The Regressed Sword Demon Is a Catastrophe-Class Inquisitor - Chapter 53

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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 53. You Have No Need to Do This

Lillian Luminara watered the tree in the mansion courtyard as she did every day. It was Noah, which Kael had brought and planted long ago.
Lillian lifted her head and gazed up at Noah.

“Haven’t you grown far too much in such a short time?”

Noah was growing at a remarkable pace. Just a month ago, it had been the size of an ordinary tree, but now it had grown to resemble an ancient oak.
The only difference from a true ancient tree was that its branches stood bare, devoid of any leaves.

“Aren’t you cold?”
“….”

Naturally, no answer came in return. Lillian Luminara smiled softly and sat down beside the tree.

“Well, it’s summer anyway, so you should be fine.”

The night sky was dark. A cool night breeze drifted slowly through the air.

“Look there—soon it will be a full moon again.”

The moon appeared ready to become full at any moment.
After gazing at the moon for some time, Lillian Luminara let out a soft laugh as if remembering something.

“Seeing that brings back old memories.”

Lillian Luminara began to speak softly. The kind of story she felt too embarrassed to tell another person, yet too lonely to keep entirely to herself.

“When Kael and Aren were young, they would often lie in the courtyard and gaze up at the moon. At that age, everything sparks curiosity.”
“….”
“But if there was one way Kael differed from his peers, it was that his competitive spirit burned as fiercely as his curiosity.”

Lillian Luminara’s eyes grew distant with nostalgia.

“He complained that the moon opened its eyes differently each time, and it displeased him. Then one day, Kael suddenly vanished. Aren wept, and we searched every corner of the estate.”
“….”
“But we couldn’t find where he had gone. When we didn’t know what to do anymore… Kael returned to the mansion of his own accord. And do you know what he said the moment he arrived?”

– I wanted to see the moon’s face, but no matter how far I ran, I could never get closer.

Lillian Luminara covered her mouth and laughed.

“Does that even make sense? Running away without a word just to see the moon’s face. If that were truly the case, Kael would have come back after picking a fight with the moon itself.”
“….”
“Still, I’m relieved. Thank you for coming back safely.”

That day, strangely, I felt no anger. I was simply deeply reassured by the fact that I was alive.

“Unlike the well-behaved Aren, Kael was always a troublemaker and a rascal. There wasn’t a single day you stayed quiet.”
“….”
“Even when you were in my womb, and when you finally came out into the world…. You were so tiny then.”

Lillian Luminara spread her palm and waved it through the empty air. Then she wore a bittersweet smile.

“And now you’ve grown so much without me noticing….”
“….”
“You’ve earned the recognition of people who once shunned you, and remarkable people now visit the mansion for your sake…. A future I could never have imagined before.”

Tears welled up unexpectedly.
Lillian Luminara quickly wiped them away with her fingers. It was fortunate that no one was around.

“Perhaps… many things happened during those six months of pilgrimage.”

Everyone knew that Kael had changed greatly since returning from the pilgrimage.
But the reason no one asked was both because Kael hadn’t spoken of it first, and because they couldn’t even fathom what great events might have transpired.

“Don’t grow up too quickly either.”

Lillian Luminara stroked Noah’s surface with her palm. She felt the soft texture beneath her touch.

“Growth is painful, and affection grows endlessly.”
“….”

Again, there was no response. Lillian Luminara closed her eyes for a moment and prayed.

‘Goddess, may peace settle in Kael’s heart….’

Lillian Luminara opened her eyes and leaned back comfortably against Noah. She murmured softly as a final thought.

“When will Kael come again…?”

Suddenly, moonlight glinted sharply from directly ahead. It drew near with such speed that Lillian Luminara had no time to perceive it.
A sharp dagger, hurled by someone, streaked toward her. It was aimed with deadly precision at the space between her brows.

“Noah, block it.”

Thwack!

But with a voice calling out from somewhere, something intercepted the dagger.
The dagger lodged itself in a branch—a branch that had erupted from Noah, the very tree she had been leaning against.

Thud.

A man landed before Lillian Luminara in the next instant. Hair bound into a single knot. Eyes like deep pits.

“Arturo…?”
“Are you unharmed?”
“Yes… Thanks to this child…”

They glanced at Noah.
Arturo had long since recognized that Noah was no ordinary tree.
But he had told only Kael about this fact, knowing that others might feel unnecessary unease if they learned the truth.

Creak, creak.

The branches that had remained still all this while now swayed as if threatening someone. It seemed as though Noah was angry.

“What is that?”

A cold voice echoed from a distance. Near the entrance to the mansion stood twenty figures clad in black robes.

“We are uncertain as well. It appears to be Bloom’s tree, but…?”
“Tsk, I see.”

Arturo observed them intently. The atmosphere they emanated was sinister.

“Lillian Luminara, Arturo!”
“Mother, Arturo!”

Benedick and Aren burst from the upper floors of the mansion, swords drawn. They had been watching over Lillian Luminara from the office the entire time.

“Are you hurt? Is anything injured?”
“As you can see, I’m fine….”
“Thank goodness….”

Aren exhaled deeply in relief, while Benedick observed the moving Noah.
He had suspected from the moment Kael brought it that it was no ordinary tree, but he never imagined it would be this extraordinary….

“Thank you.”

Noah answered by writhing its branches like an octopus’s tentacles.
Benedick asked.

“Arturo, do you know what’s happening here?”
“Yes. I just received a letter from Young Master Kael. The Evil Book Society intends to attack this mansion.”
“Ah, the Evil Book Society…!”

The Evil Book Society—a heretical organization notorious not only in the Theocracy but throughout the Empire as well. Their fierce killing intent radiated from them like a tangible force.
As Benedick swallowed hard, the Bald Giant grinned wickedly.

“How convenient that you’ve all gathered in one place.”

Benedick clenched his teeth and demanded.

“What possible reason could you have for such an act?”
“You needn’t know. The weak should simply surrender as the weak do.”

Their savage presence pricked at my skin. True to the Evil Book Society’s reputation, they were all dangerously formidable.
Arturo spoke.

“I shall handle this place. My lord, please evacuate with the household staff.”

There were no combat personnel among the mansion’s servants.
Until now, the territory’s circumstances had been poor, and Benedick alone could suppress any ordinary bandits.
At most, there were only guards stationed around the territory.

“No, I will fight as well.”
“I shall fight too, Arturo.”

Benedick and Aren drew their swords. As if he had anticipated this response, Arturo replied quietly.

“Young Master Aren—can you truly swing your blade without hesitation against other people?”
“….”
“I suspect not. More importantly, in your current state, you cannot face them.”

Aren gripped his sword tightly. Suddenly, words Kael had once spoken to him echoed in his mind.

– A blade exists to protect you, but wielding it with such resolve is utterly worthless.

It was true. With such conviction and skill, he could not protect even himself, let alone others.

“And the same applies to you, Baron. Your martial prowess is sufficient to protect yourself, but against them, it would be futile.”

Benedick would certainly prove useful in combat. Yet two of the enemies were on an entirely different level from the rest.
They were likely Apostles of the Evil Book Society.

“…Then you claim you can face them alone?”

Arturo had introduced himself to them only as someone who could cure the plague, never mentioning his martial capabilities.

“Yes. I am no ordinary scholar.”

Benedick, studying the light in Arturo’s eyes, bit his lip.

“Still, I cannot abandon you here. How could I flee and leave my benefactor to face this alone?”
“But you are also my benefactors.”
“….”

Arturo continued solemnly.

“I made a promise to Young Master Kael. That I would protect you all in his absence. I am merely repaying that debt.”
“But….”
“Forgive me, Baron.”

Arturo opened his palm before Benedick’s face. As glittering powder like starlight invaded his nostrils, Benedick’s eyes slowly closed.

“Tsk….”

Arturo caught Benedick’s falling body and laid him on the ground, then spoke to Aren.

“He’ll wake in ten minutes. Take him far from here before then.”
“What about you, Arturo?”
“Don’t worry. I’m not the type to lay down my life for anyone. I’ll stall for a bit and then retreat.”
“Ah….”

They hesitated for a moment. The Arturo they had seen was clumsy, but at least he was kind.

“Hurry….”

It was the moment Arturo was urging them forward.

Whoosh—

Branches that burst from nowhere coiled around Benedick’s body like a cocoon.
A sapling no larger than an infant stretched out its branches to seize Benedick.

“What…?”

The small tree, carrying Benedick, bounded away on short roots toward the back path. It seemed the massive Noah planted in the courtyard had transformed into this.
Even Arturo hadn’t known such a thing was possible.

“Father!”
“Dear!”

Aren and Lillian Luminara had no choice but to chase after Noah. The servants who had gathered inside the mansion bowed their heads once to Arturo and turned to leave.

‘What a fascinating place this is. Whether people or… anything else.’

Arturo chuckled softly and walked slowly toward his enemies. They watched him warily.
Arturo stopped at a reasonable distance.

“Thank you for waiting.”

The Giant Warrior twisted his mouth.

“Do you think we didn’t notice you deliberately exposing your back? We’re not foolish enough to leap into a pit of poison.”
“I see.”

Arturo sneered. Then he hurled a long needle to the side.
The needle shot forward with lethal speed, piercing the necks of two men attempting to slip away unnoticed.
They panicked and pulled out the needles, but moments later they coughed blood and collapsed to the ground. Poison.
Arturo’s eyes—deep as pits—grew darker still.

“Don’t think you’ll pass through here.”

The Giant Warrior clicked his tongue and commanded the others.

“We’ll handle this one. Watch for your opening.”
“Yes.”

In the next instant, the Giant Warrior’s skin turned ashen. He was demonizing, enhancing his physical abilities.
He appeared before Arturo as if leaping across space itself.
The Giant Warrior swung a double-bladed axe wreathed in black demonic energy, and Arturo gracefully arched his back to evade.
He then made a shallow cut across the Giant Warrior’s forearm with his dagger before creating distance.

“….”

Poison spread from the shallow wound across his forearm. The Giant Warrior seized the axe with his other hand and severed his limb near the elbow.
He was relying on the demon’s inherent regenerative power.

‘I’ll have no choice but to target the head or neck.’

The Giant Warrior, now conscious of the poison’s danger, didn’t rush forward recklessly.
At that moment, two subordinates watching for an opening turned their steps toward Luminara’s household.

Whoosh!

Arturo launched himself forward with explosive speed. For some reason, the Giant Warrior watched his movements.
But since Arturo’s priority was preventing those two from escaping, he paid it no mind and ran.

Swish!

One of them brought his sword down at the approaching Arturo. Arturo twisted his body to evade, then cut deep into the man’s throat with his dagger.

Whoosh!

I hurled an extremely thin needle coated in deadly poison at the remaining one. He tried to deflect it, but without even properly seeing the needle, it pierced his throat.

Boom!

Before he could even collapse from the poison, the Giant Warrior suddenly appeared and swung a double-bladed axe with his regenerated arm.
Arturo met the strike with his dagger held in both hands, dispersing the force.
But that alone wasn’t enough to stop it, so I threw my body backward to minimize the impact.

Crash!

Arturo tumbled across the ground several times before barely regaining his balance and rising.

‘He deliberately sacrificed his subordinates. To create an opening while I was attacking them.’

A characteristically ruthless tactic.
Arturo kept his gaze fixed on the Giant Warrior. For a moment, our eyes met in tense silence.

Whoooosh!

Suddenly, an ominous presence erupted. A massive fireball was descending from the sky like a meteor.

‘…Magic?’

I kicked off the ground without hesitation. With a tremendous explosion, the spot where I had been standing was obliterated.
The Giant Warrior let out a small exclamation of admiration.

“Ho, quick reflexes.”

Arturo’s eyes grew cold as he spotted the figure behind the Giant Warrior, wearing a deep hood over their robes.

‘A Mage… The matchup is unfavorable.’

Arturo’s strength lay not in raw physical power, but in his mastery of poison.
To poison an opponent, I needed to inflict a wound somehow, but approaching a Mage was difficult in itself.
With this Giant Warrior in the way, getting close seemed nearly impossible.

‘I cannot be certain I can kill them all.’

Even a demon-corrupted wretch could reliably kill one person with poison.
But if a Mage was involved, too many variables would arise. If I failed, everyone in Luminara’s household would perish.

‘Then I have no choice but to use that method.’

With his resolve hardened, Arturo spoke to them.

“Why are you committing such foolish acts?”
“If not for you as a variable, this would have ended long ago.”
“On the contrary, because I am here, you’ve avoided the worst outcome.”

The Giant Warrior narrowed his eyes.

“What nonsense is that?”
“To Kael, they are at minimum a safety mechanism. Because they exist, he can live as a human being, just as he does now.”

Arturo spoke with grave warning.

“I beg you, do not attempt to remove that safety mechanism. Should they disappear, he will become a catastrophe that will devour you all.”

Kael was an existence that should never be turned into an enemy. When allied, he was dependable and cunning beyond measure, but as an adversary, he was calamity incarnate.
The Giant Warrior let out a derisive laugh.

“How intriguing. To think we might face ruin because of a single Heresy Inquisitor.”

They were fools. They had never once met Kael directly.

“No, that won’t be necessary.”

Arturo shook his head and withdrew a sphere the size of a walnut from his garment.

“Because I will ensure he does not become a threat.”

This was a bomb containing concentrated lethal poison originally crafted to kill Baron Viper.
Since the poison within could dissolve even mana itself, it was impossible to block with magic.
Therefore, if this detonated, everyone present would die.
The Giant Warrior’s eyes widened as he instinctively sensed something amiss.

“…You mean to die together with us?”

If I detonated it here as the Giant Warrior suggested, Arturo would die as well. Originally, it was a bomb designed to be triggered remotely through a different method.
But this was merely insurance for when Arturo failed to eliminate all his enemies.

“No, I have no intention of dying with you. However, this bomb is synchronized with my mana flow. If I die, it will detonate immediately.”
“….”
“Whether you kill me or I kill you, there is no way for any of you to survive this place.”

Arturo’s venomous gaze sent chills down their spines.
He was a viper. It felt as though a serpent’s long body was slowly constricting around their throats.

“…You madman. Are they worth that much to you? They’re not even blood relatives.”

Arturo paused at the question before responding.

“I’m not sure, but Young Master Kael saved me as I was sinking into darkness. Thanks to him, I glimpsed light, even if only for a moment.”

After Lunatic, my peer, died, I saw not even a glimmer of light.
Yet when I came to Luminara, I received light beyond measure.
It was all because Kael visited my shop that day.

“So now it’s my turn to help him. So that he can continue to live as a human being.”

Arturo tucked the poison into his chest, his eyes growing still and calm.
The Giant Warrior gritted his teeth, sensing his sincerity.
They could not move recklessly. They had no idea when Arturo might charge forward, and if they managed to stop him, they would all be blown to pieces if he died.
While they remained frozen, Arturo lowered his stance.

“Then let’s end this.”

That was when it happened.

“You don’t need to do this.”

A cool voice drifted in on the wind.
Arturo suddenly looked at the man who had appeared before him.
A black priest’s robe exuding noble dignity. A blade that seemed to hold the cold light of the moon.
He stood with his back to Arturo, who wielded poison.

“Young Master Kael…?”

Kael watched his enemies while speaking.

“Go to my family. Don’t return until after the full moon passes.”

Arturo, finally regaining his senses, protested.

“Young Master Kael, I know you’re strong, but they have demonized warriors and a Mage among them….”
“Arturo.”

Kael cut off his words. His voice was monotone, devoid of emotion.

“Thank you.”

When Kael glanced back at Arturo, a faint smile played at the corners of his mouth. He had never seen him smile like this before.
And he had never seen him harbor such deep fury within.

“…I understand.”

Arturo swallowed hard, seized by an inexplicable tension.
There was no way Kael didn’t know what he knew. Just as before, he surely had a plan.
As Arturo left the mansion, Kael turned his gaze to his enemies. If anything, his appearance seemed to reassure them.
The Giant Warrior opened his mouth.

“You appeared as if you knew this would happen. You weren’t in the Territory before—how did you arrive?”

Kael did not answer. He simply fixed them with a piercing stare while lowering his stance.

Crack—

As I gripped the sword with both hands, the blade remained steady. But the flames blooming across its surface flickered violently.

Whoosh—

A cool wind settled into the blade, merging with the flames. Beneath the night sky, the fire erupted like a rising sun, burning with savage intensity.
This place was not somewhere they could tread. Even a moment’s glance made one’s teeth chatter.
This place was my sanctuary—a nest where I could rest without worry, a location steeped in cherished memories.
So I would erase every trace of those who remained here. Their blood, their flesh, and even their very souls.
That was surely the right thing to do.
The Giant Warrior’s eyes widened as he cried out.

“Protective magic!!!!!”

But it was already too late. My blade was already slicing through the air with effortless grace.

‘Inferno Wind.’

Whoooooosh!

Flames that consumed even the moon’s chill became a towering wave, sweeping across the entire area.
The enemies could do nothing but stare blankly at the tidal wave of wrath bearing down upon them.
It was a calamity. A disaster they could never escape through their own strength.

Boom!

In an instant, the enemies’ vision was consumed by crimson flames.

(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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