Chapter 292
Chapter 292
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 292
Chapter Title: Sita (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The moment their swords clashed, Demian felt his entire body vibrate.
It wasn't an ordinary vibration. If left unchecked, it would penetrate deep into his body and shred his organs with its intensity.
Demian pushed Sita's sword away and retreated. Even so, the vibration that had seeped into his body showed no signs of subsiding. It lingered like poison, trying to tear him apart from within.
Demian stomped the ground with all his might. The vibration inside him transferred through his feet into the earth.
The soil piled on the ground trembled finely and crumbled into fine powder.
If he had retreated even a moment later, his organs would have been damaged by the vibration.
"To think you'd already mastered the Demonic Sword."
The Demonic Sword referred to swordsmanship that harnessed sound and vibration.
It was fast, but above all, it could attack over a wide area.
It had the drawback of lacking raw destructive power, but it was no sword art to take lightly.
"Impressive. Most knights can't withstand the vibration and die, yet you adapted so quickly."
Sita added this with a faint smile playing on her lips.
"I've been eagerly awaiting our reunion. As one swordsman to another, I wanted to cross blades with you. Please, show me your swordsmanship..."
"Disgusting."
Demian cut her off curtly.
"How long do you undead plan to play at being knights? Drop the Demonic Sword nonsense and fight as an undead. Wouldn't that be far stronger for you?"
Sita's expression hardened. She glared at Demian, her eyes filled with anger.
"...Our true forms aren't so easily revealed. Not even to you."
"Then I'll force it out of you."
"Impossible."
Without any signal, the two charged at each other simultaneously.
Their two swords traced countless trajectories as they collided.
Each time Demian parried Sita's blade, he felt the vibration seep into his body.
Demian stepped in footwork while simultaneously channeling the vibration into the ground.
"You're not planning to stick with that method, are you? You should find a different way to cope."
Sita said mockingly.
As she said, Demian's current counter wasn't all that effective.
There was a limit to how much vibration he could dispel by stomping the ground.
If this continued, the accumulating vibration would cause his body to collapse.
"Are you ignoring me? Or is this the extent of your skill..."
Demian swung Dawn to smack Sita's sword away.
At the same time, he unleashed all the vibration that had built up inside him.
The released vibration focused on Sita's body. She was pushed back staggering from the impact.
"Cough."
Sita, who had been shoved backward, spat blood from her mouth. The concentrated vibration had wounded her internally.
A swordsman who wielded the Demonic Sword, injured by sound.
Sita stared at Demian in disbelief.
"Who are you to worry about others, you amateur?"
Demian said with an annoyed look.
The reason Demian kept parrying Sita's sword was to grow accustomed to the vibration. Only then could he wield it himself.
The moment the time was right, Demian returned all the accumulated vibration back to Sita.
"...The more I face you, the more astonishing you are."
By now, Sita was no longer vomiting blood.
As an undead, she could recover from such injuries in an instant.
"But don't think you've beaten me with that. I still have much more to show you."
Sita ran her palm along the blade. The blade hummed, emitting a sword cry.
Each time Sita's fingers touched the blade, the sword cry grew louder.
When the sword cry reached its peak, Sita swung at Demian.
A deafening sound exploded like a bomb. Demian immediately leaped away from his spot.
At the same moment, countless sword scars etched themselves into the ground where Demian had stood.
The slashing attack, riding on the sound, had ravaged the earth.
'To think she'd perfected the Demonic Sword to this degree already.'
Sita had used the Demonic Sword in her previous life as well. But her growth now was far faster than before. Even Demian couldn't pinpoint the reason.
"Don't let your guard down. There's more to come!"
Sita swung her sword again. Slashing attacks poured forth on waves of sword cries.
Just before they hit, Demian tapped Dawn with his finger.
Wooong.
Dawn trembled, producing its own sword cry. A pure tone spread in all directions.
"Dawn, cry your heart out."
Demian slid his thumb down Dawn's blade.
Dawn's sword cry amplified in an instant. At the same time, all of Sita's incoming slashes shattered.
Sita's eyes widened at the sight.
"Demonic Sword? Impossible. I've never heard of you using it..."
"I've never used it often, so it's no surprise you don't know."
Among the foes Demian fought in his previous life was a Swordmaster called the Sword Demon.
The Sword Demon wasn't particularly powerful as a master. But he was a man who understood the nature of the Demonic Sword better than anyone.
Demian had defeated the Sword Demon and absorbed his techniques and insights completely.
Demian flicked Dawn with his finger. Dawn vibrated, emitting a sword cry.
"You're not thinking of facing me with the Demonic Sword, are you?"
"Wouldn't be the worst idea."
Even without using the Demonic Sword, Demian was confident he could kill Sita. In fact, it would be easier without it.
Yet he deliberately drew it out because of Sita's provocation.
The Four Great Demon Kings had been born by mimicking Demian's soul.
All their talents stemmed from Demian. Of course, they were mere scraps compared to him.
The problem was that these crude imitations dared to provoke Demian himself. It was an insult he could hardly endure.
"...Even you can't beat me with the Demonic Sword."
"Long and short is only known after trying."
Provoked by Demian, Sita summoned black magic power.
Vast black magic power, enough to overwhelm Demian, spread in all directions.
"Fine. Just as you say, let's find out firsthand!"
* * *
The greatest advantage of the Demonic Sword was its overwhelming volume.
A single swing could produce dozens of blades of sound.
Most enemies lost their lives overwhelmed by this barrage.
'But... it should be like that...!'
Sita swung her longsword, and blades of sound spread out. It looked like scattering a net.
Demian Haksen swung his longsword in the same way. Blades of sound poured out identically.
Their sounds collided. They clashed, canceled each other out, and vanished.
'I acknowledge your strength. But this is not right.'
The authority granted to Sita by Dorgo was 'sound.'
Thanks to it, Sita had mastered the Demonic Sword faster than anyone and reached master-class level.
Sita was confident. No one in the world handled the Demonic Sword better than she did.
...Until today.
"You're worse at keeping rhythm than I thought."
Demian Haksen mocked her from across the way.
Sita bit her lip without realizing it. She couldn't deny his words.
'I'll win! I'll definitely defeat that man with my sword!'
The day she first saw Demian Haksen.
Sita had been seized by one emotion.
She didn't even know exactly what it was. But an intense desire to fight Demian Haksen consumed her heart.
"I'll definitely win!"
Sita ran her palm along her longsword. The longsword vibrated like a madman in the throes of mania.
It wasn't just her longsword that began to vibrate.
The surrounding air started vibrating as well. She could feel the air shaking against her skin.
This was the realm she had attained: 'Resonance.'
It made everything around her vibrate simultaneously. Thus destroying, shattering, and collapsing.
"Oh?"
Demian Haksen looked at the vibrating world with interest.
"This could be fun."
Sita felt rage at Demian Haksen treating her realm as 'somewhat fun.'
First, she'd wipe that smile off his face.
Sita swung her Demonic Sword. The entire world vibrated even more fiercely.
The ground cracked, trees shattered. The vibration soon reached Demian Haksen.
'I won!'
No matter how strong Demian Haksen was, he couldn't endure Resonance.
It was the moment Sita was certain of victory.
Demian Haksen lightly tapped the ground with his sword. Starting from that spot, a wave spread outward.
The wave swallowed the world, erasing all the vibration Sita had created.
"What?"
As Sita panicked, the wave Demian Haksen created engulfed her as well.
In that instant, the world fell silent.
'What technique is this?'
Sita opened her mouth. But no sound came out.
'Huh? Huh?'
She tried again, but the result was the same. Only then did Sita realize: this space was perfect silence.
'This crap... I'll just tear it apart!'
Sita ran her hand along the flat of her blade. But the blade only vibrated—no sound emerged.
"You look surprised."
Sita startled and turned to Demian Haksen.
In this silent space, his voice rang out clearer than anything.
"It's called the White Realm. The realm used by that master who wielded the Demonic Sword just like you."
Sita worked her mouth. As expected, no sound came out.
"This space absorbs all sound. Or it can do things like this."
When Demian pointed at Sita, noise suddenly echoed through the perfect silence like a lie.
A headache-inducing racket poured down on Sita.
'Loud! It's so loud I'm going mad...!'
But Sita's voice still wasn't audible.
Demian Haksen snapped his fingers. The noise assaulting Sita amplified.
And when it surpassed the limit, Sita's body tore apart in shreds.
* * *
Demian dispelled the White Realm. Then he approached Sita.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Sita lay collapsed on the ground, covered in blood. Her body looked as if it had been minced all over.
"Why are you just lying there."
But Demian wasn't fooled by the sight. The woman before him wasn't human, but undead.
"Reveal your true form. Use the true authority you possess."
The Four Great Demon Kings only unleashed their true power when revealing their true forms.
"I... today... stood before you... as a swordsman..."
"So you're saying you'll die like this?"
Sita nodded with difficulty. Demian looked at her in disbelief.
"Trying to appeal to my pity? Useless. I have no intention of sparing you."
Demian raised his longsword high. The blade reflected the sunlight, emitting a blinding gleam.
Sita gazed at Demian with a dazed expression. Soon, she quietly closed her eyes.
As if accepting death, her demeanor left Demian flustered.
In that moment, a fireball fell from the sky.
Demian retreated. The fireball from the sky exploded, completely melting the ground.
-Sita!
A man with bat wings descended from the sky.
It was Iota, one of the Four Great Demon Kings.
-Th, this... what the hell happened! Why, why are you hurt so badly?
"Iota? How are you here..."
Iota supported Sita and spoke urgently.
-Don't, don't worry! I, I'm here! Let's kill Demian Haksen together! Mother said it too! Don't capture Demian Haksen alive—kill him on the spot!
"I didn't expect an ambush."
Demian said, resting Dawn on his shoulder. At his words, Sita lifted her head.
"No... that's not... I..."
"Was the reason you didn't reveal your true form to make me drop my guard? Clever thinking."
In that instant, intense emotion blazed in Sita's eyes.
-Sita! No need to listen anymore! Kill that bastard right now...
Suddenly, blood burst forth.
Iota looked down at his abdomen in shock.
Sita's hand blade had pierced through his back and protruded from his stomach.