Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Reason for War
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"Graveheim, sir?"
At that very moment, 1st Knight Order Captain Riu-who had been evacuating the civilians to the west-sent off the last carriage bound for Ennaun and turned back toward the crumbled walls. Even from afar, it sounded like something was collapsing, tearing, shattering, and dying.
"Knight Order! You can sense the danger closing in right now, even without checking the battlefield reports. The knights we scattered across the area are to rendezvous at Ennaun in case of emergency and block the civilians and other from fleeing. So you lot with me? You're heading straight into that death waiting over there. But isn't that just what we're used to? Knight Order, draw your swords. We're off to kill death itself-Yerutsa Rahav!"
"Yerutsa Rahav!"
With the evacuation complete, the 1st Knight Order began to move out. And as Riu, at the very front, passed through the market...
"Halt!"
A single Blue Moon wolfman appeared before her. But unlike ordinary wolfmen, it had even darker blue-black fur and a straight, long horn like that of a rhinoceros.
"You... strong. I... see it."
"Wolfman, do you speak our tongue?"
Riu signaled for the others to hold and approached him. Even from a distance, their size difference was at least twofold. The Blue Moon wolfman king spoke first.
"Send others... away. Me... strong. They... swept away."
Riu didn't reply but gestured for the other knights to go ahead. She'd sensed it instinctively too-the sheer power of the enemy before her eyes.
"Thanks. Since you're unexpectedly cooperative, one last question, demon. Kifuk, Chanherk, Gromma Gurimson, Yeruusa Ha Horn. What do they mean?"
"Kifuk, Chanherk... my son. Inherit... the horn. You... killed Bezhak."
"He had a son."
Riu drew her red-glowing sword. In response, the Blue Moon wolfman king raised its razor-sharp claws and asked.
"This time... I, Blue Moon... ask. Bezhak's death... you... strong?"
The Blue Moon wolfman king-Lucifer's most loyal horn-instinctively knew that sending her into the fray now would turn the tide of battle. Hearing the enemy's name again stirred a strange feeling in Riu as she nodded.
"Strong, you say?"
Then, as if everything had clicked into place, she fixed her piercing glare on him and answered.
"If you can't stop me, you're all dead. Blue Moon, I am Riu, the empire's greatest sword."
The Blue Moon wolfman adjusted its stance, radiating sharp killing intent as it replied.
"Is that so. Simple... good."
Boom!
In an instant, claws met sword, unleashing a massive explosion.
***
"E-Elis... Elis Hope."
Bulki couldn't make sense of the scene before him. It was as if the space above where Elis had stood had twisted and torn away, leaving only her severed arm and lower body crumpled on the ground.
"She's dead. I'll devour her after I finish you all off."
As the Demon King approached the Hero's party, Shainelius fired an arrow from behind and shouted.
"Stay back!"
Thud.
The Demon King took the arrow squarely, but acted as if he felt no pain at all, not even glancing at it as he slowly advanced.
An overwhelming gap.
The perfect trial prepared by the Hero's tale. Even as he burned in the karmic flames, he spoke with utmost composure.
"Ah, too afraid of my power to fight? The horn bestowed upon me warps space-time. And this loathsome mass of flesh devours all that is distorted, like sinking into the abyss. So get out of my sight."
The Demon King raised his arm again, and Shainelius darted out of his line of vision.
"Ngh!"
She leaped away, dodging the invisible attack, but she distinctly felt a nauseating power roiling behind her, as if space itself was twisting around her.
"I feel the space warping! We can dodge through the gaps!"
"Correct, sun fairy. When I warp space-time for an attack, there's a tiny opening. Spot it and move in the opposite direction-you can evade it easily."
'[Justice Burning One]'.
The Demon King raised his hand once more. With a thunderous roar, Gil dodged the attack and slashed upward at the Demon King's arm. He clearly saw flames scorch the severed stump.
"It's not completely immune to attacks!"
But the Demon King's severed arm regrew like tendrils of flesh, reattaching in moments. Gil's flames were swallowed by that dark, horrific body.
"It's just numb to pain-the damage accumulates. Keep cutting, and its regeneration will slow. It won't die from a severed torso or head, but crush the skull, and it's over."
This time, instead of his right hand, the Demon King raised a beastly claw like the Blue Moon wolfman's and said.
"It can do this too, so watch out."
His roar echoed like the Blue Moon wolfman's howl, forcing everyone to clap their hands over their ears. With a single flap of his black wings, the Demon King closed the distance to Rondnel's shield in the blink of an eye.
"What the-!"
Hovering in the air, the Demon King slammed down with legs heavier than a mountain, pinning Rondnel. Rondnel thrust his shield up just in time to block.
"Ngh!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As if determined to bury Rondnel into the earth, the Demon King kept stomping on the shield.
"Ngh! I can't hold... much longer...!"
Each stomp made the air shudder and dirt explode. As the Demon King pressed his savage, beastly assault, the sun-shrouded plateau swirled only with karmic fire and lightning.
"Elis!"
In a flash, Bulki charged with eyes blazing like lightning cleaving the sky, shoving the Demon King back. A deafening boom rang out as the Demon King tumbled to the base of the cliff. Without pause, Bulki hurled his spirit, weaving a thorny cage of light like a briar thicket.
'[Formation - Prison of Light]'.
"That was my first campaign! I didn't even kill your kind! You had no reason to kill her!"
Bulki rushed the impaled Demon King and pummeled his cursed body mercilessly. Flesh tore, venomous blood sprayed, shaking the air and flinging dirt with each blow.
"Graaaargh!"
But as the holy light pushed back the karmic flames, another beastly roar thundered like lightning.
"Ngh!"
This one was even fiercer-a shockwave collapsed part of the cliff, hurling Bulki far away. The Demon King rose again, trampling the scattering fragments of light.
"Is that all you've got? Aim for the head, Hero."
"Shut up!"
It had been five years since he'd been this furious. Bulki hurled his sword-hammer at the Demon King's shoulder, fueled by rage. But this time, Iven effortlessly dodged and closed in.
Boom!
Shainelius's arrow, Gil's flames, and Bulki's spirit clashed against Demon King Iven's arm. The air between them warped as if all space itself was buckling, exploding in a storm of battle aura.
"This is all for your sake, friend."
Iven whispered into the explosion, unheard by any other.
***
"Are you swinging those claws without purpose, like the rest of your demon kin?"
Riu knew after a few clashes.
The beast king before her was wielding his blade solely to prove his strength. Just like the Red Blood Savage chieftain she'd met on that plateau five years ago-his weapon carried conviction.
"Purpose... exists."
In an instant, the Blue Moon lunged like moonlight flashing. Riu raised her sword to block, but the Blue Moon clamped its fangs into her right shoulder even as their blades met.
"Ngh! [Sword Draw]!"
Even with swords locked, Riu drew a blade from thin air, blasting it away in an explosion.
"Blue Moon's purpose... grow stronger. I grow strong... horn grows... our kin... all stronger."
The Blue Moon clutched its slashed throat and answered. Riu gripped her sword again and asked.
"A matter for your kin alone, not all demons? Then why side against humans? Even without being demons, allying with us could have earned you recognition as and a path to greater strength. Isn't that right? [Sword Draw]!"
This time, Riu's eyes blazed as she slashed down from above in a massive arc. The sword aura split the ground, but even as blade met claw in a shower of sparks, the Blue Moon answered calmly, word by word, still with room to spare.
"Sword... like you fight... horn fights. From birth... if not kill... we die. Weak... die. Strong... we all strong."
"You grow strong to survive? So you can protect anyone?"
"You and I... same thought."
In a flash, the Blue Moon discarded its long, slender claw-sword and lunged with both sets of claws, targeting Riu's left flank and right shoulder. Riu countered the fierce, barbaric strikes with [Sword Draw] explosions.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"You... different. From other... knights."
The Blue Moon pulled back and crouched low again as it spoke.
"You're fighting for the same reason as us."
Riu sheathed her sword and replied. The two shared an oddly similar smile before charging each other.
"[Sword Draw], [Triple Draw]."
Faster, even faster, with utmost speed.
'Fangs that Tear the Earth'.
Deeper, thrust in even deeper.
Their simultaneous, menacing strikes landed. Riu twisted midair to reposition, but the Blue Moon ignored the blast and bit down on her sword with its massive fangs, thrusting its right claw forward. Riu's armor crumpled like paper, flesh tearing from her side-at that exact moment.
"[Sword Draw], Quintuple Draw."
Draw twice as many as now, if you can, faster than the gods!
Boom!
A crimson explosion erupted from the Blue Moon's maw, obliterating the entire marketplace.