Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 51: Sword Saint of Light vs. Evil 3
The Sword Saint of Light pursued Evil and hastened towards the city, where flames were rising from various places.
The knights who had been guarding the city were busy with firefighting efforts.
When the people caught sight of the Sword Saint, they gathered around him.
“What’s all this commotion about?”
“Sword Saint, please help us! My child, my child has been abducted!!”
A child had been taken from a certain household by a white-haired man. To target such young children…
Evil was detected by the sensing of presence, away from the residential area and in an uninhabited area. It seemed like he was luring the Sword Saint.
“I swear upon my name that I will bring back the child. Please, trust me.”
The mother of the child bowed repeatedly to the Sword Saint, tears streaming down her face.
The Sword Saint hurried towards the place where Evil awaited.
Upon reaching the destination, it was a small forest-like area on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by trees. Besides Evil, there were signs of over ten other people.
It was unclear whether there happened to be civilians there or if Evil was lying in wait with his comrades, intending to outnumber and fight.
“You’re late, Sword Saint.”
Evil was in a slightly open area within the forest. The Sword Saint instinctively closed his eyes, avoiding eye contact with Evil.
“You, release the hostage child.”
The presence next to Evil was likely the hostage child.
“Sure thing. There, go ahead.”
Evil obediently released the child.
“What’s the meaning of this?”
“What? I released him as you said, didn’t I? I can even turn away to make sure you can’t touch me if you want.”
It was surprising how compliant Evil was in releasing the child. However, the boy’s presence was indeed heading towards the Sword Saint, and Evil showed no sign of moving from there.
Feeling relieved internally that the hostage was rescued, the Sword Saint bent down to welcome the rescued child.
“You must have been scared, but it’s all o—?!”
Suddenly sensing hostility, the Sword Saint instinctively dodged to the side.
When he opened his eyes in surprise, he saw the boy holding a knife, still attempting to stab the Sword Saint.
The Sword Saint disarmed the boy and shouted at Evil.
“You! What is the meaning of this?!”
“Hahaha! Did you think I’d just let you go? How foolish of you, Sword Saint of Light.”
Evil mocked the Sword Saint.
The boy continued to try to stab the Sword Saint, swinging the now empty hand towards him. It was evident that something was wrong.
Empty eyes that seemed to be looking at the Sword Saint yet not seeing him. The Sword Saint recognized this symptom.
“Could it be… he’s been brainwashed?”
The Sword Saint recalled the information he received from the Ark family about Evil’s abilities.
“So you’re controlling the child with those eyes of yours?”
“That’s right. I currently have control over the kid’s body. ‘Choke yourself.'”
At Evil’s words, the boy began to put his hands around his own neck and started to choke himself.
“What?! Stop!!”
The Sword Saint grabbed the boy’s hands and tried to stop him. However, the boy, expressionless, continued to resist and attempted to choke himself.
“Please, I don’t care what happens to me! Can’t you release the child?”
The Sword Saint pleaded with Evil.
Evil shrugged, seeming incredulous at the Sword Saint’s attitude.
“Hey hey, the renowned Sword Saint is bowing his head over something like this. Isn’t that kid someone else’s child? Why go to such lengths?”
After a moment of hesitation, the Sword Saint began to speak slowly.
Ad
“Fifteen years ago, I was the sole survivor of a war.”
“That’s a famous story. So what?”
“I didn’t survive because of my own strength. It was because my comrades, my superiors, trusted me with the fate of the country. They let me live. I have a duty to fulfill their wishes and save as many people as I can. So please, release this child.”
With a sincere gaze, the Sword Saint opened his eyes and earnestly pleaded with Evil. He carried the wishes of thousands who had fallen in battle on his shoulders. For fifteen years, he had fought to protect the country in their place. Evil felt the weight of his words.
Their eyes met, and a brief silence ensued.
Evil could have brainwashed the Sword Saint right then and there, but he refrained from doing so.
Instead, he looked at the Sword Saint as if pondering something.
“Fine. But there’s a condition.”
Evil accepted the release but presented a condition.
“Pierce your own abdomen with that knife.”
Pointing to the knife the boy had, Evil laid out the worst possible condition.
“…”
“What’s the matter? Hurry up and stab yourself. Or should I command that kid to do it for you?”
Evil taunted the Sword Saint, but internally, he felt disappointed.
Despite all the grand talk about duty and whatnot, the Sword Saint, who couldn’t even risk his own body, disappointed Evil with his mere words.
Ad
(Just another cowardly bastard…)
However, that was a mistake.
“No, it’s not necessary.”
With that, the Sword Saint removed his silver full-body armor on the spot, exposing his well-trained upper body. He bit down on a cloth and then plunged the knife into his own abdomen.
“Ugh!”
The knife sank deep into the Sword Saint’s belly, and blood began to flow from the wound.
“Guh… Are you satisfied now?!”
Suppressing his screams, the Sword Saint glared at Evil with a gaze as if ready to shoot him dead.
Even with severe injuries, his presence was overwhelming.
Evil snapped his fingers.
Instantly, the boy’s consciousness was released, returning him to his senses.
“…Huh? My body’s back to normal.”
The boy regained consciousness but remembered what he had done here.
And then, seeing the Sword Saint enduring the pain and bleeding from his abdomen, he turned pale and trembled.
“I-I’m sorry, Sword Saint… I-I… I…”
Ad
While the boy cried and apologized, the Sword Saint gently embraced him.
“It’s okay. I’m okay… I’m glad you’re safe.”
The Sword Saint’s words caused the boy’s floodgates to open, and he cried out loud. The Sword Saint continued to hold him until he stopped crying.
“Is it over now?”
With Evil’s words, the Sword Saint stood in front, as if protecting the boy, and prepared his sword.
“Can you run?”
The boy shook his head.
Upon closer inspection, the boy was barefoot. It was a bit far for a child to go to the city on foot.
He instructed the boy to hide behind the trees and turned towards Evil. He instinctively closed his eyes, but in that moment, he felt like Evil was smiling at something.
The sight felt ominous somehow.
“Why… are you smiling?”
“Oh, nothing, just found it amusing. Hey, Sword Saint of Light――”
In the next moment, he felt the presence around him shift.
“How long have you been under the illusion that there was only one hostage?”
At that moment, he opened his closed eyes. Behind Evil, several more children appeared.
All of them, like the boy from earlier, held knives with empty eyes.
“Youuuu!!”
Seeing this sight, the Sword Saint erupted in rage.
How many people does it take for this guy to be satisfied?
“Don’t worry, I’ll release them properly. Once you’ve all stabbed yourselves with the knives.”
♢
Covered in copious amounts of blood, the Sword Saint knelt on the ground, battered and bruised, but somehow still alive.
Several knives were sticking out of his body. The Sword Saint had accomplished his mission.
“What a pathetic end… But you managed to defeat the hero of the realm. Well, whatever, I’ll make it quick for you. Farewell, Sword Saint of Light… [Death Battlefield].”
The moment the Sword Saint looked into Evil’s eyes, his consciousness was severed, and when he came to, the scenery around him had changed.
The location shifted from the forest to a desolate plain.
Swords and spears protruded from the ground like tombstones, carrying an unpleasant scent of blood on the wind. And scattered around him, like a carpet at his feet, were piles of corpses.
Dismayed by the sudden change in environment, the Sword Saint felt a sense of déjà vu upon seeing this sight.
He knew this place; it was the plain in the Suiroku Kingdom.
Fifteen years ago, it was the battlefield of the war with the Holy Kingdom. The battlefield where he was supposed to die.
“Aaargh!!”
Before he knew it, the Sword Saint had fled from the scene.
Just like that time fifteen years ago—
He ran aimlessly across the desolate plain littered with corpses.
Who he was running from— he didn’t know. His memories were refusing to resurface.
“They were killed—everyone was killed! My comrades! My captain! He killed them all right before my eyes!”
Flashbacks of the war scenes flooded back.
Memories that had been buried resurfaced one after another.
His fellow knights, who had overcome rigorous training together, were brutally torn apart before his eyes.
The head of his superior, who often invited him for drinks, had somehow been severed.
Many comrades were crushed, their lives extinguished as easily as squashing insects.
“Aaaaargh!”
He ran, fleeing from death.
How long had he been running?
He caught his breath and looked around.
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The Sword Saint widened his eyes in despair at the sight.
“What…? The same place as before?!”
The swords protruding from the mountain of corpses he had seen earlier.
It seemed he had simply been circling around the same place. But even that felt familiar. He remembered a similar experience of running around in despair in the past.
Then he realized.
This hallucination was a recreation of past experiences, reliving memories.
He remembered a technique that manifested his strong will to not let a single enemy escape.
“This is definitely his technique. Spatial manipulation: [Divine Abduction].”
The technique that traps the fleeing opponent within manipulated space—it belonged to him alone.
The Sword Saint remembered.
He remembered the fear and despair carved into him by that man.
The name of the man one must never oppose.
“Is he… there?”
The cause of this phenomenon revealed itself.
From nothingness, a man appeared, tearing through space as if it were paper.
A man once hailed as the strongest in the world.
Chaos Mayfield.
And behind the Sword Saint, another figure emerged.
“No way, even you—”
It was a man with jet-black hair and black eyes. He wore noble-quality black attire without a care, his entire body drenched in blood like rain, as if he had bathed in the blood of the dead.
The two of them simultaneously launched an assault on the Sword Saint.
In an instant, his life was snuffed out by the two of them, and he fell.
The last thing he saw was the unforgettable sight of those he couldn’t forget.
Symbols of terror, having slaughtered his comrades and implanted trauma.
The Hero of Space, Chaos Mayfield.
And the mad villain, ruler of evil, Villain Ark.
♢
The battle reached its conclusion.
In the clearing of the forest stood Evil.
And lying face down before him was the Sword Saint.
To Evil, the Sword Saint’s end was silent.
His eyes emptied, a single tear falling before he collapsed like a broken puppet.
How anticlimactic, for one known as the Sword Saint, to meet such a swift demise.
Evil simply watched in silence. Then, a change came over him.
A surge of power emanated from within his chest. This sensation was a level-up, but the power surge was far beyond normal.
Evil
Age: 28
Skills
– Charisma v1: Charisma receives a boost.
– Guardian Spirit v8: Easily gains favor with spirits. With increased favor, certain restrictions are lifted, allowing the use of spirit powers without a contract.
Stats
– Level: 47→52
– Physical Abilities: 98→102
– Magic Power: 198→224
– Intelligence: 63→67
Summoned Spirits
– Illusionary Spirit: Illusion Replication (with limitations)
– Binding Spirit: Binding Magic (with limitations)
– Flight Spirit: Flight Magic (with limitations)
– Various minor spirits of different attributes
Learned Magic
– Dark (Currently unavailable due to penalties from Binding Spirit)
Abilities
– Spirit Tamer
– Swordsman
– Torture Resistance
– Hunger Resistance
Level exceeded 50, and Evil surpassed one wall.
Defeating the formidable enemy called Sword Saint, he became a deviant.
“Good work, boss.”
A voice is heard from somewhere.
Whether irritated by the insincere words of encouragement or disliked the one who spoke, Evil frowned.
“…What do you want, you pig.”
The voice belonged to a slightly chubby man in a neat suit.
Red Eye, seventh-ranked weapon merchant of the Black Fairy.
“Oh no, boss, truly remarkable. To defeat the Sword Saint of Light like that! No, no, I believed in you, you know? I have an eye for people. Even though I only have single eyelids and small eyes… hah! No, I’ve been with you for three long years. I’m already an old man. Who’s an old man, though? I’m still only forty-eight. But really, I never imagined you, who seemed like a mere thug, would achieve such a great feat. It’s like a novel, ‘The Story of Me, a Thug-like Guy, Meeting a Suspicious Weapon Merchant and Somehow Taking Over the Country.’ Ha, I could write it! I’m the best in the world! Just saying…”
Rubbing his hands together, Red Eye smoothly flatters.
Though Evil dislikes him, he seems to have connections with a major underworld organization in another country, allowing him to procure weapons cheaply in bulk. Even non-combatants are kept in a high position within the organization due to this.
Normally, Evil would brush off this flattery, but now it feels particularly irritating.
“Hey.”
“…But I want to contribute to the debate about whether it’s the butt or the chest that’s better! Both are essential parts! Me? Of course, I’m on Team Belly Button. Because while you can grab both the chest and the butt with both hands, there’s only one belly button, it’s moving! It’s the number one and the only one, that’s what a belly button is! Do you want to see mine? Come on, I’m already a grown-up—grr…”
Growing impatient with Red Eye’s incessant chatter, Evil restrains him with chains.
“Just get to the point.”
“Y-Yes, of course. If you’d like, can I have that too?”
He says, looking at where the Sword Saint’s body lies.
“…What do you intend to use it for?”
“I thought of presenting it to that person.”
(That person… Could it be the one Red Eye is doing business with?)
Red Eye, mindful of trust, never mentions the name of his negotiating partner.
“Do as you please.”
“Oh, thank you! Please rest assured. It will only be beneficial for us. Ah, and it seems that matters have been settled on their end as well.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, they’ve been wiped out. It’s gruesome. What about the children around them?”
Evil, having indoctrinated and released the children from the spell as promised with the Sword Saint, sees them frightened, looking at him with anxious faces.
“You’re in the way. Go to town and dispose of them.”
“How rare, the boss not killing. Could it be you’re a lolicon? Eek! My chastity is being targeted!”
“You’re not a loli, you chubby bastard. I can kill you myself, you know?”
“Understood. I’ll go dispose of them, be right back!”
Swiftly, Red Eye takes action, leading the children away from the scene.
Why didn’t he kill them?
That, I don’t know.
But undoubtedly, the dedication of the Sword Saint had moved Evil’s heart.
“I stand corrected, Sword Saint of Light, Ideal White. You were indeed a hero, not a pig.”