Chapter 21
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Red Moon Omen
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I muttered blankly, and the knights gave me puzzled looks.
"Young Master?"
"You see that?"
"Pardon? Is there something in the sky?"
The knights, excluding me, couldn't see the sky that had turned crimson at all.
The precursor phenomenon of the Red Moon can only be observed by you.
If the Red Moon does not disappear, the land, atmosphere, and everything within the territory will be eroded.
Fuck.
No matter what, the Red Moon carried a hefty trauma for me.
The sky in Labyrinthos had a Red Moon floating just like that.
Of course, it was just an illusory form, so even slashing the sky with my sword had no effect.
So what would happen if this Red Moon actually rose?
I was pondering that when suddenly, a hallucination appeared before my eyes.
It was...
Melissa, covered in blood and dying, clutched in the grip of a massive hand by a grotesque black shadow with an enormous maw gaping wide.
-Big Brother...
Her feeble voice called out to me before she was swallowed whole by the monster, and the vision cut off.
"Gasp?!"
A chilling sensation made me flinch in shock.
What the hell was that I just saw?
What you just saw is not a hallucination.
What? What the fuck does that mean? So what I just saw was...
However, it is not reality either. It is the future. The future that will soon occur. We recommend hurrying if you wish to prepare.
The future? So what I just saw is the future that Melissa and I will face?
Who the hell decided that?
She's an annoying little brat I love to tease and torment, but I've never wished for her death.
I tease her, I torment her—no one else gets to butt in.
No manners at all.
As the librarian explained, I reflexively shot to my feet.
I snatched a knight's sword like it was mine and handed him my broken blade, Black Night Sword No. 1.
"Y-Young Master?!"
"Lending me your sword. Take this to Berus's smithy. And take responsibility for all these captured guys and head back to the mansion."
The sword in my hand was a sleek silver blade.
From now on, your name is Black Night Sword No. 2.
It had nothing to do with black, being silver and all, but that didn't matter.
"Young Master?!"
His words never reached my ears.
I had explosively reinforced my leg strength, kicked off the ground, and was sprinting at full speed toward where Melissa was.
The distance was far, but I had no time to complain.
-Kieeeek!!
The knights chased the irregular monster sprinting through the dark sewer, letting out eerie shrieks.
The nose-stinging stench of the sewage grated on their nerves, but no one stopped.
It looked unremarkable at a glance, but the monster Melissa and the knights were pursuing was a dangerous one that should never enter human territory.
A demonic beast from the Demon Realm: Demon Slime.
The name might raise doubts about its danger, but slapping "Demon" onto a slime that belonged to the weak tier said it all.
Small in size, it harbored deadly poison and screeched like a demon.
If it released its poison into the sewers, it would open the gates to hell.
Of course, pinpointing its location made subjugating it straightforward despite the risk.
"Lady! It went that way!!"
"Haaap!!"
Sword aura instantly formed on Melissa's blade as she lunged.
Like a flash of light, she sliced through the Demon Slime's amorphous body and shattered its solid core.
-Kiiieeeek...
Melissa wiped her sweat as she watched it collapse with a wretched cry.
"Well done, Lady. That was the last one."
"We need to wrap up and go. Any injured?"
"Fortunately, no one's poisoned."
She worried Leon might cause trouble while she was doing this.
The Leon who changed overnight was like a runaway carriage with broken brakes. How could she not worry?
They had exterminated a total of seven Demon Slimes.
"I wonder if leaving Leon alone was the right call."
"If we'd missed these, it would've been a disaster. You made the right judgment, Lady. Besides, didn't you send some troops back?"
KABOOOM!!!!
The moment they exited the sewer, a massive roar echoed.
"What was that?"
"Sounds like Tibel Cascadia's mansion..."
"What?! Couldn't hold back and started trouble already?!"
Melissa couldn't comprehend charging in alone to attack without knowing what the enemy was hiding.
"No time! All troops! To Tibel Cascadia's mansion—"
Slash!
It happened then.
With a gruesome sound of flesh parting, the head of an Aura User knight beside Melissa flew through the air.
"Huh?"
The knights all stared blankly at their decapitated comrade.
And then.
A massive black hand shot from somewhere, seizing Melissa's body, unleashing a shockwave beyond imagination.
Caught off-guard by the ambush, the knights couldn't even react before being flung away powerlessly.
"Guh?!"
"Gaaah!!"
Not even the Experts could withstand the repulsive force.
Swept by the immense shockwave, the knights were exposed to the encroaching black aura and lost consciousness, collapsing.
It all happened in an instant.
"Urgh... ugh... gaaah!"
Melissa, however, wasn't flung away.
The massive hand had gripped her tight.
Of course, the crushing pressure forced a scream from her.
Even an Expert's formidable physique couldn't escape the monster's grasp.
"What the hell is that..."
The monster resembled a human in size and form.
But its entire body undulated like black mist, its hands disproportionately huge, and its face was nightmarish.
Long, razor-sharp teeth at least ten centimeters protruded in place of lips, perfectly interlocked, while eerie red eyes darted about, sowing chaos in the mind.
BAM!!!
The monster casually hurled Melissa into the air.
She gripped her sword tighter, igniting sword aura to cleave it apart.
The monster drifted lazily, as if appraising her, offering no real resistance.
"Haaap!!"
SCREEECH!!!
Seizing the opening, Melissa thrust her blade.
But her sword failed to pierce its body.
Her attack inflicted no damage whatsoever.
"What?!"
BOOM!!!
The monster's incoming hand swelled even larger, swatting her away like a flyswatter.
Her consciousness flickered out momentarily before snapping back—yet her body betrayed her will, refusing to move.
Strength, speed, durability.
It overwhelmed her in every aspect.
Where the hell did this monster come from?
Looking around, nearby homes had been obliterated by the shockwave, reduced to rubble.
How many dead?
Aura User knights survived, but many regular soldiers lay dead.
Only Melissa could still fight, yet that single blow had shattered her body with agony.
"Gurgh... heuk... cough!"
She coughed painfully, spewing blood.
The grotesque black monster stared silently before snapping open its massive, pale white teeth.
Hundreds of teeth gleamed—the first sight filled her with fear.
Yet she didn't break.
Evacuations were ongoing, but if she died, the monster would devour the fainted knights and soldiers next, then the entire county.
As Count Regent guarding House Cascadia, she had to stop it or catastrophe would follow.
She squeezed out her last reserves of aura, like wringing her final lifeline.
THUD!!!
"Guh!"
But the foe was a cut above.
The monster slammed her into the ground without hesitation, then smashed her a couple more times.
"Kahk..."
Bloodied, her consciousness faded.
Only once Melissa went limp did the monster slowly lift her, gaping its maw to tear into her head.
That was when.
Whiiir!! BOOM!!!
A high-quality iron sword flew from nowhere, slamming into the monster with tremendous force, sending it flying.
It was the monster's first reaction—even Melissa's sword aura hadn't fazed it.
"Hey, put her down. You look ferocious like a T-Rex, but she's my little sister."
Melissa turned her fading gaze and spotted him approaching from afar.
"Ah... Leon."
The most infuriating guy.
Why did seeing him now bring tears of relief?
Still, she forced out a shout.
"I-idiot... run. This monster doesn't even take sword aura..."
At her words, Leon picked up another fallen knight's sword.
"This is Black Night Sword No. 3... No, I just got No. 2—already cheating on it?"
Simultaneously, explosive aura burst from his entire body. The wild, formless aura gradually refined, taking on a straight, stable shape.
Beep!
Name:Leon Cascadia
Age:17
Gender:Male
Abilities:
(Sword Hall)
Sword Expert(Top-tier) - Learned skills can be viewed by unfolding.
Pinnacle of the Sword's[Aura]is preserved.
(Fist Hall)
Fist Expert(Top-tier)
Fierce Star's[Aura]is preserved.
Invisible to others, text clearly informed Leon's vision of the new change.
From Sword User to Sword Expert, and simultaneously from Aura User to Fist Expert.
"I was gonna put this off a bit longer, but no choice. Time to break through the wall first."
The awakening of Sword Expert.
Melissa knew the phenomenon all too well.
'What...'
Her blank face forgot even thought as she watched.
Meanwhile, Leon calmly advanced on the monster.
"That thing's a Void Gluttony, right?"
Entity confirmed. Void Gluttony kin, confirmed.
The librarian nailed down the confirmation.
-Grrr...
The monster flung Melissa aside and exuded a sharp, murderous aura.
The chilling energy emanating from it began crushing Leon's body.
No hint of defeat in the creature.
After all, Melissa's sword aura hadn't scratched it.
Void Gluttony possesses immunity to aura below Sword Gang level. Victory probability in current situation is extremely low.
"I know. How many times did I die trying to take one down?"
Void Gluttony.
Honestly, among Sword Hall monsters, it wasn't the strongest.
But for those wielding aura, anything short of Sword Gang made killing it near impossible.
Like trying to cut water with a knife.
Step... step...
Igniting sword aura, he advanced step by step before suddenly stomping the ground hard.
A massive shockwave erupted from his foot, propelling Leon's form forward like a streak of light, leaving afterimages.
BOOM!!
The deafening noise and Leon's speed were hard to track with ordinary eyes, but the Void Gluttony moved its myriad facial eyes in unison, matching his velocity instantly.
CRACK!!
Its maw ballooned enormously, hands transforming into toothy mouths brimming with fangs, snapping shut with devastating bite force.