Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: King of Snakes (2)
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*
The flood of information pouring in from the Vision of Truth—taking an ordinary person as the baseline—reaches its limit after thirty minutes. The visual range spans about thirty meters. Every event unfolding within that space echoes as intangible data, searing itself into the brain, and the pain is beyond imagination.
Thus, Fernandez closed his eyes. To prevent the overload of information from spiraling into chaos, it was necessary to suppress his senses as much as possible.
-Whoooosh...
He could see the vortex of wind. The demon's muscles twisting as it gripped the spear and hurled it, tracing its entire trajectory. Not missing a single detail. At the same time, his instincts screamed. The speed and destructive power with which the spear, thrown by the demon's strength, would reach him.
-Kwaaaang!
Fernandez tilted his head by the barest fraction to dodge the spear. The explosive impact of the spear burrowing into the ground served as his signal, and his body shot forward like a hail of arrows.
“Stop him!”
A growl rumbled from beyond the mist. Soon, hulking men armed with weapons came charging out in a mob. Eyes still shut, Fernandez slipped through the gaps between the men.
His black hair streamed behind him along his running path, resembling wind painted with color. Fernandez wove through the men as smoothly as flowing water.
-Kwaching!
The men reflexively thrust their axes and swords. With one hand pressed to his forehead, Fernandez's body whirled. A purple pupil blooming in his left palm flickered rapidly, and information swirled into his brain.
First came the spear. He twisted aside to evade it, followed by a sword. He deflected the greatsword's blade and let it slide past. Then another sword. Another spear. An axe again.
-Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dodging or parrying every attack by exactly one step, occasionally batting them away. Fernandez swung his blade like he was dancing. The synthesis of information led straight to prediction of events. As a result, his martial prowess bordered on divine combat foresight.
“M-Monster!”
Coming from people who sacrificed humans to summon demons, it was quite the amusing word, so Fernandez let out a smirk. His blade twisted, slicing through the throat of a screaming man. Death descended along its path.
-Thud.
Before the first man's head hit the ground, three others were shredded and scattered. Flowers painted in blood and flesh bloomed around him, splattering the road and walls.
-Thud!
The demon, seizing the opening, thrust its spear. Straight at Fernandez's chest, which had paused momentarily after the fierce clash. A force that would have crushed even a shield along with an ordinary man—
“You bastard...!”
It was halted midway. Fernandez, who had lowered his left hand to seize the demon's spear, slowly pulled it toward himself. Creak, crack. After a brief contest of strength, the hulking demon was gradually dragged toward Fernandez.
“You're... no human!!”
“Not yet, I am.”
Amid his flowing black hair, deep blue eyes gleamed. He dispelled the Vision of Truth spell and quickly scanned his surroundings. Two demons still watching from afar, and one mage commanding them.
“What in the world is that...?”
Behind him, warriors who had been preparing for battle stared dumbfounded at Fernandez's fight. He had shouted for them to ready themselves, charged in alone, and nearly finished the battle by himself.
“Where did you come from!!”
“You're awfully curious.”
Fernandez glanced at the mage screaming behind the demons, foaming at the mouth. Crack, the wooden spear shaft crumpled and shattered beneath his grip. He reversed his hold on the broken spearhead and slowly aimed it at the mage.
‘The basics of magical combat are...’
-Sealing field for magic. Haha.
-Screeeeech.
The spearhead flew like a flash of light. Toward the mage's hand. The mage crossed his hands to form seals, only to have the spearhead pierce them, wringing out gurgling screams.
Throwing daggers was a technique he had favored even in his past life. The fundamentals of magical combat were sealing the opponent's magical power, and the best approach was disrupting it before the spell could manifest. With the mage neutralized, Fernandez raised his sword toward the demon blinking in confusion before him.
“Let's make this quick.”
Time was always the most precious commodity, after all.
*
“High Priest! An intruder is coming!”
A man burst in frantically, shouting at Orion, who was wiping blood from his dagger with his sleeve. Orion frowned and tilted his head.
“I brought five offspring of the Great Mother, yet there were that many enemies?”
“No, High Priest. There was only one of them.”
“...What?”
Orion's arm stopped midway through cleaning the dagger. One person? He had already detected a mage among them on par with himself. But he had judged that even a mage couldn't handle the Demidraco, with their extreme magical resistance...
“The bastard must have been a better mage than I thought. My calculations fell short.”
“No, High Priest. He was a warrior.”
“What are you saying?”
“The tribal warriors were sliced apart in an instant, and he butchered the demons! He's a monster!”
Only then did Orion frown as he looked at the man.
“Are you sure you saw right? He really fought only with a sword?”
“Yes, High Priest.”
“Was it a familiar face? Like brown-bearded Morgan or Axe King Kerd. Only someone of that caliber could match that level.”
“No... he was a young warrior.”
A young warrior... Orion stroked his chin, lost in thought. There was no way someone with that level of prowess and valor had just dropped out of thin air. But was there still a tribe around here with such power...? Turandar was now just a hollow name, and Palendar was in a desperate crisis right now, with no spare forces to dispatch externally.
The lesser tribes aside, were there clans left near the border capable of launching a surprise attack? And if they had such a hero, why hadn't he appeared during the invasion war?
“No matter.”
Orion shook his head and gripped his dagger firmly. He approached the sacrifice, who was trembling and foaming at the mouth. He needed only time now, as the ritual was nearly complete.
A mage his equal, and a warrior of unknown origins. With Eric and most of the tribal forces away from the village, it was certainly threatening, but 'death'—something they alone couldn't stop—was already being prepared.
“Take all the remaining snakes and buy time.”
“Yes, High Priest!”
Orion shook his head and pressed the knife to the sacrifice's throat.
*
“This is interesting.”
Fernandez walked slowly, resting his greatsword—dripping demon blood—on his shoulder. Squelch. Blood and fat clung stickily to his shoe soles on the sodden ground.
He lifted his weary eyes and looked around. He had headed straight for the direction thick with foul magic after repelling the demon assault. Geographically, it was the village center. The path leading to the bustling streets and assembly hall.
-Grraaaaaah...
Fernandez swung his greatsword at the head groaning grotesquely at him. The bright red skull, protruding from a roadside wall, shattered and rolled across the ground.
This was the state of things. Walls, floors, the occasional building exterior or roof—all coated in unpleasant hues. Blood and flesh scattered like bedsores on skin, and some were even alive in that condition.
The gurgling of internal organs and muffled groans emanated from alley corners. Somewhere, tearing screams echoed. Sensorily, it was quite a distance away.
A Demonica's hearing was acutely sensitive, relaying to him with vivid clarity everything happening between the streets of this village centered on him.
Imagining colors amid the noise and screams was far from pleasant. Fernandez felt the demon's madness clinging to his mind. Mental corruption was setting in.
He felt a familiar sense of déjà vu. Civilian homes occupied by demons toward the end of the Great War had generally looked like this. The stench of death hung everywhere. Fernandez addressed the warriors approaching hesitantly behind him.
“Do not come any closer.”
“But our mission is...”
“It's *my* mission. Wait for me at the harbor. I’ll return soon.”
The Palendar warriors, pale-faced, inwardly relieved, hurriedly turned and ran back. He didn’t know how far the situation had progressed, but in an area where demonic corruption had advanced this severely, there was no way to shield ordinary minds from contamination.
Fernandez took slow steps forward. With each footfall, memories revived, blackening his heart.
Guilt? No, it couldn’t be. Feeling guilt for his past life’s sins would be sheer hypocrisy. Fernandez was not one to crumble in guilt before his own atrocities. This emotion was closer to disgust.
Madness rampaged from all sides. Beneath roofs, beyond alleys, and even from behind bars in seemingly intact buildings—demonic breaths, mockery, and groans of corruption leaked out.
This was a village dazzlingly vibrant, noisy, and utterly dead. At its center lay a massive magic circle crudely assembled from human limbs. Fernandez instinctively furrowed his brow.
“How is it? Horrific? Terrifying?”
As he gazed at the village’s central magic circle for a moment, a snakelike voice slithered from a distant alley.
“I commend you for not losing your mind until reaching here. I’m curious about your name, but it’s meaningless now. Outstanding warrior, your soul will please the Great Mother.”
A man emerged from the alley shadows. The hulking figure, covered in solid muscle, regarded Fernandez with gentle, benevolent eyes that belied his size.
A familiar face. From his past life and this one. Fernandez swept back his sweat- and blood-matted hair.
“Long time no see. Orion Weavingrat.”
“...You know me?”
“Infermer.”
“Oh, the young man from back then. Indeed, if you’re an Inquisitor, I can understand you committing such acts. So even demon hunters know fear? Or is it sorrow? Pity for the sacrificed offerings, priest?”
“No.”
Fernandez looked at the magic circle made of human corpses. His brow still furrowed; it was a revolting sight. But it wasn’t pity for the victims or fear of the demons’ presence.
He nodded as he examined the circle. He knew why it disgusted him. Fernandez slowly raised his greatsword.
“It’s sloppy. That’s what’s revolting.”
“What?”
“Judging by your summon target, it’s not Horse-rank. Army King-rank? Even then, the gate’s drafted too small. The reinforcement on the third nexus clause is too weak.”
“...Aren’t you an Inquisitor?”
Orion stared at Fernandez as if beholding something incomprehensible. The power to shred demons in seconds, and now this knowledge appraising the magic circle. From Fernandez’s expression, gestures, and gaze upon the circle, Orion felt a peculiar déjà vu.
It was the look of a man who had summoned demons before. But that was impossible. Orion shook his head. Human talent had limits. Time affected everyone equally, and no domain demanded as much effort and time as magic.
To conjure the harbor’s mist or wield magic rivaling his own required devoting that much lifespan to probing the mysteries.
Fernandez smirked at the baffled Orion.
“Do it.”
“What?”
“Summon it. I want to test something.”
He even stepped back a couple paces, nodding his head. Orion stared blankly for a moment before bursting into mad laughter.
“Ha, haha. Hahaha! Arrogant fool. You’re hastening your own death! Fine, I intended to anyway, whether you refused or not!”
As Orion’s hands crossed in the air, Fernandez chuckled. The mantra’s angle was off too. Wasn’t this his prime?
He seemed lacking for one of the Fifteen Great Evils who doomed the world. Fernandez shook his head. Arms crossed, he watched the magic circle begin to pulse.
If it was Sadarkelia’s Army King-rank demon, who it would be was obvious. Fernandez placed his hand on the sword hilt, eyeing the crimson-black flames tearing through the circle.
-Rumble...
A black-scaled hand burst from the flames, pressing against the ground. Scraaaape—like a beast’s forepaw clawing the floor—the flames ripped open. Hellish magic saturated the air, billowing murky green smoke.
A sticky warmth carrying the gloom of fever licked Fernandez’s cheek.
“Ksharaks. Long time no see.”