Kuro no Maou

Chapter 253 – Devil Vs. Vampire (2)

Getting out of black magic’s close distance attack, he reached to a distance of letting out a sure-kill attack. I had though from before that he would use a Marital Skill in this situation.

In fact, the Martial Skill deployed by him was more powerful than the『AkaNagi』. I can see that fact from the amount of magical energy gushing outwards from him katana.

If I took it head on the『Shield』would be bisected, and even if I defend using『Absolute Grudge Hatchet『Kubidan』it would need Defence Martial Skill to actually defend against that attack or else hatchet would be flicked off, and I will get hit by two blades at the same time.

Naturally, after seeing the activation of this Martial Skill, there is no room for evasion.

In the end, the only way for defence left for me is just one, but that is not a good way to defend——or so Ludora must’ve thought.

He only has Martial Skills activating with ‘magic as a source’, however, I have a weapon which can display its true worth against those. [ED: Not sure what it means] [TL: Just means that Kurono can kick Ludora’s ass! ]

「Eat it——」

Now there was no red-bladed machete engulfed in black flames, but rather, an unrefined longsword made by using fangs of monsters directly.

The longsword which has Extra Magic to eat each and every sorts of magic was once my comrade’s favourite sword called『Fang Sword「Evil Eater」』. However it was now in my hands as,『Hungry Wolf Sword「Evil Eater」』, a sword filled with grudge from dying with regrets.

I will use it at my free will, Vulcan.

「——Evil Eater!」

For taking on the attack called『Heaven Beheading Scarlet Scintillation』of Ludora, I held up this great sword in the plase of shield.

The fang sword hungry for revenge and magical energy, and the scarlet blade clad in aura of fresh blood collided.

「——What!?」

Maybe he had too much confidence in this Martial Skill, Ludora opened his eyes wide in surprise.

Though a longsword, I just held it up with my left hand. His attack had enough power to actually overpower my arm strength and easily flick off the sword.

However thanks to the ability of Evil Eater, the magical energy residing in the katana started to get sucked in from the point of touch at an accelerated speed. As a result the original power of the attack declined greatly.

In other words, the katana swung by Ludora just inflicted a little crack in the fanged sword and stopped before sending my body flying away.

I have finally completely stopped the attack. And now comes the counterattacks!

「Hmph!」

I swing the longsword in my left hand, at the same time Ludora pulled back his katana quickly.

If he still kept his katana stuck in the crack, then with the swinging of my longsword he would have to let go of his katana. He is worthy of praise to retain calm mind even after I stopped his sure-kill attack.

However the thing attacking him now is not the『Hungry Wolf Sword「Evil Eater」』, but

「Break!!」

I throw the gun in the『Shadow Gate』under my feet, and in return a new weapon was being held in my right hand now.

That was, the『Mithril Sword』shining with its divine silver light even in the darkness of the night.

In the end, Vampires are a type of an Undead, hence, Mithril having white magical energy in it can be said as a weakness to them.

I don’t need to use Martial Skill, but just inflict a single wound on Ludora’s body with this sacred sword.

「Kuh!」

Ludora bent his head backwards to escape the white trajectory, being traced in empty space.

There wasn’t any response felt my right hand swinging the sword, but,

「Gaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!」

Apparently, the tip of sword lightly had touched him. There was a straight thin short line made from blood on Ludora’s face.

*Burn*, sound of flesh burning and somewhat smoke flew up from the wound.

The injury inflicted by the Mithril apparently is extremely painful to make even high life-energy wielders like Vampires to moan and groan. Ludora even tried to pin down the wound completely, reflexively.

And that was most fatal gap he had shown.

In an instant I let go of『Mithril Sword』from my left hand, and hold the hilt of『Hungry Wolf Sword「Evil Eater」』with both of my hands.

As expected, I need a Cursed Weapon to deploy Martial Skills.

「KuroNagi!!」

I aimed for the neck.

His trunk, covered in the coat, have enough defence to stop the Bullet Arts, in that case there is a chance that even my attack would be blocked. So the best place to inflict a critical damage would be the place with bare skin peeking out.

While spewing the same dark red aura as the hatchet, I aimed the Evil Eater at the abnormally pale neck of Ludora and sprinted towards him.

「Kuh, Ooooooooooh!!」

However, Ludora suppressed the pain with his fighting spirit, stepped forward and fixed his nearly broken stance.

At the same time, the katana held in his right hand moved.

Does he think of taking on my attack with that stance? It’s useless. The current Ludora is in the same position as I was before, but there is no way he could stop my Martial Skill while holding a katana with one hand.

I strike the Martial Skill with all my might to flick off his katana, no, to cut him along with the katana.

「!!」

I felt some resistance with my hands, at the same time,

「GUuUUhhaaaaahhhhh!!!」

I let out a screaming voice and coughed up fresh blood.

Looking below, I saw a crimson red blade struck piercing through the blackened armour near my abdomen.

And the person who pierced me with the katana, Ludora, didn’t have his head anymore.

「Kuh, hah......just how tenacious is he......to actually choose attacking rather than defend himself......」

At the instant Ludora took my attack, he threw his katana in a straight line with all of his might.

My Martial Skill have captured his head completely, he also knew it but still he chose to attack, as if wanting to let me feel a stroke of his katana. I see, so this what a battle junkie is like.

I stepped back from that place as if retreating back, and took out the katana from my stomach. At that time Ludora’s headless corpse also fell facing-forwardly.

As a natural result of having his heard severed, a large quantity of blood dyed the grass and ground in red color.

In that red color, even the blood spewing out from my stomach, was also mixed.

「I somehow won......」[1]

My abdomen has been stabbed deeply, but if I were to die with this much, I wouldn’t have been able to live past by the mobility experiments.

An injury like this isn’t fatal for me, but of course if I don’t stop the blood then surely I will die from blood loss.

Of course I won’t let that happen, so I use my only healing magic『Body Compensation』to close the wound with a jelly-like black magical energy.

「I have to go towards the mansion fast」

The battle here is now over, even the wound isn’t great enough to need a complete bed rest, I will probably not even feel the pain after using a potion.

I store both『Hungry Wolf Sword「Evil Eater」』and『Mithril Sword』I threw earlier into the『Shadow Gate』.

The Shadow Gate near my feet is still like a bottomless swamp, taking everything I threw into it.

As an exchange I took out a particular Magic Item.

This is a fragment of a crystal with a magic circle engraved on it. This is the transmission machine for Telepathy I had used in Alsace Village.

This was something I had thought to prepare after coming to Spada, but an official one was really expensive compared to this disposable one, hence the idea for its buying was something I had say farewell too.

Well this can work as a substitute so it’s good.

「Lily, can you hear?」

Upon pouring the magical energy, the pale crystal fragment started to laminate and the magic needed to let my voice reach far-away Lily activates.

「Ah, Kurono, are you fine!?」

Hmm, loud and clear, the call is connected properly.

「Yeah, I’m done here」

I won’t report me taking a damage in the stomach, after it at time like this it is great to show off one’s cool side.

「I see, it’s good you’re fine」

Lily’s deep heartedly relaxed feeling voice pierces my heart.

「How about there?」

Well from her voice I can already guess what happened,

「Yeah, we are also nearly done, you don’t have to come in a hurry」

Told ya!

However, there was a possibility that there might be someone powerful among the bandits but looks like this time we didn’t meet up with that ‘impossible’ turning point, well, all in all it is good.

「Got it, so should I head over to the mansion directly?」

「Yeah, I will be waiting at the front entrance」

“Roger”, I told her that and the crystal fragment reached its limit, the light vanished, and it broke in my hands.

I threw the remains of broken crystal, turned back and look at the corpse of Ludora.

Thinking back, it feels like it has been a while since I have killed a person whom I don’t even hate.

No, this situation wasn’t the same as when I forced to kill others in mobility experiments. I could’ve avoided fighting him if I had thought of that.

If I had given up on the bandits subjugation and returned back, there would’ve been no need to kill this man.

I killed this man based on my will.

It’s is common among adventurers, not rare or anything else, it’s nothing more mor less. I myself am quite satisfied with this theory.

But, the part that doesn’t consents with that is,

「It was a great battle」

Something I will have to fill with the pride of winning a serious battle.

Ludora challenged me on his own will, I replied to it, the death from this result isn’t something useless at all.

「Good-bye, Ludora」

Like that I left that place without turning back again.

Moreover strangely I didn’t feel bad at all. [2]

—

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE:

In this chapter I finally understood why I didn’t want Ludora to die! That is because he is more powerful than Kurono. That whiny kind person won just because of various variety of WEAPONS he had and not because of his own ability, and ofc he can’t win in swordsmanship against Ludora. While Ludora actually had been against him with all of ability and a single weapon and there was almost not much of his weapon’s ability! In the end KURONO SUCKS!!!!!!!

Kurono starting to become bit by bit into Xianxia protags. Pfft joking not going to happen.