Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: The Demon Sword's Utility - 4
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When I realized Tyrbing's power and Harlkas came to find me, I thought the heavens were helping me once again.
Just like with Frederico, the situation was unfolding hilariously in my favor.
Harlkas was someone I could just extend the lifespan of with Tyrbing and call it a day.
I was thrilled, thinking there was no easier win than this, but the gods are equal to all.
I had no idea the future Harlkas had found a way to prolong her life, and she'd dragged all that future potential right back with her.
Inadvertently, I'd made the cult's bishop even stronger...
A situation where I might end up doing nothing and dying.
I used my gift of the gab to draw out Harlkas's awe and cloud her judgment.
"Even if it's temporary, returning to your twenties with such vitality surging through you... It's no exaggeration to call it a miracle."
"How about it? Can you feel even a bit of my greatness now?"
"I admit it—no, I acknowledge it. You are no ordinary man."
Harlkas's speech had changed.
Seeing her use honorifics toward me, someone much younger, gave me hope.
"Then..."
"But I cannot abandon Lord Nidhogg and follow you."
Considering Harlkas's age, she must have served Nidhogg for a very long time.
To rise to the rank of bishop, she would have faith bordering on brainwashing.
Even if I'd granted her deepest wish, it was only a fleeting moment, and eternal youth was just a verbal promise.
Her faith had been slightly shaken, but not enough to crumble.
"Fair enough. Someone without that backbone, abandoning a lifetime of faith over one miracle, wouldn't be worth taking anyway."
"Were you testing me?"
"Interpret it however you like. I merely showed you a new possibility, a new path. The choice is entirely yours."
Even Maribel had fallen victim to the suggestion magic.
To survive this, I needed to win Harlkas over.
So when she declared her unwavering loyalty to Nidhogg right up to the end, my heart sank.
The thought that I might die flashed through my mind, but I forced down the panic and played it cool.
After all, Harlkas couldn't harm me anyway.
I was the one who had shown her the future.
The Nidhogg Cult might have promised her immortality and eternal youth, but they probably hadn't given her any real clue how to achieve it.
Year after year, her impatience would have grown, breeding doubt about whether the cult could truly grant her endless youth.
Her reluctance to attack me was proof of that.
'Tyrbing.'
⚙ TYRBLING SPEAKS ⚙ What calls me, master? 'You said the primordial evil dwelling within you had submitted to me?'
⚙ TYRBLING SPEAKS ⚙ They sense their own inadequacy and fear being devoured by greater evils, so they hesitate to emerge. It was hard to wrap my head around it.
What part of me could possibly inspire fear in them?
I was so fragile that a Sword Master could put me on death's door with a tap on the shoulder.
I didn't get it, but I decided to exploit the evil's fear anyway.
'Can you implant the primordial evil into someone else?'
⚙ TYRBLING SPEAKS ⚙ It is possible. 'Might they turn hostile and attack me?'
⚙ TYRBLING SPEAKS ⚙ As long as you don't show weakness, I doubt it. On the contrary, they'll seek to grow stronger by gaining enlightenment through your humanity. 'I see...'
For the sake of this lost old sheep who couldn't make up her mind, I decided to give her a little courage.
First, I deactivated Tyrbing's power, reverting Harlkas to her elderly form once more.
The free trial was more than enough.
"Ahh...!"
Harlkas let out a sigh as she checked the wrinkles on her skin, her regret plain to see.
This amplified her longing for rejuvenation, making her choice even harder.
Her hunched back was fully exposed as she wrapped her head in her hands, deep in thought.
"Kuhk!"
I plunged Tyrbing straight into the middle of her defenseless back.
Despite being a bishop, Harlkas gripped her staff to counterattack.
But her body was rigid as stone; not a single finger would budge.
"It's fine, granny. I'm ridiculously good at respecting my elders."
"Wh-what have you done...!"
"A new ego will soon take root in that body of yours. Don't worry, though—I'll keep my promise to rejuvenate you."
Black blood began flowing from where I'd stabbed the demon sword.
At first, I thought it was from decay or worshiping the evil dragon, turning her blood black.
But even as blood poured out in quantities that should have worried me, her body showed no change.
No coughing up blood, steady breathing, no signs of pain at all.
'Is this working right?'
⚙ TYRBLING SPEAKS ⚙ It's going smoothly. You can pull Tyrbing out now. When I pulled the sword out, it slid free smoothly, as if it hadn't even pierced her.
Not a drop of blood stained the blade; no need to wipe it clean.
Meanwhile, black liquid kept pouring endlessly from the hole in Harlkas's solar plexus where the demon sword had pierced her.
Even if it wasn't blood, the massive loss of fluid made me wonder if she'd die of dehydration.
Nothing to regret if she did, so I watched leisurely—until the flow stopped abruptly, like turning off a faucet.
The hole in Harlkas's solar plexus healed in an instant, and she collapsed in place like a marionette with cut strings.
The black liquid pooled on the floor had turned into a jiggly, jelly-like mass.
Its shape vaguely resembled something from those shady sites catering to particular fetishes I'd seen before.
⚙ TYRBLING SPEAKS ⚙ That liquid that just poured out was the old woman's ego. 'Fuck, so my wild guess was spot on?'
I decided not to dwell on it.
Applying my dark web knowledge to this would irradiate my psyche worse than peeking into a forbidden grimoire like the Necronomicon from the game.
The point was: Harlkas's ego was gone, replaced by a being that had submitted to me.
"Ahriman greets the true evil."
"Come on in."
Ahriman, reborn by consuming Harlkas's body, knelt before me.
I didn't love being called 'evil,' but I'd gained another card in my hand.
One step closer to the cult's downfall.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Well, that wrapped up nicely somehow."
This incident had ended without a hitch too.
I'd made the dazed Agulvein Count write the petition, fulfilling Princess Rosmel's request.
As a bonus, the troublesome cult bishop Harlkas was now Ahriman, following my lead.
Her original personality was gone, but her memories remained intact. As a former White Tower mage, she even gave me a connection there.
And the suggestion magic artifact was icing on the cake.
It was a harvest so bountiful I felt like I might burst.
⚙ TYRBLING SPEAKS ⚙ Master, I'm curious what you thought of Tyrbing's power. 'I was disappointed for a second due to an unexpected variable, but it turned out better than I thought.'
⚙ TYRBLING SPEAKS ⚙ A vague assessment. 'It was more the primordial evil coexisting with Tyrbing that shone, not your power per se.'
⚙ TYRBLING SPEAKS ⚙ One day, I will surely show you Tyrbing's true value. 'I hope that day comes.'
I'd earned the demon sword's recognition and learned to wield it.
I was satisfied that, even without granting me overwhelming power, it let me use special abilities.
At least I wasn't powerless anymore.
Though to use Tyrbing's powers effectively, I'd need more research.
"The only issue left is Maribel, huh..."
Unfortunately, this incident wasn't all gains.
Maribel, whose confidence had soared after gaining various abilities in the Sword Emperor's palace.
But the moment she got that confidence, she fell helplessly to the magic artifact, plunging into despair.
She'd locked herself in her room for days, berating herself as useless.
All that hard-built confidence had crashed down.
"It wasn't even her fault."
Before meeting Harlkas, I'd prepared a protective barrier for emergencies, but it couldn't block mental magic.
Without Tyrbing, even I'd have fallen for the trap.
It wasn't a lack of ability but sloppy preparation for the unexpected.
Even after I told her it wasn't her fault, the responsibility-loving girl couldn't accept the comfort and wore a hollow expression.
"Haa...!"
Guess I'd have to keep cheering her up until she bounced back?
I headed to Maribel's room again to see her.
A faint breathing sound from beyond the door.
Confirming she was inside, I knocked.
"Maribel, want to come out and talk for a bit?"
"J-just a moment!"
The moment she realized it was me, a commotion erupted from the other side.
It was odd. The Maribel I knew was always impeccably clean.
Maybe the shock had her trashing the room.
"Y-you can come in now!"
As I pondered how to comfort her, I heard the door handle turn.
Maribel opened the door, and hot air rushed out.
The thick, musky scent of an aroused female wafted from the unventilated room.
Strangely excited, I turned my gaze toward her.
My jaw dropped.
"I've been thinking hard about it...! As someone lacking as a bodyguard, how on earth could I help you, Lord Heinz."
Maribel stood there in nothing but a pure white apron, her bare skin fully exposed.
Her cheeks flushed, eyes cast downward.
Clearly embarrassed, yet she sweated profusely and pressed on.
"If I can't be your bodyguard, then at least I can serve as a vessel to bear your children...!"
"Stop right there."
Her bombshell declaration showed her mental state was dangerously fragile.
She needed urgent care, but a selfish desire to let it play out warred within me, driving me mad.
Maribel trait: when her mentality breaks, she gets horny.