Chapter 294

3.

“Huuuu.”

After being in a capsule for a long time playing a game, one would usually feel sluggish or stiff.

This time was a little different.

For some reason, the throbbing headache was worse.

It was rare for his head to hurt more than his body.

It was the first time his head hurt even though he hadn't absorbed an excessive amount of soul memories.

To think he had to use his brain this much while playing a game.

Well, it wasn't uncomfortable or difficult.

‘This is more fun than I thought.’

Still, he had gained something thanks to racking his brain like this.

He had clearly identified the demon hiding in the magic tower.

He had obtained other evidence, but the conversation with the escort knight captain was the most useful.

Anyway, it seemed like the matter would be settled tomorrow.

‘I have to bounce before the Sword Saint arrives.’

If he did come, the system would probably block him in one way or another.

But meeting him in person was a different matter.

Wasn't he one of the transcendent beings that even a single ranker couldn't handle?

It was best to avoid meeting him as much as possible.

Thinking this, Seonghyun thought that this long, long quest would likely end tomorrow.

If that happened.

The natives would be able to reclaim their original homes.

And.

‘The weapons imbued with demonic energy were quite strong, so I wonder what the demon, the main body, will be like?’

He couldn't reveal his demonic energy when he was protecting the shantytown where the natives lived.

He didn't feel it then.

But considering the characteristics of being imbued with demonic energy, wouldn't it be stronger?

It seemed the demon was setting a trap.

But Seonghyun was confident.

‘What will come out.’

As he was looking forward to it.

“What are you doing?”

Seonghyun tilted his head at the sight of his older sister, Yoo Mina, who had come all the way to his room to ask.

He thought they would see each other at dinner anyway, so why did she come.

Even if she had something to say, she could have done it during dinner?

With that thought, he wondered what was going on and looked at his sister.

Yoo Mina, with a rather serious expression, gulped and said.

“You remember that mom's birthday is on Thursday, right?”

“...Ah!?”

Seeing Seonghyun's reaction, Yoo Mina sighed as if she knew it.

However, she nodded as if she fully understood.

“You do lose track of time when you're playing Eternal World.”

“Has it been that long already?”

Looking at the number of days, it was correct.

It had been 55 days since Seonghyun started playing the game.

It was understandable that he would be out of it.

“If you have time tomorrow, let's go buy a present together.”

“...With your sister?”

“What, why!”

He thought about going separately.

But his older sister, Yoo Mina, has a good eye.

Seonghyun had no choice but to accept, as if he couldn't help it.

“Sigh, but I'm a bit busy tomorrow. If we're going to the department store, don't we have to go during the day? How about the day after tomorrow?”

Today is Monday.

So if they go on Wednesday, they can still buy it before the birthday.

Thinking it would be fine, Seonghyun spoke.

Yoo Mina seemed to be checking her schedule on her phone and, after a moment of thought, nodded.

“Hm, then let's go on Wednesday.”

“Phew, alright.”

“Don't forget it's a surprise, so keep it a secret.”

He wondered why she was making such a big deal out of it.

But a surprise could be a bit fun.

He replied that he understood.

Then Yoo Mina said.

“She's been talking about dating lately. I was wondering what was going on, and it turned out to be her birthday.”

“Ah.”

He wondered if she was subtly dropping hints.

Was that why?

Is this why they say you have to raise a daughter?

Seonghyun scratched his cheek and just went with it.

Then he would finish his work as quickly as possible tomorrow and go to the department store on Wednesday.

He wasn't thrilled about going out with his sister.

But what could happen?

Thinking that, he went to eat.

4.

The next day.

The day Seonghyun and Edian were supposed to meet again dawned.

Meanwhile, in the capital of the Rieskan Kingdom, the Sword Saint, who was busy handling his work, frowned deeply.

He still felt strange after his soul was wounded.

He had taken a hit of a whopping 20% compared to his previous strength.

He had to treat his body with the utmost care.

But there was so much work to be done.

He couldn't even rest properly.

In the midst of that.

‘I have a bad feeling.’

For some reason, since he said he would visit tomorrow.

He hadn't heard from the damn demons.

Because of that, a concern that something might have gone wrong arose, and he couldn't concentrate on his work at all.

‘I need to supply as many demonic weapons as possible.’

The minimum number needed to stand against Over Palace.

However, since he hadn't heard from the demon who had infiltrated the Caliber Magic Tower, which could be called the center of it all, the Sword Saint stood up from his seat, thinking that things might go wrong.

Becoming a transcendent being, meant that one would develop a certain intuition.

And right now, that intuition was warning him of a very ominous feeling.

‘...I should probably move up the schedule.’

The Sword Saint thought so and said to his subordinate outside.

“I must make a trip to Heptarion.”

“...Understood.”

There were still many pending tasks.

But the subordinate couldn't bring himself to tell the Sword Saint that fact.

Because the Sword Saint surely knew it already when he said it.

Saying anything would be no different from going against the Sword Saint's will.

Therefore, he ordered preparations for the trip.

And the Sword Saint muttered with a rather irritated expression.

‘There's no sign of Over Palace moving.’

There was still no sign of Over Palace moving.

He could have been relieved.

But why?

He was reminded of Seonghyun, whom he had recently encountered.

It was a truly rare occurrence.

But there had been such cases.

And so, the Sword Saint, busy as he was, got up to prepare to move.

“Sword Saint-nim, all preparations for departure are complete.”

As the Sword Saint hurriedly pushed, the task was handled faster than expected, and the Sword Saint rose from his seat.

He felt that he would only feel relieved after seeing it with his own eyes.

5.

Before the Sword Saint decided to move.

The new knight Yoosung, or rather, Seonghyun, who had come to work at the Caliber Magic Tower, came to the tower as always, and he could see Edian in front of it.

He wondered if he was waiting right from the entrance.

But he didn't pay much attention to it.

“You were waiting here.”

“Hm, you're here. Let's go.”

At the curt tone, almost resolute, Seonghyun thought nothing of it and nodded, and Edian, looking at Seonghyun, nodded as if he was quite satisfied.

Edian, who thoroughly looked like a mage.

He once again climbed the forest with Seonghyun.

Whenever monsters appeared, Seonghyun's Galaxy Sword Dance was unleashed, lighting up the surroundings and sweeping away the monsters, and Edian was satisfied every time he saw Seonghyun's appearance.

Because if he lost even a little bit of his strength, it would be advantageous for him, no, for them.

As they climbed, Seonghyun also looked at Edian and thought to himself.

‘As expected, there's more than one demon.’

He knew from what he heard from the natives.

He was especially able to confirm it from the memories he absorbed from the souls of the ancestors.

At first, he didn't pay much attention.

But after carefully reviewing the memories, he knew.

That there were three demons in total.

And all of them were male.

Serena was also suspicious.

But he dismissed the suspicion as all the demons were male.

And when he asked the ghost wandering the magic tower again.

When Seonghyun first headed to the shantytown, only one mage had left the magic tower at night.

Lastly.

‘The words of the escort knight captain were decisive.’

Edian was said to not even hesitate to use verbal and physical abuse when he took an escort knight, but he didn't do that to him.

Well, it's not like he would have hidden his eccentric side just because he was a new recruit.

In other words, it meant he had a hidden agenda.

And that was exactly.

“Hmm, let's go up a little further.”

As Edian gestured and guided him through the forest.

“Yes.”

Seonghyun replied quickly.

Edian, guiding him into the forest with suspicious intent.

And Seonghyun already knew the reason why.

‘As expected, he's trying to lure me into a trap.’

He said that demons can store their hearts separately, and according to Helena's additional explanation.

-Is he guiding you to where the real heart is? With the other three.

They become stronger when they are where their hearts are.

Considering how he was attacked when he first headed to the shantytown, it seemed they were planning to attack with the other demons near where their hearts were.

The reason he knew this far and didn't make a move?

Isn't it too simple?

A demon cannot be killed unless its heart is destroyed.

But since he was kindly guiding him to that very heart, what reason was there to refuse?

All he had to do was eat what was being spoon-fed to him.

While Seonghyun was thinking that.

Edian was inwardly sneering at Seonghyun, thinking he was foolish.

‘He doesn't even know he's sticking his head into the lion's jaws.’

He admits that he is a swordsman who is their perfect counter.

But with the demonic energy emitted by the three demons where their hearts were, it wouldn't be a big problem.

A 1-on-1 might be tough, but a 3-on-1 is a different story.

It would be a different story if he had comrades.

But he couldn't see any comrades.

And even if there were, they wouldn't be able to enter their territory.

To enter here from the outside, their permission was absolutely necessary.

Also, since a barrier was already in place, there was no need to use the power of blockage.

If they used a lot of demonic energy that only weakened the swordsman's power, it would be a piece of cake.

As Edian, who had guided Seonghyun, continued to guide him with a triumphant expression.

Seonghyun could feel it belatedly.

Squish.

As he felt the strange sensation of passing through a thin membrane of water in the air, the surrounding scenery changed completely.

The fact that it was a forest was the same.

But unlike the forest until just a moment ago, it was a very desolate place.

Seonghyun frowned as he looked at the surroundings, where the trees were withered and dyed in an ashen color.

And there, beings that appeared like shadows slowly rose.

“Kehehehe, you've fallen for it.”

“Keheheh, welcome to our heart.”

“...”

As Seonghyun remained silent.

Edian also used a short-range teleportation to move behind them and revealed his true form.

A shadow-like form.

As Seonghyun looked in that direction.

Edian cackled and spoke as if to ask if he was surprised.

“How arrogant, O knight!!! No matter how strong you are, you won't be able to do anything against the three of us!!!”

“Ughaaaa!!!”

“Hyaap!!!”

The demons shouted and unleashed their demonic energy.

Simultaneously, they chanted their demonic skills.

“『Domain』!”

“『Curse of the Sword』!”

“『Weaken』!”

[Due to the 『Domain』 skill, this area is filled with negative energy. Beings without demonic energy cannot naturally recover mana and health.]

[Due to the 『Curse of the Sword』 skill, the power of all sword-related skills within this area is halved.]

[Due to the 『Weaken』 skill, all of the user 『Seonghyun』's stats are reduced by half within this area.]

[Negative effects due to demonic energy are applied.]

[『Overlord』 partially resists.]

[Only half of the negative effects are applied.]

Seeing all those effects, Seonghyun's eyes widened as if he was quite surprised.

And the demons cackled as they saw it.

“Just know that you cannot leave this place alive!”

“Kukukuk! You can't do anything alone!”

“As long as you are under the Curse of the Sword, there is nothing you can do!!!”

At the demons' words.

Seonghyun muttered as if he found it amusing.

“You didn't cast severance. How thoughtful of you.”

The demons noticed something was strange.

And in that moment, a turquoise portal opened behind Seonghyun, and his retainers jumped out.

And after a long time, he uttered those words.

“Who said I was alone?”

“...???”

“W-what... is this?!”

“H-he wasn't a swordsman!?”