WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Reincarnation of the Sword Demon

Chapter 77

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Illegal Entrant

The very situation he had hoped for, even prayed for, finally came to pass. His heart pounded, and his senses returned. Kyle shook off Lucia’s support and stood on his own two feet.

His head still rang a little, but his body moved. His vision had mostly recovered too. Kyle looked ahead.

A fairly high ceiling, a damp smell, dim light from some unknown source, and echoes mixed with the sound of clashing blades.

“A cave?”

Kyle steadied his voice as he asked, and Lucia quickly nodded.

“Yes. This is a cave.”
“You brought me here?”
“No. From the moment we entered, we were already inside the cave.”

Kyle had never entered a Secret Realm before, but he had studied them for the future.

A Secret Realm was a self-contained space. It could be a forest, a desert, or, in the worst case, underwater.

If a Secret Realm took the form of a cave, then there was no outside to that cave. The rift itself became the entrance, and if they found the Secret Realm Core somewhere inside, that became the exit.

“I heard this type of Secret Realm leads to a labyrinth. Am I remembering right?”
“Yes, you are. Excellent, Kyle-nim.”

Even now, Lucia was still praising him. Kyle accepted it calmly and asked the next question.

“I woke up in a cave. Then?”
“Kyle-nim lost consciousness and collapsed, so I supported you. After that, I tried to head back to the entrance, but... this Secret Realm’s entrance wasn’t where we entered.”
“A textbook labyrinth-type Secret Realm.”
“Yes, excellent.”
“Next.”
“Not long after we started moving to find the entrance, we encountered Demon Tribe members in the passage across from us.”
“Who attacked first?”
“I identified us as Alastor knights, but they attacked first.”
“How many?”
“Nine at first contact. Five remain now. Bruno-nim, Jade, and Narua are engaged ahead.”
“Lucia.”

Kyle blinked a few more times. His vision had now fully recovered. Blue-glowing ore was embedded in the high ceiling, and below it he could see his people fighting the Demon Tribe.

“You need to be scolded. You know what you did wrong, right?”
“...”
“Who’s the strongest in the Sword Wolf Knights after me?”
“I... am.”
“Right. That’s why I made you vice-captain. If I lose consciousness, you’re supposed to take command and lead the members. So what are you doing right now? Why are you in the rear with me?”

Lucia couldn’t answer and pressed her lips together. Kyle was right. Normally, Lucia should have been leading the fight up front, and Narua, the weakest, should have been the one looking after Kyle.

“Next time, I won’t stop at words.”

At Kyle’s stern voice, Lucia nodded. Tap. Kyle lightly patted her shoulder. The pauldron on her shoulder was red, the same color as the Alastor Founding Ancestor’s hair.

“I trusted you and made you vice-captain, and that trust is for the Sword Wolf Knights. Not just for me.”
“I... will remember that.”

She answered, but Lucia still wasn’t sure she could put the members before Kyle if this happened again. Kyle could hear it in her response.

‘Loyalty is good, but this might be too much.’

Still, telling her to be less loyal would be ridiculous too. Kyle clicked his tongue and stepped forward.

[Ughghk...]

Jor groaned from his Middle Dantian. Kyle smirked and grabbed Fenris’s hilt.

“Do not fear.”
[Hiiiyak!]

Jor screamed. It seemed the “will” Kyle had sensed earlier had reached Jor too.

“This is fucking funny. Since when was I scared? I was just startled. Right, Jor?”
[Hiiiiiik...]
“Look at you, punk, your swagger’s gone.”

Clicking his tongue, Kyle drew Fenris. The pitch-black blade did not glint even under the light from above.

Awooooo! Fenris let out a cry like a cheer at the sight of battle. Kyle nodded and said,

“Learn from Fenris. This guy isn’t scared. Right?”

Jor felt deeply wronged. What Kyle had just seen and felt was only possible because of the Spirit Root he possessed.

Jor had stayed in Kyle’s Middle Dantian for a long time, been influenced by that Spirit Root, and changed into a completely different spirit, so he could share Kyle’s senses. But that damn mutt was just a mutt inhabiting a sword, so it could not feel what Kyle and Jor had seen and felt.

There was no room to ramble all that and protest the unfairness. Jor postponed his complaint and moved as Kyle wanted. Fwaaaash! The Primordial Chaos Sword Canon, which had frozen when Kyle’s thoughts stalled, reactivated. Mana that passed through Jor traced countless sword paths inside Kyle’s body.

“Fear.”

The moment Kyle’s right foot stepped forward and touched the ground, his body became a streak of light and pierced the space ahead.

“Not.”

The Demon Tribe member trying to pounce on Bruno was skewered by Fenris. There was no time to raise an Aura Shield, and the armor on his body could not stop Fenris.

Boom! The Sword Qi loaded into Fenris exploded inside the Demon Tribe member’s body. Blood sprayed from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Kyle pulled Fenris free and turned to Bruno.

Bruno had just withdrawn his greatsword from the Demon Tribe member’s body and was staring at Kyle with his mouth hanging open. He had not sensed Kyle’s approach or kill at all.

“Pig, were you scared?”

Kyle asked with a grin, and Bruno’s brows twisted hard.

“You crazy bastard, you wake up and start talking nonsense...”
“I asked if you were scared.”
“I wasn’t!”

Bruno shouted. It was a satisfying answer.

Kyle remembered the old Bruno, who feared Barkas and froze in terror whenever he faced someone even slightly stronger than himself, or whenever danger appeared. Compared to then, he was excellent now. Even if this situation itself was not extreme danger.

“Even if... you hadn’t helped...! It was fine!”
“I know. You could’ve dodged. You would’ve had to let go of your sword, though.”
“...”
“Your sword is too big, so when you face multiple enemies, you need to think about what comes after each swing. Didn’t I tell you that last time?”
“You... did.”
“Do better next time.”

Kyle patted Bruno’s shoulder and walked past him. Bruno did not argue and quietly nodded. Kyle hadn’t spoken in a casual, throwaway tone. He did not know the perfect answer for every sword, but if a sword was clearly wrong to anyone’s eyes, he had to point it out.

Three Demon Tribe members remained. Narua was still fighting one. Her dance with twin swords had not dulled at all, even in this sudden battle, but her opponent was fairly strong. Kyle did not interfere and looked away from Narua.

Narua being able to fight one-on-one was thanks to Jade’s support. Jade was skillfully handling two Demon Tribe members, and nearby lay a Demon Tribe corpse torn apart by his sword breaker.

‘Maybe I should’ve made Jade vice-captain.’

Jade was the strongest in the Sword Wolf Knights after Lucia, and he did not put Kyle above everything. That was something Kyle needed to think about more. While he was thinking, Jade suddenly shouted.

“Captain! If you’re awake, then help out!”
“You can do it alone.”
“I already killed two, you know?!”
“Good job.”

Kyle grinned and strode forward.

A chill ran through Jade. Right now, he was holding off two Demon Tribe members. The one controlling the space where Jade and those two stood was Jade himself. They could not carelessly widen the distance or head toward Narua because of that pressure.

Yet Kyle stepped into the space Jade controlled as if it were nothing. The invisible pressure Jade gave off was useless against Kyle. Even after that intrusion, there was nothing Jade could do.

If anything, Kyle’s intrusion opened a line that had been closed for Jade. The momentum the Demon Tribe members had been using to push back against Jade’s pressure broke the moment Kyle entered. Jade felt that instantly and swung his sword breaker at once. He sensed the shift in that tense standoff faster than they did.

Crunch! Jade’s sword breaker shoved aside a Demon Tribe member’s blade and jammed into his neck. Rrrrip! The saw-like sharp edge literally gnawed through his neck.

The last Demon Tribe member was slow to judge the situation. He could not react even when Kyle strode in and swung Fenris. Swoosh! Fenris’s slash drew a clean curve and neatly cut the Demon Tribe member’s right wrist.

“Kh-”

As he tried to scream in shock, the curve Fenris drew continued. A thin blood line was etched into his knee, and then his body tilted and fell backward.

Thud! Kyle’s foot came down on the fallen Demon Tribe member’s chest. Looking down at him, Kyle planted Fenris beside his cheek.

“Everyone, report your kills.”
“I killed three.”

Jade answered, shaking his sword breaker.

“Narua killed two.”

Narua answered after cutting down a Demon Tribe member in that same moment.

“I killed two too.”

Bruno answered. Kyle turned and looked at Lucia. Lucia let her shoulders slump and answered.

“I... killed 0. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t know who we’ll end up killing next in this cave, but I want you, Lucia, to kill the most. That’s an order.”
“Understood.”

Lucia nodded. After hearing her answer, Kyle looked down at the Demon Tribe member.

“You can count, right? Three kills, two kills, two kills. And I killed one.”

Kyle grinned.

“You said there were nine of you. Now only you’re left.”

The Demon Tribe member did not answer and only swallowed hard. At that silence, Kyle tilted his head.

“You don’t know Continental Tongue? Anyone here speak Demon Tongue?”

Kyle looked at Jade just in case. Jade was the most well-traveled among the members. But Jade was looking at Lucia instead. The reason was obvious. Lucia was Half-blood.

“Jade, you wanna die?”
“...Captain? Why?”
“Don’t look at Lucia whenever Demon Tribe stuff comes up.”

Jade looked deeply wronged, while Lucia, on the other hand, looked at Kyle with moved eyes, then fixed her expression and raised her hand.

“I can speak Demon Tongue.”
“What? Why? How?”
“Demon Tongue is also part of Gladiheim Knight Candidate coursework.”
“Hey, pig. Why didn’t you raise your hand?”

Bruno looked away with a humiliated expression, and Lucia answered in his place.

“I was top of every subject, but Bruno-nim was not. Especially in academic courses like Demon Tongue, Bruno-nim mostly received failing grades.”
“You can steer a ship but can’t speak Demon Tongue?”

Kyle said in disbelief, and Bruno snapped back.

“How does it make sense to put steering a ship and Demon Tongue on the same level?!”
“Why are you raising your voice like you did something right? You can’t even speak Demon Tongue. Our Lucia, who’s good at everything, vice-captain, come interrogate this bastard.”

‘Good at everything.’
‘Our.’
‘Vice-captain.’

Lucia had been gloomy after Kyle scolded her earlier, but those words saved her. She hid her bright smile and approached the Demon Tribe member with a strictly businesslike, cold expression fit for interrogating a criminal.

“W-wait, I, I can speak Continental Tongue.”

The Demon Tribe member shouted in a stutter. At that, Kyle’s face twisted hard, and he shifted his foot from the Demon Tribe member’s chest to crush his right arm.

“Aaaaagh!”

Blood gushed from the wrist that had been cut earlier. Looking down at the screaming Demon Tribe member, Kyle whispered,

“You can speak Continental Tongue, so why did you keep your mouth shut and not answer me?”
“Guhhh...!”
“Why, does she look scarier? If that’s it, you saw wrong. No way that pretty face is scarier than me. I’m damn handsome too, but still.”

‘Pretty.’
‘Face.’

Lucia, who had stopped walking, drew in a breath, and Kyle crouched down and glared at the Demon Tribe member.

“Look carefully. What color is the pauldron on my shoulder?”
“Th-that... g-gold.”
“Right. Gold, like my eyes. Hers is red. Is hair more important, or eyes?”
“E... eyes?”
“Right. Hair grows back even if you shave it, but eyes don’t grow back if you pull them out. So eyes are more important. That’s why my pauldron is gold.”

The Demon Tribe member did not understand the profound meaning in Kyle’s words. His wrist hurt too much, and he had lost too much blood, so his head was spinning.

“I heard that at first encounter, we identified who we were first. Tell me, who are we?”
“Th-the... knights of Gladiheim.”
“The name?”
“...”
“Why is this bastard not answering? You didn’t tell them the order’s name?”

At Kyle’s question, Lucia snapped out of her trance and answered at once.

“We did. We said, ‘We are Gladiheim’s Sword Wolf Knights. Who authorized your entry, and for what reason are you here?’”
“What did they say?”
“Battle started without a response.”
“There you go.”

Kyle nodded and grabbed the Demon Tribe member’s face.

“I’ll say it again. We are Gladiheim’s Sword Wolf Knights. Beltua Island is not an island assigned to the Demon Tribe, and I have never heard that the Island Lord had Demon Tribe entry.”
“...”
“Sure, maybe the Island Lord joined hands with you. I can argue that after we get out. What matters is that I didn’t know you existed.”

The decision on Demon Tribe entry was not made by the Island Lord. If a request came in, it went through the Island Lord, then the Empire’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided. In other words, even if the Island Lord allowed it, it meant nothing if the Empire did not.

“You are Illegal Entrants. That alone is enough for me to handle you on site, and you attacked first? Then I can disassemble you alive and there will be no problem.”
“Uh... uhh...”
“You know why I’m talking so much? I’m giving you a chance. If you cooperate well, I’ll let you be judged by imperial law instead of the law of the field.”

The Demon Tribe member only trembled and did not answer right away. At that short silence, Kyle moved his finger.

“Strong resolve. Let’s pull out one eye first. Eyes are important.”
“W-wait!”

Before Kyle’s finger could dig into his eye, the Demon Tribe member screamed in terror.

“I-I’ll answer. Everything you ask!”
“You Illegal Entrants?”
“Th-that’s... right.”
“How did you get in?”
“Th-this place’s surveillance network was full of holes and poorly made.”

It was a rural island, so some weakness was understandable, but even if the Island Lord’s forces were lax, anti-smuggling magic should still have been installed on the island. When Kyle asked about that, the Demon Tribe member quickly shook his head.

“Y-you inferior... ah, no, human magic is outdated compared to ours. We can make holes in this island’s surveillance magic anytime with the magic tools we have.”

In magic, the Demon Tribe was far ahead of humans. Still, Kyle could not just take that at face value. This was still an island in the North Sea, even if rural. If nothing else, anti-Demon Tribe security should have been solid.

These were not ordinary Illegal Entrants. Kyle judged that and asked right away.

“I thought you were thieves here to loot a Secret Realm, but the way you talk says otherwise.”
“W-we...”

The Demon Tribe member stammered and panted.

“Shh. I’m not asking about your backers. Tell me this first. Entering this Secret Realm, was it accidental?”

Kyle cut him off and asked something else. The Demon Tribe member looked briefly flustered but obediently followed Kyle’s question.

“It... was accidental. We didn’t know this island had a Secret Realm...”
“Then why did you enter? You saw a Secret Realm and decided to make some pocket money?”
“That’s... not it. The one we... were chasing ran and hid in here.”
“I see. So you followed him in. Why did that bastard run to this island of all places?”
“W-we had no plan to enter this island. He abandoned his ship, and the island he happened to run to was this one...”
“That answer is enough to consider mitigation. So illegal entry wasn’t your intent? The one you were chasing ran here, and you had no choice but to follow?”

The Demon Tribe member nodded rapidly at Kyle’s question. Kyle continued.

“So. Who are you chasing? Some criminal from your people?”
“The one... we’re chasing is... Azel Beliar.”
“Azel Beliar? What kind of bastard is that?”
“That is...”

The Demon Tribe member’s breathing began to quicken again. Kyle watched him briefly, then asked a different question.

“Who are your backers?”
“Th... th...”

The Demon Tribe member gasped for air. His eyes were bloodshot, and the veins in his face and neck bulged. As his body started to shake, Kyle clicked his tongue and stood.

Swoosh!

Fenris cut off the Demon Tribe member’s head. Narua, who had been staring at the scene, spoke.

“Captain. Why did you stop the interrogation?”
“No point asking. He’s under a Mouth-Sealing Spell.”

Among the Demon Tribe members Kyle had met 500 years ago, some had that kind of spell too. Interrogating those types was meaningless. They might answer at first, then become unable to answer anything more. In the end, their hearts or heads burst. Or they fell into the Demon Tribe’s berserk state and rampaged like a nuisance.

‘They brag about human magic being outdated, but they’re using outdated magic themselves. Then again, old spells like that tend to be the sturdiest.’

Kyle sheathed Fenris and looked over his members.

“You all heard it, so you know now, right? Looks like this Secret Realm has an extra incident we didn’t expect.”
“For someone saying it was unexpected, you don’t look troubled.”

Jade muttered with a dry laugh.

“So, Captain. What do we do?”
“What do you mean what? We can’t go back out through the entrance, so we search the Secret Realm first. If we run into Demon Tribe members in the process, we fight.”
“...”
“Anyone know the name Azel Beliar?”

Kyle looked around his members. Bruno hesitated, then raised his hand.

“I don’t know the name Azel, but I know the surname Beliar.”
“I heard you mostly got failing grades in academic courses, but you know this one.”
“The Beliar surname wasn’t taught in training courses...! I heard it from my father!”
“You remember your father’s words real well. But you forgot what I taught you about swinging a greatsword.”
“Y-you... you...!”
“Sorry. I’ll stop teasing. Tell me what kind of surname Beliar is.”

Bruno barely calmed his rising anger.

“Lizet Beliar.”
“Who’s that?”
“One of the Demon King’s... children. If I remember right, Lizet Beliar is the eldest daughter born to his 27th wife.”
“Wow... the Demon King has 27 wives?”
“More than that. Probably around 40.”

At that answer, Kyle stared blankly, then clapped.

“Impressive man. Then Azel Beliar is Lizet Beliar’s younger brother or child, something like that?”
“Probably younger brother. The Demon King’s children can’t have children until the Demon King dies.”
“What a damned family.”

Kyle gave a hollow laugh and nodded.

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