LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 88
Chapter
“The Demisto branch has been destroyed.”
Tick, tick, the woman’s nails click. With her brow furrowed deeply, she finally let out a big sigh.
“What are we going to do now? It seems Haken Welt is practically finished.”
“….”
“Are you just going to keep your mouth shut?”
As there was still no response, the woman twisted her face and stood up.
“I’m the only executive left. You’re the leader, for goodness’ sake! Do something!”
“Is there a problem?”
“…What have you heard so far?”
Crunch—, the woman ground her teeth.
“The executives are all dead, even that Nameless was torn apart by the Swordmaster, and the headquarters is wrecked! That already chaotic branch is now in shambles, and the once prominent Demisto branch has collapsed!”
A crimson rage glimmered in her eyes. She glared at the man as if she would tear him to pieces, her voice boiling over.
“I actually want to ask you. Is there anything that is NOT a problem in this situation? Now, what’s left for us?”
Once again, the leader remained silent. It was infuriating. The woman closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, then coldly turned her back.
“…You bastard.”
And then,
“What remains for us….”
The leader opened his eyes. There was not a trace of emotion in his indifferent gaze.
“What’s left, you ask.”
“…Right.”
“A chance to reclaim everything.”
Suddenly, the leader stood up, dust and dirt falling off like hardened stone.
“Let’s go to Demisto.”
*
“Wow.”
Zikfrein clapped his hands while munching on snacks.
“Was Eri that strong? I’m surprised.”
“Well, Eri takes on a lot of the control when I go all out. So it makes sense she would be strong.”
Eri was truly going wild, having already taken out three opponents.
As the fox with a sword clenched in her mouth smashed the kingdom’s promising candidates one by one, the banquet hall buzzed with excitement.
“What kind of spirit is that?”
“Did someone borrow Master’s spirit? Solid Youngsik shouldn’t be losing.”
And the party in question, Eri, who had hardly fought for herself until now, always serving as Enok’s assistant, released a roaring exhilaration from her pent-up urges.
[Kyahh-!]
As her sharp roar echoed, the lesser humans struggled to steady their jittery bodies. Eri showed a proud face in response.
Her self-assessment was perfect. Now, it was time to act to achieve her true goal.
[Hmmm….]
The fox’s eyes, lit up with purple lightning, focused on a young man. At that moment, the many gazes in the banquet hall followed him.
If even Solid Youngsik, who was among the higher levels here, had been defeated so easily, there was only one person who could stand against that young spirit.
“Hah, so that’s it?”
Karten di Pearson, a man who became famous by reaching Master level at a young age, stepped out with an awkward smile.
“Why didn’t you just say so? I would have gladly accepted a duel anytime.”
[Hmph, accept? I’m the one who can accept you.]
“Aha, so that’s why you went through all this trouble?”
Karten swept his hair back, which fell down to his eyes, and put on white gloves. They seemed to be a kind of gauntlet, and Eri narrowed her eyes.
[Empty-Handed? How amusing.]
Whether using a sword or spear would have been another story, but to think he was challenging her, who had grown up beside Enok, with bare hands.
Was he practically begging to be knocked dust?
As Eri tapped her front paw on the ground and shifted her behind, it was then.
“L-Lord Duke Irwin comes!”
With the bewildered voice of the gatekeeper, the doors of the banquet hall opened.
“The Duke?”
Enok tilted his head. It was as though he hadn’t noticed until now, yet the gatekeeper shouted as if the Duke deserved respect.
Or was it a warning for him to prepare himself mentally?
Clack- clack-
With the sound of armor, a group of people entered the banquet hall. The man at the forefront was presumably the Duke.
“Everyone, be respectful!”
One of the knights standing behind the Duke shouted, and the younger generation hurriedly bowed their heads in unison.
The only ones staring blankly at the Duke were Enok and Eri. Zikfrein didn’t particularly intervene, leaving Enok with a puzzled expression as he gazed hard at the Duke.
“What’s going on?”
This was odd. This shouldn’t be happening.
As he stared, trying to comprehend, the knight who had shouted earlier gave Enok a glare.
“At once, show respect…!”
“Enough.”
With an indifferent wave, Duke Irwin stopped the knight and approached Karten.
“Oh?”
As he passed by Eri, he scratched his chin as if intrigued, then spoke to Karten.
“I’ve heard the news.”
“…You came all this way for no reason.”
“I’ve always told you. Pearson is too small a vessel for you.”
“No matter what anyone says, I am Pearson.”
Karten slightly raised his head, and his gaze met that of the Duke. A strange tension filled the banquet hall as their eyes collided.
“Excuse me, we were in the middle of a duel, can we talk later?”
Of course, this had nothing to do with Enok.
Eri had been looking forward to the duel, but here was the Duke, barging in to interrupt. As if he was only the Duke of the Kingdom, a mere human.
“How dare you! What kind of language is that towards his Grace the Duke?”
The knight again stepped up. With a face that oddly resembled the Duke’s, he nervously removed his helmet.
‘His daughter, perhaps?’
I was a bit curious, but not enough to care deeply.
As Enok stared at the knight, the Duke frowned, clicking his tongue.
“And who are you? I don’t recognize your face.”
“Enok Estor.”
“Estor? Ah, I’ve heard of you. They say you’re the Swordmaster’s disciple.”
With a disdainful snicker, the Duke looked down at Enok coldly.
“Don’t mistake the glory of your master for your own, rookie. There’s no way a fool who can’t distinguish where he should and shouldn’t step would have been accepted as a disciple by the Swordmaster.”
“…?”
What the hell is he talking about? Enok scratched his ear.
“Do you know Rionne?”
“The time for accepting is over, so…”
“But why do you speak as if you’re familiar with her? Have you already grown senile, child?”
Enok’s eyes narrowed as he examined the Duke from head to toe.
Indeed. It’s clear.
I thought it was a misunderstanding, but after several confirmations, the result never changed.
“And you, you’re weaker than Marquis Demisto. Why are you a Duke?”
“Presumptuous….”
The Duke’s expression contorted sharply with rage. His face reddening, he struggled to contain his anger and spat out his words.
“…Does the Elf Union wish for war with the Kingdom?”
“What? Those bunch of weaklings….”
Is he serious? If no demigods intervened, the human kingdoms would vanish without a trace in less than an hour.
“Ha ha ha, that’s the right thing to say.”
At that moment, a hazy smoke gathered in one place and took on a human form.
From the smoke, radiant golden pupils sparked Enok’s eyebrows to rise.
“Choco? You said you wouldn’t come.”
“I was going to, but being stuck in the room was boring. I thought I’d come take a look and found this interesting event happening.”
Tsukiyo, stepping out of the smoke with a pipe in her mouth, stared at Duke Irwin.
Though the height difference meant Tsukiyo looked up at the Duke, somehow it seemed like she was looking down on him.
The Duke, too, seemed taken aback, wrinkling his brow.
“…The Black Calamity.”
“Oh, quite an old name. It seems you know it well.”
“I am Tsukiyo of the Black Cat Tribe. Why are you here?”
“Umm?”
Tsukiyo chuckled lazily and blew tobacco smoke in the Duke’s face.
“Well, I followed my dad.”
“…Dad?”
“That human man you called a rookie.”
“What nonsense….”
“Haah….”
Tsukiyo placed a hand on her cheek and sighed.
“Honestly, my dad has too few public engagements. For him to still be called the Swordmaster’s disciple makes no sense.”
Who in the world would call a Grandmaster someone’s disciple? Unless they were a friend of the master, it was something that could only be seen as an insult, a reason to be challenged to a duel.
“…This is a completely unfunny joke. If there’s nothing more to say, then I’ll take my leave.”
As the Duke signaled, a knight handed Karten something and quickly followed after the Duke. But their steps didn’t last long.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
With a dismissive swagger, Enok glared at the Duke.
“You? I really don’t like you.”
Chaang-! The knight drew his sword.
“Step aside or…! Ugh?!”
“You’ll play with Eri.”
Having tossed the knight aside, Enok stood in front of the Duke, drawing his sword from his waist.
“And you… I’ll let you have a go, so come at me.”
It seems the Duke was a swordsman. I figured a rough play with swords would be sufficient for the level.
“…Tsukiyo of the Black Cat Tribe, you also saw? It’s a duel he initiated, the rudeness committed by the Swordmaster’s disciple.”
“Oh dear, you sure know how to find an escape route. Well, do as you like. But it’ll only matter if you get out of this room.”
Sitting on the table with her chin resting, Tsukiyo alternated her gaze between Enok and the Duke.
‘My dad killing the Duke shouldn’t cause any problems.’
Having made her judgment with a sly grin, she waved at Enok, who reciprocated with a wave back.
‘The Duke’s swordsmanship… He’d love to have me copy it, right?’
That seems to be the case.