WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈
Chapter 90: Battle (2)
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Dread Spear Turabak hurtled through the night.
A sharp whistle tore through the air.
Yuri twisted her body in midair.
The Dread Spear grazed past her and buried itself in the ground.
The earth shook as though its foundations were collapsing. Fragments of stone and dirt scattered in every direction.
The ground where the Dread Spear had struck had turned black.
Yuri landed and looked up at the gate tower.
Under the moonlight, a vicious being was smiling.
Red eyes gleamed in the darkness, while two pure-white horns absorbed the moonlight and gave off a faint glow.
Tension crossed Yuri’s face.
She muttered quietly.
“...White Horn.”
White Horn’s appearance had already been recorded in the Demon Codex.
The Demon Codex was, in simple terms, a catalogue of demons.
Knights of the kingdom and the Great Saint Church memorized the entire Demon Codex, so Yuri could be certain that the demon before her was White Horn.
Cold sweat ran down her face.
She had encountered an Apostle of the End.
According to procedure, she should leave this place immediately and request reinforcements from the Great Saint Church.
But that was impossible.
Yuri could not abandon Gawain and leave.
She felt utterly at a loss.
She could not grasp what she was supposed to do.
Should she risk her life and face him alone? Her opponent was an Apostle, but he was still in his immature form. There might be a chance.
Countless thoughts filled her mind.
Just as she was agonizing over it, White Horn spread his massive wings.
The moonlight vanished in an instant. The night sky sank into deeper darkness.
Within the polar night, only his red eyes flickered.
An eerie voice flowed out.
“What troubles you so? This is an opportunity to slay an Apostle. Come at me with all your strength.”
White Horn slowly rose into the air. He descended from the gate tower toward the ground.
Yuri bit her lip.
No matter how she thought about it, fighting in this situation would be difficult.
She needed to ensure Gawain’s safety first.
Yuri turned her back on White Horn.
The moment she tried to run inside the lord’s castle, an unfamiliar voice called out.
“Miss, stop right there. Settle things with Lord Mapheltan, then come back.”
A middle-aged man was sitting in front of the castle gate.
He took out a long-stemmed pipe, placed it between his lips, and looked at Yuri.
Yuri swallowed a groan.
“...Sword Demon Hakain.”
Hakain let out a small sound of surprise with a languid expression.
“Oh, you know me?”
Hakain was a first-class criminal.
The Great Saint Church had even ruled him beyond redemption.
He was subject to the highest level of execution.
As a knight, Yuri could not possibly fail to recognize Hakain.
By her duty, she should arrest or kill Hakain at once.
That would not be easy.
Hakain was far too strong.
It would likely take one of the Twelve Sacred Radiances to subdue him.
Yuri spoke with a conflicted expression.
“Hakain, was murdering His Eminence the Cardinal not enough? Have you now become an Apostle’s lackey?”
Years ago, Hakain had brutally murdered a cardinal of the Holy Kingdom.
That incident had branded him a First-Class Apostate.
Even now, the Great Saint Church was pursuing him.
Hakain exhaled a stream of smoke.
“If we’re talking blasphemy, isn’t the Third Prince you serve worse? He’s an unfilial child who killed his own mother.”
Yuri’s expression immediately twisted.
“...Watch your tongue. His Highness was caught in a conspiracy.”
Hakain smiled lazily.
“Everyone has their reasons. Me included.”
“How dare you place yourself on the same level as His Highness? Insolent bastard.”
Hakain slowly shook his head.
“Young miss, you’re awfully rigid. This is why I hate even talking to knights.”
Yuri drew the sword at her waist.
A thin rapier emerged.
It was a long, narrow, straight weapon specialized for thrusting.
She spoke.
“Then stop talking and move aside.”
“If the Apostle agrees, I’ll step aside willingly.”
Hakain looked toward Mapheltan.
Mapheltan had already descended to the ground.
He opened his mouth.
“I will not say it twice. If you wish to protect the prince, you must kill me first.”
Yuri’s gaze turned to Mapheltan.
Though tense, she forced a smile.
“Protect His Highness? You fools. He is the Great Saint’s favored child. He needs no one’s protection. Your demonic kind will soon stand before His Highness’s judgment.”
Mapheltan’s lips curled into a long smile.
“Mortal, does this not strike you as strange? By now, Gawain should have rushed out.”
Mapheltan was openly displaying his Demonic Energy.
The presence of a high-ranking demon shook heaven and earth.
Yet Gawain showed no reaction.
The castle remained as silent as death.
In truth, Yuri found that strange as well.
She clenched both fists tightly.
“...What have you done to His Highness?”
Mapheltan shrugged.
“Find out with your own strength.”
Yuri hesitated briefly before steeling herself.
Her Dantian began to spin fiercely.
Translucent Aura wrapped around her entire body.
Mapheltan’s red eyes curved like crescents.
He was quite satisfied.
‘She can release Aura.’
Someone as skilled as Yuri would not be a bad opponent for testing his strength.
Mapheltan pulled the spear embedded in the ground free.
At the same time, Yuri kicked off the ground.
Her body shot forward like an arrow.
The distance closed in an instant.
“White Horn!”
The Aura-wreathed rapier aimed for Mapheltan’s eye.
Mapheltan did not move in the slightest.
Yuri found that strange.
Why was he not reacting? At this rate, the blade would pierce his eye and go through his brain.
It was too late to evade.
Yuri’s victory seemed certain.
Yet she did not let her guard down until the end.
She thrust her sword with all her strength.
The thin rapier pierced his red eye.
Instead of black blood, dark mist scattered through the air.
Mapheltan’s body suddenly vanished.
After landing, Yuri quickly looked around.
White Horn had disappeared without a trace.
She could not even sense his presence.
“An illusion...?”
Some demons could use Authorities of that nature.
Yuri took a vial of Holy Water from her chest and immediately poured it into her mouth.
This would make her immune to most illusion effects.
Yuri released her Aura.
A translucent veil spread in every direction.
Yet she still could not detect White Horn’s presence.
Yuri was bewildered.
Hakain spoke.
“Let’s seal Nightfall Immersion for this battle. If you use Nightfall Immersion, it will be too one-sided.”
Nightfall Immersion was an Authority that completely erased one’s presence.
At a glance, it seemed similar to invisibility, but its performance was overwhelmingly superior.
Once Mapheltan hid within Nightfall Immersion, even the senses of a first-rate knight could not detect him.
Nightfall Immersion was complete assimilation with darkness itself.
Yuri sharply turned her head from side to side, her expression tense.
Just as she found herself unable to locate him at all, an eerie voice rang out.
“Indeed. It would be too easy.”
The voice came from directly behind Yuri.
She could not react in time.
Crack!
A numbing pain spread across her back.
The Aura protecting her whole body shattered into pieces.
Yuri’s body flew into the air before slamming into the ground.
She had been ambushed.
An attack had suddenly come from behind.
Had she not been covered in Aura, she would certainly have died.
Yuri immediately rose and took her stance.
Cold sweat trickled down her forehead.
“...How in the world?”
Mapheltan gave a short laugh.
“The night and I are one.”
Mapheltan disappeared again.
Yuri swallowed dryly.
She tried desperately to find Mapheltan.
It was meaningless.
Crack!
Intense pain surged from her ribs.
The Dread Spear suddenly appeared and stabbed into her side.
Her Aura shattered again.
Yuri’s body slid backward.
The ground was gouged into a long trail behind her.
Yuri felt a deep sense of helplessness.
There was no way to defend against the ambushes.
She would be worn down like this until she finally died.
Yuri bit her lip.
“Y-you coward.”
Mapheltan shrugged.
“To a demon, that is praise. But I will hide no longer. I will fight you fairly, in the manner of a knight.”
In other words, he would go easy on her.
Yuri’s body trembled.
“...Are you planning to toy with me?”
“Well, you could say that.”
Then Aura wrapped around Yuri’s entire body.
She shouted and dashed forward.
At an incredible speed, she passed Mapheltan.
She was like a flash of light.
The whistle of air followed after her.
The skin of Mapheltan’s abdomen had been slightly torn.
Black blood burst out.
His shell-like skin had cracked.
Yuri flicked the blood from her blade.
“I’ll make you regret this.”
She launched herself forward again.
Each time she passed Mapheltan, black blood sprayed through the air.
More scratches appeared across Mapheltan’s body.
Yuri kept increasing her speed.
Her afterimages looked like duplicates of her body.
Mapheltan was sincerely impressed.
‘Fast and accurate. She aims for vital points.’
He managed to block her attacks somehow, but anything beyond that was impossible.
Mapheltan could not catch Yuri at all.
He could only spot her afterimages after they had already passed.
A first-rate knight was indeed strong, though still within the range he had expected.
Mapheltan gripped the middle of the spear shaft with both hands.
He began to spin the spear.
Dread Spear Turabak rotated with a tremendous roar.
The Rotating Spear Technique he had learned from Hakain generated immense wind pressure.
Yuri’s afterimages were swallowed one by one by the gusts.
Mapheltan resembled a black whirlwind.
Dark mist fluttered around him.
Yuri could no longer approach Mapheltan.
Mapheltan curled his lips.
“Are your little tricks finished?”
Yuri widened the distance between them.
Difficulty showed on her face.
Mapheltan gave a short laugh and spun the Dread Spear even faster.
The air shook. Black infernal flames wrapped around Turabak.
Hakain flicked ash from his pipe.
“Let’s get on with it.”
At the same time, Mapheltan threw the Dread Spear.
Turabak, driven by centrifugal force, tore through the darkness.
Space rippled for a moment.
Anyone struck by the spear would die instantly.
Yuri pushed her senses to their limit.
The Aura veil she had spread calculated the trajectory of the thrown spear.
Dread Spear Turabak approached.
Just before it touched her skin, Yuri threw herself to the side.
Whoosh!
The Dread Spear passed Yuri and vanished somewhere beyond.
Black flames followed after it.
Yuri let out a breath of relief.
At that moment, an ominous voice sounded.
“You must stay alert until the end.”
Yuri looked up.
It was already too late.
Mapheltan was right before her.
“Damn it!”
Before she had time to react, a black demonic hand seized Yuri’s face.
He slowly lifted her body.
Through the gaps between his fingers, Mapheltan and Yuri’s eyes met.
Mapheltan smiled.
“It is over, mortal.”
If Mapheltan tightened his grip, Yuri’s head would burst.
Yuri surely knew that, yet for some reason, she looked calm.
No, she even formed a strange smile.
Yuri slowly opened her mouth.
“...So you are an Apostle, yet still young.”
Mapheltan gave a short laugh.
“Do you have some final trump card left?”
“You noticed too late.”
At the same time, Yuri pressed her palms together.
Mapheltan’s body began to shine white.
Every scratch she had inflicted moments ago was glowing.
Mapheltan’s expression distorted.
“Surely not...”
He could not finish speaking.
A massive explosion drowned out his voice.
The light leaking from his wounds erupted in a chain reaction.
Black blood scattered everywhere.
The pressure of Mapheltan’s grip slowly loosened.
Yuri fell to the ground with a thud.
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