The Regressed Sword Demon Is a Catastrophe-Class Inquisitor - Chapter 116

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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 116. I’ll Be Back Soon.

We arrived at Blewillo Forest after four days of travel.
Ancient trees lined the forest’s entrance, welcoming us.
I released a tendril of wind energy just in case, but it bounced back as if blocked by something. There was no choice but to enter directly.

“Then let’s go.”
“…Yes!”

Bella’s expression was taut with tension. Though she had faced Gluttony before, the danger level was in an entirely different dimension.
We stepped into the forest.
The moment my body crossed the threshold into the forest’s interior, a strange sensation washed over me.

Sssssss!

An indescribable pressure crushed down upon my entire body, and murderous intent pricked my skin like needles.
I had entered his domain.
To Dominion, this place was both the Theocracy and the Empire, and he was the tyrant who reigned supreme over it all.

‘There’s no need to search for his location.’

I gazed toward the center of the forest.

Kugugugugugu….

A tremendous surge of magical power rose like a pillar from that location. Dominion was surely there.

“Bella, are you alright?”

For me, this level of pressure was familiar enough to cause no real concern, but Bella’s expression had grown rigid.

“…Yes. I’ve felt worse than this before.”

Now that I thought about it, Bella had encountered the aura of both Valter and Zenolak, who dwelt within the Demon Sword.
Compared to them, this was manageable.
Of course, it wasn’t that Dominion was weak—those two were simply abnormal existences. Excluding them, Dominion was the strongest adversary I had faced in this lifetime.

“As I said before, don’t get close to him. You have a different role to play.”

Bella had grown considerably, but she wasn’t yet at the level to face Dominion. Truth be told, neither was I.
The problem lay not in raw power, but in his abilities.

“Yes, Interrogator!”

We ventured deeper into the forest.
The ancient trees filtered the sunlight into scattered rays, but visibility remained adequate.

Grrraaagh!

A wolf-shaped demon lunged forward, baring its fangs menacingly.
Eyes devoid of whites, pitch black and gleaming—a sign of subjugation to Dominion.

Shing!

I swung my blade, cleaving through the demon’s body. It wasn’t particularly threatening, so it fell with that single strike.
Afterward, I dispersed ‘Fair Wind’ only around the perimeter.
A considerable number of demons were detected. Most were stronger than this wolf.
This forest was naturally sparse in human presence and teeming with demons.

‘This will become a war of attrition.’

I spoke to Bella.

“Bella, from now on, you’ll face every demon that appears. I’ll conserve my strength as much as possible.”

To defeat Dominion more efficiently, I needed to preserve my holy power.
Since I wouldn’t let Bella confront Dominion anyway, it was right that she handle whatever emerged before then.

“Understood!”

We continued deeper into the forest, and the demons emerged as if they’d been waiting.
Sometimes one at a time, occasionally five at once, but Bella repelled them without much difficulty.
They were all demons under Dominion’s control, but there was one peculiarity—they grew stronger the deeper we ventured.
Dominion was likely gauging our strength.

‘But even this will be difficult for Bella to overcome.’

Bella had grown strong enough that ordinary demons were no longer a threat to her. It was only natural for one who had been called the Witch of Envy in her previous life.
So when Bella sensed the presence as she always did and reached out her hand.

“Don’t shoot.”

At my words, Bella dispersed the mana she had gathered.

Whoosh!

From ahead, a figure with a diminutive frame leaped out—far smaller than the massive demon. He was merely an ordinary Knight.

Clang!

Our blades met without any divine aura between them. Looking past the sword at his face, I saw his pupils were pitch black.
He was being dominated, just like the demon before.

“Bella, bind him.”
“Yes!”

As Bella reached out, the Knight flinched. Even with his consciousness lost, his instincts remained.
But nothing happened. Or rather, it appeared that way.

Crack!

Thick vines sprawled across the ground writhed and shot toward the Knight.

Whoosh!

In an instant, the vines bound the Knight’s limbs.
As I pulled the vines taut, the Knight was suspended in mid-air with his limbs fully extended, and the sword fell from his grasp.

“…!”

The Knight struggled to break free, but the vines reinforced by Bella’s mana held firm.
Though this was magic, wielding it with such freedom required remarkably delicate mana control.
The Bella who once exhausted her mana with a single spell no longer existed. Of course, this was also because her mana reserves had increased significantly.

“Keep holding him like that.”

Bella nodded silently. She lacked the composure to respond while manipulating magic of such difficulty.

Click—

I placed my hand atop the Knight’s head.
But he kept moving his skull side to side, obstructing me.
After attempting to place my hand several times without success, my irritation boiled over, and I finally….

Crack!

I struck the Knight’s cheek.

“Stay still.”
“….”

Perhaps he felt primal fear? The Knight finally went dazed and complied obediently.
I nodded with satisfaction and placed my hand atop the Knight’s head. Then I closed my eyes.

Writhe, writhe—

Mana wriggling like worms near the Knight’s brain. It was not his mana, but Dominion’s.
Which meant that once this alone dissipated, he would be freed from Dominion.

‘Of course, removing mana that has penetrated another’s interior is extraordinarily difficult. Without precise manipulation, I would damage the brain itself, not just Dominion’s mana.’

But who am I? The Sword Demon, already mastered in wielding energy.
Such a thing was possible even while hearing Bella’s roar.
Moreover, Bella was currently absorbed in binding the Knight, so no one could interfere with me.

“It will hurt a little.”

Whoooosh!

In one breath, I burst holy power into the Knight’s brain like a wave. The surging holy power overwhelmed Dominion’s mana.

Crash!

Dominion’s mana swept away by the holy power. The mana that had been consuming the Knight’s brain exploded and vanished.
Despite the violence of my technique, the Knight’s brain remained intact. I had succeeded in neutralizing Dominion’s ability without any damage.

Thud─

At the same moment Bella released the vines, the Knight collapsed to the ground.

“Bella, cast a barrier.”
“Yes!”

As Bella extended her hand toward the Knight, a hemispherical barrier materialized around his body. We couldn’t risk a demon devouring him.

“Keep moving.”

From that point onward, no more demons emerged. Only humans—presumably Knights or mercenaries—appeared.
Yet they posed little threat. The likelihood of encountering strong humans in this area was slim to begin with.
Bella bound them, I released my Dominion ability, and afterward we protected them with barriers.
We had no leisure to gather them in one place. That made Bella’s magic all the more invaluable.
As we drew closer to the forest’s heart.

“At last, you’ve appeared.”

Sensing a presence, I halted my steps.
Someone was walking toward us from ahead. The aura emanating from this figure was of an entirely different caliber than those we’d encountered before.

“….”

A massive frame like a bear. A hairy middle-aged man.
It was Valentis Orten, the Holy Knight who had eagerly rushed forth to subjugate Dominion.

Shing─

As he gripped a greatsword with both hands, a pristine white aura rippled across the blade like smoke.

‘He’s coming.’

I took my stance and summoned black flames for the first time today.

Boom!

The ground warped as though an explosion had detonated, and his colossal frame loomed into view.
Bella extended her hand, deploying a defensive barrier directly before me.

Whoooosh!

As the greatsword and barrier collided, a violent gust swept through the air. For a moment, it appeared as though the barrier had blocked Valentis’s blade.

Crack!

But then fissures spread across the barrier….

Shatter!

The barrier shattered completely.
Even accounting for the fact that Bella had been continuously expending her mana while maintaining the Boundary, the destructive force was formidable.

“I-I’m sorry!”

Bella braced herself again. But before she could act, Valentis was already charging toward me.

Boom!

As the greatsword descended, I met it with my black blade. My arm tingled from the impact.

‘Tremendous weight behind that strike.’

Regardless of how specialized one might be in raw strength, few could match blades with me like this.
Indeed, in terms of pure martial prowess alone, Valentis was my equal.

“Don’t worry about it. Focus on support.”

After instructing Bella, I angled my blade to deflect the greatsword aside.
I spun in a full rotation and swung my sword, but Valentis retreated and evaded.

Whoosh!

Without pause, he charged forward again and brought his greatsword down in a vicious arc.
The strike came deep and fierce—as if he meant to cleave my head in two.
Normally, I would have closed the distance and counterattacked, but….

Whoom!

I stepped back three paces and evaded the strike.
Valentis was merely a victim of Dominion’s power, not my enemy—I could not kill him.

A sharp metallic screech tore through the air.

But he was different. He unleashed a relentless barrage of savage blade strikes, and I focused entirely on defense.
His movements were reckless, heedless of his own body. To Dominion, he was nothing more than a toy with exceptional martial prowess.

Flames erupted in a brilliant cascade.

Bella unleashed a torrent of fire. As Valentis swung his greatsword in a wide arc, the flames scattered.
But that created a brief opening, and I lunged at Valentis.

A sharp whistle of displaced air.

He reacted even to that, but I twisted my body to evade the descending blade.

A thunderous crash echoed.

Using that rotational momentum, I pivoted and drove a spinning kick into his exposed ribs with devastating force.
His body lifted momentarily before he was driven back several steps. Yet he recovered instantly, grasping his greatsword once more as if nothing had happened.

‘Subduing him through conventional means will be difficult.’

Then I had no choice but to face him in earnest.

“Breaking your limbs would be preferable to death.”
“….”
“Don’t resent me—this is all because you’re too strong.”

I lowered my stance, pushed off the ground, and charged forward. I closed the distance as though leaping through the void itself, then unleashed a massive blade strike.

A deafening explosion of clashing steel.

As the two blades collided, dust rose in a low cloud.
The greatsword’s weight certainly made it difficult to push back in a direct confrontation. So I would exploit that heaviness to my advantage.
Just as I was about to reverse my blade’s trajectory—

“Die….”

A voice leaked through his gritted teeth.
Only one side of his face was contorted. Tears streamed from his eyes, their whites half-exposed.

“Kill me….”

Now that I looked at it, dried blood clung to his greatsword.
It was unmistakably human blood, not that of a monster.
But it wasn’t mine. I had never wounded him.
Which meant….

‘He’s been toyed with by Dominion.’

Having encountered Dominion in my past life, I could quickly predict what had been done to him.
He had likely severed the lives of the innocent with that blade.
But I could not grant Valentis’s request.

“Did I not tell you?”

I gazed into his eyes. Those eyes darkening once more with that familiar hue.

“I would only break your limbs.”

Clang!

As I tightened my grip, his greatsword was sent flying. Then my black blade stitched itself across him.

Crash!

He twisted his greatsword left and right to parry my attacks, but gradually the black flames began to devour the pure white light.
I feinted a direct charge, angling my blade toward his flank, and wielded not just my sword but my arms and legs with equal intent.
A movement like feathers grinding away steel.
His weight could not overcome my lightness.

‘An opening.’

And then, one moment of weight.
I, who had been moving with relaxed strength, gripped my blade tightly. A rough line burst forth toward Valentis.

Boom!

Valentis raised his greatsword to block, but he couldn’t neutralize the force behind it.
The power had variations woven within it.

Boom!

Valentis’s body lifted off the ground, tumbling across the floor several times. Yet without a moment’s hesitation, he rose again and gripped his greatsword.
Multiple wounds marked his body. Not critical, but if this continued, I could eventually overwhelm him.

“….”

He steadied his breathing low. In that instant as he lowered his stance.

Crack!

Suddenly his hand seized his opposite wrist with force.
His body trembled as if lifting a heavy pillar, and he began pushing the hand holding the greatsword to the side.
It was strange. He was clearly one person, yet appeared divided in half.

“My neck….”

He spoke.
One of his eyes had turned white, and blood dripped from beneath his nose.

“Sever my neck, Kael Inquisitor!!!”

By now the greatsword had been completely pushed away from his body, leaving his upper torso completely exposed.
Truly a Holy Knight. This opening was forged by his noble willpower.
An opening where anyone with a blade could sever his neck. He willingly accepted death.
But I had no intention of obliging his wishes. His nature was far too twisted.

Whoosh!

I pushed off the ground and reached his eyes in an instant. Yet even seeing my movement, he did not swing his greatsword.

Thud—

So my bare hand reached his head far too easily.
The Dominion mana trembling in his brain—the mark of resistance.

“Sigh, grow.”

Whoooosh!

As I released my holy power in one breath, Dominion’s magical energy dissipated like dust scattered by a fierce wind.
Valentis’s body collapsed forward like a puppet with its strings cut.
I caught his chest with my foot. It was to prevent his jaw from slamming into the ground.
I couldn’t understand why I’d become so considerate lately.

Thud—

As I withdrew my foot, his body sprawled limply, and the greatsword fell with a heavy thud.
I gazed at the human blood clinging to the greatsword like a scar before speaking.

“I’ll take my revenge.”

The greatsword becoming like that wasn’t his will. That made it all the more problematic.

“Interrogator!”

Bella approached and spoke.

“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. He’s the problem.”

Wounds were visible across Valentis’s body. Not critical, but not minor either.

“I see.”
“Bella, Deacon. Treat this wretch here, and if you have time, clean the greatsword as well. From here on, I’ll go alone.”
“Yes, Interrogator.”

I turned my steps deeper into the forest.
Dominion wouldn’t engage in any more meaningless attrition now. Valentis must have been the strongest among those he commanded.

“Interrogator!”

At that moment, Bella called out and stopped me.

“What is it?”
“Be careful!”

She clenched both her fists tightly.
Though she trusted me, she was acutely aware that Dominion was no trivial opponent.
I chuckled softly and turned on my heel.

“I’ll be back shortly.”

Of course, after I’ve dealt with Dominion.

(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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