Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Sur's Gruesome Grin
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044
The veteran Sur, who had skillfully hidden his emotions.
Rip!
His mouth was split into a long, jagged grin.
"Kh, khkhkh."
Sur let out a stifled laugh.
"Isn't this Balak Demorus?"
Even as he spoke, he glanced at Sein, never forgetting to use honorifics.
But his actions told a different story.
Tap, tap.
He approached Balak's corpse and prodded it with his foot, as if poking trash.
"What happened to you?"
He wasn't asking for a mission report.
"How..."
That vicious smile spoke volumes about his true feelings.
"Did you kill him?"
It wasn't a report on the mission he wanted.
He craved their screams.
"What’s the big deal? Stabbed him to death with a sword, slashed him, beat him to death with my fists."
The more Sein spoke, the wider Sur's grin stretched.
As if it might tear completely and never recover.
"Where are the others?"
"Others?"
"The little demons."
Sur was asking about the orphans.
"They were a nuisance, so he took care of them,"
Parca answered.
"Khahahahaha!"
Finally, Sur's laughter erupted uncontrollably.
"Excellent! Excellent—!"
He shouted so loud the rafters shook.
"We were right to entrust this to Demorus. No, it's Sein’s ingenuity."
Fanning his robe, Sur continued.
"Sur of Tamba pledges his support to Sein. I have no doubt you will become the divine heir of Demorus."
Sein could feel Sur's favorability hit the max.
In the past, NPC favorability had been trickier than expected.
‘This guy's seriously deranged.’
Maxing out favor just from a few kills meant Sur was that twisted.
"Parca! What are you doing!"
Sur yelled at Parca.
"Bring the payment and gifts for Sein!"
"Ah...!"
"Wasn't the payment for Demorus?"
"How could that alone show Sur's sincerity to Sein?"
Sur declared.
"Sein went the extra mile to satisfy me like this, so I must pay the appropriate price."
He meant he'd pay sponsorship beyond the mission fee himself.
Parca bolted out as if his feet were on fire at Sur's words.
"Haa."
Sein let out a small sigh.
"This makes me feel bad."
"What do you mean?"
"If you treat me this well, how can I not waver?"
"......?"
Sur.
He was a seasoned lord.
The moment he sensed something off, he glanced at Sein.
Whoosh.
And unleashed his mana.
Only then did he realize.
"Fuck!"
Balak's breathing hadn't stopped yet.
Boom!
An explosion rang out.
Balak surged up, lunging to grab Sur's face, but Sur cast a protective spell, blocking his hands.
"All the soldiers and knights are yours now."
A single territory was still too much.
Raging in the heart of enemy territory had limits, and interference from others would just complicate things.
"So who said to fight alone?"
The one ally, Parca, had been sent away by Sur himself.
Whoosh.
Mana gripped the air.
Until those who sensed the disturbance arrived.
"Three minutes, Balak."
It would take about that long.
"Can you manage?"
"Thank you... for the opportunity."
Balak's eyes blazed with fury.
Crackle!
Crimson lightning surged across his body.
Darker than when he'd faced Sein—by far.
"Sur. Sorry about this."
Sein spoke to Sur, who trembled as he blocked Balak's rage.
"You've been so good to me, it makes my conscience ache. But what can I do?"
Smirk.
The same thick smile Sur had shown now curved Sein's lips.
"This mutt's worth more than all of Tamba."
"You bastard—!"
Sur screamed, his mana going berserk.
"Can you handle it! The covenant...!"
"Hey, Balak. That fucker's insulting our dad."
Smirk.
"Bite."
Crackle!
Cracks began to spiderweb across Sur's shield spell.
*
*
*
"More pathetic than I thought."
The Black-White Covenant.
In a world swallowed by black, white survived because they held what black lacked.
—Magic.
The foundation of this world.
Those born of the underworld or tainted by it couldn't use magic. Only the imperial bloodline and those in white's domain could.
Thinking back, it was true.
Aside from Arin's black magic, he'd never properly seen a single spell.
Sur was a mage.
So he'd expected more.
"Third circle at best."
The power and skill weren't praiseworthy.
Huff, huff.
Balak panted heavily.
Sur lay crushed beneath his foot.
"You bastards...."
Sur still clung to life.
"Can you... handle... it."
For survival?
Or just to curse them?
"Hey, did you go easy? Or does this fucker have nine lives?"
At Sein's words.
Crunch!
Balak pressed down, shattering Sur's skull.
To Balak, who had mastered mid-tier demonization, a third-circle mage was mere snack food.
"...I just thought ending it with this much pain would be a waste."
"Don't worry about that."
Sein waved his hand.
"You don't know your own power yet. From now on, Sur will live on fused with you."
"......?"
"You'll suffer for a long time, so no need to fret."
And then.
Boom!
The promised three minutes were up.
The manor doors burst open as soldiers and knights charged in.
"My lord!"
Parca cried out in horror.
"Sein. Sur spoke the truth. This is...."
What they had done.
"Not something we can brush off easily."
Sein had hoped, and that's why they'd acted, but even Balak knew.
What they'd done wasn't easy to bear.
It was a gamble.
Blind faith.
And...
"I know, kid."
A sliver of hope.
"But listen."
Sein approached Balak and hoisted Sur's headless corpse.
"I'm greater than you think."
"......?"
"Watch closely now."
Sein believed.
The romance of the powerless was mere recklessness.
But.
"I'll show you what true power looks like."
He could make romance into romance.
*
*
*
Sein and Balak were surrounded before they knew it.
Fortunately, Grofa's corpse was just a straw dummy Sein had conjured with demon and saint powers.
"What is the meaning of this!"
Parca screamed, trembling with rage and betrayal.
"How has my lord treated you!"
But Sein, taking it in stride.
Scratch.
Just dug at his ear with an annoyed look.
"You scum!"
"Move, and you die."
In that instant, everyone froze.
Sein's rest in Rasiel.
It was rest that wasn't rest—gathering his aura, amplifying it, honing his new perks.
Flinch.
In this moment, in this space, terror from Sein.
—Dragon Fear.
Dragon Fear ensnared and bound them.
"Why the hysterics."
"...Wh-what...."
"Mission accepted, mission complete."
Sein declared boldly.
Grofa wasn't dead, but it looked like Grofa's corpse was here.
"You saw it too, right?"
"......"
Parca couldn't respond easily.
Even now, Grofa's corpse seemed to lie plainly behind Balak.
"The rest wasn't in the mission scope. I just carried it out legitimately."
"But—!"
They'd killed Sur.
"Oh, this?"
Sein shook Sur's corpse like a doll.
"Mission complete...."
Grrrr.
His voice rumbled low like a beast's growl.
"But he tried to stiff Demorus on the pay. What could I do?"
"What!"
Bullshit!
Parca wanted to scream.
"Don't say it isn't. I might kill you."
"......"
But under Sein's murderous tone, Parca shut his mouth.
"Parca. What's that in your hands?"
The jewels and gold meant for Sein.
"Proof right there that this lunatic Sur skimmed Demorus's fee to split with me."
"Wh-what!"
In that moment.
Slash!
Parca's arm flew off.
Sein's sword—unseen in motion—had unleashed a slash of sword energy that severed it.
"Saying it again, you idiots."
To the soldiers and knights.
To everyone gathered.
"This is Demorus exercising rightful authority. If anyone interferes...."
Shing.
Sein took stance, his aura exploding outward.
An absolute presence even Tamba's knights couldn't touch, even in a swarm.
"You all die."
As he spoke, Sein glanced at Balak.
His eyes, expression, gesture—all seemed to say:
—This is how you use the name Demorus.
Unlike those granted power but clueless how to wield it.
Sein knew exactly what he had and how to use it.
The name Demorus.
Absolute in this world.
Clang!
Knights and soldiers dropped their weapons.
"Good."
Sein straightened up.
"...This easily."
Even Balak seemed shocked.
He'd thought they'd face the whole territory.
Maybe more, making him feel pathetic.
"Not yet."
"......?"
"You thought it'd be this easy?"
But Sein had seen beyond.
The real threat wasn't Tamba.
"What is this outrage, Sein Demorus."
Parting the soldiers like the Red Sea came a figure in black robes.
Kampe, one of Rasiel's enforcers.