Imperial Guard - Chapter 27



Only Noblemtl

Episode 27

Carlson

An ominous aura loomed in the dark room, accessible only through a secret passage.

Zenon, the underworld mastermind who ruled over Districts 3 and 4, chuckled and pulled out magic energy from his body.

“I’ve finally gotten used to the magic. I really do have talent…!”

I thought my life was over when I was attacked by the Demons, but looking back now, it was actually a good opportunity.

The demons did not interfere in human affairs as long as they pleased them.

It was not he who produced the lucky letters, but his subordinates, and Zenon was still able to reign as the ruler of the two districts.

Moreover, he became even stronger by absorbing the demonic energy.

Now Xenon has gained powers that rival those of the top Sword Experts.

Unless a graduate-level class appeared, there was no one in District 3 who could stop him.

‘But there’s no way there’d be a graduate in a place like this.’

Hahaha.

Zenon, with a bitter smile, lifted the glass on the table.

The people seen outside the window looked incredibly alike.

“Hahaha. Humans are like trash!”

The next place to aim for was Area 2.

Zenon took a sip of his wine, turned around, and slipped out through the secret passage.

I had to personally check to see if the slaves writing the chain letters were doing well.

‘With the demons also arriving… the plan will end sooner.’

At first, there was one middle-ranking demon and ten lower-ranking demons, but after one of the lower-ranking demons died in Area 4, the lower-ranking demons were replenished.

40 lower class demons!

At this level, it is safe to say that this is the strongest force in District 3.

It was clear that the demons had also acknowledged him.

‘My world has arrived… Once the demons’ plan is finished, I will swallow up the underworld of District 2…!’

There’s only one step left to becoming a true underworld lord.

The lucky letter ritual will soon be completed.

In just half a day…

Boom-!

At that moment, the wall of the building collapsed before Zeno’s eyes.

“uh?”

Was it possible for a building to be destroyed like this?

Before Zeno could finish his thoughts, the Battle Axe came down on his head.

This was the last memory of Zenon, the lord who ruled the underworld of Districts 3 and 4.

*

After Marco recklessly destroyed the wall of the building.

The knights jumped into the hole.

“In the name of Gaia!”

“Wow!”

The knights who entered Marco’s sanctuary ran through the building, shouting like barbarians.

“Receive the punishment of heaven, you demon!”

“Wow!”

They were all searching for the demon with fire in their eyes.

Thanks to Marco’s sanctuary, their fighting power had increased noticeably, and they rushed at the low-level demons as soon as they saw them.

“There it is! It’s the Demons!”

“Waaaaaaaaaah!”

Marco’s Sanctuary is much more powerful when dealing with demons.

A very minor drawback is that you are unable to perceive your surroundings because you are focusing all your attention on the demon in front of you.

The Knights of the Silver Cross, including Marco, did not notice that one of their captains had fallen behind.

“Wow… Gulp, gulp. Phew. That’s all for cheering.”

It was Rael who was screaming until now.

Rael smiled and stepped back further.

“But you still don’t have time to hunt demons. After all, it’s the Gaia Church.”

Rael was thinking of sucking some honey while cheering from behind.

The world was finally turning properly.

Kwaaaaang-! Kwaaaaang-!

A tremendous roar erupted from the front. Most of the knights were swinging their swords, but the monster in the lead was destroying the building again with its Battle Axe.

“It’s the Demons! Knights of the Silver Cross! Kill all the Demons!”

Kwaaaaang-!

Marco broke the wall again and rushed towards the demon at the shortest distance.

“Ooh, that’s a little scary.”

Rael turned his head away from the human fighting the building.

“Silver Cross! For the Silver Cross!!!!”

Instead, I looked at Carlson, who was slicing the demon in front of me.

Rael watched Carlson’s sword slowly.

Because I was curious as to how that troublemaker ended up in the Knights of the Silver Cross.

And Rael’s eyes widened as he looked at Carlson.

‘Is that enough to be a top-level Sword Expert?’

A talented swordsman can reach the beginner level of Sword Expert before the age of 20 and draw out sword energy.

However, Carlson was a top-level sword expert at the age of 24.

Even considering the high barrier between Sword Expert and Graduate, he was an unbelievably outstanding guy.

‘··· But there was no one like Carlson in the original. That’s strange.’

Rael looked at Carlson with curiosity.

It was quite surprising that someone with such talent wasn’t known in the original.

“Capture the humans and kill the demons!”

The knights moved in unison and subdued the demons.

Kwaaaaang-! Kwaaaaang-!

The actual leader, Marco, was crazy about hunting demons, but… judging from the knights’ reactions, he seemed familiar.

“May the guidance of Gaia be with you.”

Meanwhile, Cecilia was blessing the knights.

As the next saint, her blessings have already surpassed those of the higher priests.

“Wow, woooooo! I feel so strong! This is Marco-sama’s sanctuary!”

“It seems stronger than usual…? Anyway! Charge!”

Cecilia, who had been blessing the knights, took a moment to take a breath.

It wasn’t easy for her to receive this blessing dozens of times.

“Lady Cecilia. Thank you for your hard work. Come over here and rest.”

“Thank you, Rael.”

Cecilia, who was slowly walking towards Rael, suddenly felt a strange sensation.

She turned her head and looked beyond the building.

‘Magic… is moving.’

It was clear that the demons were avoiding the eyes of the knights.

Cecilia looked around for help from the knights.

However, the knights had already entered the building.

All she could see was Rael.

Cecilia had no choice but to speak to Rael.

“La, Lael.”

“Yes, Cecilia. What’s the matter?”

“Over there… I feel a strong movement of magic from over there. I tried to tell the knights, but they all went inside the building….”

“··· Magiyo?”

Rael looked at where Cecilia was pointing and his senses aroused.

Certainly, as she said, thick magic was moving.

Rael immediately turned his head and looked for Marco.

Among the Knights of the Silver Cross who came to District 4 today, Marco is the only one who can detect such a demon.

However, Marco was already out of sight.

All I could hear was a bang- bang- sound from afar.

‘··· They say that once you see the blood of a demon, your eyes will spin around until all the demons you see die.’

It is impossible to persuade Marco when the demon is right in front of him.

The same goes for other knights. You can’t deal with them without Marco’s orders.

I don’t know about Carlson, but it’ll take some time to find Carlson.

“Lael, what should I do?”

“··· Let’s follow.”

The plan to suck honey from behind the backs of the knights has fallen through again.

Rael started running towards the direction where he felt the magic.

In the end, as expected from a butterfly effect that was created because of oneself, one had to put an end to it all by oneself.

*

Lieutenant Majok, Kuheln, was fleeing after hastily dealing with one of the paladins.

‘It’s dangerous. It’s dangerous.’

The knights who suddenly appeared were an unexpected variable, but fortunately, he had 40 lower-ranking demons under his command.

I had to run away while the stupid knights caught the lesser demons.

‘I’ll get out of here first and come back later.’

The knights, and of all people, the Knights of the Silver Cross, the strongest force in the church, attacked.

This was nothing short of a natural disaster.

‘If I survive alone, the operation can succeed at any time.’

The lucky letters spread among the common people of the empire contained Kucheln’s magic.

As long as you survive, you can always carry out the operation again.

But at that moment.

I felt a magical force approaching.

‘Damn. You’re already following me?’

Kuchelen hastily retrieved the magic he had scattered behind him.

The only good thing is that the opponent isn’t a monster holding a Battle Axe.

One inspector and one priest.

It didn’t look that strong.

*

“··· It’s definitely around here.”

Rael frowned in the empty lot behind the building.

I was running in the direction where I felt the magic, but at some point the magic disappeared.

“Ha, haa. Lord Rael. The magic has suddenly become weak, making it difficult to track you···.”

Cecilia also gasped for breath and followed behind Rael.

She too was beginning to tire as she was away from Marco’s sanctuary.

“Priest. First, slowly use your divine power… Huh?”

While looking around while taking care of Cecilia, Rael discovered someone out of nowhere.

“Oh, Brother Rael! When did you come?”

It was Carlson.

He came towards me, waving his hands, with the blood of the demon tribe all over his body.

“Carlson? What are you doing here?”

“I was chasing that demon guy, but I lost him while I was paying attention! Damn it!”

“··· Is that so? Are you feeling okay?”

Lael stared at Carlson.

“Mr. Carlson. There’s blood in your body… Just wait a moment, I’ll bless you right away…”

“Ah, it’s the blood of the demons. I’m okay, I just got covered in blood, I’m not hurt. Ugh, the smell is so disgusting that I want to go and take a shower.”

Cecilia nodded.

Because of the demonic energy in his blood, he gave off a disgusting smell.

“Reverend Cecilia. It seems like we can’t track them with magic, so let’s join up with the knights for now. We’ll search a bit more.”

Rael spoke to Cecilia.

“Yes? But···.”

“Don’t worry. This guy, Carlson, is stronger than he looks. They should be done with the other side by now, so bring reinforcements. If Marco is there, he’ll be able to track down the Magi.”

“Ah… I see! I’ll definitely bring the knights!”

Cecilia nodded and ran in the direction she had come from.

Rael looked at her back, then turned his head.

Now only the two of them were left in the empty lot.

“Brother Lael! So, before you let go of the demon, you were fighting over there? But suddenly···”

“Carlson.”

“Yes, brother!”

“I think about that sometimes. No, actually, I think about it a lot. What did I do wrong to deserve this? Huh? In this fucking world.”

Rael opened his mouth as he looked at Carlson, who was smiling cheerfully.

Sling-

And he drew his sword.

“Yes, yes?! Why are you suddenly like that?”

I closed my lips, feeling the bitter taste in my mouth.

I didn’t say anything to Carlson directly, but I was actually really happy to hear that.

Because he was a family member and friend who grew up with Rael.

I saved a guy who was being beaten by beggars, and he started following me and calling me his older brother.

He proudly showed off the sand castle he had made, calling it his secret hideout.

He promised that even if he went to church, he would not forget and would definitely visit the daycare center.

As the three of us sat together with Ms. Sarah from the daycare center, memories that we had been trying to share slowly came back to us one by one.

To be honest, I hoped this feeling was wrong.

I wanted to just ignore it and say that my breath smelled like rotten eggs from eating them this morning.

“··· I really wanted to tell Miss Sarah that Carlson became a knight.”

But Rael’s senses don’t lie.

I’ve never felt more guilty about something being right than I did today.

Rael, who had drawn his sword, swung it towards Carlson’s neck.

Kyaang-!

Carlson drew his sword in an instant and blocked Rael’s sword.

However, he couldn’t stop the ball from grazing the sword that was bouncing off.

Gulp-

Purple blood flowed from Carlson’s cheek.

Carlson, his eyes wide open, immediately took a step back and jumped back with inhuman leaping power.

He glared at Rael and distorted his face.

“··· How did you know? You copied everything from the smallest habits to breathing and heartbeat.”

A swaying magic covered Carlson’s body.

The next moment, Carlson had transformed into a demon with horns growing from his head.

“Sorry, I have a bad feeling about this. I smelled like shit the moment I saw you.”

Cecilia didn’t seem to notice Carlson since it was her first time seeing him today, but Rael could definitely feel it.

Carlson’s presence doesn’t disappear just because he has the blood of the Demon Tribe on him.

From the beginning, I didn’t feel any of Carlson’s magic from him.

Rael felt his opponent’s magic while holding his sword.

It is of a different class from the lower class demons, but not too high either.

He is a lieutenant demon.

“So that’s why you let that woman run away. How stupid. If you had abandoned that woman and run away, you could have lived.”

“That’s a line from a demon who throws his subordinates away and runs away.”

“Huh, you said Carlson? He was a paladin, so his divine powers were a bit annoying, but he was really delicious. It seems like we were pretty close.”

“··· Tsk.”

Ugh-

Rael clicked his tongue and clenched his teeth.

I realized that I was surprisingly a very affectionate person.

I was annoyed by the words that were said so blatantly to hurt me.

‘Don’t shake it.’

The opponent is a mid-level demon.

The strength defined by humans is at the beginning of the graduate stage.

Even if you only become a lieutenant demon, you will have to deal with graduate-level demons who are considered the strongest among humans.

It’s incredibly unfair, but that’s just how the Demons are.

Graduate level is equivalent to the rank of knight commander of a decent territory, and they are strong people who have even a slim chance of reaching the rank of Sword Master.

Even the upper-level demons say that they have to have at least ten fully-ripened graduates to attack, so you could say that the balance is really fucking tight.

‘The Millennium Empire is a piece of shit.’

I can see why when I see the empire returning.

Without warriors and saints, the world would be like a crippled world that could perish at any moment.

“First of all, let me correct one misconception about your height···.”

Rael bit his lip and twisted the corners of his mouth forcibly.

He took up the sword with trembling arms.

“I sent the priest back not because I wanted to lose, but because I wanted to fight in a place where no one was around.”

Woohoo-

A fiercely burning black energy enveloped Rael’s sword.

“Because I won’t kill you nicely.”

Lael’s eyes sank coldly.