I stayed still.

But Meri went and did it. She pressed her face right against my back, stretched her arm forward, and pulled Virgo’s face in.

"Hngahh...."

The sensation of putting it into the Virgo sword carried the biggest sense of forbidden transgression. The hot interior of her mouth, no different at all from a human’s, made my holy sword even hotter.

"M, mmph?!"

Virgo hastily yanked her head back. It seemed that even Meri couldn’t overpower the spirit of a Holy Sword by force.

"E, eeek!!"

Freed from restraint, Virgo retreated far back from me. Then she started scrubbing at her own lips with her divine-power-filled hands.

"That’s the hand that just touched my holy sword, so I don’t think it’s going to wipe off?"

"Ah."

"Meri, this girl seems kind of dumb, how about we just look for a different Holy Sword?"

"It’s fine if she’s naive. Since I’m the smart one."

"In that case, fair enough."

A Holy Sword is nothing more than a tool anyway. No matter how much of a spirit dwells inside it, its use can change depending on the will of the owner who wields it.

You can strike down monsters with a Holy Sword like Count Aries, or you can belong to a legion and become a Holy Sword’s owner to fight for demons like Meri.

Vooom--!!

Pink light burst out in front of me. The beauty in the pink dress vanished, and a silver sword lay on the cold stone floor, its blade trembling violently.

"Heh heh, so you reveal your body and then turn back into a sword? You’re no different from those unicorn kids."

If she could choose between her humanoid form and her original form, then there was only one choice left now. I dashed forward in a single step and slammed the head of my axe down on the Holy Sword’s hilt.

Aagh!

I heard a scream. The axe of course couldn’t even scratch the hilt, but it was enough to pin the Holy Sword down. Pressed beneath the axe head, the Holy Sword trembled in fear.

"My holy sword, what do you think?"

Gyaaah! Aaaagh!!

"Big and beautiful, isn’t it? Thought so. Take another look!"

Fwip. Since I couldn’t lift my robe to either side, Meri lifted the hem of my clothing from behind instead.

"Even when it touched your divine-power-filled body, my holy sword didn’t break! Will you still deny it! That I’m the owner of a holy sword!"

I admit it! So please, please get that filthy axe off my body! Eeek!!

"Heh heh, look at this wench."

I laid the axe head flat and rubbed it back and forth against the blade. The more I rubbed it as if sharpening the edge, the more the Holy Sword’s trembling subsided. It was as if she was freezing up in terror.

"Heheheh, in the end you’re just a weapon, huh? Don’t look down on this axe just because it’s made of scrap iron!"

No! It’s touching! The crude iron filings are going to get all over my body!!

"I won’t stop grinding this axe until you turn back into your humanoid form! Turn back right now! Prove it again by touching my holy sword with your mouth and hands! That my holy sword is sacred!"

Nooooo---!!

"What are you doing right now?"

Meri let go of my clothing hem with a sigh. The look in her eyes as she gazed at me with a pathetic expression was taking in both me and the Holy Sword at once. I casually rested the axe I’d been grinding against the blade onto the Holy Sword’s crossguard.

"You’re not going to violate her?"

"...No, there’s no hole. No hole."

"You don’t necessarily have to stick it in. You can just rub her with your holy sword instead of the axe head."

"That won’t do!"

I shouted firmly at Meri.

"A life of ramming everything from human holes to horse holes! What matters is the act of ’ramming’! Look, Meri! Where in here do you see a hole!"

The Holy Sword Virgo was closer to a refined rapier. The blade was narrow enough that it seemed even thinner than the girth of my holy sword. Therefore, there was no hole for me to stick into.

"Good grief. If the hilt had a hole, would you have rammed it?"

"That sounds great. Should I do the four-sword style? One in each hand, one in the mouth, and one in there too. Hey, Virgo. Can you maybe change just the hilt part into the shape of female genitals? I’ve got to prove my holy sword, right?"

"Stop messing around. I’ll talk her into spreading for you properly later."

At Meri’s words, I lifted the axe. Just when I’d started getting into it, she’d suddenly turned into a sword, and faced with a body that didn’t even have a hole, I’d suddenly lost my sadistic urge.

"Tsk, what a shame. She seemed like a girl who’d be satisfying to torment."

"I agree, but let’s get the contract done first. Who knows? Maybe after the contract, she’ll turn into her human form according to my wishes. I’m definitely going to keep my virginity until I’m with someone I love."

Meri’s eyes were serious. At her blazing gaze, I covered my eyes with my hand.

"Pulling the wool over my eyes."

"Hehe. Then shall we make the contract according to the additions Dad made? Since we’ve already stamped the seal."

Meri reached out toward the Holy Sword. Whether it was because it was in contact with my holy sword, or because it no longer had the strength to move, the Holy Sword did nothing but tremble.

W, wait a moment! Adding a contract term! Adddiiiing!

"What now?"

I’ll protect my virginity! I’ll accept all the contract terms! But with that man in particular, please! Please don’t let that man’s thing touch my blade!!

"...If you rub my dick against your blade, it’ll get cut, you idiot. Ah, if it’s the blade, then it’s fine to rub the hilt, right? Deal."

Ah.

"You’ve got to be thorough when making a contract. You never thought it’d come to this after a lifetime of conning naive virgins, did you? You’ve really met your match today. Meri!"

"Hyup."

Grab.

Meri picked up the Holy Sword’s hilt herself. The pink light flowing from the Holy Sword’s blade began to softly envelop Meri.

Shooo---

Meri’s hair started to dye a full, pale pink. Now that she’d become the Holy Sword’s owner, divine power began to circulate throughout her entire body. Meri quietly closed her eyes, concentrating like a mage performing a ritual.

Crackle, crackle!

Suddenly, the Holy Sword’s blade started to writhe. Worried that something might have gone wrong, I gulped.

’I did do a whole lot wrong.’

Not content with arbitrarily adding clauses to the Holy Sword’s contract, I’d even gone and toyed with the Holy Sword’s spirit. If not for that guard called divine power, I’d planned to make her into a non-Virgo Holy Sword, but unfortunately my body was nearly at its limit.

"Ah tsk, this stings...."

As the tattoo faded, agonizing pain came rushing in. Aside from my rock-hard dick, my skin had been cooked red and stung like I was dying. It was at the level where it would take at least half a day for my skin to regenerate.

’At least I’m relieved I don’t sense any hostility.’

The Holy Sword’s blade was shifting as if to fit Meri’s body. It changed into such a beautiful form that calling it a magic sword fit better than calling it a sword a knight carries around.

Zzzing.

A deep green seeped into the crossguard of the Holy Sword that Meri held. For some reason, I felt proud, as if I’d dyed the Holy Sword in my color.

Whoosh---

The light that had filled the stone chamber was sucked into the Holy Sword. Meri, who’d been holding the sword still, lowered it and turned her body toward me.

"It’s done. This sword is mine now."

"Anything change? Like the spirit hijacking your consciousness. Or the ghosts of past generations dwelling in the sword raising hell inside your head. Or some side contract that deceived you."

"...Don’t worry. A sword is just a sword. Only,"

At the sight of Meri smiling bitterly, I gulped.

"The Holy Sword’s secret, I’m sorry, but I think I’m the only one who should know it. And I think I understand why information about Holy Swords is a top secret matter passed down only to their owners."

"Wait, why?"

"...Maybe Dad will be able to find out too if you become a Holy Sword owner. Only,"

Meri gripped the Holy Sword’s hilt tightly and bit her lip.

"The world might just be getting played by some enormous current."

"...The scale just got way too big all of a sudden."

"Hehe, don’t worry. None of the past Holy Sword users particularly cared about that sort of thing either. It’s just a tool, right? This thing. So...."

Meri smiled brightly and flicked the Holy Sword’s blade with her finger.

"From now on, so that Dad can eat and drink plenty, I’ll work hard to be a good daughter."

"...R, right."

Meri swung the Holy Sword behind her back and whispered in my ear.

"And now that I’m the Holy Sword’s hero... I’ll probably be able to take down the Demon King too, right? Hehe."

"...."

At first I’d just been trying to keep the Holy Sword from falling into our enemy’s hands. Maybe I’d gone and created an absurd monster.

***

Even though I’d ended up just putting it in the sword spirit’s mouth without even getting to come, in any case we’d secured Virgo the "Baroness." We’d also gotten our hands on a Holy Sword as an unexpected profit, but for now we had to keep fighting the war.

[Mom Lime will pretend to be the baroness, and I’ll assist at her side. Since we’re at war, no one will know even if I carry a sword around, and since its appearance has changed, no one will know it’s a Holy Sword either.]

I left Lime and Meri at the baron’s castle and hurried back to the dungeon. When I filled my subordinates in on the whole story, they were delighted at securing the Holy Sword while at the same time starting to worry.

"So because it might be dangerous if we touch it...."

"You’ll fit us with chastity belts?"

"That’s too cruel. Not even one hour, how can you do it for three whole days?!"

"Knew you’d worry about that part."

Whether succubi, dark elves, or high elves, they all seemed concerned about that area. None of them raised much objection to my choice of making Meri the Holy Sword’s owner; they only said they wanted to see the Holy Sword for themselves too.

"From now on I’ll have to classify Meri as a special forces unit like Galahad."

It was power on a completely different dimension from the divine power Galahad spread. Even with Luna’s seal filled to the brim, it didn’t amount to even half the power inside the Holy Sword.

"Our legion’s ultimate weapon is Meri now. Limited to anti-monster combat."

"...That used to be me."

Having abruptly lost the strongest seat, Luna sulked. I stroked Luna’s ears and comforted her.

"Even so, you’re still the strongest in our legion, aren’t you. That’s why I trusted you to handle all of basement 1 by yourself."

We Have a ...no, Luna. Even if she gets overtaken by others down the line, the strongest in our legion right now is still Luna.

"Just because Meri now has a Holy Sword doesn’t mean the plan changes. Instead, we’ll have to push the operation back to midnight tonight. Shaitan, what’s the situation on the front?"

"The subjugation force built catapults and began their siege. On the Allocen front, there was one small-scale battle while you were away, Master. No casualties, and we captured two cavalrymen. We’re extracting information from them now. And...."

"Here."

Luna brought over a double-edged axe that had been resting against one side of the wall. The axe, well-forged even at a glance, was so massive and thick that Luna had to hold it with both hands.

"What’s this?"

"A gift Gremory sent!"

"They say it’s something taken from an enemy knight. It’s no ordinary item, and it seemed like there wasn’t really anyone in our legion who could use it properly besides me and you."

"Is it that heavy?"

"More precisely, heavy enough to actually swing and fight with properly?"

Even Lune, who could be called the strongest after Luna and me, shook her head. Luna isn’t the type to use such a crude, brutish axe, so it was definitely a perfect fit for me to wield.

"Master, let’s use this to carve an axe mark into that arrogant Knight Commander!"

"...Ah, correct answer. Lune."

I vigorously hoisted the two-handed axe. It was so finely polished, well-forged even at a glance, that I wondered if it might be a dwarven weapon like the ones I’d only occasionally seen in Forneus’s Dungeon.

"Right, now that I’ve got a new weapon, I should give it a name too. This guy’s name is Shax, Shax."

Special-AXE. S-AXE, in the sense of a very special axe.

"Shaitan, is Eila holding out okay? Surely it’s not already time for the wall to move?"

"Yes. Only part of the outer wooden fence has collapsed; the enemy hasn’t even reached the rock wall. It seems like they’re waiting for something."

"...Dragging it out works against us. We’ve got to finish this before reinforcements show up for no good reason."

Thud! I drove Shax down and gave the order.

"The instant midnight passes, we take Spica Castle. Where’s the magic stone I told you to prepare?"

"I gathered them in front of the summoning facility. You can use them right away."

"Heheheh, right. My body’s going to feel a bit heavy until the operation starts, but...."

For the sake of human wave tactics, it can’t be helped. Fortunately, there weren’t that many soldiers "registered" as belonging to my dungeon. I’d dispatched most of them to Gremory’s and Allocen’s dungeons, except for the soldiers I’d mobilize for this operation.

"This is exactly when I should use the Solomon chance. Demon King, work those hips hard and send me some reinforcements!"

"Phew, phew. Wow, finally laid one. See it, pretty thing?" 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Of course, I’ve been laying eggs without rest for days. Hold on... what? What’s with this countless ghoul summoning request?"

"...This might be more than we can handle? Can you manage it, this summoning? Where’s it from?"

"Shaitan’s kids. What the heck, really. If they got crushed in a seizure battle and are flailing, that’s their own incompeten.... they’re at war with humans right now?"

The black-haired young man, who’d been stroking the head of the black-haired woman cradled in his arms, tapped the system.

"...Oh, Paimon. It’s me. Sorry to bother you in the middle of your recovery, but does your dungeon happen to have any spare ghoul eggs?"