“Seek the ruins that lie within the skull of the Great Dragon.”

I jolted awake, my breathing sporadic and my heart pounding. I quickly scanned my surroundings, trying to find the source of the strange voice.

‘What the hell was that?’

It was so strange—the voice sounded both unnatural and yet the most natural thing I’ve ever heard. Hoarse yet smooth, it sent my mind into a whirlwind. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t comprehend it.

Shaking my head, I glanced down at the dead Abomination, its glossy eyes staring lifelessly into the distance, the blood from its neck now frozen.

Breathing deeply, I stood up. My wounds seemed to have healed already—this new body of mine has its benefits. Grabbing my katana and my backpack, I looked up.

‘Sunlight. It’s probably evening by now; I should get going.’

Looking at the Abomination once more, I continued forward. Surprisingly, it wasn’t long before I reached the skull of the Great Dragon.

Walking through the back of the jaw, I found myself inside an enormous ruined cathedral.

It was long and narrow, with large square towers. At the top of one tower at the back of the main hall stood a large sculpture of a mighty lion made from pristine marble. Parallel to its left stood another tower, this one with a sculpture of an abnormally large noble wolf, made from the same unscathed marble.

The final tower stood atop the entrance of the cathedral, with a sculpture of a man holding an extremely long katana. In my world, I was a bit of a history nerd, especially when it came to Japanese history. If I remember correctly, there was a counterpart to the katana with a considerably longer blade—they were called odachis.

Aside from the great odachi, the man was depicted wearing only a cloak with a casual tunic beneath it. He had long, lustrous hair tied in a high ponytail with his bangs resting on his forehead. Calm, deep-set eyes stared off into the distance, and his features were so sharply cut that I was sure if I ran a finger down its jawline, it would cut me.

The cathedral was quite stark compared to the untouched marble sculptures. Its walls were broken, windows shattered, and moss scaled the remaining cracked cobblestone walls.

The whole scene made me uneasy. Why were the sculptures untouched while the rest of the ruins were destroyed and decayed? Narrowing my eyes, hoping it would help me see something I normally wouldn’t, I thought I saw a faint white glow radiating from the sculptures. Ultimately, I figured it was just a side effect of my intense squinting.

Looking up once more and seeing the little sunlight that pierced the skeleton receding, I deeply inhaled and marched toward the ruined cathedral, climbing through where an entrance once stood.

Inside, the cathedral was somehow brightly lit, though not a single light fixture could be seen, which put me in an eerie mood.

‘Creepy.’

Shivering slightly, my gaze traced the six pillars in the middle of the hall, three on each side. The eerily tall ceiling gave me a feeling of vertigo just looking at it. The floor was covered in glass, suggesting the ceiling had been glass and shattered.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, the cathedral was too destroyed for anything to really be seen or studied. All that lay within it was an eerie chill and the smell of dust and moss.

Walking through the hall, occasionally having to climb over rather large pieces of rubble, I made it to the end of the ruins.

‘Where are these ruins the voice wanted me to find?’

On edge, I tightly wrapped my hand around the sheath of my katana, ready to draw it if need be. Finding a door in one of the corners, I discovered a spiral staircase leading up.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Curiosity getting the better of me, I ascended them.

At the top, I was led to an empty narrow hallway that headed in the direction of the entrance where I had come from.

Reaching the end of the hallway, I entered the only door, leading to a large square room. The room was torn apart, with books littering the floor, bookshelves toppled over, and what I could only assume were magical artifacts thrown about.

The only thing that stood untouched, unbothered, was radiating an aura unlike anything I had ever felt.

At the opposite end of the room from where I stood, perched on a beautiful onyx wood stand, was a perfectly curved white blade. Its black, masterfully woven cord formed a perfect grip, and its white tsuba was trimmed in black, with black engravings of a language I had never seen.

It was otherworldly. Divine.

The divine odachi radiated an aura that was absolutely terrifying yet so calming and inviting. I froze, unable to even breathe. All I could do was stare wide-eyed.

“Ezra?”

A not-so-manly yelp escaped my lips. I snapped around, ready to unsheathe my katana. However, the origin of the voice was Zeris, standing behind me with a confused look on his face.

“Jeez, Zeris, a little warning! You can't just sneak up on people like that!”

Zeris’ brows furrowed.

“I said your name five times before you reacted. You were in quite the daze. What were you so mesmerized by?”

Slightly embarrassed, I straightened and scratched the back of my neck.

“Oh. My bad, then. But I was staring at that sword—it’s something else entirely.”

Zeris adjusted his gaze to trace mine.

His eyes widened slightly. I swear I could even see a sense of unease on his usually stoic face.

“How—how can you stand so close to that thing? ‘Something else entirely’ is right. I've never seen such a weapon in my life. The power it radiates is incredible. I'm not even sure I could walk into this room without collapsing to my knees.”

A hint of panic filled my heart when Zeris said that. He couldn’t take his eyes off it. I didn't blame him; something about it was so mesmerizing.

“Come, we should leave this place. Something about it is putting me on edge.”

Zeris being on edge? That can’t be a good sign at all.

“Yeah… You’re probably right.”

Just as I was about to step toward the door, a deep desire inside me—an uncontrollable urge—took over. My body moved on its own. Instead of stepping toward the door, I stepped toward the wondrous sword.

Step.

Step.

Step.

“Ezra! What are you doing? I told you we need to leave, now!”

Zeris’ commanding voice did nothing to snap me out of my daze. Zeris let out a low growl and stepped into the room.

The moment he did, he slammed down to his knees, letting out a stifled grunt.

“This—this power—it’s—it’s overwhelming. Damn it!”

My mind felt foggy.

When a thought entered, it was immediately gone.

Taking a final step, I was face-to-face with the divine odachi.

I grabbed it.

The moment I lifted it off its onyx stand, the overwhelming weight of the long blade slammed into the floor, slicing through the wood like butter.

It all happened so fast.

At that same moment, the hilt of the odachi started to burn. It was so hot I thought my skin was going to melt off.

The burning began to rise, reaching all the way to my shoulder. The odachi started to dissolve into white sparks.

Once the sword was completely gone, I snapped out of my daze, and the pressure that had pinned Zeris to the ground receded.

Falling to my knees, gasping for air, the pain felt deeper than just in my arm—it felt like it was burning my very soul. Taking off the leather vambrace on my right arm, I pulled up my sleeve.

Confusion and panic were written all over my face. An intricate white tattoo of a dragon had appeared on my entire arm.

The head of the fearsome dragon rested on the back of my hand, its body coiling around my arm. Even with my pale skin, the white of the tattoo was so bright that it made my skin seem tanned. The tattoo was so detailed it felt real, like there was a dragon under my skin.

[Well, that was a strange turn of events.]

‘What? What the hell? Am I going crazy now?’

[You’re not going crazy.]

My mouth hung open. The sweet melodic voice was resounding in my head, but why and how?

[Sweet and melodic. I did not think a human would ever say I sound like that.]

Unease gripped my heart.

‘You can hear my thoughts? Wait, what are you? Who are you? Where are you?’

[First, yes, I can hear your thoughts. I’m part of you, in a way. Second, isn’t it obvious? I’m the sword you just picked up. As for who I am, my memory seems to be all sorts of messed up right now, but my name is Divinus. And finally, I’m the tattoo on your arm.]

‘Ah, that does not really make me feel better.’

Zeris finally managed to collect himself and made his way to me. His gaze fell to my arm, and when he saw it, he hesitated for a moment.

“Impos—impossible. The sword bonded with you.”

My brows knitted together tighter.

“What do you mean, ‘bonded’?”

Zeris lingered for a moment before he spoke.

“It’s rare—very, very, very rare. I believe there are only a select few in the world. But bonded weapons are a special archetype. These weapons bond to the soul of the user, allowing them to form a connection with the weapon so deep that they are one and the same. Of course, these weapons also have special abilities as well.”

I nodded, listening to everything Zeris was saying.

“What about a voice?”

Zeris tilted his head slightly.

“A voice? No, I don’t think I’ve heard of any of these weapons having voices.”

[Huh, I must be special then. Ain’t that something, huh, Ezra.]

I lingered for a moment.

‘Great, he thinks he’s a comedian.’