Don't use Type-Moon references in Oregairu!

Haruno looked at her pitifully, while Yukino Yukinoshita just clicked her tongue.

"Don't use the cute expressions you use on stupid males on me."

Yang Nai scoffed, stretched his arms, and revealed his magnificent manhood.

Yukino Yukinoshita became even more irritated. She hadn't felt this way when Yui Yuigahama rubbed her with dumplings, but she always got easily irritated by this woman...

Are you jealous? No need, because I am the most beautiful.

That's right, there's no need.

Yukino took a deep breath, her expression calming down. She didn't press Yukino for her purpose, and casually said, "Then you can sit down first, I'll go change into my casual clothes."

After saying that, Yukino walked into the bedroom without looking back.

Yang was a little surprised—according to item eighteen of her "Special Attack Manual on Cute and Explosive Yukino," that action should have made her waver. Then, taking advantage of that moment of wavering, she could launch the next offensive and continue to toy with her cute little sister.

How is this going?

Yang Nai was confused; things had spiraled out of her control...

I'll have to update the Special Attack Manual again, sigh.

Pat pat, Yang Nai looked up, having lost the ability to speak.

Yukino came out wearing Mr. Pan's pajamas, which were designed like a panda mascot bodysuit, and she was also wearing panda slippers. She looked completely nonchalant and didn't seem to feel ashamed at all.

Moreover, this somewhat oblivious and slightly narcissistic look is definitely not the kind of expression my Xiaoxue would have!

But so cute! Adorably domineering! As cute as a muscular maid smashing the walls of your heart with a 10-ton hammer.

Yang Nai twisted his neck forcefully, making a cracking sound, and looked up at the ceiling.

Yukino pulled her long hair out of her panda pajamas, shook her head, and let her soft hair fall loose. Only then did she notice Haruno's strange behavior and asked in surprise, "Sister, what are you doing?"

"It's nothing, I didn't even notice the ceiling decoration in your apartment before..." Yang Nai said in a muffled voice, then paused, "It's so secure, it definitely won't leak!"

Yukino Yukinoshita also looked up, but it was just an ordinary ceiling. Why did her sister seem so strange?

Oh no, I feel like I'm completely losing. Haruno, Haruno, you can't go on like this. Didn't you say you were going to take Yukino Yukinoshita away just in case?

Yukino quickly composed herself, cleared her throat, and sat up straight: "Yukino, you probably didn't have a proper Golden Week..."

"I have an appointment with a friend to visit a patient tomorrow. We can talk about it later." Yukino Yukinoshita interrupted Haruno while stroking the Mr. Pan pattern on her pajamas.

Yang Nai was genuinely surprised this time: "You actually have friends?! Are there really people willing to be your friends?"

Yukino looked away from the pattern and looked at Haruno seriously: "Yes, friend, a very, very good friend. Even though we're both weirdos."

She said softly, "So, sister, I don't want you to bother them. If you want to know more later, I can introduce you to them."

Confident and determined, if Yukino in the past was merely wearing a fragile shell of feigned strength, then she now exudes an aura of maturity and independence—like a wisteria flower swaying in the wind finding a tree to entwine.

Yang became depressed.

Whether it's a woman or a man, they've started to speak with their heads held high, either because they're rich or they have a partner.

Ah, no, I should say: either they have achieved success in their careers, or they have found love.

How could Yukino possibly have the time to build a career that she could support right now?

So... which bastard stole our cabbage?!

She forced a smile and said dryly, "Haha, I'll be waiting."

Don't let me catch you, or you'll be in big trouble.

When one plan failed, she came up with another: "But Yukino, a friend I recently met in Fukuoka wants to invite me over, but I'm a little scared to go alone. Why don't you come with your friend?"

She shook Yukino Yukinoshita's hand and said coquettishly, "We can go eat seafood, visit Tenman Shrine, and even go to Kuroki Town to see the wisteria flowers!"

"Hmm!" Yukino's expression wavered.

Yang was secretly pleased with himself—although his emotional weaknesses had decreased, his preferences hadn't changed!

Yang continued her second attack: "And Fukuoka has a cat island, which is famous throughout Japan. I'd like to go and see it."

"Since you put it that way, I'll ask my friends for advice tomorrow." Yukino nodded solemnly. After all, she had to take care of her older sister.

And who knows, I might even meet a cat that won't mind me! There are all sorts of birds in a big forest.

Harano: planning pass り

Yukinoshita's result today: Draw.

-------------------------------------

Amidst the scheming and infighting among the sisters under the snow, Fujimaru Ritsuka felt a chill run down her spine: she had a feeling that someone was plotting against her.

He began to think suspiciously—ah, could it be that Hachiman Hikigaya spoke ill of me to Komachi? Good heavens, you still don't have any feelings for me? My friend, you've gone astray. You'll be sorry tomorrow.

Humming a little tune, Fujimaru Ritsuka laid out her loot from this dungeon run on the table: [Heart of the Primal], [Chains of the Fool], [Phantom Dust], and the metal she picked up from the Mammon ruins at the end.

It's time to get a demon sword and have some fun with it!

40. Forging of the Demon Sword

During her battle with Mammon, Fujimaru Ritsuka thought more than once that if she had a famous sword, she could kill him even faster.

Compared to Senji Muramasa, he only inherited a portion of the other's power and was still quite inexperienced.

Therefore, they can forge blades out of thin air without any scruples, and with these makeshift weapons, they can use the [Trial Slash] skill to hack a group of heroic spirits until they are covered in blood.

Even with her special attack against the King, Fujimaru Ritsuka can only target Mammon's weaknesses and may not be able to seriously injure him.

Give me a demon sword, and I would have cleaved Mammon in two long ago!

Fujimaru Ritsuka fantasized in this way.

So when he reaped the spoils, he was as happy as a gamer hearing that Hidetaka Miyazaki's new work was almost finished.

This is a piece of black metal, about the size of two palms, entirely black, with specks of red light shimmering on its surface, like the remnants of a star after it has burned out.

If you listen carefully, you will hear murmurs, the lingering echoes of an arrogant man's failed attempt to claim the throne.

It is inscribed with symbols belonging to Mammon. Mysticism holds that the inverted cross represents the material world as depicted by Mammon, while the circle represents the divine spirit. The inverted cross pierces the circle, presumably because Mammon believed that matter is superior to God.

"Metal, in a way, reflects the essence of Mammon, the wealth hidden deep underground. That's why it's so heavy and so hard."

Fujimaru Ritsuka applied slight pressure with his fingers. He could now easily crush the steel pipe, but he couldn't leave even a faint mark on the metal.

"There is also the [Heart of the Primal], which represents both holiness and curse; [Phantom Dust], which can serve as a vessel for illusory things; and [Chains of the Fool], which binds sorrowful souls."

Looking around at the materials, countless ideas flashed through his mind, and the collision of inspirations gave him a wonderful idea.

"So that's how it is... Huh?" The room around him was no longer the bedroom he had moved into less than ten days ago, but the Blade Tomb Wasteland where the crimson flames had never been extinguished. All four materials were still there beside him.

For once, Senji Muramasa wasn't forging a blacksmith. He smiled and looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka: "This is your first time forging a demon sword. I want to see it with my own eyes."

Before him was the set of forging tools that Senji Muramasa had always used.

"Alright, Master, just watch!" Without asking how the other party got him here, inspiration was like that female classmate when he was eighteen. If you don't take her while she's smiling at you, you can only look back with tears in your eyes later.

Cast aside all distractions, pour out your whole mind and spirit, just to forge your original weapon.

【flame】!

Crimson flames ignited from his hands, enveloping the metal block. Under the heat of the flame, the metal slowly turned red-hot and became completely pliable.

Based on her experience with Senji Muramasa, Fujimaru Ritsuka knew it was time to move on to the next step.

Swiftly placing the metal on the anvil, Fujimaru Ritsuka clamped the completely red-hot metal with a vise, picked up a hammer, and struck it down forcefully.

clang!

A wail arose, a lingering echo of resentment cursing.

"Don't stop! The Muramasa lineage must subdue all this nonsense before it can be called a demon sword, hahahaha!" Senko Muramasa, with his hands tucked into his sleeves, had changed into the wide-sleeved clothes of the swordsmith leader and stood aside giving instructions like a master watching over his favorite disciple.

Fujimaru Ritsuka did not stop, the hammer kept falling, and the screams grew louder and louder, then weakened with each fall of the hammer.

clang!clang!clang!

The hammer struck rhythmically. Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't wipe the sweat from his forehead. He used a vise to fold the metal, which had been hammered into a strip, in half, and then continued hammering.

"That's right! That's right! Keep folding and forging until you have a hundred layers, until you have a thousand layers, and that's how you form the beautiful [Earth's Skin]!" Senji Muramasa laughed heartily, as if he had just drunk the finest wine.

In the past, samurai swords required constant forging because the steel used for casting was generally of poor quality, with uneven carbon content and excessive impurities, necessitating layers of folding and forging. Therefore, if modern steel is used for forging, such cumbersome methods are no longer necessary.

But forging a demon sword is different: the constant forging is to remove unwanted impurities, expel the residual spirit and will in the metal, and ultimately preserve the essence of the material, which contains will and magic.

A long time passed, and with the help of [Flame], the metal remained heated evenly. Finally, the thousand-layer forging was completed.

Under the influence of the Muramasa-ryu demon sword forging technique, Fujimaru Ritsuka sensed that the original owner's aura on the metal had disappeared, including the unnecessary hellish aura, curse aura, and so on, leaving only pure resentment—resentment directed at kings and hellish beings.

"Qi, a special attack against all kings and all hellish beings? Very good. Although I look down on your mentality of trying to drag your kind down, this is good news for me."

Fujimaru Ritsuka grinned, then carefully maintained the temperature of the metal on the anvil, picked up the Fool's Chain, and instantly melted it into a lump of metal.

“Continue.” Fujimaru Ritsuka picked up the hammer and began to temper and hammer the metal formed from the Fool’s Chains. Another metal strip was quickly formed.

"Oh, the Fool's Chains are made of soft steel core iron, while the unknown metal is hard steel, right?" Senjimura stroked his chin and nodded.

Hard steel is incredibly sharp as a blade, but it is fragile and easily broken. However, by adding core iron and forging it using the cladding method, the toughness and strength of the samurai sword can be increased.

Fujimaru Ritsuka attached the metal strip formed from the Fool's Chain to the previous metal strip and swung his hammer down, hammering them together.

Picking up the previously formed metal strip, Fujimaru Ritsuka continued to hammer it little by little, shaping it into a long metal strip that already resembled a samurai sword. At this moment, he paused for a moment: "By the way, how do we quench it?"

"Oil quenching by hand."

"...This works too?" Experience and skill echoed in Fujimaru Ritsuka's mind, and the absurdity of the feat left him speechless.

He sighed and used [Flame] to burn [Brawler's Heart] to a semi-melted state, mixing it with [Phantom Dust] to turn it into oil, which he then evenly sprinkled onto the part that served as the back of the blade.

"Hey, watch my bare hands get oil-quenched!" Fujimaru Ritsuka reversed the use of [Flame]. He used magic to suspend the metal bar in the air, and then slowly drew away the air and heat around the blade blank.

The blade edge is formed by rapid quenching. The back of the blade, coated with oil, curls up due to the slower heat conduction, creating the unique curve of a samurai sword.

The blade blank was finally completed: its back was copper-red with purplish-black cloud patterns, and the blade was extremely sharp, yet it shimmered with a faint black light.

Senji Muramasa admired the sword from all sides, appraising it with his swordsmithing knowledge: "It retains the special attack against kings and hellish creatures. The combination of [Wraith's Heart] and [Shadow Dust] provides power and a physical entity, and also allows you to summon spirit-like attacks. Furthermore, due to [Fool's Chains], you can bind evil spirits as consumables for spirit attacks in the future. Although it doesn't suit my aesthetic, it is indeed a good sword."

Is it really that flashy? Wait, this feels familiar.