Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Demon Sword, Diablo (1)
The separate cavalry unit of the Kingdom of Rohans, 'Cooper,' was stirring up trouble at the Imperial border while disguised as bandits, following the orders of the commander-in-chief in charge of the border area.
"Captain."
As the head of a platoon of about fifty men, Deputy Commander Polan asked the man standing in front of him.
"What is it, Colin?"
"I think we've come too deep inside, don't you think?"
Cooper, a separate unit of about 1,000 men in total, had infiltrated half of its forces disguised as bandits into the border area of the Morian Empire, specifically the Iskar County.
The military had deployed Cooper in small platoon units to prepare for pursuit.
"Sigh, honestly, I don't even know what we're doing here."
"We just need to follow our orders."
"But those orders are too vague, aren't they? To find a 'Grand Master' level entity that might be hiding in Iskar County? Even if such a being exists, which is doubtful, if they really do exist, isn't this basically asking us to die?"
"..."
"This is the first time I've received such an absurd order. Grand Master? Finding someone on par with the Empire's Archduke Quihiller, the strongest warrior, in this border region? Haha..."
"..."
"It's been a stroke of luck that we haven't been caught by the Lion Hearts so far. Moreover, we're about to reach within a day's walk from Iskar's main castle, and if we're caught, it's all over."
Deputy Commander Polan, who was also a viscount of the Kingdom of Rohans, was silently enduring his subordinate's complaints.
"Whether such a being exists is one thing, but if we were to encounter such entities, we'd be dead immediately, so what exactly is the high command thinking..."
In truth, Polan himself knew how ridiculous this order from the military high command was.
The order had come down just three days ago.
For some reason, the military's commander-in-chief had personally issued the order, which was to explore the Iskar border territory and find out if there was a Grand Master, a 9th Class magician, or a contractor of a Spirit King.
'But why specifically this border county?'
He had received intelligence just a few days ago that a young lord of the Iskar family had conquered an unidentified dungeon and recovered the holy sword of the Delphione Duchy.
And the search order came down barely half a day after that.
'Is there... Some connection?'
He had reports that not only his Cooper unit but also other organizations were moving on this search.
Though the order was unnatural and overly hasty to anyone's eyes, Polan still believed there must be a reason for the military high command to issue such an order.
***
Three days had passed since Rudian arrived at Baran Village.
'...What's going on?'
Rudian, who had been resting without any particular schedule, was puzzled by the unsettled atmosphere in the village today.
"I know. Honestly, the atmosphere isn't good."
"...What?"
He had expected to hear something like 'it's just normal,' or 'nothing special'... But Rebecca's response diverged significantly from Rudian's expectations.
"There's no sense of a poor harvest coming, is there? And it's not like there's any sign of invasion from the neighboring country..."
If there was a reason for bad news to reach this village, it would only be food issues or foreign invasion, these two things.
But unexpected words flowed from Rebecca's lips.
"It seems bandits have been appearing from the southeast recently."
"...Are they crazy?"
Rudian's expression twisted grotesquely.
This Baran Village is not far from Iskar's main castle.
This isn't a poor territory or a remote area beyond the reach of central authority, but an important border region.
Bandits and mountain brigands would typically be massacred by patrolling armies before they could even show signs of appearing.
Rebecca continued with anxious eyes while ladling stew for Rudian.
"Nothing's been confirmed yet. Since yesterday, adventurers who travel across the border have been stopping by the village to give warnings before leaving."
"The village chief didn't mention anything about this?"
If multiple adventurers were leaving such warnings, there must truly be something happening.
"It's getting late today, and since you're staying in the village, he seems to be carefully investigating, thinking he could use your connections if needed."
"I see?"
Indeed, for the village chief, having Rudian as a direct link to the count's family would give him relative reassurance.
But Rudian was more concerned about something else.
'Bandits, huh...'
The timing was too coincidental to simply dismiss it as chance.
'So they've made their move, as expected?'
Although it had been three years since Rudian possessed a body in this world, specifically the Iskar border territory, he had never seen bandits running wild in the border region.
'Then they're not actually bandits.'
Troops disguised as bandits.
That was probably the most likely possibility.
***
As soon as day broke, Rudian left Baran Village to search for the dungeon.
The location of the dungeon was mentioned in the original work, but it was only briefly mentioned in a single sentence.
Finding it in this vast land with just that one piece of information was a much more difficult and arduous task than expected.
"...Found it."
Two days into the search.
Thanks to the description in the original work that it was 'easy to find,' Rudian was able to locate the dungeon where the demon sword was sealed in 'just' two days.
Although it was originally described as easy to find, if it were truly that easy, it should have been discovered long ago.
In other words, this dungeon was merely 'relatively' easier to find compared to the discovery difficulty of the dungeons that appear in the main story of .
'Well, compared to having to defeat a demi-god gatekeeper, or collecting fragmented keys scattered throughout the world, or only being able to enter during specific times like solar or lunar eclipses... This is decent.'
Rudian chuckled lightly as he entered the dungeon.
-It's quite well hidden, but not impossible to find.
Adi chattered as he looked around.
-Why would a place like this never have been discovered over such a long time?
"Because they all died."
This was a place where no guardians or monsters existed to protect the relic.
Just a place where if you go straight in, there's one empty cavity, and in the middle of it is a single sword stuck in the ground.
However, even if someone were to accidentally discover this place, the moment they touched the sword, they would be annihilated without even leaving a corpse.
'Completely abandoned place.'
Demon sword Diablo.
A demonic sword with the primordial demon king sealed within, and in terms of rank, it was a divine artifact that wouldn't lose to 'Grandia,' the protagonist's holy sword and the representative weapon of .
Originally, by rank, it should have been obtainable only through trials of the highest difficulty, like the '99-floor Tower of Heavenly Demons,' but it seemed the author had significantly lowered the acquisition difficulty due to the penalty of the sword itself.
'Since it carries a curse that can kill even a dragon in an instant, I suppose that's natural...'
Right now, Rudian was relying solely on Adi's protective ability.
In human history, it was from an era so ancient that proper records didn't even remain.
The primordial demon king Diablo, who was sealed during a war that took place before the dawn of civilization, has been trapped here until now, unable to find someone who could endure the curse of the sword.
'If this guy were to be released, Chapter 1's Second Heaven-Demon Great War would end in victory for the demon realm...'
In the original work, it appeared in the middle to late parts when the power balance had already shifted to the mythical era, so it just barely made a contribution.
But if it were to be revived now, before the start of the main story, this being could become a powerful calamity that could overturn the entire scenario.
'That means, if I can properly handle this guy's power, I'll gain the strength to rewrite the scenario itself.'
The important thing was whether Adi's protective ability could overcome the curse.
Rudian couldn't hide his tension as he asked Adi.
"Will it really be okay?"
Even though Adi had effortlessly blocked 9th Class spells, what they were about to face was a curse from the mythical era.
It wasn't unreasonable for Rudian to be anxious.
-I'm not particularly worried.
"...Really?"
-According to Master, he is one of the demon kings who participated in the Second Heaven-Demon Great War, correct?
"That's right."
-Although I wasn't involved in the Second Heaven-Demon Great War, I roughly know the level of the gods who participated. I won't know exactly until I see this demon sword for myself, but considering their abilities and the fact that it's currently sealed and weakened, I believe I can sufficiently protect Master.
Rudian felt a chill run down his spine.
'...Just how ancient is this guy?'
The Second Heaven-Demon Great War was a conflict that existed at least 10,000 years ago.
Adi said the ruins where she was sealed were about 3,000 years old, but thinking about it, the timeline didn't match.
'Perhaps it wasn't a civilization that existed 3,000 years ago, but a civilization that continued to exist until 3,000 years ago.'
In any case, Adi's assurance gave Rudian confidence.
-There it is.
Rudian and Adi thus reached the end of the dungeon.
In the center of a dark and cold space where not even light entered.
Like the sword in the stone from legend, a pitch-black sword was stuck in the middle of a small altar.
'That's it. The demon sword Diablo.'
A plain sword without any decoration.
Typically, demon swords are inherently ominous beings, but Diablo appeared to be an ordinary sword, just with a blackened blade, when seen from the outside.
In fact, this plainness was also a reason why Rudian chose Diablo.
'Whew, here goes.'
There's no point in hesitating since what needs to be done won't change.
Rudian grabbed the sword without hesitation, and.
SWISH!
The moment he gripped the handle, his vision went black.
***
'...Huh?'
In an instant, Rudian found himself standing naked in a barren field.
And he saw black ink pouring like a flood from a broken sky.
'I can't move my body...!'
Rudian's thoughts didn't continue for long.
As if a switch had been turned off, his thinking was forcibly stopped, and a sensation of losing the ability to think permeated his entire body.
How much time had passed?
Rudian regained consciousness after white paint had sprung from where the black ink was flowing and created something called color.
-Are you alright, Master?
'...How long was I out?'
-About 5 minutes have passed since I purified the mental contamination that was trying to take over Master's brain.
Mental contamination. Mental contamination...
As far as Rudian knew, the curse embedded in the demon sword was not just at the level of mental contamination.
The curse of demonization.
This was the conclusion drawn by Gray, the protagonist Abel's companion and the first human to reach 11th Class as a great Magician, after personally appraising the demon sword.
'The one who becomes the master of this demon sword inherits part of the power and mind of the primordial demon king Diablo, becoming a demon king. And they transform into an avatar of Diablo. That was the setting.'
But becoming a demon king is tantamount to transcending into a higher-dimensional being.
The problem was that there were almost no vessels in the human world that could simply accept such power.
Mortal beings like humans, even if they were Grand Masters, would self-destruct as their bodies couldn't withstand the power, making this sword essentially unusable by humans.
But now Rudian had Adi.
The reason Rudian could hold Diablo's hilt and still be fine was solely thanks to Adi completely blocking the curse of demonization.
Rudian swallowed dryly as he examined the immense power flowing through the demon sword's blade.
'The curse of demonization is a curse, but it's also a mythical power in itself. Even if I can't draw upon that power... This is enough.'
The demon sword Diablo was repleted with powers that could easily consume ordinary magic swords, quite apart from the curse of demonization.
And then.
-Hah....
'...Hmm?'
Rudian flinched slightly as he heard an unfamiliar voice flow into his mind.
A voice with a completely different tone from Adi's.
Rudian eventually realized that this voice was coming from the sword he was holding.
-It's been thousands of years since I've met a human.
The voice from the sword seemed to be grumbling.
-But this human will also die, unable to withstand the curse, damn it!
'What is this?'
-It's so boring being trapped here! Damn that Uriel woman, if I could get out of here... No, if there were even a being that could withstand the sword's curse, I would spare no effort to assist them!
-But such a thing is impossible. How could a mere human endure a curse that even a Dragon Lord couldn't withstand?
-Ah, how bored I am. She said the promised time was approaching, but I'm going to die of boredom before that. Human, don't give up! Don't be defeated by such a curse! You can do it! Keep going!
"......"
Rudian fell silent for a moment, unsure how to respond to this unexpected monologue.