Chapter 118: ‘It’ (2)
CRACK—!
“…The sword?!”
“Lord Elwin!!”
Hake and Zeraphe, watching from afar, shouted in unison, alarmed.
They urgently looked at Elwin, tensing their bodies and preparing for combat.
‘I need to use magic to create distance…!’
‘Should I somehow get him one of my weapons in a pinch?’
Wondering if they should join in if things got dangerous.
But Elwin, turning to them—
“Haha.”
Was laughing.
“Broken again.”
Despite the dire crisis of his weapon breaking before a formidable enemy.
As if he were simply amused.
‘Why?’
The two stared at Elwin in a daze. Whether aware of their gazes or not, Elwin casually tossed the broken sword aside and clenched his fists tightly.
“It’s been a while since I’ve fought barehanded.”
Taking a natural fighting stance, Elwin smiled brightly.
“I hope you last as long as possible.”
Then he charged at ‘It’ like a thunderbolt.
Many people misunderstood one thing.
That Elwin was a ‘swordsman.’ That he took pride in being one.
Because everyone who knew him knew—the Top Hunter of Yellow was the first disciple personally trained by The Azure Hunter.
And the country she had long protected was Arad, the hegemon of the western continent.
A land renowned for swords and knights.
Naturally, it was easy to conclude that the disciple raised by The Azure Hunter would be a swordsman carrying Arad’s pride.
“Master.”
But the reality was different.
“I want to learn the sword.”
Elwin learned the sword for a simple reason. The person he admired used a sword, and he wanted to be like them.
That was all.
A swordsman’s pride? Chivalry? Reverence and love for the sword?
Sadly, he had none of that.
Not long ago, while training Gale one-on-one—
“Huh? Kid, your sword…?”
“Ugh, it broke again. What a shame. I think that was the last practice sword. Is there another spare? I’ll go check. Wait a sec.”
“Wait, hold on! Hold on! Aren’t you too calm!? The sword you were just using snapped in half! It’s not made of glass!”
Weapons breaking or shattering in combat wasn’t as common as some might think.
A cheap wooden sword, maybe, but a steel sword.
Especially a high-quality one forged from fine steel—those were even less likely to break.
“Hm. Well… I’m used to it.”
But for Elwin, and for Top Hunters like him, it was routine.
Even swords crafted by the world’s finest smiths broke or malfunctioned when Elwin used them.
“For us Top Hunters, most weapons are disposable.”
They break, get damaged, or stop functioning.
That was the fate of weapons in a Top Hunter’s hands.
At best, artifact weapons made by the combined efforts of the Magic Tower and Clock Tower, or those crafted by Macarba, the greatest among renowned dwarf smiths, could last a bit longer.
Of course, this wasn’t widely known. Neither the Top Hunters nor their loyal subordinates had ever publicized it.
Among the Spero crew, only two knew.
Nahrhan, who had spent years with Elwin.
And Gale, who happened to be present when a sword broke.
So, the fact that ‘It’ remembered this and cleverly exploited Elwin’s ‘weakness’ with sharp, cunning judgment…
Elwin’s sunken gaze turned to ‘It.’
“Kikikik!”
Thinking it had put Elwin in a bind, ‘It’ bared its teeth and laughed maniacally.
SLASH!
Whipping its sword like a lash, it attacked Elwin recklessly.
The practical, utilitarian swordsmanship typical of a mercenary was sloppy, but ‘It’ didn’t care.
“KAKAK!”
Believing Elwin, now without a weapon, wasn’t worth guarding against. Or perhaps judging his attack power had significantly dropped and ignoring him.
Whatever the reason, it was thoroughly displeasing.
‘I’m being underestimated quite a bit.’
Elwin, dodging while predicting the sword’s range, smiled coldly. And thought.
‘As expected… the seal hasn’t broken.’
He’d suspected as much from the start.
‘Floetta couldn’t have known about Gale for long. Jana said she joined Depicio as a collaborator recently. At most, two or three months.’
In that short time, orchestrating a plot to revive the demon in Gale was impressive, but insufficient to break the seal’s depth.
What makes a sealing spell most robust?
Sacrifice.
A selfless heart that prioritizes others over oneself.
When someone with such a heart sacrifices for a sealing spell, it becomes unimaginably strong and durable.
Unchanging over time, unshaken by most shocks.
‘It’s probably just scratched a bit now.’
Like a cracked jar leaking water, it was the same.
But Gale was far superior to a broken jar, capable of self-recovery.
‘If the seal shows signs of breaking…’
Elwin was prepared to abandon all plans to lure Familia using Gale as bait and kill him.
It would be painful to see years of careful planning crumble…
But recalling Gale Garav’s ‘true identity,’ the reality of the seal fully breaking now was far too threatening.
‘Not yet.’
Gale still lacked faith and trust in humans. He was gradually opening up to Elwin and the others, but…
If Gale realized his true identity and regained his memories now, would he still love humans as he does?
Who knows.
Elwin, who would’ve used every means for revenge, wasn’t mad enough to unleash a monster capable of slaughtering masses with a finger snap.
“Krrrk!”
A monster moving on instinct, devoid of reason. Still human in form, but with occasional non-human body parts emerging.
Yet it didn’t seem to transform further. The seal held.
‘If I can just keep its attention a bit longer, he’ll snap out of it…’
But there was an easier way. Elwin made his decision.
“A few good hits should wake him up.”
Crack.
He tilted his neck side to side, slowly moving his fingers to loosen up. Pop, the bones aligned with a chilling sound.
“You’d better snap out of it quick, Gale.”
Muttering, Elwin continued his warm-up casually. Stretching before a fight was crucial.
A cramp from not warming up properly would be a disaster.
“Grrrr!”
‘It,’ watching Elwin, ceased its flamboyant antics and prepared to face its foe seriously.
Unlike other humans, ‘It’ felt with its entire being that the yellow human before it was not to be underestimated.
Dangerous! This human is a highly threatening adversary!
While still not fully matured… it must be killed now!
As if someone whispered such words secretly in its ear.
‘It’ chose to follow that impulse, finding no reason to resist.
“KRAAAK!”
With a sword in one hand and a mana gun in the other, ‘It’ deftly wielded both.
The attacks, imbued with sinister dark power, were far more potent than Gale’s usual strikes.
“Dodge, Lord Elwin!”
“Dangerous…!”
Hake and Zeraphe shouted from behind.
Their faith in Elwin’s victory remained unshaken…
But seeing him stand leisurely before an attack of terrifying power made onlookers’ hearts race.
“I was just thinking it’s a shame I couldn’t fight a fully revived Beastkin King.”
Dash!
Rendering their worries moot, Elwin dodged the tidal wave of sword strikes and precisely aimed bullets.
“Good timing.”
He then leaped into the air, moving as naturally as climbing invisible stairs.
“Krrk?!”
‘It,’ predicting Elwin’s movements to unleash attacks, shuddered.
Elwin was standing in midair!
“Talk about luck, huh?”
Without emitting mana, without wings like a Birdfolk Beastkin, without using his cloak’s flight function.
He floated freely.
“Gale? Demon King? …Hm, whatever you are.”
Looking down from the sky, he seemed to command the world.
“I hope you’re a more entertaining opponent than the Manticore.”
WHOOSH!
Elwin’s form vanished in an instant. ‘It,’ startled, turned its head.
“Krrk?!”
Elwin appeared before ‘It’ in a flash, throwing a punch.
But the punch carried only a minuscule amount of mana, like that of a novice.
“Grrrrk!”
Realizing this, ‘It’ judged there was no need to dodge.
Better to take the hit and counter immediately! For some reason, that felt like the better choice!
Since ‘It’ prioritized instinct over reason, it didn’t deeply consider why the opponent hadn’t properly enhanced their body with mana.
That’s why the next moment was so overwhelming.
BOOM!
“KIIEEEK!”
Struck by Elwin’s fist, ‘It’ flew like grass caught in a storm—pitifully, swiftly.
A bone-chilling scream tore through the cold air.
CRASH!
A massive tremor came from where ‘It’ landed. Dust rose from the cracked ground.
“Kiek…?”
As if asking ‘Why…?’ ‘It’s eyes shook wildly.
Elwin landed lightly before ‘It,’ which was coughing up dead blood, and smiled.
“Funny. Did you think I’m some incompetent fool who can’t fight without a sword? Really?”
“…!!”
“Of course not.”
Elwin twisted his lips into a cold sneer.
“No way.”
His form vanished again.
Too fast for the eye to follow.
—Danger!
Instinctively judging so, ‘It’ scrambled up, opening its massive maw.
With all its might, it fired multiple black mana spheres!
BOOM—!
Heavy explosions left gaping craters. But none hit Elwin.
“…Kek!?”
Elwin relentlessly pursued ‘It,’ which dodged instinctively, and drove a fist into its abdomen.
Again, the mana in Elwin’s fist was negligible, but ‘It’ staggered heavily, as if struck by a superior blow.
“Hm. Nice impact. I like it.”
Elwin grinned, clearly satisfied.
Excluding swordsmanship, Elwin’s most confident combat skill was barehanded fighting.
“You’ll make a perfect punching bag for a bit.”
With a smile like a sated lion, ‘It’ involuntarily shuddered.
Something felt terribly wrong.