Chapter 160 : Chapter 160

Chapter 160 The Kingdom's Finest Sword

“If I knew this would happen, I wouldn't have sent my subordinates ahead. Now I'm going to die an unsightly death.”

“When you said he controlled a swarm of demonic beasts, I thought it would be a few dozen at most, but did you imagine it would be this many?”

Noser and Bolero each said a word and unlike their usual selves, their tension was palpable.

The demonic beasts didn't rush in recklessly.

They slowly closed the encirclement.

“They don't seem to be high-intelligence individuals.”

My eyes busily scanned through the swarm of demonic beasts.

Their species and appearances were all different, which made it stand out even more.

There was a subtly unified movement.

In other words, the force controlling them from the outside was stronger.

“It's proof that Deiron's demonic beast control ability is beyond imagination.”

Tang, tang.

The steward tapped the ground with the tip of her great tachi.

“Now, let's start—.”

I'm grateful for the kind heads-up…….

The problem is, that's all it is.

Drrrrrr.

The ground was rumbling.

I couldn't even guess how many there were.

It was probably close to several thousand.

What was certain was that if we fought while staying in place, we would be crushed to death before long.

‘I have to compensate for the numerical inferiority somehow.’

I stabbed Heavenly Demon into the ground beneath my feet.

‘Quake Earth.’

In an instant, the earth trembled as if it were screaming.

Soon, a pillar of earth shot up from under my feet, forming a hill and lifting the three of us high up.

It was like an island soaring into the sky from the middle of the encirclement.

As if building a rampart in a siege, I had taken the high ground in an instant.

“Ha! Bihen Benkou, the more I know you, the more interesting you are!”

“Focus! They're coming!”

The flying demonic beasts attacked first.

They weren't a big threat.

About the level of annoying gnats.

“At this rate, there'll be no end to fighting them one by one.”

Noser corrected his posture.

For a moment, the air around his sword distorted.

“I never thought I'd use this for the first time in a place like this.”

Tat—!

Noser leaped up. His form shimmered faintly in the dark night sky.

Kiiing—!

Noser's sword turned white.

Soon, a storm-like sword strike split the air.

The aura imbued in the strike swept over the swarm of demonic beasts.

Kwa—ang!

It wasn't just once.

Noser swung his arm several times in mid-air.

In an instant, dozens of layers of sword paths were etched into the air.

The aura carried in each streak split as if exploding and poured out in all directions.

“Bolero! Take a good look at who the real Kingdom's Finest Sword is!”

Noser's fast sword style grew faster and faster.

It was as if he were creating a blizzard.

The bodies of the demonic beasts were torn and cut by the storm of blades pouring down to the ground.

All sorts of fragments flew up.

‘Indeed. His reputation wasn't for nothing.’

It looked like a flurry, but the reality was different.

He finely divides his aura and distributes it precisely into high-speed strikes to spread it evenly.

It's a swordsmanship that's only possible if one has an overwhelming total amount of aura, concentration, and control.

“It's troublesome if you treat my precious children so carelessly.”

The steward's body floated up from the ground as if gliding.

In an instant, she was at eye level with Noser.

The great tachi drew a large horizontal arc, aiming for Noser's side.

It was as if she intended to cut him in half.

“Where do you think you're—!”

Bolero shot in like an arrow.

His large, thick arm wrapped around the steward's waist.

“Uooooooh!”

He slammed her into the ground.

For a moment, Bolero's body flashed like lightning.

“Whoa, for that body to have that much speed……. He wasn't called a monster for nothing.”

Noser clicked his tongue. Soon, I wore a similar expression.

Bolero mounted the steward's chest.

Kwang! Kwang! Kwang! Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!

His fists exploded on the steward's face.

With each punch, a tremendous ground tremor and shockwave occurred.

It was enough to sweep away the surrounding demonic beasts.

“Hmm. Look there, Bihen.”

Noser pointed down.

From above, the area of Deiron's mansion was filled with demonic beasts, undulating like the sea.

The tip of Noser's finger was aimed somewhere in that chaos.

“Do you see it? That's a human corpse.”

Looking closely, it was so.

Among the hideous demonic beasts, there was a human corpse lying sprawled and bleeding.

“A demonic beast swept up by my aura earlier turned into that.”

“Did its true form reveal itself when it was time to die?”

“That's right.”

Noser looked around the area again and let out a faint breath.

He looked disgusted.

“This itself is a Demonic Realm. Fighting like this is just a meaningless war of attrition.”

Our gazes, which were facing each other, turned to the back at the same time.

The iron gate was still closing very slowly.

“……It feels like we're being played with, but wouldn't it be better to try something rather than all of us being tied down here?”

Just then, Bolero, who had cleared a swarm of demonic beasts below, leaped up and took his place beside us.

“It's as Sir Noser says. They are certainly not ordinary demonic beasts.”

In the end, it's Deiron. That means he is the mana core.

I felt a sense of déjà vu.

It was the same as with the Blood Devil.

Back then, the Blood Devil itself became the mana core and unfolded a Demonic Realm.

……The half-baked Poison Demon of Labotas Mine was like that too.

“You two, I'm counting on you to watch my back.”

“Hey, Bihen Benkou.”

“?”

“……This is a bit awkward at a time like this, but let me ask again.”

Noser wore a somewhat sheepish expression.

“The rumors about the Conwell civil war, are they really true? I'm asking if your exploits, as told by the rumors, are truly without exaggeration.”

“……What?”

“Please answer quickly. It's a rather important matter.”

While I was dumbfounded, Bolero suddenly cut in.

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting when every moment is critical, Sir Noser!”

“N-nonsense, you say……”

“It's certain! You still don't believe it? Bihen Benkou is, at this moment, the Kingdom's Finest Sword! I don't know about the best, but he is certainly the strongest man!”

While absurd and pathetic words were exchanged, the surroundings were still seething with the cries of demonic beasts.

Just then, Noser suddenly tapped my shoulder.

“Alright. For now, I'll acknowledge that you're stronger than me and move on.”

“…….”

“Now, go quickly! It's much more likely that you'll collapse from exhaustion before you're killed by these things. Still, if you make use of this high ground you've created, you should be able to hold on for a while.”

I felt a strange sense of madness from Noser as he turned away.

Now is not the time to be lost in sentiment.

I immediately turned my back on the two of them and rushed toward the iron gate.

My form, which crossed the air at full speed, drew a gentle arc and fell on top of the demonic beasts' heads.

I moved forward, stepping on the heads of the demonic beasts in succession, as if crossing a stone bridge over a torrent.

Tadadadadadadada—!

An eerie vibration came from behind.

From a distance, the steward was rushing over at a furious speed.

The surrounding demonic beasts were sent flying, opening a path.

“Where do you think you're goiiiiiing—! Ihihihihi!”

Half of her face was blown away by Bolero's fist.

Her lips, which were barely hanging on, were trembling hideously.

‘Frost Sword.’

Using sword aura is a waste.

Operating the Frost Sword takes less than half the power, so this is much better.

Kwadeudeudeuk!

A colorless gas bloomed over the semi-circular trajectory drawn by Heavenly Demon.

The density of the cold air was noticeably thicker than before.

The demonic beasts caught within the range were instantly frozen.

The steward was included.

Kwa—ang!

Bolero landed next to me.

The art of the quake stomp was embedded in his tremendous landing.

In an instant, cracks spread.

Jjeong—!

The bodies of the frozen demonic beasts exploded all at once along the cracks.

Ice fragments rained down.

It was bright enough to illuminate the surroundings for a moment.

Through it, Bolero's cape flowed like a wave as he turned.

“Brother Bihen, go and show Deiron clearly who the Kingdom's Finest Sword is.”

I ended up nodding my head without thinking.

***

Kkiiirik—

As soon as I had my back to the iron gate, silence fell.

The clamor and turmoil behind me felt distant, like an auditory hallucination from another dimension.

The scenery was no different.

It was clearly night, yet my vision was strangely sharp.

As if moonlight had seeped in, everything in the darkness was clear.

It was as if the moment right after a lightning flash had been frozen in time.

A sloping meadow unfolded.

A dirt path ran straight through the middle of the low grassland.

“…….”

I walked along that path.

Saaaaa—

The wind was calm.

Suddenly, all of this felt like an illusion.

A kind of fear that perhaps this situation itself was part of a sorcery I had fallen into.

I raised my head.

The ashen sky stretched out like an endless void.

“What are you so scared of?”

The voice came from right beside me.

A middle-aged man who had appeared at some point was walking beside me.

“If you've crawled all the way here, you have to see it to the end.”

His upper body was completely bare.

His ribs and muscles were emaciated, but only his stomach was bulging.

His hair was disheveled, and he was even carrying a shabby wicker basket on his back…….

He was a middle-aged man so unremarkable it was chilling.

“Deiron?”

“Yes, I am Deiron.”

As he turned his head toward me, he had no whites in his eyes.

It could be that his irises were excessively large.

There was no luster at all, so it somehow looked like that of a dead person.

“What's your name?”

It was when my gaze fell to his waist, where two old swords were hanging.

I spoke to his profile.

“Bihen Benkou. Eldest son of the Benkou Family.”

“That name, you're an Imperial?”

“Yes.”

Deiron chuckled.

“You must have quite an interesting story.”

I walked along the path beside Deiron.

Before I knew it, the path was a sloping uphill climb.

How far had I climbed?

At the end of it, another unfamiliar landscape unfolded.

“Welcome. This is my home.”

The place he pointed to was a desolate plain.

“You've got a bad sense of humor.”

“The view is the best.”

I stood blankly and looked around.

There were no traces of human life.

Instead, an incongruous sight caught my eye at the bottom of the hill. It was the opposite side of the path I had just climbed.

Something that looked like a scarecrow was stuck in the ground in a line.

Looking closely, they were corpses impaled on poles.

Their limbs had all been cut off below the joints, and they all looked similar, as if made to fit a certain mold.

“A training ground made of corpses…….”

“Hmm? Wanna go give it a try?”

Deiron was rummaging through his wicker basket from a distance.

I didn't even pay him any mind.

“How did you end up so crazy?”

His busy hands stopped abruptly.

He slowly raised his head.

His lusterless black eyes scanned me and then the corners of his mouth rose high.

“It's fun.”

I've seen countless types of humans throughout my past and present lives.

This person in front of me is different.

He is outside of all those categories.

“Why are you making such a serious face? It's embarrassing for the one who said it. Others might not, but shouldn't you be able to understand me?”

“Me? Why?”

“What do you mean, why? Hey.”

Deiron stood up. He casually adjusted his loosened waistband.

“You came here to become the true Kingdom's Finest Sword, right? Whether that's foolish or not, whether it's recklessness or whatever. In that case……”

Deiron put his thumb and index finger together and raised them to the side of his eye.

“At least this much, you should be able to understand me.”

“…….”

“……No?”

“No.”

Deiron frowned. His wrinkled face was bizarre.

“I am different from you.”

Deiron paused for a moment, then burst into a mad laugh.

He held his stomach and roared with laughter and the sound coming from his throat was so hoarse it sounded like a beast screaming.

“That guy is completely crazy!”

Hearing such an absurd thing, I couldn't help but laugh too.

My expression right now must be a sight to behold.

Whether I'm laughing or crying…….

Because I'm confused too.

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