Chapter 18 (1/2)

Volume 1

CH 21

A Demon’s Temptations — Part 1

「『Huh . I have no idea what you’ve been going on about, but that’s a good soul you’ve got there . It almost feels like I’ve seen it somewhere before… Well, whatever . It looks delicious, so I might might as well eat you right up too!』」

The demon’s disgusting voice entered my ears as I turned to face it .

「Is that supposed to be a compliment? I’m much rather believe a demon’s ramblings than an angel’s, but I really could care less about what you think . 」

I scornfully laughed off the demon’s words as I fixed the grip I had on the【Heart Flame Ghost Blade . ]

「『Man, you sure are a merciless one . And you seem like you’re probably a pretty decent swordsman too, with how you lopped my arms off . 』」

「Yeah, and? I know your kind . You don’t give a shit . A cut like that doesn’t mean shit to you . Losing a limb or two doesn’t even count for real damage, with your body being how it is . 」

「『Oh, you’ve met my brethren before? That supposed to mean you’ve got a good pair of eyes or something? It doesn’t look like it . 』」

Demons were, in essence, a subspecies of spirit . All spirits fit into one of eight distinct categories, with the biggest similarity between them being that they were all clumps of mana with consciousnesses . Though there were eight subspecies and eight different elemental systems, the two in fact lacked a one to one mapping . Only six of the eight were based off the elements, with those six being: fire, water, earth, wind, light, and darkness . The two remaining element types, null and non-systematic, didn’t have any spirits associated with them even though they were elements for which people could have affinities . The last subspecies of spirits were instead classified as angels and demons . Personally, I hated them both even though they were on the exact opposite ends of the spectrum .

That, however, irrelevant . What did matter was that I was currently staring down one of the aforementioned spirits, specifically the kind that was demonic in nature .

「Let’s just say I’ve had a bit of an odd past, one convoluted enough for me to know that you demons don’t have brethren to begin with . 」

「『Wow, what a surprise . So you’re even aware that we don’t see each other as brethren even though we’re of the same make? Silly human, if you know that, then you must also know just how purposeless your opposition is . 』」

The demon grinned as it regenerated its arms .

The two limbs I’d cut off dissolved into thin air as the demon healed . It was like the process of restoring himself involved reabsorbing them .

「Why… are…」

I turned my gaze towards her in response to her incomplete question . She’d collapsed onto the bare earth beneath her, her clothes torn and dirtied .

「Sit still for a bit . I don’t want you dying on me before I recruit you . 」

Saying no more, I focused my eyes back on the demon .

「You’re being a bit of a bother . You mind scramming?」

I raised my blade and pointed it towards the inhuman creature as I spoke .

「I don’t want to waste my mana, so I’ll let you off if you run your ass away right this instant . 」

「『You think I, being the esteemed demon I am, would run away? And from a delicious looking meal no less? You’ve gotta be kidding me . What the hell, man? You got brain damage or something?』」

「Well, I see you’ve made your choice . Die . 」

I poured my mana into the【Heart Flame Ghost Blade,]lighting it ablaze with a blue-white flame as I pursued the demon . Its attempts to open up some distance between us failed . The flickering flames that decorated my sword flashed as I robbed it of its other arm . Light filled the underground prison as the fire spread from my blade to the wound it created .

「『Woah there . So you were a magic swordsman? That does make you a bit more notable, but still, won’t make much of a difference . Your flames are too weak to burn me . 』」

I ignored the demon’s words and instead used my time to shred the arm I stole from him .

「『Come on man . You know that’s pointless . All I have to do to make a full recovery is shift my shape a little bit, and I’ll be right as rain again . Just like th—』」

The demon, who’d been acting all high and mighty, froze up in the middle of his sentence .

「Well? Weren’t you going to regenerate?」

「『W-What the hell did you do to me!?』」

「Take a guess . 」

Demon’s bodies weren’t made up of flesh and bone . They were just lumps of a specific type of mana given a physical form, meaning they were only able to reabsorb their body parts so long as they remained constructed entirely of their own essence . Its body needed a very specific composition . All I had to do to prevent it from healing was disturb its magical composition by injecting my own mana into the body parts I lopped off .

Purifying its magical essence was effectively the same as filtering a specific type of sand from a dune, a task that was too time consuming to be considered practical mid-combat . My flames, which were in fact fueled by magical energy, would continue to scorch the demon’s body and maim its wound beyond the point of recovery in the meantime .

The【Heart Flame Ghost Blade’s]ability to grant me a spiritual form seemed impressive, but was in fact nothing more than an added bonus . The soulblade’s true worth stemmed from its ability to attack magical and spiritual beings . Its flames could reduce creatures without physical form to ashes; it let me murder angels and demons by mixing my mana with theirs . The whole spiritual form thing was just an alternate application of that same ability .

「『T-That’s impossible…! That isn’t something that you should be even remotely capable of!』」

「Okay, that’s enough of that . 」

「『Gwwaaah!』」

Demons, being the magic-based creatures they were, typically wouldn’t take much damage from anything other than spells that made use of the the holy element, a higher tier version of the light element .

And as a result, the species’ members had the tendency to adopt a fighting style that involved outright ignoring their opponent’s attacks . They would typically brute force their way through their enemies by sitting there and casting powerful spells with long chants . For that reason, the demon found itself confused and incapable of a proper reaction to my attack . Its motions were filled with numerous fatal flaws .

I stepped forward and positioned myself right in its face as I raised my blade in an upwards slash . The blow tore both its left wing and other arm from its body .

「『Fuck!』」

「Yeah, no . You’re not getting away like that either . 」

The demon leapt backwards while hurriedly altering its magical makeup and dematerializing itself, a tactic that would’ve worked on anyone but me . My ghost blade provided me the passive ability to see it even its dematerialized form .

I swung my sword diagonally over my shoulder, severing the demon’s entire right leg and everything under the knee on its left . Naturally, I made sure I cut the demon in such a way that it wouldn’t be able to regenerate .

「『W-Why the hell can you see me!? How the hell is that sword cutting me when I have no physical form!?』」

「What are you, stupid? Do I look like the type of softie that’d be dumb enough to explain my methods to you? You should know that already, demon . Can’t you see into my soul?」

「『Motherfucker! What the hell are you!?』」

Having lost its balance, the demon fell over .

It was game over . The demon no longer had any means to move . It couldn’t even fly seeing as how one of its wings had already been removed . It was far too close to me for it to actually complete any sort of magical incantation . I could easily destroy it the moment it tried .

「You demons have always believed too much in your bodies and how far they could take you . You don’t feel pain, and you’re able to regenerate almost any damage you take . You lack any semblance of the instinct needed to avoid my attacks . Wow, look how nice I am, explaining everything to you . What do you think? How’s my soul looking right now, demon?」

The demon’s only reaction to my gaze was to tremble .

How rude . I’d even gone out of my way to explain its downfall .

「『W-Wait! Please! This isn’t my fault! T-This is just something I have to do, I was forced into it by the contract I made!』」

My blade’s flames flared up and roared as I poured increasing amounts of mana into the weapon .

「Yeah, I know . You demons can’t do shit unless you enter into a contract . You basically have no effect on the outside world under any other circumstance . 」

「『T-That means you’ll let me go, right? I-I won’t kill the girl you’ve got behind you if you do . I’ve already gotten everything I was supposed to have, according to the contract I made . Leaving her alone won’t violate it . Me and that other chick, we already don’t owe each other anything right now . I-I can promise I won’t make another contract with her either . 』」

「So what?」

I lifted the blade in my hand above my head .

「『P-Please man, just let me go… Lend me a hand here, man…』」

「Nah . I hate it when people I could care less about ask me for help . 」

「『S-stop it! No! Don’t! Please!』」

「Fuck off . 」

I readied myself to swing—

「Wait, stop!」

—only to be physically halted the moment before I could .