The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 88

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 88 36. A Special Gift (1)

The elderly man of Red Moon.

No, the newly born Demon King wore a serious expression.

He was extremely annoyed that his foolish subordinate had mentioned something about a master.

‘Should I have blown his head off sooner?’

The Demon King, who had been pondering, soon shook his head.

No. Still, thanks to that guy’s provocation, he was able to properly assess the intruder’s abilities, so that point was worth praising.

‘I almost overlooked the most dangerous one without knowing.’

That’s right. That young man was truly the most dangerous existence for the invasion of the human world.

The Demon King made that judgment.

Of course, it wasn’t that there were no other figures as strong as him.

There was the Knight King who had taken the previous Demon King’s head, and Golden Dawn who had repeatedly blocked invasions.

Though they couldn’t compare to them, when other Sword Masters and mages gathered, they displayed tremendous synergy. Enough to make even himself, the Demon King, feel burdened.

‘But they are beings whose age has already reached its limit…’

They probably wouldn’t get any stronger. Even if they grew, it wouldn’t show much difference.

However, that young man was different. In terms of potential, he was more dangerous than all the previous great figures combined.

Thinking about how that guy would change each year, each year, was enough to break out in cold sweat. The Demon King made his decision.

‘I’m changing targets. The first one should be that young man.’

He had planned to target the Knight King’s weakness unconditionally, but not anymore. That young man’s potential was too unsettling.

The Demon King, who nodded his head, quietly withdrew his gaze.

He wore a sinister smile.

‘As expected, it was good to declare territory on a human body even at the cost of some losses.’

When declaring territory on vast lands or castles, he could exert even stronger power.

But the problem was that it was too conspicuous. Moreover, since it took a long time to expand territory, it had the disadvantage of giving humans time to prepare.

That’s why the previous Demon King had fallen. His demonic energy was great enough to surpass himself, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the human allied forces.

It was regrettable.

If the previous Demon King had been more free to move. If he had defeated them one by one before humans could gather their strength… wouldn’t the human world have become a colony of the Demon Realm by now?

‘It’s not too late!’

No, rather it was perfect timing.

Thanks to the previous Demon King’s failure, he could ascend to the position of Demon King. He could cook the human world as the protagonist, not as a supporting character.

The possibility was sufficient.

He had declared territory on a human body, and succeeded.

The vessel was also quite to his liking. Though it was insufficient to contain all his power, it was more than enough to defeat the continent’s strongest forces one-on-one. It was worth targeting a Sword Master’s body.

‘In 2-3 months, I’ll perfectly adapt to the human body. From then on, I’ll begin assassinations.’

The targets were the ten strongest on the continent!

And the monarchs of powerful nations who served as focal points!

If he started after dealing with these, conquering the human world wouldn’t be impossible.

‘A Demon King who first achieved the accomplishment of conquering the human world… I like it.’

The Demon King let out a chuckling laugh.

Drinking wine as red as blood, he refined his plans for assassination once more.

* * *

“Phew.”

Lumian Calard opened his eyes. His expression looked much more relaxed.

It wasn’t because the matter was resolved. Due to the bald demon’s death, he had to carry several unanswered questions in his heart.

The reason his mind felt at ease was simply because he had regained his usual mindset.

‘Let me only worry about what I can do. Let me not think about anything else.’

This was Lumian’s motto.

Rather than obsessing over useless parts that were pointless to worry about, let him do what he could.

Actually, this wasn’t well maintained when it came to matters involving women, but fortunately he could implement it now.

Then what could he do?

‘Purifying this mountain. Informing about the demons’ schemes.’

And becoming even stronger.

There was no need to think about anything other than this.

Lumian, who nodded his head, quickly searched Red Mountain. It was to pick up the Demonic Stones dropped by the high demons.

It wasn’t difficult work. Since they were emanating demonic energy, he couldn’t miss them even if he tried.

He put four out of a total of 34 Demonic Stones into his subspace backpack, then also gathered some soil and tree branches that had turned red.

His intention was to report that red territory had appeared in the human world and been subjugated.

‘If I send this as evidence along with a letter to the Order, it should help them understand the severity of the situation.’

Actually, there was a high possibility they already knew. No, it was certain. There was no way the Order of the Sovereign or powerful nations like Jenas and Rodisia wouldn’t know facts that he had realized in just half a year.

Then this was sufficient. He could trust them and quietly build his strength until they moved.

‘And if another demon equivalent to a Demon Archduke appears again, or if the Demon King’s Castle reveals itself…’

It wouldn’t be too late to move then.

Until then, there was no need to worry or feel anxious.

“Good.”

His mind was cleanly organized.

Having finished his thoughts, he looked down.

Thirty Demonic Stones, excluding the four to submit to the Order.

Though his face wrinkled at the demonic energy wafting up, Lumian’s eyes contained regret as he looked at them.

‘If my level had been higher, I could have devoured them all here and greatly increased my aura amount…’

But he couldn’t do that.

The reason he had been able to absorb Demonic Stones until now was partly due to his purification ability, but ultimately because his aura amount was insufficient compared to his experience and abilities.

But the situation was different from now on.

Lumian had recovered most of his realm. To increase his aura further, he would have to break through his current realm.

If he tried to accept more aura without doing so, his dantian and all internal pathways would burst.

‘Actually, there were several knights whose bodies exploded from eating too many elixirs compared to their abilities…’

But Lumian’s face was still full of regret.

It was natural.

To others, they were just evil stones that damaged mind and body, but to him, they were irreplaceable elixirs in the world.

If he handed all of them over to the Order, and later his realm improved enough to digest them, how frustrating would that be?

‘But it’s difficult to store thirty Demonic Stones, not just one or two.’

That was the problem.

A few wouldn’t cause much trouble stored in a subspace bag, but thirty was a different story.

That would be no different from keeping an actual high demon. It might be fine for a moment, but leaving them for long would definitely have adverse effects on the surroundings.

To store thirty Demonic Stones without problems, he would need sealing tools so precious they could only be seen in royal treasuries.

Of course, Lumian had no such thing. He muttered.

“Should I just give up and purify them all…”

That’s when it happened.

A familiar voice was heard from the sky.

It was a song. The melody repeated and the lyrics were very simple, like a children’s song.

Lumian, who raised his head, wore a dazed expression.

Water, water, sprinkle water- Full of Lady Alia’s grace-

Bottom this way- Tail that way- Dancing while diligently sprinkling-

Sprout, sprout, sprouts are growing- Receiving Lady Alia’s grace-

Petals like this- Grass blades like that- Wearing bright smiles-

It was the Young Dragon Semu.

The guy was sprinkling holy water on Red Mountain with a giant watering can he had gotten from somewhere.

Sarararak-!

Pareureu!

The effect was amazing.

Wherever the guy passed, the red energy was neutralized. The soil, trees, and flowers that had reeked of blood once again shone in full color.

It was almost the level of effect achieved when an archbishop or even the pope of the Allia Order personally performed a purification ritual.

‘Is it because he’s a dragon? That’s incredible.’

Lumian smiled brightly.

He had been wondering how long it would take him to purify the entire mountain by himself, so this was fortunate.

He called out to Semu.

“Semu!”

“Huh? Lord Lumian! It’s Lord Lumian! Thank you! Thank you!”

Whoooosh!

The subordinate who spotted Lumian quickly flew over.

Even while approaching, Semu didn’t stop sprinkling holy water. Green energy rose like paint brushed along the path he had traveled.

However, his expression gradually became strange.

The face that had been delighted to see Lumian completely disappeared. And tremendous fear bloomed instead.

Semu, whose teeth were chattering audibly, raised his watering can high.

And he tried to pour holy water toward the thirty Demonic Stones.

Lumian was horrified.

“No! Semu!”

“Demons! They’re demons!”

“Calm down! They’re not demons, they’re Demonic Stones!”

“Gasp! That’s right! But Demonic Stones are bad things too! Die!”

“No! Wait, stop!”

Lumian desperately stopped Semu.

The subordinate did listen, but still had a dissatisfied expression. The fact that he was snorting was proof of that.

“Are you going to eat them again? This is poison, is it really okay to keep eating them?”

“It’s fine.”

“I don’t think it’ll be fine…”

“I’m not going to eat them right away either. I’m planning to store them for now, but I was thinking about where would be good to store them.”

“Instead of worrying, why don’t you just purify them?”

“No.”

“Hiiing…”

Semu’s shoulders drooped.

But that was only for a moment, as he flapped his wings and opened his mouth.

“Then, put them in the box at our house!”

“No. If you put them in just any box, there’ll be trouble.”

Lumian shook his head.

Even a subspace backpack with magical treatment would be hard-pressed to last a week, so he didn’t want to think about what would happen with an ordinary box.

However, Semu’s attitude was strange.

Like when he had made a bet with him before coming to this place, he was standing on two feet with his chest puffed out. His confident expression was a bonus.

The subordinate said loudly.

“It’s not just any box! The box at our house is really good!”

“Hahaha. How good is it?”

“Super good! Super good! And besides that, there are lots of cool and pretty things! Want to come see?”

“Come on, a guy who’s only ten years old, how much could you have collected…”

Lumian chuckled.

He also knew that dragons’ hobby was collecting treasure. He didn’t know if it was true, but at least that’s how it appeared in novels and historical records from the past.

But it wasn’t a hundreds-of-years-old dragon, and he didn’t think Semu, who was even younger than his reincarnated self, would have precious items.

But Semu’s following words changed his expression.

“I didn’t collect them.”

“Huh?”

“The dragons from before collected them. But now they’re all mine.”

“…!”

Like someone who had picked up gold bars on the street, Lumian’s posture stiffened.

Semu misunderstood this. He thought Lumian found it bothersome to visit his nest.

‘Geez. There really are lots of cool and pretty things!’

The subordinate puffed out his cheeks and said with pursed lips.

“If you come visit, I’ll give you not just a suuuuper good box, but also suuuuper pretty gems and suuuuuper good swords as gifts! Come visit! Come visit!”

“…How many will you give me?”

Lumian said with an expressionless face.

It was an expression trying not to show his interest. But he couldn’t stop himself from gulping.

Fortunately, Semu wasn’t an experienced enough dragon to pick up on such small details.

The subordinate smiled broadly and said excitedly.

“I’ll give you this many!”

The subordinate spread out one front paw wide.

It wasn’t a calculated action. He just spread his toes out randomly because he was in a good mood.

‘…It would have been nice if he had five toes.’

Semu’s front toes were only three in total.

Lumian, swallowing his disappointment, casually asked.

“So… is that three including the box? Or three excluding the box?”

* * *

Young Dragon Semu’s nest was located in the forest right next to Red Mountain, or rather, what was now the purified mountain.

Strictly speaking, it was another mountain disguised as a forest. The level was much higher than the barrier the Demon Clan had set up, and even Lumian almost fell for it.

“The dragons who lived here before kept developing it! They’re dead now though!”

Semu spoke about heavy topics in a cheerful tone.

It seemed his attitude toward accepting death was different from humans.

Of course, that wasn’t what was important right now.

What was important was the fact that the dragons of the past were that remarkable, and that the treasures collected by those remarkable dragons were in Semu’s nest.

‘What should I take… First, I’d like a sword that suits me, and if possible, armor too…’

Since being a knight was his calling, those thoughts came first.

But Lumian deliberately lowered his expectations.

Dragons probably wouldn’t have collected many swords and armor that humans used, and above all, he was worried about being disappointed after getting excited and then seeing items that didn’t meet his expectations.

Therefore, he deliberately maintained a solemn expression and dignified attitude.

“Ta-da! Here it is! How is it? Cool, right? Pretty, right?”

However, when he took his first step into the Treasure Trove under Semu’s guidance.

Lumian couldn’t even utter a common exclamation.

It wasn’t because of the countless gold and silver treasures filling the warehouse.

It wasn’t that those things weren’t impressive. But what caught his attention was something else.

A sword casually stuck among the gold ingots rolling around like stones.

It had quite an elegant appearance, but in this place, it looked utterly common – why did that sword catch his eye first?

He couldn’t tell. But it didn’t matter.

Lumian walked over step by step, grasped it in his hand, and infused it with aura.

Then.

Sharalalararak-

Beautiful flower petals poured down from the sky.

“Wow! What’s this? So amazing! Woooow!”

Semu flapped his wings and shouted.

It seemed like the subordinate was also seeing this sight for the first time. Lumian looked up at the sky.

The scattered falling petals created a romantic atmosphere.

He had no idea what principle this worked on. But one thing was certain.

‘This has style.’

It would be amazing to use in front of a woman.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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