WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Reincarnation of the Sword Demon

Chapter 78

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You're the One Who Should Beg for Mercy

"Lizet... Lizet Beliar..."

Jade repeated the name under his breath, then suddenly clapped with a shout.

"So that's where I heard it. Erebos's Fist Demon was named Lizet Beliar, right?"

Jade whipped his head toward Bruno for confirmation. Bruno frowned and nodded.

"Yeah."

Erebos was the land of the Demon Tribe across the North Sea. Unless someone was deeply interested in that side, it was rare to even know the names of demon families there.

"It's not like I'm interested in Erebos either, but there are a lot of demons in the west."

Jade clicked his tongue.

"A Ransel knight's license works as citizenship too. Demons who cross over from Erebos or the demon islands in the North Sea, the ones confident in their strength and wanting to settle on the continent, most of them gather in Ransel. The Demihuman Federation is nearby too."

It was extremely difficult for demihumans, demons included, to get citizenship in the Empire or other kingdoms, but Ransel and the Demihuman Federation were different.

"I heard stories about Erebos a few times from demons I got acquainted with there. From what I heard, Lizet Beliar is the hottest warrior in Erebos these days."
"Since her epithet is Fist Demon, I guess she fights barehanded?"
"Right. They say Lizet Beliar is an incredible fighter."
"Hm... leaving a proper weapon like a sword aside and using only fists. I don't get it. A fighter? Can that really be called martial arts...?"

Kyle tilted his head and muttered.

For the last five hundred years, demons had been overwhelmingly superior to humans not only in magic, but also in mana-based combat techniques. Among those techniques, "using fists instead of weapons" sounded like plain hand-to-hand combat, but in truth it usually meant something not that different from magic.

Put simply, they wrapped Aura around their fists and swung them. High-level demon warriors could even fire beams of Aura from their fists.

'How is that martial arts? That's just a mage using fists like a staff.'

Thinking that, Kyle let out a dry laugh without realizing it. It reminded him of the first time he saw swordsmanship in this era. When he first saw Erika's ice-scattering sword style, he had judged her as a "mage with a sword."

'Fists or swords, no real difference.'

He scanned the demon corpses. According to the one he had killed last, they had come searching for a demon named Azel Beliar. Since the Demon King's bloodline couldn't have children before the Demon King died, Azel was probably Lizet's younger brother.

"Why can't the Demon King's children have children before the Demon King dies?"
"I don't know either."

Bruno answered while scrubbing blood off his cheek.

"Maybe it's part of their culture. Demons live longer than humans, so maybe it's to keep succession from getting messy."
"Hm..."

Kyle stroked his chin and sank into thought. The current Demon King had declared retirement, and a succession struggle had begun in Erebos. A guy named Azel Beliar had fled into Beltua Island's Secret Realm...

"I get the rough picture. A cowardly demon prince got caught in a succession fight and ran from Erebos to save his own life, then got chased by another sibling."

The demon Illegal Entrant who had died before the interrogation was finished never managed to reveal who was "behind" this. They might not have come here in person, but the backer was likely another demon prince.

'Or maybe a woman named Lizet Beliar.'

That thought stirred a familiar nostalgia. The imperial succession war that began with the sudden death of the Empire's emperor five hundred years ago. The continent's Dark Age, which lasted forty long years.

Maybe something similar was about to happen in Erebos too. The difference was that unlike the emperor five hundred years ago, the current Demon King hadn't died suddenly, he had declared retirement. But the core was the same: a succession struggle among heirs had begun.

"Commander."

Jade glanced at Kyle's expression and spoke.

"If there really is a demon prince hiding in this Secret Realm, and pursuers came in to capture and kill him... isn't this too big for us to handle?"
"What are we?"
"Uh... the Sword Wolf Knights?"
"And whose knight order are we?"
"Gladiheim's... fuck, Alastor's."

Jade let out a long sigh, already expecting that answer. Kyle grinned and patted his shoulder.

"Right. We're the Sword Wolf Knights of Gladiheim, ruled by Alastor. And for five hundred years, Alastor has made watching the northern demons its duty."
"..."
"If Beltua Island were a demon island, we wouldn't need to intervene. But this is an imperial island. More precisely, an island under Alastor's shadow, and every demon who came in here is an Illegal Entrant."

Jade sighed again.

"The Family Head told me from the start. If we meet Illegal Entrants and they won't listen to words, draw our swords."
"He probably said that without expecting we'd actually meet demons, and demons like these at that," Bruno muttered.

But Bruno didn't sigh. In the end, he was still an Alastor pureblood. Every pureblood was full of pride in the family. Right now, Bruno felt less fear of demons than rage toward Illegal Entrants daring to trample on land under Alastor's shadow.

"This place is a labyrinth anyway. We have to move around to find the entrance. Since we're moving around anyway, wouldn't it be better to find the exit instead?"
"Yes, yes."

Jade waved and nodded. He had made what he thought was a reasonable suggestion, but with the commander this stubborn, he had no intention of offering more opinions. Jade was loyal in that way.

"Lucia."

Kyle turned to her. She stood still, staring down at a demon corpse.

This was the first time Lucia had seen other demons in person. She didn't think of them as kin at all... but her gaze kept getting drawn to the pair of horns on their heads. Seeing that demon blood was red, just like human blood, unsettled her too.

"Yes, Kyle-nim."

She had been caught in those emotions for a moment, but she turned at Kyle's call and answered.

"From now on, you take point. I told you before, right? You'll have to cut down more demons than anyone here. If you don't want to, say so. If you want leniency, I'll allow it."
"No, I'll take point."

Lucia steadied her expression and shook her head. She stopped looking at the corpses, drew Blood Fang, and moved to the front.

Kyle followed behind her. Staying close at his side, Jade spoke with a surprised expression.

"Are you sure about putting the vice commander in front? Her sword might waver."
"If it wavers now, we fix it now. If we put it off, it'll only waver more later."

Kyle answered firmly. It wasn't that he didn't understand Lucia's feelings. As a Half-blood demon, seeing demons for the first time would naturally leave her conflicted.

But this was real combat. He couldn't account for everyone's personal circumstances. And Lucia was the vice commander.

"Jade, have you ever killed a person?"
"I have. You, Commander?"
"I... hm, not in this life."

He had done it in his previous life, but not since reincarnating.

"But when the time comes that I have to, I'll kill. For Lucia, that time is now."

Jade's eyes lit up as he looked at Kyle. It didn't sound like bluff. If there was an enemy in front of him that had to be cut down, even if it were a person, that commander who didn't look his fifteen years would kill without changing expression.

"Hm, I've cut down both demons and people. The only visible difference is horns. No matter who it is, it feels like shit at first."

Jade muttered. He wasn't saying that to Kyle, but to Bruno walking beside him.

Bruno looked shaken in many ways. He had never killed a person either, and today was his first time killing demons. Earlier, things had been too urgent to dwell on it, and he had just swung his greatsword. But now thoughts of what he had done were surfacing.

"Narua has killed people."

Narua, following behind while scanning the surroundings, spoke up.

"Killing people is not fun. If needed, Narua does it. If they try to kill Narua, insult Narua, and are someone Narua must kill."

Listening to the conversation behind her, Lucia's heart settled.

If it had to be done, she would kill.
If it was necessary, she would do it.

She understood Kyle's and Narua's words deeply. For Lucia, now was exactly that time, and exactly that necessity. She gripped Blood Fang, Kyle's gift, tightly in her right hand and touched the red shoulder band Kyle had fastened on her with her left.

She was the vice commander of the Sword Wolf Knights, and she had entered this Secret Realm under orders. Carrying out the mission was a way to repay Alastor's grace, and following Kyle's command was a way to return the goodwill and trust he had shown her.

Lucia steeled herself.

The labyrinth-shaped cave forked constantly, and every passage differed in width and height. Some were so narrow only one person could barely pass, while others were as wide as a corridor in the Sword Tower.

In a labyrinth like this, finding the way usually required a professional guide, a mage, or magical tools. But among the knight training subjects at Gladiheim, where Lucia had ranked first in every category, there was training on labyrinth navigation too. She chose their route while sensing the flow of mana filling the Secret Realm.

Following behind her, Kyle also focused on his Spirit Root and felt the mana of the Secret Realm.

'The Mudflat, the sea, and this mana aren't the same... but that unpleasant, ominous feeling from there is mixed in.'

The Mudflat and sea had thin mana, but this Secret Realm was dense with it. That bothered Kyle even more, because the mana filling this realm was tainted bit by bit with the same unpleasant, ominous sensation he had felt from that "gaze" and "hand."

'Secret Realm...'

::Do not fear::

A giant winged eyeball. It had been "near" the Secret Realm. Was only this realm special? Or were all Secret Realms like this? Kyle pondered as he probed the flow of mana.

He had never formally learned how to navigate a labyrinth, but thanks to his innate senses, he could naturally tell which way was right. It wasn't difficult. He just had to extend his Ki Sense far and avoid places where mana was blocked or stagnant.

Lucia was navigating with similar intuition, and as top-ranked as she was, every route she had picked so far had been correct.

"Secret Realms like this are usually crawling with monsters."

Jade whispered.

"But we haven't run into any yet."
"There are traces of battle."

Narua picked up the thread.

"Those who entered first fought."
"So those bastards stole the spoils we should have taken."

At Kyle's reply, Narua nodded in agreement.

"Narua hates outsiders. Narua loathes intruders. They steal what is ours."
"Right. So we kill them all and take it back."
"That is exactly what Narua wanted to say."

Lucia, walking ahead, stopped.

"Kyle-nim. Someone is up ahead."
"I know. How many did you sense?"
"Seven."
"Right."
"Do we talk? Or..."
"From the moment our first encounter turned into a fight, everyone in this Secret Realm became our enemy. Anyone who doesn't beg for their life, kill them."
"Understood."

The instant she answered, Lucia kicked off the ground and rushed forward. Soon, shouts came from the other side of the passage, followed by clashing steel, flesh being cut, and blood spilling. Bruno and Jade hurried after Lucia.

"It's a hunt!"

Narua barked, drew both swords, and dashed off. Kyle stood still and watched them, then slowly turned around.

"I'm alone now. What'll you do?"

There was no one behind him. Only the path through the labyrinth they had come from, the high ceiling, and glowing stones casting dim light. Kyle stared into the passage where not even a shadow fell and continued.

"Think carefully. Isn't fighting just me better than fighting all five? They're pretty strong too, even if they're not as strong as me."

Shrrr...

Space rippled, and a man in a white mask appeared. Kyle looked at the mask and laughed in disbelief.

"You're a funny bastard. Why bother with a mask? Your horns are still showing."

If he didn't want to show his face and wanted to hide his identity, he should have covered his whole head. As long as he was obviously a demon, he was just another Illegal Entrant to be exterminated.

"Or is it some kind of symbol for your organization? I don't get that either. Why do people doing dirty work always want to show it off?"
"How did you know?"
"How? Look at yourself. Anyone can tell you're shady."
"My stealth."

Behind the mask's eyeholes, red pupils narrowed.

"I asked how you knew."
"Making me repeat myself."

Kyle grinned, baring white teeth, and drew Fenris.

"I knew because you're shady."
"..."
"You don't seem to know, but you reek of it."

Of course, that was a lie. This guy's stealth was good enough that even the other members hadn't noticed him, so there was no way he actually smelled. Kyle said it purely to provoke him.

Why provoke him? They were going to fight and kill each other anyway. Why not run his mouth first? In his previous life, Kyle had crossed countless battlefields and fought countless fights.

A fight wasn't won by the sword alone. In the end, the one swinging the sword was a person, and a sword wavered by the heart, not the hand.

"..."

Despite the blatant provocation, the demon only stared at Kyle calmly. Then he spoke.

"Leave."

The demon raised a hand and pointed behind him.

"If you leave now, I won't kill you. We have no intention of becoming enemies with Alastor either."
"Oh, really."
"You don't need to keep secret what you saw and experienced here. We want only one thing. Don't interfere, and go back."

His words carried confidence. He meant to finish his business and escape before Kyle got out of the Secret Realm, reported to Gladiheim, and reinforcements arrived. Kyle smiled and asked:

"That's the way we came from. If you want us to leave, at least show us the proper route."
"..."

The demon's eyes twitched. The hand that had pointed backward shifted forward. So the exit was that way, but Lucia and the others were still fighting demons there.

"If I go that way, I'll have to fight too. You okay with that?"
"If you promise to leave, I will guide you to the exit."
"Wow, how generous. But the more I listen, the more absurd this gets."

Kyle strode toward the demon.

"Why are you talking like you're the one granting me mercy?"

The Primordial Chaos Sword Canon accelerated.

"Mercy is what you should beg for."

His voice closed the distance in an instant. The demon flinched and swung his hand.

Kwaaarrr!

The arc of that hand was swallowed by pitch-black darkness and surged like a wave.

Chzzzt.

Fenris wrapped itself in Aura. Kyle had awakened the Chaos Spirit Root. It contained everything in the world and could become anything in the world.

Before the Primordial Chaos Sword Canon, the temporary Primordial Chaos Art Kyle had created was based on the Revolving Heaven Strike. Back then, what he focused on and was most familiar with was lightning.

Now that the Primordial Chaos Art had been completed into the Primordial Chaos Sword Canon, traces of the Revolving Heaven Strike were gone, but Kyle's Spirit Root could still produce lightning whenever he wished. So in that moment, Kyle became lightning.

Crack!

A thrust faster than sound. His body embodied lightning without strain. The demon's "hand sweep" was slower than Kyle. Before the wave of darkness could crash down, Fenris had already pierced the demon's chest.

"Kgh...!"

The demon's eyes flew wide in shock. Blood rose into his throat. Demon bodies were stronger than human bodies. Demons handled mana better than humans. Aura shields were basic for beings like them.

It didn't matter. Even with that superior physique, the demon couldn't stop Kyle's approach. Tough body and Aura shield alike were pierced like paper.

"You've got a Mouth-Sealing Spell on you too, right? Interrogation probably won't work..."

Kyle whispered as he twisted Fenris through the demon's chest. At the same time, Kyle's left hand tore off the mask covering the demon's face. Aside from the horns and red eyes, there was nothing remarkable about him.

"This is the problem with demons. You can't tell their age by looking at them."

Demons lived longer than humans. If healthy, they reached roughly one hundred fifty years, and this race kept its physical prime until the day it died.

At first that sounded like an incredible advantage, but once you looked closer, it wasn't.

Demons instinctively knew when their natural lifespan would end. It varied by individual, but most demons realized the end once they were around a hundred.

To realize that and still keep a body in its prime until right before death drove demons insane. Their bodies were in peak condition, yet they knew they would die in an hour, in thirty minutes, in ten. Humans grew old and prepared themselves to accept death, but demons could not.

So most old demons went mad. On top of that, the demon race had a fatal flaw called Madness Erosion. A demon consumed by madness in an extreme emotional state lost reason entirely and became a killing machine.

"Hey."

Kyle smiled broadly and slowly pulled out Fenris.

"Wouldn't this be enough to drive you insane?"

The demon's breathing quickened. His blood-smeared mouth twisted, and the whites around his bright red pupils darkened to black.

Madness Erosion began. Crunch! The hole in his chest where Fenris had been pulled out forcibly closed. His body convulsed, and mana spilled out violently.

For five hundred years, demons had always called humans an "inferior race." In that era, it wasn't entirely wrong. Unlike humans, who had to stake their lives like gambling chips to obtain the Blessing of Mana, demons were born knowing how to wield mana.

But once one reached the Blessing of Mana, demons weren't truly superior either. If anything, their race carried several fatal flaws by design.

One of them was Mana Addiction. Though born able to use mana and store vast amounts of it, if demons overused mana, both body and mana ran wild, burned out, and eventually collapsed.

"Krrrraaaahhh!"

A berserk demon was troublesome to handle. It felt no pain, its reason was paralyzed, and it followed only killing intent.

And it fought at full power. Normally, demons controlled output with Mana Addiction in mind, but a demon raging under Madness Erosion didn't care about self-preservation.

For a race that constantly shouted "inferior race," demons themselves weren't all that superior.

The demon charged Kyle with a scream.

The scream was loud, but little had changed.

Fenris cut off the demon's neck.

Kyle watched the headless body collapse. He hadn't felt pity for demons in his previous life, and that hadn't changed now. What he felt wasn't pity for demonkind, but concern for Lucia.

'She's a Half-blood, not a pure demon, but still...'

He worried about Lucia in many ways. He didn't care about other demons, but if Lucia suffered from the demons' chronic conditions, it would pain him.

Kyle walked to the corpse. Like the demons he had killed earlier, this one who had worn a mask and acted imposing had no loot worth taking.

'No command document either.'

Expected, from men careful enough to use a Mouth-Sealing Spell.

From stabbing the demon who emerged from stealth, triggering his rampage, and beheading him, only a very short time had passed. Without exaggeration, Kyle had talked longer than he had swung his sword.

Because of that, the battle in the other passage still wasn't over.

'It'll end soon.'

Thinking that, Kyle searched the corpse. There was nothing special about the white mask, and no tattoo or mark proving organizational affiliation on the body. In the end, Kyle stopped searching and headed down the passage.

He arrived at the now-finished battlefield. Seven demon corpses lay in a wide chamber. Kyle looked over them one by one.

"If my eyes are right, Lucia killed five, Jade killed one, and Narua killed one."
"More precisely, Narua and I killed one together. Narua just finished him."

Bruno snapped back.

"Yes, I killed five."

Lucia answered. Her breathing was slightly rough, but she was uninjured. Just in case, Kyle walked over and suddenly grabbed her wrist.

"K-Kyle-nim?"

Lucia flinched and tried to pull her hand away, but Kyle looked into her red eyes with a serious expression while checking the mana flowing through her.

"Is your heart pounding like crazy?"

At that question, Lucia's eyelids trembled.

"I-it's beating a little faster than usual."
"Not because I'm holding your hand. During the fight."
"It was... a little faster then too. We were in combat, after all."

Smart as she was, Lucia understood why Kyle was suddenly doing this. She composed her expression and said,

"If you're worried about Mana Addiction and Madness Erosion, there's no problem. Even during harsher training in my trainee days, those demon chronic conditions never appeared in me."
"Mana Addiction aside, Madness Erosion is psychological. This is real combat, not training."

And once Madness Erosion began, Mana Addiction always followed.

Lucia read the concern in Kyle's eyes and gave a faint smile.

"Yes, I'll be careful."
"Commander, what will you do if the vice commander gets consumed by madness?"

Jade asked, eyes shining. Narua and Bruno both turned to Kyle, clearly curious too.

"I'll knock her out before she loses reason."
"..."
"What? That's the right answer."

If someone was consumed by madness, knock them unconscious with a few blows to the back of the neck. If they woke and still hadn't recovered their reason, repeat until they did.

"As expected of Kyle-nim."

Lucia showed no disappointment at all. If anything, she nodded as if admiring his insight.

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