Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 043
Chapter Title: Devil (1)
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A blinding flash of sunlight erupted.
Lightning spread out from the center of the ornate throne, radiating in all directions.
"Ugh..."
When all the light had flickered and faded, nothing remained in that spot but a charred black man.
One arm and leg gone, his body barely propped up against the armrest of the jade throne.
It was a far too pathetic and insignificant end for the man who had ruled the back-alley mafia world for decades.
"......"
Kyle felt himself lost in thought for a moment.
In truth, it was all because of the mafia that this had started.
It had begun with the Rorione Family and dragged on this far.
But now, that tiresome entanglement was finally over.
The mafia could no longer be an obstacle to him.
The mafia summit would now be treated as a defeated force, meekly accepting the police's negotiation terms.
Just as Kyle turned away from the throne...
"...!!"
He raised his head at the voice echoing in his mind, and there it was still gazing down at him: a grotesque eyeball.
"You..."
The terror of this demon-overseen curse doll lay in the fact that what it took as payment wasn't "flesh," but "soul."
That's why even implanting cybernetic enhancements in the lost limbs or regenerating them with super-regeneration abilities did nothing; they wouldn't move.
Because it wasn't a problem of the body, but of the "soul."
Yet the human before it was different.
His arms and legs moved perfectly fine.
As if his soul had been reset.
Kyle thought to himself.
'Could Immortality revert not just the body, but the soul to its pre-death state as well?'
This was a new fact even he hadn't known.
Then, suddenly, the demon blinked.
"?!"
Kyle couldn't help flinching involuntarily.
He had just died once.
'Insane.'
Clearly, that demon could unleash a fatal instant-death curse on a human with just a single blink.
The grotesque eye curved into a crescent moon.
At that moment, a massive claw emerged as space tore open.
It resembled the finger of a shriveled monkey, but the difference was its enormous size.
"Interest?"
A hideous laugh that made his head ring echoed everywhere at once.
Suddenly, the massive eye drew close, capturing Kyle's form in its pupil.
"!!"
'This lunatic.'
He'd been hoping it wasn't true, but...
'That thing's a real demon?!'
The monkey finger shot toward him, and Kyle swiftly activated Wereking Step.
KABOOM-!!
The demon's claw pulverized the spot where he'd stood.
At the same time, the surrounding tiles turned pitch black, as if "dead."
Seeing this, Kyle quickly ordered the ancient wind spirit.
'You, hide somewhere!'
Don't get caught in the crossfire and die!
As the spirit vanished, he shouted at it.
"If the ritual's done, just go back quietly!"
The demon chuckled.
'What kind of bullshit is that?'
Whatever it was, getting dragged to hell sounded like a real hassle.
Kyle wanted Dun City citizenship, not hell citizenship.
A thought flashed through his mind, and his eyes widened.
'Right, Montena's holy symbol!'
He recalled the description of the holy symbol from before.
[A secret exorcism technique used by the Holy Knights of the Montena Kingdom, which fell centuries ago. Its lineage has long been severed.]
'Exorcism secret technique...!'
Exorcism surely meant driving out demons.
'But didn't it say a holy sword is required?'
Suddenly, the surroundings darkened.
From the gloom came a chilling voice once more.
"...!"
The monkey claw surged again, and Kyle quickly used the equipment skill he'd recently acquired.
Just as the demon's claw was about to pierce his body...
A brilliant holy flame suddenly swept through the area, including the monkey hand.
KABOOOOOM-!!
Black-and-white flames scattered in all directions.
"...!"
Kyle, shielding his eyes from the glare, blankly stared at the 'Holy Sword of Ludicium' hovering protectively before him.
A new message appeared before him.
But it didn't end there.
Recognizing the flames, the demon widened its grotesque eye in shock.
The demon roared fiercely.
Evidently, Montena's holy knights were quite infamous among demons.
For the first time, the grotesque eye trembled in bewilderment.
The holy sword naturally fell into Kyle's hand.
At the same time, the sword's intent flowed into him unbidden, making him blink.
"Uh... what do I do?"
'Wait, this sword has a will?'
Following the sword's guidance, Kyle gripped the greatsword with both hands and assumed a low stance.
Toward him, the demon now thrust not just a finger, but its entire hand through the rift in space.
The grotesque eye bulged enormously.
CRUNCH!
A massive monkey hand finally burst through the torn space.
Black mana overflowed, corrupting the hall briefly.
Soon, sharp claws surged toward Kyle.
In the meantime, entrusting his body to the sword's will, Kyle steadied himself like a seasoned knight.
Left foot half a step forward, right foot for balance, weight shifting from waist downward in that instant.
The blade arced smoothly from above downward in a crescent, cleaving the monkey hand in two.
SLASH...!
Black blood gushed forth, followed by black-and-white sword energy shooting out.
KABOOOOOM-!
The demon spat in astonishment.
The grotesque eye trembled helplessly amid the spreading flames that threatened to devour space itself.
Feeling pushed back by a mere human, the demon roared in humiliation.
The monkey hand began burning away, unable to endure.
Finally, the hand fully incinerated, and an indescribable scream echoed from the eyeball.
But that was the end.
The backlash of forced reverse-summoning mixed with the holy flames' power.
"Whoa."
KABOOOOOOM-!!
A massive explosion burst through the ritual barrier.
With a crash! like shattering glass, the ritual space fragmented.
Fresh air poured in as if waiting.
Mana fragments fluttered down like snow.
"Hah..."
Kyle let out a hollow laugh at the surreal sight and looked down at the greatsword in his hand.
Having expended all its accumulated holy symbol, the sword had lost its glow and returned to dormancy.
It now looked like an ordinary greatsword.
'So that's it—it charges holy symbols and uses them.'
Kyle couldn't help but be impressed.
Though the power just now was the result of long accumulation, forcing a manifested demon into reverse-summoning was no small feat.
'And a 2nd-tier one at that—pretty high-ranking, right?'
That nameless viscount must have left behind something extraordinary.
At that moment...
Numerous presences approached from the direction of the grand doors.
"Hurry!"
"Quick...!"
"!!"
"H-how."
"Crazy, he's alive?"
Kyle turned to see many police officers standing there, mouths agape.
"What in the world..."
As soon as the demonic presence enveloping the mansion vanished, the police who had lifted the siege and stormed in were at a loss.
The hall before them looked like utter ruins—believable as the site of some fierce battle.
The marble seemed pressed by intense heat, of course.
The floor and pillars, discolored in strange hues and crumbling.
Above all, the slashing mark that seemed to bisect the hall left everyone dumbfounded.
But something even more astonishing existed.
"How in the..."
The Beta Team leader in charge of the ground assault furrowed his brow in disbelief.
Once a demon was summoned, they had all frankly doubted Kyle Clark's survival.
The reason was simple.
As far as they knew, no human had ever survived a demon summon.
Not a single one.
"Hah...!"
They exhaled as if confronting something indescribable.
For amid black mana and bizarre black-and-white fragments fluttering like snow in the hall...
...that prisoner stood alone, unscathed, denying their common sense outright, gripping an unfamiliar greatsword.
"Unbelievable."
"Survived a demon summon..."
The moment that prisoner suddenly looked their way...
"...!"
For some reason, chills ran down the officers' spines.
They didn't know why.
Was it because the prisoner before them, human yet survivor of a demon?
Or the black-and-white afterimages swirling around him, blending with the devastation to feel sacred?
And that sight was being broadcast live to the command center via Beta Team's body cams.
"Hah..."
"Crazy..."
The command center fell silent, everyone speechless for a while.
In that hush, one officer stammered.
"Th-that thing just now was definitely a demon, right?"
"Seemed... like it."
That broke the dam, words spilling one by one.
"God, so 43471 survived meeting a demon?"
"Was that even possible?"
"How should I know?"
"43471 exceeds my imagination every time."
"Where the hell did he get that sword?"
Joseph, watching the screen, felt a shiver.
'This is the power of Fleetwood at the Mage Tower's heart...!'
No matter his sage bloodline, surviving a demon was unreal.
'Unbelievable, truly impressive...!'
Kyle Clark being on their side was sheer fortune.
As he thought that...
Councilman Rockton, meanwhile, couldn't hide his panic.
'...What was that just now.'
A demon summon ritual he'd never seen before.
Its overwhelming pressure was unprecedented, even for him.
'And yet Kyle survived...'
No matter how capable Kyle Clark was, this felt off to him.
Up until the basilisk takedown, he'd shrugged it off.
That was just a material-world monster, after all.
But that was a demon.
A soul-realm monster made of black mana, not flesh.
Surviving a being that was a lethal curse in itself?
'How on earth...'
Then, an impossible hypothesis crossed his mind.
The absurd level of info suppression around Kyle Clark.
The only person in the city capable of that suppression.
And the unique ability of that person's bloodline...
"Anti-demon..."
"!?"
Startled, Councilman Rockton whipped around to see Inspector Yenitz covering her mouth as if regretting her slip.
For a split second, his trembling eyes met her shaken ones.
It was a tiny whisper, but he'd heard it clearly.
Anti-demon.
'Inspector...?'
At that moment, an unfamiliar voice rang out among them.
"Truly impressive. Beyond imagination. Surviving that demon, no less."
They turned, startled, to see a young man with permed hair standing there.
Yet his suit screamed luxury at a glance.
Yenitz gaped upon recognizing his face.
"...Chief of Staff?"
"Chief of Staff?"
Rockton asked.
"You know him, Inspector?"
"My introduction is late."
The man bowed slightly and spoke.
"Pleased to meet you. Councilman Martin Rockton."
The aide looked up with a smile.
"I'm Max Eidinger, Chief of Staff to the Marshall Council office."
"...!!"
Marshall...!
Joseph and Rockton exchanged glances upon hearing the name.
'What nonsense is this...!'
Meanwhile, the robed man who had sneaked into the ceiling arch waiting for the ritual's end couldn't hold back his shock.
He'd thought success since the barrier collapsed, but no.
Only Don Carnera was dead; target Kyle Clark stood fine.
"What the hell is going on?"
The don's limbs were gone, so the ritual had clearly proceeded.
"Why is that bastard the only one unscathed?"
The assassin glanced at the Nebras fang dagger in his hand.
'Whatever it is...'
"Looks like the plan failed..."
Best to escape the scene quickly.
As he turned...
Crunch!
"Gahk?!"
Something pierced his chest suddenly; the assassin bulged his eyes.
"Wh-what..."
His gaze dropped.
A sharp shadow blade.
"This is... sh-shadow?"
"Did you think vermin like you could escape alive from here?"
"!!"
The robed man turned with trembling eyes to see a dark elf vomiting blood.
"Pay for targeting the proxy... with death!"
Shadow blades shot from all directions, riddling the assassin's body.
"Gaaahk...!"
The man died on the spot.
Lumia, laughing, gazed at Kyle with reverence.
"Ah, as expected of the great one...!"
Baal was a top hell demon.
His proxy would naturally dominate a mere 2nd-tier like Seir.
"Lord Baal...!"
As she stared entranced...
With a thud, the assassin's dagger slipped from his slumped hand atop the arch, falling below.
"Ah!"
Lumia looked down, realizing her mistake.
"!!"
Kyle instinctively snatched the falling dagger, blinking.
"...? What's this?"
A message appeared before him.
Kyle narrowed his eyes.
'Why was something this deadly falling over my head...'
Glancing at the ceiling yielded nothing.
"What the heck?"
As he scratched his head...
'Hold on.'
A brilliant idea struck him, making him pause.
Made from Nebras' fang?
'Come to think of it, when I died to the basilisk chimera last time, didn't I unlock a new skill anyway?'
So perhaps, like unlocking magic from magic artifacts upon death...
'Dying to a monster's fang weapon has a similar effect?'
He stroked his chin.
'...Shall I try?'
It's not like dying wears it out.
"Ahem."
Kyle cleared his throat lightly, pocketed the dagger, and subtly pricked himself where unseen.
'It said even a graze is fatal...'
He covered his mouth against the rising bile, swallowed forcibly, and nodded.
'Okay, just died.'
Then, the usual message appeared.
During the ensuing settlement phase, Kyle focused silently.
[Skill 'Amon's Fear Curse' acquired]
[Sacrifice life force to apply 'Fear' debuff to target temporarily. Effect varies by target's resistance.]
This much was expected.
He'd died once to the demon's curse.
But the messages continued.
"!!"
Somewhere in the 8th Special District.
In a gathering of many people, someone tossed a tablet onto the table.
"Seen this article?"
The front page featured that sensational headline alongside a photo of the don's mansion with a demonic mark hovering.
A man swallowed in shock as he read it.
"This is...?"