Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Hydra (3)
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One thing Carlyle knew for certain about the Holy Sword.
It emitted a distinctive radiance when confronting evil, true to its role as the symbol of the Hero whose mission was to stand against darkness.
The more wicked the target, the brighter the glow.
In that sense, the light filling this space made it immediately clear just how horrific the opponent Carlyle faced truly was.
He sliced straight for the throat, and under the sword's flash, the girl's head tumbled onto the banquet floor.
[Using the same trick as before, huh.]
A voice echoed steadily from within the Holy Sword.
[Approaching my father in a form that resembles me.]
Outwardly, it was the same emotionless tone as always, but Carlyle, who had spent so much time with her, could tell for sure.
This person was on the verge of exploding.
...Well, who wouldn't be, if someone exploited their feelings like that?
‘Calm down.’
[I am calm.]
‘...Calm down.’
Carlyle made another plea to Gray, who was anything but calm, as he approached the Grand Duke seated in his chair.
He struck the nape of the Grand Duke's neck firmly with the flat of the Holy Sword.
With a hacking cough, green smoke poured out from the Grand Duke's mouth.
After coughing several more times, the Grand Duke looked up at Carlyle with dazed eyes.
“-Carlyle?”
“Glad I made it in time.”
Carlyle grinned as he replied.
He really was.
The moment he learned a demon had been summoned, he rushed over—and just in time, or it could've been disastrous.
The situation wasn't over yet, though.
“-What is the meaning of this?!”
Grimbald Count shouted, his face trembling with rage.
He looked shocked by Carlyle's actions.
...Or at least, that's how it appeared at first glance.
“You madman—! What do you think you're doing—!”
“Yes. Quiet.”
Carlyle casually smacked the back of Grimbald Count's neck as the man bellowed.
Normally, as the head of a martial house, he might have put up some resistance, but he collapsed without a fight.
This guy was under 'puppet' control right now. No way he could manage a higher-level response.
It was right around then that the confused onlookers finally started reacting.
“What in the world is happening?!”
“I don't know. Suddenly, that man just... severed the child's head...!”
Well, without context, it would look like Carlyle had barged in and decapitated the girl out of nowhere.
If things stayed like this, he'd be the one in deep trouble.
Carlyle stared silently at the headless corpse on the floor.
...The smoke was truly bizarre.
And then.
Instead of responding to the growing clamor around him, he plunged the Holy Sword deep into the corpse once more.
Screams erupted from all sides.
Everyone recoiled in horror at the gruesome sight, unimaginable in an imperial banquet hall. Those confident in their own strength moved to stop Carlyle.
“......”
Rather than glance their way, Carlyle poured more mana into the Holy Sword.
Ensuring they couldn't just take the hits without consequence—ensuring they'd 'have to die.'
[......Kuh.]
Soon, every person in the banquet hall froze in place.
Black energy burst from the girl's corpse like a balloon popping, spilling in all directions.
No matter how you looked at it, this was not something a normal 'human' corpse could do.
The corpse floated up into the air.
It pushed away the Holy Sword impaled in its body and retrieved its head from the floor.
...Clutching its severed head under its arm like a basketball was grotesquely absurd.
And then, that severed head cackled.
[How did you know? Even if the head's cut off, most would think it's dead.]
The voice was so repulsive it felt like it was crushing his brain just to hear it.
“Dealing with your kind, your schemes are so consistently insidious they're predictable.”
The brief attempt to play dead and put Carlyle in a bind was almost applaudable.
It was just the kind of ploy you'd expect from creatures who spent all day plotting ways to screw people over.
[......Talking like you've faced us a lot, for a mere human.]
The Hydra spoke with eyes like it was staring at an insect, coiling its body.
Then, its 'human' skin burst open like peeling hide, revealing its true form.
The closest comparison would be a centipede. Countless arthropod-like segments and legs were visible.
[Well, if tricks don't work, we'll just break through head-on.]
Poison sprayed from the centipede-like body.
So potent that anything it touched melted away entirely.
The nearby flooring, tables, utensils, food—
Everything it touched dissolved into green liquid, a terrifying sight.
It was impossible to fathom just how toxic it was to melt targets like acid.
“-This is heretical sorcery! Call a priest!”
“Erect protective barriers! Bring sanctified gear!”
Shouts rang out.
True to their status in the imperial palace, they responded swiftly even to this sudden crisis.
But in truth, it was futile.
The poison spreading from here couldn't be neutralized by ordinary measures.
Most demon abilities were 'conceptual' in nature.
Meaning, the poison it spewed wasn't mere toxin—it embodied the very concept of 'poisoning.'
Slow and insidious as it spread. But anything it touched could be poisoned, without exception.
...And this Hydra wasn't even a noble-rank demon—just one a cut above 'lesser imp'—yet it could scatter such deadly venom everywhere.
[Demons are all like that.]
The Holy Sword spat out the words bitterly.
[Unless they're mere imps, they each have something they're good at. As expected.]
So.
[Normally, we'd kill slowly without being noticed... but eh, late or soon, as long as everyone's dead, it doesn't matter, right?]
That's why this thing was so cocky, even cornered like this.
It could kill everyone here, sooner or later.
“You sure talk a lot.”
Carlyle replied indifferently, raising the Holy Sword.
“......Wait, Carlyle! I'll support you!”
Seeing this, Lionel staggered to his feet, still unsteady.
Hm, as expected of someone so dutiful.
But he couldn't let a 'normal person' like this join a demon fight.
“It's fine, Your Grace.”
Duty aside.
Frankly, it wouldn't help.
Things off the human scale.
Needed opponents on the same scale.
“......But...!”
“Really, it's okay.”
Lionel flinched and halted at Carlyle's words.
He hadn't known this young man long.
But the man's current state was unmistakably different from usual.
Lionel glanced at Carlyle's eyes.
Normally, they held harmless goodwill—the aura Carlyle always carried.
But the gaze fixed on the demon now... well.
“It'll be over soon.”
—The bottomless pit was right there.
At a glance, the eyes seemed steady.
But for Lionel, the unyielding pillar supporting that gaze was piled layers of hatred and resentment beyond imagining.
Just how much.
Must one hate their foe to forge eyes like that?
The moment Lionel realized this and froze.
Everything that followed happened in an instant.
First few seconds.
[Melt, you worthless worms—!]
The poison spewing from the Hydra scattered everywhere.
Deadly venom engulfed the world, faces paling at the sight.
The reaper was about to sweep through on an express train.
Next few seconds.
“Th-that lunatic?!”
Someone screamed.
Probably reacting to Carlyle throwing himself into the heart of that virulent storm.
Truthfully, it was insane.
With Carlyle's current specs, diving unprotected into the center meant certain death.
Skin melting, muscles dissolving, fat liquefying—the agony overtook his body.
A few more seconds, and his limbs would slough off.
But.
He 'hadn't' died yet.
And if he could just stay alive and close the distance to this thing.
[Pathetic insect with a pathetic mind. You think you can kill me like that?]
“No. I won't kill you.”
Right.
He 'won't' kill it.
He had a ton of questions.
[......What?]
The Hydra sounded baffled at Carlyle's demeanor, as if he still held the upper hand even now.
But.
No need to explain.
Because the situation really was that way.
Tear of the Stars activated.
He circulated the Holy Sword's mana through his body.
And the final three seconds.
‘Hero.’
The opponent was a being beyond common sense, wielding 'conceptual' deadly poison.
But.
‘Power control.’
[Hmph.]
...And this side.
Was the violence that twisted even such concepts.
Carlyle raised his fist.
His flesh melting, muscles torn and dissolving—a horrific sight.
Yet still.
[Eh?]
He swung.
*Thud.*
—
—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The banquet hall split clean in half.
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