Ch.42The Temptation of the Demon Sword (2)

Honestly, truly honestly speaking…. The offer from ‘Gluttony,’ who was controlling this demonic sword possessed by a mid-level goblin that had fallen and become a demon, like a puppet….

….Most embarrassingly, as a warrior, and furthermore as a mortal being, it was incredibly alluring.

To shed the physical body with its many material constraints and ascend as a truly immortal and eternal being (a demon).

To achieve what countless demon worshippers desire and yearn for but never accomplish, simply by using a sword, and furthermore, to grasp power rivaling those low-ranking gods.

Power that could cut down angels existing in some realm beyond even the high-level, at a level precariously stretching the limits of what a mortal brain and soul can comprehend in the domain of cognition, sweeping them away like mere pawns.

Though its form has changed, it still exists within the realm of what is strictly speaking “me,” and the reality is that this “demon” shown by the demonic sword might possibly become my future form.

….But the very fact that amidst all this power and contract, I was not the one wielding that power was one of the reasons that truly allowed me to shake off that temptation.

The “me” in the fantasy shown by the demonic sword was me but simultaneously not me.

The “me” completed in a form thoroughly distorted by the demon lord ‘Gluttony’ was in an extremely incomplete state, and furthermore, was nothing more than a puppet without any freedom.

It believes it moves by its own will, freely wielding power that touches the divine realm, but in reality, even its cognition and sense of self are not truly its own, moving only according to the demon’s will—a monster.

Anyway, having overcome this temptation, I moved without hesitation to destroy the ‘demonic sword.’

Holy water created by an ordinary priest alone cannot destroy a sword made from a demon with at least mid-level power, but the key is that this holy water can loosen the binding created through black magic.

Therefore, I sprinkled holy water to collapse the structure of the demonic sword constituting its body? blade? to make it easier to destroy, and then.

I intended to shatter it completely by destroying the demonic sword’s form from its fundamental parts.

[─■■■■■■■!!!]

The demonic sword, feeling its constituent energies scattering and beginning to break apart, the thing that was once a goblin, screamed wildly…. but I approached it without so much as blinking an eye.

Its surface melting like skin doused with acid certainly couldn’t look normal, but separately from that, I didn’t expect that something that ‘Gluttony’ had directly intervened in to tempt me would be only this much.

‘….No, maybe that’s not quite right.’

But thinking about it carefully, I realized that I had actually been quite tempted, so there was no need to disparage it. Recognizing this, I swung my longsword toward this dying demonic sword—

—Slash!

[[[Aaaaaaaaahhh─aah─a─a──]]]

With the sound of cutting meat and a short scream overlapping, this demonic sword, which had absorbed all the surrounding ‘contamination,’ finally became ‘something’ mixed with flesh and metal fragments.

※ ※ ※

After destroying the demonic sword and finally completing the subjugation of this cultist den.

‘Ugh…. I’m tired. Feels like it took quite a long time….’

Despite groaning from the fatigue accumulated in my body after fighting with all my might and risking my life for the first time in a while, experiencing a weakness I hadn’t felt since my Aura awakening, I headed toward what felt like a settlement I hadn’t visited in a long time.

Since Aura has the power to gradually transform the body into a combat-specialized form beyond minor physiological needs, the overflowing stamina and vitality I gained after my Aura awakening rarely diminished.

Anyway, apart from feeling drained from this fatigue, I was internally contemplating what to do about that village.

Considering that the goblin village built in the forest could certainly become a den for other cultists or even passing bandits, it seemed right to at least destroy it….

But thinking about it, the forest where this village is located is another world. Moreover, it’s beyond a shallow-depth area with almost no magical beasts, entering a realm where magical beasts are starting to outnumber normal animals, which changes things.

Deep-depth otherworlds have environments with high mystical and magical density, making “fantasy” phenomena more likely to occur.

In other words, a village in such depths would probably collapse entirely within three days if left abandoned.

Therefore, having less worry about that issue, I was examining the pouch of holy water containing the remaining ‘debris,’ frowning at how the sacred energy staining the pouch was gradually fading….

‘….Huh?’

When I felt I was approaching the settlement, I suddenly sensed something different in the atmosphere with the help of my ‘hyper-intuition,’ and immediately quickened my pace to properly investigate what had happened.

The atmosphere, that feeling emanating from the village, had clearly changed.

Should I say the overall mood had become sharply tense, or that something unsettling was dominating the spaces between buildings under construction?

There could be various ways to express it, but what mattered right now was this unsettling air that suggested something had happened.

And decisively, the smell I could detect in the air was….

‘….The smell of blood?’

Though not as thick and intense as in the village where I had just carried out a massacre, it was still the potent, living scent of blood.

Feeling this atmosphere and air personally, I was considerably surprised, but at the same time relieved that my intuition wasn’t reacting to this strange environment as I approached the village….

“….Lord Alzar! Have you returned?”

“Yes, Corin. ….But has something happened here?”

Seeing the blood splattered on the ground and torn flesh, I asked, and Corin responded with what seemed like a complicated expression.

“My lord. Actually, the village was attacked.”

“Attacked?!”

The moment I heard those words, all sorts of thoughts crossed my mind.

What happened during the attack? Who attacked the village? Were there any casualties?

As I reacted with an expression crossing with these various emotions, Corin hastily began explaining what he meant by ‘attack.’

“Bandits attacked us. Fortunately, they were low-level and not too many in number, so I was able to repel them all by myself.”

“Casualties?”

“None. Well, someone was injured by their arrows… but thanks to Priestess Joanna’s treatment, they’re fine now.”

“….That’s good. I’m truly relieved.”

Not only was each life precious due to our shortage of manpower, but I also knew I wouldn’t feel at ease if the ‘my people’ I had for the first time died for some absurd reason.

So I let out a light sigh of relief and tried to relax my tense expression….

But suddenly, feeling something strange about Corin’s reaction, I asked him directly.

“Sir Corin, no. Corin. Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing. Actually…. seeing bandits attack a pioneer village like this, I’m worried that other villages without mid-level fighters might be attacked similarly….”

‘What, I thought it was something serious. This is rather cute.’

While inwardly smiling at Corin’s words, which made him sound like a knight who had lived his entire life in a city, I gathered my thoughts and then responded with a gentle smile to his unnecessary worry.

“Sir. Bandits are inherently vicious creatures. Even in Alzar territory, bandit groups emerge. If we get worked up over every such problem, our nerves won’t hold up.”

“But….”

“Bandits are a problem that can never be completely eradicated. Though their form may change, they’ve existed everywhere from ancient times until now. What you should focus on now is…. rather that you managed to stop them without major damage.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. And you know, the people of this world…. they’re plenty strong even without powers like Aura.”

“….I see.”

“Yes, that’s right. So try to discard that way of thinking as quickly as possible!”

Pointing out that peculiar quasi-underdog mentality of sympathizing with ‘subordinates’ that any city knight of this era would inevitably harbor, I also mentioned to him that he didn’t need to take direct responsibility.

“Sir Corin Lanster. Then, may I now meet these bandits?”

“This way, Lord Alzar.”

Anyway, after somewhat consoling the rather dejected Corin, I suggested we go see those bandits….

Upon hearing my words, Corin led me to the pit (provisional name) where they had confined the bandits who had attacked the settlement.