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Side Story Chapter 133

The best knight in the Swallow Empire, once called the king of the plains decades ago Are you really Duke Altsma? Kireua asked.

-The best knight? You must be mistaken.

Pardon?

-The best is someone who stands at the peak of the country; many other knights in my empire were better than me.

Kireua smiled awkwardly. He didnt know much about other countries history, but the death knight he stood in front of was a great man who had left his mark in the annals of the history of Igrant, not just a knight from the Swallow Empire.

Duke Altsma, the Wild King, had started the golden age of the Swallow Empire with the power of his saw-toothed sword alone. When it came to battles on the open plains, Altsma had always led the Swallow Empire to war. If he hadnt been ambushed by Grand Duke Lucifer, one of the three Celestials, Altsma would have surely reached the peak himself.

-Im going to test you from now, but dont think for a moment that Im going to go easy on you just because youre his son.

I wouldnt want you to do that either, Kireua muttered bitterly.

-The other knights are on the same page as me, so you only need to earn recognition from the two of us. Then all twelve death knights will march under your banner

Altsma slowly raised his sword and released his ferocious energy.

-...but if you fail, we will seek our eternal peace without a second thought. We dont have any lingering feelings for this world anymore.

Wait, no lingering feelings? Kireua quickly interrupted. Thats a lot different from what I heard.

-What do you mean?

From what I know, a death knight cannot be born without a specific goal because the will of the bodys original owner is the most critical element of the process. The goal usually involves accomplishing an unfulfilled dream, achieving mastery in the sword, or getting revenge

-Theyre true, but you fail to realize one thing.

Whats that? Kireua tilted his head in confusion.

-Our dreams have already been fulfilled with the help of Joshua Sanders, your father and our savior.

Indeed. The Emperor of Avalon had granted all the twelve death knights\' wishes. Altsma had been a noble knight, renowned throughout the entire continent, but he had sacrificed his soul and honor to become an undead in order to fulfill his dream. It could not have been an easy thing to accomplish. Kireua was sure that granting every single one of the death knights wishes had been just as difficult as conquering the continent would have been.

-Nevertheless, we chose to remain on this land because

Kireua swallowed.

-...were grateful.

Gratitude I see. Kireua nodded.

-Your fatherno, our master has favored us in a way that we shall never be able to repay even with our lives. But that doesnt necessarily serve as a reason to help you.

Kireua found it difficult to understand Altsma. If he was so grateful to the Emperor, then wouldnt he be more than willing to help Kireuaor rather, the country in a time like this?

-Half.

What?

-Half of the death knights here died due to betrayal. Once we swear a covenant to you as our Overlord, we can only derive our supply of demonic power from you to sustain our lives. We have no choice but to blindly obey you, even if you command us to exterminate the human race. We must obey.

That was the death knights pledge of loyalty. When they chose to serve a master, they were bound to assist their master with every fiber of their being until the day they were reduced to nothingness.

-Actions speak louder than words. Take up your weapons. Your sword will tell me a lot more about yourself than you think.

Kireua nodded. I understand what you mean, Duke Altsma.

-I abandoned that name long ago. I am the Wild King, and I will test you to the best of my abilities.

Kireuas energy clashed violently against the Wild Kings.

They slowly walked toward each other, and then, but at a certain distance they both leaped at each other.

Their swords collided, but it felt completely different to Kireua than any other time hed crossed swords. Kireuas sword was stuck in between the shark-like teeth of the Wild Kings sword. Worse, Kireuas sword was being chipped away like prey caught in the sharks mouth.

Ugh! The impact left his palms numb. After their first collision, Kireua was certain that fighting the Wild King head-on was madness.

Kireuas arm muscles bulged as he tried to break away from the Wild Kings sword and distance himself, but Kireuas sword still didnt budge in the slightest.

-It was commendable of you to come straight at me But brave as it was, the moment you chose to fight me directly instead of running away, you trapped yourself, Kireua Sanders.

The Wild King had more surprises for Kireua. The tips of the swords saw teeth were enveloped in the Wild Kings black demonic power, but in a different way from how a sword overlaid with aura shone. The Wild King covered only the saw tooth region of the sword when he launched his attack.

-Rain on the Plains.

The demonic saw teeth suddenly flew off of the Wild Kings sword and swarmed Kireua from every direction. Kireua couldnt even dodgehis sword was still embedded in the serrations of the Wild Kings sword, forcing Kireua to abandon his sword and jump for safety.

However, the saw teeth were hot on his tail. For a split second, Kireua struggled to find a way to counterattack.

-Kireua, use the power of Gluttony.

Inexplicably, everyone except for Kireua froze for a moment. His eyes were drawn to the side., whereupon he realized that that Coal was nearby, its adorable hands jammed into the ground. It was only then that Kireua realized what was causing this strange phenomenon.

...You can stop time, too? Kireua asked.

-Nope. Only gods can do that, so no, I cant.

Then what in the world is going on?

-All I can do is temporarily stop the flow of demonic power and the creatures who use demonic power.

What? Kireuas eyes darted back and forth. Coal was righttime still passed; only the Wild King and the flying saw teeth had stopped. Kireua could quite obviously see how his teachers expression continued to change in real time.

Its still cheating, Kireua dumbly protested.

-Gluttonys teeth are sturdier than any other objects in the Demon Realm. For example, its tens of thousands of times harder than adamantium.

So I make a sword out of it?

-Yup. Picture the sword that you would be able to use the best, Kireua.

It didnt take long for Kireua to take action. The instant he thought of it, he was holding a new sword, a longsword of ordinary length that seemed to have swallowed darkness itself.

When Kireua swung the sword, the saw teeth that once threatened him burst powerlessly against the blade from the slightest brush.

-A sword of demonic power? Wait, is that

Its my turn now. Kireua sheathed his sword, bracing himself to snap it out of its sheathe[1].

Rain on the Plains was a technique that aimed to minimize mana usage by focusing aura into a tightly controlled area and then scattering it. Kireua had figured out the mechanism. If he could learn the distribution of power as well as mechanism, he could deliver a counterattack in the same way.

A thick layer of Kireuas aura formed around the edge of his sword and nowhere else.

The Wild King stared, visibly stupefied despite the inhuman red light of his eyes. Replicating a technique and making that into his own based on sight alone had only ever been done by Joshua, the Martial God himself.

-I see. A tigers son is a tiger as well.

A death knight couldnt do such a thing as make a facial expression, but the Wild Kings voice sounded somehow pleased. In fact, he was absolutely delighted.

-But I would be humiliated if I gave up now.

A layer of demonic power developed over the Wild Kings sword once again.

-Kireua Sanders, I dont know if youre aware of this, but I can feel impatience from your sword for some reason.

Kireua flinched as he was about to draw his sword.

-At first, I thought it was because you urgently wished to return to your comrades but the moment your sword and mine met, I realized that your impatience is an old habit.

Wild King, what are you talking about?

-You know a genius who is similarno, better than you, dont you? Come to think of it, I heard that my master has two sons.

Kireuas face darkened. The intuition and insight of a knight who had lived out his life and more was certainly something to behold. However, the Wild King went on:

-I know the sorrow of being the second best. Once, I also fell to my knees in despair in front of a wall I couldnt overcome.

Kireua bit his lip. It was obvious that the Wild King was playing a mind game, and Kireua had no intention of playing along.

Here I go. Kireua quietly took a deep breath and tensed his legs.

The air distorted and rippled from the sheer density of demonic power infused into Kirueas. The edge of his sword seethed with murderous energy, and his aura was thick with his Evil Sins\' powers.

His powerful attack rocketed toward its target. While the Wild Kings demonic power attack was like a rain of saw teeth falling upon a plain, Kireuas aura resembled a crescent moon.

-Mmmm

The Wild King gripped his sword with two hands. Had Kireuas attack been composed of ordinary aura, the Wild King would have met it head on and dissipated it with little difficulty. However, he could not approach this attack so casually.

Kireuas attack was so sharp that it cleaved through the very space it passed through, to say nothing of anything else in its path. There was no way that the Wild King could use any conventional methods.

-Hahahahahaha! Good. Great, master!

The pressure clamping down on him made the Wild King burst into laughter. Considering that he was usually very serious, his jovial guffaws were quite incongruous.

1. Iaijutsu