Chapter 373: A Honored Guest
“A deal?”
At the Sword Demon’s question, Karl nodded confidently.
“Is there any good in spilling more blood? Let’s resolve this peacefully through conversation.”
“With those who rampaged through our territory?”
“Well, to be honest, I thought I could kill the targets before it ca to this.”
“You shaless bastard. If you kill her, you all die.”
His tone was calm, but the energy laced in the Sword Demon’s voice was chilling.
Through his spiritual vision, Karl could see him for what he was—a towering mountain capable of crushing anyone with sheer pressure.
Facing him at point-blank range, Karl’s insides trembled. Still, he forced a wide smile to his lips.
He was in the middle of enemy territory.
To lose his nerve now would be fatal.
“If the result is satisfactory, she’ll be unhard.”
“Then release her, and I’ll consider your offer.”
“Is this your first ti negotiating? You’re underestimating .”
The Sword Demon folded his arms and silently stared at Karl. That look made Karl chuckle bitterly—he really did seem unfamiliar with this kind of exchange.
Then again, if a sword could solve everything, who would need to make deals?
Still, it ant the Sword Demon valued Azolett highly. Was her worth truly that great?
It was unexpected, but to Karl, it was a positive signal.
“Let go!”
Azolett struggled, glaring at the one gripping her throat like she could kill him with her eyes. She seed to have realized who the monster in front of her was.
“You ugly freak!”
“Weren’t you trying to seduce earlier?”
“B-Boss! Kill him! Forget soone like ...!”
“Quiet. Azolett, you should know how precious the life of the Black Star is, if you want the 'prophecy' to co true.”
Azolett bit her lip in frustration at the Sword Demon’s words. As he gave her a look, she closed her eyes tightly and stopped moving her fingers.
Karl exhaled softly—he’d been preparing for her to resist.
“Smart choice. Especially that little finger—if that had moved, things would’ve gotten ssy.”
“You... How did you—?!”
“By the way, this prophecy...I’m suddenly curious about the content.”
“You talk too much. State your demand.”
After saying that, the Sword Demon closed his eyes.
A clear sign he wouldn’t entertain any more back-and-forth. To close his eyes before an enemy—it was supre confidence, possible only for soone like him.
Karl hadn’t faced a type like this before. His thoughts raced.
He turned to check on his allies.
From behind Darkstorm’s encirclent, he could feel strong presences gathered. One, however, was faint and weak—it must’ve been Keros.
“Good, the others are unhard...?”
Despite what had happened, the Sword Demon hadn’t made a move yet. He seed more focused on watching the scene unfold.
Dorneth, Lily, Natasha.
Even from a distance, their auras were honed to deadly sharpness. They were ready to charge in at any mont.
Karl’s shoulders felt heavier.
His choices now sat at the crossroads between life and death for his comrades.
That made this negotiation all the more important.
Karl quickly combed through his mory—trying to recall his conversation with Arthur before the pursuit began.
A mont later, Karl spoke.
“I want two items in Rengua’s possession.”
“Items?”
“The Athyst Orb, and Kunta’s Soul-Binding Doll.”
Those were the items Arthur had warned him about the most. Killing Rengua wasn’t likely, so this was the next best option.
“Not a chance!!!”
Rengua burst out in fury, even coughing blood in his emotional outburst.
He was clearly not in normal condition.
Walking out from among Darkstorm, Rengua faced the Sword Demon and cried,
“I absolutely forbid it!”
“Are they that valuable?”
“Cut off my head instead, Boss!”
He shouted clearly, eyes wide with intensity. The Sword Demon nodded slightly and looked back at Karl.
“He says no.”
“Spoken easily. Then Azolett dies.”
“And you speak too lightly.”
The Sword Demon unfolded his arms.
“Do you want to die?”
“That’s a bit scary to hear.”
He appeared to be standing still, but in Karl’s spiritual sight, the Sword Demon was a seething volcano, ready to erupt at any second.
Still, Karl trusted his instincts.
He didn’t know why, but the Sword Demon seed to place great importance on the Black Star’s life.
“Your aura is rising. Please pull it back.”
“...Not bad.”
“I’m quite sensitive to aura. Sword Demon Karvas, we all know how strong you are. Even if we attacked together, you wouldn’t fall easily.”
“But I’ll tell you one thing for sure. If this turns into a fight—every Black Star here except you will die. I guarantee it.”
“You would all die too.”
“Would we? Can’t you see that bright full moon in the night sky?”
If they had t in the dayti, Karl wouldn’t have dared to bluff like this.
He’d have run without hesitation.
Was this an opportunity—or the edge of disaster?
If negotiations fell apart, he could kill Azolett imdiately.
Rengua, weakened as he was, could likely be finished off as well.
The real problem ca after—but under Moonlight, they might all make it back alive.
“Though soone will die, for sure.”
Karl would probably be one of them.
The Sword Demon wouldn’t let him live.
Looking between the full moon, Karl’s group, and Azolett and Rengua, the Sword Demon finally spoke.
“The price for your lives. That’s my offer in this deal.”
“You were the one who said you didn’t want to see more blood.”
“Exactly. So I substituted it with items.”
“To my eyes, those items are worth more than Rengua’s life.”
Karl weighed the price of his party’s lives.
He recalled what Arthur had told him:
[Azolett will one day bring about a great disaster. Killing her now could prevent that.]
[Then I should kill her first during the pursuit. I hated her anyway.]
[Rengua is one of the few who slipped outside my predictions. A huge variable. If the alliance suffers a major blow, it’ll be because of him.]
[So who should I target first?]
[Kill both. But if it seems too dangerous, just abandon it and co back.]
[Both are ticking ti bombs. Can we really just walk away?]
[It’s okay to abandon them.]
[What? Why?]
[Because you have , don’t you?]
As Karl recalled that cheeky grin of Arthur’s, the fear he felt toward the Sword Demon faded a bit.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Because I think I’ve found the answer.”
“Your response?”
“Do I get a guide too? I’d like to leave imdiately.”
That brutal battle, where an entire faction could’ve been wiped out, ended surprisingly anticlimactically.
***
“What just happened?”
Natasha, still tense and ready for battle, narrowed her eyes as Darkstorm’s encirclent suddenly dissolved.
Then, seeing Karl walking toward them unopposed, her eyes widened and she rushed to him.
“You—are you okay?”
“Can’t you see? I’m perfectly fine.”
“This... what the hell...?”
Natasha looked past him.
Darkstorm was gathering their dead and organizing the battlefield.
At the center stood the Sword Demon, flanked by Azolett and Rengua, watching them.
“What did you do?”
“I made a truce with Pri Root.”
“...Truce?”
Even Dorneth, standing beside her, looked baffled.
They’d been fighting like death was the only outco—how could it end in a truce?
“The Sword Demon seems to value Azolett greatly. Thankfully, he was willing to talk.”
The truce was signed in the nas of Pri Root and the Alliance.
It would last one year, and neither side would invade the other’s territory during that ti.
“He agreed to that? The Sword Demon?”
“Look for yourself. Doesn’t he look like a lamb now?”
“And what made you so sure you could release Azolett? What if he turned on us?”
“I was confident.”
“Confident?”
“Arthur gave a thod. And it worked.”
Just what had Arthur told him to make the Sword Demon stand down?
Though Natasha and Dorneth still wore confused expressions, they grasped the situation.
There would be no further attacks from the Sword Demon.
“So we just return to Aintrier now?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“A total waste of effort.”
Losing Azolett and Rengua right in front of their eyes was certainly a blow.
“But we gained sothing too, didn’t we?”
“...Gained, huh.”
Natasha smiled bitterly and released her spiritual energy. The fully manifested Gereflam slowly faded and vanished.
She had experienced the final stage of spirit arts—Unification—but couldn’t fully rejoice.
She bit her lip and glared at the Sword Demon from afar.
Even under Moonlight’s suppression, even after achieving Unification, she couldn’t defeat him.
What if they’d fought under the sa conditions?
“I would’ve lost, wouldn’t I?”
For the first ti, Natasha had felt a wall she couldn’t overco.
“If I can’t do it... I’ll have to pin my hopes on my student.”
“Student? Why are you suddenly bringing up Arthur?”
“Never mind. Let’s go. Just because we have a truce doesn’t an we should relax.”
At her words, the group nodded and began preparing to move.
Dorneth pulled out bundles of healing potions to tend to urgent wounds.
There were quite a few.
“Why do you have so many?”
“My wife packed them.”
“Lady Sharbadin must really care about your health.”
“Dwarf, you should’ve used these earlier.”
“There wasn’t ti.”
Since no one had major injuries, they recovered quickly.
Thankfully, everyone except Keros seed fit to move.
“Keros! No! Don’t die!”
“He’s not dead. Stop shaking him like that.”
Lily gripped both of Keros’s cheeks and shook him hard, until Karl stepped in, shaking his head.
Keros had taken severe damage, but as a being from the spirit realm, he wasn’t easy to kill.
“Karl!”
“Yeah, Keros will be fine...”
“He’s so ugly now.”
“He looks like a monster. Can he even hear without ears?”
Perfectly.
In fact, it echoed in his head with emotional intensity—Lily’s cruelty stabbed at Karl’s heart.
It felt deeply sincere.
“...Ugly, huh.”
“Enough nonsense. We need to move. We should get as far as possible before the full moon sets.”
“But, Natasha—”
“Shut it and move!”
After glancing back once at the Sword Demon, Natasha led the group away quickly.
Karl, stunned for a mont, hurried to follow.
“Boss!!!”
“Quiet, Azolett. I can hear you just fine.”
“You’re really letting them go? They’re a huge threat!”
“Probably.”
“Then why—?”
“I swore on my sword.”
The Sword Demon looked at her with calm eyes.
“You know what that ans. Are you asking to break my vow?”
“S-sorry.”
[Sword Demon, swear it upon your sword.]
When Karl made that request, Azolett was shocked inside.
She hadn’t expected him to suggest that.
‘How does he know about Boss’s sword?’
To the Sword Demon, his Formless Sword was more than a weapon.
It was an extension of his will.
There was no way he would allow falsehoods in sothing bound to that.
But beyond that, today’s Sword Demon had felt different.
He hadn’t just spared the enemy—he’d accepted a truce to protect them.
No matter how important the Black Star was, it was unlike him.
“Why? Was my decision strange?”
“You always told —never spare an enemy who attacks.”
The Sword Demon silently watched Karl’s group disappear into the distance.
“If the guest hadn’t co, maybe I wouldn’t have.”
“Huh?”
“We’re going back. A precious guest has co to visit Pri Root.”
A precious guest.
There was only one person the Sword Demon would refer to that way.
The Prophet of Fate—Astrologer Arcane.
He had co to Pri Root.
User Comments
0 comments from readers