Reformation of the Deadbeat Noble - Chapter 235

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Dionysus

Chapter 235: Time to Prove Yourself (2)

──────

“We have to catch it!”

Vwooooom-!

Brett Lloyd shouted, drawing an Aura Sword. Without looking back, Brett began chasing after the demon, no, its lingering remnant.

Pride at making even a demon flee?

There was none.

‘Who knows what could happen if we let it get away!’

They were strong enough, physically and mentally, to resist a demon’s curse.

Ordinary people were not.

Even if it was a dreg that had lost most of its power, few people could resist a demon.

They had to stop it somehow.

They could not let it head toward civilian homes or Lloyd territory, no matter what!

Brett’s urgency made Brett hurry even more.

“Let’s go too!”

“Yeah!”

Kiril Farreira and Lulu, who had only belatedly grasped the situation, followed after Brett. Tension filled their faces, unlike before.

Airen Farreira did not move.

“...”

His gaze was fixed in the direction the demon was fleeing.

No, not quite.

His senses had spread far beyond that, searching, grasping, and discovering.

As vividly as if he were seeing it right before his eyes, they told him that new presences had appeared.

At that moment, he realized it.

There was no longer any reason to worry.

The demon’s purification was already a foregone conclusion.

Whoosh!

Crackle-!

Fwoosh!

A massive net appeared in the empty air.

It was no ordinary net. The white mesh, woven from sacred energy, seemed loose, yet it did not let even a trace of Demonic aura escape.

It gathered all impure energy and began purifying it.

“Kraaaaaagh! Guh, guaaaaaagh!”

A pained scream poured from the demon remnant’s mouth.

It did not last long.

Soaked in holy lightning and engulfed in flames of purification, the creature returned to nothing in an instant.

Brett, Kiril, and Lulu swallowed at the powerful, clean execution that did not even leave ashes behind.

Holy Magic.

Magic of tremendous power, which ordinary priests could not even hope to wield, the sort only the highest-ranking priests of Abilius in the Holy Kingdom could display.

‘The Demon Subjugation Force is here!’

No sooner had that thought crossed everyone’s mind than elderly figures clad in sacred white armor appeared.

“...”

Silence fell.

The Demon Subjugation Force did not look kindly on them.

The reason seemed clear.

Brett spotted his father among the elders of Abilius but could not even greet him. Instead, Brett frantically thought of what excuse to offer.

‘It’s true that we subjugated the demon safely, but we also ignored the Holy Kingdom’s instructions...’

If they pressed that point, Brett had nothing to say.

Nor had they handled everything perfectly. They had let the demon remnant escape for a moment and left the final blow to these people.

Brett’s expression gradually hardened.

Even Kiril, usually so strong-willed, and Lulu, always so cheerful, could not say a word as they watched the Demon Subjugation Force’s reactions.

Step.

At that moment, Airen Farreira brought about a change.

He took a single light step forward.

That minor movement drew everyone’s attention.

Those who knew Airen and those seeing him for the first time alike found themselves unable to look away from him.

“...”

Silence settled once more.

Breaking through it was Quincy Myers, the former Red Knight Commander, clad in crimson armor unlike the others.

Quincy looked at Airen Farreira with deep-set eyes before speaking.

“Airen.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what I’m about to say?”

“I do.”

“You do, yet you stand there so confidently. You’ve got quite a nerve.”

“I only thought it was right to subjugate the demon as quickly as possible if we had the ability.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

“I see.”

“Yes.”

In that instant, immense pressure burst from Quincy Myers’s body.

Lulu, in her Sorcery-girl form, took two steps back.

Kiril frowned deeply and brought out a Sorcery shield, while Brett controlled Aura at full force in an effort to escape the pressure.

Yet what they felt was only a small fraction of it.

Most of that vast force was directed squarely at the young hero, but his expression did not change.

As the members of the Demon Subjugation Force showed their surprise, Quincy Myers, leader of the Second Demon Subjugation Force, drew a sword and spoke.

“Then prove it. Show whether you possess skill worthy of your words.”

“I understand...”

Boom-!

His answer had not even ended.

Quincy Myers stomped down hard, as though striking the ground.

The earth began to writhe as if it were water.

Boom!

Booooom-!

Once, twice, three times, four times.

Concentric circles spread out with every stomp. Though it was solid ground, the way it swayed like waves inspired an unreal sort of fear.

Kiril and Lulu instinctively fled into the air, while Brett had to forcefully lower his center of gravity to keep his balance.

As for Airen Farreira...

Though he seemed to stand in the middle of raging waves, he remained calm.

“...!”

A strange light entered Quincy Myers’s eyes.

It was not simply that Airen had good balance.

He looked as comfortable and natural as a being born able to walk on water.

No, as though he had become one with the water itself.

Just as Quincy Myers was about to stomp down even harder...

Thump.

Airen moved.

Swoosh-.

It was not just his feet.

Aura flowed from the sword he swung at a speed that was not particularly fast. Quincy Myers was surprised once again.

Sending out the Aura coating one’s sword was a method even most Sword Masters did not use.

It was difficult, and it wasted too much energy.

Yet Airen did not seem strained.

No, that was not the important part.

The golden Aura, moving far more slowly than usual, spread broadly and leisurely like water, blocking Quincy’s view.

“Hup!”

Quincy Myers quickly took a stance and swung a sword. A typhoon descended through disciplined spinning swordsmanship.

The opponent’s Aura, which had obscured the view like mist, vanished as if it had been washed away. It seemed Airen’s intent had been completely countered.

It had not.

Boom-!

Having become one with his own Aura and that water-like energy, Airen closed in at point-blank range and stomped down hard.

Like Quincy Myers’s, it was a step that shook the earth. Several nearby priests nearly lost their balance and fell.

Airen paid them no mind.

The perfect moment when physical strength, Aura, swordsmanship, and heart came together as one.

The strongest Vertical Strike Airen Farreira could currently deliver flew toward his opponent.

Craaaaaang!

Crack! Craaackle-!

Quincy Myers seemed to shrink.

No, that was not it. The ground beneath Quincy had shattered. From the earth that had caved in like a broken cookie, Quincy’s eyes gleamed sharply.

Airen’s attack was not over.

It was only beginning.

Gritting his teeth, he swung his sword again and again. His movements carried the power of someone swinging a club rather than a sword.

That did not make them crude.

Airen let go of his fixation, erased his anxiety, and finally allowed his heart to flow naturally. That let him focus completely on the fight before him.

His swordsmanship, unleashed without wasting even the slightest bit of strength, was powerful without being clumsy.

Fierce, but not rough.

As though he were trying to split a solid boulder, the young swordsman’s Greatsword swung with monstrous force.

Thud-!

Of course, Quincy Myers would not simply take the blows.

Quincy stepped diagonally back and lowered the weapon.

Quincy’s sword clung to Airen’s like a magnet, throwing the point of impact completely off. Airen’s balance wavered for an instant.

Quincy Myers escaped the defensive position through refined swordsmanship and exhaled.

Then, as though returning everything endured so far, Quincy unleashed a tyrannical assault.

Boom!

Booom-!

Kwoooom!

Heavy, broad Sword Strikes came one after another. A white gale. It was Aura that did not suit a former Red Knight Commander, but the color did not matter.

Airen’s immediate concern was blocking the merciless barrage without pause.

‘This isn’t easy.’

Airen frowned.

It went beyond not being easy. One wrong move, and it would not have been strange for his torso to be cut apart.

He knew his opponent was not the sort of person who would do that, yet that was how it felt.

It was fitting for the leader of the Red Knight Order, where only the fiercest people in the Holy Kingdom gathered.

That was why he gave up.

That was why he let go.

He stopped trying to hold his ground and set aside any thought of using the advantages of the Heavy Sword.

Airen’s energy, firm as a rock, began to flow leisurely like water.

Boom!

Quincy’s sword came at him.

An overwhelmingly powerful attack. Yet once it touched the surface of water, its force could not be conveyed in full.

Kwooom!

Quincy’s sword came again, this time from the opposite direction. The blow from the upper left was fierce enough to seem as though it would take his head off.

Yet it was fine. Airen took two steps back, retreating softly like water. He did not resist the force and flowed along its course.

The moment he received Quincy’s sword, Airen retreated far away. A smile had already formed on his face.

“...”

Quincy Myers showed no particular emotion.

Quincy simply swung the sword harder, with greater force.

Airen was not afraid.

His smile only grew brighter.

In a state of complete absorption, he received his opponent’s attacks, redirected them, and redirected them again.

Of course, he was not without limits.

“Huff, huff...”

Airen Farreira had grown tremendously in a short time through his rest in Lloyd territory and the training brought by the Stone Demon.

Even so, Quincy Myers’s swordsmanship was extraordinary and Quincy’s Aura was solid enough that Airen could not keep up.

Some of Quincy’s techniques were so mysterious that Airen could not even understand them. Had Quincy not been a Paladin, calling them bizarre would not have felt out of place.

‘If Quincy hadn’t held back, I would have fallen long ago. I still have a long way to go.’

As Airen once again felt the gap between himself and a swordsman on the level of the Continent’s Ten Strongest, flames rose in his heart.

They were not excessive.

A brilliant fire fueled by passion and determination.

It heated the hero’s body but did not harm him.

The stream of water flowing steadily through his body was already protecting him.

It was an ideal, balanced state, as though he held both a youth’s vigor and an old person’s experience.

The person who understood that best was none other than Quincy Myers, leader of the Second Demon Subjugation Force.

Quincy sheathed the sword, breathing still steady.

“Airen Farreira.”

“Huff, whew... Yes.”

“Join the Demon Subjugation Force.”