Chapter 23
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: The Sword that Cuts Demons (1)
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“Why are those bastards just sitting there?”
Marquis Billington, who was currently commanding the Kainzel Kingdom’s army, couldn’t hide his bewilderment at the sight of the Talua Kingdom’s forces.
Even though they were surrounded, they clearly held the numerical advantage.
The only way they could win was to leverage that superiority with an aggressive offensive, yet they were behaving strangely defensively.
“They can’t not know that...”
Marquis Billington never underestimated the Talua Kingdom’s army. If they were an opponent worth dismissing, the war would have ended long ago.
It was just as he was lost in these uneasy thoughts.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The drawbridge, installed to cross the rugged terrain, suddenly began to lower.
“...What?”
Marquis Billington blinked in surprise before shouting urgently.
“What in the world is going on here?! Which madman lowered the drawbridge?!”
“W-We don’t know, sir.”
But the situation had already unfolded.
As the drawbridge dropped abruptly, Tedric realized the plan had succeeded.
“First Legion and Third Legion, move toward the drawbridge!”
The Talua Kingdom’s army, which had been purely defensive until now, immediately launched an assault.
Meanwhile, the Kainzel Kingdom’s army, caught off guard by the inexplicable turn of events, floundered without a proper response as the Talua forces charged ferociously.
“Block them! Block them now!”
Marquis Billington yelled in haste, but it was already too late.
The Talua Kingdom’s troops were breaking through at all costs, making it hard to hold them back.
Normally, even if they broke through here, it wouldn’t have been a big issue, but with the drawbridge down now, everything changed.
If they crossed it and entered the main camp, the encirclement would lose all meaning, leaving the numerically disadvantaged Kainzel forces at a severe disadvantage.
“Damn it! What the hell is Count Povet doing?!”
Signal flares should have been fired several times by now.
But no matter how long they waited, there was no sign of Count Povet’s flares.
Pheew! Boom!
“Marquis, it’s a signal flare!”
“Finally! Count Povet, sending the signal this late... I nearly had a heart attack.”
In the midst of the crisis, Marquis Billington could finally breathe a sigh of relief. With the flare signaling the enemy headquarters had been captured, the enemy would have no choice but to retreat.
And the knights or soldiers who had infiltrated could be dealt with by requesting the demons’ help...
“N-No, sir, the flare went up from our camp!”
“...What?”
Dumbfounded, Marquis Billington turned his gaze backward and was left speechless.
Just as the knight said, a red signal flare was bursting in the sky over their own camp, which should have been peaceful.
* * *
Meanwhile, Prince Wolfran, the Kainzel Kingdom’s supreme commander who should have been the first to notice and respond to the situation, was in a panic.
Two knights had raided his tent.
The words spoken by the black-haired man among them shook the foundation of the plan they had been executing all this time.
“...You came through the path we opened?”
In other words, they had come via the secret passage his side had created.
‘How in the world?’
Had their intelligence leaked? Then what about Count Povet right now?
The enemy arriving here through the secret passage meant Count Povet had failed.
Moreover, if they had come through the passage, there couldn’t be just two enemy knights in this camp right now.
It was obvious what was happening at their main headquarters, now stripped of its main force.
‘They were waiting for this...!’
Only then did Prince Wolfran understand why the Talua Kingdom’s army had focused solely on defense until now.
They had been biding their time for this moment—the most efficient and effortless chance to seize victory.
Prince Wolfran ground his teeth.
With things as they were, he had no choice but to play his final card.
“You fools. We have demons on our side! Killing you lot here is a simple matter.”
“Talking like that makes it sound like I’m moving on Your Highness’s orders.”
Prince Wolfran’s face paled at Veil’s sneering words.
“I-I’m sorry. But please, I beg you. If you help me escape this predicament, I’ll make sure to plead earnestly with Father Emperor to let you enter the ruins.”
“Heh, I was getting bored anyway... Very well, Your Highness.”
He didn’t seem to view the current situation as a crisis in the slightest.
Clay felt a chill crawl up his spine under the demon’s gaze, those red eyes fixed on him.
As expected of a mid-level demon—he was strong enough to exude such leisure. The pressure emanating from him felt like it was crushing Clay’s entire body.
‘Definitely not like a low-level demon.’
Could he really do this?
Based on what he knew, taking on a mid-level demon required at least Sword Master-level skill.
It was only natural for him, a mere Sword User, to feel anxious about defeating the demon.
[Stay calm.]
Perhaps sensing his tension, Gransesia spoke in a steady voice.
[You have my eyes. And as expected, he’s a vampire, right? Just do as we prepared, and victory is yours.]
Clay regained his composure at her confident tone.
Right—they had come this far. There was no turning back now.
Taking a deep breath, Clay subtly glanced at Gelvin beside him.
The moment Gelvin nodded in response, the two men’s figures simultaneously surged toward Veil.
‘The red-haired human is much stronger.’
Veil watched them leisurely, a smile curling on his lips.
Having itched to join the human fray while observing it, he couldn’t stop laughing now that an unexpected form of entertainment had fallen into his lap.
‘Let’s kill the weak one first, then enjoy the other slowly.’
Veil casually formed a sword of blood in his hand.
And at that moment.
“Hm?”
Faster than he had gauged, Clay’s sword strike shot toward Veil’s neck.
Startled for an instant, that was all—Veil calmly deflected Clay’s blade and prepared for Gelvin’s follow-up.
But no matter how long he waited, Gelvin’s attack never came.
“...Oh?”
Veil’s eye twitched faintly.
Gelvin hadn’t charged at Veil from the start.
The moment Clay attacked, Gelvin had dashed straight for Prince Wolfran.
‘To ignore me and target the prince, of all things.’
It was a decent judgment.
But the fact that he had been ignored grated on him.
“V-Veil! What are you doing?! S-Save me, quickly!”
“Truly a worthless human.”
Veil clicked his tongue as he glanced at Prince Wolfran, now captured by Gelvin.
“Step back quietly. If you move, I’ll kill the prince.”
“I don’t care if you do. There are plenty of other royals besides that man anyway.”
Being restricted by such a lowly human didn’t suit his temperament.
He didn’t know what the king might say, but that was a problem for later.
Gelvin’s face hardened at Veil’s tone, which sounded utterly sincere.
He realized the demon meant every word.
Even if he killed Prince Wolfran right then, Veil wouldn’t blink.
“The order’s changed, but this isn’t bad either.”
Tearing his gaze from Gelvin, who held the prince, Veil looked at Clay.
The sight of him bravely standing against him head-on was rather pleasing.
“I like brave people.”
Whoosh!
Like a candle flame flickering out, Veil’s voice faded as his figure sank into the shadows.
“When that brave face twists in fear and writhes in agony—that’s truly delightful.”
Riding the shadows, Veil emerged behind Clay.
A blade of blood extended from his wrist, aimed at Clay’s shoulder.
Clang!
“Oh?”
Surprisingly, Clay deflected the sudden attack from behind.
His forearm was lightly sliced and bleeding, but it wasn’t deep.
“I meant to pierce your shoulder, but you’re better than I thought?”
He had thought so earlier, but his movements were impressive for a Sword User.
An even more satisfied smile spread across Veil’s lips.
‘This one will be fun to play with too.’
Humans were prey for demons.
Especially vampires, who fed on human blood, held that view even more strongly.
Swoosh! Swish swish!
Veil continuously shifted through the shadows, attacking from all directions.
Unable to predict where the next strike would come from, Clay had no choice but to take them defenselessly.
The blood blades sliced through his armor like paper and lightly pierced his skin.
“Urk!”
Veil grinned darkly at Clay’s face, gradually contorting in pain.
“Yes, suffer more! Beg for your life and wail!”
They say cats hunt mice even when not hungry.
Sometimes, they even tormented a mouse they could easily kill, drawing out the suffering before death.
Vampires were just like those cats.
They preferred to toy with and torment to death any being they deemed easy to kill.
‘I can’t see him.’
Gelvin watched the scene, his body rigid.
Even with Gelvin’s mid-level Sword Expert eyes, he couldn’t track Veil’s movements at all.
‘But...’
Incredibly, Clay was holding out.
He stood enduring the onslaught that wasn’t even visible.
‘He’s definitely blocking only the lethal vital strikes.’
As if he knew exactly where the enemy’s attacks were coming from, Clay reliably defended against the truly dangerous ones.
Minor wounds kept accumulating, but he protected his vitals unscathed—a sight worthy of awe.
“Grk, ugh!”
Yet in the end, Clay’s knees slowly buckled.
His body was drenched in blood, his armor reduced to rags, and his sword snapped in half.
At this rate, counterattacking was impossible, let alone defending.
“Not bad for a weak human. Honestly, I’m impressed.”
Veil withdrew the blade piercing Clay’s thigh, absorbing it back into his body, and slowly approached.
It had been fun enough, but now he was getting bored.
This time, he planned to play with the red-haired human.
Clang.
As if sensing his fate, Clay let his sword slip from his hand, as though abandoning everything.
He didn’t even try to grab the sword rolling on the ground—just stood there motionlessly.
Veil smiled in satisfaction at the sight.
“Any last words? As thanks for entertaining me, I’ll grant them specially.”
Veil lightly licked the blood from his hand as he spoke.
Clay’s blood splattered all over his body—a testament to how thoroughly his attacks had ravaged him.
Panting heavily, Clay opened his mouth toward such a Veil.
“You... all... right?”
“Pardon?”
The voice was so faint it barely registered.
Struggling to speak, Clay panted and forced his mouth open again.
“You... all right?”
Veil frowned as Clay spat out the words amid a gush of blood.
What nonsense was this?
“Looks like you’ve gone mad.”
Despite Veil’s mocking words, Clay slowly rose to his feet.
Meeting his gaze, Veil realized he hadn’t given up yet.
“Heh, what now...”
What could a swordless knight even do?
At best, swing a fist—that was it.
Indeed, Clay took a step forward, thrusting his clenched fist toward Veil’s chest.
‘Huh?’
In that instant, his instincts screamed danger.
Feeling threatened by the punch of a dying human?
It made no sense.
Yet Veil judged he had to block that fist, following his instincts.
As he hastily drew up mana to form a blood blade and sever the arm—
Only then did Veil notice the anomaly happening to him.
‘Mana... it’s not moving?’
Blue blood flowed from his arm, briefly taking the shape of a blade before uselessly spilling as liquid.
Boom!
“Cough!”
It looked utterly ordinary.
But the impact it delivered was anything but.
The moment Clay’s fist struck his chest, Veil tumbled several meters away.
“Gaaahhh!”
Before he could even feel the humiliation of being struck by a human, Veil writhed from the pain in his chest.
His clothes burned away, and the skin on his chest began melting.
“Grgh! W-What the hell did you... Cough!”
Struggling to rise amid the excruciating agony, blue blood poured from Veil’s mouth.
“What is this... Why me...”
It felt like blood was boiling and churning wildly inside him.
Amid the incomprehensible pain, Veil couldn’t regain his senses.
“I asked if you’re all right.”
Clay’s eyes burned with life, hard to believe he could barely stand moments ago.
Drenched head to toe in blood, he was smiling.
For some reason, Veil saw his own smile from earlier overlapping with that grinning face.
“My blood is a special remedy for killing demon scum like you.”
It was the face of a predator facing its prey.