The Regressed Sword Demon Is a Catastrophe-Class Inquisitor - Chapter 36

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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 36. My Thoughts Have Changed.

Though I was called the Family Clan’s disgrace, I had never once hurled curses at Mother or Father, even when I defied them.
Had I done so, wouldn’t I have been excommunicated long ago?

‘And yet….’

Ravenna had committed an act of rebellion I myself had never dared attempt. She had even hurled a poison-tipped dagger while doing so.
Truly, she was an unfilial child of the most extraordinary degree.

“Ravenna, have you finally lost your mind?”

Orpen, having regained his composure, posed the question, and Ravenna shrieked as though wringing the words from her very soul.

“You’re the one who’s lost your mind! How could you sacrifice innocent people in such a manner!”
“They’re worthless—they’d be of no use alive. Better they serve me in death.”
“That way of thinking is insane!”

Watching Ravenna tremble with fury, Orpen’s eyes narrowed to slits.

“Now I understand. I wondered how the Heretic Inquisitor learned of Indok—it was you who informed them.”
“That’s not—”
“No outsider has ever entered to investigate our Territory. The residents have never concerned themselves with the disappearances. So it could only be you, couldn’t it?”
“You… you insult even the last shred of dignity of the child you brought into this world.”
“The one insulting me now is you, woman.”

Orpen’s gaze sharpened to a lethal edge.
I turned to Ravenna, whose eyes glistened with tears.

“Do you see any other way to silence that creature?”

Ravenna looked upon her father, then wiped her tears away with her arm.

“…I don’t believe there is.”
My thoughts have changed.

I gestured toward the direction from which we had come.

“Bella, take this filial daughter and dispose of the rabble.”

From that direction, figures in black garments came rushing forward. Orpen’s subordinates had finally arrived.

“Yes!”

Bella dragged Ravenna along and charged toward them. Bella unleashed a barrage of spells while Ravenna steadied herself, drew a dagger, and met their assault.
Arturo spoke.

“Viper Family Head. Could you spare me a glass of water before we fight?”

Orpen answered in an indifferent tone.

“I have no water for you. Poison, perhaps, but not water.”
“I suppose not.”
“But who are you? By your appearance, you don’t seem to be from the Papal See.”

Orpen did not remember Arturo, who had begged for a glass of water in the Slums that day.
It had been ten years, and besides, this was likely the first time he had ever laid eyes on Arturo’s face.
Arturo twisted his lips and gripped his dagger tightly.

“Then that will suffice.”
“Very well.”

Orpen took his stance. Violet mana bloomed along his crescent-shaped greatsword.
He could infuse his mana with poison by consuming it himself.

‘A man like this is more dangerous than most Evil Book Society executives or demons.’

A man who had honed a single discipline to perfection.
One must always remain vigilant, never knowing what unseen or unheard methods he might employ.
Of course, such caution hardly applies to me, who has already witnessed countless such opponents.

Whoosh!

Orpen moved first.
He vanished in an instant, already aiming for Arturo’s throat.

Clang!

Arturo parried the attack with his dagger, but the disparity in physical ability meant he would be pushed back at any moment.

Clang!

Before that could happen, I brought my blade down, and Orpen had no choice but to retreat.

“Don’t overextend yourself. Look for your openings. You’re outmatched against him.”
“…Understood.”

Arturo has grown rapidly since the rampage in Viper Territory, but he is far from weak even now.
It’s simply that Orpen is a formidable opponent.
In terms of pure physical ability alone, he surpasses even my Realm of Joy. And with poison, he becomes far more dangerous.

Whoosh—

But having already reached the Realm of Wrath, I ignited flames along my blade and wove a pattern of sword strikes toward him.

Clang! Clang!

Each time the two blades collided, violet light and flames scattered into the air.
Normally, I would have been wary of the violet mana infused with poison, but the poison dispersing into the void was consumed by the flames.
Still, direct wounds remained a concern, so I wielded my blade with deliberate caution.

“…You show no hesitation in your attacks. Are you not afraid of my poison?”

I answered Orpen’s question while evading his longsword.

“As long as it doesn’t cut me, it doesn’t matter.”

At that moment, Arturo appeared, seizing the opening, and thrust his dagger forward.
Orpen twisted his body swiftly, but a long crimson line was drawn across his shoulder, and he immediately created distance.

“….”

Violet liquid was vivid on Orpen’s wound. Normally, there would be a reaction to the poison, but he stood unaffected.
Instead, he wiped the poison from the wound with his hand and brought it to his lips, savoring it.

“Quite an exquisite poison.”

Arturo clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, so poison of this caliber proves meaningless.”

I found myself newly curious about the potency of Arturo’s poison bombs—the ones that had pierced through such toxin resistance to assassinate Orpen.
But since I’d likely be caught in the blast myself, I suppressed the curiosity for now.

“Dragging this out serves no purpose.”

Orpen’s violet mana was gradually fading. The toxic components he’d ingested were being expelled from his body.

“Rat poison suits rats best, after all.”

Orpen withdrew a pill from his breast pocket. It resembled mud, and merely looking at it filled me with revulsion.
A human-derived pill—a vile concoction made from human material.

Gulp—

He consumed it himself rather than using it against us.
An ordinary person’s esophagus and vital organs would have dissolved from such a thing.
But seeing his condition remain intact suggested he possessed tolerance even to his own creation.

‘Just how much of this poison has he consumed?’

I furrowed my brow in that instant.

Sssssss!

From Orpen’s blade, a deeper violet aura rose with sinister intent.

“I’ll slaughter you all.”

He raised the blade—one that seemed to shriek with malice—and swung it through the empty air.

Whoooosh!

Violet mist erupted from the blade’s trajectory, engulfing the entire mansion grounds.
That miasma, reminiscent of Hell’s own fog, surged forward at terrifying speed.

“That bastard! Is he really trying to kill all his subordinates too?!”

I glanced at the astonished Arturo and spoke.

“Get behind me. I’m afraid I’ll have to destroy the mansion a bit.”

I gripped my sword with both hands and lowered my stance.
Since Ravenna would be the one restoring the mansion anyway, not me, I had no qualms about it.

Whoooosh—

Flames blazed intensely across the blade’s surface. The fire flickered violently for a moment before merging with wind that appeared from nowhere.
A harmony of joy and wrath.
Normally, handling two attributes simultaneously required meticulous mana control and a profound understanding of the realm, but I had no such limitations.
I swung my sword toward the toxic fog that crashed down upon me like a massive wave.

‘Inferno Wind.’

Whoooooosh!

Flames spread rapidly along the fierce wind. The fire manifested from my blade collided with the toxic fog and burned brilliantly.

Boom!

The Inferno Wind incinerated all the toxic fog as it advanced, sweeping away even the mansion’s ceiling.
Yet the flames did not diminish, instead surging toward Orpen who stood behind the fog.

“…!”

Startled, Orpen quickly swung his sword. The Inferno Wind had already lost its force from colliding with the toxic fog, so that alone was enough to disperse it.
But I had already anticipated this and charged forward in pursuit of the flames.

Clang!

As I reached him and brought my sword down, he desperately raised his blade to block.

‘His strength has definitely weakened.’

It was because I had just unleashed a powerful technique.
Of course, I consumed considerable holy power to counter it, but I had far more reserves than he did.
I gazed at his contorted face beyond my blade and asked.

“Any last words?”

His cheek twitched ever so slightly. Then he opened his mouth and spat a putrid liquid directly at my face.
I had sensed it coming and twisted my head away, letting the poison sizzle against the floor as it dissolved.

“What…!”

I sneered at him—a man who had exhausted every last resort.

“A pathetic final testament.”

I swept my blade across, exposing Orpen’s upper body, then carved a diagonal slash deep through his chest.
Blood erupted from his mouth as his muscular frame collapsed backward.
The wound was deep enough to expose bone—he could no longer move.

“….”

Arturo approached him. He asked.

“Do you require assistance?”

Orpen’s eyes rolled toward Arturo. He reached out his arm, but it fell limp, devoid of strength.
Arturo drew closer and produced a glass vial from his robes, offering it. Inside was a dark liquid of unknown origin.

“Drink this.”
“….”
“Consider it an act of charity on my part.”

Only then did Orpen’s tightly sealed lips part slightly. Arturo uncorked the vial and let its contents flow into his mouth.
Until Arturo rose from his position, Orpen showed no further response.

“…!”

But at some point, the veins in Orpen’s neck bulged prominently, and he coughed up black blood.
Soon after, Orpen—who had not uttered a single scream until now—let out a sharp cry.
Arturo gazed down at his final moments with indifference.
In that sight, I caught a glimpse of Arturo as he was among the Seven Deadly Sins—Greed incarnate.

‘There’s no way he’d show charity to an enemy.’

By then, the surroundings had already been tidied up.
However, Ravenna trembled in Bella’s arms, experiencing the agony of her world crumbling.
I turned my gaze from them and looked back at Arturo.

“Would you like me to hold you too?”
“…I’ll have to decline.”
“I see.”

Once the screams that had echoed through the mansion faded, I spoke to Bella.

“Bella. That should be enough. Soothe their spirits now.”
“Ah, yes.”

Bella gently separated Ravenna and cleared her throat.
Ravenna sniffled and wore an oddly hopeful expression, while Arturo gazed at Orpen with an unreadable look in his eyes.
In that moment, I quietly covered both my ears and protected my eardrums with holy power.
Though Bella had expended considerable mana in the battle, her song would still have an effect.
And my prediction proved correct.

“….”

Arturo and Ravenna writhed, their ears covered.
I burst into laughter within the serene tranquility.
There was no requiem to play for those heading to Hell.

* * *

We left the mansion’s cleanup to Ravenna alone. I had thought to help move Orpen’s corpse, but she insisted it was her responsibility.
So we returned to the Lunatic shop to gather Arturo’s belongings and depart.
Arturo, who had gathered his things from behind the counter, spoke.

“I had no idea the Viper Family Head was creating Indok.”
“He was cautious enough to keep it hidden. The day you saw him, he was likely heading toward a place where Indok’s materials were kept.”
“Ah, that could well be. A man who went around killing people wouldn’t be doing anything to save them.”
“Exactly. If you had simply passed by that girl back then, she would have become Indok’s material soon enough.”

Baron Viper typically used the dying as material for Indok. It was cleaner that way, without complications.
But what of a crippled child from the Slums? She would have vanished within days, certainly.

“It is your charity that allowed her to remain by your side, even for a moment.”

Ripples stirred in Arturo’s eyes. He stood dumbly for a while before speaking softly.

“Thank you.”

I snorted and replied.

“If you’re grateful, pour me a glass of water before I leave this place.”

The shop called ‘Lunatic’ was named after a girl Arturo’s age.
I know this because in my previous life, before I killed Arturo, I heard various stories from him.
And I once asked him a question as he lay dying.

– Is there anything you wish to say before the end?

At that question, Arturo lay sprawled on the ground, gazing up at the moon—a fragile crescent that seemed ready to vanish at any moment.

– I simply…

And he answered in a voice heavy with regret.

– I simply wish I could have offered someone a glass of water.

It was the dying wish of one who bore the epithet of Greed among the Seven Deadly Sins.
His wish could not be fulfilled then, but perhaps it might be different now.

“Very well.”

Arturo stepped inside and promptly set a glass of water on the counter.
I watched it for a moment, swirling the liquid, then drained it in one gulp. The water traced down my throat and spread through my insides in an instant.
I waited in silence, but there was not even the slightest reaction.
In my past life, I had been called Greed among the Seven Deadly Sins—and yet this man had offered me nothing more than plain water.
I let out a quiet laugh and set the glass down.

“That was refreshing.”

Now it was time to address the plague spreading across the fields of Luminara Territory.

(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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