NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 24
24. My Sword Shatters All
※
With a shudder, Sarome gazed at the black knight standing in the guild’s courtyard.
(The Six Demon Generals, are they the trusted aides of the legendary Demon King!?)
She reflexively denied it in her mind.
The ruler of demons, the Demon King.
And by his side, the six demons boasting the strongest in the demon realm.
They were the Six Demon Generals.
But they were merely beings spoken of in legends and fairy tales.
Were the demons before her merely deceiving with that name, or—.
“Regardless of whether he’s the legendary Demon Generals, it’s certain he’s not ordinary…”
She could tell it just by the atmosphere.
From that demon—Gyrasvrim—terrifying pressure blew.
Or perhaps, he might possess power equivalent to Class S, the strongest.
If so, she couldn’t handle them alone.
(She’ll have to defeat them somehow by cooperating with the other adventurers from the guild)
She drew the large knife hanging from her waist and prepared herself without letting her guard down.
“…The human world, huh… It’s been a while…”
With a voice like grating metal, the black knight surveyed the surroundings.
The helmet with a mask completely obscured his expression.
The only exposed red eyes gleamed oddly.
“Those with the power of the gods… where are you…? Show yourselves…”
The black knight raised the giant sword with one hand.
“If I kill your brethren, will you appear eventually…? Humans cherish their comrades, don’t they…”
Bathed in the sinking sunlight, the wide red blade gleamed like blood.
“You… all… shall… die…”
Sarome’s whole body stiffened at the murderous intent blowing towards her.
And then, at that moment,
“Demon!”
“There was no response on the radar… but to come to the adventurer guild of all places!”
“The Six Demon Generals! Don’t think we’ll be scared by that bluff!”
“Surround them all!”
Dozens of adventurers rushed into the courtyard.
There were familiar faces among them, but also strangers.
Among them were adventurers of the same Rank A as Salome.
“This kind of opponent is my specialty.”
One of the adventurers stepped forward.
He seemed to be in his mid-twenties.
Covered in iron armor, he wielded a huge war hammer with both hands.
A typical power fighter type warrior.
“Facing me head-on, huh… fine by me.”
Gyrasvrim confronted the warrior.
“…Let’s have a fair fight.”
“No need to tell me!”
Shouting, the warrior charged.
Despite heavy armor, he moved quite fast.
Once he gathered enough speed, he swung the war hammer.
It’s a simple—yet powerful blow.
“Shatter!”
“…Hmm, quite the power and speed.”
The black knight, on the other hand, didn’t budge.
Without even swinging the sword in his raised right hand, he casually extended his left hand—
“What!?”
With just one finger, he stopped the huge war hammer.
“For a human…”
The black knight flashed his giant sword.
Before the warrior could even scream, his body was bisected and blown away.
“Ah… ah…”
In front of the warrior who died instantly, the other adventurers retreated in unison.
“Don’t engage in close combat with him! Attack with ranged weapons!”
Salome shouted.
Her resolute voice snapped the panicking adventurers back to their senses.
“All right, let’s do this!”
“Warrior types, fall back!”
The magicians unleashed attack spells together.
Red, blue, green, yellow—along with the colorful lights of magical power, countless magical projectiles struck Gyrausvrim.
Intense flashes burst, and shockwaves raged.
“…Useless.”
Emerging from the flames, the black knight was completely unharmed.
He didn’t seem to care about the massive magical bombardment at all.
(What… is he!? Is he on a different level from normal demons!?)
Salome trembled.
Could it be true? He was indeed one of the legendary Demon Generals—.
“My sword shatters all… vanish… shatter… perish…”
Gyrasvrim effortlessly raised the giant sword with one hand.
Bathed in the sun, the blade, red as blood, gleamed dimly.
“This is bad—”
Salome felt her blood drain away.
“Everyone, run!”
As she shouted, she fled the scene at full speed.
Immediately after, the demon’s sword flashed.
The crimson trajectory of the giant sword mowed down everything around it—.
For a moment, it seemed she lost consciousness.
When she came to, Salome found herself lying among the rubble.
“That was quite… a display…”
She weakly got up.
Her vision was blurry. She could hardly see.
“Cough, cough…”
Seemingly injured somewhere internally, she coughed up a clot of blood from her mouth.
(At that moment, I couldn’t activate the Factor. I’m lucky to be alive, huh, me)
She inwardly chuckled.
Sarome possessed the ‘Factor’ of ‘Omniscience’, which enhanced her physical and sensory abilities, but it was impossible to draw out that power at that moment.
Activating the Factor required a clear visualization process.
Yet, because of her excellent physical abilities, Salome barely managed to reach the shelter of the building’s shadow.
It was truly by a hair’s breadth—.
Immediately afterward, it seemed Gyrausvrim unleashed a slash, and a tremendous shockwave swept through.
And then, she found herself in this state.
The guild building served as a shield, barely saving her from fatal wounds.
Were the others safe?
Her blurred vision gradually cleared, and Salome took in her surroundings.
“Ah… ah…”
And then, she was dumbfounded.
Egil City—was in ruins.
A mountain of rubble stretched to the edge of the town as far as the eye could see.
It was unbelievable.
With just one swing of the demon’s sword—.
Buildings collapsed, roads got torn apart, destroyed, and sunk.
There wasn’t a single intact structure.
Sarome could hear screams and cries of agony from all directions.
How many survived being engulfed in that attack…?
It was literally a hellish scene.
In her mind, the face of the kind-hearted woman who ran the cafeteria, whom she had befriended over the past few days, floated up.
“Old lady…”
Sarome felt overwhelming despair and emptiness coursing through her entire body.
The demon who destroyed the town was standing calmly a few hundred meters away.
He probably hadn’t noticed Sarome’s presence.
Or perhaps, he didn’t even care about humans in the first place.
“Gyras… Vrim…!”
Unforgivable.
Must kill.
Regardless of whether the opponent was a Demon General.
Erase their very existence—.
The face of the cheerful girl disappeared, replaced by Sarome, stained with dark murderous intent, as she emerged as an assassin.
(He’s strong—maybe he really is a demon general. But, I have ‘that’)
If she could use that trump card, there might be a one-in-a-million chance of victory.
She weakly got up with her battered body.
“Guh… ugh…”
Intense pain shot through her right leg.
Despite forgetting the pain due to anger and shock, it seemed to have been broken by the blow earlier.
This situation won’t allow me to use my ‘trump card’.
(Sorry, old lady. I’ll avenge you. Just wait a little longer.)
Even though intense anger and murderous intent raged within her, Salome possessed the ability to understand the current situation and make calm judgments.
(Someday, without fail. He’ll… I’ll…)
Salome whimpered in her mind.
(I will definitely kill him)
A drop of red blood fell from the corner of her tightly clenched lips.
※
“Where is the presence of the power of the goddess of protection, Ilfaria…?”
The Six Demon Generals, Gyrasvrim, looked around as if searching for something.
—And then, it happened.
Suddenly, a pillar of colorful light rose up in the sky ahead.
The light, stretching up to the sky, depicted patterns reminiscent of an angel with spread wings.
Goddess Ilfaria, who governs protection.
Patterns symbolize her figure.
“I found you… there, the one who possesses the power of the gods…!”
A black demon warrior began to walk.
Toward the direction where the pillar of light rose.
Tiny sparks scattered crisply from the armor covering his body.
The time given wasn’t that much.
However, it should last for several days.
There was no need to rush.
“Just wait… Gyrasvrim will crush you! By the order of the Demon King…”