Chapter 159 : Chapter 159

Chapter 159 : The Kingdom's Finest Sword (4)

“……Huh. What the?”

Deiron's minion standing in front of the door blinked his eyes as he saw me.

“Did I come to the wrong place? No, this is it.”

The other men lined up behind him chimed in.

I could hear them too.

They were saying that this was indeed the Marcus residence that Lord Deiron had pointed out.

“But who are you?”

“Took you long enough to ask.”

I extended a finger and pressed firmly against the fellow's chest.

The man was slowly pushed back, step by step.

I moved forward as if to take his place.

“……?”

The man, who had been looking around without understanding the situation, gradually hardened his face.

“You, what are you? What's this all of……. Have you lost your damn mind?”

The man's cheek swelled up like a toad's for a moment.

The next moment, a wad of spit flew out.

“Filthy.”

I dodged it just by moving my head.

The foul sound behind my shoulder gave me goosebumps.

‘I see.’

Bolero had told me.

It seemed the reason he was almost hit by something like dark magic that day was because of the spit from the first guy who had rushed him.

‘In terms of sorcery, the spit acted as a medium.’

This was the conclusion Bolero had reached after agonizing over it alone these past few days.

His pride must have been so hurt that even while lying down and recovering, his mind was completely preoccupied with that thought.

Slice!

I cut off the man's wrist.

It was because I had clearly seen his right arm move toward the hilt of the sword at his waist at the same time as he spat.

“Kraaaah!”

Blood gushed from the severed surface.

He made a face of disbelief, and the men behind him were just as surprised.

No, they were even more so.

Kiiing!

The onlookers each drew their weapons.

About ten of them.

They were so surprised that all of their reactions were a beat too slow.

“I have no business with small fry. Why didn't Deiron come?”

“You crazy, bastard……! D-do you even know what you've just done?!”

This time, I slightly raised my arm and slashed upwards.

The head separated cleanly.

Thud.

The body collapsed helplessly.

The men surrounding it rushed in, all terrified.

“How dare you, do you know who we are!”

It was a bluff, nothing more.

There was no need to look for an opening.

My hand moved where my eyes went.

They fell as I stabbed and slashed.

A dozen men rushed in at once, but they rolled on the floor as futilely as moths senselessly diving into a flame.

I couldn't kill them all.

I pointed Heavenly Demon at the neck of one man I had intentionally left alive.

“You.”

“Keuk! Y-yes, sir……!”

He was sitting on the ground, trembling.

Blood was streaming from the shoulder he was clutching.

I had stabbed him, missing the vital point, but I had intentionally aimed for a spot that would bleed a lot.

“Guide me to Deiron.”

He nodded his head up and down frantically.

His wet eyes were bloodshot.

‘Disciples?’

Don't make me laugh. These guys are nothing more than Deiron's toys.

……It's quiet. The silence touches my skin.

I raised my eyes.

The villagers were frozen, only blinking their eyes.

The gazes that had been seeking a spectacle just a moment ago were broken in vain, and soon, shock filled them.

Wherever my gaze landed, that shock slowly spread into awe.

“My god, h-he's really going to fight Deiron……?”

“Th-there's no turning back now.”

They whispered amongst themselves.

I indifferently sheathed Heavenly Demon.

“You said your name was Bihen Benkou?”

The lord walked out from the crowd.

His face was still hard to read, but it was better than the first day.

It was as if he was now willing to converse as one person to another.

A shameless change in attitude is the most basic survival method of the weak, but perhaps because of the contempt I had endured, I felt a pitiful sense of spite.

“Well, there's no need to apologize for your imprudence now. I have no intention of accepting……”

“That sword.”

“……Hmm?”

The lord pointed to my waist with his chin.

“It is quite peculiar.”

The lord did not take his eyes off Heavenly Demon.

“You're the peculiar one. To show interest in a sword at a time like this. You must have held a sword in your younger days.”

“It's not to a level I could speak of elsewhere.”

I gave a rough nod and turned away. I didn't have much to say.

“Could I possibly know the name of that sword?”

I found myself sizing up the lord.

He had a persistent side to him.

“……Heavenly Demon.”

“Heavenly Demon……. The name is peculiar as well.”

As I was helping up the minion who would guide us, I heard a voice from behind again.

“They say you can tell what kind of person the owner is just by looking at the appearance of the sword.”

“That's not entirely wrong. But I don't completely agree. It seems like too much of a leap in logic.”

Just then, Bolero and Noser, who had finished their preparations, came out of the house.

Marcus's family, who poked their faces through the opening, widened their eyes at the scene in front of the house.

“No, how did you do all this……”

Bolero patted the shoulder of Marcus, who was muttering to himself.

“You've suffered a lot, worrying all this time.”

He said what I wanted to say to me.

Marcus was too stunned to say anything.

This time, Noser came over and firmly grabbed Deiron's minion.

“I'll go with you to his residence. However, it's impossible for me to openly side with you and fight Deiron. If you lose, it'll be hard for me to pull out too, and then the pact between His Majesty the King and Deiron will be broken. So I'll watch the situation and make my move. I have nothing to say even if you curse me for testing the waters. In any case, I hope you'll understand my position.”

“Just coming this far in silence is enough.”

“……You're a more magnanimous friend than you look.”

I didn't mind at all. It had been a great help in figuring out what kind of person Noser was.

‘This is for after I deal with Deiron.’

The surroundings were still as quiet as death.

Only the people's eyes trembled.

I looked around at them in silence.

I had nothing to say.

But perhaps my gaze looked like pity.

I was actually feeling a little compassion.

“P-please save me.”

“Don't worry. You won't die before we get to Deiron.”

Bolero smacked the back of the minion's head.

With a loud smack, a stream of water gushed from the man's crotch as if a dam had broken.

“I ask of you……a favor.”

It was a hoarse voice.

The three of us turned our heads at the same time.

“This time, I pray that my Master may enter eternal sleep.”

The lord suddenly put down his staff and neatly gathered his hands.

“I believe that with that Heavenly Demon, you will be able to put my twisted Master to rest.”

The lord slowly bowed his head.

“As a swordsman, not a madman.”

***

We arrived when twilight fell.

“Th-there it is.”

Ruins came into view in the distance.

The fortress wall on the hill was half-collapsed, exposing its gaunt skeleton-like frame.

“What a foul taste. To make an abandoned castle his residence.”

Thick fog rising from the valley was coiling around the castle walls.

The sight was death itself.

Creeak.

The rusty iron gate was already half open. Pitch-black darkness squirmed inside.

A foul stench also drifted out.

“Where's Deiron?”

I asked the minion.

I never thought he would be hiding in a place like this.

“I-I wouldn't know that! We only move as the steward tells us.”

“Steward?”

“There's a steward who manages Deiron's mansion.”

The inside was unbelievably vast.

If one were to search for him recklessly, one could get lost.

“Isn't it too quiet for such a large place? I wouldn't be surprised if a demonic beast popped out right now.”

Noser muttered.

He was right.

The number of Deiron's subordinates we had encountered so far was considerable, and there should be even more people here.

“You, you didn't lead us to the wrong place, did you?”

“Th-that's impossible……! It would be weirder for me to know of a place like this and bring you here!”

That was also true.

The minion spoke as if he didn't know where this place was either.

“They cover our eyes when we move inside the mansion.”

I raised my head. Gray clouds were hanging low in the ashen sky, making it feel suffocatingly pressed down.

“I wonder how long it's been since we've had guests.”

It was a sweet voice that didn't match the desolate scenery at all.

A woman walked out of the darkness.

She was almost completely naked, and every exposed curve was excessively captivating.

It was as if a sculpted work of art was imitating a human.

“Th-that woman is the steward!”

The minion made a fuss.

He seemed excited for some reason.

Like he had met someone he secretly admired.

“Did you come to see the Master? I will guide you.”

The steward wore a mask that only revealed the lower half of her face.

Her exposed lips were smooth yet pale.

It was a moment when her voice began to sound sweet.

Thud.

The minion took a step toward the steward.

His eyes were lifeless, as if he had lost his sanity.

“Huhu.”

The steward twisted the corners of her lips.

She beckoned him forward as if to pull the minion in, and every single gesture was sensual.

“You bewitching wench—!”

It was Bolero. As soon as his roar rang out, my mind cleared up.

Noser let out a ragged breath, as if he had been holding it in and then burst.

“It doesn't work on me!”

The anger in Bolero's pupils became even more distinct.

I had momentarily forgotten.

The fact that a woman's seduction wouldn't work on Bolero in the first place.

Ggrrrr.

Just then, I heard a sound like giant vines growing at a rapid pace.

Soon, demonic beasts of various shapes tore through the ground and rose up.

“Hyaaaak!”

The minion's body, which had been walking as if mesmerized by the steward, was suddenly flipped upside down and soared into the air.

Something slimy was wrapped around his ankle.

It was the sticky tongue of a toad-like demonic beast.

Gulp—

There was no time to do anything.

The minion disappeared into the mouth of the toad demonic beast.

“Gentlemen? You don't have much time.”

The steward said leisurely.

The corners of her captivating lips were slowly rising.

“Wait, this number is no joke?”

Noser shook his head busily from side to side.

Before we knew it, the surroundings were filled with all sorts of demonic beasts.

We stood back to back.

Screeeech—

A tearing metallic sound echoed from afar.

It was behind the steward.

A huge iron gate, which we didn't even know when it had appeared, was slowly closing.

It was as if the wind was only blowing in that direction.

“If that gate closes, you won't be able to see the Master.”

The steward's voice was as light as a joke.

In the meantime, the demonic beasts continued to multiply.

Kiiing—!

In her hand, a long great tachi appeared.

Its crescent-shaped blade gleamed ominously.

Gwaack.

The three of us turned our heads at the same time.

The minion who had just been swallowed by the toad demonic beast was spat back out, covered in mucus.

The corpse, dangling from the tip of the sticky tongue, swayed in the air.

Kiiing—!

The steward's great tachi cut through the air.

A silver trajectory flashed.

Thud— Thud—

The minion's body scattered into pieces.

The steward had cut him down as a warm-up.

“Huhu. I wonder if you can pass through here?”

The iron gate was closing slowly but steadily.

There was no reason to obey the woman's words, yet I had a strange feeling that we shouldn't break the rule.

“Have we been hit by illusion magic already?”

I said, readjusting my grip on Heavenly Demon.

Noser laughed weakly.

“There's no such thing as illusion magic. It must be dark magic. But dark magic only works one-on-one. It's impossible for several people to see and feel the same illusion at the same time.”

Noser drew his sword.

A bead of sweat on the tip of his nose flashed past my eyes.

“……For some reason, I have a feeling that all of this is Deiron himself.”

Bolero and I tilted our heads at his incomprehensible words.

Before we knew it, the area was already packed with demonic beasts.

It was like that as far as the eye could see.

There was no end.

We were now isolated in the middle of a swarm of demonic beasts.

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