Ren Isana finished drawing the [Magic Circle] and took out his weapon. Its appearance immediately drew Hephaestus-sama's gaze. It was truly a vicious piece of work!
It carried the aura of several gods, but the thickest was undoubtedly Apollo's. That unlucky bastard must have died by this very blade.
Ren threw his weapon into the furnace and activated the [Magic Circle]. In an instant, the temperature inside skyrocketed. Assisted by the array, his weapon began to float.
Ren didn't stay idle. He released spell after spell. It wasn't up to him what kind of [Noble Phantasm] the weapon would ascend into; it depended on the blood it had already shed.
The [Magic Circle] directly activated the blood energy within the blade, triggering a reconstruction. The entire weapon dissolved into a sphere of light, gestating within the heat.
Hephaestus-sama watched the aura emanating from the weapon—an aura that was distinctly unfriendly toward divinity. She grimaced, at a loss for words. She was now certain: Ren's weapon was specifically designed to target gods.
As time passed, this presence grew more pronounced. Eventually, the weapon suddenly decomposed, transforming into a beam of light that surged toward Ren.
Ren didn't dodge. He stood still, allowing the weapon to merge into his body and bind with his soul. In that moment, he understood exactly what his weapon had become.
Feeling the information flooding his mind, a look of pleasant surprise flashed in Ren's eyes. He raised his hand and manifested the [Noble Phantasm].
The Tang Dao he had initially thrown in appeared, but in the next second, it shifted. It transformed into a rapier, then a staff, and then a bow.
"Huh? This weapon?" Maya watched the weapon shift form at will and was stunned. It could change its shape freely now?
"Hiss... this is something else. And that malice... it's a weapon born entirely for the sake of slaying gods, isn't it?" Hephaestus-sama felt the information radiating from the weapon and was genuinely shell-shocked.
As a goddess, witnessing the birth of a weapon dedicated to god-slaying was absurd. If this were back in her world, Ren would become the enemy of all Orario.
"What a magnificent [Noble Phantasm]!" Ren was delighted. His weapon was now an EX-rank conceptual [Noble Phantasm]. It could transform into any weapon he desired—he could even use it to facilitate a transformation into an armored hero form if he wished.
Beyond that, it possessed a terrifying God-Slaying attribute. As for the [Noble Phantasm Release], it was complex, varying based on the form the weapon took.
It was a perfect all-rounder. Ren looked at the longsword in his hand, a smirk playing on his lips. With a thought, the weapon dissolved into light and integrated back into his body.
If necessary, he wouldn't even need to buy clothes anymore; he could just manifest them with the [Noble Phantasm]. This thing was incredibly helpful.
"Is it finished?" Maya asked, unable to help herself as the weapon vanished. Was it that simple? She looked at the forge. The patterns on it had faded, and the fuel inside had completely disappeared.
"It's done!" Ren nodded. It was just an Ascension ritual; it wasn't overly complicated.
"That is one formidable weapon. You'd best not take it out casually when you're around other gods," Hephaestus-sama warned. For a god, that weapon was a pure provocation.
A short-tempered deity might attack him on sight. Fortunately, unless it was newly forged, most wouldn't immediately recognize it as a God-Slaying weapon, so it wasn't a huge problem.
"I know. You gods always fuss over the strangest things," Ren grumbled.
Hephaestus-sama simply gave him a non-committal look. Anyone would react that way to a weapon specifically designed to kill them.
When pointed at by such a blade, a god would naturally think, *Is this guy trying to do me in? Is he picking a fight?*
Ren chatted with Maya for a bit before saying his goodbyes. "Maya, I'm heading out. Someone in my class turned into a vampire. I need to go see what's going on."
Maya was surprised. "Turned into a vampire? You'd better check that out quickly. Turning into a vampire out of the blue usually isn't good. It could be someone trying to reincarnate."
Ren frowned. That was a real possibility. Most True Ancestors in the Type-Moon world had been torn apart by Arcueid, and even Crimson Moon had been taken down. Now, a True Ancestor had suddenly appeared to turn Kojou Akatsuki into a Dead Apostle?
Something felt off. True Ancestors were created by Gaia to restrain humanity. Could that kid Kojou have been targeted by Gaia? The thought made Ren uneasy.
He needed to see for himself. He bid farewell to Maya and left the shop. Outside, he contacted Natsuki Minamiya to ask for Kojou Akatsuki's current location.
A few minutes later, Natsuki sent him a location along with a message telling him to just head over.
After confirming the location, Ren headed toward the place Natsuki mentioned. It turned out to be the hospital where the Tier 5 Cursed Children were being settled.
As he approached, he was intercepted. The security detail asked for his ID card. Hearing that an ID was required, Ren pulled out his student ID.
Natsuki had said his student ID allowed unimpeded access on Nexus Island. The guard scanned it, confirmed his identity, and let him through.
Inside the facility, Ren asked the front desk for Kojou Akatsuki. Once he had the room number, he headed straight there.
Leaving the main building, Ren walked to the inpatient area in the back and took the elevator to the 5th floor. He found Kojou's room shortly after.
Kojou Akatsuki was lying in bed, playing on his phone. Sensing someone's arrival, he looked up and was surprised to see Ren.
"Class Rep? What are you doing here?" Kojou got out of bed. He wasn't actually sick. After Natsuki had dumped him here yesterday and they'd drawn several vials of blood, he had just been staying here.
They told him to wait for notice, but no one had come to tell him anything. He hadn't expected Ren to show up.
Ren looked him over. Seeing nothing unusual, he asked, "Tell me, how exactly were you converted into a Dead Apostle? Based on what I know, there shouldn't be any True Ancestors left in that world. They were all wiped out by the True Ancestor lady staying with Asuna."
Ren got straight to the point. He was truly curious. How did this kid get targeted?
Kojou was confused. "Then what was with that True Ancestor who ambushed me? He appeared out of nowhere, sucked my blood to turn me into a Dead Apostle, and then vanished!"
Ren narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure it was a True Ancestor? Could it have been another Dead Apostle? Any of the Ancestors can turn people into Dead Apostles."
Ren was skeptical. It was possible Kojou hadn't met a True Ancestor, but one of the twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors. Aside from Arcueid, there weren't many True Ancestors left.
"Impossible. I'm certain he was a True Ancestor. He said so himself!" Kojou insisted. He wouldn't have misheard. The guy explicitly called himself a True Ancestor and said Kojou was an excellent material.
Ren went silent for a moment. "Is there a chance he was lying? It's like me saying I'm the First Emperor of Qin."
*Are you really that gullible? You just believe whatever people tell you?*
"If he was lying, then how do you explain how fast I recover? I literally turned into a vampire. From what I've heard, I should have become a bottom-tier Dead Apostle, right? Not like this."
"There are always exceptionally gifted individuals. As far as I know, someone there once turned directly into a vampire. Maybe you just have a talent for being a vampire!" Ren chuckled.
He was thinking of Satsuki Yumizuka. She had become a vampire immediately due to her high compatibility. Maybe Kojou was the same.
"I wouldn't know about that. They're still running tests. I'm not sure what the deal is yet." Kojou scratched his cheek, looking dejected. Him, talented at being a vampire? It was like a bad joke.
He just had to wait for the results. Since he couldn't turn back into a human, what else could he do? He had to accept reality. As long as he didn't drink blood, being a vampire wasn't so bad.
His Magic Power was terrifying now, and his recovery speed was insane. Thinking about it, he'd basically been buffed. Kojou fell into thought. *Actually, isn't this a total win? Being human has its limits, after all!*
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