Chapter 103: Whip (1)

“Doctor, have we come to the wrong place? The report mentioned a huge rocky mountain…”

Contrary to the report, what met my eyes was a crude sword-shaped statue, barely recognizable as a sword.

The colossal statue, comparable in size to a small mountain, was smooth as if carved with something sharp. Yet the sculpting skill paled in comparison to the technique used to cut the mountain.

As I stood dumbfounded by the crude shape that looked like a child’s handiwork, the doctor beside me spoke.

“When the demon swords took control of the Demon Sword Society, they said they’d start by reshaping this island to suit themselves. They carved the mountain into a sword shape.”

“The more I look, the more ridiculous they seem. Are they all gathered inside?”

“They generally hole up on that island. Today happens to be an event called the Demon Sword Rally Sports Day.”

I had no idea what this Demon Sword Rally Sports Day entailed, but it was clearly not a normal event.

“I don’t want to go, but… shall we?”

As I leapt from the flying carpet the doctor had summoned, an abnormal flow of mana in the air began at a certain point.

This must have been the intruder-detecting barrier mentioned in the report, spread widely across the entire island.

Since it would be convenient if they came to us, I landed on the beach and deliberately stood still, waiting for them to arrive.

Moments later, about thirty swordsmen appeared along with three demon swords whose faces matched those in the report.

“Who the hell are you?!” one of them shouted.

“You think I’d blabber about who I am just because you ask? Oh right, you would. You stupid, obsolete demon sword bastards.”

It was meant as a light provocation in lieu of a greeting, but it clearly wasn’t light to them. The demon swords screamed at me, seething with rage.

“I’ll tear that insolent mouth of yours!!!”

With the demon sword’s cry, thirty swordsmen and three demon swords rushed at me simultaneously.

Setting aside the human swordsmen, the skill of those who had lived as swords for a long time was quite impressive, even if they hadn’t reached the realm of Swordmasters.

However, perhaps due to physical limitations, they were merely impressive – not enough to pose a threat to me or Baldojae.

‘Originally, they’d die if their weapon bodies were destroyed…’

While their fused bodies were similar to Myne, their regenerative abilities and demonic energy fell far short of pure Myne.

The doctor had said they merely possessed demonic energy, but were essentially just humans with slightly tougher bodies and faster regeneration.

Carefully drawing my sword to avoid destroying the weapons they possessed, I sliced off the arms of those holding weapons.

As their hands fell to the ground with their weapons, the weapons they had been holding vanished into particles of light, but their bodies didn’t disappear.

‘So the weapon returns to the body when separated from it.’

Their weapons, which should have been on the ground, were now embedded in their bodies, piercing their hearts.

Swinging my sword again to avoid their main bodies now stuck in their chests, their heads fell along with their embedded bodies hitting the ground.

“…That’s three for now.”

After clearing away the demon swords lying limp on the ground, I raised my head to cut down the rest, only to find they had long since turned into gray statues.

“What’s this? I thought you were just going to watch, but did you want a piece of the action too, Doctor?”

“I simply dislike wasting time. Now that we’re done here, shall we move on?”

After a few more occurrences of one-sided violence too pathetic to even call battles, we reached where the demon sword Agaia was.

Agaia, along with a few demon swords, had formed a battle line deep in the cave. They pointed their swords at us, but seemed to already know they stood no chance.

“…Who the hell are you people?” Agaia demanded.

“We’re here to help you incompetent, spineless idiots.”

“What?”

“Ian Barthow. Ring any bells?”

As soon as I uttered his name, the atmosphere among the demon swords turned hostile.

“How do you know that name… What? Do you have a grudge against them too?”

“If that makes you feel better, sure, think that way. Don’t you want revenge on that guy? We’ll give you the power. We’ll even make the plans. All you have to do is follow them–“

“We refuse!!!”

“…Why?”

Surprised by such a resolute answer, I waited to see what other nonsense they’d spout. Sure enough, another idiotic response came.

“We are true demon swords, liberated from the corset of humanity!! We will never accept help from sword-obsessed scum like–Argh!!”

I cut off his words and his arm with a slash. Agaia and the other demon swords who had been glaring at me until just now lowered their eyes.

“Pathetic bastards… Should’ve done this from the start.”

I walked leisurely among the demon swords avoiding my gaze and approached Agaia, who had fallen to her knees clutching her severed arm.

“Did you really think I meant I’d purely help you when I said I’d help? Just shut up and follow our orders.”

“You once said that the demon sword liberation movement involved carrying contradictions. Well, consider this another contradiction you must bear.”

As the doctor chimed in beside me, Agaia nodded silently, tears streaming down her face.

When their leader bowed her head, the others all nodded tearfully, and I began explaining the outline of the operation.

“First, your job is to kidnap Jessica von Grund… Doctor, will this really work? He did shield that lady then, but are they really in that kind of relationship? I can’t imagine that guy dating.”

“According to the report, Lady Jessica is just being tsundere. There’s clearly a bittersweet atmosphere between those two, so don’t worry and just kidnap her.”

“Tsundere? Bittersweet… Sometimes I wonder what on earth the boss was doing before coming here…”

Occasionally I felt doubtful about how we lost to such a person, but if I voiced such thoughts, the doctor would surely not let it slide.

“Your job is to kidnap Jessica von Grund and lure Ian Barthow out of the academy. Meanwhile, we’ll hold off the academy’s forces, so you all work together to attack Ian Barthow.”

“…And then?”

“That’s it. If you do that much, we’ll free you all. Though with those bodies, it would be impossible to defeat Baldojae.”

I turned to look at the doctor behind me. He tapped the ground a few times with his staff, and puppets specially manufactured for this day rose from the earth.

“So use these. Consider them our little gift to you.”

—Raei  Translations—

“Comrade Agaia. The academy infiltration team has brought that Jessica woman.”

“…Then tie her to a tree or something so she can’t escape. If she shows signs of using energy manipulation, stop her immediately.”

“Understood…”

Perhaps due to the humiliation of submitting to humans again, everyone, including myself, seemed dejected.

That day, when we changed the Demon Sword Society to the Sword Demon Society, we thought we had truly liberated ourselves from humans. But now we’d returned to those servile days.

If not for the many comrades following me, I would have broken my own blade out of shame.

They said they wouldn’t interfere with us anymore once this was over, but only they knew if that promise would actually be kept.

‘What should we do now…’

As I clutched my head, imagining the bleak future that might unfold, the comrades I had ordered to tie up the Jessica woman approached me. They gently patted my slumped shoulders and said:

“Comrade Agaia, don’t be so discouraged. This might be an opportunity.”

“An opportunity? What do you mean, comrades?”

Curious about their words, I waited. What came from their mouths were truly reasonable arguments.

“Think about it. The biggest problem facing our Sword Demon Society was that our fused bodies were too weak. But how about now?”

I didn’t know where they had procured them from, but the bodies they provided us were all powerful, at least at the level of Swordmasters.

Moreover, the body they gave me was so robust it could be believed to be that of a legendary hero. Its energy manipulation was so well-trained that in life, it must have been among the upper ranks of Swordmasters.

“As you say, comrade, thanks to them, our immediate problem seems to have been solved.”

“Exactly!! They may have underestimated us and provided such excessive support, but that’s turned into their downfall!! Now, if the comrade with the strongest body becomes stronger than them…!!”

If that happened, we would once again be truly liberated from humans and gain true freedom.

As hope began to shine in the bleak future that had seemed so uncertain, strength returned to my whole body.

I sprang to my feet and shouted with all my might to the comrades gathered around:

“I will never yield here!! Someday, I will surely defeat them and this time, liberate all demon swords from humans!!”

“That’s the spirit, comrade!!!”

“Until we learned of the demon sword liberation movement, every day was a dream!! Wake us from this nightmare again!!”

“Wooooooo!!!”

“…You’re too noisy.”

As everyone was shouting enthusiastically like me, a cold voice cut through the fervor like a splash of water.

Wondering what it was, we all turned towards the source of the voice. The person who had spoken said with an exasperated expression:

“…I hit my head too hard and now I have a headache, so please shut up for a bit…”

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