Chapter 223 : Chapter 223
Chapter 223 : The Sword Demon, Raman (2)
***
The fundamental resources for manifesting superhuman abilities, such as Aura, mana, and divine power, are collectively referred to as Karma.
Karma is the fundamental energy that constitutes the universe; to put it another way, it is the total amount of change an existence has brought upon the universe.
Therefore, it is more accurate to interpret the mana 'possessed' by a mage as the amount or scope of mana that they can draw from the universe and utilize.
Let us assume that a mage of the Kingdom cast a massive spell.
The required mana, that is, Karma, was not created from nothingness in that instant. It was merely a power that existed somewhere being moved.
When one side is filled, the other side becomes empty.
Its principle is like a scale.
To interpret it to an extreme—
The act of 'creation' known as the overwhelming magic manifested in the Kingdom inevitably pays the price of hastening the 'ruin' of some other world or dimension.
Defending this balance and order is precisely the mission of the Outer Ones, and their raison d'être.
Among the Outer Ones, specifically the Eight Demons, they were existences who had watched over all of history from the moment the Kingdom was first born until today.
In practice, they have repeatedly intervened and stood by, tuning the rise and fall of the Kingdom.
The flow of magic being first discovered, researched, and developed in the Kingdom is something they could not stop, nor should they stop.
However, balancing the universe by suppressing the reckless abuse of Karma was the role of the Outer Ones—
They raised knights who honed their swordsmanship as a means to check and suppress mages without becoming subordinate to the power of magic.
This was precisely the mission of the Sword Demon.
Therefore, the Sword Demon had to consume a lifetime as Raman Windermere of the Windermere family.
It was to establish the two axes, the Sharon Faction and the Langster Faction, to firmly solidify the lineage of Kingdom knights.
"Luke Springeus."
Raman muttered the name in a low voice. He had just heard the steward's report.
"Yes. As you commanded, I closely scrutinized all the children of the young master's age group in the West, and he was the only individual who met the criteria."
Rather than blindly handing a sword to anyone and passing it down, raising a talent with a natural gift for the sword was a much more efficient way to achieve the mission of suppressing Karma.
However, the Outer Ones are not gods. Even for them, they cannot create and pump out human talent at will.
The presence or absence of talent itself was not difficult to distinguish, but the problem lay in having to locate every single human with that precious gift across the vast territory of the Kingdom.
At this time, Raman was not yet twenty years old. He ought to be grateful just for such a talent appearing in this era, but for him to be around his own age was nothing short of supreme luck.
"I must meet him at once."
Raman brightened up. Since the lineage of a talent gifted with the sword continuing unbroken and whole was practically a huge help to his own task.
"However, young master, there is a problem."
"A problem?"
"Yes. That Luke Springeus is......"
Meetings always took place under the pretext of Raman's challenge.
Therefore, the steward's hesitation meant that it would be difficult to bring about a duel.
"He has absolutely no interest in swordsmanship and is completely infatuated with love."
"What?"
"Even now, his heart has been stolen by a young lady, and he does not spare a single glance at anything else, so it seems there is a lot of worry in that family as well."
A huff of disbelief leaked from Raman's mouth. It was to the point of a bitter chuckle.
To think he is wasting his natural talent just because he is smitten with a woman.
However, since it was a problem that could be easily resolved, he was not particularly angry.
'Rather, anger can be good firewood to heat up talent.'
A few days later.
The names of the children of the two families, Springeus and Windermere, were on the lips of the gossips in the western part of the Kingdom day after day.
It was rumored that they were holding a duel over a woman.
Coincidentally, the location was a small village called Pretoria, situated between the two territories.
Pretoria was a place where autumn leaves were a specialty.
***
Bihen mounted atop the falling body of Raven.
'……!'
Raven's eyes widened as if they would pop out. To outpace the speed of the fall while dropping together? It was a movement that defied the laws of physics.
GRAB—!
Bihen firmly gripped one of Raven's shoulders and brought Heavenly Demon close as if threatening him.
"I'll keep you alive just enough so you can babble. You'll end up begging me to kill you."
"W-Wait......!"
BOOM—!
A violent cloud of dust erupted around the spot where the two crashed.
Soon, figures burst out from within the thick, rising dust.
It was Bihen and Raven, chasing and being chased by one another.
"How dare you pull such a despicable trick!"
Raven raised his voice to the limit as if he were about to die of rage. A sound of boiling bloody phlegm mixed into his shout. Fresh blood sprayed from the sword wound slashed across his shoulder.
'If I'd been just a moment later, half of my upper body would've been torn apart!'
Raven, who was fleeing, quickly turned around and formed hand signs.
SNAP—! SNAP—! SNAP—!
"You dare!"
His characteristic composure had vanished entirely. He instinctively sensed danger. The opponent who appeared before his eyes was someone who could truly hold the power of life and death over him.
RUMBLE—!
Bolts of lightning plunged down toward Bihen from all directions. The lightning fire, branching out like twigs, trapped Bihen like a force field.
SCHWING—!
'……!'
Raven's pupils dyed with astonishment.
As soon as Bihen swung his sword once, the Thunder Prison was instantly shattered to pieces.
'To break the Shackle Art so futilely like this......?'
This time too, it made no sense. He already knew that the remarkable descendant before his eyes was born with the ability to obliterate magic.
'But sorcery should have a different texture!'
There was no time to think about anything. Piercing through the exploded fragments of sorcery and the thick mist, Bihen's figure burst forward in a straight line. The remnants of the shattered spell scattered around him like ash.
SLASH—!
"Argh!"
Blood splattered along with a scream. Atop the previously carved wound, another long sword mark was left behind. Blood gushed out from the X-shaped laceration that emerged like a mark of condemnation.
GRAB—!
It was not the end. Bihen swiftly closed in on Raven and choked his neck. It was merely for the purpose of holding him so he would not be pushed back.
STAB—! STAB—! STAB—! STAB—! STAB—! STAB—! STAB—! STAB—! STAB—!
The blade pierced his torso repeatedly. At some point, Raven's body went limp.
The moment Bihen loosely lowered his busily moving arm, vitality returned to Raven's eyes as if this was his chance.
'Asura, Rakshasa.'
Raven snapped the thumbs and index fingers of both hands simultaneously.
Soon, the black mist that rose after the Shackle Art was destroyed in the back shimmered grotesquely and began to congeal. The pitch-black smoke took physical form in an instant, transforming into the shapes of two demonic beasts radiating a ferocious energy as they pounced on Bihen's back.
It was Raven's characteristic relentless and unorthodox counterattack, turning even the remnants of a destroyed spell back into tools of slaughter.
SWISH—!
Bihen had no choice but to hurriedly evade as well. He rolled his neck around in a circle and spat out the dust caught inside his mouth.
"Who's calling who despicable?"
Raven, who barely managed to flee, stood beside Crow and panted heavily. It was truly a close call.
Amidst the scattering illusions of the crudely fashioned Asura and Rakshasa, Bihen's face was visible through the gap, the corner of his mouth twitching fishily.
"Thanks to my remarkable descendant, my wish will be fulfilled today."
Crow turned his head and glanced at Raven. The corners of his mouth rose naturally.
"It seems today is the day you die, Raven."
"Shut up......!"
Raven squeezed out a shout. Even if it was reinforced with Innate True Qi and Spell Power, in the end, it was a human body. If it were not for their method of inheriting the spirit, he could very well die.
'흐음.'
Though he pretended to be perfectly composed, Bihen's mind was equally complicated.
Originally, he had intended to take down one guy in a single breath with the strike just now. Dealing with two of the Eight Demons simultaneously was a burden, after all.
'Fortunately, the two bastards aren't that cooperative.'
Thanks to that, he gained a moment of leeway to assess the situation.
Into his sight came Kendrick and the Black Rose Mercenaries, who were bound by sorcery, followed by the bizarre cube.
'It's a binding spell.'
Ghost Eye deciphered the traces of the spell.
He immediately struck down upon the cube with Heavenly Demon.
CRACK—!
Fine cracks spread across the geometric shape in an instant. Bloody tears pooled within the bizarre eyeballs.
"Dammit!"
Raven shouted convulsively. He gnashed his teeth and looked at Crow. The words asking for help simply would not leave his mouth.
'Damn it! Damn it! How did I get entangled in this mess!'
Sorcery did not work on Bihen. There was no leeway to question the underlying logic. If Hugin were to rejoin the fray in this situation as well, he could see absolutely no way to escape alive.
"I can hear the gears turning in your head from all the way over here."
It was Bihen. Having rushed forward, he had already approached point-blank range before anyone knew it.
"Ghost Manor."
Bihen had confirmed it last time as well. Once one reaches the stage of constructing the mental world of the sword, external interference is no longer permitted. Going beyond merely manipulating True Qi, it is akin to tearing a rift in the space of the present world to deploy a completely independent domain of one's own.
With the caster as the center, the laws of the world are reorganized, opening an absolute domain of the sword that no one can encroach upon.
'First, I'll finish off that blonde bastard.'
Deganelo would be next.
"Dammiiiit!"
A scream-laden cry burst from Raven's mouth. Fear assaulted his entire body. The energy constricting him became a tangible pressure rather than an illusion, binding his limbs. It was a primal level of terror felt by a beast cornered at the edge of a cliff, right before its throat is bitten by a predator.
It was right when Raven was trembling helplessly before a massive power that he could not possibly resist.
"You brat, you must have realized how trivial your crude tricks are before a sword, right?"
It was Crow. He smirked as he looked at Raven, who was gradually being swallowed by the darkness.
Raven did not even have the strength to reply. Power was draining from his entire body. It was to an exhausting degree.
"My mission is completely finished now, so you go on ahead and do your job."
With those final words, Raven's consciousness cut off.
Crow extended his heavy sword toward Bihen.
Bihen perceived it a fraction of a second too late. An unavoidable opening. It was something Bihen had already fully prepared for and endured. After all, it was the price for completely backing Raven into a corner.
Along with a sharp sound of tearing air, a heavy weight enveloped Bihen.
***
When I opened my eyes.......
It was a different world.
'Where is this......?'
The location, the time, and even the season did not match.
I stood blankly and looked around.
It was right in the middle of a field blanketed by the sunset.
"The mental world of the sword is the densest specimen of the subconscious that a person harbors."
The voice was heard from behind.
I turned around.
"In other words, it's that person's essence."
A crow was standing there.
WHOOSH—
A wind blew between the two of us. The tall grass bowed in one direction all at once before standing back up.
The wind was suddenly warm.