The Swordmaster Who Returned After 1,000 Years

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 162

The White Demon King.

His appearance was closer to that of an angel than a demon.

With two radiant white wings, his entire body overflowed with light mana.

Though he possessed the black hair characteristic of demons, his outward appearance made it difficult to categorize him as one.

However, neither of the two demons present mistook him for an angel.

And for good reason.

‘An overwhelming amount of dark mana…’

Unlike his body, which shimmered with light, his face was completely veiled in darkness.

The dark mana emanating from within was immense enough to make any demon submit.

Any demon who faced him could only feel his oppressive presence and succumb to it.

‘Why is the Demon King here…?!’

Caius stared at Demon King Deimos, his face filled with shock.

The one existence he truly feared—the White Demon King.

Despite holding a title unfitting for a Demon King, "White," Deimos stood as the greatest among all past Demon Kings.

Having completely conquered the Middle Realm and even invaded the Celestial Realm to establish his dominion, he was the ruler of the Three Realms.

‘They say even the Celestial Gods hide in fear of him… His limits are truly unknowable.’

Even if his father, Ernstine, were to become a true dragon, could he really stand against this Demon King?

Deimos’s overwhelming presence made it seem doubtful.

Ederna tensed at the sight of him.

‘…As expected, he’s overwhelming.’

After witnessing the power Kaylen wielded as a Grand Sword Master, she had once considered whether he could stand against the Demon King.

But now, facing him in person, she knew the answer.

He could never defeat Demon King Deimos.

Even as a Grand Sword Master.

Even as the wielder of the Holy Sword.

That Demon King… was on an entirely different level.

"Count Helmeier, I will ask you this—why have you defied the hierarchy?"

"T-That is… Marquise Ederna violated the treaty."

"Count Helmeier, explain in detail."

At Deimos’s words, Caius felt his lips move involuntarily.

Such was the commanding force of the Demon King’s decree.

"T-That is… Within the Geysir Empire, which I govern in the Middle Realm…"

Compelled by Deimos’s authority, Caius began a lengthy plea.

And as he spoke, he couldn’t help but feel pathetic.

Bringing up colonial affairs to the Demon King—

It felt as childish as running to an adult to complain about a playground scuffle.

From the perspective of the Demon King, ruler of the Three Realms, a minor dispute in the Middle Realm was utterly insignificant.

"Count Helmeier… was that truly your only reason?"

As the darkness obscuring Deimos’s face wavered—

"Ugh… aaaaaaagh!"

Caius’s body was forcefully slammed into the ground.

"Marquise Ederna is a descendant of the previous Demon King. Someone like you has no right to treat her with such disrespect."

Deimos’s voice carried no emotion.

Yet, upon hearing his words, a chill ran down Caius’s spine.

‘Ugh…! Since when has the Demon Realm ever cared about the descendants of a former Demon King?!’

He felt a deep sense of injustice.

Even in the Human Realm, when a new dynasty rose, the previous royal family was either purged or exiled.

And in the Demon Realm, such things were even more ruthless.

The families of former Demon Kings were frequently executed in public.

‘Tch. No matter what, I have to survive!’

Still pinned to the ground by the Demon King’s power, Caius felt as though he would be crushed at any moment.

Even though he was far stronger than most other demon counts, having mastered the Six Demonic Paths, he stood no chance against the Demon King’s power.

Pressing his forehead against the ground, he pleaded in humiliation.

“I-I’m sorry! Please forgive me!”

“Count Helmeier, the one you should be apologizing to is not me, but Marquise Ederna.”

“M-Marquise Ederna… I—I apologize! Please, forgive me just this once…!”

Ederna stared at Caius.

She, too, found it puzzling that the Demon King was siding with her.

‘It’s better to leave Caius in my debt here.’

There was no need to refuse forgiveness and make an enemy of Helmeier.

It was better to settle things at an appropriate level.

—You are forgiven.

The moment she spoke, Caius’s body was forcibly lifted upright.

His lower body’s white bones had turned pitch black, and his upper body and face were marred by patches of missing flesh.

His face twisted in pain, but he still bowed deeply to Ederna.

“Thank you… for your mercy.”

“Leave.”

At the Demon King’s command, Caius bowed his head and withdrew.

He had come to protest but ended up leaving with nothing to show for it.

However, he was simply grateful to be alive.

“Marquise Ederna. You are merciful.”

—…Why have you come here?

At Ederna’s question, the White Demon King folded his arms.

His radiant white wings gleamed even brighter.

In contrast, the dark mana obscuring his face grew stronger.

A Demon King who embodied both light and darkness.

Before Ederna, he released his power once more.

‘What is he doing?’

He hadn’t come all this way just to show off his strength.

Ederna was bewildered by his actions.

“The matter is settled.”

As the Demon King unfolded his arms, the light and dark mana he had released instantly dissipated.

—…That’s it?

“Marquise Ederna. That’s right.”

Why did he even come here?

Though confused by the Demon King’s actions, Ederna did not voice her thoughts.

She dared not question the Demon King.

“Marquise Ederna. Continue what you have been doing in the Middle Realm.”

—What do you mean by that…?

“The Hero.”

…The Hero?

“You should understand what I mean better than anyone.”

Flash.

With those cryptic final words, Demon King Deimos vanished into light.

‘If he’s referring to matters in the Middle Realm… Could he be talking about Kaylen?’

Ederna stared at the spot where the Demon King had disappeared, her eyes trembling.

‘…I have no idea what he’s thinking.’

Kaylen, the wielder of the Holy Sword and Grand Sword Master.

At this level, he was nearly as powerful as the legendary hero Ernstine, said to be the strongest of all past heroes.

For someone in his twenties to already possess such strength… given time, he could grow even stronger.

Yet instead of trying to suppress this, the Demon King had encouraged it.

‘This is troublesome.’

Ederna had intended to keep her distance from Kaylen, but now that the Demon King himself had issued a direct order, she had no choice.

‘I’ll have to maintain my cooperation with him for now.’

And since she was going to help him anyway…

‘I should tell him everything that happened here.’

“The Demon King ordered you to continue your work in the Middle Realm?”

—Yes.

Kaylen couldn’t understand what he was hearing from Ederna.

‘What is the Demon King thinking?’

The fact that he had specifically mentioned the hero meant he knew about Kaylen.

And yet, the Demon King was merely watching instead of interfering?

Along with his confusion, Kaylen felt a sense of discomfort.

‘The Demon King… he doesn’t see the hero as a threat at all.’

From ancient times until now—

Every single Demon King who had descended upon the Middle Realm had been slain by the wielder of the Holy Sword.

That was why all previous Demon Kings had been desperate to eliminate them.

Yet, even though the White Demon King was said to be the strongest of them all…

He wasn’t trying to suppress the hero. He was letting him be.

Kaylen had never expected to be treated this way.

‘…There must be a reason for this.’

Suppressing his unease, he analyzed the situation rationally.

‘Why is the Demon King choosing to remain uninvolved?’

‘I’m currently in direct opposition to Helmeier.’

The Helmeier family had established the Geysir Empire to complete the dragon they had been creating.

By blocking Geysir’s expansion, Kaylen had been planting the flag of Starn across their path.

It was only natural that Caius had been enraged and had gone to protest to Ederna.

His actions were practically a declaration of war.

‘And when Caius went to complain, the Demon King appeared at just the right moment to suppress him.’

By silencing Caius and putting him in his place, the Demon King had effectively expressed his support for Ederna.

Was it truly a coincidence that he had appeared at the observatory at that exact moment?

‘No way.’

Kaylen didn’t believe that.

Until now, the Demon King had almost never visited the observatory.

It wasn’t easy for coincidences to pile up like this.

‘Because of the Demon King’s actions, Helmeier’s movements have been restrained.’

With the situation in the Demon Realm unfolding this way, the Helmeier family could no longer act recklessly against Ederna.

Which meant that Kaylen’s strategy of blocking their expansion—planting his flags—would be even more effective.

And in turn, the completion of their so-called “dragon” would be delayed.

‘Did he do all this to stop the Dragon God, Meier?’

The dragon that was essentially the very continent of the Middle Realm itself.

For a being of that magnitude, even the Demon King couldn’t simply ignore its existence.

Even so, there was something that still didn’t add up.

‘But… if that were the case, wouldn’t it have been faster to deal with it himself?’

With the White Demon King’s power, he could wipe out the Helmeier family in an instant.

If he didn’t want the Dragon God Meier to be completed, wouldn’t it be simpler to intervene directly?

Leaving such a simple method aside and instead allowing the hero to act freely...

‘Does that mean there’s a reason he can’t intervene himself…?’

The Demon King and the Dragon God.

Kaylen pondered the relationship between the two but soon shook his head.

‘For now, I need to focus on the situation at hand.’

Regardless of the Demon King’s true intentions,

things were currently playing out in Kaylen’s favor.

The fact that he was able to continue his strategy of planting flags and blocking Geysir’s expansion was proof of that.

‘The western front is secured. Time to move east.’

Kaylen recalled the full map of the Averia continent.

As it stood, Geysir had already taken control of 40% of the western lands.

While he had successfully blocked their eastern advance…

The eastern region of the Starn Empire remained an unclaimed land, filled only with small, insignificant kingdoms.

‘If they deploy the Dragon Knights, they could easily cross the sea and seize territory in the east.’

Even though Kaylen had seized control of the land routes, he hadn’t completely cut off the coastal areas.

Geysir could still sail across the sea to claim new lands in the east.

“We need to advance eastward.”

—Agreed. The sooner, the better. Geysir’s movements are becoming increasingly suspicious.

“What do you mean by that?”

—Ever since Caius came to protest—although we don’t have the full details—

Things that were once observable have started to slip away.

Previously, it wouldn’t have been an issue.

But now, recognizing that the head of the Demon Realm’s observatory isn’t on good terms with them,

the Geysir Empire is actively working to evade its surveillance.

Even though Ederna couldn’t see their every move like before,

Geysir couldn’t completely hide everything either, so she could still infer a rough idea of their actions.

—Human sacrifices have increased significantly.

“Human sacrifices…?”

—Yes. The Geysir Empire is now practically exterminating its own people.

Geysir Empire’s Imperial Capital.

The imperial throne sat occupied—by someone who was not the emperor.

The rightful emperor knelt below, his head bowed low in submission.

“…Caius.”

“Y-Yes…!”

“You’re rushing the resurrection too much. Shouldn’t you gather more sacrifices and perform the ritual properly?”

“…The situation has taken a bad turn. Father must return as soon as possible.”

“Is that so? I’ve been too preoccupied overseeing the resurrection ritual. What’s been happening?”

Caius lifted his head.

Upon the throne sat a massive black-furred creature.

Only its piercing red eyes gleamed from within the dark mass of fur, exuding a chilling presence.

“I shall report, Marquess.”

“Oh my, ‘Marquess’? Call me Mother, Caius. We’re not in the Demon Realm, after all.”

“…Yes. Mother.”

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]