The Bastard Swordsman Of The Imperial Guard [EN]: Chapter 209

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

“Kamen Knights, hold your positions!”

The allied forces’ morale soared to its peak.

Yet, a hint of fear began to flicker across their faces.

The demonic forces, whose footsteps had been shaking the ground, began to accelerate.

They charged forward, unleashing their demonic energy without hesitation.

Seeing this, Rahel smirked.

“…Well, what strategy could you possibly have, you fools?”

Unlike the allied forces, who had planned their operation considering Alheim’s strength, the demonic forces seemed uninterested in the opposing strategy, charging straight ahead.

They pushed forward relentlessly, accompanied by their overwhelming demonic energy.

The demonic energy, gradually filling the plains, soon reached the allied knights.

“Kuh …!”

“Damn, the demonic energy is even more intense when you feel it directly.”

The dense demonic energy, almost suffocating, enveloped the allied forces.

Demonic energy was highly toxic to humans.

The allied forces at the front began to falter one by one, kneeling to the ground.

“Oh, Lord Gaia. Grant us the power to purify evil with light.”

At that moment, a massive wave of divine power pushed back the demonic energy.

The soldiers’ faces regained their composure.

It was the divine magic cast by Saint Cecilia.

Cecilia, who single-handedly pushed back the demonic energy of the demonic legion, focused on her divine magic, praying with her hands clasped together.

She, too, was an indispensable presence for the allied forces.

Thump- Thump-

Rahel’s heart began to beat rapidly as he watched the approaching demonic forces.

Divine power stirred within his body, and an immense sense of exhilaration surged through him.

Rahel drew his sword, facing the approaching demonic forces.

– Human! Die …!

– I’ll devour you!

Faced with the massive army, Rahel smiled without realizing it.

He found himself strange every time this happened… but Rahel quite enjoyed battles like this.

The tension and exhilaration covering his entire body sharpened Rahel’s senses even further.

“Heavenly Turn.”

Rahel deployed his domain [a localized area where his abilities are amplified].

His senses sharpened even further, absorbing all the information around him.

At the same time, a demon at the forefront kicked off the ground.

– Gaia Order’s Hero. I’ve been targeting you from the start!

Demons do not suppress their instincts and desires.

The desire to dominate the continent included the aspiration to kill the hero who had killed countless demons and become the hope of humanity.

Killing him directly would be a great achievement.

Thud-

High-ranking demon Grace.

Grace, who held the title of Count in Alheim, was swift despite his massive frame of over 4 meters [approximately 13 feet].

He had been targeting the Gaia Order’s hero since the beginning of the war.

Even if the Order’s hero had sealed the Demon King and reached the realm of Sword Master, he was still just a human.

If you tear his skin, blood will come out, and if you cut his neck, he will die.

Grace was confident that his claws could tear anything apart.

Kwaaaang-! Grace kicked off the ground faster than any other demon, targeting his prey.

Killing the hero faster than anyone else and ascending to the Demon King’s throne was the first step in his grand plan.

– Die …!

Grace’s claws aimed for the hero’s neck.

Tearing through the fragile skin mercilessly and ending his life.

That’s what he thought.

In a flash, Rahel’s magical power surged.

Heavenly Slaughter Sword Form 4, Shattering Heaven.

Chwajat-!

Numerous sword strikes struck Grace’s body.

In the blink of an eye, Grace didn’t even feel the pain from the sword strikes that slashed through his entire body.

With a vision that flipped in an instant, his body sprawled on the ground.

Grace, whose entire body had been cut, couldn’t move and turned his eyes to look at the hero.

– Th-This is… that guy isn’t human! This speed and body….

Grace couldn’t understand the situation.

He couldn’t understand how he could be so fast that he couldn’t even notice, but he also couldn’t understand how that guy was still alive.

He definitely touched him.

Just before he fell, the tip of his claw touched the hero’s arm, even if only slightly.

The claw containing the demonic energy of the high-ranking demon Grace should have easily torn apart the human’s arm and injected demonic energy into his body.

But why didn’t that human have a single scratch?

“These bastards have too much to say even when they’re dying.”

Chwaak-

Rahel didn’t bother listening to the demon’s next words.

He cleanly severed the neck of the demon who had foolishly sped up and rushed in.

“Woo, waaaaa!”

“Commence battle! Protect the Hero!”

Seeing the hero, who had cut down a demon twice his size with a single exchange, the allied forces’ morale began to revive.

The fact that such a strong hero was fighting alongside them ignited their fighting spirit.

“Deploy the magic circles!”

“Charge! Charge!”

Magic began to rain from the sky.

The magic circles originally intended for use against Alheim changed direction and poured down onto the plains.

The magic designed together with Tia swept away the demons and led the battle.

“Elves, follow me!”

“In the name of the giants!”

Reina and Gent supported Rahel from behind with their respective tribes.

These two were the strongest combatants of each race.

Hwaaaak-

Spirits who answered Reina’s call flew around like dancing and clung to the demons.

Not only that.

Thump-! Thump-!

A giant spirit appeared through the Astral Realm [a plane of existence connected to the physical world].

The king of spirits, Zephyrius, born with the magic of nature, created a massive storm behind Reina.

“Kill them all! Zephyrius!”

At Reina’s command, Zephyrius’s massive body struck with his fist.

The ground shook with each blow, crushing the demons.

“…Amazing. Reina.”

Hwaak-!

Gent was amazed by Reina’s power but didn’t stop swinging his axe.

He knew that Reina’s true strength was strong, but the fact that such a frivolous elf possessed that much power was surprising every time he saw it.

“Our job doesn’t change. Kill the demons and protect the hero.”

Kwaduk-!

Gent swung his axe once more and glared sharply.

In the end, his job was just one thing: to protect Rahel.

The giants followed behind him.

“You son of a bitch!”

Carlson spat out curses and cut down the demon in front of him.

As a Silver Cross Knight and one of the Empire’s Three Heroes, he stood at the forefront of the war.

He had clearly cut down hundreds of demons, but the demons appeared endlessly, no matter how many he cut down.

“Sir Carlson! Be careful!”

“Ugh!”

Chwaak-

Lucas cut down the demon targeting Carlson from behind.

Lucas’s senses, perfectly honed through mastering the Heavenly Extremity Weight thanks to Rahel’s help, didn’t miss anything.

“Damn, thanks Lucas. I almost died.”

“Yes. Even a small wound to them means desertion from the battlefield. Please be careful.”

“I know. Tsk, those monsters are something to watch out for.”

After the demons were swept away by the magic prepared by the Magic Tower Masters.

The real monsters entered the battlefield.

The demons of the Abyss.

The demons from the unknown place called the Sea of the Abyss were immune to divine power.

Their power didn’t weaken even with the Saint’s blessing, and the soldiers who were wounded by them were immediately poisoned by the dense demonic energy.

‘Rahel, brother…’

Carlson looked at Rahel, who was standing at the forefront.

Rahel was fighting at the forefront more than anyone else, cutting down a tremendous number of demons, as if the words he had said in his speech were not a lie.

– Die! Human!

Chwaaaak-

Carlson cut off his thoughts and cut down the neck of the approaching demon.

The only fortunate thing was that Carlson’s divine power sword strikes still worked on them.

Thanks to this, the elite paladins stood at the forefront and confronted the demons of the Abyss.

“Damn it, but there are a lot fewer of them. Let’s hang in there. Lucas!”

The battle was evenly matched, but the situation was good.

The allied forces were not being pushed back; rather, it was the demons whose numbers were decreasing.

It wasn’t that the allied forces had no casualties, but the damage was less than that of the demons, who disregarded their lives and charged madly.

“If we keep this up… we can win! Keuh!”

“…Sir Carlson. Don’t you think something is strange?”

“What?!”

Carlson answered, cutting down the demon in front of him.

He was so focused on fighting the demons that he had no time to think about anything else.

“The demons are sacrificing their lives. It’s strangely so.”

“Aren’t they just idiots who can’t think?”

“No. It’s a little… different.”

The demons weren’t crazy.

They were faithful to their instincts and desires.

And instincts and desires naturally included preserving their own lives.

But the demons were charging without looking back.

As if they had some kind of solution….

“Push them back! Our victory is near!”

“I’m going to be a hero too!”

Even the ordinary soldiers felt that the battle situation was overwhelmingly in their favor.

The allied forces’ faces were filled with hope at the fact that they were defeating the demons, who had been a symbol of terror to the human race, with their own hands.

At that moment.

Kukwakwakwakwang-

Alheim began to move.

Alheim, which had been floating above the plains, gradually lowered its altitude and settled on the ground.

“What is that…?”

“A storm of demonic energy? But we have the Hero!”

The high Demon King’s castle came into the allied forces’ view.

And the massive demonic energy coming from that Demon King’s castle was also visible.

[Despair. And fear.]

At the same time, hundreds of eyes appeared on the plains.

Demonic energy erupted from the eyes of Maledrakh, which had been hidden in the air.

Crack- Crack-

At the same time.

The thousands of demons who had fallen on the ground began to twitch.

*

The Demon King’s castle, towering high in the center of Alheim.

Maledrakh looked down at the battle situation and smiled with satisfaction.

The fallen demons received Maledrakh’s demonic energy and were given life once more.

To be exact, it wasn’t life, but a final struggle, but there wasn’t much difference.

The demons would fight until the life given to them burned out, unaware of that fact.

“Hero of the Order. Why do you think I gave you time?”

Demons coming from the Sea of the Abyss?

Maledrakh didn’t need to wait for those guys.

If he had wanted to, he would have unleashed the sea and started the battle with the demons right away.

Why did he leave them alone for a month?

Their existence itself became a source of power for Maledrakh.

The entire continent fears Maledrakh.

The only reason humans worship something is because there is something to fear.

Just as ancient humans created gods because they feared natural phenomena.

The humans of today feared the Demon King Maledrakh and worshiped Rahel.

Just as divine power accumulated in Rahel, so did divine authority accumulate in Maledrakh.

“The sight of those bug-like creatures dying is quite amusing.”

Maledrakh looked down below the Demon King’s castle.

The revived demons trampled on the corpses and stirred through the allied forces, causing tremendous damage.

The more that happened, the stronger Maledrakh’s power became, and that power was given back to the demons through Maledrakh’s eyes.

From the beginning, this was a battle that humans could not win.

‘This is an opportunity.’

Fear becomes power for Maledrakh.

The entire continent will fear the demons.

And, by gathering this divine authority, he will transcend his rank.

He will become a god who transcends the Demon King and dominates the entire continent.

“Humans, fear even more. Cry out in terror.”

Maledrakh smiled deeply, thinking about the future that would come to him.