Ch.268268. The Devil’s Counterattack (2)

The battle began with an attack from that black warrior.

───Whoosh!!

Thrusting a rather large shield forward and charging as if pushing through—the so-called shield rush attack.

This technique—which would knock down an unskilled warrior who attempted it clumsily, but when used by a sufficiently experienced warrior was described as like a wall charging forward—

“───?!!”

Was clearly not the movement of a warrior who relied solely on brute force, as evidenced by Peter having to hurriedly roll to the side to avoid it.

“········.”

Indeed, when Peter rolled aside to dodge the attack, the warrior immediately stopped, adjusted his shield’s direction, and stared at Peter with a serious demeanor, without even the slightest hint of mockery or derision.

‘········Haha, being taken seriously enough that he won’t let his guard down. Should I be flattered····?’

Thinking this to himself, Peter stared back at the warrior while quietly channeling power into his sword when suddenly—

“──────?!!!”

Peter couldn’t help but be shocked at the face of the severed head tied to the warrior’s belt.

It was familiar, too familiar. That beard with a few gray hairs mixed in, the hair that was originally brown but had clearly faded with age.

And—

The familiar face of someone who had been like a second father to him.

Something slimy began to surge within Peter’s heart, something that felt like it would burst from the heat.

Rage, hatred, emptiness, resentment, vengeance—a terrible, viscous mass of emotion that could be expressed in any number of ways.

As Peter felt these emotions slowly rising up his spine into his head, he finally couldn’t contain the different kind of heat and let it erupt to the surface.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA─────!!!!”

Rage, rage consumed his mind.

The despair of losing another precious person, the self-reproach of blaming his own incompetence—all of these became a single emotion—rage—that poured out madly.

Kill him, kill that warrior right in front of him.

Though he seemed to hear his master’s voice in his head telling him to maintain his composure, Peter simply couldn’t.

‘Who wouldn’t be angry······at seeing something like that!!!’

With this thought that seemed like an answer directed at no one in particular, Peter let go of his last thread of reason.

Filling his sword with aura until it seemed ready to burst, infused with rage that felt like boiling blood being poured over his head, Peter swung his now glowing blue sword and───

───Slash!

In the next moment, the warrior’s sword split Peter’s blade in half and cut through his flesh.

The searing pain of the wound on his sliced skin, the blood gushing from between the gaping flesh.

[Hahahahahahaha──!! How stupid, how stupid! Did you really fall for just that?]

As an unfamiliar yet somehow familiar mocking voice rang in his ears, Peter, having lost too much blood, began to feel strength leaving his body and his consciousness gradually fading….

[You’re done! Finally, it’s my turn!]

With the strange sensation of his body moving independently of his will, Peter lost consciousness completely.

※ ※ ※

‘······I can see his level now, the fool.’

The warrior, briefly looking at the young knight who had been cut by his demon-sword, sent a genuinely contemptuous gaze, mocking him for being unable to control his anger.

No matter how infuriating something might be, one should keep a cool head, but losing composure during battle seemed pathetic in the eyes of one who had contracted with the demon of “Rage.”

If he really needed to vent his anger, he should have done so after securing victory—what was this display over the death of a mere acquaintance?

The cold-hearted warrior, whose emotions had been numbed by his contract with a demon, thought this while looking at the severed head of the young knight with flowing blonde hair whom he had killed at the lord’s castle earlier—a knight who had been a formidable opponent.

Objectively speaking, in terms of pure combat ability, that knight? The warrior boy was somewhat equal to himself… at a similar level.

Despite appearing to be barely 20 years old, his swordsmanship was quite mature, and his aura made the warrior wonder if he himself had been that powerful at that age.

Of course, that was only when excluding all external factors.

The boy had apparently rushed out without even donning armor, while he himself was equipped with full-body armor and a shield—both defensive items forged from adamantium-steel alloy by a dwarf blacksmith who had contracted with a demon.

Additionally, the sword in his hand was possessed by the demon of “Rage,” allowing him to use demonic power.

His physical body had also been supernaturally enhanced as the price for selling his soul in a contract with a demon.

In other words, someone who should have been cautious had recklessly charged at him, who was nearly at the superior rank, so from the warrior’s perspective, it was as if the boy had rushed to his death.

“I’ll finish you myself, don’t be disappointed.”

Thus, although the warrior judged there was no point in speaking to him, he addressed the knight in a heavy voice and swung his demon-sword to finish him off—

“───?!!”

What happened next was purely a coincidence of events.

Suddenly, the demon-sword in his hand began to glow red, and recognizing this as a warning, the warrior hastily retreated while thrusting his shield forward and……

───Slash!!!

In the next moment, a slash from the knight(?) split the warrior’s adamantium-steel alloy shield in half.

The slash not only cut through the shield but also severed part of his armor that had become one with his flesh, cutting into the soft flesh beneath.

Fortunately(?), the warrior’s armor was integrated with his body, and he had obtained the power of super-regeneration through his contract.

So as he briefly observed his body slowly healing itself, the warrior turned his head and—

‘What is that thing……..!!’

The knight who had been nearly dead just moments ago had somehow reappeared before the warrior in a completely transformed state.

A skull mask with a single eerie eye embedded in the center, a pitch-black cloak-surcoat that rippled like condensed smoke or fog.

Crimson plate armor parts made of strange light that had somehow appeared over his casual clothes, and black iron chains that wrapped around his entire body as if he were a criminal.

And connected to those chains—an unidentifiable sword that immediately suggested something ominous.

Faced with this unpredictable phenomenon unfolding before his eyes, the warrior who had sold his soul to a demon instinctively felt to his core that this being could kill him.

But……that was as far as the warrior could go.

──────KWAAANG!!

“……..Kuk!”

As the knight swung his sword with tremendous speed, the warrior, unable to even see the movement and only reflexively blocking, was inwardly astonished.

Speed, power, technique—in every aspect, this being had reached a level at least one step higher than himself, something the warrior could clearly discern from just this single clash.

‘D-damn it!’

Therefore, the warrior’s decision was swift.

Thud!

Quickly kicking the ground to create distance between himself and the strangely transformed knight, he attempted to release the demon of “Rage” sealed within his sword.

And indeed, that judgment was infinitely close to the correct answer.

The demon contained in his evil sword was a mid-level demon, a warrior who led demon armies among the demons of “Rage.”

If something went wrong while trying to release the demon, he might lose his body, but… if he succeeded, he could gain power equivalent to a superior-rank warrior.

“Be released───■■■■!!!”

So the warrior uttered the demon’s true name, which could only be pronounced with his transformed tongue, releasing the power of the demon sealed in the sword and accepting it into his body.

Feeling the evil and ferocious power of the “demon” spreading throughout his body through his blood vessels, the warrior grinned at this thrilling power and raised his sword, infused with the essence of the demon—

───Chwarrrrrrrrk!!

That demonic sword, the warrior’s body was suddenly bound by black iron chains shot from all over the knight’s body.

And those chains……..

“……..What?!! K-KAAAAAAAAAAAAA───!!!!!!”

After deeply embedding their roots into the “demon’s” essence within the warrior’s body, the chains began to forcibly extract all demonic residue from the warrior.

The acquired strength, the keen senses, the vast aura (magic power)—all the demonic power given to him began to be stripped away as his body shrank.

“No, no, NO───!!!!!”

And among the “demon’s” power being extracted was also the warrior’s soul that had been sold to the demon.

“N-no! I, I finally became strong!! I fin—”

Completely ignoring the warrior’s desperate protests, after extracting the contents (demon) from his body using the chains,

the completely transformed knight—Dukbing—split the demon’s essence in half with his sword, which was his true form.

[……..Tch, this is as far as I go this time.]

───Crack!

Immediately after, as the mask cracked and shattered, Dukbing departed from Peter’s body.

Having completely lost consciousness, Peter pressed his body against the ground.