The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 182

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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 182

Courage is admirable, but in the current situation, it’s nothing but reckless bravado. I grabbed the gaju’s arm and pulled him behind me.

“What is someone who learned a little self-defense trying to do? You won’t die, and I won’t let you die. I also hate seeing people die beside me. Don’t do that. Such feelings aren’t necessary. Such resolve isn’t needed either.”

We’re sizing each other up with just a wall and door between us. With each footstep, both opponents’ movements change.

“I’ve never been of any help until now. I was betrayed by those close to me and committed terrible sins. Now is that opportunity…”

“Don’t use something like this as an opportunity.”

On the battlefield, as many demon corpses are scattered about, so too are the corpses of our allies.

Among them are faces I know and faces I don’t. But they’re all covered in mud and blood, unable to even close their eyes, staring at the ashen sky with clouded eyes.

Being strong and surviving are different things. I don’t know what feelings Cardil had when he went to the Demon Realm, but demons are still troublesome and unpleasant.

I’m used to killing human-like bastards to survive… Killing my uncomfortable feelings for the greater cause is nothing special.

Anyway, the thought that comes to mind now with two assassins and a civilian behind me is…

There are many graves and countless ways to die a dog’s death. I can only desperately pray that it won’t be me. It was the same now.

‘They’re coming.’

I held my sword diagonally and blocked the first sword strike. My senses detect two presences, but nothing is visible due to the dust cloud.

‘Seeing they’re trying to kill both of us, are we no longer needed? Or do they think meeting and sharing information is something that must be prevented?’

Random thoughts arose, but I defended calmly. One bastard stays eerily still, while the other unleashes sword strikes from all directions.

Without concentrating, I can’t tell where even the sword strikes are coming from. One wrong move and losing an arm or leg seems like a common occurrence.

‘The presence disappeared.’

The presence of the one who was staying still disappeared. It’s not caught by my senses. The dust has settled, but there’s nothing caught by sight or sensation…

At that moment, the gaju who was guarding from behind was dragged up into the air.

“Urk!”

As if caught by an invisible rope, the gaju struggled with both hands at his neck.

“Kuhuk, kuk, kehuk…”

The gaju made choking sounds while hanging in the air. I immediately kicked off the ground and tried to leap toward him, but persistent sword strikes held my ankles.

Clang-!

The sword strikes became more detailed and sharp than before. Between the large, easily detectable sword strikes, unknown attacks were mixed in.

“Damn it.”

When I swung my sword to deflect them, sparks flew with the sound of metal clashing.

The assassin before me wasn’t trying to counter my attacks, but was simply focused on buying time to prevent me from reaching the gaju.

I could manage to parry. But I couldn’t save the gaju. One wrong move and I’d lose a hand.

The gaju’s face was turning dark blue. An invisible noose was clearly strangling his neck. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before his neck broke or he died of suffocation.

“Kruuk…”

The gaju’s feet flailed in the air. I bit my lip in frustration.

That’s when it happened.

The gaju’s pupils rolled back and flickered, then a bizarre growling sound like that of a beast burst forth.

“Grruuuu…!”

I could see strength entering his clenched jaw. Blood flowed from his bitten lips. Long fangs were slowly emerging from his open mouth.

“That’s…”

Simultaneously, dark red mirage rose from the gaju’s body. Demonic energy. And a very thick, unpleasant concentration of aura wrapped around his entire body.

I’d seen it countless times on the battlefield and seen addicts too. He’s about to become a madman due to severe demonic energy addiction.

The gaju roughly grasped the invisible something strangling his neck with hands where long nails had grown.

Crack!

The sound of something being crushed came from the air.

“Huh…?”

Even while being strangled, the gaju displayed monstrous strength, grasping the air and slamming his arm down to the floor.

Crash!

“Kuhuk!”

From the seemingly empty air, an assassin in black clothes was slammed into the floor.

Whether it was invisibility magic or stealth technique, it was forcibly broken by physical force.

Whether the stealth magic’s caster was that bastard, the one who had been launching sword aura was revealed.

As the assassin was slammed to the floor and the invisible rope was released, the gaju also rolled on the ground. An ordinary person would clutch their neck and gasp for air for a while, but the gaju who rose in an awkward position had a completely different posture.

The gaju flashed pink eyes and swung his hand at the assassin trying to get up.

Crack!

The marble floor shattered from his misdirected hand. The assassin who dodged with a back flip instantly had a dagger in his hand.

But the gaju’s condition was stranger.

‘…What? Didn’t he say he only learned self-defense?’

I’d never heard of someone who survived demonic energy erosion gaining such abilities.

In the first place, if you’re hit by demonic energy erosion and don’t receive proper purification from a priest, you die quickly.

It was a disease with an extremely low survival rate. Having fought in the Demon Realm, I’ve seen dozens of comrades who became madmen from demonic energy erosion and died quickly…!

The sword aura flying from all directions stopped. The assassin also seemed quite flustered by this situation.

The gaju took a bizarre posture, crawling on all fours like a beast. As if his joints were bending at will, cracking sounds echoed from his bones.

“Grrr…”

Sticky saliva dripped long from his mouth. That clearly wasn’t killing intent toward an enemy.

It was a predator’s appetite before prey.

‘He’s not in his right mind.’

Does the gaju know he’s in this state? Did the widow know about this and send assassins, or did she use him knowing about this body?

“This crazy monster bastard…! I was trying to subdue him, but he’s baring his teeth…!”

Trying to subdue him?

My cold reason caught the clue.

It seemed necessary to drag out the fight.

One using stealth magic and daggers, and one wearing a knight’s helmet while holding a long sword. I needed to hear confirmation that they came from the widow and other answers to make progress.

The assassin who had fallen to the floor screamed as if trying to overcome fear and thrust his dagger down. Like someone trained, even in that brief moment, it was a precise strike aimed at the gaju’s heart.

Stab!

The dagger deeply pierced the gaju’s thin chest.

But the gaju didn’t even scream. Like someone whose sense of pain had been deleted, he instead ignored the dagger embedded in his chest and grasped the assassin’s shoulder.

“Uh, uah?!”

The assassin’s eyes filled with horror.

The gaju opened his mouth. Beyond the range a human jaw joint could open, grotesquely wide, red demonic energy swirled inside his mouth.

And he bit into the assassin’s nape.

Crunch!

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

A chilling tearing sound accompanied a desperate scream that echoed through the mansion.

Flesh was torn away and blood spurted like a fountain. The assassin struggled and struck the gaju’s head with his fists, but the gaju paid no mind and chewed and swallowed the torn flesh.

Gulp.

The sound of his throat moving was chillingly clear.

“Cannibalism…!?”

With his nape torn and mangled, the assassin quickly created distance. The knight whose stealth was broken simply watched me quietly, paying no attention despite his comrade being brutally attacked.

‘Cannibalism or whatever, I need to finish this situation first and then clean up.’

The assassin must have used unusual sorcery, as his torn nape was rapidly regenerating. He definitely used forbidden arts. In that case…

I aimed my sword. The one wearing only a knight’s helmet showed me a pre-knightly duel stance as if he were a real knight.

The assassins’ arrival might actually be fortunate.

Since I’m not confident I’ll lose, I’ll win and extract information.

No need to worry about the gaju either. I really couldn’t picture myself losing.

Clang-!

The long swords that met in an instant created sparks in the air.

*

The mansion of House Antonio was half-destroyed. It was because I fought the assassins.

And standing there were the Last Lord of House Antonio and Austin Gerard, the Lion Heart Knight Commander.

“Huff, huff, huff.”

Austin Gerard was gasping for breath.

Dealing with the assassins had been easy. Austin Gerard was a man who had earned his position as Knight Commander through skill alone. What he was most confident in was his own ability and personal martial prowess.

He had even extracted information while fighting, learning that these two were among the eight limbs serving as the Widow’s hands and feet.

However, the Lord who had lost his reason and charged like a beast was the bigger problem.

He couldn’t cut off his head, and even when injured, he showed no signs of hesitation as if he couldn’t feel pain.

If only Cardil were here, he could have severed the tendons in his limbs and dealt with him until he regained his senses.

Clang!

The sword broke. The blade spun through the air and embedded itself in the wall. He had broken the blade with his bare hands.

He threw away the broken sword hilt without regret. The piece of metal rolled across the floor making a pitiful sound.

“Grrr…!”

The Lord kicked off the ground again. Hands strengthened with bestial grip flew toward my neck.

Dodging wasn’t difficult. The trajectory was simple and linear. But the problem was that just dodging wouldn’t end this situation.

If I approached to knock him unconscious, I’d end up like the assassin who died with his throat torn out multiple times.

Austin Gerard crouched while avoiding the linear, instinctive attacks. Then he drew the auxiliary dagger tied to his leg.

“I believe you would want me to stop you even like this, so I shall do so.”

He could understand why the Lord had tried not to be a burden to him, why he had tried to die calling himself a sinner, and why he had followed the Ascetic so devotedly.

He had been consumed by demonic energy, become a madman, and committed cannibalism. The Ascetic had been the one to save him.

He wouldn’t let the Lord accumulate any more sins than this.

He cut the back of his foot.

As the Achilles tendon was severed, his body lost balance mid-leap and crashed helplessly to the ground. Dust rose with a thud.

But the madness remained. When his legs wouldn’t obey, he raised only his upper body and crawled toward me, trying to bite my ankle.

“Grr… ugh…!”

Even dragging his dangling ankle, his persistence in reaching out toward me was terrifying.

“Haah…”

I let out a short sigh, positioned myself behind him as he crawled, and pressed down on his shoulder with my knee to subdue him.

If the assassin hadn’t already weakened the Lord, it would have been difficult for me too. The Lord had several broken ribs and cracks in his arms. Just from the amount of blood he’d lost, his vision should already be pitch black.

“Forgive me. Even if I receive resentment later, it’s better than letting you die.”

I swung the dagger again without hesitation.

The tendon in his right wrist.

Then the tendon in his left wrist as well.

I severed all the major moving parts that support and move the human body. Only then did the Lord’s body, which had been thrashing like a beast, go limp.

Even though his limbs were still attached, he couldn’t move a single finger.

“Huff, huff…”

Would his mind return if time passed like this? It seemed like he might die from losing too much blood before that happened.

I might need to find a priest nearby. Given the amount of blood he’d already lost, he should have died by now, but if he regained his senses like this, wouldn’t he die from shock…?

As Austin Gerard’s thoughts grew lengthy, the sound of a carriage was heard. He extended his senses. The person who got out of the carriage was someone he knew well.

Someone who could be considered closest to power right now, and according to investigated materials, operated black markets and information networks… commonly known as the ‘Young Lady.’

She had come.

Austin Gerard, in his disheveled state, kept the Lord pinned down with his knee while raising his head sharply.

The Young Lady walked with quick steps but hesitated upon seeing the half-destroyed mansion, while her attendants prepared for battle.

Austin Gerard sensed that if he remained still like this, whether he was misunderstood or not, he would end up fighting the Young Lady’s attendants, so he shouted in the chaotic situation.

“I am Austin Gerard, Lion Heart Knight Commander! Young Lady of the banquet hall, the Lord is dying, send a priest!”

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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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