The Regressed Sword Demon Is a Catastrophe-Class Inquisitor - Chapter 24

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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 24. Surprising, isn’t it?

Chameleon’s documents were kept in a small box placed in Drake’s office.
Of course it was locked, but I could open it with the key Drake carried.

‘It’s buried not far from Scalen Territory.’

In a way, it made perfect sense.
The client might have needed that money urgently, and if it were buried too far away, that would become problematic.

“Interrogator, what should we do with the other documents?”

There were six documents detailing the locations where money was buried.
If I found them all and brought them to my territory, I wouldn’t have to worry about money for one or two years… but.

“I’ll hand over all documents except Chameleon’s to the Papal See. With that amount of money, the Papal See will smile broadly and overlook me taking Chameleon’s assets.”

Of course, I would keep silent about Chameleon.
I would simply take some of the spoils that happened to be nearby and report that I handed over the documents.
One might wonder if a clergyman should do such things, but I was never a Heresy Inquisitor for the Goddess in the first place.

“Besides, the amount from Chameleon’s documents is greater than the combined total of the other five. So it’s better to hand over the rest to the Papal See and direct the attention of the money’s owners there as well. They’ll be searching for their missing funds anyway.”

In short, I would reap the benefits while dumping all the troublesome work onto the Papal See.

“However, the report can wait. We’ll burn the corpse and the house, then immediately search for Chameleon’s assets.”
“Yes, understood!”

* * *

I entrusted the carriage to Bella and caught a brief nap inside.
I thought remnants of the Dark Blood Gang might follow us, but nothing noteworthy happened until we reached our destination.

“Interrogator, we’re almost there now.”

Since I kept my senses sharp, I opened my eyes at the sound of Bella’s voice.
I gazed out the window at the forest surrounding the carriage, then suddenly spoke.

“Bella, stop here.”
“Ah… well, there’s no benefit in showing them the carriage.”

Bella seemed aware that what she was doing didn’t befit a Heresy Inquisitor.
But seeing that she said nothing in protest, it was clear Bella had long since ceased to be a devout believer.

‘That’s not the only reason I’m telling her to stop, though.’

As I descended from the carriage, the dark sky—not yet touched by dawn—greeted me.
I then released holy power in all directions through ‘Fair Wind’, and an alien aura brushed against my senses.
An aura far denser than magical power, reeking nakedly of murderous intent.

‘Demonic aura.’

Demonic aura—the power wielded by demons.
While demons typically appeared scattered across The Continent, it was peculiar that they would manifest precisely where Baron Scalen’s treasures were hidden.

‘More troubling still, the demonic aura is unstable.’

A demon with reason would never possess such unstable aura. The same applied to humans who had drunk demon blood.

‘Then this suggests an entity that possesses demonic aura but lacks reason….’

An unpleasant memory surfaced, and my teeth ground together.
Yet since that memory offered no immediate aid, I cast the distraction aside.

“There are those who arrived before us. I’ll take the lead—stay alert and follow.”
“…Yes.”

Bella nodded with a tense expression.
I drew my blade and advanced slowly toward our original destination.
Before long, we discovered an ancient grain warehouse surrounded by trees.

‘The Dark Blood Gang’s hidden cache of Baron Scalen’s wealth must lie beneath this place.’

It didn’t appear that those who arrived first had taken anything.
Given that they remained nearby and no means of transport like a carriage was visible, they must have only recently arrived.

‘They’re hiding here. They’ve surely noticed our arrival by now.’

So where could they be hiding? They must be lurking nearby, waiting for their chance to strike….
But there seemed to be no need to go searching for them.
A massive form descended from above. I leaped backward, evading the ambush.

Crash!

Its enormous paw shattered the ground where I had stood.
I assessed my opponent’s identity first.

A low growl rumbled through the air.

It was a bear-like beast the size of a tree, its eyes burning crimson, its skin bearing the distinctive obsidian hue of a demon.
Yet while demons could devour beasts, it was extraordinarily rare for a beast to consume a demon and become one itself.

‘This creature was created by forcibly infusing demonic essence into a beast.’

My suspicion was correct.
This was no demon—it was a living being crafted through human experimentation.
One that, in terms of raw power alone, rivaled the demonized Baron Scalen.

‘Only one group would commit such atrocities.’

The Evil Book Society—those who worship the Demon God and exalt demons.
Most of their members yearned to transcend the fragile confines of humanity and become demons themselves.
And this creature was the manifestation of that desire.

‘So they were already conducting this filthy work back then.’

I bit the inside of my lip.
Had the Evil Book Society confined their experiments to beasts alone, my irritation would not have burned so fiercely.
But they had conducted experiments on humans as well—and I had saved those test subjects from their grasp.

‘If they want to become demons so badly, let them do it themselves, the wretched dogs.’

I narrowed my gaze and opened my mouth.

“Stop cowering like rats and come out now. Or shall I kill you first?”

Then, a figure slipped out from the forest and stood beside the bear.
The Black Robed Cultist spoke.

“Are you a Heresy Inquisitor?”
“No, I’m a bandit. I heard treasure was hidden here, so I came looking for it.”

He let out a scoff.

“Does a Heresy Inquisitor really have the audacity to covet another’s wealth?”
“Are your ears as deaf as that bear’s? I said I’m a bandit.”
“….”
“And I’m merely here to collect the damages I’ve suffered. You’re the one who came to steal, aren’t you?”

He exhaled a sigh and replied.

“How did you find this place?”
“That’s none of your concern. How did you find it?”
“Do I look like I’d tell you?”
“Suit yourself. You must have discovered a document detailing hidden funds after learning of Baron Scalen’s death and rummaging through his affairs. You intended to use that money to fund your experiments.”
“….”
“Truth be told, I’m not a bandit—I’m a mind reader. Surprising, isn’t it?”

He glared at me while stroking the bear’s leg.

“Could you possibly be Kael, the one who killed Mordin? Judging by your madness, it seems to fit.”

It appears my name has begun spreading quietly through the Evil Book Society.
It’s only natural—a man who wasn’t even an Inquisitor crushed one of their apostles.
I asked.

“Are you perhaps an idiot? You’re insulting me right to my face, so it seems likely.”
“….”

His eyes gleamed with cold menace.

“Grol, it seems we’ll be feasting today. An arrogant fool who doesn’t know his place will taste all the sweeter.”

A low growl rumbled forth.

Grol lacked reason, yet he obeyed his master without question.
Usually, even after modification, traces of one’s former nature persist to some degree—but he had likely imprinted terror so deeply into Grol that nothing remained.

‘That’s the most wretched part of it all. Whether human or demon, fragments of their original nature always linger. It would have been far better if nothing remained.’

Then he issued his command to Grol.

“Devour him.”

A guttural growl erupted from Grol’s throat.

Grol launched forward, his four limbs tearing at the earth beneath him.
I wrapped wind around my blade and opened my mouth.

“Deacon Bella, hold the line for a moment.”
“Yes!”

I propelled myself forward in a burst of speed.
Grol swung his massive limb, and I dropped low, evading the strike entirely.
Normally, I would have drawn my blade across him in that instant, but instead I pushed off the ground once more, charging directly toward his master.
The Black Robed Cultist’s eyes widened in shock.

“Block him!!”

Grol wheeled around, but he lacked the time to shield his master.

A torrent of searing flame erupted across the forest.

Scorching fire tore through the woodland.
Magic burst forth from Bella’s fingertips, engulfing Grol in its inferno.

The blast detonated with tremendous force.

Grol instinctively lashed out with his claws, tearing through the flames to disperse them.
Part of his foreleg was shattered in the process, though his demonic regeneration would restore it soon enough.
But that single moment was all I needed.

“Wait, just a moment!”

Upon reaching my master, I deliberately refrained from drawing my blade and drove my fist directly into the wretch’s face.
Since his martial prowess was nothing but trash, this was more than sufficient.

“Gack!”

Unable to evade, he tumbled across the floor along with several of his teeth.
I seized him by the collar and hoisted him into the air.

“Did you truly desire to become a demon so badly?”
“Grol!! Hurry and stop this bastard!!”

Rather than answer, he shrieked toward Grol, who rushed toward me with haste to save his master.
I gazed at his bloodshot eyes and smiled.

“You ceased being human long ago—there’s no need to struggle so.”

With that, I hurled him toward Grol and called out.

“Grol, here’s your favorite snack!”
“No, wait!”

He flew through the air like a writhing insect, with Grol drawing ever closer.

“D-don’t eat me!!”

Grol stared fixedly at his former master suspended in the void.
To eat or not to eat, to eat or not to eat.
Such was the contemplative gleam in his eyes—though Grol, before being a demon, was a man-eating beast.

Crunch!

“Aaaahhhhh!”

Grol bit down on his former master in a single, tremendous chomp, then proceeded to chew him with both hands, crunching and gnashing.
Witnessing this spectacle, a satisfied smile bloomed across my face.

“My, what an appetite our Grol has.”

Grol’s lips were stained with blood by now, and his gaze fixed upon me. His eyes still burned with ravenous hunger.
I asked gravely.

“Grol, do you wish to die?”
A low growl rumbled from his throat.
“Then there is no other choice.”

I lowered my stance and gathered my momentum.
Grol possessed a level of power comparable to when Baron Scalen had undergone demonification.
Back then, I had inflicted a fatal wound at the outset and won with ease, but now Grol’s front limbs had regenerated completely, leaving him unscathed.

‘However….’

I had grown stronger since then, and Grol lacked reason—incapable of rational judgment.
So as long as I possessed the power to sever his life in a single strike before he could react, there would be no significant problem.
And fortunately, I possessed exactly such a technique.

Whiiiiiish!

Wind coiled around my blade like a rising dragon. The grass around me scattered in all directions, and the western sky began to fill with light.

“Grol, did it hurt when you were modified?”

I asked meaninglessly while condensing the wind.

“It must have. Those wretches cared nothing for your suffering—they were consumed entirely with transforming you into a demon.”

I was not pitying a mere beast. Rather, someone transformed into a demon came to mind.

A furious roar tore from his throat!

Grol charged toward the tempest.
Had he been human, he would have sensed the danger and focused on evasion, but he was a mindless beast.

“Rest now.”

I watched as he reached me in a blur and swung my blade.

Shhhhwiiiiish!

The violent gust of wind that erupted tore through his body indiscriminately. Blood fountained skyward, and flesh was ripped away in countless places.

A guttural cry tore from his throat.

What remained of him—now nothing but tatters—swayed in place. But it was only moments before his broken form crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
There would be no regeneration, not against holy power.
I drove my sword into the earth and clasped my hands in prayer.

‘Goddess, I offer up this being—born as a demon, dying as a demon. Grant me peace of mind, that I may never become a demon myself, though I am but human.’

Black light seeped from Grol’s body, gradually purifying into white radiance.
The amount was similar to what had emerged from Baron Scalen.
The holy power surged toward me, and I seized it, making it my own.

‘Ahhh.’

As the holy power filled me, peace of mind descended upon my soul.
Yes. Growing stronger was the light that erased darkness itself.

‘At this rate, I can now reach the realm of Wrath.’

My growth was incomparably faster than in my previous life. Had I possessed demonic power instead of holy power, such advancement would have been impossible.

A soft whisper of dissolution.

Grol had become ash, vanishing completely.
With Baron Scalen, the human shell had remained, but the Goddess was merciless to those who were not human.

“Deacon Bella, let us find the money now.”
“Yes!”

When we arrived at the Grain Warehouse, the earth had already been excavated, and it gleamed with beautiful golden light.
Grol must have dug it up.
Thanks to his effort, I saved both time and strength, and gained a considerable amount of holy power as well.

‘Grol, may you find peace.’

I offered a brief prayer for Grol’s soul, then loaded the treasures buried in the ground onto the carriage with Bella.
There were a few golden toads and ornaments, but most of it was gold coins.
As the carriage’s interior filled with treasure, Bella placed her hand against it.

“Darkshade.”

The carriage windows that had gleamed with golden light turned pitch black under Bella’s spell.
Bella had judged that raw power wouldn’t be immediately useful, so she prioritized learning magic that could assist us in other ways.
Darkshade, which cast shadow veils over certain areas, or Cleansing, which swept away foreign objects….

“Will this be enough?”
“Yes. No one will see us, but there’s no harm in being careful.”

With no space left inside the carriage, we climbed onto the driver’s seat.
I took the reins and spoke.

“Deacon Bella, get some rest. I’ll handle the carriage.”
“Yes! Thank you, Interrogator!”

I drove the carriage forward, and Bella’s head nodded before she leaned it against my shoulder.
Under normal circumstances, I would have hurled her head away, but my patience now rivaled that of the Goddess herself.

Clop-clop, clop-clop—

The heavy carriage, the sun rising in the sky, and the sacred power circulating through my body.
Intoxicated with joy, I hummed carelessly.

“I left Baron Luminara’s mansion as a pauper, but I return as a wealthy Heretic Inquisitor….”

This too must be the Goddess’s grace….

(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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