Chapter 197

While Adel killed Kanpel, a man escorting the Sword Saint chuckled.

"...Not bad."

His gaze was fixed on the young, narrow-eyed boy with crimson hair who had mercilessly butchered Kanpel.

Originally, the human soldiers had believed that this war would end in their overwhelming victory.

And rightfully so.

Once, humans had triumphed over the Bares family.

Since then, the human soldiers had amassed even greater strength, while the Bares family had lost much of their own.

The current situation was an anomaly.

A single half-demon had turned the tide of the battlefield.

Twice, at that.

Not only had he defeated a Sword Master in a duel, but he had now killed another.

The hundreds of human soldiers he had slain were merely a bonus.

Even the Sword Masters had to admit it.

The half-demon's power was beyond their ability to handle alone.

It would take at least two Sword Masters to defeat him.

However, it was impossible to focus all their forces on the half-demon.

"This is troublesome. The morale of the demon soldiers is skyrocketing because of the half-demon. If this continues, we might be driven back."

The Sword Master spoke in a grave tone.

The man with blue hair and deep, ocean-like eyes, who was standing next to him, opened his mouth.

"Well."

It was a single word, its meaning unclear.

One of the Seven Swords was about to frown at the cryptic response when the man with eyes like the deep sea spoke again.

"I don't think that half-demon will be a problem."

"What do you mean...?"

"To me, it looks like he's thrashing in desperation. A desperate struggle of a bug trying to survive. Though, he doesn't seem to realize that his wings are burning away."

"..."

His words were like grasping at clouds.

The man was often like this.

He possessed sharp and keen eyes that could analyze any situation, but the way he expressed his observations was too abstract.

As the Sword Master was about to ask a question—

*Swoosh-*

The man moved.

"Are you going to step forward yourself?"

"..."

The man, no, the Sword Saint, didn't answer.

He simply stared at the half-demon with his eyes like a deep sea.

And after a while, he drew the sword from his waist.

*Whoo-*

Soon, the Sword Saint's sword began to be infused with an unspeakable amount of Fighting Spirit.

'...Just how far do the family head's limits go!'

The Sword Master, witnessing the scene, couldn't help but gasp.

What the Sword Saint had summoned were three gigantic swords made of pure Fighting Spirit. Each one possessed enough power to sweep across the entire battlefield.

*Gulp-*

The Sword Master swallowed hard.

Even he would have to face death if he were to receive those swords head-on.

But the Sword Saint wasn't finished.

Transcendence.

He had begun to pour a fraction of the power that only those who had reached his level could wield.

*Kuooooooooo-*

The earth tremored.

The surrounding space distorted from the pressure.

It became difficult to even breathe.

Even the human soldiers nearby cried out in pain from the power contained in the swords.

Of those three swords—

*Clench-*

The Sword Saint grasped one.

"...It's time to catch a bug."

The deep blue sea moved.

To catch a single bug, a tsunami, a disaster in its own right, surged forth.

The Sword Saint's eyes were fixed on the half-demon.

And then—

*Kwagagagagagagagak-*

The sword created by the Sword Saint left his hand and shot towards the half-demon.

Traveling faster than the speed of sound, the flying sword created a giant white ring.

Following that—

*Thud-*

The Sword Saint's sword pierced the half-demon's abdomen.

The half-demon's waist buckled, and blood gushed from his entire body.

Watching the scene, the Sword Saint let out an emotionless sigh of admiration.

"He's still alive. It seems I underestimated him slightly."

However, the Sword Saint knew.

The half-demon was already unable to move.

Without even needing the Seven Swords, the Sword Saint had defeated the powerful enemy who had single-handedly defeated two Sword Masters with a mere wave of his hand.

The Sword Master standing next to him trembled.

'I still can't get used to it. Even after years of being by his side, how can one get used to such overwhelming power...?'

It was even more unbelievable that there existed an individual among the demons who could rival such a being as the Sword Saint.

*Swoosh-*

The Sword Saint's eyes moved.

In the middle of the battlefield stood a demon, arrogantly straightening his back, staring at the Sword Saint.

Crete Bares.

As he gazed upon him, the Sword Saint reached out to the two swords he had created.

*Hum-*

The two swords resonated with each other.

Then, they merged into one.

And so, a white sword was born.

The pure white sword was so beautiful, it drew gasps from all who saw it.

Any other treasured sword would pale in comparison to this beautiful white blade.

It possessed an angelic grace.

Holding the pure white sword, the Sword Saint muttered as he looked at Crete.

"So, you've finally decided to make your move."

Meeting his gaze, Crete stared back with arrogant eyes, as if even the Sword Saint was beneath him.

The Sword Saint, looking at Crete, gave him an indifferent look.

"...Such an arrogant monarch."

***

*Thud-*

A mouthful of crimson blood escaped my lips.

What just happened?

I didn't even have time to grasp the situation.

Blood poured out from every orifice.

My head spun.

I felt faint.

It was like I was about to collapse at any moment.

I couldn't even move a finger.

Lying sprawled on the ground, I had to replay what had just transpired.

I had succeeded in killing Kanpel.

It was a fierce battle, but I had managed to win by drawing on the power of the red dagger.

But there was no time for joy.

Suddenly, a small light had flashed from somewhere, piercing my abdomen.

Yes, that was it.

What I had seen wasn't a light, but a sword.

And it wasn't just any Sword Master who had launched it, but the Sword Saint himself.

His sword had pierced my stomach.

*Cough-*

Blood gushed from my mouth again.

There was no time to react.

If I could have dodged it, I would have, but it was moving at the speed of sound, and my body was sluggish after the fight with Kanpel.

So I had no choice but to take the hit.

Even if I had been in peak condition, I would have been hit anyway.

The gap between the Sword Saint and me—

It wasn't something I could overcome just because I was in good shape.

'Damn it.'

I gritted my teeth.

Even now, blood was gushing out of my body.

Fortunately, I was used to pain, so I didn't go into shock. But if this continued, I would bleed to death.

I had to pull out this huge sword embedded in my body...

'But I can't move...'

What should I do?

Even when I tried to gather Mana, it wouldn't budge.

It seemed something was wrong with my body after my abdomen was pierced.

And to make matters worse, I had exhausted most of my Mana in the fight against Kanpel. I was in the worst possible situation.

...Was this how I died?

Breathing, already difficult, became even more labored.

The fear of death began to fill my mind. Just then—

*Clench-*

*Thud-*

Someone pulled out the sword that was embedded in my abdomen.

As blood was about to spurt out from the large wound—

*Splash-*

I saw someone pouring a black liquid into the wound.

Only then did the bleeding start to stop, and new flesh began to grow.

A potion.

That's what the black liquid was.

I opened my eyes slightly and looked at the person.

Was it Rene?

But I was surprised to realize it wasn't her.

"You are..."

"You little shit, I thought you were a goner!"

It was Kyle.

He had saved me from the brink of death.

I thought he had gone somewhere because I hadn't seen him, but he had followed me to the battlefield.

As I was staring at him with newfound surprise—

*Grab-*

Kyle, who had grabbed me by the collar, began to cry.

"Damn it, I really thought you were going to die! If you died here, what about my sister?! Get a grip, if you die, I die too!"

"..."

I looked up at Kyle with strange eyes. And then, slowly, I opened my mouth.

"I won't die."

"What?"

"Your sister, she won't die."

"...What are you talking about?"

"Because from the start...that Twin Tail on your sister, it never existed."

"...?"

Kyle blinked, as if his thoughts had come to a complete halt.

But it was true.

I had never met Kyle's sister.

I simply remembered it because it was described in the original story.

However, Kyle didn't know the truth, so he stammered, asking me questions.

"Then, how did you know about my sister's condition? And what was that about curing her?!"

"...I just happened to overhear it. And it's true that I cured your sister. Or rather, she was already cured."

"...What in the world are you talking about?"

Kyle still seemed unable to comprehend my words.

I sighed once more.

There was only one reason why I had suddenly revealed the truth to Kyle.

It was because I felt the need to redefine our relationship.

Kyle was no longer of any use to me.

I didn't know if he would have come here otherwise, but now that he was on the battlefield, he would be branded a traitor to humanity.

And the consequences of that would fall entirely on his younger sister.

...I wasn't that heartless.

Moreover, to maintain my relationship with Kyle in the future, I needed to redefine it now.

*Thwack-*

Kyle punched me in the face.

"So you were lying to me this whole time? To me and my innocent little sister?"

"..."

The punch split my lip, and a trickle of blood ran down my chin.

But I knew.

That Kyle, too, was sensing the truth.

"...You've seen it, haven't you?"

"Seen what?"

"How humans...how they view half-demons. No matter what you achieve, no matter how strong your sister becomes, humans will only ever see us as tools, not comrades."

It was the truth.

Kyle and his sister could never escape their status as half-demons.

Until the very end of the story, they would be scorned and ostracized.

And when Kyle realized he had been used by the humans, he would be consumed by rage...and meet his end at the hands of his own sister.

At the hands of the sister, he loved most in the world.

...And she wouldn't even remember him.

She would forget that she even had a brother.

Erased by the humans.

But Kyle didn't know that.

Not yet.

"This bastard, still..."

As Kyle was about to hit me again in anger—

"Cooperate with me."

I gathered the last of my strength and spoke to him.

"And I will create a world...where life is respected as life. Where you can live without being bound by your race...or your appearance."

"..."

For a moment, Kyle froze.

A world where life was respected.

A world where one could live without being bound by race or appearance.

In exchange for mending our fractured relationship, I offered him an ideal.

From Kyle's perspective, it must have sounded absurd.

"You must think I'm lying."

"...Knowing that, you still spout such nonsense?"

I pushed away Kyle's hand, which had lost its strength, and slowly got up.

A lie.

As if.

Adel had come to my house and pleaded with me, begging me to grant her dying wish.

And to fulfill that wish, this...this was something that had to be done.

"..."

I looked at Kyle's trembling hand and opened my mouth.

"Kyle."

"...Why."

"Will you...trust me, just this once?"

"..."

Kyle didn't answer.

He simply said, with his usual grumpy expression,

"Just come on. You need to go protect your little lady, don't you?"

As I watched him, I hoisted myself up, my shoulders heavy with the burden I now carried.

*Thump, thump-*

The ground began to shake.

I turned my gaze towards the source of the tremors.

'...It's begun.'

The climax of the war.

The duel between Crete and the Sword Saint.

That fateful confrontation was about to begin.

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