Chapter 776: No Vice-Captain Abandons His Subordinates
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 776: No Vice-Captain Abandons His Subordinates
Rem stared down at the sleeping man’s face, a dark thought crossing his mind.
‘A single axe swing. That’s all it would take.’
Once a person reaches the level of a knight, their body becomes incomparably sturdier than any ordinary mortal's. Their skin toughens, their bones harden, and the blood surging through their veins flows with such intensity that their reaction speeds transcend human limits.
This was why they were called superhumans. Even so, no knight could survive having their head severed.
In other words, even a superhuman was vulnerable to a surprise attack while asleep—especially in a semi-conscious state like the one Ragna was in now.
Rem stared at Ragna, who was sleeping like the dead, then finally turned his head away. Even if there were moments he genuinely wanted to kill the bastard on the spot...
‘Not like this.’
Rem was a man of the West and a warrior. He was also Yayul’s partner and the father of a child. It would be one thing to defeat the man in a fair fight, but swinging an axe at the neck of someone who had fallen into a death-like slumber after a fierce battle? Even if he were reborn ten times, Rem would never stoop so low.
They had invaded the Demon Realm, breached a fortress wall, and razed it to the ground. It would be a lie to say the fatigue hadn't settled deep into his marrow. Rem himself had suffered his fair share of trials after slaying three giant avian demonic beasts and falling into a remote corner of the Demon Realm.
The Demon Realm was teeming with horrors that proved it had earned its name. A horned gorilla demonic beast had stalked him more stealthily than an owl, trying to snatch him from behind, and a ghoul with a needle-sharp snout had lunged to drain his blood. He had encountered mindless cultists—or things that looked like them—and creatures that could only be described as half-human, half-beast. He had even crossed paths with entities bearing strange brands on their foreheads, radiating sorcery power from every pore.
‘Those bastards were really something.’
He couldn't just ignore them, so he had cut them down.
After slaughtering his way through, he had summoned the wolf's soul to find his path. Thanks to the wolf's soul, his spatial awareness became extraordinary. Tracking his allies' scents, he had pushed forward—only for an eight-armed spider monster to appear and relentlessly spray webs at him.
From a distance, they fired arrow-like webs from holes near their anuses. There weren't just one or two of them; there were easily over a hundred. He had killed half of them. Their numbers were too great to finish off with throwing axes alone, so he had to deal with them one by one. They were tricky opponents, utilizing the terrain by darting behind trees and rocks.
He hadn't been in mortal danger, but it was impossible to clear them without burning through his stamina and sorcery power. Fortunately, once he slaughtered half their number, the rest fled.
After regrouping with his allies and throwing one last hand axe to save the lazy bastard, he had returned to the village. Since then, he had done nothing but eat, sleep, and perform exercises to stretch and loosen every fiber of his muscles. Even so, his entire body felt stiff.
‘I’m still not back to a hundred percent.’
Nothing was broken, but his overworked body was strangely out of balance. Sorcery, by its very nature, placed an excessive burden on the physical frame.
Well, he wasn't the only one suffering. The elf who constantly babbled about his fiancée was so pale he looked half-dead, and Luagarne had lost a forearm during the battle. He heard a skeleton human-faced dog had bitten it off.
Among them, the lazy bastard collapsed behind him was in the worst shape. Because he had overused his Will during the fight, he had fallen into a semi-comatose state. He had woken up exactly once, stuffed his face with food, and gone right back to sleep. At this rate, he wouldn't wake up even if a human-faced dog dragged him away by the leg.
“Yawn.”
Rem let out a long, pointless yawn, intending to laze around a bit longer. Outside the window, he could see two fools lost in thought. The fool Pel and the fool Ropode would probably stay like that until evening before coming inside.
A few villagers glanced at them as they passed. Now, more and more people looked at them with awe rather than fear. The village was quiet and peaceful.
‘Since we wiped out all the surrounding monsters, anyway.’
He could also see Roman rolling around on the ground nearby.
“You can do more, Brother. You still have strength left.”
The half-giant Teresa was helping him train. Beside them, Audin was smiling warmly—like a demon.
‘Smirking after tormenting someone... if that’s not a demon, I don’t know what is.’
Roman, with several massive stones piled on his shoulders, clenched his teeth until his jaw ached before managing to gasp out a reply.
“I... can’t... do any more.”
“No, you can. And please do not speak, Brother. If your breath escapes, you will lose the tension in your abdominals.”
The demon Audin lightly dismissed his rebellion.
They sure know how to have fun.
Rem took his eyes off the window and turned back toward the room. He was about to head toward the bed, but he stopped mid-step, his hand flying to the Descent Weapon at his waist.
The axe reacted, sensing an entity dripping with murderous intent.
‘When did they—?’
The question flashed through his mind, but there was no time for answers.
Creak.
The only door to the room opened, and a thick, unnatural darkness spilled inside. It wasn't a metaphor; actual black smoke coalesced and spread across the floor. It was broad daylight, a clear day without a single cloud, yet the moment the door opened, the room plunged into gloom. A sudden pressure, as if he had been dropped back into the heart of the Demon Realm, weighed down on him.
“If you’re a guest, shouldn't you knock first?”
Rem spoke as he drew and hurled his hand axe. His arm swung so fast it didn't even leave an afterimage. With a sharp boom of displaced air, the axe spun into a circular blur. The movement was so explosive that the spinning disc of steel seemed poised to shatter the opponent's skull before Rem had even finished his sentence.
The master of the black smoke deflected the projectile by snapping up the object on his left arm. A kite shield—broad at the top and tapering to a point—was strapped tightly to his forearm.
Crash!
With a deafening roar, the hand axe soared diagonally upward. A long gouge was left on the shield, and the axe vanished through the ceiling, flying so far it might as well have become a star in the sky. A massive hole was torn above the doorway.
‘I quite liked that one,’ Rem thought, staring ahead. It seemed unlikely he would ever find that axe again.
Aside from the left arm and the shield, the black smoke still blanketed the floor. As it slowly dispersed, a helmet with its visor firmly shut came into view, though the space behind the visor remained pitch black.
Clank.
The figure was clad in full plate armor. Not a shred of vitality radiated from him, making Rem wonder if he was facing a living suit of armor. The metal plates, linked down to each individual finger, showcased exquisite craftsmanship.
His sword remained sheathed, and his shield was held forward. In that posture, he raised his right hand and lifted his visor.
Thud.
With the sound of interlocking metal, a face that defied Rem’s expectations was revealed.
“Whew, so stuffy. Since you aren't wearing a helmet, I'll raise my visor too. But I can't take the helmet off. It feels like a part of my body now. Well, I'll leave the choice to you. Shall we fight with the visor down? Or up?”
Rem narrowed his eyes. Who the hell is this bastard?
Pel and Ropode, who had been visible outside just moments ago, were gone. The view through the window was now blocked by a rough, uneven wall. There were only two people inside the house: himself and the lazy bastard.
This was an abnormal situation.
Curly blonde hair spilled out from the helmet. The man had a remarkably handsome face. While he couldn't compare to Encrid, he possessed the kind of looks that would turn heads anywhere.
“Do whatever you want,” Rem replied indifferently. If he couldn't get answers, he would just do what needed to be done.
“Up it is, then.”
The man smiled, the confident curl of his lips plain to see.
Thud.
As he lowered the shield and drove its pointed tip into the floor, the stone ground gouged open. It was a clear demonstration of the shield's extraordinary weight. In that exact posture, he craned his neck, pretending to look behind Rem. Since he could already see the whole room, it was clearly a habit of exaggerated arrogance.
The blonde man asked in a friendly, gentle tone, “I only need to kill one guy, you see? So if you leave the guy behind you and go, I'll let you off scot-free. What do you say?”
Rem’s physical condition was far from normal. And the man standing before him looked more dangerous than any monster he had encountered in the Demon Realm.
‘I wonder how that castellan or apostle guy compared to this.’
Rem had delivered the final blow to the apostle, but since he hadn't witnessed the entire fight, he couldn't be sure of the power scaling. In any case, his body was in terrible shape, and his opponent's skill was difficult to gauge.
Though Rem appeared to be a battle-crazed madman, he was actually someone who assessed situations with cold rationality. If he weren't, he would never have survived as a noble-killer. Even back then, killing that noble and taking the bounty on his head had been a calculated move.
His current conclusion: fighting here was a disaster.
‘The house is cramped, and I’ve got baggage behind me.’
The relaxed demeanor of the armored bastard exerted a heavy pressure. He was a man who went out of his way to raise his visor to fight. He was absolutely no pushover.
But did that mean he should hand over his subordinate to survive? Abandoning a weak, groveling subordinate just to save his own skin?
Such bullshit was never an option.
“Fucking lazy bastard. Sleeping like there’s no tomorrow,” Rem muttered. He raised his Descent Weapon, holding the axe in front of his face. Raising his voice, he asked, “Hey, do you even know who I am?”
The man’s smile didn't waver. “How should I know?”
Rem smiled back. “Clean out your ears and listen well. I am Lord Rem, the Vice-Captain of the Order of Madness.”
Behind him, the sleeping Ragna flinched. He had been utterly drained after his battle with the Apostle of the Red Foot, having forced out his Will by relying on Sunrise. As a consequence, his body was entirely focused on recovery. Though he appeared to be sleeping peacefully, he was aware of the world. He could force himself awake, but he wouldn't be able to fight properly. Hence, he rested.
Ragna trusted Encrid. He didn't necessarily trust Rem.
Yet, the corners of Rem’s mouth—the very man Ragna distrusted—curved upward.
“No vice-captain quietly hands over his subordinate. You wraith.”
Rem was a warrior and a shaman of the West. He caught a faint, sour scent from the opponent. The master of the armor was not human. That was Rem’s judgment.
“Vice-captain? Madness?”
The wraith did not know of the Order of Madness. With his smile intact, he tilted his head, lifted the shield from the floor, and drew his sword.
Shhhring.
The silver light of the blade blended with the surrounding darkness. It didn't push the dark away; it harmonized with it. The blade was shorter and thicker than a typical longsword, similar to the gladius Encrid used to wield, but straighter. It was well-suited for thrusting, or for use as a makeshift shield or blunt weapon.
“So your choice is for both of you to die?” the man asked.
“No, my choice is to kill you,” Rem replied without missing a beat.
“Ah, now that I can understand.”
The blonde man raised his shield, taking control of the cramped space. The momentum he radiated violently whipped through the room. His intimidation took physical form. Because his presence was accompanied by smoke, the smoke coalesced into a shape, revealing the power harbored deep within him.
A solid block of iron—a cube of metal that nothing could cut or cleave—filled the village hall. The square object made of smoke exerted a crushing pressure.
Rem tightened his grip on his axe. Baggage behind him, narrow space. No advantages, only endless disadvantages.
Then he just had to reduce the disadvantages and create his own opening.
Just as Rem had influenced Encrid, the members of the Order of Madness influenced one another. Rem had always possessed an outstanding tactical sense. He borrowed a page from the Encrid-style Orthodox Swordsmanship, which was derived from Luagarne-style Tactical Sword.
“Look behind you!” Rem shouted at the top of his lungs, as if someone had actually appeared.
“...Do you really think I’d fall for that?” The blonde wraith let out a scoffing chuckle.
Rem’s intention wasn't to actually trick him, but to catch him off guard with the sheer absurdity of the move. In that brief instant of the wraith's scoff, Rem’s axe soared into the air.
Boom!
The axe shattered the ceiling of the hall. Debris rained down. Thick, blackened wooden beams, chunks of stone, and ancient, compacted dust fell like hail. Because he had split the exact center of the roof, the entire ceiling collapsed.
Rem smashed through the falling debris, hoisted Ragna onto his back, and bolted.
“My, my.”
The man walked slowly as he watched Rem flee with agile speed. There was nowhere to run, anyway.