SWNOVELXO Chapter 126
– 1 –
“Graa… Urk…!”
Hira Jull was not only strong but also an impressive warrior. He was not just powerful; he was resilient and, on top of that, loyal.
“You only need to say a single word. You’re holding out for quite a while.”
“Guh… H-His strength…!”
In the darkness with just the two of us, he was bound by my shadows, losing the source of his strength, his vitality. To be precise, I was absorbing it.
‘What a remarkable level he has.’
The magical power converted through his vital energy was of fairly high purity.
『Attribute – …Magic 72(◀ 67) Resistance 62(◀ 57)』
It was enough to enhance even the powerful magic stats of a Dungeon Lord to some extent.
While its efficiency might not be high, simply having the kind of magic that could increase stats like this was impressive. Most of the other monsters I had tried resulted in nearly complete losses during conversion.
“Please don’t forget that I am showing you consideration. I really like loyal warriors like you.”
Loyalty. Faith.
How beautiful are trust and loyalty.
Amelia, who risked her life to stand against me the moment she thought her family was in danger.
Yurianne, who tried to protect her.
The Lizardman Chief, Zarax, who refrained from showing his vengeance out of respect for his lord.
Queen Echidna, who would risk her safety to protect such a chieftain.
The Arachne queens, who had laid bare their shameful pasts to protect their children.
“Th-that… You can talk, but… I won’t surrender…!”
“Is that so…?”
In my eyes, Hira Jull, who was loyal to Zarkra without truly understanding her affection, was undoubtedly a valuable existence.
It felt somewhat regrettable that we met as enemies.
If only I had a little more freedom.
Or if there weren’t those who loved and respected me as much as she did right now, perhaps I would have tried to take him somehow.
But…
‘Not needed right now.’
“I will respect your will.”
I hadn’t forgotten my purpose.
I had come here to buy time for Xue and Evangeline’s recovery while breaking the enemy’s will to fight.
For that, he needed to resist a bit more.
Thud!
“Hrrg… Hrk… Hoooorrrk -!!!”
He had to die more tragically.
For me, cruelty was a method I preferred not to use, but once used, it should yield greater effects.
“You will die like this. And your body…”
“No…”
Having sensed something from my words, his eyes began to swirl with numerous dark emotions.
Just as I aimed for.
“… I will use it well.”
“N-no, don’t!!”
Though there was no longer any magic or vitality left within him to draw out, if human emotions were energy, then there was no reason for a monster’s emotions not to be energy as well.
“I regret this.”
Resentment. Despair. Anger. Hatred. Loathing.
The magic clung to my fingertips became tainted.
The colorless power was stained with the hues of various emotions, and as they accumulated, they turned into pitch black.
Puff –!!
I plunged back into that body.
“Summon: Bloody Knight.”
Grrr. Blurp.
Originally belonging to the Vampire Dungeon Lord, this was a zombie-type knight summon.
But rather than resembling a knight like a Death Knight, it was more akin to a golem or ogre.
The size of the sacrificial body grew even larger, its muscles bulging, and muscles developed much more prominently.
In addition, the flames it originally held formed an armor-like image that faintly covered its enlarged body.
“Graa… Aaah…! Aaaaah!!”
“That’s enough.”
The existing contract breaks at the point of death.
Moreover, by using his body as a sacrifice to summon its existence, I cut off its power at the stage prior to the ‘contract.’
While the magic I absorbed from him allowed for one more upper entity limit slot, I had no need to use that here.
… Just breaking the contract alone would serve as a sufficient warning to my adversaries.
He would die as a wild monster.
Not my property.
Flare –!
Now, flames fueled by the magic I forcibly implanted in him rose high enough to touch the ceiling.
I would steal that power again.
“Re, and Dust.”
The scarlet flames turned into purple flames.
The power that bloomed from within me became a dark morning star.
And at that moment.
Swish!
“Aaaah!!”
I lifted the veil.
– 2 –
“Re, and Dust.”
“Graaak!! Aaaaah -!!”
The spectacle appeared quite beautiful, if one were to view it superficially, and also absurd.
A giant being pouring flames from its body was writhing with its head buried in a tiny woman’s fingertips.
However, if those ink-like tendrils that seemed to be summoned were sucking or injecting something into that massive body, the scene transformed from comedy to a horror creature feature.
“… What are you doing to him?”
“I’m making him pay the price for daring to resist me, Zarkra.”
She remained calm, not swaying even slightly in her movements, despite the massive figure that seemed to be ten times her size writhing helplessly against ‘darkness.’
But that was not all.
Crack! Crunch…!
Black magic swelled and burst, smashing the captured body to pieces.
Flame, flame!
Scarlet flames bloomed as if to fill the entire world, turning purple and beautifully coloring everything around.
The two powers were breaking and burning him.
For a long time. Slowly.
“This is insane…”
Zarkra had never imagined such a scene.
No matter how much Libertus began to gain a reputation as a super rookie, one couldn’t help but fall into a certain bias upon witnessing the power of her summoned creatures.
Though that summon was powerful, Dungeon Lord herself would likely not have high combat prowess.
‘That appearance isn’t a lie.’
‘Goodness…’
While the other two had tasted bits of her magical prowess, Zarkra had had no such experience.
Also, it was evident why the other two hadn’t warned her.
‘Combat prowess is something built over time, yet how can she be so strong…?’
Furthermore, combat was not merely about magical talent.
Libertus had only been born about half a year ago, and the few battles she had likely fought were normal for a ‘young Dungeon Lord.’
It would be reasonable to think she couldn’t possibly take on a warrior who had already been elite-level for at least ten years.
“Let me go…”
Yet all those assumptions and common sense were destructed at this moment.
What lay before me was the manifestation of ‘half a year’ crushing ‘ten years,’ and there was no choice but to accept it.
“Let me go -!!”
Doing so, Zarkra had acted in the most impulsive manner.
Thud!
– Wait…!
Before Melzeros could intervene, Zarkra darted forward, straight into the fray.
“Zygra’then!”
She invoked curses around her hands and invoked blessings of beasts on her feet, running swiftly.
Filled with the intention to intervene in the battle no matter what.
“Stop, Lady Zarkra.”
Naturally, such a ‘rule violation’ was thwarted by an employee of the Mammon Trading Company, who functioned as both supervisor and referee.
His appearance, marked by thick horns on his forehead, indicated his rank as a department head.
He was at a similar level of power to Goblin department head Gris Durel, who had once visited Libertus’s dungeon.
At the very least, he possessed strength exceeding that of a complete elite.
“Let it go…!”
“Such intervention won’t be beneficial to you or your subordinates.”
His ability was sufficient to suppress lords of Baron and upper tier dungeons and was overflowing with awareness of the events unfolding before him.
Thus, he knew that Hira Jull was dead.
Moreover, he was aware of the state of his body.
“Lady Zarkra. Let’s remain calm. He is already hopeless.”
Despite this, he did not intervene with the cruelty of Libertus.
He simply restrained Zarkra per the rules established by the Trading Company.
In the demon realm’s duel, ‘cruelty’ or ‘simply becoming combat disabled’ was not grounds for cessation of battle.
This duel continued regardless of whether one side died, allowing the victor complete freedom over how to execute or humiliate the vanquished.
“Isn’t it hopeless? We should end the battle!! Why continue like this!!”
“You should know well. I’m sure it’s been said many times. Everything’s in the agreed-upon rules you accepted.”
Unless the loser declares surrender or expresses such intentions, and the victor accepts those pleas and ceases their actions.
Thus his expression remained painfully calm, and there was no hesitation in his movements to restrain Zarkra.
There was merely an unusual brightness in his gaze as he looked at Libertus.
‘Indeed, this grill department head is observing an impressive talent. Even though she doesn’t seem fond of cruel actions, she acts without hesitation when it comes to execution. On the other hand…’
There was disdain in the demon’s gaze when it returned to Zarkra.
‘If you can’t be honorable, then at least be wise. If not wise, then you should be strong.’
To the nobility of the demon realm, such rookies easily became objects of disdain.
Having acknowledged their weakness yet still engaging together without turning the tide, while not entirely discarding their honor nor employing sufficient trickery beforehand—that was the ambiguity of their nature.
‘Perhaps they’ve grown drunk on the name of ‘Baron,’ thinking themselves to be truly honorable nobles.’
The demon shook his head internally at that ineptitude and turned his gaze back to Libertus.
She consistently emanated arrogance.
Moreover, she was adept at masking that arrogance with a gentle facade.
She possessed the strength and subordinates to back it up.
Lastly, she had the gall to sacrifice a little dignity for ‘strategy.’
‘Impressive. If I were a subordinate, I would truly want to serve under someone like her.’
That was what matched the noble characteristics the demon realm’s aristocrats esteemed most, so she could indeed be called a noble worthy of the title ‘Dungeon Lord.’
‘This appearance is akin to… yes. The Demon Lord or the Grand Dukes of the Demon World.’
Flashing through the demon department head’s mind were the seven Grand Dukes of the demon realm.
The sun of the demon realm symbolized by the eclipse.
And beneath it were the Grand Dukes of Greed, Wrath, Pride, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, and Sloth.
‘Like…’
The final two faces that remained in the department head’s mind were of those two.
“Hm.”
‘No. This isn’t something I should decide.’
If what he thought was correct, she could soon become a source of wealth for one of the highest-ranking nobles in the demon realm. Conversely, it could become a point of pride.
However, if he were wrong, even the mere presumption would be rude.
Whichever the case, it was an undeniable fact that he shouldn’t so carelessly pry into.
The department head shook his head to brush off those thoughts and continued watching the remaining ‘battle.’
“Graaak -!!!!”
Through the treatment of the already deceased strongest one, he would diminish the morale of the other monsters.
That twisted spectacle of cruel torture had become their teabagging.
– 3 –
The duel… or rather, the torture concluded like this.
To label it as ‘duel’ would truly be something my conscience would not permit.
“Aahh. Jull… You…!”
Zarkra’s mind had shattered completely.
As I had presumed, she seemed to have deep affection for the first subordinate she summoned.
“You…!”
It was clear there was something beyond ordinary affection.
If that burning resentment she held while looking at me was not genuine, wouldn’t that be rather frightening?
“I’ll definitely kill you… definitely…!”
“Sure. If you can, then do it.”
“Grruuuuuh…!!!”
Crack!
Perhaps she thought my calm demeanor was provocation, as Zarkra returned to her camp furiously.
Though I had accumulated someone’s enmity, I felt no substantial concern.
‘War is rarely defined by both sides surviving.’
If one side must die, it cannot be me who dies.
Even if it would drive them into madness.
And their camp was already…
Murmur…
“What will happen to us now…?”
“What will happen!? We prepare for the next battle!”
“In this state…? We’re all going to die…!”
They’d been placed in a situation where it was difficult to incite that ‘madness.’
‘It’s over.’
The war was my victory.
Just as I had foreseen.