Chapter 205
Chapter 205
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 205
Chapter Title: Enemy Night (5)
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“So, what’s the plan?”
Eliya was the first to break the ice like that.
Whenever something like this came up, it was the question she had no choice but to throw at Dawood first. Anyone who’d spent any time around him would know his tendencies all too well.
But this time, there wasn’t any elaborate plan to speak of.
If anything, it was just a matter of principle.
“Grind everything down and push forward.”
“...Easy to understand. That’s nice.”
Eliya said that while glaring ahead.
“Teacher.”
“Yeah?”
“Were demons always this brutal from the start?”
“...”
Dawood gave a wry smile as he followed her gaze.
Even amid the scorching heat billowing from the pillar of fire, one thing stood out.
From the earth being seared by that red flame, ‘black souls’ began emerging one by one.
They weren’t creatures emerging from dimensional gates. They were mere ‘byproducts’ leaking from the red demon’s demonic energy.
But.
These were spirits to begin with—beings so powerful that even after death, they left traces in the material world. For them to manifest their ‘true form’ under the influence of demonic energy was an incredibly threatening development.
In other words.
Just the precursor to that ‘awakening’ was causing this phenomenon, and the demon’s stature was such that if even one got loose in a populated area, it would spell disaster. Seeing dozens to hundreds of these spirits bursting out was dizzying just to watch.
“...Phase 1 start. This much is still manageable...”
“Huh?”
“Nothing.”
Seeing Dawood mutter something incomprehensible like that, Eliya let out a quiet sigh inwardly.
This man stayed utterly calm even in situations like this.
Calm—could she even call it that? Lately, it felt like all human emotions had been stripped away from him.
“...You said grind everything down and push forward.”
Eliya muttered that with a tense expression.
The spirits spreading out around them were glaring at them with hostile eyes. The redness in those gazes made it clear they’d been tainted by the demonic energy, their minds drowned in madness.
They’d view them as unconditional enemies.
“Those things... no way we can handle them head-on. As living humans, we don’t have many ways to deal real damage to spirits—”
“Hand it over.”
As she said that, Dawood pointed to the holy sword still clutched in her hand.
“I won’t show you twice. Watch closely.”
“...Huh? What do you—”
Before her question could finish.
Dawood snatched the holy sword from her hand like it was nothing.
Eliya immediately panicked.
“W-Wait, Teacher! Are you insane...!”
The words Eliya was about to say cut off with a sharp gasp.
Likely from shock that Dawood’s body didn’t explode on the spot.
‘He’s fine...?’
Then, did that mean he was the holy sword’s true owner?
“...”
No.
Not at all.
Just like with her, there was no radiant glow when he gripped the holy sword.
And he wasn’t unscathed to begin with.
The immense power flowing from the holy sword coursed through his body, but it was visibly ‘blocked’ by something before it could spread.
The seal engraved on his chest was glowing dimly.
It was a bizarre rune, but there was no better way to describe it.
Like sticky soot plastered to the bottom of an abyss. Like rotting things melted together into darkness.
That sinister energy was billowing out from within his chest.
Where his hand gripped the hilt, the holy sword’s power clashed with the energy from the seal. His entire arm was turning pitch-black and necrotic from the strain.
“Any normal human would burst apart the moment they grabbed this, but if you know the ‘principle,’ you can manage to some extent.”
Even as his body rotted from the inside out, Dawood explained in a flat voice and gripped the holy sword tighter with his left hand.
“The holy sword’s power flows from its core. Its ‘purification’ function, which severs all supernatural abilities, comes from there too.”
And then.
-!
-!!
With ear-splitting shrieks, toward the spirits charging at them.
“Even without the glow of the chosen one, you can still ‘apply’ its function as much as you want.”
He swung the holy sword.
And then.
-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The area around them.
Was purified in its entirety.
From the center of the blade, where the core was embedded, a surge of energy erupted, bathing everything nearby in brilliant light.
The radiance only a hero acknowledged by the sword could emit scattered across the surroundings temporarily.
And with that alone, every spirit enveloping the area evaporated.
In an instant, without leaving a trace.
‘...My god.’
Eliya gaped at the sight.
The first hero’s holy sword. The strongest weapon humanity could wield single-handedly.
She knew its reputation well, but not to this extent.
The holy sword’s glow was, in a sense, an ‘always-active effect.’
What Dawood had done was a crude imitation of it.
And yet, this was the power it unleashed.
He’d effortlessly produced a level of might that only saints among the living could achieve.
“...”
And what was even more absurd.
Was the very existence of this man who’d arbitrarily produced such a phenomenon.
Eliya swallowed dryly as she stared at Dawood.
If an unqualified person grabs the holy sword, they die. By the transcendent power bestowed within by the Seraph.
It was akin to a law of nature. To suffer only ‘partial’ damage like this, let alone ‘use’ its power, bordered on the miraculous.
With her truth-seeing eyes that pierced the principles of all phenomena, she could instantly analyze what had just happened.
‘...Impossible...’
What this man had done right now.
Was offset it with another ‘power’ implanted in his own body.
With the ‘demonic power’ accumulated in the seal on his chest.
Through the powers of various demons this man had gathered until now.
And putting it another way.
‘...How far gone are you?’
It meant this man had already strayed far, far from being ‘human.’
She swallowed dryly again as she looked at Dawood.
‘And how much further do you plan to go?’
Ever greater, ever farther, ever higher.
This man kept transforming himself that way.
A human storing ‘multiple’ demonic powers within his body. History held no precedent for such a thing.
It instantly explained why the top brass of the Holy Kingdom, the tribal alliance, and even the Empire watched his every move with keen interest.
But.
But still.
“...”
Honestly speaking.
It was frightening.
Gathering that much transcendent power inside oneself—there had to be side effects.
The viciousness of that energy she’d just witnessed was beyond imagination. If he kept harboring something like that in his body,
She understood the growth, but.
From some point on, with this man.
The aspects of him she’d ‘loved’ were fading bit by bit. That was the truth.
That foolishly selfless concern for those around him.
That carefree smile he showed sometimes, that awkward fumbling when flustered.
What had made her fall for this man.
The warmth, the coziness she felt from Dawood Campbell whenever she heard that voice, making her heart race like her throat was clogged.
All of that was gradually dimming. Fading.
He felt more and more like some mechanical ‘something’ driven solely by purpose.
“...T-Teacher.”
So even after witnessing that feat right before her eyes.
The words spilling from her lips were filled with anxiety somehow.
If things continued like this.
She had the feeling that at some point, he’d drift completely away.
“Allow me one question, Eliya.”
Cutting off her words like that, Dawood’s sentence dropped bluntly.
He tossed the holy sword back to her casually to return it.
“Do you happen to know why the holy sword hasn’t ‘acknowledged’ you?”
One clear fact.
Dawood wasn’t the holy sword’s owner. Hadn’t they just seen it reject him, trying to blow his body apart?
This sword’s owner was Eliya. She just hadn’t been acknowledged yet.
At that question, Eliya caught the holy sword and answered hesitantly.
“...Because I’m too weak?”
“No.”
Dawood sighed at that.
“Because you’ve been relying on me.”
“...”
Eliya’s eyes shook violently.
“All the events so far. Every crisis. Everything... happened under my arrangements.”
“...”
“This time, it won’t be.”
“...”
“In the end, you’ll have to do it.”
Eliya’s breath caught in her throat.
Her trembling eyes fixed straight on Dawood.
Everything up to now had mostly been handled by this man directly.
But now, he was drawing a clear line.
Making it an exception this time.
“Relax. You can do it.”
“...”
At those words, Eliya bit her lip and looked down at the holy sword in her hand.
Undoubtedly, an anxious expression.
●
[...She’s feeling the pressure. Obviously.]
Caliban’s voice came, chuckling like that.
Probably commenting on Eliya.
“There’s no helping it.”
I sigh in response.
“The moment she can’t wield that thing, I’m done for too.”
If Eliya can’t handle the holy sword, we won’t clear this chapter, and even if we luck out and do, progression afterward becomes practically impossible.
Whether for her sake or mine, it’s an essential step in the end.
[You holding up?]
“...Do I look like it?”
My whole body feels wrecked.
I’ve endured pain countless times before, but gripping the holy sword while demonic energy eats away at my body is a special kind of agony.
Even my iron man trait couldn’t block torment of this magnitude shredding through me.
[No, not that.]
“...?”
[Your mind. Is it still intact?]
“...”
[You can feel it too, right? That your senses are different from usual.]
That.
I had no real rebuttal.
I knew best that certain ‘emotions’ were gradually fading.
“...I’m fine for now. Still.”
But at least for the moment, I could hold on.
Still.
I felt like I was barely clinging to the last thread of my ‘humanity.’
“I trust myself, at least.”
[I trust something too.]
“...Huh?”
[Why do you think I gathered every demon vessel knowing you’d hate it?]
“...”
I had no idea what he meant.
As I tilted my head, Caliban chuckled in response.
[Well, you’ll find out soon enough. That you don’t have to handle everything yourself.]
“...No clue what you’re on about.”
I sigh in answer.
The massive pillar of fire rising was growing even larger.
“Let’s go, Caliban.”
I wrap my tattered arm with strips of torn cloth as a makeshift bandage.
It’s not proper first aid, but better than nothing.
Without this, I wouldn’t last going forward.
“Now it gets serious.”
Phase 1: pillar of fire. Dimensional gate summons. Spirit summons.
And now comes.
The part that makes every player scream that the devs are insane.
The biggest reason the Enemy Night incident was repeatedly called the Empire’s worst catastrophe.
‘...Phase 2.’
The ‘demon main body’ summon phase.
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