The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Heroes affiliated with the hall possessed powers granted through their connection to it, enabling them to periodically create living beings forged from memories or artifacts.

For instance, the Transcendence’s Demise Odin had given Davey, or his personal weapons, such as the divine spear Longinus and divine bow Brunaak, were such creations. Of course, unlike the Transcendence’s Demise or Brunaak, Longinus was crafted from Helixium.

“Guh… Huff… Huff…” Surtr, breathing heavily, placed a chunk of dark, pitch-black metal before Davey.

“Already done? I'm pretty sure it’s not something you can just whip up.”

“I knew you’d end up asking, so I prepared it in advance. Now take it and get lost,” Surtr said, collapsing onto the floor with an exhausted expression.

“Is this all? You don’t have any more?”

“That’s all!!”

“That’s a shame. Well, thanks for the Helixium. I’ll just borrow your forge for a bit.”

“Wait… Weren’t you supposed to be in my dungeon labyrinth?”

“Then go back there to do it. The forge in the dungeon is pretty good.”

“Why bother going all the way there when I can just do it here?”

Surtr shot Davey a look filled with pity and disdain.

“Were you able to pull Longinus straight out after it was made?”

Now that Davey had a part of the authority, he could periodically materialize items from the Pocket Plane. However, going out of his way to do something so tedious wasn’t particularly appealing.

After all, there was a significant difference between summoning something fully completed and something that only partially existed.

“Speaking of which…” Surtr muttered, staggering to his feet. He waved his hand, and a rift appeared behind Davey.

"Are you trying to rub salt in the wound? Hurry up and get going!"

Thud!

Surtr gritted his teeth and kicked him hard in the back, sending him into the rift.

“This is the last time! If you ask for Helixium again, it’ll be the end of both of us, you hear?!”

“Hm, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Davey smirked as he saw Surtr fuming and glaring.

* * *

Emperor Sullivan had returned to the Pallan Empire to handle the aftermath of the rebellion. Despite the chaos and the loss of lives, injuries, and a few missing subordinates, Sir Halphas and his assistants were hard at work in the workshop, hammering away as if nothing had happened.

“Hm… It feels rude to disrupt others in their workspace,” Davey muttered.

“What are you looking for?” a knight asked him.

“Nothing much. My hands are feeling a bit idle, so I thought I’d hammer something.”

“In that case, why not use the empty workshop over there?” The knight gestured to a worn out workshop partially buried underground.

“Well… even to an amateur like me, it looks like it’s in bad shape…” the knight trailed off.

“It’s perfect.”

Davey recalled how Surtr had once worked in such a place, before moving to another location.

This forgotten workshop was a blessing in disguise. It had everything he needed, and being half-buried, he knew no one would bother interrupting or interfering with his work.

“Daddy! What are you doing?” Evangeline called out.

“I’m going to make a special sword just for you, sweetheart.”

Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Daddy will make sure it doesn’t break.”

The greatest strength of Helixium was in its immense durability—even so, that was its only strength. One glaring drawback was that if the crafting process failed, it would essentially become slag that could never be reprocessed. But Davey had already accounted for that.

He took a deep breath as he stared at the cold forge. He tossed in enchanted firewood and ignited the flames. Unlike in the past, producing precise, intense, and pure flames didn't pose much of a challenge for him anymore. The forge instantly roared to life, emitting ultra-high temperatures.

Helixium developed absolute resistance to fire after being heated and then cooled. In other words, once it cooled, it became impossible to reforge. From shaping to refining and sharpening, everything had to be done while the metal was still at extreme temperatures.

It was a daunting process, but that special quality was precisely why Helixium was considered an indestructible metal. Conventional tempering processes—heating, shaping, and quenching—had to be entirely abandoned.

“Watch closely, sweetheart. Someday, I’ll teach you how to do this.”

“Wow… Okay!” Evangelin replied, sitting at a safe distance away and marveling at the forge as it burned brightly.

Before proceeding, Davey ensured there would be no interruptions.

[8th Circle]

[Spatial Magic]

[Custom Space]

Whuuum!!

A shimmering barrier enveloped the area, blocking entry and creating a flawless magical defense.

Fwoosh…

Davey began dusting off the necessary tools and equipment. After he was finally finished, he picked up the Helixium block.

The last characteristic of Helixium—both a strength and disadvantage, depending on perspective—was its short window of time for smithing. Once it was forged with other materials, its weight multiplied exponentially.

For example, the divine spear Longinus weighed dozens of kilograms when completed, but the raw Helixium ingot used to forge it had weighed only about ten kilograms.

Sizzle…

Davey carefully slid the Helixium ingot into the roaring flames of the forge with a pair of tongs. As it began to heat up, he scattered his mana into the flames.

Fwoosh!

The red flames shifted to an intense blue, blazing even stronger. The heat radiating from the forge made the air in the entire workshop stifling, though neither Davey nor Evangeline cared due to their resistance to extreme temperatures.

As the ingot began to glow a deep red, he turned his attention to the second material—a shard of a dragon heart Surtr had given him. He placed the shard into a mortar and began grinding it into a fine powder.

Despite its daunting name, it was, in reality, simply a stone imbued with the condensed power of a dragon’s heart. Even so, its strength was sufficient. Once the powder was finely ground, Davey set it on the workbench and carved a magic circle onto it.

Given that Evangeline was an ancient dragon, her sword didn’t need unnecessary ornamentation or complexity. What mattered most was amplifying her natural power as a dragon. He knew there was nothing good in simply making her sword heavy.

‘What type of sword will suit Evangeline the best?’

Davey typically used a long, slender sword, but there were times when that didn’t suit her well.

‘Should I make it into a classic sword shape? Maybe a saber? Should I make it larger?’

Countless ideas flickered through his mind in a short span of time.

All the preparations had to be completed before the ingot was fully heated. Once the shard of dragon heart linked with the magic circle began to emit light, indicating its increasing temperature, he swiftly pulled out a piece of paper from his Pocket Plane and began sketching a blueprint.

A sword perfectly suited for Evangeline.

Since it would be a blade designed exclusively for her, it had to meet all her needs perfectly. It couldn't be too crude—neither could it be unnecessarily flashy. It had to be clean, simple, and strong. Nothing more, nothing less.

“What kind of sword do you want, Evangeline?”

She thought for a moment before clapping her hands in excitement. “I want a big sword like Mommy’s Caldeiras!”

‘A greatsword, huh.’

He decided to incorporate a transformation function for practicality, allowing the sword to be stored at a reduced size, much like a divine sword.

He transformed a bit of mana and infused it into the magic circle. Afterward, he quickly sketched a design.

He envisioned a blade about a meter and a half long—quite long considering her height—with a width of about ten centimeters. The design featured a sleek, black blade with elegant crimson accents. It looked almost like a demonic sword, but that was simply due to the natural blackness of Helixium.

Once he organized his thoughts, things began to progress faster. Satisfied with his vision, he held up the sketch for Evangeline to see.

“What do you think of this?”

She clapped her hands in delight, letting out a gasp of admiration as she gazed at the greatsword adorned with an elegant guard and an ornate pommel.

“It’s so pretty! I love it!”

“Good. Then we’ll go with this.”

Considering it was a greatsword, he figured there might be some issues with utilizing it as a demonic sword.

‘Wait. Then… should I separate the sword entirely…? No, no, that won’t work.’

Davey briefly shook his head. Once the shard of dragon heart absorbed enough mana, he poured a catalytic solution over it, fully submerging it.

He then carefully lifted the blue, flaming veil of the furnace and took out the ingot. Failure to process it correctly would mean the end—it required extreme focus and precision.

“Huuup… Evangeline, no matter what happens, don’t disturb Daddy while he's working on this, okay?”

“Okay!” she replied from a safe distance away, watching with curiosity.

With her gaze fixed on him, Davey placed the ingot onto the anvil and picked up his hammer. And then—

Clang!

He began striking away. He estimated that it would take about three hours to complete the sword.

* * *

“Hah… hah… It’s finished!!”

“My word! I can’t believe I’m witnessing the birth of such a masterpiece with my own eyes!”

Halphas, along with the imperial blacksmiths of the Pallan Empire, all wore expressions of pure admiration as they gazed at the longsword he was holding.

It was a masterpiece of the highest degree. While it was crafted from the same material as the previously forged mithril sword, the final result far surpassed its predecessor.

It was a blade worthy of being called a national treasure.

The reason for forging such a remarkable sword was simple: Halphas had received the shocking news that the mithril sword he had previously crafted was destroyed during training. Determined to create a blade that would neither break nor falter, he had agonized over it ever since.

And finally, he had climbed over one of the highest walls in his craft.

“Alright! To the altar, quickly!”

The final step was simple; he had to place the completed sword upon the altar. Filled with confidence in their creation, the blacksmiths, led by Halphas, left the workshop and approached the altar. Behind them were countless onlookers, their faces filled with anticipation as the blacksmiths placed the mithril longsword on the altar.

Whuuum!!

A brilliant light enveloped the longsword. It was the product of the finest techniques, the utmost effort, and the full extent of their abilities. Even if it couldn’t become a divine blade, it would surely reach Surtr’s high standards.

That was what Halphas believed. And soon, the door would open.

But then—

Whuuum…

The light surrounding the sword dimmed and eventually faded away.

Nothing had changed.

“Huh? What the…?!”

“What’s going on?!”

The stunned onlookers made confused faces. At the same time, the inscription carved into the wall began to shift and form new words.

“Oh no…”

The head of the academy, Count Ainz, rushed to the altar, his expression hardening as he read the newly formed text aloud.

[An unrefined sword cannot pass the trial.]

It was like a bolt from the blue.

Halphas stared at the longsword resting on the altar with a face of disbelief. He then let out a furious roar.

“How is this an unrefined sword?! I poured all my skills, my talent, and every second of my time into crafting it!! There must be some kind of mistake!!”

“P-Please calm yourself, Sir Halphas!”

Knights and apprentices quickly moved to restrain him. But Halphas, consumed by frustration, continued to scream with anguish.

“The altar must be broken! There’s no way a better sword than this could possibly exist! Show me a single sword which could surpass it!! This blade carries the hopes and dreams of everyone here! It must reach Surtr! This is my life’s masterpi—!”

Clang… Clang!!

A clear, resounding noise interrupted his frenzy, silencing the entire chamber.

Halphas froze, clenching his trembling hands into fists. He slowly turned toward the source of the sound.

It was coming from a half-buried, worn out workshop.

“Was that… always there?” he muttered, cautiously approaching it. Once he stepped inside, he froze on the spot.

The room was illuminated with a warm, radiant light.

“Master?”

“Sir Halphas?”

The blacksmiths and mages followed him, their eyes widening as they saw the same sight.

“Oh.”

Halphas, who had been yelling in rage moments ago, now stood in stunned silence with his mouth slightly open. And then, someone else murmured from the crowd, breaking the silence.

“The flames… and the sound… they’re breathtaking…”

A blacksmith’s work was supposed to prioritize practicality over aesthetics. And yet, the sight before them defied that notion. The craftsmanship unfolding before their eyes was both supremely practical and of the highest level of difficulty.

And yet the sparks, the flames, the atmosphere—everything about it was breathtakingly beautiful.

ChubbyCheeks & FriedNook's Thoughts

Editorb’s Thoughts

At least Surtr already had the materials prepped. Otherwise, the other people would have been left in abject despair for quite a while about their lack of school. Halphas must have shit his pants when the weapon wasn’t accepted.