The Sword Demon Tears People Apart

Zeron spread his ki sense.
Monsters were everywhere around them.
Right now there were hundreds, soon there would be thousands.
Still, his body had definitely improved compared to before.
If it had been before taking out the Voids, he’d really be groaning in pain by now.
Of course, even if that were the case, he couldn’t imagine himself dying.
At most, goblins, orcs, lizardmen, trolls, ogres, wait, ogres…?
Ogres would be a bit troublesome.
Anyway, although there were swarms of various types of monsters, he wouldn’t die.
Probably.
“Phew….”
Zeron exhaled and infused power into his sword.
A red energy swelled up and bloomed.
Sword aura would be wasteful, sword energy should be enough.

Schwiiik-!
The first to charge was an orc.
A wooden club as thick as an arm fell, aiming for his head.
Zeron walked diagonally and lightly pushed his sword.
Swish-, with the added force of the charge, the orc became o/rc.
But it didn’t end with just one.
Already, dozens of orcs were charging from all around.
Dudududududu-!
The rifle spat fire from behind.
Living up to its expensive price, the orcs’ skin tore and green blood flowed.
But that was all.
The orcs toughly charged forward while being shot.

Kwooar-!
Zeron twisted his waist.
Right now, it was better to use mana than his body.
Slowly, smoothly, the sword drew a horizontal line.
Swoosh-
With a quiet slicing sound, there was a momentary silence.
Thududuk-, dozens of orcs at the front were cut in half and rolled on the ground.
A faint 10-meter-long sword energy glowed on Zeron’s sword.
And then, thud-
Almost simultaneously with the firing sound from behind,
Kwaaaang-!
An explosion erupted on the other side.
Dozens of monsters rolled on the ground from the mana-infused explosion.
Mana bullets.
Insanely expensive, but bullets with all sorts of magical processing inside.
If you have enough money, a gunner’s attack power far surpasses the realm.
“Well done, kid!”
Zeron swung his sword once more and glanced behind.
The huge rock blocking one direction certainly made defense easier.
At this rate, there shouldn’t be any major problems for now.
“Phew….”
Whipping his creaking body, Zeron swung his sword.

“Damn it…! What’s with all these monsters!”
A man swung his sword, bisecting an orc.
He cut down one orc, but already three or four other monsters had taken its place.
“Professor Iris! Shouldn’t we retreat! I think it would be better to defend at the lodging!”
“Hmm…, but Zeroron….”
“The instructor will manage to escape on his own!”
At a student’s words, Iris fell into contemplation.
What should I do? Honestly, it doesn’t matter either way.
Zeroron will probably be fine, for sure.
“Ah, that’ll do! Then you all go back! I’ll search for Zeronzeron alone!”
“It’s dangerous!”
“Huh? Not at all though?”
Kwahak-!
With Iris’s single strike, a sharp wind spread.
The wind tore the monsters’ skin, crushed their bones, and turned red.
“I can escape if it gets dangerous, so you go ahead first!”
“Hmm…, understood.”
The students and assistant instructors exchanged glances and fell back.
The guards simply followed their charges.
A student asked Ed, who showed no intention of moving.
“Ed, what about you…”
“I’ll stay.”
“It’ll be dangerous….”
“I’m worried about the instructor and the other two. Besides, this is all experience, you know.”
With those words, Ed rushed forward.
It was beside the rampaging Iris.
“Oh, that’s right!”
One student who agreed with Ed’s words, one assistant who stayed after hesitation.
And Ed and Iris.
The five, including the guards, cut through the monsters in an unstoppable momentum, carving a path.
The path they advanced on was filled with green and red blood.
Fortunately, at most, orcs were among the strongest, so it was natural.
“This is strange. Surely this can’t be the end.”
Ed pondered deeply.
Of course, his thoughts might not be correct.
He was well aware of his own inadequacies.
If it had been Zeron who was the returner instead of him, perhaps he would have reached a happy ending by the second or third cycle.
But the returner was himself.
In other words, he was the person with the most information about the future on this continent right now.
Based on that, inferring…
‘Zeron. Have the monsters gathered towards that bastard?’
Ed’s eyes sank deeply.
His killing intent is not that of a human.
More intense, more savage, more ferocious.
It would be more accurate to say it’s that of a monster or Void.
The monsters must have been drawn to that uncannily ominous killing intent.

And that was the reason why he and humanity could never coexist.
It’s not just a problem of monsters being drawn to it.
‘Heavenly Killing Star.’
The one born with the strongest killing aura under the heavens.
They always suffer from the urge to kill, and eventually explode, causing a bloodbath.
History has proven this.
Generation after generation, the Heavenly Killing Stars possessed outstanding talents, and in the end, they stained their hands with the blood of thousands, tens of thousands.

Zeron, born with particularly outstanding talent even among Heavenly Killing Stars, was no exception.
The end of every cycle Ed had experienced was due to either the Voids or Zeron.
Zeron had never turned evil for reasons other than Medea or David, but even without them, it was a problem that would eventually explode.
No, that’s not right.
Thinking about it now, that too was strange.
Why.
Why had Medea never survived even once?
Excluding the cycles where Ed was killed by Voids, she had never survived even once.
‘No way….’
Bwoong-!
“Ed, be careful!”
Ed stopped his wandering thoughts and dodged.
Kwang-! A troll’s huge hand raked through where Ed had been.
“A troll!”
“Are they finally starting to show themselves bit by bit!”
No.
Ed’s ki sense swept the surroundings.
And as expected,
“Kuh…!”
Just the killing intent caught by his ki sense sent chills down his spine.
Ed shouted to Iris, who was cutting off the troll’s neck.
“Professor! I think I’ve found the instructor!”
“Huh?”
The eerie smile on Iris’s lips disappeared in an instant.
She must have been too intoxicated by blood to think of looking around.
She’s really an unsettling woman.
Ed hid his true thoughts and nodded in one direction.
“Oh…!”
Soon, Iris too must have sensed the killing intent, as she smiled brightly.
“It’s close! Let’s hurry!”
Whiuuuuu-! A storm wrapped around Iris’s sword.
Green blood and red blood mixed in the wind, taking on a murky color, and then it was swung powerfully.
Kwaaang-!
In the momentary gap created among the monsters.
With Iris at the lead, the group ran quickly.
And what they faced was a vast clearing.
What should have been a dense forest had become a wide-open space.
“This is…!”
The people around gasped.
It looked like a scene from hell had been transplanted there.
Cut corpses. Crushed corpses. Rolling arms and legs. Spilled entrails. Murky mix of green and red. Surging killing intent. Fear. Confusion. Blood scent.
Ed’s eyes widened as much as they could.
“Impossible….”
Monsters?
Of course they’re dying.
The opponent is Zeron.
A calamity that could destroy the world.
But this doesn’t make sense.
Zeron’s sword swings.
His body is a mess.
All sorts of blood mixed together, not a trace of skin color to be seen.
He breathes heavily as if tired, and the sword energy on his blade wavers unsteadily.
But, even so…
Kwahahak──────!
With a single strike, hundreds of monsters are cut apart.
Even the mighty ogre’s upper body evaporated with just one swing.
That’s the end.
The few remaining monsters start fleeing in terror.
Despite surely being enraged by the rift’s waves, they wear clear colors of fear on their faces, dragging their entrails, crawling on two arms, desperately trying to get away from him somehow.
‘This…. This is strange….’
His growth is too fast.
It shouldn’t be this much yet?
That sword is one he shouldn’t realize for at least a few years.
Rough and crude, but a sword that has touched upon a principle.
Of course, it’s not complete yet.
But…….
‘Something has greatly twisted.’

Ed’s face contorted.
Neither Iris with her sparkling eyes, nor the student gasping from the suffocating killing intent, nor the assistant instructor backing away in terror, nothing entered his eyes now.
That talent shining so brilliantly!
That damned talent!

He reached out, coveting what he couldn’t have, but there was no way he could possess it.
He clenched his fist so hard it might break.
Twenty times, a hundred times, if that’s not enough, even a thousand times.
By all means, I’ll surpass that bastard……
“Ah….”
Ed, suddenly startled, shook his head.
For a moment, heat rose to his head.
Right, my goal isn’t to surpass that bastard.
He was someone who would be eliminated after a few repetitions anyway.
And all I have to do is happily welcome the happy ending.
A blood-red energy flickered in Ed’s eyes.
*
Zeron staggered as if tired and sat down on a corpse.
He casually stuck his two swords into corpses to stand them up, and grinned while making trivial jokes to the two terrified girls.
“As expected…. As expected…!”
Joy filled Iris’s eyes as she looked at Zeron.

This ecstatic killing intent! Shining talent! More than enough cruelty! The blood scent reaching its climax!
He was clearly the person Iris had been looking for.
Her eyes followed Zeron.
Though he seemed thoroughly exhausted, the wild killing intent still flickering in those two eyes!
Surely if an enemy appeared before him, he would tear at their neck until the end without care, even if his body broke!
“Found him….”
The corners of Iris’s mouth turned up eerily.