Published: September 9, 2025
Correction made on 2016/3/5.
This is Satou. "The protagonist who wields forbidden power ends up losing parts of his body as the price."
It's a common trope in shonen manga or hot-blooded protagonist novels, but when it actually happens to you in reality, it's no joke.
â—‡
I looked down at my left hand dyed in a dull jet black.
Back when I had chūnibyō, I might have shouted, "Calm yourself! My left arm!" and welcomed it with excitement, but now I could only feel confused.
The fingers still moved without issue, but there was no sensation in the hand at all.
With this, even if I replenish Nana’s magic power, it won't be fun, and I certainly can’t enjoy myself when I visit the shops with beautiful older ladies...
—If I cut it off, will a new arm grow?
Maybe I’m just tired, but such a silly thought crossed my mind.
Normally, I’d never choose that path, but at this moment, it felt like a divine revelation, as if it were a brilliant idea.
I stored the no-longer-needed Divine Sword in my storage and pulled out the Holy Sword Durandal.
Tapping the blackened left hand with Durandal in my right hand, I felt a hard, metallic sensation.
The blackened area extended roughly halfway between the elbow and the wrist.
I aimed for the skin-colored part, avoiding the blackened section.
With resolve, I swung Durandal down against my left arm.
With a light metallic keeen sound, it split into two.
—The Holy Sword Durandal.
A divine sword breaking... just how strong is the power I wield?
I silently scolded myself with a weary heart.
Magic power leaked from the broken part, stirring the wind around me.
I used the always-active "Magic Hand" to catch the flying blade and increased control to prevent magic from leaking from the sword.
I sheathed the recovered broken blade and inserted the remaining blade of Durandal.
When I tried a holy verse before, a small wound from the fight with the golden boar king had been healed.
I decided to chant the verse again, hoping for the best.
"《Eternal be》 Durandal."
A blue light overflowed from the sheath.
After the light subsided, Durandal was restored to its unbroken form.
I wouldn’t say I didn’t expect it, but honestly, I never imagined the broken blade actually reconnecting.
As expected of the reliable opening act. I’ll continue counting on you.
Now, let’s try severing the arm once more.
Touching the previously cut area, it felt no different from the blackened part, just skin-colored.
I stored the golden armor arm parts in storage and touched the upper arm area between elbow and shoulder with my right hand to confirm it was soft.
Then, I slashed with Durandal.
Red blood spilled as the arm fell to the ground.
Thanks to pain resistance, there was no pain, but it was not a pleasant sight.
I caught the falling arm in storage and pressed the wound with "Magic Hand."
Drops of blood dripped from the shoulder stump onto the ground.
—Then, in the next moment—
With a rumbling, shaking the air and ground, a bundle of green vines stretched from the earth towards the sky.
At first, thinking it was a plant-type monster, I backed off, but it was a sweet potato vine with leaves that stretched about ten meters high.
Aside from the abnormal scale, it was a perfectly ordinary plant.
Maybe it was caused by my blood?
I might experiment when I have time, but now was definitely not the time.
To prevent further bleeding, I healed the cut surface with "Healing (Aqua Heal)."
The bleeding stopped, but there was no sign of the arm regenerating.
This was as expected.
In mouse experiments, "Healing (Aqua Heal)" did not repair lost limbs.
Before taking out the high-grade magic potion, I pulled out the giant sweet potato with my right hand and stored it in storage.
I don’t want this tuber to become a new nuisance.
I retrieved a high-grade magic potion already filled with magic power from storage and drank it all at once.
In mouse experiments, this caused limbs like arms and legs to regenerate.
But after waiting a while, no regeneration began.
Did my plan fail...?
I sighed with a heart numb from fatigue.