<The Demon Lord of the Swordsmanship Family Chapter 87>
A few days ago, Chandler Murray disappeared.
Still, no one paid any mind. This kind of thing happened all too often.
He’d cause trouble, disappear for a while, and when everyone had forgotten, he’d sneak back.
Because this pattern repeated, neither William nor the American exchange group took it seriously.
That was all there was to it.
The reason was too trivial, not even worth considering.
So William shoved the memory far into the recesses of his mind, somewhere out of sight, and never brought it up.
“Where the hell are you?”
Never did I think it would come back like this.
Never did I think it would awaken the monster.
William had no idea.
“That lump is missing… and you guys don’t know anything about it, you say?”
Taptap, he tapped his fingers on the table.
Taptaptap, pondering what to do about it.
Taptaptap, looking at the two of them.
“…”
“Suddenly woke up…”
“Shh.”
Rosaria tried to say something but William quickly stopped her.
Still, she had some sense. After all, if she didn’t after being slapped around every day, would she even be human? Would her skull not have been cracked open?
He glanced at the clock.
It was already nearing dawn.
It was the time when Spring should be sound asleep in dreamland. Come to think of it, he hadn’t even properly seen Spring’s face today.
It irked him to no end.
His expression soured, and William flinched.
“Let’s finish this quickly.”
As he said this, he pulled out his phone.
“My older brother was attacked.”
“If it’s your brother, that’s Park Su-hyeok.”
“The Mountain Lord was injured… It’s strange….”
“Well…”
He showed them. It was a photo of the ice shard that their mother had been holding earlier.
“It was stuck in my brother’s stomach. What do you make of it?”
The two looked at the ice fragment on the phone. While Rosaria reacted with irritation, muttering “What about it?” William stared seriously, then suddenly—
“…!!”
His body stiffened. His instincts were clearly functioning properly.
“S-surely not…”
Right? Tell me it’s not so.
Unfortunately, it was true.
“That’s the lump’s ice.”
“…!!”
“…!!”
Ice Shift. bl**d relative of the Chandler family.
This ice can only be made by Chandler.
Therefore, this was evidence that Chandler Murray was somehow involved in the attack on my brother.
“A-Are you sure that it’s evidence of Ice Shift?”
“I saw it.”
“…Isn’t there a possibility that you were mistaken?”
“No, there isn’t.”
No more questions.
I didn’t come here to prove anything myself. It’s you guys who need to explain yourselves.
The two exchanged a silent glance.
Do you know? I don’t. What happened? Where’s Murray? Why was this in Park Su-hyeok’s wound? I don’t know! If I knew, would I be here?!
The confused pair.
They couldn’t see any way forward. They needed an explanation, but there was no one around to give it.
But their misfortune wasn’t over yet.
There was yet another major blow to come.
“Also, the group known to have attacked my brother has been identified as Celutis.”
“…!!”
“…!!”
Today, their words are getting stuck repeatedly.
Celutis? The Celutis we know? The villain group Celutis?
The pupils of both were uncontrollably trembling.
Now the two weren’t hurling accusations at each other.
Instinctively, they understood the severity, a level of danger that defied reason. If they got dragged into this mess, their entire careers could crumble.
“f*ck…”
“…”
Eventually, William couldn’t hold back his frustration and cursed. Rosaria’s face was also scrunched up, even though she was silent.
“I’ll give you a chance. Convince me in one minute. One minute.”
“…”
Taptaptap-taptaptap-taptap
The sound of fingers tapping against the table…
Ticktock-ticktock-ticktock
The sound of the clock’s hands ticking was unusually loud.
In the end, during the 60 seconds that passed, they didn’t utter a word. In the end, they’ve disappointed me.
As I sipped my coffee slowly, I began to speak.
“You two, before the exchange group arrived, we received a request from Yggdrasil. They wanted us to help supervise the exchange group, especially—”
I looked at both of them.
“Especially you two, as you were prone to causing trouble. We were supposed to watch out.”
However,
“I thought it was an overconcern. After all, what kind of trouble could kids like you two get into, right? And indeed, it seemed just like that.”
Club assault incident?
People outside might make a fuss about it, but from my perspective, it was just adorable.
Sparring with William?
We spar frequently; there wasn’t much special emotion tied to it. The same goes for Rosaria’s Victor incident. Just some cheeky antics.
But now, things have changed.
“There’s been an accident, right? I don’t know how to take this.”
“…This has nothing to do with us.”
“Collective punishment isn’t rational. I barely spoke to Chandler Murray.”
“This is all wrong. Just because Ice Shift was involved doesn’t mean Murray is guilty.”
“Maybe Chandler Murray was kidnapped.”
“That’s right! That fat—no, Murray fell into a trap. Think about it. Would Murray fight Park Su-hyeok? They aren’t evenly matched.”
“That’s sensible.”
“Is it?”
Then…
“Let’s see if that holds up.”
With those words, I got up.
One thing is clear.
It’s over; I’m not playing around anymore.
A few days later.
As the agreed time approached, I too slowly stood up.
I stuffed my prepared backpack into the subspace pocket and started donning my battle uniform…
“Uh-oh.”
Almost forgot something important.
I put the pendant on my neck, left on my desk.
It contained a photo of Spring and Berrie. As I looked at the two girls smiling in the picture, I couldn’t help but smile.
Taking Berrie in my arms,
“Take care of Spring for me.”
“Meow~ (Of course.)”
“Alright, I trust you. This is the deposit.”
I cracked open a can of tuna from the fridge for the cat, then returned to my battle gear.
“Hmm.”
Something didn’t feel quite right…
Looking at myself in the mirror, I tilted my head. Turning sideways, I observed myself.
Is it because it’s the first time I’ve worn this battlesuit? It feels strange. I keep turning my head around.
They say this is incredibly famous — it’s called Catel, and it’s nicknamed the Rolls-Royce of battlesuits.
I don’t really know much about it. I found this out by searching on DDongMuWiki.
There was quite a fuss over me getting this outfit.
I thought a battlesuit should just be comfortable. That’s why I often wore training clothes. Hence, when the topic of custom battlesuits arose, I tried to politely decline, saying it was fine.
However, our Lady Kim Yeon-hee got very angry.
“What? Training clothes? Son, what are you thinking? Do you have a brain, or don’t you? Don’t you know that things have purposes? Training clothes are for training. You need to wear a battlesuit during combat!”
“Rags? Listen, Park Gi-hyeok. This piece of cloth you’re dismissing could be the difference between life and d*ath, between a severe injury and a light one. Haven’t you seen cases like that?”
“Is your body your own? You have a mother, a father, an older brother, an older sister, and Spring. If Mom says to wear it, you wear it. Shh! Don’t argue!”
Because of her safety concerns, I got an earful and eventually settled on this suit.
So, my thoughts now?
“It’s actually quite good.”
Then, when I had it fitted, the staff mentioned something about monster fibers stimulating muscle sensitivity, assisting fluid movement, etc., but now?
It’s indeed as they said.
With every step, from the soles of my feet to my calves, thighs, buttocks, everything was felt with remarkable sensitivity.
I realized once again…
“Indeed, they truly make quality items in this world.”
I shrugged my shoulders and left the room.
And the moment my mother saw me,
“Wow, my son looks cool.”
She smiled brightly, looking quite content.
“Our son pulls off any outfit because of his perfect figure, which he gets from me, of course.”
“Mother, you’ve done such a good job making it.”
“Of course, of course. I told you not to wear that training wear, didn’t I?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Do as I said next time.”
We exchanged pleasantries. Like whether I could miss classes and reminding me to eat well, and so on.
Mother always did this every time I went to battle. She made extra efforts to give me a sense of normalcy before I left.
And as always during these moments, I tightly embraced my mother.
“I’m going.”
“Take care.”
As soon as the door opened, my expression changed.
The smile I had been wearing disappeared, and the gentle atmosphere was gone.
Firmly setting my resolve, I opened the door and exited.
“Ki-hyeok! Here! Over here!”
“Haha!”
The moment I took a step, laughter erupted.
Jin Yu-ri was waving her hands enthusiastically from the driver’s seat of a giant SUV.
How does she have the confidence to drive such a big car being small herself? Anyways, does the accelerator even reach?
Haha, laughter escaped me.
“I’m laughing because of you. Seriously.”
We got into the car and headed towards our destination.
*
William knows that he’s arrogant.
He knows his behavior changes depending on whether people are around or not, that he pretends to be an elegant gentleman despite being more jealous and petty than anyone else.
But he truly thought all this was fine.
So what if he’s arrogant? So what if he’s hypocritical?
Isn’t it because he’s skilled?
William spent every night to be acknowledged for his arrogance. He worked hard enough that his hypocritical nature became just a petty flaw, and fueled by his burning jealousy, he continued to put in the effort.
Sometimes, he even saw himself as a swan.
A swan that looks elegant on the surface but paddles furiously underwater.
Nonetheless, he never doubted that he was, and would remain, the best.
That is, until a few days ago.
More accurately, before he came to Korea for the exchange program, before meeting the person right in front of him, Park Ki-hyeok.
“When I activate it.”
“I’ll find it.”
Above Park Ki-hyeok’s head, a magic circle appeared.
A hexagram, etched like an emblem on the clouds.
That’s right, that hexagram. Its formal name is Apocalypse.
Time and again, William has been utterly defeated in the face of this nameless magic. The spirit team he was once proud of was defeated effortlessly.
The first two matches? Okay, let’s call that overconfidence. The next three matches, let’s chalk it up to unfamiliarity, and the next three matches were the adaptation period.
After stringing together excuses like this, William ended up losing every day.
His pride shattered.
The moment his belief in his abilities faltered, his arrogance had nothing left to support it.
Still, William didn’t give up despite his desolation.
Giving up would be the end.
The end of his popularity and his reputation, all his achievements. So he gritted his teeth and kept challenging.
However, for the first time, William’s resolve wavered.
It wavered just a few days ago when Park Ki-hyeok stormed into the hotel over the issue of Chandler Murray.
In fact, that day, William was in the midst of a spirit-summoning training session. The moment Park Ki-hyeok entered the hotel, William had already accurately sensed his presence.
And he realized something.
Until now, when Park Ki-hyeok was sparring with him, he was playing around. He hadn’t shown his true strength.
That was why he had been so easily subdued.
If he had rebelled against the angry Park Ki-hyeok, instead of the usual “chicken” punishment, he would have probably ended up as a hamburger patty ground up in a blender. Ground beef meant for hamburgers.
And the second moment his resolve wavered was today, right now, with this.
The hexagram expanded, filling the sky, stretching over the entire field.
Apocalypse covering a Level 4 Gate.
The goal of this was simple: to detect if there was a “target” within this field.
“…”
Gulp.
This was the third time William did that today.
The first attempt was a bust, the second one too.
And now the third one.
At first, he thought Park Ki-hyeok was summoning people to see some kind of trick.
What? Detect a specific existence by spreading a mana field over the entire gate? Are you kidding me? Be reasonable.
It’s impossible.
Firstly, there’s no human with the “control” to cover an entire gate in such a manner, and even if someone managed to spread such a mana field, there’s no way a person could possess the “grasp” to catch the specific mana signals within.
That’s what William believed until now.
“…Ki-hyeok, I’ve found it!”
Gulp.
That sound of swallowing saliva wasn’t from William but from Rosaria standing beside him.
Their eyes met.
Is this… possible?
Even seeing it with his own eyes, William couldn’t quite believe it.
He figured there wouldn’t be anything there. That was what he thought.
Jin Yu-ri equipped her red war armor and flew into the sky. Park Ki-hyeok unfolded the hexagram behind him and also ascended.
William and Rosaria stood dumbfounded behind them.
“Are we… going?”
“We need to check.”
Behind Rosaria, a mechanical wing formed from floating parts. Emitting flames, she flew towards where the others had disappeared.
William followed using a wind spirit, flying after them.
And moments later, they landed on a small hill.
Thanks to the terrain of the field, there were many similar hills within sight, but Jin Yu-ri had pinpointed one.
“Ki-hyeok, over there.”
At that instant, Park Ki-hyeok drew his greatsword, Devil.
Geomho-ryu Strong Sword Skill
Mountain Collapse
Gulp, gulp. The earth seemed to breathe before…
BOOM!!!
It exploded.
The hill disintegrating in real-time.
And when everything settled, when the hill had vanished down to its roots…
Among the clouds of dirt, a pair of snow-white wings unfurled.
“…Angel?”
It was an angel.
Despite all the trials and tribulations, the sight of the angel’s unwavering wings looked almost sacred.
Could it be that Park Ki-hyeok’s target was this angel?
Both William and Rosaria’s eyes turned back to Park Ki-hyeok.
However, Park Ki-hyeok was no longer there.
“I’ve got it!”
CRACK!!
Before their eyes, Park Ki-hyeok was already tearing the angel’s wings.
