The Regressed Sword Demon Is a Catastrophe-Class Inquisitor - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 1. A Smile?

Blood pooled across the ground. Limbs of humans and demons drifted through it like flotsam.
Hell itself.
No—this was undeniably reality, yet I perceived it as such.

“Have you finally given up?”

A grotesque visage that seemed to blend human and demon.
The question came from the Demon God, who had transformed this Continent into Hell.
I gasped for breath and spat out my words.

“Shut your mouth, you ugly bastard.”
“…Heh.”

The Demon God smiled for the first time.
Facing its murderous intent, I felt an inexplicable calm wash over me, yet my chest burned with fierce heat.
But the Demon God was immobilized by someone’s divine power. Still, if it were wounded, it would move freely enough.

“Sword Demon….”

Someone called out to me.
I ignored it—the epithet had never pleased me.

“Sword Demon, you bastard….”

I turned my head.
A man leaned his back against a large stone, his body sprawled lifelessly. His brilliant silver hair had turned crimson.

“Still alive?”
“I can’t die leaving you alone….”

I alone stood upon the sea of blood.

“We were never ones to worry about each other.”
“If the last human standing is a madman, I’ll have no face to show the Goddess.”
“Ah.”

That makes sense, then.
I was the Sword Demon, called the greatest villain on The Continent, and he was a man called the greatest Holy Knight.
Because of that, he was busy chasing me, and I simply went my own way regardless.
Suddenly remembering old times, my brow furrowed deeply.

“Stop following me now, Ludian. Are you planning to chase me all the way to Hell this time?”
….

Ludian let out a hollow laugh.
Today, every time I open my mouth, others laugh. With this, a jester has been added to my notorious reputation.

“Sword Demon, do you think you can win?”

Ludian gazed quietly at the Demon God standing motionless.
Who was the Demon God?
The father of all demons. A god possessing power so immense he could crush the world alone. It was no mere legend.
I gripped my sword tightly.

“I can win.”

Ludian glanced at me, then spoke in a somewhat relieved tone.

“What a shame.”
“What is?”
“If I had known sooner that you weren’t merely a villain, perhaps we could have achieved a better outcome.”

I let out a light scoff.

“Wasn’t it your Theocracy that arbitrarily branded me a villain? I simply killed those who needed to die. So I have no regrets.”
“I see.”

Ludian pondered my words for a moment, then spoke disjointedly.

“I always chased after you, but I could never capture you. You were stronger than anyone, and exceptional in every way.”
….
“That’s why it’s all the more regrettable. Had you become a Holy Knight with those abilities, we might have become the closest of friends.”

But to become a Holy Knight, one had to be chosen by the Goddess and granted “divine power.”
Still, at least for this final moment, I simply listened to what he had to say.

“Sword Demon, I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“I heard your Family Clan were devout followers of Ella Faith, yet why did you walk a different path?”

Ella, the One True Goddess.
She was the deity revered by the Theocracy’s state religion, the one called the Mother of Mankind.

“There’s no grand reason. Simply put, the doctrine didn’t align with me. I wanted to live more freely.”
“Freedom, you say….”
“And even if I had remained a follower of Ella Faith, I doubt things would be much different now. If the Goddess truly protected the righteous, my Family Clan would never have been annihilated.”

I continued, my words burning like flame.

“Or perhaps it’s because I refused to believe in her? Then the Goddess is truly petty. One lamb strays from the flock, and she abandons the entire pasture?”
“….”
“Look at that wretched creature.”

I pointed my blade toward the Demon God.

“The one called Father of Demons descends to the mortal realm himself and fights for his kind. Yet our precious Goddess won’t even grant a whisper as her last Holy Knight gasps his final breath.”

I turned my gaze to Ludian.

“Ludian, has your faith been rewarded?”
“….”
“Go ahead and pray. Ask her to restore my annihilated Family Clan. Beg for the strength to fell that Demon God.”

As I unleashed the fury I’d harbored for so long, my teeth clenched with terrible force.
Ludian met that rage with quiet composure.

“Sword Demon.”
“Speak.”
“The Goddess does not solve the problem itself. She merely grants us the strength to overcome trials—just as she granted me divine power.”
“….”
“It falls to us alone to harvest the fruits at the end.”

His blue eyes remained unwavering.

“Then what of the Demon God? You’re lying there helpless.”

Ludian blinked and answered.

“Didn’t you say you would win?”
“What?”
“I’ve bought you time. The rest is up to you to handle however you can.”

A sigh escaped me unbidden at Ludian’s sincere words.
This stubborn man’s faith was far too solid. Even my blade, steeped in rage, could not shatter it.

“Kael Luminara.”

Ludian called my name for the first time.

“You are neither the Sword Demon nor a villain. You are simply….”

His voice suddenly faded to silence. Complete stillness descended around us, as if he were offering a prayer.
The light that had always danced in his blue eyes was gone.

‘Tch, how unsettling.’

I reached out to close his eyes.
Or rather, I tried to.

“….”

Blood flowed from my severed left shoulder. I could not shield his sky.

‘At least I can take revenge.’

I gripped the sword in my right hand and turned toward the Demon God. With each step, blood splattered from the ground.
Then someone’s arm caught me, and I fell forward. Crimson blood erupted in a spray.
I had already reached my limit. Multiple hands emerged from the pool of blood, dragging at my body.

“….”

Before my eyes was a man’s face. He lay dead, his eyes wide open.
Unable to lose, I suddenly found myself in a staring contest with the corpse.

“That was impressive.”

Through the corpse’s eyes, I watch the Demon God—freed from Ludian’s restraints—draw closer.

“That immense fury directed at Ella. And a power that transcends humanity itself.”

As the Demon God approaches, his presence grows heavier, pressing down upon the very air.

“It would be a waste to kill you. If you desire it, I could make you a demon instead….”

The moment the Demon God reaches me.
I spring to my feet and swing my blade in a single motion.

Shing!

Startled, the Demon God recoils, but my sword carves deep into his chest.
He retaliates with razor-sharp claws, and I leap backward like a leaf caught in the wind.

“….”

We stare at each other with murderous intent. Blood drips from his chest.
I despise Ella, but this Demon God who has turned The Continent into Hell—I despise him far more.
The silence stretches uncomfortably, so I break it.

“Fooled you, didn’t I?”
“….”

The Demon God’s brow twitches. Then his lips curve upward before he bursts into laughter.
Bewildered, I speak.

“Why are you laughing? Did the surprise attack scramble your senses? Fine. From now on, your name is no longer Demon God—it’s Mad God. I’m not accepting any objections.”

Mad God finally stops laughing and fixes his gaze upon me.

“That was close. If you wielded divine power instead of mana, the outcome might have been different.”

His chest wound slowly seals itself.
It no longer surprises me.
Most of Ludian’s attacks have left scars, yet the blade marks I carve heal without a trace.

“In any case, I heard your answer well.”

The Demon God lowered his stance. Killing intent sharp as a blade pierced through my entire body.
The Demon God, who had vanished from his original position, suddenly materialized before my eyes. I severed his exposed neck.

Clang!

But my blade was intercepted by his fingertips, and with only one hand, I lacked the strength to drive it home—the sword shattered.

Scrape!

Simultaneously, a searing sensation grazed my neck.
When I regained consciousness, my vision had ascended toward the sky.

Whoooosh—

As a child, I envied the birds soaring freely through the heavens, but now that I had become one, it was far from beautiful.
While admiring the landscape of Hell, I caught sight of Ludian’s corpse.
I could not bear to meet his gaze, so I closed my eyes.

‘Your faith in me was far too generous.’

* * *

In truth, I do not deny the existence of the Goddess herself. The scriptures and the sacred power of the Holy Knights prove as much.
But separate from that, I did not worship her.
There were simply far too many things I was forbidden to do. The Goddess was the only one whose nagging exceeded even my Father’s.

– Kael! You reckless fool! When will you ever grow up?

I would have preferred listening to my Father’s endless complaints over reading the scriptures.

‘But I cannot hear them anymore. If the afterlife truly exists, my Father would ascend to Heaven, while I descend to Hell….’

Thwack!

A dull impact struck my crown, and my eyes snapped open.

“Why won’t this bastard wake up?”

Some incompetent fool glared down at me with bloodshot eyes.

‘Could it be that this bastard hit me in the head? A creature whose gaze alone could kill?’

I tilted my head in confusion before checking my body’s condition first.
My severed neck was properly reattached, and the exhaustion that had consumed my body had completely vanished.
Moreover, an unfamiliar yet strangely familiar energy circulated within me.
However, my strength was not what it normally was, and I sat in a chair with both hands bound behind my back.

“Hey, you’re asking if you’re sleepy despite being kidnapped?”

The bastard tapped my head repeatedly as if telling me to come to my senses.
Something tried to rise within me, but an enormous curiosity suppressed it.

‘…Kidnapped?’

I was definitely fighting the Demon God until just moments ago, and my head was severed.
So why does the rage still feel so vivid? As if I were still alive?
Now that I think about it, this ugly face seems strangely familiar….

“What? Why? Are you upset?”

I may not remember much else, but I always remember the ones who hit me, the wicked ones, the ugly ones.
Remarkably, this bastard met all three conditions.

‘When I was kidnapped on my way back to the Family Estate.’

In my childhood, I once left the Family Estate under the pretense of pilgrimage and wandered the Theocracy.
Later, on my way back to the Family Estate, I was kidnapped by mysterious men.
But what’s this?
One of their faces matched this bastard’s.

‘Moreover, the place of kidnapping is identical too.’

A dark warehouse with moonlight streaming through.
It happened just before my Family Clan was annihilated, so I remembered it vividly.

“Why won’t you look at me?”

What I couldn’t understand, however, was why both this bastard and I were still alive.

‘Could it be that I’ve returned to the past?’

Why?
Did the Goddess, who had never spared me a glance all this time, finally grant me this opportunity? Or did someone unknown send me back to the past?

‘Hmm.’
Though countless questions swirled in my mind, it seemed certain that I had indeed returned to the past.
Unless I had truly lost my sanity—though my mind had always been fractured—if this were undeniably real….
It meant I could reshape everything that had slipped through my fingers like grains of sand.
The Family Clan that was annihilated, my family members who died, the hellish past.

“Haha….”

Laughter escaped me. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had laughed.

“This bastard is laughing?”

The man’s face twisted into a scowl.

“Is my face that amusing?”

In that instant, I kicked back my chair and rose abruptly. As our eyes met at the same level, the man flinched.
I stepped forward, fixing him with a predatory gaze, and he instinctively retreated in response.
When I stopped, so did he. The distance between us was barely a breath away.
I stared at him, my jaw hanging open as a low, sinister laugh rumbled from my throat.

“Hahahaha….”

As I laughed like a madman, the man let out a hollow chuckle, bewildered.

“Ha, is this really insane….”

I immediately closed my mouth and hardened my expression.

“You’re laughing?”
“You started it….”

Without another word, I tilted my head back and drove my skull forward with all my strength into his face.

Crack!

The figure stumbled backward, collapsing to the ground.
A trail of blood marking his trajectory. The sharp sting radiating across my forehead. The metallic scent of blood flooding my senses.
I savored the exquisite sensation coursing through my entire body, breaking into a radiant smile.

Ah….
I’ve truly returned.

(To be continued in the next chapter)

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