Chapter 175
Chapter 175
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 175
Chapter Title: Barundel Damascus
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Barundel Damascus.
Ever since his recent training session, his proficiency with artifacts had improved alongside the [Ash Pendant].
Even I, a veteran of [Devil Fantasy], wouldn't have been able to wield them like that.
It was the dwarven trait for handling all sorts of tools, amplified by his relentless training.
‘Well, there might be something I don't know about.’
Anyway.
The result was this.
Kurrrung!
Shaaaack!
A single streak of lightning plummeting from the sky.
Andras, who had sensed it and looked up, began to grimace.
Soon, a sharp slicing sound rang out, followed by a scream.
Slash-!
[Graaaah!]
Pssshhhh!
Gushing blue blood dyed the surrounding area blue.
On the ground lay someone's arms—perfectly fine just moments ago.
Andras quickly realized they were his own and let out a surge of intense emotion.
[Y-You dare! My precious arms...!]
Splatter! Splatter!
With a face full of fury, he picked up his severed arms, stepping over his own blood.
‘What’s he planning?’
I held back for now, watching closely, and a shocking scene unfolded.
Ssruk, ssruruk-!
Countless blood vessels burst from Andras's severed arms, wriggling wildly.
They latched perfectly onto his shoulders, squirming endlessly.
As if attempting regeneration.
The process was gruesome, but not all that surprising.
‘Regeneration is common as dirt among demons.’
For upper-class demons, those without it were the rarity.
Differences between individuals aside, basic regeneration was standard.
The problem was that this Andras guy didn't belong to that standard group.
‘...A Demon of Discord with regeneration?’
The strength of a Demon of Discord lay in ‘manipulating targets.’
They specialized in sowing discord everywhere using that ability.
In other words, they had nothing else.
Especially not something like regeneration.
‘Same with that [Death Knight] earlier... Something’s off from what I know.’
It seemed I couldn't assume this was a normal Andras.
At this point, it might be better to think of it as an entirely different entity.
As I made that judgment, Andras's mouth opened.
[I don't know what business a human has in the demon realm... but since we've met like this, it must be fate.]
“What are you talking about?”
[I'm saying this body will grant you all a gift.]
The moment those words ended.
Thud!
A fist-sized object dropped from the sky.
‘...A lantern?’
It was a lantern with thick iron and sharp protrusions.
No need to ask—Andras explained first.
[It's a lantern that stores souls. Abandon your flesh bodies and enter it right now. Then I'll give you immortal bodies.]
‘Hah.’
I could already tell what he was planning.
He wanted to turn us into [Death Knights].
He looked at us with expectant eyes, but immortality or whatever, it wasn't even worth considering.
“What if we refuse?”
[Heh heh heh, looks like there's been a misunderstanding?]
The instant I tilted my head.
Burruluruk!
A grotesque sound rang out, and Andras's right arm swelled up.
At the same time, he swung his massively enlarged right arm horizontally.
Whoosh!
Pah!
I instantly cast [Teleport] to evade, but my companions behind me weren't so lucky.
“Hup!”
Kwahng!
Thompson met the demon's right arm head-on without flinching.
Drdrdrdr...!
“...Damn it.”
He succeeded in blocking, but Thompson was being pushed back bit by bit.
The ground crumbled with each step back, showing just how much force he was enduring.
Andras sneered as if it were amusing.
[You have no choice. Unless you want to die.]
It didn't end there.
Kwagang!
As if waiting for this exact moment, Andras's minions sprang into action.
Even with one arm, he moved nimbly, attacking the group.
“Get lost!”
Roarrr!
Barundel and Kayla countered.
Meanwhile, Andras's mouth never stopped moving.
[I can't fathom why you're resisting so much. What I'm offering is nothing less than immortal flesh! The eternal life humans dream of!]
“So what? Not every human dreams of immortality.”
[Hahaha, as if! I've seen countless humans, and not one wanted to die! In their final moments, they all showed eyes begging for more life. You wretched beings!]
“That's them. Not us.”
[Ahh, is that so?]
His face remained smug as he continued.
[We'll see how long that mindset lasts.]
Kwahng!
Fully regenerated, he extended his other arm this time, sending Thompson flying.
The attacks then focused on me.
“Barrier.”
Kwagagang!
A tremendous vibration shook the barrier enveloping my body.
‘No wonder Thompson got launched with that kind of power.’
The thought didn't last long.
‘...No way?’
One idea finally clicked in my mind.
Why he had regeneration and why he was trying to turn us into [Death Knights].
The answer to that question.
“Ah, I get it.”
The reason was simple.
“You're a dead body, aren't you?”
Demon of Discord, Andras.
Because he was already a being that had died once.
***
Pew! Bang! Bang!
I relentlessly bombarded him with magic.
Perhaps due to the reversed tide, he spoke with a face that couldn't comprehend.
[...H-How? Just moments ago...]
“Weak power?”
He had every reason to panic.
After all, he'd been suppressing all my mana until recently.
Not just me.
Kayla, Thompson, and Barundel too.
We'd all held back our true strength while fighting him.
Because of what I'd said before arriving in the demon realm.
-In the demon realm, acting without information is the most dangerous thing. So we need to play it safe until we gather enough intel.
The demon realm was a place where any variable could pop up without surprise.
Every action needed solid grounds.
What kind of guy was he? What abilities did he have? What was his goal? What repercussions would killing him bring?
And luckily, I'd just finished assessing him completely.
“Of course. We were holding back.”
Now, it meant killing him wouldn't cause any issues.
Pew-!
[Graaaah!]
His shoulder pierced by the light beam, he howled in agony.
In the midst of it, a long scar caught my eye through his torn clothes.
‘...As I thought, a manufactured body.’
There was only one reason for that scar.
It was a part sliced from someone else's body and grafted on—not his original.
And it wasn't just one spot.
Rip! Riiip!
His clothes shredded mercilessly by magic peeled away, revealing scars underneath.
Arms, legs, neck, shoulders, waist, and more.
At a glance, there wasn't a single part that hadn't been patched together.
I calmed my churning stomach and asked him.
“Did you want to live that badly?”
[...What?]
“I'm asking if you wanted to live so badly you'd stitch together scraps from others.”
[...]
He clamped his mouth shut, as if at a loss for words.
He had reason to.
I'd hit the nail on the head.
“Funny. You called humans ugly for craving immortality... but you're the ugliest one here.”
I shifted my gaze to one part of his body.
The heart area.
Proof that Andras had already died once.
It was rotted away, as if long dead.
The puzzle in my head had snapped perfectly into place.
‘He was already a dead soul, revived for some reason. But to sustain that life, he needed a completely new body.’
That's why he'd steadily collected new ones under the guise of granting us [Death Knights].
It was the only way to prolong his life even a little.
Of course, even that had limits, so he probably didn't plan to keep it up forever.
He'd endured and endured.
‘Until he could become a [Death Knight] himself.’
Likely, once he found a perfect [Death Knight] body he could inhabit, he'd taken it over.
And from then on, he'd pretended to be an original one.
A truly demonic line of thinking.
Just the visible patches peeking through his clothes numbered around twenty.
Sacrificing dozens of people's bodies for that pathetic scheme?
Rage boiled up at the foolish choice.
Whoooong!
I gathered my mana and growled low.
“I'll turn you into chum like your minions soon enough.”
At those words, Andras, slumped on the ground, turned his gaze.
Beside him lay a demon subordinate who'd tried to protect him and ended up beaten to a pulp.
Yet seeing it only made Andras tremble harder in fear.
[N-No. No...! I can't die like this! The peak is right in front of me...!]
“That's why it's even riskier. Let's end it here.”
[A demon like me, to a mere human...?]
“Demon?”
A hollow laugh escaped at his brazen words.
“Where's the demon in you?”
Shring!
I pointed [Sword of Light] at each of his body parts in turn.
“Look at your body. Can you even tell which parts were originally yours?”
[...That's.]
He couldn't continue.
He knew it too.
Too many dead parts replaced—his original form was mostly gone.
Maybe that's why.
He was far weaker than I'd expected.
“You're not a demon or anything anymore. Just trash.”
With those words.
[Noooooo!]
Slash-!
I cleanly severed his head.
“...”
An awkward silence fell.
Everyone watched Andras's lifeless form with unreadable expressions.
“What are you all thinking?”
“...Just, I wouldn't want to go out like that?”
“Pathetic. Surprising such a thing was even possible.”
“I can't fathom what the hell these things think while alive.”
At that moment, Erebos, who'd been observing everything, murmured softly.
“The moment you try to understand demons, you become one. Humans.”
“...”
Erebos was right.
There was no need to even attempt understanding a demon's thoughts.