“Go on, take the case off,” the old man urged, beckoning Finn to remove the glass case that caged the ominous executioner sword. Part of Finn wanted to say no, but the majority of his brain was telling him to do it. Whether that was simply his own instincts or his Voidheart armor speaking to him—or perhaps even the sword attempting to manipulate him—he didn’t know.

No matter which it was, Finn has already made up his mind. Taking a deep breath, he set both his hands on the edges of the glass case holding the sword, and slowly lifted it up.

“Tch—!”

The moment he did, a powerful shockwave of energy shot out from within the sword, escaping its prison and nearly blowing Finn and the old man away. Evelyn was at the door, so she was relatively unaffected, but she too covered her eyes to shield herself from the wind.

“Hah…!” Finn forcefully set the glass case back in place with all his strength, then backed up a few steps. “What… was that?”

“It would seem the sword’s power is reacting with you,” the old man said, stroking his beard. “This is good… try again. If you can harness this power, it will greatly benefit you.”

“Sure, but… you might want to back away, if you don’t want to die.”

“Of course. I have a store to run, after all…” The old man smiled peacefully and backed away, standing beside Evelyn as the two waited by the door.

“There’s no danger in doing this, right?” Evelyn asked, shooting the old man a sideways glance. “After all, I wouldn’t like it very much if he were to get hurt. You know that, yes?”

Finn didn’t miss the edge in her tone when she said that, meaning she thought the old man had a hidden agenda. But just moments earlier, she had also said she trusted this guy… so which was true? Finn was confused, but decided it wasn’t the time to ask. The old man laughed awkwardly and rubbed his chin under Evelyn’s beautiful yet sharp gaze, shifting uncomfortably.

“Ahaha… don’t worry, Lady Carmen. I wouldn’t dream of hurting your lover.”

“Is that so?” Evelyn smiled alluringly, tapping her chin. “In that case, I can rest assured.”

Finn didn’t understand the meaning of her words, but he did know he had a job to complete. Placing his hands on the glass case once more, he made up his mind to open it up to the full this time.

“…!”

As he raised the glass, the same wave of powerful, ominous purple energy shot out of the sword, but this time, he did not waver. His armor lit up purple in response, including his visor and the two translucent horns of light that passed through the top of his hood. A stream of strength rushed through his body as the Voidheart essence in his armor reacted with the sword’s, and Finn gritted his teeth as he removed the case completely, tossing it to one side and shattering the glass to pieces. However, right now, that was the least of his concerns.

His gaze was focused solely on the single eye embedded within the sword’s blade near the hilt at the top, which seemed to stare ominously back at him. And then, to his surprise, he suddenly heard a deep, monstrous voice, growl human speech.

“… Kid. You wish to be my user?”

“What is this…? You some kind of demon, trapped inside a sword?”

“Hm…?” Evelyn tilted her head slightly, confused at Finn’s words that seemed to be directed at… an inanimate object.

“Ha! No, no, no,” the sword growled. “I am no demon. I am a sword, nothing more, nothing less.”

“A sword… that can talk,” Finn muttered.

“Oh…?” Evelyn shut one eye wryly, curiosity piqued.

“I must warn you, boy. In all my eons of existence, no one has managed to move me. What makes you think you can?”

“It’s simple,” Finn said darkly, lifting his hand and wrapping it tightly around the sword’s hilt. “None of those people… wielded the power of the Voidheart.”

“Hoho… it is true, I can sense the Void energy flowing through your body,” the sword said. “It is also true that you are the first of all said people who could hear and understand what I am saying.”

“I see…”

“However,” the sword suddenly continued. “Just because you wield the same power that forged me, does not mean you have the capabilities to handle my strength. If you can pull me out of this display case… I will deem you worthy of being my user.”

Finn knew better than to trust talking swords. This was, without a doubt, a trick. The moment that sword left this display case, it would go on a rampage, or something along those lines. However, Finn was determined. He will subjugate this blade, and claim it as his own.

Slowly, he put his other hand on the hilt of the sword as well, and began pulling upwards. The material the sword was embedded in looked like Styrofoam, but in reality, it was enchanted to be as hard as stone. Pulling this sword out of it would be no easy task… but that wasn’t what he was intending on doing anyway.

“… Heh.”

Simultaneously, two laughs rang out. One, the sword’s, thinking he had successfully fooled the man before him. And the other, the old man’s, a look of greed on his face. Evelyn didn’t miss this, and narrowed her eyes at him in caution, though she didn’t make a move just yet.

“C’mon, kid… is that all you got?” The sword taunted in that monstrous voice of its. “If you want to become my user, you’ll have to try harder than that to pull me out.”

“Pull you out?” Finn chuckled, and the corners of his lips turned up into a wry grin beneath the mask of his as a blue aura surrounded him. “You misunderstand, talking sword… my intention was never to pull you out to begin with.”