The Regressed Sword Demon Is a Catastrophe-Class Inquisitor - Chapter 58

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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 58. Why Not Just Do It?

I tucked Yang Gwang-cho, now resting in my palm, into my robes.
In my past life, I had lurked nearby and snatched him when he’d shrunk, then hurled myself into the gorge below. Now, such measures were unnecessary.

“….”

I observed the men still standing in stunned silence. They said nothing until Bella came pattering toward my side.

“…What are you?”

One of them asked.
I knew his name. Marik—the one who had pursued me in my past life to reclaim the Yang Gwang-cho I’d taken from him.
He had died by my hand then without recovering it, and something told me this encounter would end no differently.

“A gatherer of herbs. This one beside me is my assistant.”
“How do you do?”

Bella bowed respectfully to them. A truly well-mannered assistant indeed.
Marik ground his teeth.

“Does a gatherer of herbs wear priestly robes?”
“Why not? You seem rather prejudiced.”
“You couldn’t possibly be….”

Marik trailed off and shook his head.

“No, that’s impossible.”
“What is it? Why did you stop speaking?”
“You don’t need to concern yourself with it.”
“There are two ways to anger a person. The first is to leave your words unfinished, and the second is….”

I fell silent. When no continuation came even after a moment, Marik spoke first.

“What’s the second way?”
“You don’t need to concern yourself with it.”

In an instant, veins bulged across Marik’s forehead. He exhaled deeply, swallowing his frustration, and reached out his hand.

“Hand it over. That belongs to us.”
“Why does that belong to you? Haven’t you heard that finders keepers applies?”
“We found it first.”
“But I’m the one who caught it.”

Marik glared at me before speaking.

“You seem like a Heretic Inquisitor. Did you follow us here?”
“I’m not a Heretic Inquisitor—I’m a herbalist, I told you.”
“…We’re not getting anywhere with this.”

Marik sighed heavily once more and wrapped his blade in azure mana.
Now that I thought about it, I had a memory from my past life of barely defeating this man even after consuming Yang Gwang-cho. What’s more, he had fallen off the cliff chasing after me, his arm shattered in the process.

‘If he’d been uninjured like me, I would have been the one to die.’

I surveyed the group before me. There appeared to be ten of them in total.

“Are you the only ones who came to this place?”
“Why, are there more than you expected?”

I furrowed my brow.

“That’s all?”
“…What?”

According to Sena’s foresight, my future self had murmured that I was supposed to fall from the cliff.
I had theorized the reason was the appearance of an unexpectedly powerful enemy.
But no matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t see any such opponent. At worst it was Marik, and while I had to flee from him in my past life, now there was no problem whatsoever.

‘Yet if things continue like this, it seems the future Sena saw will unfold as is….’

While I was lost in thought, Marik gripped his blade tightly.

“Every word and action reeks of arrogance. You may be strong for a Heretic Inquisitor, but that’s all you are.”

Marik pushed off the ground and charged forward. Before I knew it, a blue blade descended from above, cleaving through the air like a sword of heaven.
Bella rolled her eyes and glanced at me. I was still stroking my chin thoughtfully.

Clang!

But the blue blade never reached me. Bella had conjured a translucent barrier that intercepted it.

“M-magic?”

Marik’s eyes widened in shock as he withdrew his blade and retreated.

“A Mage Deacon… Are you really Kael?”

I cut through my wandering thoughts. His constant chatter was keeping me from focusing.
It was best to simply strike them all down first and think later.

Whoosh!

I wrapped flames around my blade and lunged at Marik. He snapped to attention just in time, meeting my strike with his own.

Clang!

Red and blue sparks erupted into the void. He was just barely capable of withstanding my current strength.
But that was all. The moment I poured more force into my grip, he began to give ground, and soon he couldn’t resist the overwhelming power—his body lifted into the air.

Crash!

Marik flew backward and slammed into a tree, blood spilling from his lips. The Kyodo watching this scene erupted in panicked murmurs.

“Kael? Could it be… that heretic?”
“The one who defeated even the Apostles—why is he here…?”
“Wait, that means…?”

They exchanged glances with one another, then without hesitation, they spun around and fled in panic.
Having witnessed what Marik suffered, they understood they could never defeat me.
That was always how these creatures operated.
Vicious yet cowardly. Organized yet utterly selfish.
They served the Evil Book Society both to worship the Demon God and to strengthen themselves.
And I had no intention of letting such creatures live.

Shing!

I leaped high and cut down the two fleeing figures. Seeing their escape route blocked, they hesitated and turned to run in another direction.

“Bella.”
“Four!!”

Bella extended both hands and unleashed a torrent of flames. A crimson wave engulfed one of them and cut off the others’ retreat.
In that moment, I swung my blade at every enemy in sight, while Bella focused on eliminating those attempting to escape.

Whoosh!

Two pillars of flame pinched the enemies from both sides like a sandwich.
Bella and I were the bread, and they were the filling.
The only difference from the sandwich I’d eaten this evening was that this one tasted of blood. Perhaps the ham was simply too fresh.

“Damn!”

Then one of them threw himself off the cliff. Seeing no other option, the remaining three followed suit.
I picked up a fallen blade and hurled it like a spear. It pierced through one of their backs, but I had no choice but to let the three ahead escape.

‘There’s a river below, but most of them will die.’

I had been fortunate to survive without serious injury. In fact, Marik, who had been far stronger than I was back then, had broken an arm.

‘Even if they survive, it doesn’t matter.’

All they could do is report that the plan had failed.
Still, the future Sena had shown me weighed on my mind. What if I had let them escape, and my future self came to regret it?

‘I’ll think about that later.’

I turned my head. Marik, who had been embedded in the tree, was walking out.
Marik wiped the blood trickling from his mouth and suddenly broke into a laugh.

“Kehehehe….”

I regarded him with pity.

“It seems he took a blow to the head.”
“Indeed….”

Bella approached and nodded in agreement.

“Poor thing. Shall I finish him off?”
“Being cut by my blade is better than burning in your magic.”
“Which is exactly why I should do it.”

Bella’s pupils were strangely devoid of emotion.
Now that I thought about it, Bella had come to cherish my family as well. Since the Evil Book Society had targeted them, it was only natural her heart would burn with fury.
She rarely showed such negative emotions, so I hadn’t noticed until now.

“That’s enough.”

I lightly tapped Bella’s head and stepped forward. Such feelings didn’t suit her in this life.
Marik, whose laughter had ceased, stared at us.

“You’re the pitiful ones. Rejoicing over obtaining Yang Gwang-cho without knowing anything…. I suspect what you’ve lost is far greater.”
“What nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden?”
“You’ll find out soon enough. Whether you wish to or not.”

He laughed bitterly. As I pondered his meaning, I let out a short chuckle.

“What are you talking about….”

He seemed to think I had come here without stopping by the mansion.
It would be difficult to believe we had merely chased them for a few days and stolen Yang Gwang-cho.
In reality, I had already known everything and simply arrived at the appointed time.

“You needn’t worry about me. My family is perfectly fine.”
“…What?”
“I sent the Bald Man and the Mage to the mansion. They came uninvited, so I drove them to Hell. Wasn’t that the right thing to do?”
“….”

He stood motionless, his mouth slightly agape. He seemed not to know how to accept praise.

“It is you who can only lose. Now and forever.”

I walked out, tilting the Flame Sword to one side.

“Those who touch my nest must pay the price.”

I burst forward, pressing down against the ground. Even as I reached him in an instant and swung my blade, he stood there in a daze.
Had he chosen to fight back, we might have exchanged several blows, but it seemed he had abandoned even the thought of combat as all his plans crumbled.

Schwick!

My sword cleaved through his neck without resistance.
Watching his head roll across the ground, I snorted and sheathed my blade. Then I approached the Cliff and gazed down into the Gorge.
Darkness and wisps of mist obscured the depths below. I could only faintly hear the roar of fierce Rapids echoing from somewhere far beneath.

‘In the end, no formidable opponent appeared that would have forced me to flee down the Cliff.’

So was I actually regretful about letting those who fled down the Cliff escape?
I carefully examined the future Sena had shown me.

– The Interrogator seemed to murmur regretfully. To ensure those wretches were thoroughly defeated, he would have needed to fall down the Cliff.

Not for survival. To thoroughly defeat those wretches.
That meant it was likely not about our lives or deaths, but rather my own personal satisfaction.
Yet was there truly a reason for me to regret letting a few of them escape so deeply?

‘I don’t know.’

In the end, there was only one way to find out. I knelt on one knee and extended my hand down into the Gorge.

Whissssh—

Faint holy power flowed on the wind downward. Using ‘Fair Wind’, I released it into the Rapids the moment it touched bottom.
Though considerable holy power was consumed due to the distance, I felt at ease since I wasn’t employing any major techniques.
Not long after….

‘There’s something there.’

A cave-like section along the Cliff Base. As I examined it further, I sensed two presences.
One was human, and the other….

‘The aura is similar to when Yang Gwang-cho underwent his great transformation.’

Had he not changed, I would not have recognized him through ‘Fair Wind’. Before the transformation, he was indistinguishable from any other plant.
If I could only detect him through ‘Fair Wind’, I wouldn’t have needed to pursue these creatures so urgently.

‘Are they fighting? To take it in my stead?’

Now I finally understood why my future self had lamented not falling from the cliff.
He obtained it miraculously and offered it to the Evil Book Society, while I learned of it and regretted the loss.

“So there were two from the beginning.”

This was certainly worth my regret.
I rose from my seat and turned to face Bella. Reading something in my resolute gaze, she took a step back.

“I-Interrogator? I’m not mentally prepared yet….”
“Mental preparation is unnecessary.”
“Huh?!”

I wrapped my arm around Bella’s waist and lifted her.

“Things work out once you try them.”

Is this how a mother bird feels teaching her chick to fly? Pushing the chick off a cliff so it learns to soar….
Of course, we are human, not birds, so we cannot fly through the sky.

“W-Wait, Interrogator! Interrogator! I-I’m faaaalllling!”

By the time Bella was pleading and clutching at my robes, we were already soaring into the sky. Below us lay nothing but the distant cliff.

“Let’s go! Little bird!”
“No, this won’t work!”

Contrary to Bella’s wishes, our bodies began plummeting rapidly into the gorge.

Whoooosh!

A fierce wind lashed against my face, and my ears rang with numbness. I never expected to experience the sensation I had felt in my past life again.

“Interrogator! I’m going to die! I’m going to dieeeee!!!”

Bella clung to my waist with her eyes squeezed shut, and I let out a dry chuckle.

“You won’t die.”

I’d already fallen once before, after all.
If luck wasn’t on our side, something would break or we’d perish. Such was the way of it.

Whoooosh!

We plummeted without pause toward the Gorge. Along the way, I caught sight of corpses smashed against the cliff face, and gradually the River came into view below.

“Bella, deploy a barrier strong enough to withstand the impact before we strike.”

Bella opened her eyes slightly and looked up at me.

“What if… I fail?”
“Then we die together. What else?”
“Ugh… I’ll do it.”

Whether from the violent wind or sheer terror, tears had begun to gather at the corners of her eyes.

“….”

Bella gazed downward. Now the Cliff Base came into view—corpses impaled on blades, bodies with spines shattered from striking stone. The gruesome sight filled her vision.
Bella swallowed hard against the rising dread.
In that moment, the mana surging from her body carried an iron resolve: she would not die here.

Whooom!

A sturdy barrier unfurled around us in a perfect sphere. Moments later, we struck the River with tremendous force.

Splooooosh!

Water erupted skyward as the sphere sank deep beneath the surface. Fish, startled by the sudden intrusion, scattered in all directions.
We felt no impact. Our bodies never touched the barrier itself—it absorbed every ounce of the collision.
The barrier bobbed back to the surface and drifted along the Rapids. Only then did Bella release a shaky breath, her body going limp with exhaustion.

“Look. You can do it if you try.”
“M-my heart is racing. I can’t do it twice….”
“If you set your mind to it, you could do it twenty times.”
“Ugh…. I’ll give it my best.”
“Good attitude.”

I nodded and released Bella. After that, we stood within the barrier and observed the situation.
I had confirmed three of them falling, so only one had disappeared. That one was probably fighting Yang Gwang-cho hard right about now.

‘There it is.’

A cliff base jutting out toward the river and a small cave at its end.
The barrier happened to catch on the cliff base as it rode the rapids, so there was no need to change direction.
Only then did we dispel the barrier and set foot on the cliff base.

“What’s in this place?”
“Good things are hidden here.”

In my past life, Marik had been following, so I couldn’t land here. I had only focused on riding the rapids and shaking him off.
As I entered the cave, I could see a beam of moonlight streaming down from within. It must have been receiving continuous sunlight there, which allowed Yang Gwang-cho to grow.

‘But I don’t see Yang Gwang-cho.’

The reason became clear soon enough.

“Sigh…. To think he survived falling from a cliff, climbed back up, and found Yang Gwang-cho waiting there….”

A man on the ground picked something up and laughed.

“I can only call it luck. If I offer this, I should be able to ascend to an even higher place.”
“To heaven?”

At my question, the man’s movements froze. He turned his head with difficulty, like rusted metal.
He was a wreck. His body was covered in wounds, and one arm appeared to be fractured.

“T-this doesn’t make sense….”

The ashen-faced man shook his head, denying reality.

“What kind of madman throws himself off a cliff that high just to catch someone like me?!”

Those madmen were right here.
I smiled wickedly and extended my hand.

“Will you surrender, or will you die?”

(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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