WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Reincarnation of the Sword Demon

Chapter 75

──────

Please

The Sword Church Master had lived in seclusion in Sword Forest for hundreds of years, so the fact that she left it was no small matter. She had even barged into Gladiheim and crossed swords with Alastor’s Family Head.

The duel itself was short, but in that brief span, the sky over the Blade Mountain Range roiled with violet lightning. A phenomenon on that scale naturally drew the Empire’s attention to Gladiheim.

When the Empire’s investigation team arrived, Julius did not hide anything about the duel.

“I lost.”

He said it with a flat expression. There was nothing more to add, because that was the whole story. The team returned, and the report was delivered to the Emperor as-is.

Julius’s defeat did not throw Gladiheim into major chaos. The lord of Gladiheim, the Family Head of Alastor, was chosen by strength alone. Even after his loss, there was still no one in Gladiheim or Alastor stronger than Julius.

And everyone in Gladiheim had witnessed that duel. The Sword Church Master’s sword had been absurd, and Julius’s had been just as absurd. Just as Julius had hoped, the martial artists there had seen two transcendent blades, broadened their horizons, and struggled to grasp a clue to that distant realm.

But that was Gladiheim and Alastor’s situation. The Empire was different. The Empire was called the Empire because it held the most territory, and because it possessed overwhelming power compared to the other kingdoms.

Of the Ten Peaks, four belonged to the Empire. The strongest among them, called the Empire’s Sword, was Thunder Emperor Julius Alastor. So for the Empire, the news that even Julius had lost to the Sword Church Master was nothing good.

The Sword Church was a peculiar organization. Most religions worship gods whose existence itself was uncertain. The Sword Church was different. They worshiped not a god, but their Master, and that Master was an elf who had lived for 500 years. It was called the Sword Church, but their fanaticism was focused on the very real, very living Sword Church Master.

The Sword Church Master herself did nothing in particular and issued no commands, but the apostles were different. They ran the Sword Church in practice on her behalf, and each apostle had a different temperament. Now that it had been proven the Sword Church Master’s sword was stronger than the Empire’s sword, the Sword Church would only grow bolder and expand further.

“Well, even if they run wild, all they can really do is increase their preaching and cause more incidents than before.”

Isaac grumbled.

“The Sword Church Master has no intention of leaving Sword Forest. And she doesn’t want the area around Sword Forest to get too noisy either. All that monster elf wants is to swing a sword. Same as she has for hundreds of years.”

He and Julius were close enough to call each other brothers, and even though a month had passed since the Exchange Tournament, he was still staying in Gladiheim as a guest.

“In the Sword Church, ranks are split by pauldron color, and from Yellow Pauldron onward, they go to Sword Forest and witness the Sword Church Master’s sword. That’s the exact level of ‘commotion’ she allows.”
“So she wants nothing beyond that?”
“Right. About 200 years ago, one of the apostles, a radical bastard, tried to establish something called the Holy Nation. Make the Sword Church the state religion, gather a ton of swordsmen, put swords in children’s hands from an early age... build that kind of sword nation.”
“With Sword Church Master-nim’s personality, she’d never have wanted to be some kind of king.”
“Exactly. So they planned to keep the Sword Church Master as a living god and run the Holy Nation through a pope. In the end, it failed because the Sword Church Master said, ‘I hate it.’”

Being an elf did not mean she forced herself to understand what she couldn’t accept. Elves had likes and dislikes too. If they hated something, they simply hated it. They didn’t force themselves to understand it until they liked it.
‘Except fate.’

Helenas simply finds swords uninteresting; she does not hate swords.

“Even so... you need to be careful. Especially you.”
“In what sense?”
“How should I put it. He’s exactly what people picture when they hear the word fanatic. He forces swords into the hands of people who don’t even carry one, snoops around battlefields everywhere, and preaches the greatness of the sword. Yeah, if I had to compare him, he’s like Sword Demon from 500 years ago.”
“Hmm... Sword Demon didn’t preach the greatness of the sword.”
“But he barged into every battlefield and stirred up chaos. The Fifth Apostle is that kind of guy. I beat you, so my sword is more right than yours, now become a Sword Church Disciple. That’s what he forces on people.”
“You know a lot about the Sword Church.”
“How many swordsmen are there who don’t? If a swordsman gets even a little famous, those Sword Church bastards show up and force their preaching on him.”

At that, Kyle looked over at Jade. Jade, who had been sitting on the floor catching his breath, shrugged.

“They came to me too. Those guys already thought I was a Sword Church Disciple, apparently. I never even joined.”
“That’s because the Sword Church itself is split into several factions. The ones who approached you were probably from the Fourth Apostle’s faction. Those lunatics think every swordsman is automatically a Sword Church Disciple.”

Isaac let out a loud laugh, and Kyle casually added:

“He even got meals and a place to sleep at a Sword Church branch a few times.”
“What? Then you are Sword Church.”
“Sir, I’m not Sword Church. I never accepted their preaching, and I never attended their gatherings. They just said any swordsman could drop by and use the branch, so I crashed there a few times when my back was freezing. That’s all.”
“What shameless nonsense...”

Isaac clicked his tongue and shook his head.

The reason he was still in Gladiheim was simple: he was deeply interested in Kyle in many ways. Julius, who had secluded himself in the Sword Tower after his wife fell under the Sleep Demon, had returned to the world because of Kyle. Julius, once stern and razor-sharp, had softened a little because of Kyle. Even the ever-tense atmosphere around the Sword Tower and the pure-bloods had eased because of Kyle.

And recently, even the Sword Church Master had come to find Kyle. For Isaac, who wandered the world without settling anywhere and enjoyed observing it, Kyle was impossible not to find interesting.

Kyle was also quite interested in Isaac. He had broad experience and outstanding skill as a swordsman. Because of that, Kyle and his members crossed swords with Isaac many times and heard many stories from him.

“How strong is the Fifth Apostle?”
“A little stronger than me.”
“Then isn’t he Ten Peaks level?”
“Well, yes, but... kid, the title Ten Peaks is really just an empty name.”

Isaac clicked his tongue again.

“They call the ten strongest on the continent the Ten Peaks, but all ten have never actually crossed blades and settled a ranking among themselves. In the first place, the name Ten Peaks was made long ago by the Empire’s propaganda office.”
“Really?”
“Think about it. For generations, the Empire has held the most Ten Peaks. That alone makes people think, yeah, the Empire is the strongest. Even now it’s the same. Including Julius hyung-nim, four are in the Empire.”
“That’s true.”
“The rest are the Demon King, the Sword Church Master, the Crow Commander, Ransel’s Former King, the marshal of the Demihumans Alliance, and the Lastea Tower Master. But among them, the Demon King and the Lastea Tower Master are friendly with the Empire.”

In other words, six of the Ten Peaks were tied to the Empire.

“The Crow side can be hired as long as you pay, and the Empire has the deepest treasury on the continent. Ransel and the Demihumans Alliance are in an ambiguous position toward the Empire, but they aren’t enemy states either. And the Sword Church, no matter how strong the apostles are, doesn’t covet the Ten Peaks title, because people already see the Sword Church Master as one of the Ten Peaks.”
“Ah, so they see an apostle being in the same Ten Peaks as her as disrespectful?”
“Exactly. That’s why this incident gives the Empire a headache. The Sword Church Master wrecked Julius hyung-nim...”
“Come on, saying wrecked is too much.”
“It is what it is. Anyway, Ten Peaks is just an empty label made so people can remember it easily and be stirred up easily. The world is far too wide to be represented by just ten people.”

Isaac looked at Kyle with serious eyes.

“Take Erebos, where the Demon Tribe lives. Even if they’re weaker than the Demon King, there are probably plenty of high-ranking members of the Demon Tribe strong enough to be named among the Ten Peaks. And the East, cut off for 300 years, well, if people still live there... there are probably many unknown powerhouses. Honestly, we don’t even need to look that far. There are hidden strong people on this continent too.”
“Like our Founding Ancestor?”

Kyle’s eyes sparkled, and Isaac clapped and nodded.

“Exactly! Your Founding Ancestor, Ruin Alastor-nim, appeared out of nowhere too, didn’t he? Who knows, maybe somewhere deep in the mountains on this continent, there’s a madman holed up swinging his sword without even knowing how strong he is.”

Isaac suddenly grabbed Kyle’s hand.

“So, kid, come with this old man. The younger you are, the softer your head is. You need to see many things while you’re young to build real experience!”
‘I’m not that young either.’

Counting his past life, he was probably around Isaac’s age.

“I want to go out too, but I can only leave if I get assigned a mission.”

It had already been over a month since the Sword Wolf Knights were formed, but they still had not been assigned a mission. So Kyle and his members had no choice but to focus on training.

“Ugh... mission... a mission, huh. Right, how about this? I should probably leave soon, my older brother’s starting to glare at me, so maybe an escort mission for me...”
“Young Master Kyle.”

A voice suddenly came from behind. The members flinched, but Kyle and Isaac did not. They simply looked toward the voice. Lennon of the Funeral Knights bowed to Kyle and said:

“The Family Head has summoned you.”
“Looks like it’s finally a mission.”

Kyle grinned.

Sword Hall.

Julius sat on the throne. The defeat he had suffered against the Sword Church Master a month earlier had given him something, and he had been training hard to internalize it.

Maybe because of that, Julius looked more haggard than before. Kaya had said she hadn’t gotten to play with Grandfather even once over the past month. Looking at the dark shadows under Julius’s eyes, Kyle said:

“You look like you need Kaya.”
“...What are you saying all of a sudden?”
“You look too exhausted, Grandfather. Take a day off and go on a picnic with Kaya.”
“Hah.”

Julius shook his head with an incredulous expression. He intended to brush off his grandson’s nonsense, but hearing that made him want to see his youngest granddaughter. Right now, he felt like he could even wear the ridiculous rabbit headband she always demanded.

‘I really must be tired.’

He did not care about the Imperial family’s disapproval or the citizens’ disappointment. But the lord of Gladiheim and Family Head of Alastor had to remain strong at all times. Since he had shown defeat, he needed to show himself stronger than when he lost. It seemed that pressure had become a small inner demon, making him impatient.

“I’ll make time soon.”
“Kaya will be happy.”
“A mission has been assigned.”

Julius composed his expression.

“As you know, it took quite some time to assign one. Your knight order is small in particular, so it was hard to find a fitting mission. We also needed to verify your strength.”
“I guess Isaac-nim said we’re good enough to send out now?”

Kyle asked with a faint smile. No matter how interested Isaac was in Kyle, going so far as to train the members’ swords had gone beyond simple goodwill.

“He said you won’t go out there and get beaten to death somewhere.”

Julius answered with a smile of his own.

“It has been 100 years since a new knight order was founded in Gladiheim. Before now, there was no need.”
“And now there is?”
“There is. The world has been turbulent lately.”

The five knight orders of Gladiheim had over a thousand troops combined, and counting subordinate soldiers multiplied that number several times over. But most of that force belonged to the Black Iron Knights, Crimson Snow Knights, and White Night Knights.

Those three did not leave Gladiheim or Vigrid, and the Funeral Knights stayed by the Family Head’s side. Special missions related to outside affairs were handled by the Aurora Knights under Katarina.

If a new knight order had been founded in response to the world’s turbulence, then naturally, the missions assigned to them would involve outside affairs. Kyle looked at Julius with shining eyes.

“For the time being, Roel’s Sword Spirit Knights will handle the same kinds of missions as the Aurora Knights. But your Sword Wolf Knights are too small in number, and your sword is sharper than Roel’s. So... the Sword Wolf Knights will operate separately. That is the decision of the Elders and me.”
“Thank you.”

Kyle answered with a broad grin. Operating separately meant their special nature had been recognized.

“Take this.”

Julius pulled a letter from his coat and handed it to Kyle. When Kyle unfolded it, he saw a map of a small island in the North Sea.

“It’s an island about half a day from the northern coast of the Blade Mountain Range. As you can see, Beltua Island is not large. Fishermen live there, animals live there, monsters live there. An ordinary island like that.”

Kyle examined the map while listening to Julius. One section of it was marked in red.

“Four days ago, the island’s detector sensed the appearance of a Secret Realm.”

Kyle’s eyes widened. A Secret Realm was a spatial crack connected to another realm. Five hundred years ago, it had been extremely rare, but in the present era, it was no longer that rare.

If anything, Secret Realms had been appearing more and more often. Even Lucia and Bruno had taken missions as trainees to contain Secret Realms that opened near the Blade Mountain Range or Vigrid.

“Do you know about Secret Realms?”
“I do.”

Since a Secret Realm was a spatial crack, the longer it was left alone, the more strange phenomena it caused. The biggest issue was its “breathing.” A Secret Realm inhaled mana and exhaled it again. That expelled mana, altered by the Secret Realm’s influence, twisted the environment into bizarre forms, and sometimes monsters from within the Secret Realm burst out as well.

“By the Empire’s management standards, the one found this time is Grade 4. It is small even among Grade 4, and a Secret Realm at this level requires at least three Will Realm martial artists or mages.”
“Then there’s no problem.”

Kyle answered with a smile. Will Realm was the stage where the middle dantian opened and Sword Force could be formed. Kyle could already control Sword Force freely, and Lucia and Jade could also use Sword Force.

Bruno was also entering Will Realm, so if he focused, he could form Sword Force as well. The only possible weak point was Narua, who had completed Form Realm but had not entered Will Realm yet, but she would likely open her middle dantian before long.

“So we can understand the mission as closing the Secret Realm?”

Inside a Secret Realm was the essence that caused the crack. If that essence was collected, the Secret Realm would close naturally.

“What do we do with the spoils and the essence found inside?”
“Normally, they would become Gladiheim’s property and be divided by merit, but this is your first mission, so you may distribute all spoils as you see fit.”

Secret Realms were filled with elixirs and spiritual treasures, and among them, essence was an elixir of enormous value. For Kyle, who had been agonizing over how to increase his mana, it sounded like a gift.

“But keep this in mind.”
“What is it?”
“Beltua Island is not one of the islands allocated to the Demon Tribe under the Empire’s friendship treaty, but it is close to the Demon Tribe’s islands. We may not be the only ones who detected the Secret Realm.”

Julius narrowed his eyes.

“Recent conditions in Erebos are unstable. The previous Demon King declared retirement, and a succession struggle has begun. That has never happened before. In past generations, the Demon King named a single successor and ended it. This time is different. Because of that, various movements have been detected on the Demon Tribe islands in the North Sea as well, so a member of the Demon Tribe blinded by greed may have already sneaked in to covet the Secret Realm.”
“So this isn’t exactly a honey mission.”
“Didn’t you say you didn’t want to be a flower in a greenhouse? If you want, I can give you only honey.”
“No, that’s fine. But Grandfather, what if we run into the Demon Tribe?”
“I told you. Beltua Island is not an island handed over to the Demon Tribe. If there are members of the Demon Tribe there without entry permission, that means they are illegal entrants.”

By principle, illegal entrants were handled under Imperial law, but anyone blinded by greed enough to sneak in would never quietly walk to court just because he was told to.

“If words don’t work, draw your sword. From that point on, you may act by your own judgment.”
“Yes, understood.”

Kyle answered with a smile.

‘Please, please let there be illegal entrants.’

After hearing that, he wanted to meet the Demon Tribe even more than he wanted to find the Secret Realm.

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried