The Regressed Sword Demon Is a Catastrophe-Class Inquisitor - Chapter 12

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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 12. You Deserve a Beating.

“Impossible. How could you possibly wield holy power…?”

Currently, there are seventeen individuals within the Theocracy who can manipulate holy power.
Twelve Holy Knights. And the Five Holy Maidens.
Including myself, that would make eighteen.
So his shock was entirely understandable.

“A reckless brute who doesn’t even know the proper ceremonial procedures—how in the world are you wielding holy power?!”

His incessant prattling grated on my nerves, so I flicked my ear once.

“Who knows? Perhaps the Goddess values appearance over character.”

If I could, I would ask the Goddess myself.
Why did she grant me holy power when I walked a different path?
But the Goddess merely handed me this power without offering any explanation or guidance.
As if she had entrusted everything to my own choice.

“Hah! This is absurd. With such an irreverent attitude, Ella granted you holy power?”

His violent reaction suddenly irritated me, so I glared at Mordin.

“It was the Goddess’s choice. What’s your complaint? At least I’ll ascend all wretches like you, which should contribute somewhat to the peace of The Continent.”
“Hah, peace of The Continent?”

Mordin scoffed.

“That’s the perspective of the weak, isn’t it? Of humans who die regardless? I, on the other hand…?”
“Ah, spare me the clichés.”

I raised my hand to cut him off.

“I can already guess—you’ll say true peace comes from becoming strong enough not to die from illness or accident. I’ve heard that tired argument more than enough.”
“….”
“Still, I agree with you to some extent. But since you’ve defiled my Family Clan and ruined the villagers’ crops, your words have lost all persuasive power.”

I pointed at him with my finger.

“In other words, since you’ve become a demon, everything that comes out of your mouth is nothing but nonsense. Do you understand?”
“You, born strong, wouldn’t understand.”
“Understand what? I’ve walked alongside death for a long time. I’ve heard the words of the dying more than anyone else, and I survived among countless piles of corpses.”

Wherever I passed, corpses and bloodstains littered the ground, and desperate screams echoed in my ears.
It had only been about three years since my Family Clan fell and I wandered the lands, yet those three years felt longer than any other time in my life.

“Wait, now that I think about it, this is all your fault.”

Suddenly, heat surged through me, and I glared at Mordin with blazing eyes.

“This won’t do. You need a beating. Let me show you the taste of my blade, returned from Hell.”
“You madman….”
“You’re the one who made me mad! You bastard!”

I kicked off the ground and surged forward like the wind.
Afterward, my blade wrapped in a whirlwind and his massive frame intertwined.
Mordin’s brute strength was a threat even to me, so I focused on evading his attacks while slowly inflicting wounds.
Since I’d already dealt a heavy blow to his chest earlier, the situation was far more favorable for me.
Mordin viewed my holy power as dangerous and didn’t attempt the exchange of bone for flesh like before.

Crash! Crash!

Blood sprayed across the fierce battle as the Chapel began to crumble.
Naturally, the blood spraying into the air was his.
Like a mayfly buzzing around his head, I focused on evasion rather than inflicting wounds, waiting for his stamina to deplete.

“Try to catch me!”

Mordin gritted his teeth as he watched me dart about.
I wasn’t joyful now but filled with rage, yet I could wield the Blade of Rapture freely.
Once you reach a certain realm, you can use the sword technique without being consumed by that emotion.

Whoosh! Crack!

Then, having reached the realm of rapture, could I control joy itself?
In other words, could I free myself from the emotion of rapture?

‘Should I give it a try?’

I recalled that moment in this life when I had reached the pinnacle of ecstasy.
A garden where the grass lay spread out in serene silence.
There, I had admired Aren’s swordsmanship—swift and delicate as a sparrow’s wings—and exchanged trivial conversation with him.
Then, following Aren’s gaze, I lifted my head.
A sky dyed crimson not with blood but with the sunset’s glow greeted me alongside a cool breeze.

“….”

Yet now, too, the red glow of sunset was pouring through the ceiling that had conveniently opened above.
Was this coincidence, or merely a phantom born from my intoxication with ecstasy?
Either way, the wind dancing across the blade mingled with the moment, and my mood was so pleasant that a light laugh escaped me.

Shing!

In that same instant, my blade grew sharper than ever before.
I could wield the Blade of Ecstasy without surrendering to joy, but naturally, the greater my joy, the more formidable the Blade of Ecstasy became.

“Ahaha.”

I swung my blade with a faint smile playing at my lips.
Mordin’s crimson blood scattered like flower petals, and fragments of flesh fluttered about like butterflies.

Slash! Slash!

Before I knew it, I was driving Mordin back like a hound that had caught the scent of prey.
Fearing what I might do if I surrendered further to ecstasy, I reined in my joy at this point.
And then I understood.

‘I see.’

I had finally become free from this emotion called joy.
I could laugh and feel pleasure whenever I wished, and I could suppress it when joy needed to be contained.
Now the Blade of Ecstasy was a weapon I could completely control.

“….”

Yet strangely, as I suppressed my joy, rage began to rear its head.
For I had not yet reached the pinnacle of fury.

“Because of you!”

But I did not bother to restrain myself. Instead, I dredged up memories of the past and brought my blade down.

“Because of you, I wandered the world as a madman!”

Then Mordin, struggling to parry my strikes, spoke.

“No, you were always….”
“Silence! Silence! Die!”

I slashed viciously, and with my final horizontal cut, Mordin sprayed blood as he flew backward.

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, Mordin’s body crumpled to the ground. I planted my foot upon his chest.

“Say another word.”
“….”

Mordin neither answered nor rose to his feet.
Victory was mine—in my past life and in this one.
The difference, however, was that my family estate remained untouched by him this time.
Thus, it could be called a flawless, perfect victory.

“Nora….”

Then Mordin gazed at the sky and murmured hollowly.

“Forgive me, Nora….”

I already knew why Mordin had become part of the Evil Book Society. I had asked him before killing him in my past life.
Mordin had a sister who was frail from birth, and she died young from chronic illness.
After that, Mordin harbored contempt for the weakness inherent in humanity and pursued strength.
And my response upon hearing his tale was this.

Thud!

I drove my blade straight through his heart.

“Don’t apologize. You don’t deserve that mercy.”

Blood spilled from his lips in a violent gush.

“If the world of the dead truly exists, you’ll meet them briefly. But you’ll be separated soon enough.”

I leaned my face close to his eyes.

“Why? Because you abandoned your humanity.”
“You….”
“Your sister will watch you fade away and cry out like this: ‘Brother? Brother!! Where are you going! That’s Hell!'”

Despair flooded his pupils. I smiled coldly at the sight.

“Now disappear.”

I twisted the blade with force, and blood spread rapidly across the floor. The light fading from his eyes, Mordin forced his lips open with great effort.

“Your family clan….”
“…?”
“It wasn’t just my personal greed….”

Mordin’s remaining life drained away as his head fell. I wanted to hear more of what he was saying, but he was already dead.

‘Was he trying to say that targeting my family clan wasn’t merely his personal ambition?’

It seemed likely. But there was no way to know if it was the truth.
Above all, he never said such things in my previous life.

‘Did he just blurt out anything to leave me with questions?’

I couldn’t be certain of this either.
But since there was no way to find out now, I decided to move past it.
For now, it was enough to simply savor this joy.
Yet my hunger still burned fiercely. Mordin was merely the beginning of the calamity.
There were still countless others who would gnaw away at my nest and this entire Continent.

‘So then….’

I brought my hands together for a moment.
There was a way for Holy Knights to grow stronger most rapidly—by capturing demons and offering them to the Goddess.

‘Goddess Ella, accept this. I don’t know if you were the one who sent me back, but if you were, consider this my humble offering.’

Then black light began seeping from Mordin’s body.
It was what was called Demonic Essence—the source of a demon’s power.
The flowing essence seemed to be purified, gradually turning white, before suddenly surging toward me.

“…!”

I was startled by the considerable holy power spreading through me, but quickly composed myself and regulated it.
Concentrating briefly and circulating it, that holy power soon became mine to command.

“Hah, how extraordinary.”

The reason for my shock was simple. This wasn’t how it normally worked.
From what I knew, the Goddess would take the Demonic Essence from a demon, purify a portion of it, and grant it back as holy power.

‘But this time, it seems most of Mordin’s Demonic Essence was purified into holy power and given to me….’

As a result, I now possessed holy power comparable to the magical power I had when I defeated Mordin in my past life.
Even though the magical power from then and my holy power just before weren’t vastly different, it was still a considerable amount.
I looked up at the sky.

“Is this your answer in your own way? An instruction to use this power?”

Naturally, no answer came in return.

“But I will use this power as I see fit. Know that I cannot honor your wishes.”

I continued speaking.

“If you don’t answer, I’ll take that as permission.”
“….”
“Well then, this power is mine now.”

To be honest, I was nervous. What if she actually responded?
I was grateful the Goddess was shy.
The moment I lowered my head in relief.

“…!”

I sensed something and quickly jumped to the side.
Then something white descended from the sky.
It wasn’t divine holy power. It was filthy bird droppings.
Had I not dodged, the droppings would have landed right on my head.

“It wasn’t, right?”

I wiped the cold sweat from my brow and looked up.

“I’ll believe it wasn’t. Surely such a noble Goddess would never do such a thing.”

The sky was crimson from the sunset, and somehow the scenery made it seem as though the Goddess’s cheeks were flushed.

“Heh, bad luck. Yes, I was simply unlucky.”

I smiled and cast aside my idle thoughts, then drew the sword from Mordin’s chest.
Mordin had returned to his human form.
Normally, when a demon’s corpse is offered to the Goddess, it crumbles to ash and vanishes, but since Mordin was originally human, his shell remained.
Or perhaps the Goddess had forgiven even this human.

“Are you alright!”

At that moment, the Knights burst through the Chapel doors and rushed in. It seemed the cleanup elsewhere had been completed.

“As you can see.”
“Y-you’re truly remarkable. It was clearly a formidable foe, yet you stand unscathed….”

Roban, who had guided me to the Chapel, let out an admiring sigh.
He was right—Mordin was formidable. Had I been unable to wield divine power, his regeneration would have made the battle far more grueling.

“What of the situation elsewhere?”
“The others are gathered in one location. Cardinal Bianco is the only casualty. The wounded are receiving treatment, and the remaining cardinals await word from here.”
“I see. Then I leave the cleanup to you. Roban, guide them to where the others are.”
“Yes, Young Master Kael.”

Roban maintained formality and led me onward without further comment.
Following him, I found the others waiting in a spacious clearing within the Forest.
Lenika, spotting me first, approached.

“You’re unharmed, Sibling. Thank goodness.”
“I didn’t mention it before—I killed many demons and humans alike.”
“I see.”

Lenika covered her mouth, a soft laugh escaping her.

“Your manner of speech has reverted to how it was when we first met.”
“Ah, my mind’s been scattered. Forgive me.”
“No, no. I prefer it this way. Besides, it seems you’ll soon reach a rank equal to mine as a priestess.”
“I see.”

I nodded, and Lenika offered a bittersweet smile.

“Still, it seems you’ve finally faced reality. Such things will happen again.”
“There’s nothing wrong with remaining in a Flower Garden where sunlight always shines.”
“But sunlight alone will wilt the flowers. Only with darkness too can they truly bloom.”

Lenika’s blue eyes, fixed upon me, did not waver.
Someday, each of the Five Holy Maidens of the Theocracy would be swept away by calamity and perish.
Well, since the Theocracy has fallen, perhaps others will fare differently….
In any case, if things continued this way, Lenika seemed unlikely to be broken by any ordinary storm.

“So you’re saying you’re the flower?”
“Huh?”

Lenika hastily waved both hands in flustered denial.

“That is merely a figure of speech, I assure you…!”
“I was merely jesting.”
“Ah… Yes.”

Lenika cleared her throat once before regaining her composure.
I let out a soft chuckle and turned my gaze toward Barun nearby.

“Cardinal Barun, I have arrived.”
“Yes, I see you are unharmed.”
“However, there is something I wished to inquire about.”
“You mean regarding the Heresy Inquisitor examination, correct?”
“I have observed you throughout, and I must say, Cardinal Barun, your perceptiveness is truly admirable.”
“Krhm… Thank you.”

Barun continued speaking.

“I was about to inform you of this matter. The examination for Heresy Inquisitor was interrupted before it could commence due to the attack.”
“Then will a retesting be conducted at a later date?”
“No, upon reflection, I believe the examination has already been sufficiently administered. After all, you have all directly confronted heretics today.”

Barun turned to observe the other examinees.

“I must apologize, but the other cardinals and I lack martial prowess, so we observed your battle through magical instruments. We assessed how you prepared for the attack and whether you possessed sufficient strength to vanquish heretics, among other things.”

The examinees swallowed hard.

“Therefore, I shall now confer with the other cardinals to select the Heresy Inquisitor. Of course, the vice position shall be included as well.”

Barun turned his steps toward the large carriage.

“Please rest comfortably for now. It should not take long.”

The remaining two cardinals followed Barun toward the carriage.
I spoke to Barun as he passed by me.

“I look forward to favorable results.”

Barun emitted his characteristic laugh. He muttered something cryptically to himself.

“Yes. You have every right 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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