Chapter 146 : Chapter 146
Chapter 146. The Developed Raviedel (1)
“KUHACK! You, you……!”
The chieftain stared at the black magician clutching his heart, his face twisted in disbelief.
The chieftain’s pupils trembled violently with fear.
“How foolish. I did not expect you to be unable to use even the power I lent you properly.”
The black magician said mockingly.
Those were the last words the chieftain ever heard.
CRUNCH!
The chieftain’s breathing stopped, and the black magician pulled his bloodstained hand out.
It was retrieved as he tore out the chieftain’s heart.
THUD!
As he withdrew his hand, the chieftain collapsed to the ground.
“What a nuisance.”
The suspicious figure the chieftain had called the black magician sighed and kicked the fallen body aside.
It was a gesture like disposing of something that had outlived its usefulness.
“Shall we head back?”
With his bloodstained hand, he drew a magic circle in the air.
It was dark magic filled with a wicked aura.
Gusto’s eyes sharpened as he recognized that the man was a heretic.
At that level of skill, it would not be easy for Gusto, an apprentice holy knight, to face him alone.
Radel’s safety was the top priority, so Gusto spoke carefully.
“He seems to be trying to escape. He is undoubtedly a mid-level executive of the Black Order. Your Highness, for now, you should withdraw from here—.”
However, Radel thought differently.
The magic circle had not been completed yet.
He could not let him escape like this.
TADAT!
Radel drew his sword with perfect form and launched an attack.
The opponent had no visible weapon and had his back turned to Radel.
‘Now is the time!’
The moment Radel slashed toward his back—
BANG!
Radel was sent flying by a single blow and slammed into the ground.
‘What was that?’
He could not understand it.
All he knew was that something had cut across him diagonally.
‘A sword……?’
If it was a sword, it had been drawn so fast that it could not be seen.
Radel spat blood as he heard a loud notification sound ringing.
“COUGH!”
DING.
[The user’s body has been damaged.]
[Trait, Troll’s Heart, has been activated.]
[Warning! Intense pain is surging in!]
It was the Troll’s Heart activating for the first time in a while.
Radel pressed down on the gaping wound and caught his breath for a moment.
Then he recalled what had just happened.
‘It was an unexpected counterattack.’
Radel’s attack had been flawless.
It was the best sword strike he could produce, with his Basic Swordsmanship raised to A.
Yet it had been mercilessly crushed by a single strike from that suspicious figure.
He realized only that he was utterly lacking when it came to perceiving the fleeting trajectory of that blade.
“Your Highness!”
As Gusto tried to rush over, Radel raised one hand and pointed at the suspicious figure.
The teleportation magic circle was nearing completion.
Understanding Radel’s intent, Gusto immediately charged at the black magician and swung his sword.
CLANG!
The blade that had blown Radel away in a single strike blocked Gusto this time as well.
However, Gusto was only pushed back half a step and did not budge further.
The corner of the suspicious figure’s mouth, hidden beneath a black robe, lifted slightly.
“Oh? You blocked my sword.”
“You have touched someone you should not have touched.”
At Gusto’s cold words, the suspicious figure let out a chuckle.
“Are you not the Supreme Deity’s dog? Why draw your sword for a mere member of the imperial family instead of your god?”
Truly fitting for a heretic, he had a cunning tongue.
As long as they could corrupt humans, they would stop at nothing.
They were especially natural enemies to apprentice priests and apprentice holy knights whose faith was still weak.
However, Gusto, who possessed exceptionally strong faith even among apprentice holy knights, did not waver.
“That question is not worth answering.”
Gusto deflected the suspicious figure’s sword and instantly lunged for an opening.
CLANG!
‘Blocked again.’
Had he fought holy knights before?
The holy swordsmanship Gusto used was specialized against heretics. It was naturally advantageous against them, as it neutralized demonic energy and erased cursed beings from the world.
Yet this heretic was breaking through Gusto’s swordsmanship with practiced ease.
“It was a decent display of skill, but I should be going now.”
As he said that, he swung his arm once more.
At the same time, Gusto rushed straight into his range.
Sword met sword again.
CLANG!
Just three exchanges.
In just three exchanges, Gusto lost his grip on his sword.
CLATTER!
Enduring the pain as he watched, Radel’s vision slowly blurred.
‘Just what is that bastard…….’
How could he be so strong?
As the suspicious figure leisurely vanished into the magic circle, Radel’s consciousness faded into darkness.
***
When Radel opened his eyes, his head was ringing.
He heard someone laughing at him.
Thick fog obscured his vision.
Radel realized that he was inside a dream.
“Stop laughing.”
As Radel sighed and spoke, Belphegor revealed his presence from within the fog.
He was still lying on his side at an angle.
He looked down at Radel.
See. How weak you are.
Belphegor sneered and provoked him.
To think you could not even defeat a single slave of Leviathan.
But Radel was unfazed.
It was true that the man was stronger than his current self, and being crushed so thoroughly had taught him something as well.
‘I have been lucky until now.’
He had thought he had grown stronger after fighting first-year students and monsters at the Academy.
But that had been an illusion.
The reason Radel had survived until now was because the matchups favored him, or because he had timely items and the help of companions.
Coldly speaking, his raw combat power was inferior even to Gusto’s or Inette’s.
There was only one way to solve that.
‘I just need to become stronger.’
Having reached a simple conclusion, Radel asked Belphegor.
Since a devil had appeared in his dream anyway, he intended to gather as much information as possible to prepare for what came next.
“Leviathan would be an Archdevil, would it not?”
Yes. There was a disgusting stench in that fellow’s swordsmanship.
That suspicious figure must have been Leviathan’s contractor.
Even the swordsmanship that had sent Radel flying likely came from the Archdevil.
“Do devils use swords as well?”
Do you think we only rely on vile tricks?
Belphegor narrowed his eyes.
One must possess at least that level of ability to rule the Demon World. If you make a contract with me, you will gain all of it. I could even teach you myself.
Of course, Radel was not about to take those words at face value.
Had not Ancestor Hayden warned him?
Never trust the words of a devil.
“I cannot believe that. I have never even heard of a devil teaching swordsmanship.”
Radel shrugged.
Then he added casually.
“And you are the Devil of Sloth, are you not? Would you even bother picking up a sword? You have not shown me anything worth believing in.”
Radel deliberately provoked the Archdevil’s pride.
Even if Belphegor really offered to teach swordsmanship, Radel had no intention of making a contract in the slightest.
In Radel’s mind, an Archdevil speaking sweetly was itself a scam.
If tempting someone by saying there were many benefits to contracting with a devil was not a scam, then what was?
If the other side was trying to deceive him, he planned to respond in kind.
Hearing that, Belphegor twisted his lips.
You are truly an insolent one.
He had thought it before, but this one was truly outrageous.
He did not even understand what it meant for an Archdevil to personally offer a contract.
Even among demon worshipers, almost no one had ever properly seen an Archdevil’s true form.
‘If that brat did not possess the Key of Seal…….’
Belphegor grumbled inwardly, but the fact that he was personally doing things he would normally not even glance at out of sheer laziness was certainly unusual.
Still, if he considered it an investment in the future, it was worth doing.
Belphegor’s essence was sloth.
At this point, finding another candidate would be nothing but a hassle.
Watch closely.
Belphegor murmured briefly, and black, wicked energy gathered along his fingers.
Still lying down, he sliced through the air with his index finger.
WHOOSH.
That was swordsmanship?
Radel did not understand his actions, but he watched silently.
‘Huh?’
Then space itself split apart in an instant.
***
Radel opened his eyes again.
This time, it was reality.
‘So it was not entirely a scam.’
Though performed with a finger, it had been a perfect sword path.
A swordsmanship that literally cleaved space itself.
It possessed overwhelming power to the point that it seemed like magic.
With a single motion, Belphegor had shown a realm Radel had yet to reach.
Radel could not help but wonder what it would have been like if a sword had been in his hand.
It had been vivid in the dream…… but the moment he returned to reality, the memory began to fade.
It was regrettable, but it was something he would have to figure out through his own effort from now on.
Feeling slightly disappointed, Radel sat up in bed.
Then he noticed someone sitting beside him. It was a Lizardman he recognized.
He was a senior from the Academy’s research year who had created a space expansion bag large enough for people to enter, a Lizardman senior Radel had met at the Academy’s black market.
Although they had worn masks at the black market, both Radel and the Lizardman had long since recognized each other’s identities.
“Oh, Senior? Why are you here?”
“It is good to see you. Though it is unfortunate that we meet under these circumstances.”
Ishan Rau opened his mouth, saying that he had come to see the lord of Raviedel.
“Let me formally introduce myself. I am Ishan Rau, the second son of the Great Chieftain. I was sent by my father after hearing that the Chau tribe of the Tsar Mountain Range had been exhibiting suspicious behavior recently.”
The current Great Chieftain of the Lizardmen wished to maintain friendly relations with the Empire.
That was why, as a sign of mutual exchange, he had sent one of his sons, Ishan Rau, who had talent in magic, to study at the Imperial Academy.
“To get straight to the point, this incident was something the Chau tribe’s chieftain carried out on his own authority. And since the chieftain has died, an investigation into the matter has become necessary.”
Radel had been closer than anyone else when the chieftain died.
He told Ishan Rau what he had seen and heard.
“He suffered when Holy Water was poured on him, and then a heretic appeared and ended his life…….”
Ishan Rau pressed a hand to his head.
While it was not unheard of for corrupted individuals to appear among the Lizardmen, he had not expected someone of chieftain rank to be one of them.
“Your testimony has been very helpful. On behalf of the Great Chieftain, I must apologize for what happened in this territory. Of course, I must also apologize for blocking the roads during that time.”
Ishan Rau apologized formally as he looked at Radel.
Radel smiled as if to show his understanding.
“I have heard that Lizardman society is composed of many tribes. Each tribe has a different temperament, so communication can be difficult. No matter how great the Great Chieftain is, it would have been hard to grasp everything that happens in such a remote mountain valley.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
“Yes. In that case, the apology is enough, and I think compensation will be necessary now.”
Radel was not about to miss this opportunity.
“You were not planning to apologize with words alone, were you?”
He intended to extract everything he could from the Lizardmen.