My Holy Sword does not harm humans.
No, to be precise, it only strikes things that are not human.
That’s why stabbing a cockroach named Reinhardt doesn’t kill him, since his essence is still human.
It only causes the pain of being stabbed.
Because of that, I planned to ask that cockroach a few questions while he was in that state.
Hwaak!
If only the Transfer Magic Circle in the corner of the Core Room wasn’t the only thing not working.
I immediately swung my Holy Sword to deflect the sword energy flying from the magic circle.
Kwaang!
The sword energy ripped the wall apart roughly.
“…I was wondering who could have broken in at this hour.”
As the glow disappeared, a blonde middle-aged man appeared, glaring at me with sharp eyes.
“A ridiculous monster has come in, worse than I expected.”
…This guy still hasn’t slept even at this hour.
I thought he’d arrive later.
“The diligent king has come. What on earth have the other knights been doing that they only show up when the king steps in? Are they perhaps holding a grudge against the knights?”
Deaurus Lumin.
The current King of the Kingdom of Lumin spoke as he pointed his sword at me.
“That’s none of your concern. For what purpose did you infiltrate here?”
“Good. Let’s get to the point. I don’t intend to waste time with small talk either.”
I responded, brandishing my Holy Sword as the king busily moved around the scene.
“While chasing the guy who attacked me, I overheard the Order of the Royal Knights’ captain calling the Demon King ‘sir.’ Did our illustrious king know about that?”
Kwaang!
The king’s sword pointed at me.
I matched his movement with a swing of my Holy Sword.
The shock of the clash cast a twilight shadow on the Core Room’s floor.
“That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
Though it looked like a single strike from the outside, dozens of exchanges had already occurred in that instant.
“That figures. I only heard it today too. Someone tried to kill me using the Wind God’s Gait, so I looked into it. Turns out, the kingdom’s knight captain was chatting with Demon Army grunts, talking about the Demon King as if he were some honorable lord. Can you believe that without losing your mind?”
The king’s sword suddenly slashed diagonally.
I bent my neck backward to evade.
“I see. I’ll investigate the details myself. But that doesn’t mean I should go easy on an intruder.”
“Don’t talk about mercy.”
Kwaang!
Using the momentum, I swung my Holy Sword again as I straightened up from a bend.
“Hup!”
The king’s face twisted with surprise at the sword clash.
He must have realized I was gauging the strength of his strike.
The king’s body flew through the air and crashed into the wall.
It wasn’t hard enough to collapse the wall, but cracks spiderwebbed in every direction.
“Kugh.”
“If the sword in my hand were one that cuts humans, you’d be dead right now. Got it?”
The king’s eyes wavered slightly as he noticed his clothes had been ripped across the chest.
Deaurus Lumin was by no means weak.
He was one of the figures who had fought firsthand against the Demon Army and recovered territory.
Naturally, he was far stronger than those who were called mere Sword Masters in name only.
The problem was just that his opponent was me.
“…What exactly is your objective?”
“Do I have to say it again?”
“You expect me to believe that? You charge in alone, cause a ruckus, and think there’s someone who can even subdue me?”
“What can you do if you don’t believe me?”
“I’m a busy man. If you’re truly a king worthy of the title, then manage your internal affairs properly. The captain leading the knights is conspiring with the Demon Army? And the king, who runs around the battlefield himself, can’t even catch that one thing?”
I have to face the Demon King without Ryuk’s help.
Even with Ryuk’s aid, I ultimately failed to stop the Demon King’s resurrection and was forced to rewind time. Preparing for that situation requires mountains of preparation.
Honestly, dealing with the cockroach Reinhardt was supposed to be just a small part of that.
Who would have imagined it would turn into such a colossal mess?
Right now, the First Order of Knights—who should be leading the kingdom’s frontline forces—has a captain colluding with the Demon Army.
How many nobles have actually turned a blind eye to this?
And this so-called Sword Master king in front of me—what on earth has he been doing while internal affairs have fallen apart like this?
‘…Damn it. Could the final battle with the Demon Army have been manipulated too?’
That thought suddenly crossed my mind, and chills ran down my spine.
If the final battle with the Demon King was actually orchestrated according to the Demon King’s plan, then we were nothing but pawns.
Of course, the Demon King died at the hands of Ryuk and me.
But in the end, he had the ace card of resurrection, which the Great Sage Ryuk turned to my advantage by sending me back in time.
Strictly speaking, this whole situation could very well be one of the Demon King’s many schemes.
‘Why does my mind only sharpen when it comes to bad things?’
I’m busy trying to focus on the good, yet whenever I imagine the bad, my brain just keeps racing without getting tired.
I let out a low sigh and stabbed my Holy Sword into Reinhardt’s waist as he tried crawling away.
“Kuhak!”
Reinhardt, still connected to the ground, trembled violently, drooling.
“You cockroach. Always trying to run away whenever you get the chance.”
I immediately stomped on his arms and legs, breaking bones roughly.
The sound of snapping bones tickled my ears pleasantly.
“King. You owe me a debt.”
“…Debt?”
“Yes, a debt. For catching the madman within the Royal Family who colluded with the Demon Army.”
“Hmph.”
“And you didn’t die even after being cut by me? That’s a life debt as well.”
“…Kgh.”
He had nothing to say to that.
Given the circumstances, he might feel wronged, but I trusted the king’s resolve.
His cold rationality was something I recognized both then and now.
“What do you intend to demand from me?”
“Nothing special. The rear supply lines should be secure during the war against the Demon Army. I want to kill those who colluded with them in advance.”
“No matter what it is?”
“No matter what it is.”
Whether commoner, noble, or royal, it doesn’t matter.
Am I boldly announcing a series of murders in front of the king?
“If we leave this be, bigger problems will arise. If you won’t allow it… then for the safety of the rear lines, the Kingdom of Lumin should withdraw from the front.”
“That’s insane. If we pull out, who will hold the frontline? Besides, no other country would accept that.”
“When that country disappears, won’t the others quietly accept reality?”
…
“Hah, you speak as if you could destroy the kingdom single-handedly.”
I didn’t say more, finding the response absurd.
Even with Ryuk’s help, I defeated the Demon King by myself. How many kingdoms has one man single-handedly destroyed?
It’s not that I can’t do the same as him.
I simply choose not to, because there’s no reason to.
The king’s expression hardened as he interpreted my silence.
I changed the subject to lighten the mood.
“Or you could just gather all the royal retainers in one place.”
“…Why?”
A middle-aged man in his forties being respectful to a sixteen-year-old is pure comedy.
But I didn’t care and answered dismissively.
“I can just stab them all once with my Holy Sword.”
“Huh?”
“What will you do?”
After a brief silence, the king finally spoke.
By dawn, the internal atmosphere in the Kingdom of Lumin had become extremely tense.
That the king himself, Deaurus Lumin—the Sword Master—had to fight an intruder while the knights remained inactive was a huge problem.
The knights who were on guard at that time were severely disciplined.
“Who were those on guard then?”
“They were from the First Order of Knights. Especially the ones on duty recently got demoted to the countryside.”
“Wow.”
“Let’s keep our mouths shut for now. The king already summoned all the nobles. If we get on his bad side, we’ll suffer the same fate.”
“By the way, do you know where the captain of the First Order of Knights is? I didn’t see him at the command post.”
“No idea. Probably off doing some weird stuff, dragging in odd fellows again.”
Sigh
“The guy who should clean up after his subordinates disappears again? I wish someone would just smack some sense into him.”
“Exactly.”
Within the Royal Family, retainers and nobles who supported the Kingdom of Lumin gathered together.
“What in the world is going on…?”
The Kingdom of Lumin was a nation of knights.
The current king was a victorious knight who had recovered part of the territory and was also a commander.
So when the king issued orders across the kingdom, nobles had to obey without fail.
No matter how absurd the orders were.
Because of that, even lords whose lands were a week’s journey away by carriage hired high-level mages and paid huge sums to fly to the capital in a single day.
“Count, do you know what this is about?”
“I don’t know the details, but I have a feeling it’s bad news.”
The nobles, close friends, discussed why the king had suddenly summoned them.
Most were certain it was bad news.
After regaining territory and stabilizing the country, the beast that had been quietly seated was now stirring.
Whether for hunting or out of threat.
Just the beast rising was enough to unsettle those around it.
“I am disappointed in all of you.”
That one sentence from the beast silenced all the nobles gathered.
‘We’re screwed.’
No one knew exactly what had offended the king, but he was a Sword Master.
A man who explained everything with his sword rather than words.
Most nobles who had fought alongside him had witnessed this temperament.
With eyes fierce enough to tear anyone apart at any moment, the nobles fell into silence.
Deaurus rose silently from his seat.
“You must be curious why I am disappointed. I gathered you all here at the Royal Palace to show you.”
The king stomped his foot harshly.
The sound echoed through the hall with the weight of his presence pressing down like a physical force.
The sheer volume and resonance alone conveyed the king’s immense wrath.
“Enter.”
At that moment, the door to the hall slammed open on both sides with a loud noise.
The nobles’ eyes widened in shock.
‘…The Captain of the First Order of Knights?’
‘Isn’t that Sir Reinhardt?’
‘But… who is that kid?’
Some nobles were genuinely surprised, others showed displeasure.
Still, some kept their true feelings hidden and waited silently.
In the midst of the mixed reactions, a boy dragged Reinhardt by the hair and looked up at the king, saying,
“Begin.”
“How dare you speak so freely in the royal court…”
Some nobles began to speak angrily at those words.
Kuuung!
“…!”
An oppressive force took over the entire hall, restraining every noble’s movement.
Those who knew the source of this power stared in shock at the king.
Because only one person present could cause such a phenomenon.
“Who said you could speak now?”
The Sword Master’s Authority instantly dominated the entire hall.
If the Hero was a being chosen by the love of gods, then the Sword Master was called one who transcended the human species.
That was why Heroes could reach great heights with little effort, but Sword Masters required both talent and effort to reach their extreme level.
The Hero bore the duty to defeat the Demon King, whereas the Sword Master had the freedom to set their own goals.
For that reason, in this era, Sword Masters were naturally regarded more highly than Heroes.
Of course, I was an exception, having pushed myself so hard that I could even control Sword Masters despite being chosen as a Hero.
‘That is the Tyrant’s Authority.’
Another characteristic that set Sword Masters apart from Heroes was the ‘Authority’ each awakened Sword Master received.
Every Sword Master had their own Authority, which influenced their fighting style and personal beliefs.
King Dearus’s Authority was nothing short of a violent force.
‘Domination.’
With just a word and presence, he overwhelmed the audience and manipulated the entire situation according to his will.
According to Ryuk, even the Tyrant’s Authority only caused mental fatigue and physical dullness, not enough to fully control someone like ‘mind control.’
“If you are the captain of the First Order of Knights, answer only with the truth.”
But when facing a knight with the Oath of Truth, the effect could be equally powerful.
Reinhardt, unable to move his entire body, writhed helplessly, his eyes glassy as saliva dripped from his mouth.
“I obey the king’s command.”