Chapter 191

Humans were entering the castle.

The meaning of that was simple.

'......Have they noticed?'

Sssk—.

As one of the soldiers had said, I looked down at the citizens rushing into the castle with cold eyes.

They were fleeing as if being chased, following the instructions of the human soldiers.

In other words,

It meant that they had noticed the Demons were near the castle.

That meant there was someone around this mountain sending a signal to the human side.

And Crete was not one to be unaware of this fact.

"Search the vicinity."

""As you command.""

Tap, tap—.

At Crete's command, the Demon soldiers began to move in unison.

It wasn't long before they brought a human before Crete, bound tightly with rope.

They said this human was wandering around near where the soldiers were.

"It's a human who was near the mountain. I can sense the remnants of mana, it seems they contacted the humans with magic."

"Is that so."

Sssk—.

Crete looked at the kneeling human with indifferent eyes.

Flinch.

The human trembled, unable to bear Crete's gaze.

Soon after,

Slice—.

Crete lightly swung his sword, separating the human's head from their body.

Blood spurted everywhere, and some of the warm blood splattered on my face as I watched.

"......."

Looking down, I saw the face of the dead human, their eyes wide open as if in resentment.

Sssk—.

Unable to bear the sight, I turned my head slightly.

The scent of blood.

It tormented me.

It was a smell I had encountered countless times.

But this was the first time it had been so painful.

......Even more so than when I first killed someone.

As I was looking at the corpse of the human who had met a gruesome end,

Pooooooow—.

A loud trumpet sounded from the direction of Nina's castle.

I frowned at the sound.

Because this trumpet sound signaled the start of the war.

Thud—.

As I expected, once all the citizens had entered the castle, the gates of the Nina family's castle swung open.

And then,

Thud—.

Thud—.

Thud—.

Thud—.

Thousands of human soldiers began to march out.

Watching them, my throat moved continuously.

War.

This was the moment it began.

"......He's coming out himself."

Crete muttered as he watched the horde of human soldiers.

At the front of the human soldiers.

There, I saw a man clad in armor, marching forward.

A middle-aged man.

He was the one who came out to face Bares himself.

"It is only right to respond."

Crete smiled and started to move.

Thud—.

Thud—.

Following behind him, Bares' soldiers also formed ranks.

What should I do.......

I fell into thought as I watched their retreating figures.

I knew that the war was about to begin.

No, it had already begun.

The moment Crete killed the human scout, there was no turning back.

Therefore, it was a foregone conclusion that I had to fight against the humans.

'......Me.'

What should I do here?

Lost in thought, I realized that I had to find out something from the Six Families.

Right.

The secret that the Six Families were hiding.

Perhaps that was the key to unraveling something in this world.

The truth.

The God of Gluttony mentioned it.

Maybe the truth I had to find out was related to what the Six Families were hiding.

To do that, I would have to capture and torture someone at least the level of a successor of the Six Families.

'......The Sword Saint would definitely know.'

But could I even capture the Sword Saint, let alone kill him?

Capture was a right reserved for the strong.

Anyone who had experienced war knew that capturing was more difficult than killing.

Therefore,

'I'll have to give up on the Sword Saint and try to find someone among the executives.'

For now, my task here was clear.

To help Crete, kill the humans, and enter the gates of Nina's castle.

If that happened, I might be able to meet one of the Sword Saint's children.

Of course, I wouldn't be able to meet the protagonist, Hamel.

'And I have to protect Rene in the meantime.......'

Sssk—.

I gently stroked the Gu poison sleeping in my arms.

This guy had to be active for us to survive.

It was good to have a goal, but the top priority was survival.

I had to avoid the Sword Saint as much as possible.

When Crete and the Sword Saint fought, I would have to help from behind as much as possible.

Thump, thump—.

"......."

"Miss, let's go together."

I silently followed Rene, who had begun to move.

Rene had been somewhat cold ever since we arrived in the human realm.

......Her hands were trembling as if there was an earthquake.

Rene was afraid of war.

"Miss......"

"Don't... talk to me."

"......Why, what's wrong now?"

To reassure Rene even a little, I decided not to lose my smile until the very end.

Yes, there was no point in coming here if I was just going to show fear by Rene's side.

I came here at Anna's request to protect Rene.

The Bares lineage had to be preserved.

Most of the servants and soldiers had headed to the human realm.

If, in this situation, they all died and only Anna remained.......

Bares would not be able to rebuild.

That would mean losing the shield that was Bares.

Therefore, I had to protect Rene no matter what.

Thud—.

Thud—.

Thud—.

As I was walking with this resolve, the sound of footsteps ahead grew louder.

The humans were approaching.

Thud—.

Thud—.

Thud—.

Finally, the human soldiers led by the Sword Saint and the Demon soldiers led by Crete faced each other on a vast plain.

The Sword Saint.

I wanted to see him up close.

He was the protagonist's father in the original story, and I had only seen him as an illusion during the entrance exam.

That's why I was so curious about what it would feel like to actually see him.

Sssk—.

"......Where are you going?"

As I pushed through the crowd, Rene frowned and asked.

I gave her an awkward smile and replied,

"The war is about to begin, so I'm going to stand in front since I'm relatively strong."

I had no choice but to lie to Rene.

The Sword Saint was the one who killed Rene's mother, so I couldn't tell her I wanted to see him and go to the front.

"......Go ahead."

Rene allowed me to go forward as if it didn't matter much.

Bow—.

I bowed my head briefly to Rene in gratitude,

and then walked through the soldiers towards Crete at the front.

As I stood right behind Crete and looked at the Sword Saint.

"......!"

I couldn't help but shudder in awe.

The human soldiers led by the Sword Saint had not yet clashed with ours.

However,

The sharp aura emanating from the Sword Saint, like a sword, made my skin tingle.

......This was the Sword Saint.

The strongest person in the human realm.

'Crete is going to fight this person.......'

Even if I helped Crete, would we be able to defeat the Sword Saint?

Just looking at him made my chest tighten.

An immense fear was making me cower.

The statue of the knight holding a sword is erected inside the Nina family's castle.

It was as if it was illuminating the Sword Saint like a halo.

As I swallowed dryly, my eyes fixed on the Sword Saint's face,

Clank, clank—.

A woman walked out from the human ranks.

A woman clad in armor, approached with a gleaming, sharp blade.

This was.......

'A duel?'

The humans had sent out a knight for a duel.

But.

'......There's no one stronger than that female knight among the Demons.'

The Demons Crete brought were definitely the elite of Bares.

I could easily tell by the extraordinary aura each of them emitted.

However, none of them surpassed the skill of that female knight.

Perhaps everyone in Bares who was skilled had already realized it.

I didn't know how strong this female knight was among the Sword Saint's knights, but she was a strong person who could handle 'Fighting Spirit'.

Besides,

'......She's a Swordmaster.'

Everyone here knew that unless you were a Demon who had mastered Sword Lacquer to the extreme, you would be nothing more than a piece of meat to this female knight.

"Who will go out?"

Crete asked the Demon soldiers, but

"......."

"......."

"......."

Even the high-ranking Demons of Bares couldn't utter a word.

Sssk—.

Crete frowned.

If the Sword Saint had come out himself, Crete would have gone out himself.

But for Crete to go out now would be tantamount to admitting that he was beneath the Sword Saint.

So one of the other Demons here had to go out.

But no one wanted to fight that female knight.

"Are the Demons scared?"

"They charged in with such bravado, but they're all tucking their tails and running away!"

The human soldiers taunted as no one emerged from the Demon ranks.

"......Is there no one?"

Just as Crete's face contorted in anger,

"I will go."

I raised my hand and spoke to Crete.

"Oh?"

Crete's eyes sparkled with interest.

Then he opened his mouth and said,

"Very well. I grant you permission."

"......Thank you."

Thump, thump—.

I bowed my head once to Crete and then walked towards the female knight who had come out for the duel.

A female knight with dazzling platinum blonde hair and a magnificent sword, like something out of a fairy tale.

But the aura she exuded was far from ordinary.

She had reached the level of Swordmaster.

Could I really win?

But if I stayed put, the morale of the Demon soldiers would definitely plummet, so I had no choice but to step forward.

Step—.

As I stood before the female knight,

"A half-demon. A traitorous breed."

She glared at me with contempt.

The veins on my forehead throbbed.

"......You have a sharp tongue."

"I merely spoke the truth. The stench of your kind makes it hard to breathe."

"Then do you douse yourself in perfume before coming to the battlefield? The smell of your makeup is overpowering."

"You...!"

The female knight raised her sword at my provocation.

Well, the provocation seemed to have worked.......

Hmm.

On second thought, it might have been better not to provoke her.

......She was a Swordmaster.

She might be as strong as, or even stronger than, Terias, whom I had encountered during the midterm exams.

"......You'll go easy on me, right?"

I asked with an awkward smile, but

Clang—.

She immediately raised her sword and swung it at me.

"......!"

I blocked the blow, crossing my red dagger and the Fang of Darkness.

As I gauged the power behind her sword, cold sweat trickled down my back.

This,

This wasn't going to be easy.......

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