you, Lucia.

…In the end, he left me again, huh?