Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: Ruby
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Seems About Right Though?
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"Get out of the way, you bastards!"
"Come out! Damn it!"
The mercenaries of the Carcus Mercenary Group roughly pushed citizens in all directions as they ran out.
At their head, Carcus was moving with the utmost urgency.
'Damn! Who would have thought that bastard was an Inquisitor...'
Because Rohan had deliberately caused a commotion while entering the city hall, that news had quickly reached Carcus as well.
'If that Inquisitor bastard kills Haviaton now... I'll die too...!'
Anxiety washed over him.
If he was an Inquisitor, he was someone who also possessed the authority of summary execution.
That meant there wasn't even time to stall with a heresy trial.
Having a heresy trial opened was actually something he had been aiming for.
If a heresy trial were to be held, the clergy would gather.
If that happened, on the night when the red moon rises.
Using the clergy as sacrifices, he could manifest a high-ranking demon in this land.
If he accomplished something of that magnitude, surely he would get not just a demon's minion position, but at least a staff position in a demon legion...
He had thought that way...
If he had just waited a few more days, the time Haviaton had spoken of would have arrived.
Then everything would have gone as desired!
Everything got twisted because of that bastard Rohan alone.
His teeth ground together.
Both that bastard Rohan and Baron Romhadi who had brought him in.
They would all pay the price!
Carcus quickened his pace with bloodshot eyes.
And finally arrived in front of the city hall.
Carcus gestured.
"We have one goal! Suppress the forces trying to slander Count Moden!"
"Yes!"
On the surface, it seemed like a proper goal.
But its true intention was blacker than the abyss.
'How dare you mess things up like this? Fine, let's see. You'll be on your knees on the ground, crying and begging.'
Carcus curled up the corners of his mouth.
No matter how much of an Inquisitor he was, his subordinate mercenaries were nothing more than ordinary humans.
Though they followed demons, unlike himself, they were human.
Still not demons, would it be okay to kill all these mercenaries?
No.
Inquisitors were, after all, those who dealt with demons, they didn't punish humans.
Then conversely, could he subdue everyone without killing anyone?
That too would be impossible.
Moreover, the other side had at most two people.
But his side numbered in the dozens.
The odds were definitely...
'On my side!'
The moment Carcus passed through the outer wall of the city hall.
"Waaaaaaah!"
"Attack!"
"You bastards who sold your souls to demons!"
Suddenly, forces came bursting out from all directions.
Carcus quickly rolled his eyes this way and that to assess the battle situation.
'What the hell is this now?' Damn...!'
He really thought they were pulling every trick in the book.
An ambush here too.
Still, their numbers weren't that great.
Carcus, who had been through countless battlefields and had done his share of banditry and raiding, was someone with exceptional judgment for reading battlefields.
He accurately analyzed the battle situation before even a few seconds had passed.
'We took control of the inside of the city hall's outer wall first. If we block the outer wall and defend...'
Carcus gave orders to his vice-captain.
"I'll advance first with just a few men! Block the entrance and don't let those bastards enter the city hall!"
"Understood!"
And he picked two reliable-looking guys.
"You, you! Follow me!"
"Yes, Captain!"
"Understood!"
And quickly stepped inside the building.
Unaware that all of this was a trap Rohan had laid.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A few minutes before the Carcus Mercenary Group came barging in.
I fought a battle.
The battle began with me.
I threw a punch and sent a knight flying, his face getting crushed as he died - that was the opening act.
Then all the maids simultaneously bared their teeth and came rushing at me.
Baron Romhadi was horrified.
He apparently couldn't have imagined that the entire group of maids were all demons.
"Gasp!"
Of course, nothing happened to me.
I had already figured out their true nature from that terrible stench.
I swung my left arm to block the demons' minions' teeth.
Crack!
I threw a punch to scatter lightning.
Zzap! Crackle crackle!
I drew my sword and began mercilessly slaughtering the minions.
Slash!
My sword dance continued for a while.
It felt like I was half caught up in madness, swinging cheerfully.
And when that frenzied sword dance ended.
"Ah. That's refreshing."
It felt like my insides had cleared out.
Like the feeling of taking a digestive and having indigestion go away.
With those stench-emitting bastards dead, my nose felt refreshed too.
The surroundings got a bit stained with blood, but...
What could be done?
Baron Romhadi would have to endure this level of cleanup later.
Meanwhile, Baron Romhadi seemed to still be loading the situation.
Seeing him just standing there with his mouth open, covered in blood.
I kicked up the sword the knight had been holding with my foot.
Then caught it and.
Thud.
Held it out in front of Baron Romhadi.
Then kicked the corpses sprawled on the floor with my foot.
"They're all demons. Every single one. Even if they look human, their insides are already monsters."
"......"
Baron Romhadi nodded while trembling.
I looked at him sharply.
"Get your head straight. This isn't over. This is just the beginning."
Then I gestured with my chin toward the maid lying unconscious face-down on the floor, no, possessed by...
The demon who was the real mastermind behind all these events.
"I didn't kill it. If I killed that bastard, Carcus would probably die too. Then his poison would spread everywhere."
"Y, yes."
"Tie it up with the rope we prepared and bring it over. I'll interrogate it directly."
"U, understood."
What followed was simple.
I tied up the demon and gave it a little electric shock.
And didn't it start babbling everything?
"Kyaaaaaaah! S, spare me! W, wait! I answered! Kyuuuuuuh!"
"Answered? You did. So what?"
"Argggggh! Y, you crazy! Argggggh!"
After cooking it medium-well.
The demon bastard fainted.
By that time, Baron Romhadi was also following my pace quite well.
Not fainting, not trembling.
Having knocked the demon unconscious, we compiled the information we had extracted from it.
"To think it was trying to summon a high-ranking demon... we almost had a disaster. Thanks to you, we overcame this crisis."
"Not yet. Everything ends only when we deal with Carcus."
"That's right. That bastard will come barging in soon."
I recalled in my mind the story Haviaton had spilled.
'According to what it said, it seems there's no way to spread the poison other than suicide.'
It seemed like remotely causing death or exploding just by thinking wasn't possible.
In the end, he would have no choice but to draw his sword and stab his own heart or slit his throat to die.
Then that meant I just had to prevent sudden impulsive suicide...
A small idea flashed through my mind.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Ugh!"
"......"
As they went a bit further inside the city hall, the faces of the two guys who had been following Carcus turned pale.
Carcus wasn't much different either.
Everything was covered in blood.
Torn limbs and such were rolling around on the floor... and crows that had smelled the blood were pecking at the windows with their beaks.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It was truly a scene from hell unfolding.
It felt like the darkest night he had ever experienced in his life.
Gulp.
He could hear the sound of one of the following mercenaries swallowing dry saliva.
But he couldn't scold him.
He too felt fear at this moment.
'Is this the trace of battle?'
Because a scene that could only be seen in nightmares was unfolding, his judgment almost became clouded.
But it wouldn't do if he too lost his composure.
He decided to think as calmly as possible.
'There must have been intense fighting. This is definitely Haviaton's nest, no matter what anyone says.'
The demon Haviaton was already using quite a few people as its minions.
From the knights in the government building to even the servants.
Only the lowly soldiers guarding the main gate had escaped its clutches.
So what could two holy knights possibly do in such a place?
'Right. There's no need to be scared. If they had really subdued everything, why would they be doing ambushes like that outside?'
After thinking that way, the scenery looked different.
Although the entire corridor was covered in blood, it began to look like traces of that bastard Rohan fleeing while resisting Haviaton's forces.
'He probably killed a few maids or servants, but ended up being chased.'
Only then did his mind slowly relax.
That wasn't all.
If Haviaton had died, he would have died long ago too.
He had been scared for a moment, but thinking calmly, it seemed there was no need to be afraid.
'Right. I'm about to become a staff member of a demon legion. It's ridiculous to be trembling like this.'
He steeled his resolve and decided he needed to boost the morale of the mercenaries following him.
So he turned around and opened his mouth.
"Don't be scared. They seem to have fought back fiercely, but those bastards are definitely not unharmed either..."
However, his words couldn't continue to the end.
Because at some point, one guy had disappeared.
"What? Why is there only you?"
"Huh? Wh! Where did this bastard go?"
He didn't even notice the guy next to him disappearing?
What was going on?
The fear he had barely suppressed began to creep back up again.
Caw!
At the sudden sound of crows, goosebumps rose along his spine.
But the sound seemed incredibly close...
"C, Captain!"
One mercenary called him with wide eyes.
Carcus turned his head following the mercenary's gaze.
Then.
Caaaaw! Whoooosh!
A flock of crows came flying down the corridor.
The two quickly covered their heads and crouched down low.
"What the damn hell...!"
Without even a moment to organize his thoughts, incidents kept erupting one after another.
The sound of the flock of crows passing overhead pounded his ears.
Their flapping seemed to suck his soul away.
A moment later.
When the flock of crows disappeared, Carcus plopped down on his bottom on the floor and dry-washed his face.
"Whew..."
He sighed and looked at the mercenary who had been next to him.
...He's not there?
"...!"
It was too surreal.
Was he having a nightmare?
One by one, they kept disappearing.
Everything visible was crimson blood.
Only he remained alone.
"I'm going crazy! Damn!"
An empty shout echoed in the corridor.
The next moment.
Thud, thud.
He could feel footsteps approaching.
"Damn, what now! Come on, yeah. Come at me! You damn bastards!"
With trembling hands, he drew the sword from his side.
Shing!
The sound of the sharp blade made his hair stand on end.
Before his eyes.
Two figures appeared.
One was.
"Haviaton?"
Haviaton, charred black and barely breathing.
The other was Rohan, holding the back of Haviaton's neck.
Rohan... grinned and opened his mouth.
"Welcome to hell, demon bastard."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The moment that bastard Carcus's gaze focused on me.
Baron Romhadi, who had been hiding in the corner, launched himself.
Baron Romhadi swung his sword and cut the belt tied around the guy's waist.
Slash!
Then daggers and other weapons clattered to the floor.
It was a strategy to prevent sudden suicide.
"Damn...!"
Carcus's face clearly showed his bewilderment at the unexpected ambush.
Baron Romhadi's movements were quite swift to that degree.
It was also his skill that had dealt with the two mercenaries earlier.
Anyway, now all Carcus had in his hands was a single longsword.
I curled up the corners of my mouth.
"Is becoming a demon your wish? Then enjoy the hell that's about to unfold."
"I must have looked pretty easy, huh. Hehehe."
He unexpectedly regained his composure.
Then he glared at me and snickered.
"You managed to catch Haviaton somehow... but if you kill that bitch, you're done too. You couldn't kill her because you know that."
Carcus's voice gradually changed bizarrely.
Along with that, various parts of his body began to bulge.
Crack! Craaack!
Thorn-like things began sprouting everywhere.
Blood vessels stood out and his muscles became more defined.
"Let me tell you one thing. They say there are occasionally humans who have particularly good compatibility with demons."
His bulk kept growing.
His upper body swelled tremendously, making his legs look short by comparison.
"When such people evolve into demons, beings much more powerful than ordinary ones are born! Just like me!"
His eyes had already become demon eyes.
The whites turned black and his pupils became blood-red.
His teeth grew wildly and protruded, and four goat horns sprouted from his head.
And his voice was already completely inhuman.
"Though I made a contract with Haviaton, don't think I'm on the same level as that bastard! Inquisitor? I'll show you that such a title is completely useless! Kahahaha!"
When his laughter spread through the corridor, the building seemed to vibrate.
My stomach, which had just felt better, felt queasy again.
And the next moment.
Whoosh!
The giant bastard instantly disappeared from my sight.
'Fast...!'
At this speed... it would be difficult to hit him with a sword swung with my right arm.
Just like with Siforeo.
But I wasn't someone who hadn't already experienced speed battles with Siforeo.
I closed my eyes and visualized the image of the Golden Spear in my mind.
Then, with a moment's flash, I felt heat in my left hand as a brilliant golden trident was created.
Immediately opening my eyes, I threw the Golden Spear.
The Third Eye and the Giant God Soldier's left arm reacted first at a speed beyond my senses.
Whoooosh... Thwack!
"Guh?"
The Golden Spear precisely pierced through Carcus's right arm and embedded itself in the wall, pinning him there.
"Grrrrrr...!"
From the heat the spear emitted, smoke rose from the bastard's arm.
I met the eyes of the bastard, contorted with pain, and licked my lips.
"Same level... seems about right though?"