The return to Earl Ashur's castle was not the triumphant parade the commoners had staged in the streets. Inside the cold, grey stone walls of the keep, the atmosphere was clinical and heavy with the scent of old parchment and floor wax.
Arthur, flanked by the twelve knights and the two battle-mages, was led through the grand, austere halls. Banners of the Ashur lineage—depicting a hawk clutching a lightning bolt—fluttered in the drafty corridors. They were eventually ushered into the Earl's private study.
Earl Eral Ashur stood by a floor-to-ceiling window, his hands clasped behind his back as he watched the evening shadows stretch across Patrain.
He didn't turn immediately, his gaze fixed on the horizon as if searching for the invisible threads of the Yatan Church's influence.
"The silence from the north tells me the ritual has been silenced," Ashur said, his voice a calm, low vibration. "Report."
Kaisel stepped forward, his robes still singed from the Fire Storm. He bowed deeply. "Yes, my lord. The hideout is ash. Their forces are scattered. However..." He hesitated, casting a glance at Arthur.
"There is a complication. We encountered a significant number of 'Blessed' individuals—the wanderers—fighting alongside the Believers. Their coordination suggests that Yatan's reach is spreading into the mercenary and adventurer tiers faster than our intelligence predicted."
Ashur's jaw tightened. He turned away from the window, his eyes sharp and unforgiving. "If the common wanderers are being seduced by the promise of destruction, the shadows are no longer a hiding place. They are a recruitment center."
He looked at Arthur, his gaze softening slightly. "Patrols will be tripled. We will purge every ruin from here to the Gauss border. But for now... you have done more than enough. You look as though you've walked through hell and back, Arthur. Go. Rest."
[Quest 'Eradicate Yatan's Believers' has been cleared.]
[Affinity with Earl Ashur: Remains Maximum]
[Reward: 5,000 Gold Acquired.]
[150,000 exp acquired]
[New Title Acquired: Bane of Yatan Church]
* Effect: All Stats +20. Increased damage to Yatan's followers.
* Warning: Yatan's followers will now attack you on sight.
Arthur felt the warmth of the level-up light once more. Level 32. He was no longer the fragile blacksmith who had arrived in Patrain weeks ago. He was becoming a variable that even the Earl couldn't fully quantify.
The Earl's personal butler, Dan, a man whose footsteps made no sound and whose face remained a mask of professional neutrality, led Arthur to the Treasury.
The vault door was a masterpiece of mechanical and magical engineering—six feet of reinforced steel etched with anti-theft wards. As it swung open, the air grew thick with the smell of gold, ancient dust, and the sharp, ozone-like hum of high-tier magical artifacts.
"You may choose one item, Master Arthur," Dan said, stepping back to allow him entry. "The Earl's word is his bond."
Arthur walked through the rows of treasures. Gold coins were piled like sand, and racks of weapons gleamed under the magical lanterns.
'Ciel,' Arthur whispered in his mind. 'Record everything.'
[Initiating Divine Intelligence Core: Manas.]
[Scanning... Recording Blueprints for 'Ashur's Pride Spear'... 'Cloak of the Night Wind'... 'Heavy Plate of the Iron Hawk'...]
Behind the scenes, Arthur's reincarnation gift—the divine intelligence core of Ciel—was working at a speed no human could match. Every curve of a blade, every alloy composition of an armor set, and every mana circuit in a staff was being recorded into Arthur's internal journal.
He wasn't just picking one item; he was stealing the blueprints of an entire kingdom's wealth. He could forge replicas—or improvements—later.
Finally, his feet stopped.
At the far end of the vault, resting on a pedestal of white marble, was a longsword that seemed to hold the sun itself within its steel. The blade was a pale, shimmering gold, and the hilt was wrapped in white dragon-leather.
[Sun Sword]
* Rating: Legendary
* Attack Power: 1,110–1,266 / Defense: 1,280
* Effect: +30% Damage against Vampires and Undead. Agility +100.
* Skill Attached: [Sun Energy], [Sun Flash].
* Restriction: Advanced Sword Mastery.
Arthur's eyes widened as he read the description. He remembered this sword from the original lore of Satisfy. This was the weapon Eral Ashur had promised Grid in exchange for Pagma's Rare Book.
But as his [Blacksmith's Appraisal] dug deeper, the text began to shift and bleed into a hidden description that hadn't existed in the original game.
[Hidden Feature Discovered: Sun Sword Bathed in Sun God's Blood]
* Class Change Available: Successor of the Sun God (Ancient).
* Condition: Receives Goddess Rebecca's Blessing.
'Ancient?' Arthur's heart hammered against his ribs. 'Sobyeol...' He recalled the myth. The King Sobyeol had shot down the suns with his bow.
Perhaps during that celestial slaughter, the crystals used to forge this blade had been soaked in the divine ichor of the falling stars.
"This is it," Arthur whispered.
He didn't need the class for himself. He was the Prince of the Eternal Sun—a class that commanded the solar cycle itself.
Taking another sun-based class would be redundant, a "headache of conflicting mana," as he often thought. But he looked at the sword and saw Nana.
The Lightning Swordsman class he'd found earlier was Rare-Growth. It was good. But this? An Ancient Successor class? This would turn Nana into a god-slayer.
The S.A. Group: The Probability of Altruism
In the S.A. Group headquarters, Lim Cheolho stood before the Morpheus terminal, his eyebrows raised in genuine surprise.
"Morpheus, explain that class profile," Lim Cheolho commanded. "The 'Successor of the Sun God'... I don't recall that being accessible this early in the server timeline."
[It is an Ancient-grade hidden class,] Morpheus responded. [Its combat power is comparable to the 'Blood Warrior' class of the player Katz, but focused on pure destructive output and regeneration negation. It is a 'Counter-Legend' class.]
"And the probability of Arthur taking it for himself?"
[0.09%,] the AI displayed.
Lim Cheolho blinked. "Why so low? Most players would kill for an Ancient class."
[User Arthur's psychological profile indicates a high aversion to 'Class Clutter,'] Morpheus analyzed. [His primary focus is the Blacksmithing/Empire-building path. There is a 78% probability he will gift the item to a high-affinity NPC to bolster his personal guard.]
"He's giving away an Ancient class?" Yoon Sangmin groaned, burying his head in his hands. "Do you have any idea how much that breaks the regional power balance? A Level 32 player with a Level 300-tier potential NPC bodyguard? We might as well just hand him the keys to the castle!"
Lim Cheolho just laughed—a warm, deep sound. "He's building a Legend, Sangmin. He's not just playing the game; he's mentoring the world."
Back in the castle, Arthur grasped the hilt of the Sun Sword. The blade hummed, a warm, pulsing energy traveling up his arm. It felt like holding a living heartbeat.
He walked back to the audience chamber where Earl Ashur was waiting with Dan.
"The Sun Sword," Ashur noted, a flicker of hesitation crossing his face.
The Earl had planned to use this sword as a bargaining chip for a future deal—specifically for the recovery of a certain rare book. But looking at Arthur—the man who had saved his wife and purged the Yatanists—Ashur realized that some debts couldn't be paid with gold alone.
"It is a heavy blade, Arthur," Ashur said, his tone solemn. "It was forged in grief. Many have tried to wield it and found themselves burned by its light. Are you sure?"
"I'm sure, my lord," Arthur said, sheathing the glowing blade. "It won't be used for vanity. It will be used to protect the peace of the world."
Ashur nodded, though he was already mentally calculating how much more gold he'd have to offer that greedy adventurer, Grid, to compensate for the loss of this sword.
"Take it. It is yours by right of conquest."
Arthur bowed, his mind already drifting toward the inn. He could see it now: Nana's eyes widening as she touched the hilt, the spark of ancient power igniting in her soul.
He wasn't just a blacksmith anymore. He was the architect of a new generation of legends.
"Thank you, my lord. I'll make sure it sees the light it deserves."
As Arthur walked out of the castle, the sun was finally setting, but in his inventory, a new dawn was already waiting to be unleashed.