episode_0041

“Kuaaaaaaak!!!!”

The man’s scream-filled roar,

that beast-like howl, filled the mansion.

Drip, drip, drip…!

The man held a sword in his hand,

and blood, as if he had just cut someone down, dripped from the sword, soaking the floor.

‘Father…?’

The man’s figure was stained with the color of murder.

His identity was none other than Jedi Ulysses Schneider, one of the three great Sword Masters of the Pedon Continent,

and the leader of the Sophists of the Order of the Sword.

Of course, the atmosphere the man was exuding was far from that of one called a Sword Saint.

But his son, Eugene Schneider, with trembling eyes, proved that the being before him was Ulysses.

‘Father…! The people of the house…!’

A man called a Sword Saint, full of virtue beyond swordsmanship,

he was like a parent to the servants of the house, and worthy of being called a friend.

But now, around Ulysses, who held a blood-stained sword,

were the remains of those he had so lovingly embraced, lying butchered.

All had been killed by Ulysses’s hand.

—Hweek!!

Ulysses, who had become such a terrible murderer,

eventually sensed the presence of his son, Eugene Schneider, and turned to face him.

—Flinch!!!

Eugene froze with his eyes wide open,

Just before, he had felt great confusion rather than fear at the sight of his changed father and the chaotic situation in the house.

Perhaps because it didn’t feel real.

But now, a shadow of terror rapidly spread across Eugene Schneider’s face.

‘Father, is he looking at me…?’

Because he himself had now become prey.

The way his father, Ulysses, was staring at him at this moment was like that.

It was clear that he felt like a murderous demon who would stab and cut anything with his sword,

had once again discovered prey and was staring it down.

—Kuoohhhhhhh!!!

A movement that seemed to split the space rather than cut through the wind,

a Sword Master’s mana movement, different from that of ordinary Awakened ones, unfolded,

and the body of the sword demon Ulysses rushed towards his terrified son, Eugene.

“Uwaaaah! Father!!”

Eugene called out to his father in a sorrowful voice, covering his face with his small hands.

—Swish, swish, swish!!!

Then, as if the scene had frozen,

Ulysses stopped right in front of his son, with his blood-stained sword aimed at Eugene.

“Uuuu… scary, scary…”

Responding to the call of blood that could not be severed,

Ulysses in his sword demon state faltered.

Eugene also instinctively sensed the situation,

and slowly lowered his hands, which had been covering his face, while sobbing.

“Eu… gene?”

Looking at Eugene,

Ulysses said his son’s name with a faint feeling.

‘Is this person my father…?’

Even in such an extreme situation, it was parental affection recognizing blood.

But Eugene, still young,

could only react differently than his father.

‘Scary… so scary…’

Tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble…

It was grotesque.

A face distorted like a monster,

and the extreme conflict being created within was expressed on Ulysses’s face.

That miserable appearance was so contrasting to the kind face of his father in Eugene’s mind

that Eugene trembled like an aspen and fell into extreme terror.

“Am I frightening…?”

At that moment, Ulysses

asked in a voice very familiar to the trembling Eugene.

‘This voice is!’

Eugene recognized the identity of the familiar voice,

‘It’s me!’

It was the voice of an adult Eugene.

‘!!!!!!’

It wasn’t just the voice.

“This is your appearance. Why are you so afraid of your own appearance?”

Not only his face but also Ulysses’s body,

the previously corrupted Sword Saint Ulysses had transformed into 21-year-old Eugene Schneider in black armor.

In that form, he

insisted that the grotesque figure before you, trembling with fear, was the true form of Eugene Schneider himself.

Furthermore, the corpses lying scattered in the house also gradually changed their appearances.

“No…!”

Jeanne, Charlotte,

“No!!!!!”

And they had turned into the corpses of Elizabeth and Marianne.

“I said no!!!!!!”

At that moment, Eugene Schneider woke up from his sleep, screaming madly,

he had awakened from a terrible nightmare.

Morning had begun, and birds were chirping,

and the morning sunlight was streaming through the window,

and basking in that warm sunlight,

Eugene woke up in the same state he had fallen asleep the night before, wearing his armor.

“Hah, hah, hah,”

Even though it was still spring, sweat poured like rain from Eugene’s body, which had been thrashing in a terrible nightmare.

In that state, Eugene Schneider, with eyes possessed by a demon, gasped for breath.

Swoosh!

In that state, Eugene raised his upper body.

‘It has to be a dream! There’s no way I could do that to those people! I can’t let it become like our house that day!’

It was such a shocking and oppressive scene that he had sealed his memories for 12 years,

but Eugene himself had committed it against the women of Orléans he loved the most.

But it was definitely a dream.

However, even knowing it was a dream, Eugene drove himself, denying it as if the scene in the dream was something that would inevitably happen in the reality surrounding him someday.

‘The blood of the demons, take good care of it. It’s connected to the Berserker, so it’s not an ordinary one.’

That it would not end as just a dream,

things that stirred him up like that lingered in his head.

“Kuh!”

As Jason’s warning came to mind, Eugene seemed to get a headache

and grabbed his head with both hands, frowning and closing his eyes.

“This damned…!!”

Afterward, he sensed something unusual within himself and uttered a deep curse.

Flicker—!

Eugene opened his eyes again,

and at that moment, his eyes flashed red.

**********

“Kyahahaha! Drink! Let’s drink, comrades!!”

Before long, night had fallen, and a party was being held at the Jebo Party Headquarters.

They were holding the party today that they hadn’t been able to hold last night because they were busy recovering goblin corpses.

Ivan, whose nose was already red, raised a glass full of alcohol and shouted to burn tonight as a festival.

“Uncle Ivan seems to be especially excited today, doesn’t he, Brother Thomas?”

“It’s understandable, protecting the village is not only the goal that made him walk the path of a mercenary but also his dream. Besides, this is the first time he’s handled a quest of this scale independently since joining our mercenary group.”

Looking at Ivan’s appearance, Marie and Thomas watched with amusement.

There was a bar in Jebodang, but because it wasn’t a very big village,

there wasn’t a place that could accommodate a dinner for a mercenary group of about 30 people.

So, since it was delayed by a day, they got help from the villagers and set up a liquor table and a meat grill in the relatively large space of the central hall.

Therefore, not only the mercenaries but also a considerable number of villagers were participating.

The sight of the villagers and mercenaries mingling together, that was why Ivan was excited.

“Really? The medic is also an Awakened one?”

“Hehe, that’s right. I had some talent for swordsmanship, but I wanted to save people rather than cut them down. That’s why I started studying medicine.”

“Oh my~! You’re a person who combines literary and military arts~! And you’re so handsome and good-looking~!”

“Hahaha! I hear that often. Beautiful lady!”

Usually, what follows a mercenary group’s victory is alcohol, meat, and sex.

But Jebodang is a small village, and it’s not a place where people come and go often, so there is no brothel.

However, because they are the Red Fox Mercenary Group, the heroes of the village, that is not necessary for tonight.

Because the maidens of Jebodang who have fallen in love with them are diligently wiggling their butts at them.

“Is our leader a little better now~?”

Sophia, holding a bottle of alcohol, approached Jeanne, who was sitting with Priscilla, and asked about her condition.

It seemed that she had run over to talk to her because she saw the back of Jeanne’s head while enjoying the party.

“I’m all better. I have no problem moving at all, Ms. Sophia.”

Grin!

Jeanne, in light clothing, looked up at Sophia beside her and smiled.

“I really tried hard to make sure our leader didn’t get scars on her pretty body. I couldn’t sleep a wink~”

“Thank you, Ms. Sophia, for nursing me all night.”

“Don’t mention it, it’s nothing between us. Then I’m going to go drink more alcohol~”

“Okay~”

In that way, the two shared words of friendship and love.

“How come the person who was shot with an arrow got up and left, but the person who came back perfectly fine is stuck in the corner of the room.”

Sophia left, wiggling her big butt.

At that moment, Priscilla, who was diligently sipping only fruit juice even though she was attending the liquor table,

indirectly mentioned Eugene to Jeanne beside her.

Eugene has not come out in front of his comrades since last night.

“He’s not injured, but he put himself under a lot of strain because of the unexpected battle situation. It’s understandable enough, Assault Captain.”

Then, Jeanne cautiously defended Eugene.

“Lame, he looks like he could pick up six women in one night, but he’s surprisingly weak. Sluuuuuurp!”

Priscilla, having heard Jeanne’s defense, made an expression that would infuriate Eugene if he saw it, and diligently sucked up her fruit juice.

‘Eugene’s reaction to the Sophists’ words, is Eugene really a mixed-blood of demons?’

After Eugene’s defense, Jeanne was lost in thought for a moment.

The reason why Jeanne’s voice just now was cautious was that

she was also mixed in the party, but her head was complicated.

‘When I asked Sophia, she said that demons are immune to the magic of goblin shamans. So their words carry even more weight. Besides, I think I read in a book that the probability of red pupils appearing in the case of mixed-bloods is only about 25 percent.’

She had heard from Jason that Eugene was a mixed-blood of demons.

The fact that Eugene was a mixed-blood of demons

was a more emotionally shaking matter for Jeanne than the fact that he became a Sword User Alpha in one shot and immediately broke through to Expert.

‘How confused must he be. The story about his father, the last words of that Claymore guy as he was dying, looking at Eugene’s expression at that time, he seemed quite shaken.’

Jeanne also knew how Eugene’s father, Ulysses Schneider, had died.

Ulysses, who became a sword demon and was killed by the Imperial Knights,

even she felt that Eugene’s rapid growth and the fact that he had demon blood mixed in him

made her think in connection with Ulysses, who had faced such a shocking end.

Especially, Jeanne, who knew well how much mental pain Eugene had suffered for the past 12 years due to that incident,

couldn’t help but worry about him more than anyone else.

‘Bad kid, he should have told me something. It’s not like you being a mixed-blood of demons would make me abandon you.’

So at the same time, she was angry.

The fact that she couldn’t share the deepest things with Eugene was so upsetting and infuriating.

“Hey, Priscilla…”

Therefore, the passionate woman Jeanne d’Arc D’essel Orléans

“There’s something I want to ask you about… something you told me before, Priscilla…”

wanted to be helpful to Eugene.

“What I told the leader is hardly one or two things. Sluuuuuurp!”

Priscilla, making another expression that would be infuriating, took a long drink of her fruit juice,

As an old elf, Priscilla was knowledgeable and got along well with Jeanne, a noblewoman with considerable learning, and they often talked.

“You know, the berserker demon.”

Thanks to that, Jeanne also learned rare information from Priscilla that was difficult to find even in the library of the Orléans Archduchy’s mansion.

“You’ve brought up an interesting topic. That’s certainly a tempting subject to talk about. Our elves and demons can never be separated. There’s probably no race that knows as much about berserkers as elves?”

Priscilla, who had been acting like a rebellious child until just now,

became proactive as soon as the tags of demon and berserker were attached.

Talent, indifference, and pride are the virtues of elves.

Therefore, Priscilla immediately began to tell her story.

“I think I told you that far in our last conversation. After that, I stopped when I was about to talk about the unique characteristics of berserker demons.”

“Wow, you have a good memory, Leader.”

Jeanne wanted to know more about the mixed-blood demon Eugene Schneider.

That passion had been ignited, so she sat up straight and turned her body toward Priscilla, guiding the conversation with more sparkling eyes than ever.

“They’re unique, they’re very unique guys. What’s so unique about them is.”

Priscilla, who had even moved her glass of fruit juice aside to concentrate on the conversation, paused for a moment.

“They’re crazy about mating, those demon berserkers.”

Afterward, she uttered truly explicit information.

“Mating…?”

Not only was it extremely explicit but also the primitive word mating,

At Priscilla’s mention of the so-called animal mating act,

Jeanne’s expression went blank.