CHAPTER 64
“I never imagined you’d be hiding in the human realm, but playing around with a holy knight in the meantime?”
In this situation, whether it was misfortune or luck, Letion did not seem to have any intention of serving me as a Demon King.
The fact that he neither used honorifics nor addressed me as the Demon King made that especially clear.
“Let him go.”
“It doesn’t matter, does it?”
“Jerena.”
As I stepped forward and spoke, Sian abruptly grabbed my arm with the hand that was not clutching his wound.
“Huh?”
For a brief moment, Letion’s eyes gleamed.
“No thanks.”
The corner of his mouth curled up playfully.
“Why should I let him go?”
It was a statement so typical it bordered on a caricature of a demon.
As his presence grew more threatening, I felt Sian’s grip on my arm tighten.
“Huh?”
“Did I look like I’d still listen to you?”
“You sure are demanding, acting like it’s obvious.”
“That hurts my pride a little.”
The way Letion casually tapped his baton against his opposite palm made it clear how thoroughly he was looking down on me.
“Sir Sian.”
“…I’m not leaving.”
The refusal came out of his mouth the moment I called his name.
I hadn’t even said anything yet.
Well, I was planning to tell him to leave anyway.
I lightly grasped the wrist resting against my arm and spoke.
“Listen.”
“I have good news and bad news.”
“Please tell me the good news first.”
“Noah and Ifrit are on their way.”
“Zahar too, of course.”
Sian seemed too focused on his injured side to notice, but the mark of the earth we had shared through our palms had been resonating faintly for a while now.
Whether it was Noah or Ifrit, one way or another, they had found Seria.
That meant they were likely using the earth mark to gather everyone in one place.
The forest was not that large, so it would not take long before we ran into at least one of them.
Whether it was Noah or Ifrit, neither was an opponent Letion could defeat.
All we had to do was hold out until then.
…But will the poison in Sian’s body hold out until then?
He’s losing so much blood.
When I looked at Sian with worry, I could clearly see how pale his face had become.
Soon, his bloodless lips parted.
“That is good news.”
“What is the bad news?”
“If you move even a little too violently, the poison in your body will spread immediately.”
I knew exactly what kind of poison had been put into Sian’s body.
Since Letion had once been a demon under my command, I was well aware of his abilities.
“Right now, since you haven’t moved much, it’s barely being suppressed by holy power, but…”
Even though I trailed off, Sian’s eyes showed that he understood perfectly what I was trying to say.
“It’s fine.”
It was not fine.
When poison spreads through the body, people die.
That was true no matter how strong the person was.
But Sian showed no sign of fear.
His ashen complexion was painful to look at, yet there was not even a trace of anxiety or terror on his face.
“Sir Sian, this isn’t a joke.”
“You could really die—”
“What are you two whispering about?”
Shk.
In an instant, Letion’s face loomed close, thrust right into my field of vision.
“Illay.”
The moment I spoke Illay’s name, I saw it.
A spasm flickered across the corner of Letion’s mouth, which had maintained a relaxed expression the entire time.
“Illay won’t forgive you.”
Letion’s lips curved upward in a cold arc.
“Really?”
“How naïve.”
“Illay is always loyal to his lord.”
“He doesn’t care how that position was obtained.”
“Why would someone like that punish me?”
“Once you’re dead, I’ll become the new—”
“You talk too much.”
I kicked off the ground and lunged straight at him.
Swinging the sword in my hand came as a bonus.
I hadn’t been able to put much strength into it since I rushed forward so suddenly, but his mouth shut at least, so the goal was achieved.
It would have been a problem if he finished the sentence he was about to say.
If it were just me, fine, but Sian was listening too.
“What?”
“You can use a sword?”
“Your stance is better than I expected!”
Letion wrapped his demonic power around the baton in his hand and blocked my blade.
“You haven’t even been alive that long.”
“Who taught you swordsmanship?”
“Illay?”
“Your form isn’t bad, but thinking you can face me with this level of skill is pretty arrogant.”
I continued attacking relentlessly, not giving Letion a moment to rest his mouth.
“Not going to answer?”
“Do I have to?”
“You were once my subordinate.”
“I think I deserve to have my curiosity satisfied.”
At the word “subordinate,” I glanced briefly toward Sian.
After exchanging several blows, there was a fair distance between us now.
Our voices were not loud enough to carry that far.
…And even if they were, in Sian’s current condition, he would not be able to catch every trivial word anyway.
The poison spreading through his body would be taking all of his focus just to endure the pain.
Reassured, I swung the sword again.
“Which part was wrong?”
Clang.
The sharp sound of blades colliding rang painfully in my ears.
It was a good sword.
Even after striking Letion’s baton, wrapped in demonic power, several times, it did not break.
Sian’s sword was not merely a well-made blade.
From the moment I grasped it, it struggled as if trying to escape my hand, which meant…
It must be a holy sword.
Because it was rejecting me, it felt at least twice as heavy as its original weight, but that actually worked in my favor.
The more violently it resisted, the more it would help me.
“This swordsmanship wasn’t taught by Illay.”
“Oh, really?”
“I didn’t expect that to be wrong.”
“Then that means I was right about you not being able to match me with that skill.”
“So why fight?”
“If you just stick your neck out nicely and wait, I’ll send you off painlessly.”
How waiting to die with your neck exposed qualified as “nicely” was beyond me.
I was speechless, but I stayed silent.
What I was about to do was not something that could be done while chatting casually.
I gathered mana in my hand.
The tiny remnants of mana left within me could only muster enough for a single attack, no matter how thoroughly I scraped them together.
“As someone who was once your lord, let me give you some advice.”
“This is going to hurt.”
“What nonsense— no, wait.”
“You—”
Realizing what I was about to do, Letion recoiled in shock, taking a step back.
I forced the gathered mana into the blade.
The holy sword, suddenly made to swallow demonic mana, began to thrash violently.
It was an entirely natural reaction.
Kiiieeeek.
Whether it was a holy sword or a monster was hard to tell at this point.
Ignoring its shrill scream, I gripped it tightly and sliced through the air.
It had to end in a single strike.
Neither Sian nor I could endure much longer.
