The Sword Demon Tears People Apart

Zeron woke up, scratching his messy hair.
Sunlight was seeping through the inn’s windows.

“Yawn…”
He yawned and glanced at the naked woman lying next to him.
Her snow-white skin sparkled in the sunlight.
As he had thought the day before, she was a blonde woman with a voluptuous body.
Her breasts were so large that they would overflow if he grasped them with one hand.
“Mmm… What? Are you up…?”
As if she had also just woken up, she opened her eyes groggily and smiled lazily.
She definitely had a pretty face.
“Yeah, go back to sleep.”
Zeron got up from the bed and headed to the bathroom.
After washing up and changing clothes, he came out to find the woman sitting on the bed, staring at him.
“Are you leaving already? Stay with me a little longer.”
The woman grumbled regretfully and kneaded her large breasts.
Her tongue licked her red lower lip.
“I… want to do it now. Won’t you do it one more time before you go?”
A seductive, sticky voice.
But Zeron turned his back without even glancing at her.
“I’m busy.”
“Tch… Ah, wait a moment before you go.”
When Zeron turned his head, the woman got up from the bed and pattered over.
With each step, her large breasts bounced violently.
The woman hesitated for a moment, then kissed him on the cheek with a smack.
“Last night was really good. And… smile a bit. I think you’d look much more handsome if you smiled.”
At those words, Zeron’s face momentarily froze.
The words “Who are you to say that?” almost burst out of his throat, but he held back, considering the night they had shared.
“Right, I’ll try.”
His lips curled up slightly.
It was a bit awkward, but the woman stared at his face blankly.
Her cheeks were flushed red.
By the time the woman came to her senses, the door had closed with a thud.
She looked at the door Zeron had left through with eyes full of lingering attachment.
“Maybe I should have tried to keep him a bit longer…”
Even last night, he wouldn’t let her kiss him in the end.
Does he have a woman he likes back home?
“Sigh, oh well.”
There was nothing to do but shake it off.
“Ugh… still a bit disappointing though.”
*
In the forest Zeron had left.
Where the Void had been until recently, a figure dropped down.
“Hmm… someone was here before me.”
He scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes.
Based on the remaining traces, he made deduction after deduction about what had happened here.
Soon, a strange light gleamed in his eyes.
‘One person? A mountain turtle with at least top-tier Expert level power… by just one person?’
His previously light aura sank heavily.
The implications were clear.
The one who faced the mountain turtle was at least a top-tier Expert, or… a Master.
But considering the size of the mountain turtle and the special nature of Voids, the guess that it was a Master seemed more likely.
The traces indicating an overwhelming battle further increased the credibility of this guess.
‘A Master from another country. Or… has a new Master been born within the kingdom….’
The man’s expression became even more serious.
It didn’t seem likely to be a Master from another country.
They wouldn’t sneak into the kingdom in utmost secrecy just to catch Voids.
Were they after the precious stones?
If you think about it that way, there are many Voids in other countries too.
A precious stone always comes out from inside when you catch a Void, so there’s no need to send a Master to infiltrate another country in secret.
Of course, while demand is high, the level of Master isn’t light enough to move for such reasons.
‘I hope this person is favorable to the kingdom…’
There was only one Master within the kingdom.
If this unknown Master was hostile to the kingdom… he couldn’t help but feel dizzy just thinking about it.
“Hm?”
As he examined the traces further, the man’s expression changed once again.
The grass was withered and dead.
He lightly placed his foot on it.
Passs-, strangely, it crumbled into dust.
‘Magic…? No, killing intent.’
There was a faint killing intent remaining in the surroundings.
The man’s eyes scanned the area.
Now that he noticed, all the vegetation nearby was withered and dead.
Thud-, he lightly struck a nearby tree,
Rustle- the remaining dry leaves and dead insects fell.
The man’s expression darkened.
“If only it were someone who simply held a deep grudge against Voids…”
The man turned with a heavy sigh.
He had to report to the king as soon as possible.
The emergence of a new Master…
…and that it was probably not good news for the kingdom.
*
After running for two more days, Zeron arrived in the capital as darkness fell.
Before entering the Academy, he tried to adjust his facial expression.
His mouth felt a bit stiff from not smiling for just a few days.
“Ee- ah-, aah──.”
After some stretching, he pulled up the corners of his mouth.
Grin-, in his own assessment, it didn’t seem too bad.
“Hm, good.”
He walked leisurely through the capital’s streets.
The night street under the streetlights was populated only by a few staggering drunks.
A quiet street.
The occasional sound of chirping insects.
Sounds he usually didn’t pay attention to seeped into his ears.
Then, from far away, he heard a commotion that disrupted the atmosphere.
“Oh my, is it the Artist again?”
“How can we live in such a scary world?”
“What crime did this one commit to end up like this?”
“Who knows. Maybe he was a rapist like the last one?”
“I’m not sure about that. There was a time when someone ended up like this for stealing a piece of bread.”
From what he could gather, it seemed this “Artist” had done something.
His curiosity piqued slightly, and he turned his steps in that direction.
After walking quickly for a while, lights flickered in the distance.
There, a few murmuring people and guards trying to restrain them were causing a commotion.
Words like “What happened here?” and “Please step back” mixed with various other voices, creating a buzzing noise as he approached.
Zeron, not wanting to mingle with that crowd, kicked off the ground and climbed onto a rooftop.
“Let’s see…”
Conveniently, a guard was shining a flashlight on the scene.
Under that spotlight, a work that clearly showed why the name “Artist” was given came into view.
A head fixed to the wall with daggers.
Both eyeballs were missing, sold off somewhere perhaps, and the torso was nowhere to be seen.
Arms and legs with joints bent backwards were also fixed with daggers, decorating the area around the head like a pinwheel.
Or should it be called a swastika?
“Oh…”
Zeron, momentarily impressed, chuckled.
It certainly didn’t seem like the work of someone in their right mind.
The fortunate point was that the kid wasn’t with him right now.
If the kid had seen this, she would have cried and vomited everything in her stomach without a doubt.
“Artist. The Artist…”
Zeron rolled those three syllables in his mouth.
Somehow, it felt like he might encounter them soon.
As long as they don’t come at me, I don’t care.
He hummed a tune as he headed towards the Academy.
Somehow, his mood had improved a little.
*
When he arrived at his quarters, Luna was waiting in front.
“What… Don’t you sleep? You didn’t wait for me every day, did you?”
“…I came out after sleeping. I received notice that you had arrived.”
Looking closely, she did indeed look a bit disheveled compared to usual.
Her straw-colored hair looked a bit puffy, you could say.
“Oh… that must suck.”
“If you know, try coming back when the sun is up.”
Luna followed behind, speaking sarcastically.
Zeron briefly considered inviting her for a drink but decided against it.
She’d probably get pissed off.
“Go in and rest. And don’t come out to greet me at night anymore.”
“That’s my job. Unless you’re going to hire me yourself, just come back when the sun is up.”
“Oh? Should I hire you?”
When he asked that, Luna’s expression seemed to harden slightly.
“…I’ll decline as my chastity might be in danger.”
“What… Do you take me for some kind of rapist?”
Zeron chuckled as he opened the door.
Inside, it was just as he had left it.
“Oh, by the way, is it okay if I clean the room when you’re out?”
“Do as you like. No, actually, don’t clean unless I say so. It’d be a hassle to find things later.”
“Yes, understood.”
Luna bowed slightly at the waist.
Her usual attitude is cheeky, but she’s strangely polite in some ways.
“Right, get some rest.”
Zeron flicked a silver coin.
Luna took it without refusing.
Entering the room, Zeron threw down his luggage and headed for the bathroom.
After washing up and throwing himself on the bed, the feeling of his whole body relaxing languidly felt quite nice.
“So I have about two days off now.”
Today was Saturday.
Classes were on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so Sunday and Monday were holidays.
“What should I do tomorrow…”
Pondering this, Zeron closed his eyes.
His consciousness turned pitch black, and then a new scene was painted.
It was high up in the sky.
*
The sky.
Above that blue void.
Zeron walked on the empty air.
Thud- thud-, it seemed like the mana at his feet was repelling the mana in the air as he walked.
From that high sky, he looked down below.
Humans with blurred faces were scattering in all directions, screaming.
What’s this?
Despite his pondering mind, his body moved on its own.
Whoosh-
The sword in his hand cut through the air, and
Kwahahahak-!
A huge scar was carved into the ground, and humans died like ants.
Realizing it, he felt a faint emotion.
Though it was his own, it felt somehow distant – it was clearly despair and anger.
He kept walking.
With each step, space folded and the scenery below his feet changed completely.
When he swung his sword, the earth split, and when he stomped his foot, the ground rose up.
Faced with this overwhelming power, humans died helplessly, not even daring to think of resisting.
It feels refreshing.
He thought so.
I will kill and erase everything.
The him in the dream thought.
The sword wielded by his dream self was unstoppable.
Strong, fast, like lightning, like a tidal wave.
Rough and wild, but a sword that had reached a principle by that alone.
Zeron remembered the current sensation.
It was the path he should advance on.
If there was an answer sheet in front of him, that time would surely be greatly shortened.
Somehow, as the ominous feeling had been growing stronger lately, he couldn’t miss this opportunity.
He swung his sword.
Humans died.
As the sensation gradually became familiar to his hand, he woke up with a sense of liberation.
*
“Ah, fuck.”
Zeron sighed and held his forehead.
The dream itself wasn’t bad.
His dream self seemed to be in a really shitty mood, but it wasn’t him, so it was fine.
But…
“No, fuck… I definitely took care of it before I came…”
…This isn’t right.
It’s not like he’s some pubescent kid.
He thought as he threw off his sticky pants and underwear.
…Somehow that sense of liberation at the end felt a bit familiar.

-Knock knock
“May I come in?”