287translated
I Killed the Demon Lord. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 287
Luca of Monstrous Strength.
A holy knight who received the first fragment of the baptismal sword.
As his title suggests, Luca is incredibly strong. In terms of pure physical strength, there's virtually no human on this continent who can match Luca. Even the great Elijah might lose in a contest of strength against this guy.
In the Valent Saga setting, this guy is the strongest after all.
Luca stuck his greatsword into the ground. He didn't even force it in, just placed it down, yet the thick greatsword sank more than halfway into the ground.
"Everyone, stand back at least 50 paces."
At Luca's command, the holy knights led the blacksmiths away. Caesar handed over the half-unconscious Nel to a holy knight and then stepped out in front of the gate with Lefty.
The road in front of Giggs' house was wide enough for four carriages to pass simultaneously, making it not a bad place for a duel.
"Caesar, you have crossed the line, and by quite a margin."
"You mean turning Nel into a cripple?"
"Injuring one who has been baptized is a serious crime, but defending a devil is an even greater sin."
Luca showed the blue flame emblem around his neck. The blue flame emblem was vibrating continuously while emitting light.
"There is a devil inside Master Giggs' house. A holy knight has the duty to stop and deal with devils wherever and whenever they appear. This means we have the authority to enter and search even if it's inside a Master's house."
"Hunting devils is the sacred duty of holy knights, a tradition passed down for 250 years and the command of Goddess Dre. Yet you are blocking a holy knight's duty without any reason."
Luca wasn't like other strength-based characters whose heads were also filled with muscle.
There's a reason he's the Pope's first knight. Luca knew that the more he mentioned Nel, the less justification he would have, so he dug deeper into Caesar's charges. Luca put the blue flame emblem back inside his armor.
"Just for interfering with our mission, you, Caesar, are subject to heresy interrogation."
"If I'm a heretic, why would I have killed Belial, a six-horned devil in the demon realm? I also recently killed Smog, a four-horned devil. If I worship devils as a heretic, I've done something I should never have done. Why do you think that is?"
"Because you're a person who thinks of devil hunting simply as a matter of honor. My brothers and I don't hunt devils merely to enhance our reputation. For us, devil hunting itself is the purpose."
Luca pulled his greatsword from the ground. He pulled it out lightly, yet the heavy wind ruffled Caesar's hair.
"Knight obsessed with fame. I don't know what scheme you're plotting, but insulting the baptized and obstructing a holy knight's duty are acts of heresy. It's not too late, repent and clear the way."
Caesar spoke while cleaning his ear.
"There was a reason for all your chattering. You were trying to somehow persuade me with words because you're scared."
"Shut up...!"
"You are baptized. You're the knight who has received the most grace from Goddess Dre. Do you think you'll lose in this duel while Goddess Dre is watching? Why is your tongue so long?"
A vein bulged on Luca's forehead. It seems he wants to cut off Caesar's neck right away.
"That was Goddess Dre's final mercy and patience for you. But until the end, you reject the goddess' benevolence."
Luca placed a gold coin on his finger.
"If you don't want to die, you'd better give it your all."
Ting!
The gold coin soared high into the sky. Luca's hands were directed toward his greatsword, his gaze fixed on Caesar.
Caesar was looking down at Luca with a relaxed expression, not even taking a proper stance.
'I'll crush you in one blow.'
Originally he had no intention of killing him, but if someone looks down at him with such an arrogant expression, even Luca couldn't tolerate it.
Luca is one who has been baptized. He is a human who bears the sacred duty of the goddess in this sin-filled land. To insult him is to insult the goddess.
Therefore, there is justification in the man's death.
Clang!
When the gold coin hit the ground, Luca flew like a projectile.
Not as fast as Nel, but his power was extraordinary. With each step, like a bull charging violently, concentrated power exploded.
Luca's greatsword came down at once as if to split Caesar's head. Caesar twisted his body to the side just before Luca's greatsword reached him.
BAANG!
With a sound like a bomb exploding, Luca's greatsword struck the ground.
The ground exploded, leaving a long, deep cone-shaped mark. The holy knights and spectators had moved more than 50 paces away to avoid getting caught in the duel between Luca and Caesar, but that wasn't enough.
Holy knights caught in Luca's attack fell as they were hit by debris.
As Luca raised his sword. Heavy wind flew toward Caesar.
Caesar avoided Luca's greatsword again by stepping sideways. The heavy air pressure flowing from Luca's greatsword damaged the high wall roof of Giggs' house.
The name of Luca's greatsword, made with the first fragment of the baptismal sword, was 'Balsan (Mountain Removal)'. Made using the entire blade of the baptismal sword, it was a sword that amplified the strength of the baptized, and had the ability to increase the weight of the sword itself infinitely in proportion to the baptized person's strength.
The name of the swordsmanship that holy knights who inherited such Balsan learned was also 'Balsan (Mountain Removal)'. It was a swordsmanship whose core was to overwhelm opponents based on the enormous power that could uproot mountains.
Even if one did not take a direct hit from Balsan's attack, the Balsan swordsmanship was such that one would be overwhelmed by the powerful wind being pushed back and the pressure of pure power emitted from Balsan, unable to properly resist. But......
"Stop dodging like a little rat!"
Luca swung his greatsword at Caesar a few more times, but Caesar simply calmly moved out of the range of his attacks.
'......He's quicker than I thought.'
He had recognized it since Caesar blocked all of Nel's attacks, but Caesar's movements were as nimble as a squirrel.
Moreover, judging from Caesar's calm expression and tranquil eyes, he didn't even seem to be intimidated. It seemed like he wouldn't be able to hit him no matter how long he swung his greatsword all day.
'Then I have no choice.'
As Caesar avoided Luca's greatsword again, Luca flashed his eyes and strongly rolled the ground.
Thud!
The ground beneath Caesar's feet suddenly rose up, wrapping around his entire lower body.
Luca's greaves were not simple greaves but artifacts.
Engraved 100 years ago by the archmage of Gale Magic Tower himself with high-level magic, they were enchanted with magic that moved the earth to strongly bind a desired target.
Luca swung his greatsword at an angle Caesar absolutely couldn't avoid. No matter how strong he might be, if hit by Balsan, his shoulder would certainly be dislocated. But......
DIIING!
With a sharp noise that tickled the ear, the opal ring on Caesar's right index finger emitted a white light. It was 'Storge', the dragon language relic that Caesar had obtained not long ago.
Crumble!
With the light, the earth binding Caesar crumbled like desert sand. Caesar avoided Luca's greatsword flying toward him and then dove into his chest.
Then he struck the back of his knee with Lefty. Luca's armor was an heirloom passed down along with Balsan, containing as much as 50% Terra alloy.
In particular, Luca's armor was made of ‘Giant Tree’ to prevent his body's balance from being disturbed while wielding the heavy Balsan. It had the characteristic of becoming heavier the more aura was put into it, but being the second hardest Terra alloy after For Honor, it wouldn't even get scratched by ordinary attacks.
That's why even though Caesar's Lefty hit the back of his knee, it only left a small scratch on his armor without breaking it.
However, it couldn't completely offset the impact. As the joint folded, Luca fell straight backward.
"Bam!"
Falling flat on his back, Luca was momentarily unable to breathe, crushed by the weight of his armor.
"I thought you'd at least be a lower version of Elijah, but you're nothing like him."
When Luca saw Caesar looking down at him with disappointed eyes, his anger flared up. It was because of his arrogant attitude, looking down at him leisurely despite it being a perfect time to attack.
"Aaaah!"
Luca swung his greatsword while still on the ground. Caesar lightly avoided the attack, giving Luca time to get up. Luca's teeth gritted from wounded pride.
"Aaaaah!"
Luca swung his greatsword toward Caesar. Caesar watched and dodged Luca's attack while muttering.
"It's powerful but not fast, and if it's not fast, there should at least be a technique that steals timing, but there's none of that either."
DIING!
Luca cast the binding spell on Caesar again, but Caesar easily broke free.
"Just mindlessly swinging a greatsword around. No wonder you're called Shellback Luca."
"What? Shellback?"
"Yes. Shellback."
Caesar struck the back of his knee again. Luca fell backward again.
"The way you struggle while flipped over just like now makes you look like an overturned crab."
"You damn bastard!"
Caesar sighed watching Luca's attack. The ‘Balsan Swordsmanship’ that Luca used would be a B-grade technique in game terms.
It's a technique that puts infinite pressure on opponents by swinging a greatsword, and it works very well against knights who are mentally weak or not agile.
Moreover, since a weapon's durability would be completely destroyed after colliding with his Balsan once, it's impossible to directly face the sword. But that's the only issue.
Balsan is so heavy and always attacks at a constant speed, so if you calmly understand the pattern, it's easy to avoid. And the fatal problem with Balsan swordsmanship is that after an attack, the back is very easily exposed, so you can easily win by focusing on exploiting this point.
Of course, it's tricky that you need a means to break the magic called ‘Earth Hand’ that he uses. But Caesar had no problem dealing with him because he had the draconic relic ‘Storge,’ which could break any binding.
'Still, I thought it would be a bit different from the game.'
Luca is known as the strongest knight among the baptized as the Pope's first knight. But from what he can see now, the Knight of Perfection, 'Tatiana,' seems much more difficult.
Tatiana's swordsmanship was truly fantastic and challenging from an opponent's perspective. But there's no tension at all while facing Luca. Is it because Caesar has grown too overwhelmingly strong?
Or is it because Caesar knows too well how to deal with Luca?
Or is Luca just a weakling?
'It's all three.'
Caesar dove into Luca's armpit area and performed a throw. It was a sword wrestling technique he had learned from Kos.
BAAANG!
A deep crater formed in the ground with cracks spreading like a spider web.
"Bam!"
Luca coughed up blood along with the pain of his internal organs being crushed. This was because Caesar had inherited the force Luca was using and slammed him down through the sword wrestling technique. Caesar kicked off Luca's helmet and placed Lefty on his neck.
"It seems Goddess Dre wants me to win, don't you think?"
Luca swallowed dryly as he looked at the sharp axe blade at his neck.
'......He's on a completely different level.'
Luca had rarely felt a wall in his life until now.
At most, perhaps when he crossed swords with Hero Yan or Mitchell?
Originally, Luca had no reason to cross swords with other knights. Luca's main job was hunting devils.
There were quite a few devils experienced in combat, but because he killed such devils by attacking together with other baptized individuals, he never had a chance to feel the difference in skill.
But now, having competed with Caesar, he understood. Luca is beneath Caesar's feet.
"......I lost."
"Yes. Now, take the others and......"
Clang!
In an instant, Caesar swung Lefty backward to block a surprise attack.
However, he couldn't block it perfectly. This was because the blade thrust in too quickly and at an angle that was difficult to predict.
Lefty slightly deflected the blade that was precisely aimed at the heart, redirecting it to the side, and the blade pierced his flank.
There was only one person who could achieve such speed.
Caesar turned around.
There was Nel, glaring at Caesar with bloodshot eyes.
"Die...!"
Caesar swung Lefty toward Nel.
Nel instantly reacted to Caesar's attack by ducking.
Caesar's attack was fast, but from Nel's perspective, who had received the power of swiftness, it appeared slow.
Nel swung his sword again to pierce Caesar's nape, but due to his crushed right instep, he couldn't achieve his usual speed.
Caesar barely avoided Nel's attack aimed at his nape and rushed at him. Surprisingly, Caesar was able to firmly grasp Nel's armor.
Thup!
Nel's evasive movements had already been read through psychometry, and because his right instep wasn't normal, rapid evasion was impossible.
Nel tried to drive his sword into Caesar's body, but Caesar's right hand, which had let go of the axe, blocked Nel's left hand.
"This bastard still hasn't come to his senses yet."
Nel momentarily froze, overwhelmed by the blazing red eyes. And Nel felt as if the sky and earth had been reversed.......
BAANG!
He was slammed head first into the ground.
Thuck!
Nel, with his head buried in the ground, looked like a bare tree.
Caesar spoke to Luca, who was looking up at him with fearful eyes.
"If you don't want to die, take this guy and get out of here right now."