The Bastard Swordsman Of The Imperial Guard [EN]: Chapter 28

Carlson

Kuhlen smirked, gazing at the swordsman before him.

He sensed no proper magic, nor any divine power.

He was slightly taken aback by the swordsman’s ability to draw out sword energy, but he was just a typical Sword Expert.

‘Luckily, this will be an easy fight. And he’s a fool.’

Though demons and humans are both intelligent, they are vastly different.

In fact, Kuhlen had no hesitation in abandoning the demons who had come with him.

No matter how many of those wastes of space survived, they would never amount to more than he was.

“You say you won’t let me die peacefully. Heh. Does that remind you of your friend Carlson?”

But there were quite a few fools like this among the human race.

“I’ve met so many humans like you. Fools who don’t properly understand their own strength or their opponent’s, and throw themselves into impossible fights fueled by rage…!”

Friendship. Love. Affection. Justice…

Clinging to emotions that are utterly useless for survival.

Utterly foolish.

“But I, Kuhlen, love those kinds of guys. There’s no delicacy quite like sucking up their magic while listening to their screams in their final moments.”

Kuhlen grinned, baring his teeth.

The horns on his head scattered thick demonic energy.

“…What a load of crap. Does he think he’s the Demon King or something?”

This mid-tier demon was really full of himself.

Raiel spat on the ground.

Then, he slowly examined the demon’s appearance.

‘The size of the horns is typical for a mid-tier. He doesn’t seem to have a weapon, so is he a mage [magic user]? …No, he wielded a sword with Carlson’s body earlier. And he’s still hiding his hands.’

If he was a mage, it would be easier.

Their defenses mostly consist of demonic energy that gets stronger the closer you get, but Raiel could ignore demonic energy.

But if he used weapons, it could get troublesome.

“Hoo.”

Raiel sharpened his senses.

Battle instincts honed from real combat filled his entire body.

He usually enjoyed this feeling quite a bit, but he wasn’t in the mood to smile right now.

“Don’t worry! I’ll send you to your friend’s side soon enough!”

“…”

Raiel gripped his sword tightly instead of replying.

The power of demons comes from demonic energy.

Demonic energy, which erodes human souls and weakens magic just by touching it, is one of the reasons why it’s hard for humans to defeat demons.

In that regard, Raiel could be considered a human specialized in killing demons.

He was the only human who could fight demons on equal terms.

‘I just need to focus on the physical phenomena created by demonic energy.’

It was the same when he fought Bennett.

He could ignore curses aimed at him, but he couldn’t ignore the physical phenomena resulting from those curses.

Thud-

Raiel kicked off the ground and charged towards Kuhlen like lightning.

The flickering sword energy seemed sharper than usual today.

“Die! Human!”

Demonic energy erupted from Kuhlen’s body.

It was the first thing demons did when facing humans.

The denser the demonic energy, the harder it was for humans to fight properly.

‘I knew it.’

This was Raiel’s chance.

Without slowing down, he plunged straight into the demonic energy.

“You fool! To directly touch demonic energy!”

Kuhlen stared at Raiel and stirred up the demonic energy.

It was just arrogance. This guy lacked experience fighting demons.

He was just a foolish human blinded by rage at the death of his friend.

“I’ve killed countless humans like you!”

Whoosh-!

A wall of demonic energy rose from Kuhlen’s center.

The human before him was, at best, a mid-tier Sword Expert.

He would slowly be consumed by the wall of demonic energy, which he couldn’t break through with sword energy.

‘This is the end!’

Kuhlen had no doubt about his prediction.

In fact, it was almost correct.

Raiel was completely surrounded by demonic energy.

A normal human would have already been poisoned by the demonic energy.

Crack-

However, Raiel took another step forward.

He shoved his sword energy into the wall of demonic energy and twisted it.

“Kuh, kuh-ooooh…!”

The wall of demonic energy forcibly collapsed, and the aftermath affected Kuhlen as well.

Raiel didn’t miss the opportunity and thrust his sword towards Kuhlen’s chest.

It was a simple stab that contained no swordplay, but the sword suppressed the demonic energy and accurately pierced Kuhlen.

“Kuh-ack-. Kuaaaaack!”

Kuhlen desperately tried to dodge, but the sword that pierced through the demonic energy was much faster than his movements.

Slash-

He had to sacrifice his left arm to protect his vitals.

A burning pain, as if being branded with fire, was felt on his shoulder.

“You bastard! How dare you cut off my arm…!”

Kuhlen’s body trembled.

He couldn’t understand the phenomenon of this human piercing through the demonic energy, but that unbelievable speed was also strange.

“What the hell did you do! How can a human touch demonic energy and be fine!”

Kuhlen screamed, clutching the area near his torn shoulder.

Looking at his bloodshot eyes and pained face, it seemed like he should continue the attack immediately.

It was a foolish and obvious feint.

“Screaming like that…”

Raiel flicked off the purple blood from his sword and frowned.

The sharp senses were still sending him danger signals.

‘Now.’

He had been feeling demonic energy and killing intent from outside Raiel’s line of sight since earlier.

Without turning around, Raiel extended his sword over his shoulder.

Clang-!

A hot ember fell on his fingertips.

It was a fireball created by burning demonic energy.

“I won’t get hit by such low-level attacks.”

“I-Impossible…”

Kuhlen froze like a stone, covering his shoulder with his right arm.

He was much stronger than he had thought, but he believed he could definitely finish him off even if he took some damage.

The magic sphere created from the pre-hidden demonic energy, appearing without any warning, was Kuhlen’s hidden card.

Blocking this meant… his strength was beyond his expectations.

“I was actually quite worried.”

Thud- Thud-

Raiel’s footsteps echoed in Kuhlen’s ears.

To Kuhlen, his footsteps sounded like the executioner coming to behead him.

“Mid-tier demons are supposed to be graduate-level. It’s not like ‘graduate’ is some dog’s name, right?”

“N-No way. This can’t be!”

Whoosh!

A thick wall of demonic energy was erected.

It was the densest wall of demonic energy Kuhlen could create.

He still couldn’t believe that humans were completely unaffected by demonic energy.

“But… you’re really nothing, huh?”

Raiel’s sword was slammed down once again.

Along with the demonic energy that shattered like grains of sand, Raiel’s sword was embedded in Kuhlen’s chest.

“Kuaaaaaaaack!”

Thud-!

Kuhlen rolled his body and retreated.

He still couldn’t understand the phenomenon before him. But he couldn’t just die like this.

‘Damn it, is he not human? No, even if he’s a different race, he can’t completely ignore demonic energy…!’

Kuhlen quickly considered other options.

He cautiously sent demonic energy behind him.

One arm was torn off and there was a deep wound in his chest, but he was still okay.

The vitality of demons was tenacious. It was painful, but he wouldn’t die from this much.

Kuhlen glared at Raiel and opened his mouth.

“You… don’t tell me you’re a demon?!”

“Who knows? I could be an elf, or a demon. Everyone I meet suspects me.”

“Y-You bastard…”

How dare a human play with him like this!

Kuhlen moved all of his demonic energy.

He was going to save some power to escape, but if he died here, there would be no next time.

Woooong-!

Dense demonic energy rose behind Kuhlen.

The magic circles drawn with demonic energy contained numerous spells.

‘It was just luck…! Right. Creatures cornered will exert abnormal power!’

A terrible pain was felt in his exposed arm and chest, and an inexplicable anxiety covered his body.

But Kuhlen forcibly focused all his nerves on the magic.

Demonic magic focuses on destruction and slaughter, so its power is strong.

He could turn a human like that into ashes in an instant.

“So, you were a mage after all?”

Raiel began to slowly advance, watching Kuhlen’s magic.

Doo-geun, doo-geun-

His heartbeat was getting faster and faster, as if responding to his heated head.

The senses, sharpened more keenly in real combat, analyzed Kuhlen before him.

‘Annoying.’

But there were too many annoying things around him.

The sunlight shining on his face. The wind brushing against his cheek. The dust clouds rising from the ground.

He ignored them all.

His strengths were his outstanding physique and sharp senses.

He was already using his body as much as he could, so he had to focus on his senses.

Raiel stared at Kuhlen, focusing all his nerves on him.

What Raiel saw, having blocked out everything else, was only one thing.

The demon before him.

Thud-

Whoosh-

At the same time as Raiel kicked off the ground, demonic energy exploded behind Kuhlen.

Raiel examined the demonic energy leaking from Kuhlen.

He distinguished what to avoid, what to ignore, and what to destroy.

It felt as if the world had slowed down.

The magic made of demonic energy was all captured in Raiel’s vision.

‘There aren’t even three things I need to cut down.’

He ignored simple masses of demonic energy or magic made of demonic energy.

Raiel only needed to pay attention to the physical phenomena created by demonic energy.

Swish-.

Raiel’s sword, swung in an instant, pierced through Kuhlen’s demonic energy in one fell swoop.

The demonic energy, unable to withstand the power carried by the sword, distorted and disappeared without resistance.

“I’ll finish this quickly.”

Raiel only looked at one place.

From beginning to end, Raiel’s goal was Kuhlen’s neck.

“N-No, die! I said die!”

Raiel arrived at Kuhlen, cutting down the magic that was rushing towards him.

He took a step forward with his right foot and struck down from above.

Whoosh-

Seeing Raiel approaching in an instant, Kuhlen desperately spewed out demonic energy.

But his movements were too fast, and he couldn’t react properly.

Kwaaaaang-!

Kuhlen’s body, which collided with the sword, was thrown backward.

He fell to the ground and cried out in a resentful voice.

“Why! Why did a guy like you appear before me! Not a paladin, not someone with strong magic…! Damn it! Is he a knight of the Imperial Knights [elite military order]! The Knights promised not to touch demons…!”

Kuhlen shuddered in resentment.

Putting aside the unbelievable speed and power, he ignored demonic energy despite being human.

A human who was not affected by demonic energy. He had never heard of such a thing.

He was a monster.

Why did such a monster appear before him!

“Stop talking nonsense…”

Raiel expressionlessly drew out sword energy in front of Kuhlen.

It was satisfying to see the guy who had been so arrogant rolling around on the ground, but he wasn’t particularly happy.

“Just die quietly.”

Stab!

A fierce surge of sword energy pierced through Kuhlen’s chest.

Raiel poured magic into the sword and tore Kuhlen’s body apart.

Slash-

The sword that had pierced through his chest emerged from his side.

Purple blood burst out from Kuhlen, whose part of his chest had been torn away by the sword energy.

“Kuaaaaaaaaaaaack!”

Extreme pain, as if his soul was deeply wounded, pressed down on Kuhlen’s body.

His ribs were shattered, crushing his heart, and a huge amount of purple blood covered the dirt of the clearing.

“Kuh, kuh-heuk… Why… Why…”

Thud-

Kuhlen stared blankly at Raiel, then fell to the ground and stopped breathing.

“…Haa. That son of a bitch has a damn long lifeline.”

Raiel slowly walked towards Kuhlen.

The fight was finally over.

He relaxed his body and let his sword hang limply.

In a natural gesture, as if to confirm that he was really dead… he plunged his sword deep into Kuhlen’s neck.

At the same time, he whispered to Kuhlen.

“You know what? It’s not enough to just hold your breath. You have to stop your heart too.”

Raiel raised the corner of his mouth and pressed down on the sword.

“Aaaaaaaack! H-How…!”

Kuhlen, who had been pretending to be dead, finally opened his eyes wide and began to scream.

Demons have even stronger vitality than other races.

Even if their heart is broken, they don’t die until their neck is cut off.

Raiel knew that fact well.

“Unbelievable… I almost stopped my heart, there’s no way a human could have noticed…”

“I told you.”

Crack-

The sound of a neck bone breaking was heard.

The muscles were torn and the bones were crushed at the end of the sword Raiel was holding.

The unpleasant sensation of taking a life lingered on his fingertips.

“I have a good sense.”

“W-Wait. Keuh… Raiel, Raiel hyung-nim [term of endearment, like ‘bro’]…”

The demon’s face distorted by demonic energy and changed into a familiar face.

It was Carlson.

“I-It’s me. Hyung-nim. The demon took over my body…! Raiel hyung-nim! Just a moment…!”

“And I said this too.”

Stab.

Raiel’s eyes did not waver as he stared straight at the demon’s face.

The sharp sword slowly pressed down on his neck.

“Keuheuk…”

“I won’t let you die peacefully.”

“Ra, Raiel hyung-nim… A, aaaaack. Y-You son of a bitch! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you…!”

The demon with Carlson’s face poured out curses at Raiel.

But Raiel moved the sword with an expressionless face.

Tteudeuk- Tteudeudeuk-

He cut off the demon’s neck, which wouldn’t die even if its neck bone was broken, very slowly.

He had to make him feel all the pain of every single piece of flesh and muscle being torn.

Just like Carlson felt.

No, even more tragically.

“Keo, ah, aeeuk… Eu, euk… Kyaak… Your friend Carlson was consumed by my demonic energy and died. Keu, keukeuk… Kkeuek… Nothing will change…”

Slash-

Finally, Kuhlen’s neck was completely separated from his body.

Kuhlen’s head, which rolled and rolled, stopped among the sand.

“…”

Raiel stared at Carlson’s painfully distorted face and gathered his magic.

“He’s irritating even when he’s dying. That crazy demon bastard.”

Couldn’t he just die peacefully?

Raiel crushed the demon’s head and placed both hands on the sword stuck in the ground.

He had managed to keep his composure until the end, but his head was throbbing, probably because he was too excited.

As Tia said, he lacked stamina.

He should probably start physical training from tomorrow.

‘That’s right. Where’s Carlson? There wouldn’t have been time to eat him.’

He belatedly thought about Carlson.

He needed at least one memento to make a grave at the orphanage.

Raiel kicked the demon’s body with his foot.

He thought he would be somewhere surrounded by demonic energy, but strangely, he couldn’t see the corpse.

There wasn’t even a piece of Carlson’s armor.

“If you think about it, the paladins should have arrived a while ago…”

The tension of the battle was released, and Raiel’s senses, which had been focused on Kuhlen, returned.

Only then did he feel the gaze from behind.

Raiel was startled and quickly turned around.

“Ah, ah…. Raiel-nim [honorific suffix]. I, I didn’t mean to watch…”

The next Saintess.

Priestess Cecilia was looking at him.