Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Southern Kingdom (10)
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"Insufficient? Like a bug."
After drawing his Rigid Body Armament, he grabbed the man by the hair and began dragging him along.
The man twisted his body in resistance against the pain of his scalp tearing away, but would that do him any good?
Northern soldiers who had gripped their swords for half a lifetime wouldn't let go even in death.
It wouldn't be easy to escape from that iron grip that held firm until the very end.
As he walked further in, he spotted a man waiting there with his arms crossed.
Behind him stood something resembling an altar, and people were bustling around the structure.
Around the altar lay twitching hearts gathered in a pile, and at the center was the bluish heart of a Great Beast.
It was three times larger than a human's.
Strange symbols were etched into the floor.
Unknown glyphs.
He recalled the absurd plan he'd heard before about resurrecting some god.
Shamanism and a vessel.
He could roughly imagine what the plan was.
They must have intended to use the Great Beast's heart and Luella's body as the vessel to summon something akin to a Great Beast.
If he hadn't snatched Luella midway, things would have proceeded smoothly.
The man with arms crossed flicked his beast ears and lifted his head.
He let out a groan as if trying to act all imposing.
It only came off as ridiculous.
"What happened to the Sacred Mountain Sword?"
He impaled the man he'd dragged back onto the wall with his Rigid Body Armament.
"...You're talking about the guy who charged ahead of you."
"Can't you tell by looking?"
"He's dead. Heh, it's hilarious seeing that arrogant bastard's fate."
"You'll be in the same state soon enough, and you find that funny?"
The man's body jolted and trembled for a moment.
Right after that inexplicable shudder, he let out a deep sigh and opened his mouth.
"Such arrogance. Fitting for a fool who flaunts that ridiculous title of 'Sword Master' and plays children's games."
He gripped the sword leaning against the wall and assumed a stance.
It was a stance that made no sense.
Focused solely on form, it was bloated with unnecessary flourishes.
That wasn't swordsmanship—it was a dance.
He could charge right in openly, defenselessly, and counter from the front without taking a single scratch.
And that was the extent of this fool's ability.
"I am the First Sword of the South, the Heartlord Sword. Assume your stance. The Sacred Mountain Sword fell to carelessness, but that sneak attack trick won't work anymore."
"Sneak attack?"
"Yes. Sneak attack. Charging in without even exchanging names—"
He lightly stomped the ground, closed the distance in an instant, and delivered a kick.
The man, whose abdomen was kicked clean through, ricocheted off the walls like a billiard ball.
He flew dozens of meters before finally stopping.
Just from that one hit, countless thoughts flashed through and vanished from the man's eyes—it was plain to see.
"Something like this?"
It was an expression easy enough to read.
No need to strain to interpret it.
The Heartlord Sword, who had held his breath, exhaled a stifled gasp.
"Guh... h-heave!!"
Blood spewed from his gaping mouth.
To end up like that from just one blow.
He walked over casually, as if out for a stroll, and grabbed the Heartlord Sword's head.
"Get your shit together, you bastard. This isn't a sparring match."
Sneak attack, my ass.
He'd simply approached and sliced the throat with a hand chop.
That was standard in real combat.
Wasn't it common sense that if you came unprepared, you died?
He slapped the Heartlord Sword's cheek with all his might.
A resounding crack echoed through the entire cavern.
Mixed in was the faint snap of neck bones shattering.
He grabbed the Heartlord Sword to prevent him from bouncing away and fixed him in place, then slapped the other cheek.
Hit, then released the hold at the moment he recoiled.
The Heartlord Sword flew back again and crashed into the wall.
"Grh... ah... aaagh...!!"
He stepped down hard on the sprawled Heartlord Sword's body and swept his gaze over the people in the cavern, all staring fixedly at him.
They had stopped their ritual preparations, just watching him.
Fear gleamed in their eyes.
At that moment, a few even tried to flee.
He snatched the sword from the Heartlord Sword's grasp, imbued it with Wave, and swung.
Only after two or three escapees died that way did no one dare even think of running.
"Everyone, hands off. Move, and you'll end up like this furball."
"...!!"
"The one who conducted experiments turning corpses into Monsters, step forward."
No one raised a hand.
He looked down at the Heartlord Sword pinned beneath his foot.
He stared into the man's eyes.
He gazed into pupils revealing a complex mix of terror and fury.
There, he saw his own reflection.
It was a complicated expression.
Grateful as he was, today was the first he'd realized he could make such a face.
Truly grateful. Grateful enough to want to kill them.
"Then point them out. Who was it?"
No one pointed.
"If no one points anyone out in five seconds, I'll kill everyone here..."
He trailed off.
Then, chuckling softly, he changed his words.
"Or resurrect you as Monsters and toss you in front of your families. Then wake you up again. Just like what you did to me."
He fixed a piercing glare on the person closest to him.
All those his gaze touched turned their heads away, avoiding his eyes.
He began counting down.
From five to one.
As it went from two to one, someone shouted.
"There! That guy! It's that guy!"
That was the signal.
People near the altar all pointed at once, insisting it wasn't them.
In one corner of the altar stood a person dressed in particularly luxurious clothes.
"Wh-what? No! Tell them it's not me!!"
Crunch!!
He ground his heel hard into the Heartlord Sword beneath his foot and seized the person everyone had pointed to.
"The corpses handed over from the North. What did you do with them all? Resurrect them? Turn them into Monsters?"
"Guh... uugh!! Guh... let... go...!!"
He released the hand gripping her throat.
To snap her back to her senses, he stomped on the hand pressing against the floor.
He clamped down on her screaming mouth and pressed hard.
"The corpses from the North. Where are they?"
"...We... used them in experiments. For the god resurrection experiment. They failed, so we killed or discarded them. That's all. Really, that's all...!!"
He focused on the woman's words.
They'd used the corpses in experiments and killed or discarded any that revived.
And that was all? Really, just that?
What a piece of shit.
What do you mean, 'that's all'?
After pulling off such bullshit, not even a hint of remorse.
To ensure she couldn't try any other crap, he crushed her other hand too.
Ignoring the woman's horrific screams, he turned his gaze elsewhere.
"Those who knew about this experiment. Who knew who was involved. And yet allowed it to proceed, step forward."
No hands went up this time either.
"Point them out. This time, three sec—"
"—What pointing? You fucking retarded piece of shit!!"
A raw bellow—not quite a scream—pierced his ears from behind.
A scream filled with agony, resentment, and rage.
It was the woman whose hands he'd crushed, shrieking.
"Veil! Veil! You stupid fucking dog! Get out here and kill this bastard!! Kill him!!"
Before the words finished, a stone wall on the left passage by the altar shattered, and Veil burst out.
The werewolf-like furball, Veil, grabbed his neck and tried to slam him into the ground.
"...!!"
More precisely, tried to.
Until the arm was severed.
Lionel Veil clutched his severed arm and staggered back.
From his elongated, beastly muzzle poured something akin to a wail.
He stared at the wretched sight for a moment, then spoke quietly.
"So you're the older brother Luella mentioned, the one who went missing first."
Luella.
At that name, madness flared in Veil's eyes.
"If you don't want to see your little sister die, fuck off."
Misinterpreting it as though he'd kidnapped her sister, Veil roared and charged.
He smashed his fist into Veil's abdomen with full force.
Veil, unable to withstand the body shot, rolled his eyes back.
Glancing at the abdomen, the imprint of his fist was perfectly etched there.
The moment he turned to ask again.
What entered his eyes was the Heartlord Sword, shoving everyone aside, standing at the center of the altar.
While he'd been focused on the woman and Veil, he'd run to the altar.
Did he have regeneration too? His injuries had somewhat healed.
Bloodshot eyes glared at him, then twisted into a sinister grin.
"Cowardly bastard. Your mistake was not killing me in one go...!"
Those words struck him as oddly funny.
"Fine. Give it a try. But in exchange, prepare for a dozen holes to rip through the Delgaria Kingdom."
The Heartlord Sword plunged one of the twitching hearts from the altar into his own chest.
An incomprehensible phenomenon unfolded before his eyes.
The blue heart flowed into the Heartlord Sword's chest like ink, without any resistance.
Immediately after, black mist exploded outward in all directions.
Something crushed, compressed, bones twisting—the cacophony poured out.
Within the black mist, the silhouette of a standing figure warped, growing ever larger.
"Try sneaking up on me again, you trash...!!"
The Heartlord Sword burst through the mist, swinging beastly claws.
His body was grotesquely twisted.
It was a form different from Pale's he'd seen in the North.
Hard to call it human or beast—a bizarre shape.
The only word was monster.
He dodged the Heartlord Sword's attack and closed in.
In his hand was neither Rigid Body Armament nor any weapon.
He simply slapped the Heartlord Sword's cheek.
With a sharp crack, the Heartlord Sword flew far off and smashed into the wall.
His pupils shook violently.
The eyes of a monster realizing the situation had gone horribly wrong.