167 – Great Demon (3)
From noble mtl dot com
“You came to kill me…” .”
Standing with a majestic figure like a king, the devil looked at me with eyes that seemed to criticize me.
When dozens of eyes, all looking at different directions, turned towards me at the same time, I was intimidated by those eyes that did not show the slightest hint of human emotion, so I took a step back without even realizing it.
The devil’s eyes didn’t seem to be magical eyes with special powers, but just looking at them made cold sweat run down my spine.
‘I’m going crazy…’ .’
Before I even crossed swords, my body realized that the devil’s power surpassed mine.
There was no way to confront even one of them with ordinary means, but I still have the art of baldo, a crystal of wisdom created by mankind.
Believing in the art of swordsmanship, I held the hilt of the sword tightly and tried to stare directly into the devil’s eyes.
Then the devil smiled and said with a satisfied expression.
“As soon as he arrived, I wondered if there was some kind of crazy person, but now I see that he is not just a mouthy guy.”
“It’s so funny that a guy without a mouth would say something like that. “But what are you talking about?”
It was my loss to waste time with trivial chit-chat, but I couldn’t rush at him right away.
‘There are no gaps….’
It was a feeling I felt when I was with Elaine or Ganryu, but the devil in front of me was on a different level.
I had planned to run to Bell as soon as he showed even the slightest loophole, but behind that seemingly relaxed attitude, there was a wariness hidden that far exceeded my imagination.
The guy seemed to have guessed that idea as he slowly moved forward, smiled again, spread his arms wide, and said.
“I’ll let you sleep first.”
“…… What?”
“You seem to have skills, but when I look at your face, I guess you’re a kid who only lived for twenty years at most, right? I heard that humans place some restrictions on those who are younger and weaker than themselves. I am not a human, but if I came to the human world, I would have to follow its laws. So….”
When I saw him sticking out his chest and saying, “Hurry up and cut me down,” The heat rose to the top of my head, but I didn’t lose my reason enough to just throw away this golden opportunity.
When the enemy wanted to take his own life, I ran towards him to make his wish come true.
And the moment I got close to his chest, I uttered a true strike, vowing to make those eyes that were still smiling at me distort with pain.
Jinta was pulled out of the sword sheath with a sound and the wind was torn apart, ripping out the devil’s heart without being stopped by anything.
When I saw that the thing was flying far away, black blood with a thick consistency that felt more like nicotine or petroleum than blood was flying in the sky.
In terms of time, less than 0.1 Seconds passed, and the body of the guy, which would have flown farther than I could hear the sound of Jinta tearing the guy’s body apart, returned right in front of me.
‘…… What?’
At first, I thought I had seen something wrong or that the attack had failed.
However, the blood flying on the floor and the scars clearly left on his chest denied that thought.
Jjijijik!! Then, after hearing the sound of skin being torn and an erection being erected, I looked up and saw the guy smiling more excitedly than before and speaking leisurely.
“That’s a great technique. The sword is also unique. I have seen swords without a blade several times, but this is the first time I have seen a sword with the blade and back of the sword reversed.”
He spoke quietly as if he were reviewing a restaurant and slowly approached me, so I took a step back without realizing it.
The wound on his chest had suddenly regenerated, leaving no trace of it except for the blood stains left around it.
“I never thought I would meet a warrior like you as soon as I descended. So, since I am also human, I should do my best without looking down on myself.”
As he said that and snapped his fingers, thick darkness began to pour from the sky and cover the area like a dome.
The world went dark for a while, and when the light returned, the plains had turned into a completely different place.
‘… Sun?’
The first thing that caught my eye was not the clear moon, but a crimson sunset that seemed bloody for some reason.
Perhaps it was because of the light of the setting sun that the ground was covered with red sand that looked as if it had been soaked in blood. It was easy to imagine why the sand was so red as there were bone fragments and broken teeth mixed in here and there.
Swords and spears were placed like tombstones around the tomb, just like the sword tomb I once visited. The only difference from the sword tomb was that they were all left old and rusty.
“Where am I?”
“This is my territory…. This is my imaginary world that is only visible to the warriors I recognize. “A warrior of your caliber deserves to sleep here.”
As he said that and raised his hand, weapons including a sword, a spear, and an ax were held in his hand, which had been holding nothing.
“I am Hornhuld, the Demon of Struggle. “Mortal, what is your name?”
“Ian Bartow….”
“I guess it’s a good name. “I will carry that name in my heart forever, so go without leaving any regrets.”
“Damn…. “I will never die until I prove that Baldojutsu is the strongest swordsmanship!!”
When I tried to pull out my sword to kill him before the medicine wore off, Jinta came out of the sheath faster than I could pull it out, as if a spring had popped out.
“What…” ?”
I looked at Nanga to see what was going on, and saw that Nanga was also sticking out of his sword sheath, showing off his red blade.
“This is my power. Did you say it was a technique used earlier? I am Hornhuld, the demon who oversees the struggle. “Sealing the swordsmanship born for fighting is as simple as breathing.”
Of course, I added an explanation that not all sword techniques can be sealed, but such an explanation did not reach my despairing ears.
‘You can’t use Baldojutsu?’
Then how on earth am I supposed to defeat that monstrous guy without even using a martial arts technique?
While I was thinking that, Hornhuld approached me, each holding a weapon in each of its six arms.
There is no time for despair. With the intention of taking at least one arm, I ran towards him, holding Jinta and Nanga out of their sheaths.
*****
When I woke up with a strange feeling pressing down on my entire body, the first thing I saw was Nana’s face.
Nana took off her helmet, which she had not taken off even indoors, and as soon as our eyes met, she had tears in her eyes with an expression of disbelief.
“Me, me… ? “Is it Nana?”
“Your Highness!! Have you come to your senses?!”
The surroundings were dark and I couldn’t see even an inch in front of her, but for some reason I could only clearly make out Nana’s face.
When Nana held her hand, she strangely felt that the strange sensation weighing down her body had eased.
I asked Nana while holding her hand, which was tightly holding my hand.
“… Nana, what happened? Here is?”
“Don’t you remember? “We were attacked by a mysterious group a little while ago and the incident was somehow resolved.”
“Raid?”
The moment she heard those words, her memories came rushing in like a tide and her head began to tingle.
“Ugh… !! Yes, it was. After I was attacked, Ian saved me… Then on the chest….”
After recalling that a dagger had been inserted into her chest, I hurriedly placed my hand on her chest and felt a soft touch that I should not have felt now.
I tried to quickly turn back into a man in case someone saw me, but my ability didn’t activate as if it had disappeared from my body.
“Me, me!! My body doesn’t change!! Why are you doing this?!”
“…… “Your Highness, please remain calm and listen.”
The story Nana told was so shocking that it felt like she was hitting her already painful head with a hammer with all her might.
I know this well because I have investigated the devil several times because of the devil inside me.
The devil is never an opponent you can face alone. This was especially true if it was a demon presumed to be the Great Devil.
“I have to get to Ian quickly… !!”
I stumbled out of bed and moved forward to go to Ian, but before I could get far, I hit the wall and fell down.
“Your Highness!!”
As soon as I sat down, Nana immediately ran up to me and asked if I was okay, but what I was worried about right now wasn’t about hitting my forehead.
“Nana… wake me up If you don’t go quickly, Ian… !!”
“Your Highness, calm down first…” .”
As Nana calmed me down, a cold wind tickled her body along with a faint light from the other side.
“I heard a loud noise and came…. “It seems you have come to your senses, Your Majesty.”
“Ha, Dean….”
I knew it, but it was a bit of a shock to hear that I was told to convey it to someone other than Nana in this form.
After half-standing, I almost crawled forward and approached the dean.
“Ian… What happened to Ian?! No way, already… !!”
“…… “It would be better to see it with your own eyes.”
After barely getting up with the help of the Dean and Nana, what I saw outside was a black dome that was darker than the night sky.
Suffocating magic energy and mana were constantly gushing out from the black dome that covered an enormous area.
“Dae, what on earth is that?”
“…… That’s the devil’s territory. “It can be said to be a type of barrier that embodies the world of one’s imagination with a devil’s special ability that can be used by at least the commander of the Demon World or the King of the Demon World.”
“That…” “A territory?”
I knew it from knowledge, but when I saw it with my own eyes, my mouth fell open.
“Hey, if you don’t go quickly and help… Otherwise Ian….”
“… I tried several times, but I couldn’t break in. Now all I can do is wait….”
As if to interrupt Marina’s words, a cheerful sound, like an egg shell breaking, was suddenly heard from the dome.
As we all turned our heads to see what was going on, we saw that the black dome, which had seemed like it would never collapse, was starting to crack.
“Huh, huh?”