"Here... I have broken the curse." he said, with the blade stretched forward.
Eh?
Artoria focused her gaze on the blade, and there was no doubt in her mind.
"Excalibur?!" she exclaimed. "Explain yourself! How did you get Excalibur? And how are you able to lift it? Am I going crazy? Or dreaming?"
"Hehe, nothing like that, a dream would be far too much of a stretch. It's something quite simple, really—" Ha Joon waved his hand as he spoke, "I just created an even stronger version than the one you have."
Artoria's soul cracked.
"Y... you created...?"
"Hmm, uh-huh..." Ha Joon nodded with a teasing smile. "Come on... go on, try it. Here, here."
Artoria took another look at the blade, seeing how identical it was to her Excalibur, even the mana was the same.
"How were you able to... make Excalibur... oh god." She sat on the bed, gripping her head as she tried to calm down. "Making a holy weapon is unheard of."
If anyone else had approached her the same way Ha Joon did, she would have undoubtedly ignored them and told them they were talking nonsense.
The same didn't apply to Ha Joon, since she knew him to be full of surprises. Doubting his words now would simply be her lying to herself.
With his pinky finger in his ear, Ha Joon looked to the side and responded, "You know, the usual... just take the blade already, you're asking too many questions."
Aahooooo~
Artoria took a deep breath.
"Okay, let's say you did make a duplicate Excalibur. How is that supposed to help with the curse? Even if I use this one you've brought, which I highly doubt is any stronger than the original, how would I break this curse without facing the punishment?"
°°°°°
"There's a punishment?!" he yelled, his hand on his head.
"I know a way to break the curse for good, but I'll need you to trust me."
'Yes, that's right. While I was trying to add qualities to the blade, Ceil mentioned something about it. Can't believe I'm just remembering it now... it should work. It has to work.'
Artoria stood up. "Trusting you isn't an issue, you've proven that countless times."
"Good."
He stretched the blade towards her. "Now, make a contract with this Excalibur, right now."
"What about—"
"Don't worry about it," Ha Joon chimed in. "Only one all-powerful Excalibur can exist in one world. The others will be considered unfit. And I can guarantee you mine is the stronger one. If you make a contract with it, the world will be forced to break the contract with the weaker one. Trust me, it will work... probably."
"You're not even sure?!"
"Just do it! We'll worry about the consequences later." He moved the blade even closer to her, mischief glinting in his eyes.
Artoria stared at the blade for a while, and with a sigh, she conceded.
"Fine."
She grabbed the blade by the hilt and raised it to head level, the tip pointing upwards.
The process of making a contract with a holy weapon isn't complicated.
It takes three important steps.
The first step is to allow the energy flowing from the holy weapon to settle inside you, taking over every inch of your magic circuits.
The second is for you to pour your mana into it, enough to completely subdue its own energy and tame it.
And the last step is to exact your dominance over the blade.
"I, Artoria Pendragon, command you to become my blade and serve as my weapon of glory during the battles I face."