“Ares is a world where gods truly exist.”

That was something a famous user—someone walking the path of a priest—once said.

“And I know this too. Because gods exist, someday we’ll be able to meet them indirectly.”

Meet them indirectly?

People didn’t understand what that meant.

Ordinary users would never be able to meet a god.

No— even the very best high rankers wouldn’t find something like that easy.

If it were possible at all, it would be after more than ten years had passed.

So the user explained.

“When I say indirectly, I don’t mean an audience. I mean things that can exist because a god exists. A holy grail, or something a god left behind. Even equipment a god once wore. Through those, we can witness a god’s greatness.”

Users understood—and agreed.

Something a god had scattered onto the earth.

Something a god once possessed, or some power a god once held—people would learn about it.

“The value of such a thing will be unprecedented.”

No one could deny it.

People knew.

Its value would be astronomical.

Hyunsoo was no different.

In this Ares, divine materials will exist too.

He was certain of it.

But his thinking had matched everyone else’s.

That those things might only be obtained years later—or, slowly, after ten years.

Because Ares manages balance with absolute strictness.

Hyunsoo hadn’t expected it now.

But now Hyunsoo could feel it.

A mysterious handsome man hiding his character information.

And the alert that rang the moment Hyunsoo looked at the black, melted sword in his hand.

[Divine ore is detected.]

And Hyunsoo realized something else—because he was a ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) descendant of the god, he had a privilege to perceive certain things.

Divine ore and I have some kind of connection.

Hyunsoo believed every alert had a reason.

Other users wouldn’t be able to sense divine ore from that sword.

But he alone could.

There could be many reasons, but one thing was certain.

Even if I just touch it, it’ll help me.

Hyunsoo was a blacksmith.

Seeing myth-grade material—material he might not see for years—was pure luck.

And the moment he touched it, unexpected situations could unfold, and they would definitely help Hyunsoo grow.

No— even without that, just seeing and sensing divine ore is study in itself.

The problem was whether he would be allowed to touch the sword at all.

Can I just touch it for a second?

If he said that out loud, he’d look like a lunatic.

Most users hated letting anyone touch their artifacts.

Because a tiny number of users could check artifact information just by laying a hand on it.

“Who are you?”

Hyunsoo asked.

And then something surprising happened.

“I came to commission the restoration of this sword.”

He held out the melted sword—Babylon.

The moment Hyunsoo had wanted.

*****

“I came through the informant Kabel.”

Hyunsoo now knew who the nameless friend was.

And thanks to Kabel, Hyunsoo had wiped out both the rebel army and the Chinese users in one sweep.

Creating that entire chain of events hadn’t been easy even for Kabel.

So the person Kabel sent after doing all that—

After learning who Kabel was, Hyunsoo had learned two things: Kabel’s information was accurate, and Kabel’s execution was flawless.

If Kabel thought this would harm me, Kabel wouldn’t have sent him.

With that certainty, Hyunsoo led him into Atlas’s forge.

Besides, he’d already arrived near Atlas anyway.

Hyunsoo gave a bitter smile.

Without meaning to, he had become the first outsider to set foot in Atlas.

When they arrived at the forge, Bahala got to the point.

“I still haven’t been able to appraise this sword. But according to the information I obtained...”

Transcendent grade?

Hyunsoo murmured in admiration.

And the power Bahala claimed this sword possessed—

It deletes 70% of a demon’s HP in one go? That’s insane.

Hyunsoo had hunted Graut, the Blood Demon before.

But demon Graut had been severely weakened compared to normal.

And demon Graut didn’t have a true name.

Meaning, while it was called a demon, it wasn’t one of the “seventy-two demons.”

Of course Graut was strong.

But those called the seventy-two demons were presumed to be beyond common sense itself.

And yet this sword, Babylon, could delete 70% of even those demons’ HP?

In Ares right now, a sword with the only power capable of killing demons...

Of course, that was if it was restored.

“Can I touch it?”

Bahala held Babylon out.

Hyunsoo smiled bitterly.

That’s a ridiculous level of confidence.

Normally, users didn’t hand artifacts over lightly.

Because people ran off with them all the time.

But Bahala was brimming with confidence in what Bahala could make happen if someone tried to steal it.

And Hyunsoo only meant to touch Babylon—this sword made with divine ore.

But then—

[Your class reacts.]

[You can appraise Babylon.]

Hyunsoo could appraise it.

And as mentioned, every alert had a reason.

Sensing the ore earlier had been the groundwork.

This might be a precursor to a quest.

Appraise.

The information opened.

Ding!

(Babylon)

Grade: Legend Above Legend

Durability: 50/50

Attack Power: 679

Restriction: Level 450+ swordsman.

Special Abilities:

·All stats +0.5%.

·Cutting power +130%.

·Attack power against evil +160%.

·Passive Skill Demon Hunting.

·Passive Skill Judge.

·Active Skill Extinguish Evil.

·This is a consumable artifact.

·Extinguish Evil remaining uses: 3/3

·When all uses are consumed, it disappears.

Description: Babylon is the legendary sword forged to hunt demons. 100g of divine ore was used by a god hostile to the Demon Realm, along with ordinary materials.

It disappears after 3 uses of Extinguish Evil, and demons threw it into hellfire, melting it.

(Extinguish Evil)

Active Skill

Mana Cost: 3,300

Penalty on use: HP and MP 50%

Cooldown: once per month.

Remaining uses: 3/3

Effect:

·Deletes the HP total of all species judged as evil down to 40%.

Hyunsoo was dumbfounded after reading it.

Divine ore, 100g? You get more slices than that out of 100g of pork belly.

A sword’s weight varied widely, from 1 kg to 10 kg.

A 1 kg sword was near the minimum, and normally you needed several kilograms of ore to make a sword.

But Babylon supposedly contained only 100g of divine ore.

Of course they wouldn’t just hand out divine ore easily.

Meaning, even if Hyunsoo melted it down, Hyunsoo would get a mere 100g of divine ore.

Then Hyunsoo froze in shock.

...Wait. It only has 100g mixed in, and it’s a sword like this?

He couldn’t even imagine how strong divine ore really was.

If you made a single sword out of pure divine ore... what kind of power would it have?

The myth-grade sword power Hyunsoo had imagined.

He pushed that aside for now. He had more important things to nail down.

The man in front of him said he still couldn’t appraise this sword.

“I can appraise it. It’s probably because I’m a Master Blacksmith.”

“Is that true?”

Bahala’s eyes lit up with intense interest.

He’d heard rumors, but even after obtaining it, he hadn’t been able to see it properly.

But Hyunsoo shattered that expectation.

“This sword doesn’t have the power you think it does.”

Bahala frowned, confused.

Hyunsoo started breaking Babylon down point by point.

“First. The durability is 50. That number alone makes no sense. You know that once durability drops below a certain point, you can’t use it. Babylon will become unusable after only a few hits. Especially with Extinguish Evil— a sword with only 50 durability won’t be able to endure the manifestation of that power.”

“Second. Extinguish Evil is different from what I heard. The concept matches, but the percentage isn’t 70%. It’s 40%.”

“Third. Babylon is a sword that outputs Transcendent power, that’s true. But it’s listed as Legend Above Legend. The reason is that Babylon is currently a consumable artifact, and consumable artifacts have their grade lowered by one tier.”

Bahala looked like he’d been hit in the head.

Everything Bahala thought he knew—everything he’d hoped for—was blown away.

Starting with Extinguish Evil only shaving HP down to 40%.

“It’s usable three times. The problem is, there’s a one-month cooldown per use. And with this durability, you won’t even be able to use it once.”

Bahala could feel it.

Even if it’s restored, I still won’t be able to kill a demon...?

The one Bahala had faced—40% wasn’t enough to do anything.

Even 70% might or might not have been enough.

“Check for yourself.”

Hyunsoo took a screenshot and shared the information.

After seeing it, Bahala denied reality, torturing himself with hope.

“...I heard an outstanding blacksmith can sometimes restore an artifact while upgrading it. Can you make it permanent—and even maximize Extinguish Evil?”

Bahala wanted permanence because even if Extinguish Evil truly cut a demon to 70% HP, Bahala needed to handle variables after that.

Hyunsoo nodded.

“Half possible, half impossible. To begin with, converting a consumable artifact into a permanent one doesn’t just take skill.”

Bahala started taking hard hits.

“What you need right now is materials. To convert consumable into permanent, you have to use that much more material. And you’re saying this.”

Hyunsoo narrowed his eyes.

“You brought me a consumable Legend Above Legend, and you’re asking me—because I’m a skilled blacksmith—to make it permanent and raise Extinguish Evil’s effect. In other words, you’re asking me to pull a consumable up to Transcendent grade. Do you think that’s logically possible?”

Bahala almost shook his head.

Even Bahala thought it was impossible.

“So you mean there aren’t enough materials.”

“There are many factors, but at the moment, that’s my judgment.”

“How much would it take to upgrade it?”

“As much as what was used to make the consumable.”

By sharing information, Bahala learned for the first time that 100g of divine ore had been used. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Divine ore, 100g?

Bahala couldn’t obtain even 1g.

That was how Ares was right now.

Hyunsoo, now in the position of taking the restoration commission, said—

“If everything you’re asking becomes possible...”

“I’ll pay whatever you want.”

Of course Bahala was clinging to a straw.

Even if Babylon was consumable, Bahala couldn’t kill the demon. Even if Extinguish Evil stayed like that, Bahala couldn’t kill it.

And Bahala was asking him to turn a Legend-grade sword into Transcendent.

Hyunsoo paused, silently measuring what it would cost if that impossibility became reality.

How much was a commission fee worth—if you pulled off something that shouldn’t be possible?

“I’m charging 4 billion as the restoration fee.”

An outrageous number.

But it wasn’t outrageous.

Because making the sword under the conditions Bahala wanted was, by definition, impossible.

It’ll be harder than forging the Twin Dragon Sword. No— the Twin Dragon Sword was possible because I had the materials. This isn’t. Upgrading it while restoring it is impossible because there are no materials.

Bahala, as a former #1, could understand.

In Ares, some things were possible—and some were impossible.

Of course, 4 billion was excessive for the sword’s value alone.

But Hyunsoo’s intent was clear: that was how impossible it was.

“Still want it restored?”

But Bahala had to commission restoration anyway.

“Please. I’ll pay generously.”

“It’ll take about a week in game time.”

After leaving the sword, Bahala logged out.

Outside the game, Bahala fell into loss.

Bahala tried to buy divine ore—or find another method to hunt demons.

Bahala’s access to information was top-tier.

But there was nothing.

No divine ore, and no information.

...I lost half a year.

The emptiness was indescribable.

And if Bahala failed to clear [Job Quest: Sword God’s Path], walking the Sword God’s Path would be suspended for the time being.

Humans were all the same.

Even if you’d stood at the summit—if everything turned to ash, you were bound to despair.

For a week, Bahala found nothing, and it left a bitter taste.

It’s the promised time.

Bahala logged in.

Even if Extinguish Evil only went up to 60%. Even if the durability got reinforced.

It was Bahala’s last hope.

Then Bahala, arriving at Hyun’s Forge, froze.

“...?”

Bahala couldn’t believe what was in front of him.

The completed Babylon was magnificent.

A black longsword.

An aura that evoked demons.

A grip shaped like a roaring demon head.

But what shocked Bahala wasn’t the impressive appearance.

Two swords...? Why are there two Babylons?

That was right. Hyunsoo was holding two identical Babylons—one in each hand.

As if he’d duplicated something.

Hyunsoo turned his head.

With the confident expression of a Master Blacksmith itself, Hyunsoo said—

“Get the 4 billion ready.”