Chapter 44. Replica
In 〈Let's Kill the Demon King Now〉, the relic known as the "Demon God's Chalice" produces the 'Demon's Horn', granting its user immense power but with equally deadly side effects.
"Demonification."
The residual thoughts of the Demon God Barbatos are absorbed, causing one to lose their sense of self and become a demon that pursues only instincts.
"Ugh, ugh... Kraaaugh!"
Crunch. Creak.
The process was truly grotesque.
With the spine-chilling sound of bones and muscles twisting, the user's body swelled, and simultaneously, purple mucus oozed out from every orifice.
Screams filled with excruciating pain gradually changed to those of a beast, and in its eyes, nothing but murderous intent remained.
"What, what is this!?"
Joshua, who had been watching, recoiled in horror.
"Alphas... you crazy bastard! You said I could gain the demon's power, not become a demon!"
"Ah-ha! So that horn was your doing, wasn't it?"
Seeing Joshua speak as if the 'horn' were his, I nonchalantly commented.
Only those from the Dawn Society knew how to use the 'horn', so I assumed it was an item brought by a mage affiliated with them.
"Well, that's..."
"Alphas, Alphas..."
Thanks to Joshua's mumblings, I could roughly guess how he had acquired the 'horn'.
Alphas Mayend.
A man in the Dawn Society who harbored particular hostility towards Yulian.
Though I couldn't say for sure what relation he had with Joshua, it seemed there was some connection.
'One fortunate thing is that the horn is not genuine, but a replica.'
It resembled the demon from the slums I had previously dealt with.
It was undoubtedly part of the 'abnormal demon phenomena' that Eleanor had asked me about.
Of course, being a 'replica', its performance couldn't even mimic half of what a horn crafted by the Demon God's Chalice could do.
Because of the impurities mixed in, it was just a low-quality item capable of only bi-horned output at best.
"Krrk, krrrk... Kraaagh!"
Of course, even if it's just the level of a bi-horned demon, Joshua, already exhausted, wasn't in a position to deal with it effectively.
Joshua watched the demon that increasingly showed hostility and was filled with fear.
Paralyzed by terror.
Sensing this, the demonified mage turned to look at Joshua.
"If, if I win, I can live. I can live..."
Even a replica fails to surpass the original; the activation moment isn't wholly 'demonified'.
The remaining unconscious impulse appeared to be the guiding principle for its actions.
"He, heeek!"
An unrefined and raw killing intent.
Directed toward him, Joshua's face twisted even more than usual.
"Yulian...! I-I was wrong! So please take care of that demon!"
"One side is still alive, isn't it?"
"You, you're a 'Cryphart' family member! You're supposed to protect me!"
This was the same person who had dismissed me as a branch member, tried to ambush and kill me in the mansion, and now dared to ask me to deal with a demon for him.
As Joshua, terrified, pleaded with Yulian, the demon inched closer, step by step, toward him.
In the demon's eyes, now devoid of any humanity, there was only a merciless gaze focused on Joshua.
"I will live, I will live."
Swish!
Apparently, with only the thought of survival filling its mind, the demon leaped suddenly, closing the distance to Joshua in an instant.
The right-shoulder wound Joshua had inflicted had seemingly healed during the demonification process, showing no unnatural movement as it swung its right arm.
"Ugh, aaaaaah!"
Joshua, who appeared not to have neglected his usual training, instinctively tried to block the demon's arm coming at him with his sword.
"N-no!"
Clang!
But whether because of depleted stamina, he dropped his sword upon the impact.
Where it fell was behind Joshua.
If he turned to retrieve it, the swift demon would easily deliver a fatal blow, killing him on the spot.
"Hehe. If you don't try harder, you might really die."
Joshua, alternately glaring at the demon and me, became tearful.
"Ha-Yulian... b-brother, please..."
Brother? What absurd nonsense.
The one who had passionately denounced me at the wedding for being of lowly blood was now calling me his brother.
- Krrk... Krrk.
The demon, having completely absorbed the demonic energy of the horn, was now uttering sounds more akin to an animal than a human from its throat.
As it gazed upon Joshua, who had completely lost his will to fight, for some unfathomable reason, its eyes shifted to me.
'A demon is still a demon.'
Seeing the mage demonified completely, losing its last shred of humanity, made my body itch.
I was sure it was purely an instinct of mine as a 'demon hunter'—the deep-seated contempt boiling into murderous intent, which the demon seemed to sense.
'What a detestable creature.'
Even though it despises demons so much, its greed for 'power' makes it crave the demon's strength.
Shaking my head at the duplicitous nature of the character 'Yulian', I raised my sword.
- Kraaauugh!
Sensing my murderous intent pouring onto it, the demon charged at me with ridiculous speed.
It felt almost as fast as the bi-horned demon seen earlier in the Zoolin District, but with the completed 〈Moonlit Sword〉, it appeared pathetically slow to me.
"A worm is crawling towards me."
Daring to show murderous intent toward me.
Angered by the fact, as the demon revealed its eagerness to attack me, I sliced its legs with the moonlit, mana-infused sword.
Even though it had a massive body that repelled Joshua's sword, it cut apart effortlessly like paper the moment the Moonstone Sword, imbued with mana, made contact, and the demon tumbled forward.
- Kraak!
"He! Heeee!"
Watching the inexplicable boom and the demon's purple blood splattering everywhere, Joshua let out an odd sound in terror.
Ignoring him, I swung my sword again at the fallen demon's shoulder.
- Kraaauggh!
Whoosh—
At that moment, the Built-in Sword Trait sent me a warning signal. Sensing danger, I stepped back, just as the demon's massive hand cut through where I had been standing.
"Hmm."
Though I had cut its legs, it still stood effortlessly.
Curious, I fixed my gaze upon the demon.
I had surely sliced its legs cleanly with the 'Moonstone Sword'... and yet, bubbling flesh was regenerating before my eyes?
'Ah, a demon with regenerative abilities.'
Game settings suggest that generally, demon abilities amplify the pre-demonization powers.
However, if the last remnants of consciousness are strong, those abilities might manifest anew as demonic powers.
In William's case, due to sheer dread of Yulian, the thought of 'wanting to live' had granted him regenerative power.
"How can one possibly kill that...!"
Contrary to a panicked Joshua, I felt things were now more manageable.
Before it had become a 'demon', it was a mage.
Not just any mage but one who could wield a high-fourth-degree spell.
Ordinarily, if it became a 'demon', it might turn into a remarkably troublesome foe due to intricate abilities, but if it simply possessed 'regenerative' power...
I could manage that.
'Is it due to the 〈Insight〉 trait? The core is clear.'
Even a demon with regenerative power isn't immortal. Just as humans have a 'heart,' demons have a 'core.'
It gradually accumulates negative emotions and thoughts, alongside demonic energy, eventually crystallizing into a 'Soul Stone'.
'Well, let's see.'
With that resolved, I drew upon my mana, enhancing my physical capabilities and launching myself at the demon.
- Krrrk!
The demon, upon seeing me, let out a beastly cry accompanied by a swipe of its right hand, but I, attuned to its rhythm, swung my sword diagonally from below, upwards.
Shhhhhrook!
- Kraaaugh!
As I severed its right arm with a mana-infused blade, a viscous surge of blood obscured my vision.
The demon screeched in pain, still rushing recklessly at me with its intact left arm, yet its attack patterns were already ingrained in my mind.
"What need for such futile resistance?"
"To dare challenge me, a 'Demon Hunter'... How fittingly trash-like."
Shuddering at my unintentional Yulian-esque monologue, I pivoted at the hip and swung my sword anew.
This time, the left arm.
- Kraaaugh!
Despite the demon's howls, I heedlessly thrust the sword toward its core, located within its head.
In a desperate panic, frothing bubbles gushed from its arms as the demon rapidly regenerated its severed limbs, attempting to block my blade.
"Perish now, you vermin."
Encased in the soothing moonlight, my sword penetrated the regenerating demon's limbs, piercing through to the core within its head.
"I am 'Yulian', the 'demon hunter'. Huhu."
- Gurgle, gurgle.
With what sounded like a final, dwindling gasp, the frothing ceased.
The manic glint in its eyes faded with the loss of focus, collapsing feebly like a straw doll.
'... Perish now, vermin—what rubbish!'
As yet another habitual phrase escaped my lips, I turned my gaze to Joshua.
"Impossible..."
Joshua, arrested by shock, could only stammer dumbfoundedly.
Smiling as sweetly as any smile I'd ever worn, I flicked the sticky blood off my sword, letting it splatter near him.
He, who had dared to ambush me in the dead of night, deserved severe punishment, yet Joshua now held a sizable stake in the 'Cryphart family'.
'Securing leverage over him wouldn't hurt.'
Just for spite.
"Have a seat, quickly."
With perhaps the brightest smile I had ever given, I gestured to Joshua to take a seat.
For some reason, the darkest purple haze I'd ever seen was rising above his head.
"Yes, yes! Elder brother!"
***
"A replica horn, huh..."
In the aftermath of that harrowing incident, I sheathed the horn and murmured to myself as I placed it in a storage box.
To see a 'replica' that I'd encountered in the slums here in the capital at this time...
Canonically, the machinations of the Dawn Society do reach the capital, and these 'replicas' cause considerable trouble, but,
"It's too early."
The original timeline had 'Rinne Rondvel', the Sword Saint's disciple, dealing with this post-academy graduation.
This storyline tied deeply with her vengeance, and as such, the plot concerning replicas typically unfolded around her.
'As I'm not the player now, I doubt I'll intermingle too deeply with her story...'
But still, seeing a 'replica' in the capital seems premature.
I moved to the window.
From the broad view, the full moon came into my sight.
"Ordinarily, the one to intervene in the development of the replica horns should have been the 'Black Knight'."
Black Knight.
In the imperial capital, he conceals his identity with a black mask, stealthily thwarting the agendas of the Dawn Society in the game.
His true identity is none other than Hayden Reich, the protagonist and the Sword Saint's alter ego.
'If the Black Knight had already appeared, there'd be some rumors about replicas spreading—yet there's silence.'
Why is the capital so quiet?
According to the storyline, the 'Black Knight' makes his presence felt after thwarting 'Bishop Pintel' from obtaining the Soul Stone.
'That's how I recall Pintel's name distinctly.'
Breaking the game's branching point came with 'foiling Bishop Pintel's plan.'
'Yet, the capital is unnervingly quiet.'
Could it be that the Black Knight has yet to surface?
'That would be troublesome.'
To prevent the resurrection of the Demon God and dismantle the Dawn Society, I need the Black Knight as an unseen ally.
If the Black Knight remains inactive...
'No, that can't be.'
I shook my head side-to-side to dispel such thoughts.
Hayden Reich will not merely stand by and allow his citizens to fall into danger.
This goes beyond just storyline progression; it is about the trust I have in 'Hayden Reich'.
He is the protagonist, after all.
'Anyway, what matters now is...'
Dismissing those thoughts, I turned my gaze back to the box containing the demon's horn.
"We'll need to make an example of this."