The Swordmaster Who Lives Twice Chapter 188 : Chapter 188

Chapter 188 - Hardeon (20)

Bastian warned .

As long as I gazed into the Demon King's Mind's Eye, I would be compelled to speak the truth.

『Human. I ask again! Do you earnestly wish to destroy humanity and build my world!』

The Demon King was pressing for my answer.

『Look into my eyes! Human!』

The Demon King's Mind's Eye.

Gazing into those eyes, I felt as if I was being sucked in.

'It's like Dragon Fear.'

A technique that instills fear and forces submission rely by looking at it.

Now, the Demon King was commanding to submit. But.

'How dare you.'

For it, not even its true manifestation, to do this to was simply laughable.

It was I who had taken the Dragon Fear head-on with my entire body.

"Interesting."

I t the Demon King's gaze and smiled once more.

『Did you just say interesting! Human, you are bluffing right now!』

"It seems you're not confident in your own Mind's Eye?"

『Astonishing! You even know of my Mind's Eye!』

"Yes. And I clearly told you, while looking into your eyes, that if my saying 'interesting' is a bluff, then your Mind's Eye must also be a bluff."

『That is...』

Perhaps I was too sharp; the Demon King montarily lost its words.

I could even feel a slight ripple in its calm demonic energy.

"So you admit I'm right."

『Indeed, you are an interesting human! Then I ask for the third ti. Do you earnestly wish to destroy humanity and build my world!』

Its persistent questioning made it clear that this was a very important question to the Demon King.

"Before that, I have one question. If I answer that question affirmatively, can you still believe it?"

『Of course! As long as you answer while gazing into my eyes!』

I looked directly into its eyes.

Simultaneously with our gazes eting, the Demon King's demonic energy was already invading .

Even without its true body, this power was astonishing.

The true power of the Demon King, which I could infer from this, was on par with a dragon.

Of course, not right now.

"I will answer. I wish to build your Empire."

I stated calmly.

Then I looked at the Demon King once more and smiled.

The Demon King smiled back.

『You truly find this situation amusing!』

I nodded.

It was genuinely amusing.

Both confronting the Demon King in this way,

and the fact that the Demon King was simpler than I had expected.

『I am pleased! And this is the token of trust I bestow upon you!』

CLATTER!

At that mont, spherical runes fell onto the magic circle.

There were twelve of them.

These, emanating sinister demonic energy, were...

'Zombie Runes.'

It was the mont another piece of the puzzle clicked into place.

『What is your na!』

"Seo Ji-han."

『Seo Ji-han. I shall rember that na!』

It would have no choice but to rember.

Because it was about to experience sothing it would never forget.

"Then your na is."

The Demon King was unlikely to be just one, so I thought this one also had a na.

『Eternal Demon King!』

"That's a grander na than I expected."

『I have a question for you! Even if you already knew about my Mind's Eye, how could you not be afraid of even once! You are clearly a human made of flesh and blood!』

"I will give you an answer to that."

It just so happened that I was preparing to.

I imbued the Holy Sword Bastian with mana.

Ever since consuming the Yeti's core, my body had been full of vitality.

My condition was not bad today either.

'Was the Holy Sword said to be crafted to defeat the Demon King?'

I, Johan Raven.

Although I had lost my past power, I thought there was no reason why I couldn't annihilate a Demon King whose true body hadn't even manifested.

『Human! What are you trying to do now!』

"You noticed."

I pointed Bastian's sword tip towards the ceiling.

『A re human! How contemptible!』

Whether it was contemptible or not, it would know once it received the sword.

But it only had a face, so it couldn't receive it?

Putting that question aside, my single strike unfolded.

CRASH!

The launched Bastian caused a thunderous roar, heading for one of the Demon King's eyes.

The face-like form, gathered like clouds, instantly distorted.

The Demon King's enraged voice echoed throughout the castle.

A storm erupted towards the launched Holy Sword Bastian.

The Demon King resisted by swirling in dark demonic energy, but it was just a futile struggle.

『Y-you human!!』

The Demon King's urgent cry.

It too had sensed the ominous atmosphere.

As the Holy Sword Bastian glowed, the Demon King's face gradually began to subside.

The swirling vortex, raging like a storm, also subsided in an instant.

The Demon King left only one ssage.

『I shall rember your na!』

The situation ended quickly.

Thus, the Demon King vanished from this place and returned to its own world.

The magic circle beneath my feet also vanished and disappeared.

My friend! What on earth have you done!

"What else? I made you fulfill your purpose."

Even the Holy Sword seed bewildered by what had just transpired.

What would happen to Hardeon and the mages in the future because of this, I couldn't say.

Perhaps the enraged Demon King might lash out in an unexpected place.

'That's not my concern.'

However, I simply couldn't endure without driving the Holy Sword into the Demon King's arrogant eyes.

How dare it command to submit.

CREAK—

As the Demon King vanished, the castle gates opened by themselves, and light began to pour in.

May light also pour into Hardeon.

With that thought, I exited the castle gates again.

***

Delkhan's forge.

As before, a scorching heat filled the workshop.

Watching the old man's stooped back as he hamred iron, a strange feeling washed over .

That this seemingly kind old man's dream world was the annihilation of humanity.

Rem, the Barbarian Shaman, and Miruel, the priestess of the temple—all of them were people who unbelievably wished for a world to be destroyed.

The world of mages was destroyed 400 years ago. It was a past that no one living in Hardeon now had experienced, and it was astonishing that such hatred continued to be passed down even hundreds of years later.

WHIZZ!

I threw a dagger from behind the old man Delkhan.

The flying dagger spun around near the old man's face, cooling his sweat.

"Just a mont, please."

"Alright."

He didn't even look at my face once and resud his work.

CLANG!

CLANG!

Seeing his hamring reach its peak, I knew that his current work was nearing its end.

At such tis, one's nerves can beco sensitive to even minor things.

I carefully stopped the operation of the dagger fan spinning next to him.

The old man's hamring gradually subsided, and a mont later, he turned around and handed the finished product he held in his hand.

"What is this?"

"Can't you tell? It's a dagger."

"That's true, but."

"Keep it. It's a gratuity from a patron."

I took the dagger Delkhan offered.

"Then I'll gladly accept it."

The mont I gripped the hilt, I imdiately recognized it as a superb blade.

He had personally forged a dagger for , despite his backlog of commissions.

Though I couldn't take it back to Earth, I was touched.

"Seeing you return alive, you must have brought the token."

I handed Delkhan one of the Zombie Runes.

"...Only one?"

I had received a total of twelve from the Demon King.

But for now, I nodded.

I intended to reveal more based on Delkhan's reaction.

In truth, I wouldn't mind giving him all twelve, but I didn't want to.

Perhaps I had co to not wish for the destruction of the world called Hardeon.

"Unexpected."

"It seems K didn't get just one."

"No, he got just one as well."

Delkhan's reaction revealed two facts.

One, there was no set number of tokens the Demon King gave.

The other, that K of the Gwangun Sword Family had also embezzled Zombie Runes.

It was highly likely that the ones hidden in the Mount Morane Dungeon and given to the follow-up team were also from the ones he had embezzled.

"Then I'd like to take on the commission now."

"Of course. You've proven yourself a trustworthy person."

This mont was the most crucial part of Hardeon's entire quest.

According to the report left by the Gwangun Sword Family, a quest related to Erter's Relic should erge here.

This was connected to the final quest I needed to complete.

"Do you happen to know about Erter's Relic?"

As expected.

I let out a sigh of relief and spoke.

"Of course."

"Follow this map and retrieve one of Erter's Relics."

Erter's Relics were treasures from the era before Hardeon.

According to the report, all these relics existed within dungeons.

And mages, even if they knew the dungeon's location, couldn't enter.

After eting the Demon King, this question was instantly resolved.

Although I didn't know the exact reason, it must have been due to a deal with the Demon King.

I looked at the map Delkhan handed and reacted calmly.

"It's a map showing the dungeon's location."

"You should be able to retrieve it without difficulty. K did too."

However, what happened inside that dungeon was not revealed in the report.

"I wish I could entrust you with the remaining dungeons, but unfortunately, I cannot."

"Why?"

"Just know that such things exist."

I understood that this, too, was likely due to so contract with the Demon King.

It was not my concern.

What was important was that it was now ti to undertake Hardeon's quest.

My journey in Hardeon was now reaching its final stages.

***

An endless, desolate wasteland.

In a place untouched by human footsteps, there was a valley.

In this stark valley, where everything was dyed gray, I found a small portal.

In fact, it wasn't far from the dungeon K had found.

A question arose: perhaps the other dungeons might also be in this vicinity.

It was also a clear fact that it was a sparsely populated area, perfectly suited for dungeon generation.

'So far, it seems too easy.'

I didn't know what kind of dungeon this was, but the process of finding it hadn't been particularly special.

There were no threats, including monsters.

In that case, based on experience, the dungeon itself was likely to be extrely difficult.

[It has been confird that you are not a mage.]

[Would you like to enter the dungeon?]

I pushed myself into the portal without hesitation.

Having already broken the Demon King's head, there was nothing left to hold back.