WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Reincarnation of the Sword Demon

Chapter 58

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Zoo

Kyle twitched his brows as he looked down at Fenris. He had planned to chew out that damned mutt, but what could he even say to an animal that could not talk back?

'No... it does seem to understand words...'

In the end, he let out a deep sigh and reached toward Fenris. A sword shaped like a wolf. What he had felt the first time he connected with it and saw that wolf had not changed even now. The pitch-black fur covering Fenris's whole body was a thicket of jagged blades. The teeth in its mouth were inverted blades, the claws were curved blades, even the tail was a blade.

But its flipped-up belly was covered in soft fluff. Kyle remembered the hunting dog he had raised in his mercenary band in his previous life and placed a hand on Fenris's stomach.

"Whine..."

Fenris wriggled around and rubbed its back on the floor. Curious, Kyle touched the fur, and though it looked like steel, it felt soft.

"Is this just for show?"

When he asked, Fenris shook its head and raised the tips of its fur. The softness under Kyle's hand turned hard in an instant. It could switch between fur and blades, and it definitely understood speech.

"Why can't you talk? Jor can talk, and Baal can talk too."

After saying that, he thought about it. Even if both had lasted five hundred years, Baal was probably older than Fenris. Or maybe each dokkaebi was just different.

Then again, Fenris might have been pretending it could not talk because it did not want to get scolded. Even dogs that looked stupid were often sharp and sly. Especially dogs, they always knew exactly when they had done something wrong.

...

Kyle stared quietly into Fenris's eyes. Its irises were a cold silver, and the guilty-dog look in them made him almost laugh.

"You little shit-mutt."

He sighed and rubbed Fenris's belly. The soft texture felt surprisingly nice, and Fenris seemed to like it too, panting with its tongue out while rubbing its back against the floor.

"You know who I am, right?"
"Bark!"

Fenris gave a loud bark. It twisted its body, pushed its head closer to Kyle, and sniffed at him.

"You knew ten years ago too, right?"
"Whine..."
"Then why did you bite me back then, you son of a bitch."

Kyle had not forgotten how Fenris had pounced ten years ago and chewed into his five-year-old body.

"And you didn't bite me just once. You bit me hard, over and over. You knew even while biting me, didn't you? You knew who I was."
"Whine... whine..."
"You still knocked my hand away even after recognizing me. No, not knocked away. You cut it off."

With a nasty expression, Kyle grabbed Fenris's snout. Whimpers leaked through the tightly held muzzle, and its ears drooped flat. He stared into those cautious, guilty eyes and whispered.

"It's fine. It's all in the past. I didn't know I'd die and reincarnate, so how would a sword like you have known? Anyway, good to see you again."

He let go of the snout and patted Fenris's head. Fenris still wore that cautious look, but its tail wagged gently.

"There were a lot of things I wanted to hear from you."

Kyle scratched Fenris's belly with his left hand and stroked its whole face with his right as he muttered.

"Five hundred years is a long time. How you spent it... actually, I don't care that much. I heard you stayed in the Sword Peak Hall the whole time."
"Whine..."
"Were you lonely? Of course you were. Five hundred years passed. But what could you do? No one but me recognized you... and this family treated you like decoration."

That was exactly why Kyle stopped tormenting Fenris. This was not just any sword, it was his beloved sword from his previous life. Five hundred years had passed, and a dokkaebi had nested in it.

Everything shines when used for its intended purpose. Fenris was never made to be a display piece.

Kyle remembered very well how sharp Fenris had been. It was a sword made to stab, cut, and kill, and its edge had not dulled at all even after cutting down hundreds in a single day. Even without aura, it could cut through most knights in full armor. Even without aura, it could trade blows with aura-wrapped weapons. Fenris was a peerless blade that could even cut magic.

In his previous life, Sword Demon Raikal had used Fenris according to what it was made for and what it could do. It was never meant as an ornament, so he had never once used it as one. And yet that sword had spent five hundred years displayed in the Sword Peak Hall.

"You're a sword, and I'll use you as one. Just like I did five hundred years ago."

At that, Fenris panted as if laughing. Its drooped ears sprang up, its tail swayed, and the fur that had softened turned back into blades and gleamed with a killing edge.

Black mist rippled. The smell of metal, the smell of swords. A blood scent like his own drifted through it. Fenris's cold silver eyes shone with a vicious light. Kyle grinned at the sight.

"Not that I'll slaughter people recklessly like in my last life. You got tired of that too, didn't you? We killed too many five hundred years ago."
"Whine..."
"Don't look disappointed. After five hundred years, both of us should change. We have at least that much dignity now."
"Bark!"
"You're disappointed we couldn't go to the end today? Me too. But we couldn't go all the way today. They're family."

Kyle paused and looked down at Fenris. It felt strange. This was his first time rambling like this to someone who had known him five hundred years ago.

"I don't know who you and I will fight from now on, or who we'll cut down. Let's hope it's more fun than my last life. The world changed a lot. Maybe in this era, we're old veterans."
"Grrr..."
"Don't get mad. What's wrong with old veterans? You know this too. Surviving the battlefield as an old veteran proves you're strong. And staying on the battlefield even when you're old means you're half insane."

Kyle chuckled and held Fenris's head with both hands.

"Sure, I wasn't strong enough and died five hundred years ago. Then I got lucky and reincarnated, but even after dying once, I still want to lose my mind over the sword again. Yeah, I was already a little crazy five hundred years ago."
"Bark!"
"You know? Same goes for you. You've been decoration for five hundred years, so the blood smell should've faded and your edge should've dulled. But you're still soaked in blood and still sharp. Right, because just like I was born this way, you were forged this way."

He laughed and lightly squished Fenris's head with both hands.

"We're both old veterans, but we're not washed-up. Right? I hate being treated like washed-up trash. So let's keep learning and keep working hard. So we don't fall behind this era."
"Grrr..."
"Cut the killing intent. You rude little shit-mutt. I didn't even tell you to bite, so why are you baring your teeth? I'll rip them out."

Fenris curled its lips and exposed sharp sword-like fangs, and Kyle instantly grabbed its muzzle.

"I'll handle you like a sword, so you act like a sword. I'm the one who swings the blade, got it?"
"Whine..."
"You remember when I died? I don't know if you already existed like this back then, but judging by how you're acting, it looks like you remember the days when we rampaged together as good memories."

At that question, Fenris gave him that cautious look and nodded.

"You remember? How was it? Were you sad?"
"Whine..."
"What is there to be sad about? We had a good ending. We had plenty of fun fights before that too, but the last fight was the most fun. So... more than sad, I do feel a little regret. I wanted to fight that bastard Ruin more, and longer."

Fenris quietly looked at Kyle. Meeting those silver eyes, Kyle gave a crooked grin.

"I heard Ruin kept you by his side. How was it? Did Ruin use you as a sword?"

Fenris shook its head. Kyle burst out laughing at that answer.

"Sorry to say this to you, but that actually makes me feel relieved. That bastard Ruin broke his sword in his later years, right? Said there was no one left worth swinging at. If you had become Ruin's beloved sword... you might've broken back then and never met me like this."
"Whine..."
"Even if Ruin hadn't broken you, you might've seen Ruin as more of a master than me and refused to acknowledge me at all. Ruin was way better with a sword than I was."

Kyle whispered with a teasing expression, and Fenris shook off his hand, sprang to its feet, and growled.

"What, punk? You mad because I underestimated your loyalty? You don't get to be mad. You tore into me ten years ago."
"Whine..."
"Mm, right, I said I wouldn't harp on the past. Anyway, quit your bullshit and come here. Can you do this too? Sit!"

There was no way a creature that understood words this well could fail at such a simple command. Fenris immediately sat as told.

"You stayed by Ruin's side, so you must've seen Ruin's sword too. What was his sword like?"

Kyle asked with quiet anticipation. Of course, Kyle remembered Ruin's sword from five hundred years ago. But Ruin had lived long after killing Sword Demon and must have continued to temper his blade. Just how extraordinary the sword of a man who even achieved ascension had become, Kyle did not know. Five hundred years had passed, so even his descendants probably did not know exactly what level their founder's sword had reached.

"At least imitate it. When you cut me ten years ago, you moved exactly like a sword, didn't you? Swing that front paw and do something close..."

The moment he said that, the black mist filling the area began to churn.

Beyond the mist, a hazy gray silhouette appeared. Kyle's eyes went wide as he stared at it. He could not make out a face or clothing. It was an indistinct shape, like someone had brushed ink across the air.

But that silhouette was holding a sword.

'Ah.'

Just from the stance, Kyle knew by instinct who it was.

Ruin Alastor. Founding Ancestor of Alastor, the one who had ended Sword Demon's life.

The silhouette slowly raised its sword. Kyle stared without blinking. From the moment it moved the blade, the background blurred out of focus while the sword's path felt terrifyingly vivid.

Swoosh.

The sword that had been raised came down. No flashy technique, just a simple downward cut from above. An utterly basic move. Anyone holding a sword for the first time could do that much.

Yet Kyle saw perfection in that plainness.

'No wasted motion.'

From start to finish, there was not a single error in the blade's path, not a single wasted ounce of force. The blurred silhouette and the chillingly clear sword-line carved a perfect straight line that seemed to split the world in two.

"Wow..."

The exclamation slipped out before he knew it. Kyle already knew Ruin Alastor's sword was beautiful because he had died to it. But the sword he was seeing now had gone even farther than when it killed Sword Demon.

The silhouette moved again. Inside that wavering shape, only the sword's trajectory flashed like lightning. Again and again, it repeated the same motion, raising the sword and cutting down. With each simple repetition, Kyle had no choice but to shiver.

What a sword should do. The essence of a sword. It all existed there in flawless form. You could call it the most perfect sword manual in the world, the ideal every sword should pursue, the very truth a sword should assert.

Before he realized it, Kyle rose to his feet. Fenris was in his hand. He swallowed hard, watching Ruin's sword and focusing on it with all his might.

'Bring it down.'

Of course Kyle knew how to do that. He would not boast he was the best in the world, but he believed he was better than most.

Then why? Why did this motion, nothing more than bringing the sword down from above, feel so petty and shabby now? Why did a movement he had never consciously questioned suddenly feel crooked and warped?

"Haha..."

There was no self-mockery in that laugh. Kyle simply laughed because he was thrilled and kept cutting down, over and over. Tiny tremors, unnecessary force. The more he swung, the more he felt what needed to be stripped away from his sword-line. No matter how many times he swung, he could not recreate that clear stroke in front of him.

'Again.'

Kyle kept swinging. Fenris stayed silent in his hand and traced the path. Dozens, hundreds of times. Kyle's awareness gradually faded until only the blurry-yet-clear trajectory beyond the mist and the feeling at his fingertips remained.

The silhouette's motion changed. It no longer raised the sword and cut down. Instead, it thrust forward very slowly.

A point. That blade seemed to pierce through the world. A thrust that gathered everything into a single dot. The blade was not aimed at Kyle, but he felt as if his chest, his soul, his very being had been punched wide open.

Instinctively, Kyle tried to swing his sword to block the thrust, but he knew it was meaningless. No defense could stop that thrust.

"Wow..."

Kyle gasped again and tried to imitate Ruin's thrust. How had he set his arm? His breathing? Should he be conscious of mana flow? As those thoughts ran through his head and he moved to thrust,

Fenris moved on its own in his hand. As if teaching him, Fenris subtly twisted Kyle's wrist and guided the blade.

Flaaash!

Fenris thrust into empty air. A violet burst exploded from the tip. The thrust Kyle had just made was quite similar to what the silhouette in the mist had shown. Not perfect, but close enough to feel near perfection.

...

Kyle stared down at Fenris in a daze. That sensation just now. That electric thrill still lingering at his fingertips. It made his heart race, but Kyle's face twisted fiercely and he flung Fenris to the floor.

"Hey."

Kyle dropped to the ground with a rough breath. The wolf that had vanished when the silhouette appeared, Fenris's dokkaebi form, popped out in alarm.

"Who told you to guide me?"

Fenris looked up at Kyle with its ears and tail hanging low. It looked frightened and guilty, but Kyle could not find that face cute right now.

"Don't help me."

Kyle glared at Fenris and spoke through his teeth.

"I told you. You're a sword, so act like one. The sword doesn't swing me. I swing the sword."
"Whine..."
"I'm not talking about master and servant. Strictly speaking, a person and a sword are partners. But if the one who should swing ends up being swung around instead, is that cooperation? If that's how it's going to be, why would I need to wield you at all?"

Kyle exhaled hard and slapped the floor with his hand. Fenris hesitated, then came closer.

"Listen. Thanks for showing me Ruin's sword, but you don't get to lead. A sword reproduced that way can never become my sword."

He held his index finger right in front of Fenris's nose and spoke firmly.

"That sword is where I have to reach. Not somewhere you drag me to. I have to walk there on my own two legs, and I have to swing my sword like hell to get there."

That thrust from before had not perfectly recreated Ruin's thrust. Even so, it had not been Kyle's.

"Don't get cocky again, shit-mutt. If you lead my hand on your own one more time, I won't hold you ever again."
"Whine..."
"You think you're the only sword I can hold? I'm popular. At the Sword Flower Garden, there are blades begging me to pick them. So I won't be the one regretting it. Got that? Do better from now on before I throw you back in the Sword Peak Hall."

At Kyle's razor-sharp warning, Fenris yelped and flattened itself against the floor. It might have felt wronged after trying to help its master for the first time in ages and getting scolded instead, but Kyle could not yield on this.

"Sorry for getting angry."

Still, the drooped ears looked pitiful, so Kyle reached out and stroked Fenris's head.

"You know me well. I've got pride, and I've got ego."
"Whine..."
"You saying my personality's a mess? I know. So you hate it?"
"Bark!"
"Is that yes or no?"

Kyle laughed and flopped onto the floor. He had only imitated it a little, yet all the strength had drained from his body. Fenris inched over and lay down against his side.

...

Jor had watched the reunion in silence. If Jor had been human, it would have wanted to ask many things about Kyle and Fenris. But Jor was a spirit. Kyle's past, his bond with Fenris, and the story of reincarnation had nothing to do with Jor.

"Master."

Instead, Jor focused on something else. Crawling over the floor, Jor glared at Fenris with displeased eyes.

"That one is a liar."
"What?"
"It can definitely talk. It's pretending it can't."
"Are you jealous of Fenris?"
"Bark!"

Fenris barked loudly at Jor, and Jor hissed and flicked its tongue.

"It feels like my surroundings turned into a zoo."

Kyle muttered with a dry laugh.

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