Return of the Unrivaled Spear Knight

Side Story Chapter 257

“You little shit—” Lucifer’s words were interrupted by a bloody cough, testament to how vicious Kireua’s attack was. “You call yourself the Martial God’s son and yet you resort to a surprise attack? Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

“You know, I’m proud to be the Martial God’s son and I like it when people acknowledge me as his son, but…” With his sword still in Lucifer’s guts, Kireua smiled from ear to ear. “That’s only because I respect him. I’m my own man. I’m Kireua Sanders, not Joshua Sanders.”

“What…?”

“I don’t have to live like the Martial God just because I’m his son.”

Lucifer blankly gaped at Kireua for a moment and then broke into a long laugh that bared his bloody teeth.

“…Ha. Hahahahaha!”

“…I’m not sure what’s so funny.”

Kireua began to infuse his mana into his sword as he twisted it, worsening the wound before he withdrew his blade. However, nothing went according to plan. The sword didn’t budge and he couldn’t infuse his mana past a certain point, as if his mana was blocked by an invisible barrier.

“This is…” Kireua mumbled.

“I’m laughing because I’m happy! How can I not be happy?”

“…What?”

“I finally found my heir. Hehehe. You and I are cut from the same cloth,” Lucifer crowed. “Yes, you’re different from your father.”

Kireua’s scrunched up. “That’s a bit—no, that’s very offensive.”

“Nothing can be done about that since it’s the truth.”

It turned out that Lucifer's sorcery was still going strong. The blood from his wound crawled up Kireua’s sword, creeping towards Kireua’s hands. A loud alarm went off in Kireua’s head.

He yanked his hands off the sword just as it began to sizzle like meat on a hot grill; the blood was so acidic that it was melting the sword.

“You have excellent intuition too. I like you a lot.”

“…I liked that sword,” Kireua muttered with a dark expression.

“I can give all the swords in the world once you become my heir. There are piles of fine swords in my treasury.”

“Wait a minute. So you actually want me as your heir?”

“I don’t like to joke around.” Lucifer’s smile grew, telling Kireua that he was genuine. “I don’t have someone whom I can call my heir a child nor a disciple, which I regretted after my death. It made me realize that I’m a human too. I used to think so little of them, so I never thought that I would regret it.”

Lucifer’s wound was recovering as he spoke, quicker than a troll. His flesh and bones reknit themselves from practically nothing and fresh blood pumped through his veins; it was like nothing had happened.

“…For goodness’ sake. Like you said, you really aren’t human.” Kireua shook his head in disbelief.

“What is your answer?”

“There is no way I would do it.” Kireua created an invisible sword in his hands.

“Oh?”

“I have no intention of becoming the heir of someone who treats his own family like that.”

“You can have everything I have just by saying yes. Money, women… You can have Swallow if you want. Though only after I die, of course…” Lucifer laughed quietly.

“I’m more interested in finding out why you’re so desperate to make me your heir. I’m the son of a person who killed you.”

“That is precisely why I want you. Once you become my heir and put a sword through your father’s heart… I couldn’t ask for a better revenge.” Lucifer smiled wickedly again. The mere thought of his delusions brought him bliss.

“You’re crazy.” Kireua disappeared. “There’s no way I would do that!”

Kireua reappeared above Lucifer and swung down his invisible sword, but an invisible barrier stopped him again and left his hands numb.

“What in the world…?”

“It’s called Blood Tear. I can create a perfect barrier by mixing my blood and mana, like the one you’re seeing right now,” Lucifer explained, giggling.

“That sounds like a real nuisance.”

Kireua didn’t give up and struck the invisible barrier over and over. His hands were so numb that he felt like his bones were being pulverized, but the pain wasn’t a problem.

“My Blood Tear barrier isn’t something you can destroy like that.” Lucifer grinned.

The knights Lucifer brought with him cheered at the top of their lungs.

“Whooaaaaa!”

“That’s our Grand Duke!”

“Even if he’s the Martial God’s son, he’s still just a boy!”

“From the looks of it, the fight will be over before the boy can put a scratch on the Grand Duke’s sleeve. Well, I guess that’s only natural.”

“Hey! You guys might’ve doubted him, but I believed in him from the start!”

Amidst the Swallow knights’ sneering and mockery, Kireua landed distant from Lucifer, his head cocked thoughtfully.

“Odd.”

“What’s odd? Are you surprised at how weak you are? Or does my martial prowess far exceed your expectations?”

“It’s none of them. Do your knights not know that you already died once? Otherwise, they wouldn’t be loyal to an undead.”

Lucifer chuckled. “Your attempt to put your little brain to work is so obvious.”

“What?”

“It looks like you’re thinking about telling my knights that I’m an undead.” Lucifer held up his hands, showing Kireua that he wasn’t going to interrupt. “Do as you wish.”

Kireua’s frowned. “You already brainwashed them?”

“Brainwashed? No, I haven’t. Like you said, they don’t know that I died.”

“No way!” Kireua exclaimed, taken aback. “They don’t know?”

“That’s right. Can’t you tell that something is strange from their reactions?”

Lucifer was right. The great Grand Duke was close to one hundred years old, and Swallow’s knights would know that better than anyone. However, these young Swallow knights, the current leaders, were acting like it was their first time seeing Lucifer fight.

“When I was called one of the three Celestials, I used to hold my head high, but I’m just a loser in Swallow after your father defeated me.” Lucifer shrugged.

“…What’s up with this sudden self-degradation?”

“It’s the truth. The moment I try to deny my defeat, I won’t be able to progress any further. Anyhow, an Absolute is a very symbolic figure. They can never lose nor surrender since they are the face of their country.”

“Get to the point already,” Kireua demanded; he was only getting more confused as the conversation went on.

“Swallow no longer had a place for me after my defeat, and the people in power didn’t like my return at all. I used to be their tyrant, so they must have rejoiced when I died.”

One question bothered Kireua greatly. Lucifer had died decades ago and would have become an undead not long after his death. Creating an undead as powerful as a death knight that could also think for itself required the corpse to be fresh. However, as shocking as the news of Lucifer’s return was, it had only recently come to light—so what happened during the decades after his resurrection?

“I made a promise with those in power in Swallow.”

“A promise…?”

“Yes. I’m still officially the Grand Duke of the Swallow Empire in return for upholding my promise.”

Which meant that Lucifer hadn’t kept his position with force. Well, nobles, knights, and the ordinary citizens of Swallow wouldn’t have accepted it if Lucifer had resorted to violence. Lucifer had been such a notorious tyrant that no one had supported his rule. Yet, even thought the Emperor of Avalon had defeated him, Lucifer successfully kept the title of Grand Duke without Swallow taking up arms against him.

“It took quite a long time. I made a promise, but waiting for all those old farts to retire, knowing the things I did to them…”

“An undead has all the time in the world, so you waited for a new generation of people to lead Swallow?”

“Just so.”

Something still didn’t add up to Kireua. The answer felt like it was at the tip of his tongue.

“…I just don’t get it. Why would you do that? From what I know, Grand Duke Lucifer is a tyrant who can just crush everything in his way. Instead of taking the harder path, you could have used your power to force another war,” Kireua said.

“I saw hope.”

“Hope?”

“I accepted my defeat, and I’m not a fool. I loathe those blind fools who challenge their opponents again even though nothing has changed.” Lucifer furrowed his brows.

“…So?”

“I’ve returned to the Swallow Palace a decade after my death. I know I'm undead now, but I still needed time to recover.”

Kireua could understand that much; the problem was what happened afterward.

“It had only been a decade after they lost their Absolute. The country should have been constantly watching for Joshua Sanders or Ulabis to barge through their gates at any moment—but instead, it was surprisingly stable.”

“I’m sure that Swallow just returned to its normal state after their crazy tyrant disappeared,” Kireua sneered.

To Kireua’s surprise, Lucifer just chuckled. “You may be right, but everyone in Swallow agrees that the only reason that the country could stabilize so quickly was that kiddo.”

“...’Kiddo’?”

“Hehehe. You wouldn’t know them. A weakling—it feels like a flick to the forehead would be enough to kill them—and they know nothing of the sword, but the kid is smart, unlike me.” Lucifer tapped his head. “Barely comes up to my waist. How does a little thing like that become that smart? …To be honest, I was shocked to find out that a human could have such a brilliant mind like that.”

“…That’s what you meant by hope, huh?”

“Yes. And that kiddo told me that I need you for my great plan.” Lucifer strode toward Kireua. “Now, let’s settle this. If I win, I’m going to put a collar around your neck and drag you to Swallow myself.”