Chapter 289: The Life of the "Ruins Plunderer" Ibrabarleg, Who Was Obsessed with the Magic Sword 'Soul Devourer'

* * *

Once upon a time, in a certain place, there was an evil swordsman.

This swordsman was a man with a wicked mindset, thinking only of his own well-being and not caring about others at all.

One day, by chance, this man obtained a magic sword called 'Soul Devourer'.

It was a terrifying sword with the ability to devour the souls of those it killed and grow stronger.

Since the man already had an evil heart, he was immediately captivated by the allure of the magic sword.

And so, he began killing innocent people one after another, increasing his power.

However, the gods did not overlook his evil deeds.

The gods quickly found a person with a righteous heart and bestowed upon them a divine command.

"Defeat the evil swordsman who slays innocent people and restore peace to this world," they said.

The righteous swordsman, upon hearing those words, set out on a journey, trained, gathered companions, and finally defeated the evil swordsman.

And they lived happily ever after.

Everyone, you mustn't be selfish and do only evil deeds.

The gods are watching over you carefully.

* * *

This folktale called "The Evil Swordsman and the Righteous Swordsman," while having considerable regional variations, can be summarized as having roughly the above story when extracting its essence.

It is a well-known folktale within the Golden Continent, and naturally, Ibrabarleg was one of the people who had been familiar with this story since his childhood.

As a child, he loved this story.

He would pester his mother to tell him this story over and over again before going to bed.

It is true that it is a slightly gory folktale to read before going to bed, but... his mother would read "The Evil Swordsman and the Righteous Swordsman" repeatedly as requested.

Because she also liked this story.

Especially the scene where the evil swordsman, who had committed one evil deed after another, is defeated by the righteous swordsman is very satisfying to read.

However, the reason why Ibrabarleg liked this story.

Although he never said it out loud, it was vastly different from his mother's.

Ibrabarleg... loved the part where the evil swordsman used 'Soul Devourer' to kill more and more people and become stronger.

Every time he heard that scene and imagined himself as the evil swordsman becoming stronger, his heart would race!

He wanted to become strong!

He wanted the strength to be free to do anything, like the evil swordsman!

Such feelings were strongly engraved in young Ibrabarleg's heart.

* * *

Now, we shall not speak much about his life after that here.

But to put it simply, he grew up to be strong and wise, becoming a prominent figure wearing two hats as an archaeologist and an adventurer.

The reason he became an archaeologist was, of course, because he desired the magic sword 'Soul Devourer'.

The admiration for the evil swordsman that he held since childhood directly led to his obsession with 'Soul Devourer', determining the direction of his life.

Regarding this magic sword, evidence hinting at its existence had been excavated from ruins in various locations, and there were several scholars conducting research under the theme of "Where does the relic that became the subject of fairy tales lie?"

He was one of them.

In that sense, he was by no means heretical.

However, his motive was not based on academic interest but rooted in the foolish and terrifying desire to "kill many people with Soul Devourer and become strong."

There may be others who have come to have such a desire.

But Ibrabarleg was probably the only one who became an archaeologist with that desire as his driving force.

At the same time, he also became a strong adventurer.

This was because, to do fieldwork in this world infested with monsters, one needed to be able to handle a certain degree of rough work, and he purely wanted to train himself to become stronger.

Someday, when he obtained 'Soul Devourer', he wanted to have the ability to not be ashamed of that magic sword.

With that in mind, he trained quite recklessly alongside his academic research.

And it seemed his aptitude was not with the sword but with the whip, and he gained considerable strength.

He was truly a master of both the pen and the sword.

A polite and gentle person who deserved respect.

Until a certain point, that was indeed how he was evaluated.

However, no matter how much praise he received from the world, his heart was never satisfied.

That was, of course, because he couldn't obtain 'Soul Devourer'.

It was a legendary relic spoken of even in fairy tales.

It wouldn't be found so easily.

So Ibrabarleg even gave up on his dream for a while at one point.

At that time, he tried to increase his own power by simply repeating training.

But it was no good.

He became a little stronger, but he still couldn't gain the strength that would satisfy him, the strength that was far beyond those around him.

There is a limit to human strength.

In this world, not only humans but also other creatures and even minerals are known to experience similar phenomena... by absorbing and storing a large amount of magical power, they can become stronger and change their own composition.

This phenomenon is called mana transformation, and it is known that strong adventurers have undergone many mana transformations.

But, however.

There is a limit to the amount of magical power that humans can absorb.

Although there are considerable individual differences, because of this limit... this growth limit, no matter how much training humans do and how much magical power they absorb from food and other sources, they cannot become stronger than a certain level.

If there were humans who could become infinitely strong... they would probably not be human.

They would be monsters in human form, deviating from reason.

I've gotten a bit off-topic, but Ibrabarleg had realized that his growth limit was not very high by calmly observing the strength of adventurers of the same generation.

As expected, it's no good to just train himself.

In order for him to become strong... he needed the magic sword 'Soul Devourer' that would allow him to surpass his limits and grow.

He came to that conclusion after training and resumed his archaeological research, but by that point, he had begun to realize the gradual decline of his body.

His physical prime had long since passed, and from now on, he would slowly age and decline.

For him, who wanted to become strong at any cost, such a life was utterly unacceptable.

Therefore, impatience was born.

Cracks appeared in his smiling mask.

His evil side, which he had hidden until then, was exposed to the light of day.

The numerous atrocities he had committed in the shadows were revealed.

Illegal ruin investigations, obstruction of other archaeologists including murder, killing to satisfy personal desires, and so on...

Everything was exposed.

The fact that he had been active as an adventurer worked against him.

The Adventurer's Guild has a skilled investigator named Sainon or something who conducts various investigations targeting guild staff and adventurers.

That person exposed all his secrets.

They even dug up the truth about his childhood friend's murder when he was 10 years old, which really disgusted Ibrabarleg.

In any case, because of that, he was stripped of his adventurer's license and expelled from the archaeological society.

If he waited, the only future waiting for him was to be arrested and punished.

In that case, he couldn't conduct archaeological research.

He wouldn't be able to find 'Soul Devourer'!

He absolutely could not accept such a future!!

Therefore, he disappeared from public society.

He became the wanted "Ruins Plunderer" Ibrabarleg.

* * *

Looking back on his life, he had gone through various hardships.

Research that didn't progress as he hoped, his pathetic growth limit, and troublesome human relationships.

But all of that was rewarded now.

In the collapsing ruins, without feeling any sense of crisis about the collapse, Ibrabarleg was indulging in a feeling of happiness while gazing at the magic sword 'Soul Devourer' he held in his hand.

He had finally obtained it.

No, that's not right.

He had finally met it.

The magic sword he had spent his life searching for.

What made him even happier was that this magic sword had acknowledged him.

Amazingly, this magic sword was endowed with a personality.

The moment he held it, the will of the magic sword invaded Ibrabarleg, and he became able to converse with it.

The magic sword said.

"Ibrabarleg is the master I have been waiting for, the one who should wield me."

He was happy.

Of course he was happy!

To think that the magic sword he had been searching for had been waiting for him all this time!

This was truly mutual love!

A fated encounter!

He was surely born to kill many, many people with this magic sword!

Ah, his brain was numb with euphoria!

The excitement from the feeling of omnipotence gained by obtaining the inhuman power from the magic sword wouldn't stop!

His heart was pounding, he felt lightheaded, and everything was dazzling!

For some reason, his head felt a little hazy, but it wasn't a significant problem.

Because he was undoubtedly the happiest he had ever been in his life right now.

"...Now then."

But he couldn't indulge in happiness forever.

The magic sword had just awakened and was hungry.

The soul of a single filthy villain was far from satisfying.

It was already clamoring to eat more and more souls right away.

Ibrabarleg also wanted to kill more and more as soon as possible.

That sensation he felt when he killed Tappa earlier, that sensation of devouring a soul.

That sensation of the other person's life being converted into his own power.

That was a wonderful thing.

He wanted to savor that more.

Grinning, Ibrabarleg gazed at the three meals in front of him.

One was an eerie cursed child with black hair and black eyes, who had appeared out of nowhere.

One was a beautiful girl dressed in adventurer's gear resembling a boy.

One was Leseida, a disciple he had made when he was wearing the mask of a serious archaeologist.

The cursed child... was kind of creepy, but the other two looked quite tasty.

He unconsciously licked his lips.

They were arguing a bit in front of Ibrabarleg.

If he had been his usual self, that would have been an opening he couldn't possibly overlook.

However, the euphoria and sense of omnipotence filling him dulled his actions.

Ibrabarleg was absentmindedly watching them while indulging in happiness.

But that was only up to this point.

It seemed their discussion had ended.

The beautiful girl in boyish clothes nodded with a face that had made up her mind while shedding large tears, and with a strength that belied her appearance, she lifted Leseida onto her shoulders.

Leseida was frantically shouting something, but with that strength, he couldn't seem to resist the girl's restraint.

The cursed child was staring intently at Ibrabarleg.

(This is... they intend to let those two escape alone.)

Seeing that, even the currently dull Ibrabarleg could guess what they were trying to do.

Don't let them escape, kill them, kill them!

The magic sword incited him.

"Ihihi... even without being told."

Ibrabarleg turned his body, facing his back towards them, and focused on the beautiful girl who was trying to escape to the stairs they had used.

And he casually raised 'Soul Devourer'.

The red light slash released from its blade was supposed to cut through the bodies of the two fleeing.

...But.

Clang.

That sound was heard.

At the same time, he felt a small impact on the hand holding the magic sword.

That impact caused the trajectory of the magic sword swung by Ibrabarleg to... deviate.

The red light slash flew in the wrong direction.

It deeply cut into the wall of the ruins, causing it to collapse.

However, the beautiful girl running to escape and Leseida, who was being carried by her, were unharmed.

"...Hmm."

While becoming slightly irritated, Ibrabarleg swung the magic sword again.

But.

Clang.

Once again, the trajectory of the slash was shifted due to a small impact!

He couldn't kill them!

He couldn't kill the two trying to escape!

Before he knew it, the two had reached the stairs!

Ah, ah, ah!

The moment the two reached the stairs, they ran up without looking back and disappeared in an instant.

Boom!

And the next moment, a large rock fell from the ceiling and blocked the entrance to the stairs!

He could no longer pursue them.

At least not easily!

"Y-Y-You bastard...!!"

Ibrabarleg, without panicking about his own escape route being blocked, simply revealed his anger.

At the eerie cursed child in front of him.

At the unappetizing cursed child who had interfered with his meal!

Even when subjected to Ibrabarleg's anger, the cursed child showed no sign of being flustered at all.

She was expressionless.

In her hand, she was rolling a small stone.

It seemed she had used [Stone Throw] to hit the blade of the magic sword with stones, shifting its trajectory and assisting the other two in their escape.

"Kill, kill, kill...! Die!!"

Completely blinded by anger, Ibrabarleg used the power poured into him from the magic sword for [Body Strengthening] and... slashed at the cursed child with tremendous speed!

It was truly an inhuman speed that the eye couldn't follow!

The floor of the ruins where he stepped on caved in, creating a small crater!

"...Raah!!"

But, however!

Somehow, that cursed child responded to Ibrabarleg's speed and launched a counterattack!

The moment before he swung down the magic sword.

The cursed child jumped in front of Ibrabarleg and... punched his abdomen!

"Guah!!?"

The power of that fist was tremendous, and Ibrabarleg was blown away without understanding the situation, slamming his body against the wall of the ruins.

The stone wall crumbled noisily.

If he hadn't been enhanced by the power of 'Soul Devourer', he would have surely been reduced to scattered pieces of flesh.

That's how powerful that single strike was.

Ibrabarleg pushed away the rocks piled on top of him with the monstrous strength he had gained from the magic sword and stood up.

And he sent a gaze filled with anger and hatred towards the cursed child.

"Kill? Die?"

But even when subjected to his intense anger, the cursed child still showed no fear.

She expressionlessly and calmly.

Told Ibrabarleg what she had decided within herself.

"The one who will kill is me. The one who will die is you."

[Sainon]

An investigator belonging to the Adventurer's Guild.

Appeared in Arc 6.