Chapter 22: The Swordman And the Devil

The devil, Sargatania, hadn’t made any moves since burning down the entire Holy Land.

However, she hadn’t just sat there waiting for her contractee to come.

…The connection isn’t clear.

Hmm, it’s ambiguous.

The devil and the contractee were originally connected by a contract.

However, since her Zion had died that day, the connection wasn’t complete.

Of course, the connection wasn’t completely severed.

Since they were the same being, the connection, even if incomplete, still remained, and Sargatania had followed it to this Earth.

However, she wasn’t able to completely pinpoint its location.

It was literally an incomplete connection.

Well, it was enough that it remained in that incomplete way.

Wasn’t that enough to come find her?

‘It’ll be resolved when we meet anyway.

A contract with a devil is something that’s engraved on the soul.

Usually, when you make a contract with a devil, the soul is thrown into the abyss or suffers until it disappears, so it’s rare for it to be used like this…

But if a devil falls in love with a contractee, this kind of thing becomes possible.

Dark and gloomy… beings full of evil.

Those beings are the ones who are the devils.

That’s why they were able to come to this Earth, but since they couldn’t completely pinpoint their location…

Sargatania released her subordinates.

She released the demons near the Holy Land to find the contractor.

She herself stayed in the Holy Land for the contractor who might come herself.

And so, the demon, Sargatania, who was sitting on the corpse of the god she had killed and was quietly enduring, received a call from her dispatched subordinate.

She had found her contractor whom she had been searching for so long…!!

[Good job…!!]

If nothing else came up, she would probably take care of him.

In that case, she just had to prepare to welcome him here.

He was a subordinate, but he was a demon in his own right.

She wouldn’t be defeated by a stray.

However, Sargatania, who had been enduring, soon sensed that there was a problem.

The life of her subordinate whom she had sent across the sea…had ended.

…It seems there’s a problem.]

What kind of guy is he that can slaughter a demon in such a short time?

That kind of thing didn’t matter anymore.

The demon’s patience was running out.

He had already made the discovery, and his target was right in front of him.

In that situation, she had no intention of holding back any longer.

Losing the treasure the demon had in his hands was enough.

***

Earth, which was becoming more and more of a mess with each passing day due to dimensional fusion and dimensional cracks…

On such Earth, the ones who could best respond to this dimensional phenomenon were those who had awakened special powers due to the inflow of other worldly powers, the Awakened.

Of course, just because the Awakened existed, it didn’t mean they could solve all problems.

The number of Awakened was not that large, and not all of them had awakened powerful powers.

However, the truly powerful Awakened were strong enough to suppress most problems, and they were the ones called S-rank Awakened.

S-rank, Special Rank.

Special Awakened.

They are beings who possess powers that are truly different from each other.

Most of the problems caused by dimensional phenomena are caused by the influx of strong people, so S-ranks are truly special.

Since these are problems caused by power, if there is a stronger power, they can crush and destroy everything.

Just like how Seonhyeol Gong and Hussar trampled the Holy Nation.

Only nine of the powerful S-ranks.

The nine Awakened who are located at the very top are special even among those S-ranks.

Earth, the last bastion of humanity on Earth.

Despite the countless dimensional phenomena that occurred that were more dangerous than the Holy Nation, the reason why the existing humanity was able to endure the danger that was so serious that even S-ranks could not solve was because of the real ‘monsters’ that appeared on Earth.

Nine Star.

The Awakened who are at the top of the Awakened who are commonly called ‘Nine Heavens’ in Korea, the S-rank top.

The absolute strongest who are worthy of the titles ‘strongest’ and ‘best’.

“What kind of incident did our beloved disciple, who retired, get involved in to get involved with such scary guys-?”

The swordsman who cut down the demon with a single stroke of his sword that was exuding a terrifying aura.

My teacher, Rene Clarent.

She… isn’t someone who’s in the Nine Heavens I just mentioned.

However, in my opinion, who has connections to most of the Nine Heavens, our Master is an incredible Awakened Person comparable to those Nine Heavens.

It’s just that she spends all her days locked away and practicing her swordsmanship, so she doesn’t have a reputation.

Since she only practices alone, she doesn’t communicate well with other people…

“Huh, but Master? She’s not dead yet??”

[Ugh…this bastard…!! That bastard came out of nowhere…!!]

“Huh, I thought she was dead…but she’s tough?”

Master’s face, which had been smiling in front of me as I fell behind the demon that had been split in half, suddenly flipped upside down.

Sword Pulling Style , Slicing Month […year?]

Crunch!

In an instant, the demon’s head that had been torn in half but still regenerated flew off with a single stroke.

And immediately after that, Master’s sword drew another beautiful trajectory.

Moonlight Line, a smooth curve that resembles the full moon in the sky.

-!!

As if cutting tofu, so smoothly, with the neck floating in the air, the sword once again split the demon’s body in half.

“Hehe, I tried to show off in front of my disciple… but you’re embarrassing me.”

The master, with her eyes half-closed and a bright smile, looked so harmless that it was hard to imagine that she was the swordsman who had sent the demon, who had gotten up again in an instant, back into the hole.

Well, when you see that trained body, that thought will disappear.

She is a swordsman who, possessed by an incomplete swordsmanship book that she found as a child and which contained part of the swordsmanship that fell from a dimensional rift, locked herself away somewhere and trained only in swordsmanship until she reached a realm of perfection.

However, perhaps because she lives a life isolated from society, she has become unable to converse with people…

However, even for such a master, there are only two people with whom she can communicate normally: me, a disciple who somehow learned how to use a sword, and her ‘enemy’ who can converse with a sword.

“Still, you were great, master!”

“Really? That’s good! How have you been, disciple? It’s been a while!”

How can we believe that this brightly smiling person is the one who just cut down the devil?

Well… I heard that when she holds a sword, she feels like a different person?

“Your fashion is still the same. Do you still make your own clothes??”

“Yeah… Even when I go to a clothing store, I can’t really have a conversation…”

Just as she says that she lives a life isolated from society, she makes her own clothes.

Her main material is animal skins that she hunts herself.

And she wears old clothes that she gets from somewhere…

And the reason is not that she wants to live a natural life, but because she can’t converse…

The reason is really miserable.

But when she’s with me, she’s fine, so I thought things would get better, but it seems she’s still the same.

How can someone with such skills not be able to buy proper clothes for such a trivial reason…

Ugh, since we’ve met today, I should buy you some clothes.

It’s not like I only use swords, but I’ve been putting the few swordsmanship skills I’ve learned to good use.

Since I’ve put what I’ve learned to good use, there’s no reason I shouldn’t buy you some clothes when we meet like this.

“Then, since you’re here, why don’t you buy some clothes before you go? I’ll help you out.”

“Really?! I’d appreciate it if you did!”

“By the way, you must be hungry. Should I eat first, or should I go look at clothes first?”

“Hmm… If I’m going to eat in a place like this, I should wear some nice clothes, right?”

“Then let’s go buy clothes first.”

“Oh, but is that okay? Isn’t the reservation… everything set?”

“Hey, putting it off a bit is a piece of gum.”

Since it’s something I can do with just one phone call.

So I left the chopped-up demon behind and was about to go look at Master’s clothes…

Crunch!

Crunch!!

In that moment, a strange sound was heard from behind me.

[… So there was an intruder that you probably couldn’t handle. Thank you for your hard work.]

[Your Majesty… I’m so honored to have been of help…!!]

Jubilation filled the face of the severed demon.

And the lava-like blood flowing from its corpse continued to flow endlessly, forming a gateway.

[Rest. We don’t need the others anymore.]

Crack!

And then, something walked out from beyond the gate.

Kwung!

A heavy hammer split the floor, and chee-eeeek!!

The place where its feet touched melted and crushed in the heat.

Engulfed in the distant heat, a being boasting of its large size looked down on humans.

[It has truly…long time no see. My contractor, Zion.]

A demon.

And…one that was incomparably stronger than the guy from before…

[I have swallowed up all your mistakes and returned to you.]

…Why do I feel such favorable feelings from that being looking at me…??