The God-Possessed Swordsmanship Genius - Chapter 40

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

Chapter 40: The Swordsman Blessed by a Spirit

* * *

A space bathed in a single shaft of light.
With a lone sword lying discarded on the floor between them, Bishuken and the Empire’s swordsmen faced each other across the gap.

“Long time no see, Castellan.”

Of the Empire’s swordsmen, the one who stepped forward was a middle-aged knight with his hair swept back.
One of the Empire’s Masters, Mekid Glasius.
He was the one in charge of the Empire’s mission to secure the Demonic Sword.

“Mekid. It’s been a while. I hear you’ve been made Commander of the Imperial Eighth Knight Order?”
“I’ve been given a post far above my due. It weighs heavily on my shoulders.”
“You have the talent for it, more than the other chaff in the Empire. One day, you’ll rise all the way to Guardian Commander of the Empire.”

Steel Castellan, who had been heaping warm compliments, narrowed his eyes coldly.

“Of course, that’s assuming you make it out of here alive.”

At the same time, a faint aura seeped out from Steel Castellan’s body.
True to his name, the energy radiating from him was heavy and unyielding, like steel.
Feeling the pressure bearing down on his shoulders, Glasius let out a long sigh and asked.

“Do you really have to go this far?”
“I could say the same to you.”

Steel Castellan stepped forward, menacing.

“We have no intention of talking at length, and no intention of compromising. If you’re so set on getting the Demonic Sword, you’ll have to get past me.”
“You know as well as I do how dangerous this blade is.”

Glasius, charged with the Empire’s mission to recover the Demonic Sword, was also aware of its secrets.
Shadow crossed Glasius’s face as he looked down at the Demonic Sword on the floor.

“If the Demonic Sword is unleashed upon the world, many people will die. Does Bishuken truly want that?”
“You needn’t worry about that.”

Steel Castellan scoffed before speaking.

“The sword we recover will be delivered straight to the Clan Head.”

At those words, Glasius’s brow twitched.
Clan Head, Axion Bishuken.
His name had been spoken.
To Bishuken’s swordsmen, Axion stood higher than the Emperor of the Empire.
No matter how much authority a Castellan held, he could not use the Clan Head’s name merely to intimidate.
In other words, the one who would take the Demonic Sword into his hands was truly Axion.
Glasius fell into thought.

‘If it’s really Axion Bishuken…’

However dangerous the Demonic Sword might be, he could not imagine that anyone could hold their own against Axion, the greatest swordsman since the First Clan Head.
Above all.

‘In any case, we can’t manage it with our current strength.’

The Empire had sent a swordsman of Master rank to retrieve the Demonic Sword, but Bishuken’s forces were far more formidable.
The Steel Castellan alone would have been a challenge. To face him, the Empire would have needed to send one of the Seven Great Knights.
And on top of that, the Bigeomdae was here as well.

‘Was the Demonic Sword really so important that they’d go this far?’

He couldn’t make sense of it.
Even if the Demonic Sword mattered, mobilizing both a Castellan and the Bigeomdae at once was excessive.
This was enough firepower to wage war against the Empire.
Had he read Glasius’s hesitation?
The Steel Castellan spoke, his voice noticeably softer.

“Do you think we want to fight the Empire? We’re not enemies of the Empire. Whether we fight here or not is entirely your choice.”

If anything, Bishuken and the Empire were less like enemies and more like rivals.
There was no need to spill blood for no reason.

“What’s your decision? If you intend to press on, I’d rather you not drag this out any longer.”
“…Understood.”

Glasius made up his mind.
No matter how important the mission was, he couldn’t sacrifice his knights in a fight they had no chance of winning.

“But I’ll confirm that the Demonic Sword is intact before we leave. If it were to go berserk, that would be a disaster.”
“It won’t come to that.”

Even as he said it, the Steel Castellan nodded.
It was a gesture of permission.
Once the agreement was reached, Glasius waved to the knights around him.
An order to fall back.
A few of the knights wore sour expressions at Glasius’s decision.
But they couldn’t very well disobey orders.
Everyone knew they couldn’t win this.
And so, as the Empire’s knights all withdrew—

Thud.

Representing Bishuken’s swordsmen, the Steel Castellan stepped toward the Demonic Sword.
From the previous Clan Head down to the present day, this was the moment Bishuken had been searching for so desperately.
And yet.

‘That’s strange.’

Watching the Steel Castellan’s back as he walked toward the Demonic Sword, Lucas felt a peculiar unease.

‘It’s too easy.’

Were they really going to obtain the Demonic Sword they had searched so long for, this easily?
An alarm rang in Lucas’s head. His swordsman’s instinct, his sense of danger, signaled him.
It wasn’t over yet. Something more was still lurking, it seemed.
But the Steel Castellan’s movement was faster than that signal.

Swish.

The Steel Castellan reached out a hand toward the Demonic Sword lying on the ground.
The sword rested snugly within its scabbard.
The moment the Steel Castellan gripped it, scabbard and all—

Hwaaaah—.

Demonic energy seeped out from the sheath of the demonic sword.
Steel Castellan, who was gripping the sheath, flinched in surprise.
The demonic energy of the demonic sword should have stayed sealed within its sheath. As long as the blade wasn’t drawn, the demonic sword’s soul shouldn’t have been able to wake.
And yet.

-Aaah…

A low murmur of admiration reached Steel Castellan’s ears.

-At last, someone worth my time.

A lazy madness laced the voice.
The demonic energy that faintly leaked out made Steel Castellan’s eyes snap wide.
He didn’t know how it had happened, but the soul dwelling within the demonic sword had awakened.

‘Is it Kaglos?’

Naturally, Steel Castellan assumed the soul was Kaglos.
The demon from legend, the one the First Clan Head had sealed away fifteen hundred years ago.
But.

-Kaglos? Kaglos, you say… Ah, that traitor from the Demon Realm? So that’s what he’s become, a sword? Hahaha! How absurd.

The soul contained in the sword was not Kaglos.
Sensing that something had gone wrong, Steel Castellan tried to let go of the sword.
But for some reason, the demonic sword would not leave his hand.
Steel Castellan channeled his mana. The demonic energy pouring from the sword and his own mana began a tug-of-war.
The hand gripping the sword trembled violently. Cold sweat beaded on his brow.
Pushing against the demonic energy, Steel Castellan demanded.

‘If it isn’t Kaglos, then what are you?’

-You ask my name now? Well, you’re about to lose your body anyway. You may as well know whose name to curse, so you won’t feel so cheated.

Kihihihihi!

With an eerie laugh, a red soul appeared before his eyes.
It looked like a demon shaped into a perfect sphere.
Eyes and a mouth emerged on the red soul. Pitch-black pupils glared at Steel Castellan.
The demon bared its teeth in a grin and spoke.

-Bein Belbemos. The name of the master who will claim your body from this moment on.

A distant future.
The soul of a demon destined to become one of the Ten Great Demons had been dwelling within the demonic sword.

* * *

Shhhk!

“……!!!”

Blood sprayed from the demon’s severed arm.
Sacrificing an arm instead of his neck and head, the demon retreated, putting distance between himself and Allen.

Thud.

The severed arm hit the ground. In that instant, a hollow gust of wind swept between Allen and the demon.
The demon, now missing an arm, stared with violently trembling eyes. He gazed at his own arm lying on the ground as though he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
There was no regret.
No, I should have considered it a stroke of luck.
Had that been a blow to my neck instead of my arm, it wouldn’t have been strange at all.

“What… was that just now?”

The demon felt that Allen’s sword forms had changed.
It wasn’t merely that they had grown faster than before. His realm had risen, and his overall ability had improved with it, but the forms themselves had transformed.
It was no illusion.

‘So that was the reason.’

Allen tightened his grip on the Demonic Sword.
Why was Bishuken so desperate for this sword?
Now, Allen had the answer laid out before his very eyes.

‘To think the lost formula of the Seongsin Style had been carved into the Demonic Sword.’

It was a reason he had never once imagined.
What Allen had seen was no illusion. It was, without a doubt, a replay of something that had happened in the past.
The First Clan Head, Hekate, locked in battle with a demon.
And within that scene, the formula of the Seongsin Style that the First Clan Head, Hekate, had left behind.

-So you’re truly of Bishuken’s blood. How unlucky.

A faint, simmering rage colored the voice of the Demonic Sword, Kaglos.
He sounded as though he disliked this turn of events.
Unable to hold back his curiosity, Allen asked.

‘Were you the demon who fought the First Clan Head?’

-So you saw that, did you?

At Allen’s question, Kaglos let out a snort and answered.

-That’s right. I once fought Hekate in her younger days.

‘Younger days?’

-Back when we were both still green. Her and me alike.

‘…Green? You mean inexperienced?’

A dry, incredulous laugh escaped him.
Green, he called her.
Even now, the image of the First Clan Head wielding the Seongsin Style amid the sea of flames in Mageong remained burned into Allen’s mind.
Facing Kaglos, who rivaled the Ten Great Demons, she had soared and struck with the Seongsin Style, and the sight had bordered on awe-inspiring.
And that was supposed to be her inexperienced phase?

-Judging by how you call her the First Clan Head, a good deal of time must have passed since then. How long has it been? Who is the Clan Head now?

‘Hold on.’

Allen set Kaglos’s questions aside.
Ma-in, having lost an arm, had somehow regained his senses and was leveling his sword at him once more.

‘I’ll answer your questions later. It looks like we’ll be seeing plenty of each other from here on out.’

Ma-in, with one arm cut away.
Blood refused to stop flowing, from the wound on his chest and from the stump of his arm. By rights, he should have collapsed unconscious long ago.
And yet the killing intent in Ma-in’s eyes did not flicker out.

‘Thinking can wait.’

Allen sheathed the Demonic Sword and drew the Griffin instead.
It was the better choice for the moment. The sword that fit his hand was the one he trusted.
At the same time, whoosh.
Allen kicked off the ground and closed the distance to the demon.

“You brat, how dare you!”

Sword Qi surged along the demon’s blade.
Through the fierce storm of Sword Qi, Allen unfolded the Baekryeonbo, his figure rushing forward like the wind.

Seongsin Style, First Form.
Watch.

Swish-swish-shing!

A gust of wind grazed the demon’s shoulder.
The demon’s reactions had clearly slowed. Meanwhile, Allen’s sword had grown faster than before.

Shwaaak!

One form after another, unleashed in succession.
Defending with only one arm, the demon was driven back step by step. Yet even so, he did not lose his momentum.
A gaze that seemed to be preparing for something.
Sure enough.

“…Ha.”

As the distance narrowed under his relentless forms, the demon broke into a smile.
In that instant.

Gurgle.
Squelch-crack.

Black veins burst out across the demon’s body. The wound on his chest, which had been split open, sealed rapidly along those veins.
His one remaining arm swelled grotesquely. The arm sprouting black veins turned pitch-black.

“I’ll admit it, young Bishuken.”

He was no longer merely spewing Demonic Energy.
Half man, half monster.
A form lodged somewhere in between.

“Consider yourself honored to witness this form…”

At that moment.

Splash-.

The sound of waves came from somewhere nearby.
That sound cut off the demon’s voice.
The demon sensed something was wrong.
He had written off the sudden loss of his voice as nothing unusual.
But what truly unsettled him was a creeping sensation that the world was slowly tilting.

‘…Huh?’

“Honored, my foot.”

The demon’s eyes widened.
Somewhere along the way, Allen’s Griffin blade had picked up dark, sticky blood along its tip.

“We called it ‘Demon Beast Transformation.’ A cheap trick that burns your strength by staking your life on it, yet they gave it such a grand name.”

Sss-sshhk.

The split demon’s body really did tilt along a diagonal line.
Seongsin Style, Third Form: Neoul.
Allen’s technique had cut the demon’s body clean through on a slant.

“The weakness of Demon Beast Transformation is the brief gap that opens right after the veins swell. You lose your life and still carry a flaw. Unless you’re an idiot, you wouldn’t use that technique in front of an enemy.”
“B-Bi… su…”

The demon, slumping sideways, forced the words out of his throat.
In his final moment, the only thing he saw was Allen’s gaze, looking down at him with open contempt.

“You seem to have served a master far below your own ability.”

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