Chapter 46
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Demon Judge
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The first thing to awaken against the ominous power that had burrowed deep into his body was his divine power.
A single ray of light, germinated amidst the perilous situation that shook his inner self to the core, breathed life into Luon’s fading consciousness.
The moment his superhuman willpower solidified his crumbling world of consciousness and bolstered his divine power, a modifier etched like a medal within Luon began to change.
It was a transformation that lauded his inevitable task—he who had single-handedly defeated those who had received the Great Demon's stigma, and who would continue to fight them in the future.
[Demon Judge]
The transformed modifier bared its fangs, flaunting its presence. Before its fierce momentum, the darkness that had been eating away at his mind began to recede.
“...Are you rejecting the King’s baptism with your own power alone?”
Pasianu muttered lowly as he watched the darkness enveloping Luon fade. For the first time, a hint of bewilderment tinged the voice of the man who hadn't lost his composure even when his face was crushed.
“What in the world are you?”
Meanwhile, Luon, having completely shaken off the darkness, glared at Pasianu with blazing eyes.
“What do you mean, what? I’m your enemy.”
Having said that, he lightly spun the holy sword clutched in one hand. A gentle light began to softly envelop the blade.
At this sight, Pasianu audibly gritted his teeth.
“You’ve drawn out even more of the holy relic’s power in that short time? Just how far do you intend to surprise me? What else are you hiding?”
Hiding, my ass.
Luon let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
Judging by his reaction, Pasianu seemed unaware that his own magic had turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Of course, Luon, who had no reason to point this out, silently adjusted his stance.
Perhaps due to the influence of [Demon Judge], the voice that had persistently stirred his mind, urging self-harm, had also vanished.
His body creaked even more than before, but satisfied with his clear mind, Luon kicked off the ground violently.
“Persistent bastard!”
As Luon charged like a beam of light, Pasianu extended an index finger with a long, black nail.
In an instant, a compressed, formless power shot out in the direction his finger pointed.
Luon used his forward momentum to swing his sword down.
KABOOM!
The condensed magical power, split in two by the holy sword, exploded, devastating the surroundings.
The holy sword's reactivated barrier glowed red-hot from the immense heat and began to melt.
Just then, a blade of wind flew at him from the front with a *swoosh*. The blade succeeded in slicing through the barely-holding barrier, but it failed to cut off Luon's head, as he had already ducked.
Having deflected two spells in an instant, Luon reached Pasianu and thrust the holy sword with all his might.
Responding to his will, the holy sword flashed and emitted a brilliant light.
The sword cut through the air, pierced through the dark red sparks surrounding Pasianu’s body and the barrier beneath them in one go, and lodged itself in the man’s stomach.
The moment Luon tried to push the sword harder, intending to skewer his opponent...
“You bastard!”
Pasianu shouted with bloodshot eyes, swinging his arm downward.
Following its trajectory, a black lightning bolt materialized in the air and dropped toward Luon.
In that split second.
Luon, who had been debating whether to release the sword and retreat, decided against it.
He had managed to shake off the Great Demon’s power with his suddenly changed title, but his body was a wreck from the aftermath. He knew that if he retreated now, he might lose the upper hand for good.
So, he instead took a step forward and pushed the sword deeper with all his strength.
As the sword pierced through Pasianu's abdomen and emerged from his back, the lightning bolt struck Luon’s right shoulder.
KRA-KOOM!
Despite the excruciating pain of his entire arm being torn apart, Luon held his ground and forced his bloodied left hand into a fist.
His right hand, which had been holding the sword, was useless, as his shoulder was ruined and he couldn't put any strength into it.
“An utterly… unbelievable… body.”
Having lost the muscles in his abdomen, Pasianu gasped for air, as if even breathing was agonizing.
Blood poured from his mouth, gathered at the tip of his chin, and dripped to the floor.
“If you… think… your fate… is entirely… your own… you’re sorely… mistaken… Keuk!”
Luon struck the chin of Pasianu, who was struggling to utter each word, with his left hand and replied coolly.
“Cut the empty platitudes, will you?”
He forced his left hand to grip the hilt of the holy sword.
“No matter what you spout, the fact that I will kill your king remains unchanged.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Luon raised his arm without hesitation.
*Shhhlick-*
The moment the holy sword sliced through the crown of his head and pulled free, a thin red line appeared on Pasianu’s face.
Soon, with a sickening crack, his torso split apart, and he collapsed to the floor.
Looking down as Pasianu's corpse sank into a pool of his own blood, Luon slumped to the floor.
“…Hurts like hell.”
As fresh blood gushed from his shoulder, which was gouged so deeply the bone was visible, Luon hastily tore a long strip from the shirt under his armor and tightly bound it around his armpit.
Wincing in pain, his eyes widened in surprise at the enormous amount of experience points flooding his being.
When was the last time he’d gained two levels in a single day?
With that thought, Luon closed his eyes and invested his bonus stats evenly into Divine Power and Strength.
When he opened his eyes with a satisfied smile, a flash of light shot out from the pommel of the holy sword.
Right, there’s still that.
A reddish glow poured toward Pasianu’s corpse and drew out a black energy from within his body.
The holy sword’s light, which would normally have devoured the black energy in an instant, began to struggle in the air, as if its opponent was not so easily overcome this time.
After a long struggle, the holy sword’s light finally emerged victorious.
Thinking the noticeably larger light would naturally return to the pommel, Luon instinctively raised his left arm when it suddenly shot toward his face.
In that moment, his vision flashed white.
***
A man appeared.
Miraculously surviving a carriage accident that killed his entire family, the man devoted himself to his studies and magic, staying up all night as if determined to live for his deceased family as well.
His brilliant talent, which never betrayed his efforts, led him to ever greater heights without a single failure.
Decades passed like this.
The man had become the most distinguished figure in all of Bern.
The man’s name was Pasianu Onflick.
Everyone loved and respected him—the king’s advisory mage, a revered scholar, and the honorable director of the Grand Library.
No one knew.
Of the terrible madness hidden behind Pasianu’s benevolent smile. Of the horrific power and evil plans he had cultivated over the past decades.
Nor did anyone know that his parents and two younger sisters, said to have died in the carriage accident, had actually been flayed alive and offered as sacrifices to a demon.
He was an apostle.
The most favored servant of the Great Demon Belducias.
Pasianu had spent a long time succeeding in naturally driving the benevolent King Polientus mad, and the king, consumed by insanity, waged reckless wars, lost in the absurd dream of world conquest.
Watching this, Pasianu smiled a cruel smile.
‘All in the name of my true king, Belducias!’
The other servants thought their evil deeds were merely for the king’s amusement, but Pasianu, the apostle, was different.
He knew.
That the series of incidents created by the servants who shared the Great Demon’s power were accumulating causality for Belducias.
And also that, through this accumulated causality, the great demons were preparing to overthrow the celestial gods.
Pasianu, who had been working in the shadows dreaming of a glorious holy war, suddenly realized something one day.
Someone was murdering the king’s minions.
This was something only he could know, as an apostle capable of detecting the king’s power spread across the continent.
At first, Pasianu had assumed they were being taken down by paladins or priests dispatched by the church, but as time passed, he realized things were taking a strange turn.
He immediately…
… … …
… … …
… … …
Luon opened his eyes.
Overcome by a wave of dizziness, he quickly put a hand to the floor and looked down at the holy sword.
“…Did you show me that?”
The scene that had just been forcibly overlaid on his senses was undoubtedly the life of Pasianu, the man he had just killed.
For some reason, he hadn't been able to see the final scene, but it wasn't hard to grasp the overall situation.
Mulling over the memory, Luon murmured lowly.
“In the end, nothing’s changed… I still have to kill that bastard, Belducias.”
As he struggled to his feet, leaning on his sword and gasping for breath, he heard footsteps from behind.
“Sir Luon!”
It was Igor, stepping into the room that was a mess, as if it had been bombed. He spotted Luon's bleeding shoulder and immediately clasped his hands.
“Merciful Mother, your great champion bleeds here. Grant him a grace befitting his glorious station.”
As if in answer to the earnest prayer, a soft light emanated from Igor’s body.
As the pain in his shoulder and left hand, now suffused with light, began to subside, Luon let out a short breath.
“Much better.”
“Thank goodn—”
Igor, who had been replying with a faint smile, suddenly covered his mouth with his hand and began to cough violently. Seeing blood seep between his fingers, Luon asked.
“What’s wrong?”
Igor slowly caught his breath and answered.
“It is the price for drawing too heavily on the Mother’s grace with insufficient faith. I seem to have unintentionally overexerted myself.”
“Are you dying?”
Igor started in surprise at his words and replied.
“Dying, just from coughing up a bit of blood! Why would you say something so harsh?”
“If not, that’s a relief.”
Luon shrugged lightly and added.
“Seeing you up here, I take it things downstairs are settled?”
Igor wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and said.
“…It wasn’t easy, but it’s been handled. Strabo was injured, but it’s not life-threatening. He’s groaning more from the backlash of his transformation wearing off than from his wounds.”
Yet Igor, the one saying this, looked noticeably haggard, so Luon held out the holy sword.
“I don’t know if this will help, but hold it for a moment.”
Igor, blinking with a gaunt face, took the sword.
The holy sword began to emit a soft glow, as if permitting the touch of Tivela’s priest. Only then did color return to Igor’s face, and he let out a faint sigh.
“Thank you.”
Luon, who had given a rough nod, suddenly sensed something strange and looked up.
Gazing at the night sky visible through the gaping hole in the ceiling, he realized a translucent veil was burning away.
“…We need to get out of here. Fast.”
“Pardon?”
Luon gestured with his chin toward Pasianu’s corpse and said.
“It looks like the spell that was hiding this mansion is being dispelled now that bastard is dead. Let’s get out before this blows up.”
As the two men hurried out of the mansion, Kyle, who had been sitting on the ground, groaned and pushed himself up.
At his feet lay a woman whose lower body had transformed into a snake's tail.
“What happened to your shoulder? Are you all right?”
“Where’s Strabo?”
“He’s lying over there. In a shocking state.”
Kyle said, pointing. Turning his head in the direction Kyle’s finger indicated, Luon saw Strabo lying spread-eagled on the ground with a grin.
“Hey, Luon! You made it! Let’s rest a bit before we go. I can barely move right now!”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Luon strode toward the naked dwarf, whose chest was wrapped in bandages.
“Hey, what are you doing? Put me down! I get motion sick!”
Strabo, who clearly hadn't imagined Luon would hoist him over his shoulder, struggled.
“Stay still before I leave you behind.”
At the curt reply, Strabo stopped moving.
Kyle tilted his head at the ridiculous sight.
“Is something wro—”
Just then, with a loud *thud*, an outer wall of the mansion collapsed, and he jumped back in fright.
“Wh-what the hell? Why’d that suddenly happen?”
“It seems the mansion’s appearance was concealed by a spell to make it unrecognizable from the outside. Sir Luon killed the caster, so it’s being dispelled.”
At Igor’s words, Kyle muttered weakly.
“…No wonder it was so quiet.”
Luon nodded toward the main gate.
“Let’s go before the guards show up.”
Just then, the dangling Strabo asked cautiously.
“Why are we in such a hurry to run? Can’t we just tell them? You know, that the people in this mansion were servants of Belducias… that they bewitched the king.”
Luon shook his head.
“The king has long been consumed by madness. Do you think a man like that would simply let us go after we killed his advisory mage?”
Strabo furrowed his brow.
“The king’s advisory mage? That bastard was the apostle?”
Luon nodded.
“Right. I wonder if you’re starting to grasp who we just killed. Still feel like explaining everything to the guards?”
Kyle slapped his forehead with his palm and muttered.
“Fuck… it doesn’t get any more fucked up than this.”
The party immediately left the mansion and headed straight for the inn. While the others quickly packed their belongings, Luon went to the stables and woke the dozing stable hand.
“What in the world at this hour… B-blood?”
Seeing the blood-soaked Luon, the stable hand recoiled in fear. Luon put a finger to his lips and said.
“I’ve come for my horse. And I’d like to buy two more while I’m at it.”
The low voice only frightened the stable hand more, and he spoke with a tremor.
“As you know, all the horses here have owners…”
He trailed off, then swallowed hard as he saw a gold coin pressed into his hand.
“You can sort that out yourself.”
“Y-yes, sir.”
The stable hand shot up and led out three horses, including the Nightmare.
The Nightmare, snorting aggressively as if annoyed at being woken, flinched upon seeing Luon covered in blood and staring at it, then quickly approached him.
The party didn’t bother asking how Luon had acquired the horses.
“Strabo, get on, quickly.”
“…Just try to ignore it if I start throwing up.”
With Strabo taking Igor's hand to mount his horse, the party was ready to depart.
Kyle asked.
“Luon, so where are we headed now?”
Pulling on his cloak atop the Nightmare, Luon answered curtly.
“Where the holy sword leads.”
Leaving behind the chaotic events of the night, the party moved forward as dawn began to break behind them.