The Regressed Sword Demon Is a Catastrophe-Class Inquisitor - Chapter 108

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

Chapter 108. A Stroke of Fortune.

Siluene watched Kael disappear into the distance. After pushing off the ground several times, his silhouette vanished from sight.

‘I have no choice but to be grateful to the Interrogator.’

Just moments before, when those from the Orphanage had posed a threat, Siluene had been powerless to act.
Even knowing they were nothing now, the nightmares of the past remained embedded like nails, paralyzing her.
Many were counting on her to protect them from the demon wave, and her paralysis risked compromising the mission itself.

‘But the Interrogator appeared and resolved it.’

It was thanks to him. Without his intervention, I might have regressed into that useless child once more.

Thud, thud, thud—

At that moment, she felt countless demons slamming against the Barrier. From near the Barrier’s edge, she could roughly discern what was happening.

‘Roughly three hundred. Far more than I anticipated.’

Siluene had repelled demon waves before.
But never had she faced such numbers converging from all directions at once. And these seemed stronger than ordinary demons.

‘Because of that, even the Knights and mercenaries are struggling.’

Their individual combat prowess varied, but each was skilled enough to handle ordinary demons with ease.
Yet even they found this number overwhelming. Casualties were mounting—both wounded and dead.
The one saving grace was that demons were rapidly disappearing from one sector.

‘Is that Bella?’

The only Clergy member in the Theocracy who wielded magic.
Indeed, she displayed the formidable power befitting a Deacon of the Heresy Inquisitor.

‘A Mage….’

Siluene harbored no particular prejudice against magic. After all, whether one was a Mage or a Holy Maiden, they were fundamentally human.
If anything, Bella was a far more remarkable being than herself.
I merely utilized the stigmata bestowed upon me by the Goddess, but Bella seized her power through her own will and effort.
How could one possibly compare Bella to me?

“…Tch.”

Yet despite their valiant efforts, the monsters remained plentiful.
At this point, something felt distinctly wrong.
Why were these creatures rushing toward the Barony all at once? It was far too strange to dismiss as mere coincidence.
As Siluene furrowed her brow slightly while maintaining the Barrier, a sudden movement caught her attention.

A swift blur—

Someone from within the Barrier burst outward. It was neither a resident nor a Knight or Mercenary.
It was Kael, with whom I had just been conversing.

‘…Already?’

Merely a minute had passed since Kael vanished. Even accounting for the short distance from here to the Barrier, his speed was extraordinary.
But that wasn’t all that astounded me.

‘The monsters are decreasing at an alarming rate….’

From one to three… from three to ten… and in mere moments, thirty corpses lay scattered….
All that remained in his wake were the charred and severed bodies of monsters.
Thanks to this, the burden of maintaining the Barrier was rapidly diminishing.

‘This is impossible….’

I was already well aware of Kael’s accomplishments.
In less than a year since becoming a Heretic Inquisitor, he had achieved feats that even seasoned Holy Knights deemed impossible.
I remember how shocked I was when I learned he was a Holy Knight.
But to this extent….

‘At the very least, he is the strongest person I have ever witnessed.’

Of course, I haven’t encountered countless individuals, and I’ve never undertaken a mission alongside a Holy Knight, yet this truth remained unchanged.

‘It wasn’t for nothing that the Goddess chose me.’

A dry swallow traveled down my throat.
Exceptional information-gathering ability and swift judgment. And the formidable martial prowess that underpinned it all.
Only now did I truly grasp his competence.

‘I cannot afford to lose either.’

Thanks to Kael, I had gained breathing room—power I would now dedicate to protecting the residents.
If things continued as they were, the residents would suffer not a single casualty.

“So you were here.”

A low voice accompanied the sudden rush of movement. A blade wreathed in azure mana descended toward me without warning.
Siluene’s pupils dilated.

Clang!

The blade trembled violently in midair, halted by Siluene’s barrier.
The boundary encircling the Barony remained intact.

“Tsk.”

The assailant clicked his tongue and withdrew.

“You’ve grown considerably stronger. Five years ago, you were just a helpless child on your own.”

That familiar voice burrowed into my ears. The surrounding landscape gradually blurred, and the nightmare’s location crept into my vision unbidden.

“Isn’t that right, Siluene?”

A middle-aged man with short hair. Though his body was concealed beneath robes, his face was fully visible and unmistakable.
I could never forget it. He was the architect of my nightmares.

“Director Voltein….”

Voltein, the Orphanage Director.
He had never directly tormented Siluene, but he had turned a blind eye to the torment inflicted by others.
In a sense, he was worse than the perpetrators themselves.

“Haha, what an honor. To think the Barrier Saintess herself remembers my name.”
“How did you find this place…?”
“Who knows? Why don’t you take a guess?”

Siluene suddenly recalled what Kael had told her.

– The Orphanage may be targeting you.

Until she met the orphan, she could have dismissed it as coincidence. But now that the Orphanage Director himself had appeared, Kael’s information had to be true.

“You came to target me…?”
“Haha, correct answer. Siluene.”

Voltein confessed far more readily than expected.

“I was the one who lured you here, and I was the one who triggered the monster wave.”
“Why would you do such a thing…?”
“Because it’s profitable.”

Voltein formed a circle with his index and thumb.

“Do you really think the children from our orphanage were actually adopted?”
“Surely not….”
“That’s right. I sold them. To those who wanted children.”

Siluene clenched her lips tightly.
Among the adopted children, some had tormented her, but there were certainly innocent ones as well.

“Well, eventually my tail got caught and I had no choice but to burn down the orphanage and flee.”

So Voltein had burned down the orphanage himself. Not an accident, but to avoid exposure.

“Still, I’d say I’m fortunate. Since you became the Barrier Saintess, Siluene.”
“….”
“Selling you would certainly fetch a fortune. A thousand gold coins? Or ten thousand? Or perhaps a hundred thousand?”
“….”
“No!!!”

Voltein shouted with unbridled excitement.

“Ten million gold coins, no less.”

A wave of immense greed rippled across his gaze.

“You are one of only five Holy Maidens in the entire Theocracy. And now your appearance is exceptional as well. Surely there exists someone in the Theocracy—or failing that, in the Empire—willing to pay such a sum?”
“….”
“They must exist. Not only for your rarity, but because your holy stigma could protect them from others.”

Siluene clenched her teeth and spoke.

“Do you truly believe I would allow such a fate?”

Rather than become a plaything for such vile creatures, I would choose death. That is a truth that will never change, no matter what.

“Ah, yes. Of course you would.”

Voltein nodded slowly and approached. He drew his face close to the barrier surrounding Luen and spoke.

“But can you withstand my attacks while maintaining the Barony’s barrier? No, that would be absolutely impossible.”

Crash!

He struck the barrier forcefully with a sword wreathed in azure mana.
Siluene’s brow furrowed. There was no direct impact, but a significant portion of her holy power had been torn away.

“Abandon any hope that someone else will arrive. That… Kael Inquisitor?”
“….”
“He is certainly strong, but he would never anticipate my presence here. He would assume this is merely a coincidental monster wave.”

Kael knew the monster wave was no accident.
But even he would not know that Voltein was here. He would naturally assume I was outside.

“However, I shall offer you a choice.”

Voltein withdrew something resembling a leash from within his robes and tossed it down.

“A Demon’s Collar, borrowed with great difficulty from that person. Once you wear it, you cannot possibly disobey your master’s commands.”
“…You wish for me to don this? A demonic relic, for a Holy Maiden?”
“If you wish to protect those here.”

Voltein smiled and urged her forward.

“If you put this on, I’ll drive back the demons. The creatures are drawn to a certain cell in my body—destroy that, and the demon wave ends.”
“….”
“But if you keep resisting like this, the barrier will eventually collapse, and countless residents will be trampled by demons.”

Voltein gripped the sword with both hands.

“You need to become useful to others, Siluene.”

Crash!

“Isn’t that right!!”

Crash! Crash!

After that, Voltein began swinging his sword in silence, as if felling timber.
The blade strikes were powerful, yet Siluene’s barrier remained steadfast.
But change was undeniable.
Blood trickled from Siluene’s pale philtrum, and the barrier surrounding the Barony flickered between faint and vivid.

“Stop….”

Siluene reluctantly opened her mouth.

“Please… stop.”

Only then did Voltein’s blade cease. He stared at Siluene before speaking.

“First, lower the barrier around you and put on the demon’s collar. Defeating the creatures comes after. Don’t worry—I won’t kill such a valuable asset. Though if your convictions are truly unshakeable, I may have no choice.”

Siluene wiped the blood from her nose with her sleeve and looked down at the demon’s collar.
She couldn’t hold out until the others finished dealing with the demons.
Though they were working hard to reduce their numbers, creatures poured in from all sides of the Estate, making it only a matter of time.
At this rate, countless people would die. It was better for her to become another’s plaything than let that happen.
At least she could take comfort in knowing that Kael and Bella would eventually eliminate all the demons, so the others wouldn’t perish.
Just as she lowered the barrier and reached for the demon’s collar—

– No matter what happens, endure it. I will come to save you, no matter what.

I recall the words Kael left behind.
Siluene clenched her outstretched hand into a fist and fixed her gaze upon Voltein.

“Before that, might I ask one thing?”
“Stalling for time? Well, someone who noticed the irregularity in the Barrier might arrive.”
“It will only take a moment.”
“Fine then. But only thirty seconds.”

Siluene nodded and posed her question.

“Then Marie wasn’t adopted either, was she?”
“Ah, you mean that Marie who made such a fuss trying to be adopted in your place….”

Voltein bared his fangs slightly.

“I cannot tell you that.”
“Pardon?”
“Explaining what became of her would take considerable time. I’ll explain it to you on the way.”
“I see….”

Siluene, grasping the implication, shook her head slightly.

“It’s… alright….”
“Hmm? Weren’t you friends?”
“Not anymore.”
“Ha, I see.”

Voltein stroked his chin while observing Siluene.

“It’s a shame, really. If only you hadn’t fallen for Marie’s clever little lie, I wouldn’t have needed to go through all this tedious trouble.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“If you wish to know more, put on that collar at once. This should suffice, yes?”

From the look in Voltein’s eyes, it was clear that I could not afford to waste any more time.

“Yes.”

And so Siluene replied quietly.

“That will suffice.”

Of course, that was only accounting for the time until ‘he’ returned.

Kwaaang!

From somewhere, a sound like the earth itself exploding erupted.
When I turned to look, no one was visible. All that remained was the ground, cratered and shattered as though a meteor had fallen.

“What—!”

The figure that burst forth from that devastated earth was already upon Voltein.
Voltein swiftly swung his azure blade at the assailant.

Whoosh!

Yet Voltein’s sword cleaved only empty air. The figure had bent his torso deeply to evade.

Crackle!

A blade wreathed in black flames surged toward Voltein.
The aura that emanated was unmistakably divine, yet something profoundly malevolent clung to it.
But it was a darkness meant to consume the wicked.

Slash!

Voltein retreated hastily, but he could not prevent one arm from being severed.
Voltein furrowed his brow and widened the distance, while the figure regarded him with an unwavering gaze.
Siluene observed the back of the figure standing before her. It was utterly absurd.

“You are far too swift, Kael Inquisitor.”

Just moments ago, Siluene had sensed Kael re-entering the barrier. So she had bought as much time as possible.
Yet Kael arrived here in exactly thirty seconds. It meant his departure beyond the barrier had never been sincere.
Kael glanced at Siluene and asked.

“How many more steps closer can you manage?”

He was probably referring to how they had been conversing at a distance.
At first it had been ten paces, but when they spoke within the Estate, she had maintained a distance of five paces.

“Three paces. Anything more is beyond my capacity.”
“That’s a relief.”

Kael nodded.

“I find anything more burdensome as well.”

Siluene had always erected walls against others. Unlike the Barrier Saintess’s sacred marks, these were walls not built for the sake of others, but to protect herself from them.
Yet today, Siluene felt something strange. It was as though the formidable barrier that had existed between her and Kael was crumbling, piece by piece.
And so, without realizing it, a small smile escaped her lips at Kael’s jest.

‘Thank you. Truly.’

Those words would not reach him yet.

(To be continued in the next chapter)

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