Chapter 19: The Demon Baron (5)

The demon barely managed to pull his dazed consciousness back together.

—.......

It gritted its teeth.

To think I would show such a disgraceful state, stricken with terror before a mere human.

Humiliation and rage blazed through it like wildfire.

The only beings it had ever failed to possess were other higher-ranking demons far more powerful than itself. That's why it had assumed the savage's appearance was the disguise of a superior demon and had panicked.

But a closer look told it that wasn’t right. Its sharp instincts kicked in belatedly. That barbarian is exactly as he appears. He is nothing more than a large human. He is no match for you.

Still, the demon couldn't figure out why the possession had failed. This opponent was far too bizarre to take lightly. The demon resolved to use its full power to crush this meddler.

Gathering all its will, the demon sent its host body's muscles and nerves into overdrive.

SNAP, CRACKLE, POP—

Deep purple bruises bloomed across his skin as his muscles bulged, swelling to freakish proportions. His bones snapped and popped, reshaping themselves to fit the new mass. His jaw locked open, drool spilling from his mouth.

Just moments ago, Viscount Adlen's body had been merely somewhat well-built. Now it had grown so massive it could no longer be called human.

—Khhh, I don't even need to steal another body... I can just kill you right here...

"......"

—...I'll beat you into bloody pulp.

The bloated arm lifted a massive mace. Kadim took a low breath, watching the monster’s every move.

Whoooosh!

Kadim took a low breath, watching the monster’s every move. With nowhere to dodge, he had no choice but to block.

———CLAAANG!!

The metallic ring assaulted his ears.

Kadim was thrown a good distance backward. His wrist throbbed, and his bones tingled as if electrocuted. The axe he'd raised to block split apart at the head in a single blow.

Whoooosh!

The demon came at him like a freight train, swinging the mace again. It was a diagonal swing this time, giving him room to dodge. He ducked under it, and the mace whistled past, just barely missing his head.

The demon snarled, its eyebrow twitching in frustration. Its movements were stiff, almost robotic. Without a moment’s hesitation, it raised the mace for another strike, ignoring the fact that the mace head caught on the tent's support beam and brought it down with killing intent.

————CRASH!!

The mace slammed into the ground, shattering the tent pole and bringing the whole thing down. Shaking off the tent hide that covered its body, the demon's eyes gleamed with savage light.

—You ignored my warning completely, and all you can do is tuck your tail and run? How pathetic, you spineless wasteland cur!

Kadim gave the demon a sidelong glare without a word.

This was a demon that had dominated four hundred soldiers. No matter how low he estimated its rank, it had to be at least mid-rank or higher. Without demon blood in his veins, facing a demon of this caliber head-on was impossible, even for Kadim.

But Kadim didn't flee. He just glanced once toward the castle with a sidelong look, then he discarded his broken axe to grab a new one, and prepared to face the demon again.

The demon scoffed.

—Ha, what are you pretending to fight for? Just going to run again? You won't be able to this time, you coward.

The demon pressed its palm to the dirt and mist-like demonic energy surged. The fallen soldiers rose up, twisting their bodies grotesquely. Nightmarish Horrible, ghostly screams echoed across the camp.

"Kuuuaaaah, kkhhhaaaa!!"

"Kuuuaaaahhhk!"

The moment they rose, the soldiers surrounded Kadim and swung their weapons.

Clang—!

Kadim crossed his axe and sword to block the incoming spearhead. He deflected the spear shaft upward with the axe blade, and while the soldier's guard was open, he swung his sword deep, slashing through the soldier's dried-out abdomen.

SQUELCH!

"Kuaaak!"

Another spear came at him before he could even move. It nicked his ear, slicing off a bit of flesh. Without hesitation, Kadim lowered his body and struck the knee with his axe. As the joint bent backward and crumpled, the soldier collapsed like a broken stick.

Kadim planned to break through the encirclement and buy time. But he couldn't.

Whoooosh!

—Where do you think you're looking, cur! Your real opponent is right here!

The demon appeared in the very direction where he'd just cleared an escape route. Helpless,  Kadim had no choice but to dodge the raging mace and change direction again.

And so the suffocating battle continued.

CLANG, CLANG, SH-CHUNK! CR-RUNCH!

"Kuuaaaahhhk!"

"Kuaaaaahhhhk!"

"......"

No matter how many soldiers he killed, the escape route wouldn't open. If he dealt with them methodically, the demon would raise other fallen soldiers. If he swung his weapons wide to break their formation at once, the demon would park his massive body directly on the path.

And it wasn't just the demon. The elite troops the demon controlled were nothing to scoff at. He'd already taken down dozens, yet the demon still had over three hundred soldiers left to command.

Little by little, fatigue accumulated and his muscles grew sluggish.

"Huff, huff......"

And bit by bit, the wounds were piling up.

A gash across the bridge of his nose, countless cuts on his arms and legs, and blood streaming from his ear. Smoke rose as they healed bit by bit, but it was too slow. He was taking damage faster than his Mosquito could heal him.

"Huff, huff, huff......"

The encirclement tightened. Before long, Kadim had been pushed to the very corner of the camp. The demon howled with laughter at the sight of the panting barbarian.

—Khahahaha! What a pathetic sight! You climbed onto someone else's feast table acting all high and mighty, and now you're whimpering like a dog that got beat to hell!

"......"

—You should've known your place, cur. This is the difference in our very class. A human like you, with nothing to his name but a body, can never stand against a demon. If you wanted to kill me, you should have at least brought those damnable Hounds of Elga.

The barbarian's eyes turned toward the sky. The moon was setting toward the horizon. To think he could see a crescent moon this late into the night. It reminded him once again that he was in a world different from his former reality.

This was no time to get sentimental. He'd stalled long enough. He glanced back toward the castle gate. Finally, he could see a man running toward them with all his might.

Kadim took a deep breath and spoke in a quiet voice.

"Huff, yeah...... You're right that I can't handle that body with my current strength."

—Kha! Yes! And you’re only just figuring that out now? You pathetic—!

"But what about your main body?"

—...What?

"Even a merchant who can't kill a single goblin could take that down, don't you think so?"

The demon froze at the unexpected words.

Then it looked at Molden Castle in horror.

—You, you bastard, don't tell me......

It frantically stretched its palm toward the castle. But the mana carrying its will only flowed toward the ground, never reaching the main body in the castle.

The man who’d been forced into a barbarian’s body against his will walked steadily toward the now-helpless demon.

Kadim had dealt with Possession-type demons both in the game and during his first playthrough. Thanks to that, he knew exactly what mattered most when facing them.

You have to find the ‘main body.’ The command center. The source of its power.

Killing the body the demon is currently driving around is pointless. The demon would just ditch the current one and jump to a new one. Anyone who doesn't know that will kill the puppet, relax for a second, and then get possessed themselves.

Kadim had vaguely sensed the demon's true nature from the moment he first saw the soldiers. He’d been trying to figure out where its main body could be when Baron Molden just handed him the answer on a silver platter.

"That's not possible."

"..."

"The underground chamber is off-limits."

But he couldn’t just march down to the basement and kill the main body. He knew the demon would have left a little piece of its mind behind in its real body, just in case. If it sensed him coming, it would just hide its main body or run away, and all his effort would be for nothing.

So Kadim created a situation where the demon had no choice but to concentrate all its will in one place.

Before leaving, he asked the merchant to kill the 'main body.'

‘This door leads down to the underground chamber. I’m going to be keeping the demon busy. When the crescent moon is about halfway down the sky, go down there and find the weird-looking lump of flesh and tear it apart.'

'B-but my lord, the door is locked with such a huge padlock!'

Crash!! Clatter—

'Not anymore.'

'......'

And the merchant had actually pulled it off. With its main body destroyed, the demon lost its ability to manipulate its consciousness and became trapped in that body.

But that still left one big problem.

—Khhh, kuaaaaaahhh!!

Namely, how to kill the Viscount's body that had become a monster.

Destroying the main body didn’t get rid of the part of the demon that was already in the host. To kill the demon for good, he still had to kill this thing.

The enraged demon contorted its face like an evil spirit and raised its mace.

—Khhh, you dare kill my main body. You! I'll give you the most painful death.  I'll burst every muscle in your limbs one by one, rip out your guts, and stuff them down your throat!

Kadim didn’t even blink. He'd already prepared a solution for handling the remaining body after killing the main one.

The demon thought it had him cornered, but that wasn't it. Kadim had been subtly herding the battle, killing the soldiers in a specific pattern to end up right here.

"M-my lord, I brought it! Here, catch!"

He’d come to this corner for one reason: it was the fastest way to link up with the merchant, who was bringing him the solution to his problem.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The object thrown by the merchant came flying over the wall. Duncan had thrown it with all the strength of a wet noodle, but somehow it flew in a perfect, high arc.

What’s even weirder is that the object's flying speed just got faster the farther it got from the merchant.

But once it was over the wall, it slowed down and landed perfectly in Kadim’s waiting hand.

Thunk!

The handle settled into his grip like it was made for him. His eyes lit up as he took in the weapon.

The steel had a swirling pattern, like a blizzard frozen in metal. The edge looked so sharp that you could cut yourself just by looking at it. The handle was painted in a deep, inky back. It even had the perfect weight and gave off an eerie aura.

It was an ancient treasure crafted by a dwarf’s blood and tears.

You could tell, just by looking at it, that this thing was a masterpiece. The barbarian couldn't help but smile as he inspected it.

"He should've just hidden the demon, not left a masterpiece like this to rot with it. The Baron really is something else."

The demon also recognized what weapon the barbarian held. Its shoulders trembled as it took a step back.

“Th-that’s… one of the creations of those insane northern dwarves… What is that doing here…?”

Kadim wasn’t interested in hearing the rest.

Kadim gripped the axe handle firmly with his palm joints. Thanks to the perfectly balanced weight, it felt like the weapon was adjusting its own balance. He twisted his upper body to gather maximum force, then explosively accelerated his muscles and hurled it.

A spinning flash of light cut through the dark.

Whirrrrrr—!

The demon couldn't even properly see its form. The lethal disc crossed the space in the blink of an eye and hit the demon square in the head.

SPLAT!

The keen blade tore through the protruding face and skull. Sticky blood droplets, soft brain matter, and shattered skull fragments scatter in a chaotic mess.

Whizz, whizz, whizz, whizz!

The axe didn't even slow down. It just kept on flying. As expected of a rare-grade item or higher, it probably had special effects that enhanced throwing power.

—Ghhh...... guhhh......

With everything above its jaw just gone, the demon was finished. It made a wet, gurgling sound through its throat filled with blood, then collapsed.

Duncan peeked out from behind the wall and crept closer.

“I-Is it over, my lord? Is the demon completely dead now?"

"......"

Instead of answering, Kadim quickly moved to retrieve the axe.

There was still one more target to deal with.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a strike stabbed toward his side.

Kadim twisted his foot and barely dodged the blade. A middle-aged man with a mustache, wearing quilted armor, sent him a hostile glare.

—Kuhuhuh, I thought you were a shameless cur, but you're actually a cunning fox. So this is how you barbarians fight now? A cheap shot from behind while you pretend to be honorable?

Kadim silently stared at the Baron possessed by the demon.

'As expected, he'd already planted his consciousness in Baron Molden too.'

It was exactly what he’d expected.

The demon’s ultimate prize wasn't killing the Baron. It was forcing him to watch Molden be destroyed, to be the last one alive, screaming in despair. And to make sure that happened, it had to hijack his body so he couldn’t kill himself first.

Dealing with the possessed Baron wasn't difficult. Most of the demon's consciousness had already been destroyed along with Viscount Adlen's body. The Baron's current combat ability was no different from the dozens of soldiers Kadim had already killed.

Kadim raised his sword. This was why he’d brought the Baron out here in the first place.

But what happened next was something even Kadim could never have predicted.

—Khahuhuh, huh, wh-what?

The Baron turned the blade toward himself and stabbed with all his strength.

SHUNK!

The blade punched through his armor and straight through his stomach, the tip sprouting from his back like a metal thorn.

With bloodshot eyes, the Baron spoke.

"Demon, you will never… touch Molden.”

—…Guh… h-how… how are you fighting it…

"You will die here, with me."

He gave the sword a vicious twist in his own guts.

And the Baron of Molden, who had cast out a demon with nothing but his own will, fell like a toppling tower.

 

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