The Regressed Sword Demon Is a Catastrophe-Class Inquisitor - Chapter 94

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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 94. I’ll Be Watching.

“You’re really Sriben? That little runt grew up this much?”
“It wasn’t easy.”
“Haha! You managed to survive. Is this also fate? In the end, my past mistakes come seeking me out like this.”

Sriben asked.

“Did you kill my mother?”
“Well, yes. She broke her promise to me, and worse, she starved you—her own son—to extort money from me.”
“And you even killed Father’s wife.”
“…You’re sharp. You were only five years old back then.”
“Apparently, I didn’t inherit my mother’s foolish head.”
“That’s fortunate. If my name had ever left your lips, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly for you.”

Edmond smiled coldly.

“Do you hate me?”
“That’s rather complicated. You abandoned me and killed my mother, but because of that, I was able to survive this way.”

Sriben shrugged.

“But I do hope you fall into Hell. There, you can spend time cozily with my mother.”
“That’s harsh. I’m your father, after all.”
“A man who abandoned being a father—what right do you have to say that? And now, I have no need for someone like you.”

Edmond observed Sriben’s neat appearance and asked.

“You seem to have acquired some noble bearing. Were you adopted into a noble family? You always looked intelligent, so others might have wanted you.”
“They did want me. The problem was I had a leash put around my neck by someone.”

Sriben sighed deeply, apparently thinking of Baron Scalen.

“But later, I met good people. It’s no exaggeration to call them my new parents.”

I tilted my head in confusion at his words.

“Could it be that these new parents are my mother and father?”
“That’s correct. I am genuinely grateful to them. Of course, to you as well, Young Master.”

Sriben smiled gently. The haggard face he’d worn in the Pleasure District had certainly vanished.
But I furrowed my brow sharply.

“Want to die? Why would my parents be yours? I’ve never had a worthless brother like you.”

Sriben seemed taken aback, as if my reaction wasn’t what he’d anticipated.

“…It was merely a metaphor, Young Master.”
“A metaphor should at least be plausible. What kind of son plots to murder his own parents?”

I listened to Sriben’s story, but I never forgot that he had been the leader of the Pleasure District.
No matter how unavoidable it had been for survival, that fact remained unchanged.
Sriben would have to atone for it for the rest of his life.

“Ah… I apologize, Young Master. I will work harder.”
“I’ll be watching.”
“Thank you.”

Sriben bowed his head and turned sharply toward Edmond with a piercing gaze.

“Well then, they’re not new parents, but rather noble benefactors who took in trash like me.”

Sriben pushed his glasses up with his middle finger.

“Father should just rot in Hell. Either kill him along with Mother, or support him properly. What is this ambiguous nonsense?”
“….”
“Damn it, a hypocrite worse than any villain. A demon more vile than a beast. Just like Baron Scalen.”

I nodded at that.

“Well said.”

Edmond blinked at the sudden tirade, then let out a hollow laugh.

“It seems I’ve made quite the mistake. Judging by how unhinged you’ve become.”
“It’s unfortunate you’re only realizing it now. Had you known sooner, you wouldn’t have let things escalate this far.”

Edmond’s eyes twitched, and he lowered his blade, its dark radiance dimming.

“I suppose our reunion ends here. I have no intention of leaving a witness alive.”

A sinister killing intent spread silently through the air.
I was struck anew by the realization that the man before me was indeed the Archbishop I had seen before.
Rayner cried out urgently at the sight.

“Father! Stop this! We can still turn back!”
“No, it’s already too late. Becoming a Demon is a grave sin that no one in the Theocracy can deny.”

He was right.
For a human to willingly transform into a Demon was a heinous crime that no one in the Theocracy could dispute.

“And look at him. Even if I were to lower my blade here, he would never forgive me.”

Edmond regarded me, poised as though ready to bolt at any moment.

“Just lower your blade. Then I won’t kill you—I’ll hand you over to the Papal See. Since you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ll avoid execution.”
“Ha, I must decline.”

Our gazes met in quiet confrontation. Rayner watched us both, visibly distressed.

“Rayner, shall I tell you something amusing?”
“…What is it?”
“Those perceived as virtuous by others face harsh judgment for even a single mistake. Just one.”
“…”
“Meanwhile, those who live dissolute lives commit the very same error and everyone simply accepts it. They never expected better in the first place.”

Edmond let out a bitter laugh.

“Don’t you find it strange? Surely the virtuous deserve forgiveness, yet it is the dissolute who receive it instead. Even when both perform identical good deeds, the former receives no praise while the latter does.”
“…”
“I’ve grown weary of that rigid framework applied only to me. That’s why I sought to escape it. So forgive me for what I’ve become.”

Tears streamed down Rayner’s face. He had come to understand that there was no returning to how things once were.

“Father, please stop… You’re not the man I knew…”
“How absurd!”

Edmond’s voice cut through the air like a blade.

“This is who I truly am. A greedy, debauched man. I’ve simply been suppressing it until now.”
“….”
“I’m happier than I’ve ever been. This inexplicable sense of liberation—it brings a natural smile to my face.”

With a sickening crunch, his body swelled larger, and the robes draped across him billowed outward.
Edmond, now transformed with ashen skin, spoke again.

“When you meet your mother, tell her this: your father was always this kind of man. Ask her to forgive him.”
“Father….”

Rayner’s voice trembled with anguish, but Edmond remained silent. There was no point in continuing this conversation.

“Sriben, Rayner—fall back. Bella, focus on defense and support.”

Since Edmond was a Demon, Bella’s magic-based attacks would prove largely ineffective.

“Yes, Interrogator!”
“Understood, Young Master.”

Sriben turned his horse around, then suddenly halted. Rayner still stood rooted in place, tears streaming down his face.

“Brother, come here. Stop your crying.”
“….”

But Rayner gave no response.
Sriben exhaled heavily, spurred his horse forward, and the moment he drew alongside Rayner, he struck the back of his head.

Thwack!

Rayner’s head snapped forward. He touched the back of his skull, his expression bewildered as he turned to face Sriben.
Sriben spoke with firm resolve.

“Follow me. Stop hindering the Young Master.”
“…Yes, brother.”

Rayner nodded numbly and fell into step behind Sriben.
I turned my gaze from them toward Edmond.

“Truly, what affectionate brothers you are.”

In that instant, Edmond launched himself from the ground and brought his blade down before me.
I swept my own sword up to meet it, deflecting the strike.

Kwaaang!

The deafening clash sent sparks of black demonic energy and flame scattering like fireworks.
Edmond had always been a formidable swordsman, and as a demon, his power was undeniably extraordinary.
Yet it was not I who was shocked—it was Edmond.

“You… this power….”

As befitted an Archbishop turned demon, he sensed something alien in my aura.
I smiled coldly and spoke.

“You should have listened to your son.”

At that moment, flames erupted toward Edmond’s flank—Bella’s magic.
No matter how exceptional his regenerative abilities, a direct hit from such power would deal catastrophic damage.

“…!”

Edmond recoiled in alarm, leaping backward. He landed gracefully, his eyes narrowing.

“Indeed… you did not achieve those accomplishments for nothing. Were you hiding your status as a Holy Knight from the Papal See?”
“Yes. Just as you concealed murdering two women.”
“…and yet the Goddess chose you, speaking such words.”
“If a wretch like you could become a Cardinal, why couldn’t I become a Holy Knight?”
“….”

Edmond fell silent, his lips pressed firmly shut. He had judged that further words with me would only entangle him deeper.

“Bella. Conceal us.”
“Yes, Interrogator!”

At my command, Bella began weaving her magic.
The vast mana radiating from her was that of a true Mage—her power had grown even greater than before, worthy of her past incarnation.
As a Mage it was fortunate, but as a Deacon, her mana threatened to overflow whenever she chanted hymns.

‘It seems the time when I can properly sing will be delayed even further than in my previous life.’

I welcomed Bella’s growing strength, but she might find herself trapped in an ironic predicament.
But what could be done? The only path forward was to become a mage capable of wielding even the mana overflowing from her vessel.

“….”

Edmond regarded Bella with cautious scrutiny. As the Cardinal of the Theocracy, his ignorance of magic was a liability.

“Cloud Mist.”

Whoooosh!

Violet mist erupted from Bella’s fingertips, spreading rapidly. It enveloped both Bella and me, reaching even toward Edmond.

Whoom! Whoom!

Edmond conjured a blade wind to repel the mist’s advance, and as a result, the mist thickened across the entire area save for the center where he stood.
This mist, woven from mana itself, was far more difficult to perceive than ordinary fog.
Of course, Edmond, demonized through demonic energy, remained distinctly visible even within the mana-wrought mist.

Crunch, crunch—

I walked through the mist, keeping him in sight. Edmond stood tense, his eyes darting across his surroundings.
When I had circled him once from that center point, I pushed off the ground and charged directly at him.

Whoosh!

Then ten versions of me burst forth from the mist. They were my afterimages, crafted with Gentle Breeze.

“What—!”

Confronted with this unprecedented sight, Edmond faltered. But he quickly composed himself and drew a circle with his demonic-energy-clad blade.

Shing!

My afterimages were severed in an instant by the black blade aura. But I had anticipated as much.
My true body, having lowered my stance sharply, evaded the blade aura, and only then did Edmond spot me.

“Damn…!”

Edmond swung his blade wide, unable to distinguish between my afterimage and my true form.
I drove deep toward Edmond’s body, and he withdrew his sword, stepping back.
But my blade did not miss the demon.

A sickening spray of blood.

I severed the arm of the one wielding the demonic sword.
He furrowed his brow and quickly caught his severed arm, turning his steps toward the mist.
I swung my blade once more, but he had already vanished into the mist.

“….”

Silence descended upon the area.
His arm, severed by a blade infused with holy power, could not regenerate. And his demonic essence remained vivid to my eyes.

‘In other words, he’s a rat trapped in a poison jar.’

There was no way for him to escape this encirclement.

(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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