The Bastard Swordsman Of The Imperial Guard [EN]: Chapter 216

Swish-

Rain lashed down, the demon before him surveying the surroundings.

Around him, the Rain Knights brandished their swords.

“To think I’d survive…”

Rain still couldn’t believe he had made it out of that hell.

He had been prepared to give his life as a knight, but now that he was alive, he felt strangely disoriented.

The Heavenly Demon Sword Master cleaved through the demons surrounding the Rain Knights.

With the help of the dragon Tia, who swooped in from the sky, he had managed to escape from the heart of the enemy lines.

He sent the wounded to the rear and immediately rejoined the battle.

“Move the wounded to the rear!”

“The Rain Knights will lead the charge!”

Rain swung his sword, cutting down the bodies of demons.

He had only received emergency treatment from the priests and hadn’t recovered enough to redeploy his domain [a swordsman’s personal aura or power], but even in his current state, Rain had to take up his sword.

It was then.

The screen showed Rahel collapsing.

As the Allied forces watched him with despair, the Heavenly Demon Sword Master appeared and drove the Demon King back.

Everyone prayed for victory, chanting the names of Rahel and the Heavenly Demon Sword Master.

KWAHHHHHHHH!

Rain was startled and turned to look at the Demon King’s castle.

The Heavenly Demon Sword Master’s strike, which had saved him and ascended to the Demon King’s castle, split the sky and shook the earth.

The Heavenly Demon Sword’s shockwave was felt by both the Allied forces and the demons.

“Such unbelievable power… It must be the Heavenly Demon Sword Master!”

Rain wore a confident smile.

The Hero and the Continent’s Greatest Swordsman. They were protecting the continent.

[I’ll… I’ll kill you all. Every single one of you humans!!]

Thump-!

However, the monster did not fall.

Maledrakas did not die from the Heavenly Demon Sword Master’s all-out strike and rose again.

“No way… Rahel…!”

Rain stared at the screen in despair.

He was also a Sword Master, but the power of the Demon King and the Heavenly Demon Sword Master had already transcended the realm of humans.

Unless the Heavenly Demon Sword Master’s sword could work, the Allied forces could not stop the Demon King.

The same went for Rahel.

He had been injured fighting the Demon King before the Heavenly Demon Sword Master arrived.

Now, there was no one left to stop that monster.

Rain clenched his fist.

He resented his own helplessness in the face of such immense power.

It was a moment of despair for the Allied forces, but not everyone was defeated.

Zenith, who had joined the war to gain honor, slashed down the demon before him and shouted.

“The demons aren’t reviving anymore!”

Rain, who was close to Zenith, immediately snapped out of it at that shout.

As he cut down the rushing demon, the demon did not revive, just as Zenith had said.

“Listen up, everyone! There’s no need to cut off their limbs! Cut off the demons’ heads! They are no longer immortal! There is still hope!”

The demons had weakened.

The blessing that had prevented them from dying even when cut down had disappeared.

The bizarre tenacity that made them crawl with their torsos to bite at the knights’ ankles, even when their limbs were torn off, had vanished.

Some demons even started to flee when a knight cut off their arm.

This was because Maledrakas had withdrawn all the demonic energy he had infused into the demons.

Thanks to this, the Allied forces were pushing back the demons and advancing towards the Demon King’s castle.

“Damn it, Rahel! You have to do it!”

Once again, Rain stared at the screen showing the center of the Demon King’s castle.

The tide of the battle had turned in favor of the Allied forces, but unfortunately, the success or failure of this war did not depend on the Allied forces and the demons.

[For Rahel.]

At that moment.

A sacred voice echoed throughout the Allied forces.

*

Around Saint Cecilia, numerous priests were offering prayers.

As a Saint, she was using her divine power to command the entire battlefield.

The demons, empowered by Maledrakas’s demonic energy, would not die even when cut down.

To fight such monsters, the humans also needed the Saint’s blessing.

If Cecilia had not been there, the Allied forces would have been annihilated long ago.

“…Rahel.”

Even as she spread her blessing across the entire battlefield.

Cecilia looked at Rahel.

When she was about to be killed by the Demon King.

Even when the Heavenly Demon Sword Master saved him.

She prayed and prayed for Rahel’s victory.

All she could do was pray.

“Gaia [the goddess of the Earth in this world], grant salvation to the lamb. Grant the power to defeat evil…”

Praying earnestly for Rahel, Cecilia watched the battle.

The Heavenly Demon Sword Master’s sword had not worked, and the undead Demon King had risen.

“Gaia…”

Cecilia bit her lip.

She was frustrated by the reality that did not change no matter how much she prayed.

‘Gaia. Why?’

At that moment, Cecilia resented the gods for the first time.

What were the gods to her?

Faced with this question that she had always harbored, Cecilia wavered once more.

Simply being a being to rely on was not enough.

It could not be explained by the words “an absolute being who spreads mercy and love throughout the world.”

It was not just a being who looked down from above and bestowed blessings.

The tremor that resonated deep within her heart whenever she prayed.

It was not just reverence, but something deeper.

A being who led her by giving her strength to move forward by relying on them.

Cecilia had no doubt that this being was God.

“……”

Cecilia’s eyes, kneeling, trembled uneasily.

The prayer that lingered at the end of her lips stopped for a moment.

The realization she faced in the silence was no longer that transcendent being in the distant sky.

“Rahel…”

She called his name in a trembling voice.

She felt a deeper faith filling her heart than the thousands of prayers she had offered.

What Cecilia called faith may have been an absolute belief in something from the beginning.

Cecilia’s heart was now filled with sincerity towards one person, rather than faith in God.

But with a more desperate heart than ever, she whispered with a deeper wish than any prayer.

“Please, survive.”

The moonlight seeping through the window sparkled in her tears.

This was no longer a simple prayer.

It was the purest hymn of reverence towards her own newfound god.

And at the same time, it was the most desperate plea towards the one she revered.

“I will pray for you.”

Her prayer began to be conveyed to the Allied forces, to the continent.

*

Rahel stared straight ahead.

Maledrakas was maintaining his form by pouring demonic energy into his melting body.

His chest and legs still bore the huge, straight scars.

The Sword of 逆天 [Reversal of Heaven, a legendary sword].

The Continent’s Greatest Swordsman, the Heavenly Demon Sword Master’s sword, had left Maledrakas with wounds that could not be healed.

The only reason he was maintaining his body at this moment was that he was burning all his divine authority like Rahel, and he had recovered all the enormous amount of demonic energy he had spread to the demons.

“You’re bringing all that demonic energy, what are you planning to do? Are you going to kill all your demons?”

Rahel’s senses were reading the situation outside even at this moment.

There was no longer an invincible demon army.

The demons, whose wounds were not healing, would die the moment their heads were cut off.

Because they were not being controlled by Maledrakas’s demonic energy, they would run away before they got hurt.

The war was already a victory for the Allied forces.

“Nothing changes. I’ll kill you and then kill the entire continent!”

Maledrakas gathered his last strength and unleashed demonic energy once more.

Even though he had been struck by the Sword of 逆天, his presence was still immense.

He was the Great Demon King who had reached divine authority by gathering the fear of the continent.

But Rahel did not stop either.

His body felt light. Magic welled up, and his senses were sharper than ever.

Divine power was flooding into his body like a tide.

Rahel could not miss this opportunity.

Krrrrrrrr-

Demonic energy began to boil in Maledrakas’s body.

His eyes shed tears of blood as he began to condense demonic energy.

“…You fight so stupidly.”

“Kuaaaaaaaa!”

Masses of demonic energy were fired from hundreds of eyes.

The demonic energy, as if trying to destroy the entire Demon King’s castle, aimed at Rahel.

The Heavenly Demon Sword, Form 4, Shattering Heaven.

Rahel’s sword moved like lightning, piercing through all hundreds of demonic energies.

The sword tore through the darkness, and the light erased the color of the dense demonic energy that covered the space.

As soon as Maledrakas saw that the demonic energy was not working, he lunged at Rahel.

Krrrrrrrr-!

He no longer used only his fists.

He opened his mouth like a beast and bared his claws.

Maledrakas had returned to being a demon before being a Demon King.

He aimed for Rahel’s life in the most efficient form possible.

Rahel raised the Flash, seeing that figure.

Maledrakas, charging with dense demonic energy, had a power strong enough to destroy anything.

Even Rahel, who was strong against demonic energy, was reluctant to collide with him head-on.

The Flash sparked flames.

Rahel’s sword frantically slashed away Maledrakas’s arms, which were flailing wildly, and blew away his mouth.

Maledrakas did not stop even then.

Being cut off an arm was not a big wound for Maledrakas, who had already unleashed his divine authority.

However, he could not withstand Rahel’s sword cutting through his chest.

Kuuuuuuuuu-!

A chilling scream struck Rahel’s ears.

A wound that would not heal even after opening his divine authority and recovering all the demonic energy.

Rahel’s divine power dug into the wound inflicted by the Sword of 逆天 and tore it apart once more.

“Kuaaaa!”

Maledrakas’s demonic energy began to vibrate.

The power to condense demonic energy was falling as the wound was attacked.

Rahel did not wait. His Flash began to move.

The sword, moving so fast that it could not be followed with the eyes, pressured Maledrakas.

The slashes created in a fleeting moment cut through the demonic energy that filled the space.

And in the space created, the magic power of 회천 [Hoicheon, a technique or domain] took its place.

Rahel’s domain, imbued with divine power, gradually dominated the space and pressured Maledrakas.

“Damn it, damn it…! What the hell are you doing!”

Maledrakas waved his hand in panic.

He was fighting as a demon, as a hunter.

He had already abandoned the dignity of the Demon King. He was trying to kill Rahel with all his heart.

That’s why he was panicking.

He certainly knew the Hero’s skills.

Until the Heavenly Demon Sword Master appeared, the Hero could have been killed dozens of times if Maledrakas had been serious.

But what about him now?

“How the hell are you blocking my attacks!”

The attacks that should not be caught up are being caught up.

The sword that was clearly visible is not visible.

Barely a human, he was surpassing the Demon King’s recognition speed.

The enormous difference that existed between Maledrakas and Rahel was rapidly diminishing.

It was not simply a difference in divine power.

The Hero, Rahel, was growing even at this moment.

The current Rahel was strong enough to match Maledrakas.

“This can’t be! Uaaaaaaa!”

Maledrakas screamed and rushed at Rahel.

It was his last chance.

He was already burning all his divine authority and demonic energy.

If he lost here, he would not be able to recover.

“…”

Rahel looked at Maledrakas.

A large amount of magic power circulated through his body.

His vision widened, and his steps quickened.

He entrusted the sword to instinct, so much so that he could not even recognize himself.

The flames blooming from the Flash grew stronger and stronger.

“Sorry, but I have a lot to carry.”

Divine power bloomed in Rahel’s heart.

Maledrakas had the desire to become a god and devour the continent.

But Rahel was a little more desperate.

There were Allied forces dying to the demons.

There were those who fought at the forefront knowing they would die.

Some for faith.

Some to become heroes.

Some for a peaceful tomorrow.

Everyone was praying.

Their voices reached Rahel.

“Heavenly Demon Divine Sword (天煞神劍) [a powerful sword technique combining demonic and divine energy].”

The flames of divine power blazed on Rahel’s Flash.

Everyone on the continent wished for Rahel’s victory.

That wish became power.

As a Hero.

As the one representing them, he could not give up.

‘Not enough.’

At that moment,

Rahel felt something was lacking.

Certainly, the Flash was a near-perfect sword.

However, the Flash was not enough to handle the divine power that filled Rahel’s body.

To annihilate Maledrakas, who had not died even from the Sword of 逆天, he needed even more powerful power.

Rahel held the Flash in his left hand and stretched out one hand into the air.

It was not an action taken with any calculation or thought.

He just felt that he had to do this.

Swish-

At the same time.

A sword was held in Rahel’s right hand.

[W-What is this… Hero?]

“Lend me your strength, Saint.”

Rahel held the Flash and the Holy Sword Saint.

The flames of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword blazed from the swords in both hands.