Chapter 120: The Hunt for the Second Son (2)
".... Uh, how?"
Set looked up, his eyes wide.
Vikir van Baskerville. Hugo's illegitimate son.
He must be some lowly bastard from an insignificant birth.
Just another hound to be used and discarded.
However, it was also true that he was born in the fastest time ever to pass through the Cradle of the Sword and was favored by the River Styx, and from an early age, he hunted high-ranking demonic creatures such as trolls and Cerberus.
Two venomous snakes were placed in the cradle to remove him early on, but they failed.
Not long ago, he miraculously returned from the battlefield after being thought to be dead, revealing a stunning achievement of Intermediate Graduator.
At only seventeen years old, he had achieved the rank of Intermediate Graduator, a feat no one else in Ironblooded Baskerville had ever accomplished.
Even the first son Osiris, rumored to be a genius, was over thirty years old when he reached Intermediate Graduator.
So even as Vikir demonstrated his power in the Banquet Hall, Set clicked his tongue.
'Tsk, tsk, he shouldn't reveal all his secrets like that.'
Power should be shown in moderation and hidden in moderation.
That way, you can make the most of your future with less pressure from those around you.
Wearing your power on your sleeve was the behavior of children who wanted the praise of adults.
In that sense, Vikir was still a child who didn't need to be watched.
At least, that's what Set thought.
... But.
In-person, Vikir's true character was far more formidable. Almost unbelievable to the naked eye.
Who would have thought that at the age of only a few years, he would have achieved a level of mastery that would allow him to cross into the realm of the supreme.
"'Advanced Graduator ... No, Supreme?'
Set's mouth was half open at the sheer unreality of the sight.
Honestly, if it weren't for his enemies, he might have thought it was a sight to behold.
Meanwhile, against Set's dazed expression, Vikir unleashed all of his hidden combat power, without restraint.
"You don't have eyes to see anyway, so it doesn't matter."
" ...I don't have eyes to see, little brother, because you do."
"It's an eye that will soon be gone."
Vikir's next move wiped the smile off Set's face.
Kwaki-gigi-gigi-gig-.
Baskerville's seventh form. A small but sharp flash of the seventh tooth, the one that only Patriarch can master.
When combined with the aura of a top-notch Graduator, its killing power is enough to frighten even the highest-ranking demons.
"You're insane, how could you use a seventh tooth that only a patriarch can master!"
Set exclaimed in astonishment, but he couldn't afford to be surprised.
Vikir hadn't bothered to tell him that he knew how to deploy the eighth, ninth, and even the tenth.
He just kept silently swinging his sword until he mastered the seventh and broke through the wall beyond.
Bang! Bang! Kagagak!
The surrounding stalactites and stalagmites bend like reed stems.
Set is backed into a corner with no time to catch his breath.
'He's an experienced bastard. Even the worn and tattered old knights of Baskerville aren't like this....'
It was as if he was facing a mountain, a feeling similar to when he had faced one of the Seven Counts in the past.
Set gritted his teeth and swung his flamberg.
A Baskerville carnivore. Six teeth blocked seven teeth.
But.
The teeth that drew from the tip of Vikir's blade were shaped differently than Set's.
"Stabbing fangs or not, what is this?"
By the time the question was asked, it was too late.
...Puff-puff-puff-puck!
Set's body explodes in all directions.
It's an ambush bite, one that exists solely to inflict pain on its opponent.
It sliced through the flesh and stabbed deep into its very core, unleashing seven deadly and irresistible stabs all over Set's body.
"Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Set stumbled back, dragging his tattered body.
He could barely keep his balance after his left arm had been severed.
And Vikir, like a seasoned veteran, took advantage of his enemy's hesitation.
...Thud!
One step back, two steps forward.
Boom!
One swing, two swings, and a slash.
Pooh-pooh-pooh-pooh!
Baskerville's hound, Death's Tooth, ferociously bites Set's entire body.
It would be more appropriate to say that it stabbed rather than slashed.
"Eueueueug!?"
Set was unable to resist, seeing his flesh fall off as he was turned into pieces of meat.
He couldn't think clearly.
Looking at this relentless sword attack, it was clear that it was not a skill that had been killed once or twice.
'Nonsense! It's only a human, and seventeen at that! How many have you killed before?
Set barely managed to swing his sword back.
But.
...Hook!
Vikir, the Hound of Death, closed the distance.
Suddenly, the scent of Vikir assaulted Set's sense of smell.
It's a smell that no amount of washing can erase, a smell that sticks to the soul, not the body.
It is the smell of a demon, or more specifically, the smell of a demon as it bleeds and groans in pain!
A ray of light shimmered in Seth's black eyes. It was a light of terror.
'...Ah, demon hunter!??'
Yes. In front of him. The young adult body of this young.
Unbelievably, his soul exuded the scent of a butcher who had killed countless of his kind.
Do dogs recognize their masters and wag their tails?
Set felt his entire body stiffen.
How many demons had he killed so far?
With each burst of Vikir's momentum, Set's eyes flashed before him a terrifying landscape, with mountains of demon corpses and rivers of blood flowing through it.
"No, nonsense, nonsense! How could such a young guy go through such an out-of-human demon scene!"
Set opened his mouth, but it was only to increase the volume of space for Vikir's attack.
Thwack!
Vikir's slash flew in.
It sliced through Set's gums, knocking out several of his teeth and slicing through his tongue and uvula.
Sapuk.
It sliced into Set's left cheek, retrieved the protruding sword tip neatly, and flicked it once.
"...."
Vikir started to ask something but stopped.
I already know his plan, and his purpose.
It was something he could guess, given his knowledge before and after the regression.
'He's a higher being from the Demon Realm. He probably wants to destroy the human world.'
Before the regression, ten demon kings opened a gate to the depths of the Demon Realm and caused an era of destruction.
They were called the "Ten Corpses," referring not only to the ten demons, but also to the ten corpses that were taken over by them.
Some of them were known, some were not, and in the case of the Set Baskerville before us, they were not known.
'...for even I did not know his identity until the day of my execution.'
Even the heroes who closed the gates and ended the Age of Destruction were never able to find the Ten Commandments and condemn them once and for all.
But.
This time is different.
The Age of Destruction has not yet begun.
The gates to the depths of the Demon Realm have yet to be opened, and the Ten Commandments that would open them have yet to appear.
And Vikir had already found one of them.
"You die here."
Vikir declared.
If you can kill him here, the future will change.
Killing one of the Ten Commandments would not prevent the Age of Destruction from occurring at all, but it would slow it down immensely.
This would give Vikir much more time to plan.
Time to solidify his plan and prepare for every variable.
'I will never lose a single game'
With all errors and variables blocked and sealed off in advance, Vikir swung his sword with all the power he had before his regression.
His swordsmanship was even more noble than before his regression, his aura even more powerful, and the blade of his magic sword, Beelzebub, blazed with sun-like red light.
And naturally, Set who was only an Intermediate Graduator, with the power of an advanced one, was unable to parry Vikir's sword.
"Gaaaah!"
Set screamed through his tattered body.
Even if he was weak, that was only by Baskerville's standards. As Hugo's second-born son, his talents shouldn't be inferior.
The problem was, he had his mother's weak bones and pelt, and couldn't contain the powerful qualities he inherited from Hugo.
So no matter how hard he tried, he could only become a Graduator Advanced, and that was his limit.
This was a terrible humiliation for a genius outside the standard, someone who had achieved great things, even if it was by blood.
Still, it was nothing new for Set.
Because before Vikir, it was Osiris.
"Mmph... mmph!"
Blackened blood dripped from Set's eyes, nose, and mouth.
A terrible sense of inferiority washed over him.
Seeing this, Vikir hesitated.
'Was Set's soul still there?'
Obviously, Set's body had been taken by the demons after he was hanged.
But it seemed clear that somewhere in the depths of his soul, Set's memories and personality remained.
'But that was that, and this is this.'
Even if he paused for a moment, it was a matter of the mind, and the hands and knife were still relentlessly slashing at Set.
Puck! Puck! Puck! Puck!
Seven teeth flew out, slicing through Set's entire body.
Eventually.
"How dare you, you dirty Baskerville, you filthy hound!"
Finally, Set, or rather, the thing that had been wearing Set's skin, showed its true colors.
Tsutsutsutsutsutsutsuts...
Formless magic erupted from the holes in Set's body.
It soon wriggled like the mud on a doll and began to take shape into a single, massive form.
And Vikir realized the nature of the demon that had consumed Set's body and soul.
<Andromalius the Tenth>.
Danger Rating : S+.
Size: ?
Found in: In the depths of the Gate of Destruction, 'The Serpent's Womb'
-Nicknamed 'Tenth Corpse'.
One of the ten catastrophes that lead to humanity's natural enemy, incomprehensible, and unkillable.
"They shall swarm like flies."
– 『The Ten Commandments』 10: Top-
The final boss, " Ten Corpses (十上尸)". One of the ten top corpses.
One of the ten keys that unlocked the Age of Destruction.
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