Chapter 1317

<Chapter 1317> 1317. The Plum Swordswoman Reincarnated into the Viscount Family

“LOHRPF!!!!!!”

While shouting Lohrp’s name, Wayne activated the power of the contracted demon.

Lohrp, who had been instantly killed by the black lightning, rose back to his feet. His complexion was deathly pale after coming back from the dead.

The Demon of Lightning caressed his chest where the black lightning had struck. There was no wound. No sign of torn clothing. No pain at all.

But the excruciating agony he just felt when the black lightning struck his chest was undeniably real. An agony that he had never experienced in either his current life or his past demonic existence. This agony turned into fear, slowly consuming Lohrp.

“It’s dangerous…! That black lightning felt like my soul was being ripped apart!”

Lohrp had obtained an immortal secret art by mimicking the Demon King’s powers—transferring his soul into the baby within a pregnant woman. As long as humanity didn’t perish, he could live forever. However, there was one condition: his soul must remain intact.

“It’s certain…! That woman’s black lightning has the power to annihilate souls, just like the Demon King.”

Cold sweat trickled down Lohrp’s face. Two options swirled in his mind.

Fight with Wayne’s power. Flee from this place.

“…Can I even escape? I don’t have the confidence to dodge that human woman’s black lightning…”

His decision was made.

Fight with Wayne’s power. With Wayne’s strength, he could fight endlessly. That suspiciously-human woman would eventually tire out.

“I AM LOHRP!!! THE DEMON OF LIGHTNING!!!”

With a roar, Lohrp bolstered his confidence.

He was one of the top-tier demons. In terms of pure combat power, he was among the strongest in the Demon Realm.

Zzzziiiiiiiiiiiiiip!

Lohrp’s body transformed into golden lightning, which then began to glow and compress.

If he unleashed his full power, his physical body wouldn’t be able to handle it and he’d die—but Wayne was behind him now. Even if he died, Wayne would revive him.

“I’ll kill you!”

Even though the blue dragon behind the silver-haired woman would also get caught in the explosion, Lohrp couldn’t care less about that right now.

“You won’t even have time to scream!”

The compressed golden lightning was fired. Then it stopped. Before traveling even a meter forward, the golden lightning was seized by a pitch-black shadow rising from the ground.

“Don’t make me laugh… this is nothing…!”

Zzzziiiiiiiiiiiiiip!

To shake off the shadow, Lohrp discharged the golden lightning. The golden lightning that could incinerate an ogre in a single breath failed to inflict any damage on the shadow.

Yuria coldly glanced at the golden lightning before slightly nodding her chin. The shadow holding the golden lightning submerged back into the darkness.

“……”

After a brief silence of three seconds, the shadow spat out Lohrp’s disassembled body. Flesh, bones, organs, and blood—all components of his body were completely dismantled. Thud. The grotesque lump of meat fell to the ground.

“LOHRP!!!!!!!!”

“Ughk….”

Wayne cried out in shock, while Bezel behind him covered her mouth and dry-heaved.

“Lohrp! You must not die here!”

Wayne used his ability.

Bones, flesh, blood, and organs moved simultaneously, converging at one point. In an instant, Lohrp returned to the form of a young boy.

“…Haaahk!”

Revived once again, Lohrp gasped for breath. His body trembled violently. Within the shadow, his body had been slowly disassembled over eight hours, yet outside, only a few seconds seemed to have passed.

“My body didn’t die even as it was slowly disassembled inside the shadow…! That shadow space is entirely under that woman’s control! I absolutely cannot fall into the shadow…!”

“……”

Lohrp broke out in cold sweat.


Yuria threw her dagger with a sudden, piercing strike. The blade effortlessly shattered the sound barrier, cleanly piercing through Wayne’s neck before disappearing into the wall as if it had never existed.

Wayne’s body wobbled for a moment, then collapsed. Just before his head hit the ground, his body mysteriously regained balance, standing upright once more. He blinked twice, running his hand over his completely unharmed neck.

“Hmph… So even when killed by surprise, your ability still activates.”

The president of Pantheum, Wayne Lysis, possessed the power to manipulate time—albeit in limited bursts. This was why he could return from death so casually; his physical form had simply been rewound.

“Flesh and soul can be restored, but memories… no, in this case, it’s more accurate to say they aren’t restored.”

Yuria paused briefly—though only for a fleeting moment, measured by her lightning-fast thought process. In reality, less than five seconds passed.

“What should I do?”

Even while lost in thought, Yuria spoke in polite honorifics. It wasn’t anything special—she was just too accustomed to using formal language.

“Breaking the contract between the demon and its contractor would be easiest, following the original storyline… but that would risk losing track of the demon itself.”

The Demon of Time, Mupapa.

If she let the demon hide within the cracks of time, things could get troublesome later on. Cutting down Wayne, the demon’s contractor, seemed like the best option. No matter how powerful, time manipulation wasn’t infinite. Each death of Wayne and Rorf would gradually drain his powers until the demon itself was forced to reveal its true form—if only to use its full strength.

Shadow Sky Supreme Art: Shadow Thunder.

Two streams of black lightning shot out from Yuria’s fingertips, striking both Rorf and Wayne simultaneously. Unable to dodge, they were instantly electrocuted to death… only to rewind back to life moments later.

“Gah… What kind of lightning is this…?”

“Damn it… The feeling of my soul being shredded never gets old. Wayne, that woman is a monster. Forget fighting—just endure!”

“Huh. Never thought I’d hear you admit that, Rorf. She’s really that strong?”

“That woman… She might even surpass the Demon King.”

“That’s an exaggeration. You’re selling out the Demon King just to stroke your ego? Pathetic.”

“Shut up, idiot! And try entering the shadows at least once. They’re cozy, almost like being in your mother’s womb.”

“Coming from someone who tore their way out of their mother’s belly, that lacks credibility. I’ll make sure to avoid those shadows carefully.”

“Smart bird…”

Snap.

A dagger flew through the air, slicing cleanly across Rorf’s neck. His head tumbled downward.

“ROOOOORRRRFFF!!!!!!”

Wayne activated his ability again.

“Huh?! Shit! When I noticed, it was already too la- Wait?”

A massive shadow hammer descended from the ceiling, crushing Rorf into a bloody pulp.

“ROOOORRRP!!!”

“Damn it… What the hell?!”

As Rorf resurrected, a sliver of shadow slipped into his nostrils. Moments later, his body exploded violently, sending chunks of flesh flying everywhere.

“ROOOORRF!”

This time, Wayne’s voice lacked its usual vigor. His eyes were dull, emotionless, as he mechanically rewound time.

“Aaagh…!”

The moment Rorf revived, he screamed in agony. Dozens of shadow thorns pierced through his entire body.

“Rorf…”

Wayne rewound time again without hesitation.

“Ugh… Gaaahh!”

Rorf found himself suspended mid-air, impaled by countless shadow spikes.

“…”

Without even calling his name, Wayne brought him back to life once more.

And so, Rorf continued to die. Over and over again. It didn’t take long for the count to reach triple digits. An ordinary human would have gone insane long ago, but Rorf wasn’t human—he was a demon. Even demons had limits, but their mental fortitude allowed them to endure far beyond normal comprehension.

“Damn it… How many times are you going to kill me?”

“121st time. This one… seems to involve shadow parasites. Black worms are devouring your insides.”

Wayne spoke, his voice tinged with awe. In all 121 deaths, Rorf had never experienced the same fate twice.


She seemed to be experimenting with her power, using Lorpf as a test subject.

“Stop it! Stop it already! You witch! Kill Wayne instead of me! Wayne has time manipulation powers!”

“Lorpf… are you betraying us now? How disappointing. The trust between us has just shattered.”

“Shithead! You did nothing while I was dying! Trust? That never existed in the first place, you bastard! Don’t use your abilities! I’m sick of dying and coming back! Just let me die!!”

“That cannot be done. If you die, I’ll have to die hundreds of times. I… am human, not a demon. I don’t have the confidence to endure countless deaths in a short time and maintain my sanity like you do.”

“Bastard! So you’re using me!! Wayne! I’ll kill you too… gurk!”

Lorpf died. Wayne rewound time.

The revived Lorpf noticed his limbs making grotesque noises as they twisted unnaturally. It was obvious that his entire body would soon crumble and he’d die again.

“You damn bitch. Why are you only killing me…?”

“……”

Yuria remained motionless, staring at Lorpf with cold, emotionless eyes.

“Answer me!”

“There’s no grand reason. Simply because you’re a demon.”

“I’ll kill you!”

Enraged, Lorpf attempted to transform into lightning, but his whole body contracted before he could.

His fighting spirit, which had flared up with anger, was instantly deflated.

271st death.

A smile crept onto Lorpf’s face.

Finally, the woman who was more demonic than any demon was showing signs of fatigue.

Yuria’s breathing was heavy, and sweat streamed down her forehead. The speed at which she killed Lorpf had drastically slowed from 30 minutes.

Even Yuria, who possessed a dragon’s heart, found it exhausting to continuously use her powers for two hours. Fortunately, she wasn’t the only one reaching her limit—Wayne was almost at his breaking point too.

“Hahaha! You’re tired! Don’t think you’ll get an easy death. I’ll repay everything I’ve suffered, using Wayne’s powers…!”

“Lorpf… Sorry to toy with you, but I have no strength left. I can only rewind time ten more times… and even that is limited to three seconds each.”

“Damn it! Borrow power from the Void!”

“I can’t sacrifice my lifespan just to satisfy you. Unlike you, mine is finite.”

Yuria threw a shadow blade at Lorpf. Always on guard, Lorpf effortlessly twisted his body to dodge it.

“Haha! Your attacks have lost their edge!”

“…Where’s Leosio?”

Yuria suddenly asked a question.

“Leosio? That red lizard? He’s preparing the ritual, leaving all the dirty work to us.”

“Yuria!!”

“Shut up, Wayne. Stop yelling my name so loudly—it irritates me just hearing it. And there’s no way information will leak. This girl is going to die here.”

“Hurry up and finish her off already!”

From behind, Bezel stood with her arms crossed, speaking with a haughty expression. Until moments ago, she had been anxiously watching, but upon seeing Yuria’s exhausted state, her attitude completely changed.

“Heheh. Alright then, let’s start with the right arm!”

Transforming into golden lightning, Lorpf charged at Yuria. Calmly, Yuria swung her fist. Struck by the blow, Lorpf crashed into the ground, bounced up to the ceiling, and came crashing down again. Like a basketball, he was dribbled up and down until his body eventually tore apart and scattered in all directions.

“LORPF!!!!”

Wayne activated his power, having to rewind a full six seconds this time. The exhaustion was evident as Wayne’s breath smelled distinctly of blood.

“Damn. I thought I had some energy left, but this must be my last effort. I understood the moment I felt your punch—the strength behind it was diminished. This time, I’ll definitely kill you… What are you doing?”

Crackle.

Wayne, who had been preparing for battle, stared wide-eyed at Yuria.

Yuria was calmly drinking a potion she had carefully prepared herself. Made from the elixirs given by Eugene, it didn’t have the dramatic effects of true elixirs but effectively restored her stamina and mana.

“As you can see, I drank a potion.”

“…So you’ve recovered your stamina and mana… Damn. You were playing with us from the start…. Wayne! There’s no other way! Use your power!”

Out of Lorpf’s corpse sprang a shadow, which swiftly dismembered his physical form before transforming into lightning and obliterating his soul entirely. Lorpf’s lifeless body fell heavily to the floor.

Yuria looked at Wayne with half-lidded eyes.

“Aren’t you going to revive him?”