The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound

Chapter 301: The Age of the Warmongers (5)

Unlike the unicorn in mythology, it is a huge monster armed with evil and fear.

Burning yellow sulfur light emanates from the two wide-open eyes.

The large single horn on its forehead was broken at the tip.

Normally, a horse wears the reins and a human holds the handle, but in the case of this strange creature, it was the other way around.

It looks like the horse itself is holding the handle of the reins, and the human underneath is filling them.

<Amdusias, the '5th Corpse'>

Danger Rating : S

Size: ?

Found in: Deep within the Gates of Destruction, 'Serpent's Womb'

-Nicknamed '5th Corpse'.

One of the Ten Plagues, natural enemies of mankind, incomprehensible and unkillable.

"I will take away the lives of the first born that year."

– 『Ten Commandments』 10:High –

Amdusias, the fifth of the ten demons!

At the sight of this muscular demon, Vikir's mind flashed back to his pre-regression memories.

'The nightmare that attacked the Academy just before the Age of Destruction began.'

The central clock tower, the symbol of the Colosseo Academy, collapsed due to the sudden descent of the Demon King, and many young heroes who would have become the cornerstone of the empire died.

When the sword of the cold weapon becomes dull and the heat of the Hot weapon cools down.

Only then did the empire have its first warning of its demise.

'...The deaths of the young students had a tremendous impact on the future of the Human Alliance.'

The catastrophe had enraged even those who had left the school for various reasons, such as Piggy and Sancho, and brought them back to the Human Alliance.

Vikir looked at Winston in front of him and Amdusias behind him.

'It is time to kill.'

The reason he had kept Winston alive so far was that he still had a lot of work to do at the Academy before he could kill him.

It was also because he possessed a type of 'dangerous superpower'.

Then.

Amdusias turned his head and began to look this way.

[...The scent of a demon hunter. you are Night Hound].

Vikir pressed his mask deeper and deeper into place.

His opponent was a Demon King who could be counted on three fingers in terms of single force among the ten Demon King.

There was no point in stalling for time.

... Flash!

The solid aura that symbolized the Swordmaster spread out in the form of a crescent moon, cutting through space.

Clang- clang- clang!

Vikir's blow caught the tip of Amdusias's horn and deflected upward, splitting the ceiling in two.

[Indeed. My comrades deserve it].

Amdusias muttered in a low voice.

Belial and Dantalian were good at cunning deception and legionnaire tactics, Seere was good at creating and leading large numbers of subordinates using black magic, Decarabia was only focused on defense, and they were so lazy that they even died too early and lost their strength. Andromalius couldn't build it properly... However, unlike them, Amdusias is a warlike fighter.

As a single entity, he is more powerful than any demon that has ever fought.

Thud!

Amdusias kicked.

His hind hooves struck with such speed that Vikir was sent flying backwards, crashing into the rubble.

'Strength, speed. Nothing is lacking.'

Vikir barely swallowed the blood that rushed to his lips.

'... But strength and speed aren't his only dangers.'

Vikir knows he's still hiding one more ability.

The same ability that had killed so many in the Academy before he regressed!

That's why Vikir had to be extremely careful.

Then. Amdusias turned and pointed his horns at Vikir.

At this rate, it would pierce through everything.

But.

Whiriric-

A giant serpent intrudes from the side and wraps around the tip of Amdusias' horn, tightening it.

It pulls him hard to the side, changing the trajectory of his charge.

...Boom!

Amdusias slammed his head into the ground a few feet away from Vikir.

A tremendous seismic wave shook the entire shattered auditorium.

Then, through the scattering debris and dust, Amdusias's amber eyes shone.

He turned to Winston and asked.

[...Are you Sady?]

Sure enough, there was Sady standing there, tugging at the whip wrapped around the end of Amdusias's horn.

Amdusias's figure blurred for a moment, and then the light returned to Winston's dimmed eyes.

Winston lifted his shaking pupils and looked at Sady.

[Sady. How could you do this to me. I raised you with love. How could you do this to me...]

Winston had done everything in his power to keep Sady from being fired from her position as a professor.

And in fact, it was Winston who had consistently supported her so that she could receive an excellent education since she was a baby.

He's been supporting her to get the right education, to live the right life, to walk the right path.

... but.

"You're full of shit."

Sady's reply was cold.

"There is no way the granddaughter of a war criminal will grow up on the right path. Do you really think the system of guilt by association has been abolished? Isn't that what people looked at?"

Contempt, disdain, and fearful gaze that have continued since childhood.

Until one day, when she stumbled upon her grandfather's autobiography, hidden deep within the citadel of the fallen family, Sady realized.

She realized that Principal Winston, her only support, was in fact the man who had brought down her grandfather, the Marquis de Sade, during the '47 Riots'.

The look in Sady's eyes changed after that.

Although she suffered from abusive language, discrimination, unfair treatment, and secret violence, she patiently endured all of this, and the madness inherited from her grandfather began to shine in her eyes.

A warmonger. A world of the powerful.

Sady gritted her teeth at Winston.

"All the while I was reading my grandfather's autobiography. I found myself immersed in it more deeply than at any other moment in my life!"

[....]

"Why did we come to a world where those with power look down on those without power? I also learned how to overcome that absurdity and contradiction!"

Sady smirked at Winston.

"And it convinces me that, despite your pretense of humanity and peace, there was actually a demon lurking within you. Now I will avenge my grandfather."

With that, Sady began to emit a terrifying force from her entire body.

Qua-qua-qua-qua!

The whip began to wriggle like a snake with thorny scales.

The sticky aura, like coagulated blood, rides on the thorns as a result of the whip and lays waste to all directions.

But Winston just stood there with a silent expression.

[...is this human after all].

And then, Amdusias's blurred body regained its full form.

[It is indeed worth denying three times.]

Amdusias muttered something unintelligible and raised his huge body to face the aura storm created by Sady.

The result was....

Kujijik!

It was a landslide victory for Amdusias.

No matter how strong Sady was and how much experience she had in battle, she was still a Graduator Superlative.

As long as she hadn't crossed the barrier of Master, it would be difficult for her to stand against a Demon King.

Bruak!

Sady was dumped like garbage in a pile of rubble.

Amdusias aimed his huge horn at her as she spewed blood and pieces of intestines from the corner of her mouth.

[In the end, it's pointless, weak mortal-]

But Sady was not discouraged at all.

"Cough! Is that so?"

[Bluffing doesn't work].

"I'm not bluffing, I'm buying time, hohoho-"

Amdusias shook his head at Sady's words.

...Phew!

Winston's back snapped once.

A crimson sword pierced through his heart.

Vikir was already holding Winston's back.

"'It's over,' 'It's time to die,' 'This is your grave,' 'There's no hope left for you,' ... I've heard this many times before."

[....]

"But guess what? I am here now."

In the blink of an eye, Vikir laid countless stabs into Winston's body.

Amdusias hurriedly picked up Winston's body and stepped back, but Vikir followed as if waiting.

...just then.

Suddenly, Winston's eyes turned red.

Thwack, thud, thud!

Winston, who was just a host, reached out and grabbed Vikir's arm.

"Who's the demon?"

For a moment, Vikir felt the stench of Winston's scent disappear.

And that momentary hesitation was not lost on Winston.

...Bang!

He pushed Vikir away and jumped backwards.

He looked at Sady, writhing on the rubble in the distance, and asked.

"Demons and humans. Which is more evil?"

Humans reject demons.

Because they are evil.

However, sometimes humans act beyond the 'demon', the evil idea they created.

"The opposite of justice is not evil, it's just another definition...."

Winston seemed to be pointing out just that.

...but.

"I'm not interested in your shitty philosophy, so don't try to lecture me."

Vikir is a veteran who has spent countless hours on the battlefield.

He's not a kid who gets swayed by the enemy's logic.

"Demons Kill."

First rule of a demon hunter. A belief that will not change under any circumstances.

And that's what Vikir does.

...Pow!

The stab once again strikes Winston, and beyond that, Amdusias.

[I thought he was young, but he's quite the experienced hunter].

Amdusias began to gain momentum in earnest.

A huge Dark Unicorn and Night Hound were about to clash horns and teeth.

Just then.

"Woah!... Where is it?"

A loose voice is heard, somewhat at odds with the tense atmosphere of the battlefield.

Both Amdusias and Vikir paused for a moment.

When Vikir saw her face, he felt sorry in his heart.

The sight of her face made Vikir feel sick.

'Nabokov I? Why are you here...!?'

The Pope.

A being who should never have appeared on this battlefield.

A face that would have been poisoned long ago before the regression.

A variable that even Vikir was not expecting.

She popped up out of nowhere on the last battlefield.