The Regressed Sword Demon Is a Catastrophe-Class Inquisitor - Chapter 2

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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 2. Want to Fall Behind?

Since childhood, I’d heard the word “blockhead” more times than I could count. Teaching manners to irritating fools with headbutts had become my daily routine.
And that hadn’t changed much even now.

Thud—

The man sprawled backward, twitching.

‘Is he dead?’

No, he was simply unconscious.
I drew his dagger and cut the rope binding his wrists.

Bang, bang!

– Hey! If you kill him, the plan falls apart. Take it easy!

Someone knocked on the warehouse door.
I prepared to bolt out immediately, but the man didn’t bother entering, apparently too lazy.

‘Then….’

I ran my fingers across the unconscious man’s throat, channeling mana through it.
At that moment, I felt an unusual energy emanating from my body, but I ignored it for now and examined his vocal cord structure.

– Are you dead?! Why aren’t you answering? I’m in a hurry!

The moment my analysis was complete, I manipulated my own vocal cords using mana.

Click—

Vocal cords are organs composed of thin muscle. In other words, by altering their structure, I could mimic anyone’s voice.
Just like this….

“I beat him senseless! The bastard wouldn’t shut up about his face, spouting nonsense!”

A voice that wasn’t mine echoed through the Warehouse.
I waited silently for a response to come.

– Tsk tsk, so the madman was just an idiot who couldn’t even grasp the situation.

As the man muttered, his presence receded. He had no intention of coming down anytime soon.
Only then did I release my vocal cord transformation.

“Ugh….”

The unconscious man let out a groan.
I covered his mouth with my hand and drove a dagger into his chest.

Thud!

“…!”

He reflexively whimpered, but my palm suppressed the sound. His body convulsed like a shrimp before going limp.

‘Now that I’ve bought some time, let me sort through the situation.’

I sat down where the moonlight filtered in.

‘They kidnapped me to use me as bait, to draw attention away from the Family Estate.’

And when hired knights or mercenaries came to rescue me, they planned to strike the Family Estate.

‘Last time, I was held captive by them for about a month before I somehow escaped and returned to the Estate.’

But by then, everything was already over.
Screams permeated the Territory.
Bodies of residents scattered everywhere.
The Mansion consumed by flames.
My Parents pierced by blades, and my Sibling vanished….
I harbored no regret about running away from home.
I knew well that even if I had been at the Estate back then, the outcome wouldn’t have changed.

‘But things are different now.’

I could return to the Family Estate a month earlier than in my previous life, and the experience and knowledge I’d accumulated then now existed within my mind.
If I leveraged that, I could surely prevent the Family Estate’s destruction as well.

‘To do that, I need to escape this place first and return to the Family Estate.’

However, one enemy still remained outside.
Though I’d lived recklessly, the fact that I—educated as a nobleman—was abducted without a single wound meant my enemy possessed considerable skill.
In my previous life, I barely managed to kill that one. The one I just killed was nothing special, but the other one was strong.

‘Now that I’ve regressed, I don’t think I’ll lose to him, but there’s one thing I need to confirm first.’

A different energy—not mana—had been circulating through my body since earlier.
I closed my eyes and observed my inner self.
A radiant energy flowing through every corner of my body. It felt foreign yet familiar, as though it were washing away all the darkness within me.

‘As I thought….’

Somewhat startled, I calmed the energy.

‘Holy power.’

Holy power.
A force that only those chosen by the Goddess Ella could wield—power that blessed Ella’s descendants and destroyed the source of all corruption.
I’d grown weary of experiencing its might through Ludian.

‘Currently on the Continent, only the Twelve Holy Knights and the Five Holy Maidens possess holy power.’

Yet I, having returned to the past, now possessed this holy power….
Did that mean the entity that caused my regression was likely the Goddess Ella?
There was no one else transcendent enough to grant holy power and send me back through time.

‘I don’t know why she chose to regress me—a heretic—instead of Ludian….’

Either way, these were things I couldn’t know immediately. If I lived freely enough, she’d eventually grow frustrated and speak to me.
I pulled the dagger from the corpse’s chest and wiped the blood on its clothing. Then I walked toward the door.

‘Hmm?’

At that moment, my reflection appeared in a long mirror.
My black hair had grown long enough to reach my shoulders from wandering under the guise of pilgrimage. This appearance bore a resemblance to how I looked when I was the Sword Demon.
Suddenly, a story Ludian had once told me came to mind.

– The Goddess does not resolve the problem itself. She merely grants us the strength to overcome trials. Just as I received divine power from her.
– ….
– At the end of that journey, it falls to us alone to harvest the fruit.

If this were an opportunity granted by the Goddess Ella, and if this path were my journey to harvest the fruit I desired….
Then I would walk this long road once more.

Swish, swish—

I began trimming my hair with a short blade.
I had no intention of suddenly adopting a different philosophy. I was simply choosing to contemplate life a little more than I had in my previous existence.
After all, I had already spent enough time thinking about death.

‘This should suffice.’

My bangs were cut so my eyebrows weren’t visible, and I neatly trimmed my sideburns and the back of my hair.
Afterward, I gripped the short blade and stepped out of the Warehouse.

‘A delicious aroma.’

Following the sweet, savory scent, I found a man sitting with his back to me.
He was carefully roasting sweet potatoes inside a Fire Pit.

“Ah, you’ve come out. I’ve roasted some sweet potatoes, so eat them.”

The man still had his back to me as he gestured behind him.

‘Does he think someone other than me has come out?’

I considered throwing my short blade, but since it had been so long, I couldn’t be certain of my opponent’s strength, so instead I picked up a sweet potato placed beside the door.
Besides, I was hungry.

‘These bastards, leaving only me out….’

I brushed away the charred leaves wrapping the sweet potato and peeled back its skin.
As the glossy golden flesh was revealed, I took a bite.

‘Delicious.’

The roasting was flawless—not a single burnt spot.
The Sweet Potato Master spoke as he turned another sweet potato over the flames.

“How’s that one doing?”

I swallowed the sweet potato in my mouth and modulated my voice.

“Beat him a little too hard. He’s unconscious.”
“Kekeke, take it easy. If you kill him, it’ll be a headache.”
“Got it.”

I took another bite of the sweet potato and opened my mouth.

“When does he move?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but I’d say about a month. They need time to prepare on their end too, and I never expected that reckless fool who abandoned the Family Clan to return.”

He quickly flipped the sweet potato. True to his nature as the Sweet Potato Master, his full attention was on the roasting.

“So get along with him. We’ll need to keep him around for a while.”
“Sure, whatever.”

I stared at his back for a moment before asking.

“But… do we need to feed him?”
“Kekeke, planning to win him over with sweet potatoes?”
“Well, it’d keep him docile.”
“No good. A little starvation will sap his will to resist. He’s learned some swordwork, so there’s no reason to feed him well. For now, just water.”
….

So that’s why these bastards starved me back then….

“And won’t that make him ugly?”
“He’s already ugly from the beating I gave him.”
“Haha! Fair point.”

He threw his head back and laughed.
I took one final bite, then tossed the peel to the ground.
Now only a dagger remained in my grip.

“You wouldn’t have any water, would you?”
“Oh, here….”

He turned his torso to retrieve a water bottle. In that same instant, his eyes widened dramatically.
I was still chewing the sweet potato while he stared at me intently.

“…What the hell.”

I swallowed the sweet potato in my mouth and spoke with grave composure.

“Want to die?”

* * *

Silence hung between us. Sparks crackled and burst from the Fire Pit.
I fixed him with a steady gaze and offered my counsel.

“Your sweet potato’s burning.”
“….”

He steadied his wavering gaze and swallowed hard.
I felt his attention shift from the sweet potato to the sword sheath at his waist.
I gripped the dagger tighter and extended my empty hand.

“If you’re not going to roast the sweet potato, just give me the water.”

He watched me for a moment, then hurled the water bottle toward me.
The instant I reached for it, he drew his sword in one fluid motion and closed the distance.

Shing!

As his blade cut a diagonal arc, I twisted my body with ease. The steel whispered past my chest.
He quickly withdrew and struck again, but I had already stepped back.

“Hah… Getting a drink is harder than I thought.”

I shook the water bottle in my hand.
Having ceded the first strike and obtained water, I could call that skirmish my perfect victory.

Glug, glug—

I uncapped the bottle and drank its contents. A scorching sensation blazed down my throat.

“What? This is alcohol?”

So these bastards….
They were planning to eat sweet potatoes and drink without me?

“All the better, then.”

I took another sip and tucked the bottle carefully into my chest.
Since I became known as the Sword Demon, I hadn’t touched a single drop of alcohol. I was always intoxicated by rage instead.
So perhaps this was alcohol after a long abstinence, wasn’t it?

“…Who are you?”
“Kael.”
“Were you hiding your strength? You didn’t react at all when you ambushed me before.”

He seemed to be referring to when they kidnapped me.

“You could say that.”
“Did you let yourself be captured to discover why we kidnapped you? Now that I think about it, you even mimicked my voice to ask when I’d make my move.”
“Sharp.”
“…We were careless. I didn’t expect someone called a madman to be so clever.”

I nodded and spoke.

“Indeed. But I was surprised too.”
“About what?”
“That you could roast sweet potatoes so well. They were the finest I’ve ever eaten.”

He tilted his head in confusion before answering.

“…Thank you.”
“Truly worthy of the Sweet Potato Master. To roast sweet potatoes so intently you couldn’t even recognize your own ally in danger—you’re a hopeless fool. From now on, I’ll shorten ‘Sweet Potato Master’ for your name: Gojang.”

I clapped my hands lightly. Gojang, who had been momentarily flustered, his eyes now gleamed with killing intent.

A sharp whistle cut through the air.

Closing the distance in an instant, Gojang brought his longsword down in a vicious arc.
I held my dagger in reverse grip and angled it diagonally against his blade, deflecting it with a subtle twist of my wrist.
Before Gojang could withdraw his sword.
I grazed his wrist with a shallow cut, then retreated to evade the longsword that came rushing toward me.

A metallic clang followed by a sharp whistle.

In the next instant, dozens of exchanges unfolded in rapid succession.
He wielded his blade with crude, savage strength befitting his appearance, while I deflected his strikes and methodically carved wounds into his body with my dagger.

‘He’s certainly no weakling.’

It was only natural—two men capable of kidnapping a noble were bound to possess some skill.
Moreover, the difference in weapon length made it impossible to end this cleanly through direct confrontation.
Still, I remained unscathed while blood seeped from countless wounds across his body. The outcome was inevitable.

A heavy thud echoed through the space.

As I continued backing away while parrying his attacks, I kicked the Fire Pit with my heel.
Firewood and sweet potatoes tumbled down in a cascading shower.
I glanced at the charred mass that had turned black.

“Gojang, your sweet potatoes are burned.”
“Shut your mouth!”

Enraged by the destruction of his sweet potatoes, Gojang swung his sword in a wide, desperate arc. I simply leaped back.

“Hah… hah…”

He gasped for breath, blood dripping from his wounds.
Deciding how to finish this, I simply enhanced my physical abilities with holy power, then launched myself forward at tremendous speed.

“…!”

As I thrust the short blade forward, Gojang reacted in surprise and blocked it with the flat of his longsword.
The moment he retreated, I hurled the short blade directly at him.

Clang!

But Gojang responded swiftly, knocking the short blade away with his sword.
Now I stood weaponless while Gojang wielded his longsword.
Yet it mattered not.
Because in my hand lay a scorching sweet potato I had plucked from the ground.

Whoosh!

The sweet potato streaked through the air like a black meteorite.
Gojang witnessed it, but he had already committed to his swing, having just knocked away the short blade.

Thwack!

The sweet potato struck true, hitting him near the eye.

“Ow, it’s hot! Damn it!”

The instant Gojang instinctively brought his hand to his face.
I snatched up the short blade from the ground and rushed toward him.

“Get away!”

Sensing my approach, Gojang swept the sweet potato aside with one hand and swung his longsword wildly.
But before I could close the distance, his blade descended—and I slipped through the gap, severing the tendons in his wrist.

“Ugh!”

Blood spattered as Gojang’s longsword clattered to the floor.
I cast aside the short blade and seized the longsword. Then I dragged the chair where he had been sitting, sat down, and planted the longsword into the ground before me.

“Now I shall ask you questions.”

Gojang, his face smudged with ash, looked up at me with bloodshot eyes.

“If you do not answer, this time I shall shove kindling into that mouth of yours.”

At the killing intent woven into my words, Gojang’s pupils trembled finely.

(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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