Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Midnight
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3 a.m. After a long wait, the light in Arthin's room finally went out.
The first to move was, as expected, the corpse fiend.
Was it because this monster of desire was holding back its lust in a way that didn't suit it? Foam bubbled at the corners of its mouth as the boy desperately sprinted toward the dormitory.
"Hee hee, finally, finally!"
Unaware of how grotesquely its expression had twisted—completely out of sync with the act it had been playing—the corpse fiend barely suppressed its demonic energy and arrived beneath the window.
Of course, the protective magic enveloping the entire dormitory was clearly visible to the corpse fiend's eyes. But it didn't matter. With a light tap on the wall, it carved out a gap in the barrier. Grinning, the fiend began scaling the wall.
"Hehe, the unicorn-approved virgin, finally! I'm going to taste her!"
Pfsh!
The moment the corpse fiend's arm casually smashed toward Arthin's window, a sharp dagger flew in and embedded itself in the back of its hand. Daniel's form couldn't withstand it, and blood burst out.
"Huh? My hand? Who is it? Who stabbed me?!"
"Where do you get off thinking you can sneak into Young Master Arthin's chambers with that filthy, vulgar lust of yours?"
As the corpse fiend leaped down from the wall in rage, Sion Idris emerged from the bushes, twirling her dagger. Normally, she would have been a decadent beauty to stir the fiend's desires, but now she was just an obstacle. Rage began to boil within the corpse fiend.
"You damn bastard, you dared to wound my body? I'll carve wounds all over yours!"
Roaring in fury, the corpse fiend lunged at Sion.
*
Sion unleashed a mana-accelerated kick into the gut of the leaping brat.
"Kuwek!"
A kick using mana as a catalyst for acceleration held destructive power that even mid-tier magical beasts couldn't ignore once one reached knighthood. Naturally, the brat's body tumbled wildly into the forest beside the dormitory, crashing into a tree.
"If only you'd just die there, you bug-like freak."
Sion muttered sincerely, turning her gaze to the blue-haired boy.
Sion, who had experienced countless battlefields and subjugations as a promising talent in the Empire, had faintly sensed the demonic energy leaking from him when he cried out.
She had come to report on the task entrusted to her by Young Master Arthin and to observe his sleeping face, but now unease and relief welled up within her.
What if she hadn't come? That filthy thing would have dared to invade Young Master Arthin's room.
The mere thought that this abomination had tried to set foot in a room she herself wasn't yet permitted to enter filled Sion with murderous intent. She hurled the dagger in her hand at its vitals as it staggered to its feet.
Clang!
But the corpse fiend effortlessly swatted away the bullet-fast dagger. Seeing its hand stained black, Sion felt even deeper disgust.
"Demonic energy, huh? Must've made some pathetic contract with a demon, right?"
She didn't wait for a reply. Already resolved to kill it, Sion drew her rapier and began forming an aura blade.
"Die!!!"
As the corpse fiend pounced in a beastly stance, Sion smirked coldly and swung her rapier.
Before two seconds had passed, 24 holes riddled the fiend's body. Twenty of them were human vital points, so Sion was certain of victory.
But as if mocking her expectations, the corpse fiend tanked the attacks with its body, closed in, and swung a blackened fist at Sion's abdomen.
"Kuhk?! You goddamn monster...!"
She reflexively concentrated mana in her gut to protect her organs, but the sheer force still sent her rolling across the ground three times before she barely regained her footing.
By now, its form was far removed from the student Daniel. The withered, black-skinned figure resembled a Wendigo, a common magical beast from the North.
More dangerous than she'd thought. With that realization, Sion intensified the aura blade on her rapier.
"I can't let a monster like you anywhere near Young Master Arthin... Die right here!"
"Kill me? You? I'll rape you to death in front of Arthin!"
Their intentions aligned perfectly: kill the opponent. Their forms clashed in midair.
Slash! Slash! Clang!
The corpse fiend held the edge in physical ability thanks to its demonic energy aura, but since it hadn't fully shed its human skin, the advantage wasn't overwhelming.
But Sion's mind had cooled to icy clarity with killing intent, and her sharpened swordsmanship shredded the fiend's body.
"Not enough! That won't kill me, idiot!"
Yet the corpse fiend's resilience surpassed Sion's expectations. No matter how many times she targeted vitals or joints to disable it, the fiend endured her near-lightning rapier strikes purely through regeneration and durability.
Against this type of demon beast or demon, greatswords or longswords were effective. Sion's vital-point-focused style wasn't ideal; she could only whittle it down until its regeneration gave out.
"Tch, tough as a cockroach!"
As Sion accelerated her assault, the holes in its body exceeded a hundred, but its regeneration still outpaced her attacks.
"You're the annoying fly here! Die!"
When the fiend's claws finally caught up to her movements through her onslaught, Sion raised her rapier to parry.
Boom!!!
But this impact was on another level from the earlier abdominal hit. The claw, cloaked in denser demonic energy, shattered her rapier along with the aura blade.
"What the...?!"
As panic flickered in Sion's eyes and the fiend's fist filled her vision, she hastily raised her arm to block—but her body couldn't withstand the shock.
Crack!
"Uhahaha! The sensation of bones snapping! So much fun!"
The corpse fiend laughed gleefully, pressing its assault. Realizing the monster before her was stronger, Sion groaned but didn't retreat. Her obsession with protecting Arthin numbed the pain.
Boom! Boom! Booooom!
Even blocking the fiend's punches—which could kill in one strike—with her bare body was impossible. Sion's defensive technique was masterful, but the limits of an unarmed, non-martial artist human were clear.
"That was fun! If you survive, I'll definitely use you as my personal toilet someday!"
The corpse fiend swung its black claw at Sion's head. She raised her relatively intact right arm, but there was no way it could block an attack that had shattered her sword. Sensing death, Sion closed her eyes.
"Ritual Holy Law—Exorcism."
In that instant, a brilliant white light erupted, visible even through Sion's closed eyelids.
"Ritual Holy Law—Exorcism." "Kaaaaaaaagh!!"
Hearing the monster's agonized scream, Sion opened her eyes in confusion, unsure what had happened.
"Finally, the thief who stole the king's power has crawled out! Time to show my might!"
"Don't go too wild, or you'll wreck the dormitory."
Arthin, leaping from the window with a pure white woman at his side, slowly placed his hand on Sion's body, enveloped in a holy light she'd never seen before. Her wounds vanished miraculously, and her bones began to knit.
"You must be exhausted. I'll take over now, so rest."
As Arthin smiled and stroked her head, Sion's face flushed bright red.
"Y-yes...!"
Why was this? This young master, 20 cm shorter than her, patting her head brought such relief that her tension melted away. She found herself nodding politely without thinking.
Suddenly, Sion recalled the fairy tale knight on a white horse from her childhood. A dashing prince come to save her.
Arthin Ludwig. My knight. My one and only knight...
***
"It hurts!! It hurts, damn it!!"
The monster's pained howls were deafening. Good thing I'd woven a soundproof spell into the mix when the fight started.
'Watching fights is pretty fun. Is this what it felt like dueling Sion?'
Truth be told, the unicorn and I had noticed the fiend the moment it tore through the protective magic. But we watched to prepare and to test just how loyal Sion was.
"See? She's no virgin. Look at her struggling against such a crude monster! I could've ended it in one hit while maintaining human form!"
The unicorn spat its virgin-hate as naturally as breathing and unleashed holy power, filling me with sacred energy.
⚙ TRAIT ⚙ Unicorn's Temporary Contractor [Open] You are temporarily contracted with a unicorn. Per the contract, you gain the same power as the contractor. The unicorn's contractor shares the divine beast's power. Prerequisite bypassed: Acquire holy power without a divine class.
Thanks to Sion buying time, the temporary contract was complete. I'd hit the fiend hard with an amped-up Ritual Holy Law using holy power I hadn't wielded in ages, and its wounds were visibly severe.
"Definitely cheat-tier early game. What the hell is this power?"
"Now do you grasp my greatness? A power far beyond what a non-virgin like you deserves!"
The unicorn shrugged at my mutter, as if it had heard. But I couldn't argue. It was ridiculously strong.
Holy power on par with top priests—back in my second regression, I'd struggled endlessly to control it.
"Uwaaaagh!! I'll kill you!!!"
Then, the monster I'd blasted away with Ritual Holy Law charged at me at tremendous speed. It would regret that.
"How dare you ignore me and rush past?!"
Crack!!!
The unicorn drove its fist into the fiend's side as it barreled toward me. The monster's body folded in half, smashing through three trees before it groaned in pain.
"If this is an early villain, it's a bit underwhelming. Guess cheating evens it out."
When people think "unicorn knight," they imagine one riding a unicorn into battle. But I still remembered vividly:
The unicorn, in the form of a child, ripping out demon necks in my stead because I fell short as a knight. It was pretty brutal.
"See that? Praise me quickly!"
If only it didn't act so damn chuuni. Sighing, I cast the 3-circle spell Mana Weapon to form a longsword.
"Finish it quick, and I'll buy you two carrot cakes. Deal?"
"Remember you said that! Don't go back on it, Arthin!"
Eyes on the fiend forming a pillar of black demonic energy, the unicorn and I slowly advanced.
I had no idea why this power thief had come for me, but one thing was clear:
The fiend was tough and resilient enough to shrug off Sion's swordsmanship.
The source of my stress. The culprit behind my stress-induced hair loss.
And the best cure for stress hair loss? Relieve the stress.
"I'll play with you until all my pent-up stress is gone."
The perfect sandbag had delivered itself right to me.