TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 14
Thousand-Face Demon.
The master, who bore the name of a demon with a thousand faces, carried a peculiar curse.
The curse, when explained, was simple.
The moment one of his eight hands touched a person, their face would disappear.
However, despite its simplicity, the curse’s effect was notoriously dreadful.
This was because, with the disappearance of the nose and mouth, breathing became impossible.
“Mmph, mmph!”
At that moment, a knight-in-training fell victim to the Thousand-Face Demon’s hand, and his face vanished.
Unable to speak due to the absence of a mouth, he could only emit guttural sounds from his throat before clawing at his empty face and dying.
Without a Curse Master present, there was no way to save him.
“Attack!”
However, unlike the trainee knight, Belorkin and the other knights were sounding the trumpet of victory.
Though the Thousand-Face Demon was strong for a master of World Erosion, he was no match for Belorkin and the knights.
“Screeeeech!”
One of the Thousand-Face Demon’s arms was entirely incinerated by Belorkin’s Ignis.
Engulfed in unquenchable flames, the Thousand-Face Demon, seemingly enraged, swung his arms wildly.
The strength of the Thousand-Face Demon’s arms was enough to crush a human body with ease.
Even mid-level Expert knights couldn’t withstand a direct hit and had to roll on the ground to evade.
Thud!
But Belorkin was different.
He blocked the Thousand-Face Demon’s hand head-on and even deflected it.
Taking advantage of the demon’s stagger, Belorkin’s sword struck again.
Whoosh!
“Do not retreat! I’ll create an opening!”
Faced with such overwhelming prowess, the knights’ morale soared once more.
And in their hearts, Balheim was etched yet again.
Even against the primal fear of World Erosion, they believed that with Balheim, they could prevail.
“Follow Lord Belorkin!”
With shouts of anticipated victory, the knights charged at the Thousand-Face Demon.
Watching this, Belorkin felt his self-esteem rise once more.
Indeed, this was who he was.
This was Belorkin Balheim!
As a proud smile spread across his face, Belorkin suddenly thought of Kraush.
Among the knights, Kraush was nowhere to be seen.
Could it be that he had fallen victim to the Thousand-Face Demon and died?
If that were the case, this mission would be all the more worthwhile, he thought, until he spotted Kraush in the distance and felt a twinge of disappointment.
But it was fine.
If Kraush was trembling in fear, overwhelmed by the power of World Erosion, then it was still a success.
However, Kraush, as seen through Belorkin’s eyes, was not trembling in fear.
He was simply staring silently at something.
And it wasn’t Belorkin he was looking at.
What is it?
What on earth is he looking at?
As doubt flickered through Belorkin’s eyes, it happened.
Drip.
Suddenly, the sound of something dripping from the Thousand-Face Demon’s face reached his ears.
Hearing the sound, Belorkin quickly turned his head, and what he saw froze him in place.
From every hole on the Thousand-Face Demon’s faces, black blood was pouring out simultaneously.
Realizing the abnormality, Belorkin immediately tried to create distance.
Crackle!
Black sparks coursed through the Thousand-Face Demon’s entire body.
Belorkin’s eyes wavered greatly at the sight of this unprecedented phenomenon.
But he quickly raised his sword.
He thought he had to kill the Thousand-Face Demon right then and there.
“Everyone, kill the Thousand-Face Demon immediately!”
Shouting, Belorkin swung his sword down at the demon.
Thud!
However, his sword failed to cut through the demon’s pitch-black body.
Even though it was imbued with aura, it couldn’t penetrate.
As Belorkin’s eyes widened, the Thousand-Face Demon’s body began to swell and bulge.
At the moment when the demon’s body started to inflate rapidly, Belorkin, startled, realized something.
There were no follow-up attacks from the knights who should have been right behind him.
“What are you all doing?!”
Just as he was about to rebuke them, thinking they had been frightened by the Thousand-Face Demon, he turned his head.
All the knights standing there had empty faces.
Seeing them standing motionless with their hollow faces, Belorkin’s pupils slowly widened.
“Ugh?!”
He suddenly realized that one side of his vision had disappeared.
Hurriedly touching his face, he felt only bare skin where his eye should have been.
The moment he realized he had fallen victim to the curse, a pitch-black shadow loomed over him.
As Belorkin’s remaining eye slowly looked up, he saw the Thousand-Face Demon, now far larger than before, calmly folding its arms and staring down at him.
Crash!
A bolt of lightning roared across the sky.
And one of the demon’s protruding white faces split in half with a sharp crack.
As the split revealed rows of white teeth and a long, dangling tongue—
“Screeeeech!”
With a deafening roar, the swamp trembled violently.
Soon, rain began to pour down in torrents, following the roar.
Belorkin realized it.
The despair of World Erosion had descended.
“Ah, aahhh!”
Belorkin kicked off the ground and began to run.
Due to the pouring rain, the swamp swelled, gradually engulfing his legs up to the halfway point, but he couldn’t afford to care.
He was going to die.
He was going to die!
That thought consumed his mind entirely.
With his balance faltering, likely due to the loss of one eye, Belorkin just kept running.
Though it had seemed quick to arrive earlier, the swamp now stretched endlessly, no matter how far he ran.
The falling rainwater continuously obscured his vision.
The sticky swamp clung to his legs.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
Meanwhile, the slow, approaching footsteps of the Thousand-Face Demon behind him tightened his mental grip.
Within the World Erosion, Belorkin felt himself grow infinitely small.
And then, countless thoughts began to surge within him.
He was Belorkin of the strongest family in the Starlon Kingdom, the Balheim family.
But now, what kind of pathetic state was this?
All the knights who had accompanied him were lost in an instant, and now he was running madly in fear of the master of World Erosion.
He, a Balheim.
Surely.
Surely, Balheim was the strongest.
Then, as someone belonging to Balheim, he should also be the strongest.
This—this couldn’t be allowed to happen.
At that moment, what vividly came to his mind was Charlotte.
His half-sister and the dazzlingly brilliant star of Starlon.
What would she have done if she were here now?
Would she have run away like him?
Or would she have faced that monster head-on, sword in hand, and struck it down?
Such thoughts kept welling up, unbidden, in his heart.
He was afraid.
If he returned like this, he didn’t know what kind of reproach he would face from his family.
And no matter how much he ran, the thought that the gap between him and Charlotte, which he could never close, would widen again.
His place in Balheim was gradually disappearing, and he feared he would be remembered as a fool overtaken by his younger sister, who was three years his junior.
He feared that he wouldn’t be able to fulfill the promise his late mother had made for him to become great when he was a child.
That shackle was driving Belorkin mad.
At that moment, a shadow once again loomed over his head.
Because of the swamp water that had risen to his waist, Belorkin’s steps slowed, and before he knew it, the Thousand-Face Demon had caught up to him.
When he realized this and hurriedly raised his sword—
The Thousand-Face Demon’s arm, far larger than his own body, was lifted high into the sky.
“Ah.”
It was the moment a very brief sound escaped from Belorkin’s lips.
Kwoooooooom!
The Thousand-Face Demon’s descending arm shattered the swamp, sending its waters soaring high into the sky.
Because of this, the swamp churned violently for a while, as if waves were crashing.
Beneath it, Belorkin’s figure was nowhere to be seen.
Only the rainwater quietly filled the place where someone had passed.
* * *
It was long after that when Belorkin finally opened his eyes.
His body felt heavy.
His condition was a mess.
His ribs ached as if they were stabbing into his lungs, and his body temperature was so low that he felt like his consciousness might fade.
On top of that, his clothes, soaked with swamp water, felt like lead.
Wearing thick clothes because of the cold had been a mistake.
‘Am I alive?’
Somehow, it seemed his body had barely moved in time to narrowly avoid the Thousand-Face Demon’s attack.
Of course, he hadn’t completely avoided it and had lost consciousness after being swept away by the wave caused by the Thousand-Face Demon’s attack.
After a moment, he realized that someone had slung his arm over their shoulder and was moving through the swamp.
As his barely opening eyes took in his surroundings, he noticed how small that shoulder was.
Almost like a child’s.
And soon after, he realized who the owner of that shoulder was.
“Kraush?”
The moment he called that name, the boy turned his head toward him.
There stood Kraush.
Like him, Kraush was drenched from the pouring rain, his hair a mess, but he wore a relieved expression.
Belorkin, whose mind had been filled with thoughts of the Thousand-Face Demon and Charlotte, belatedly realized that Kraush had come with him.
“Brother, you’re awake?”
“How are you—no, how are you alive?”
“Well, I stayed far away since it was dangerous, as I always do.”
Was that so?
It seemed that, thanks to that, unlike the knights, he hadn’t been exposed to the curse.
Yet, somewhere in Belorkin’s heart, he couldn’t accept this situation.
The fact that Kraush was supporting him and walking was gnawing at some part of his heart.
Belorkin’s self-esteem had been utterly shattered during his earlier retreat.
In such a situation, the thought of receiving help from Kraush, whom he had always considered beneath him, felt like it was trampling on the last shred of his pride.
“Enough. I’ll walk on my own.”
Belorkin removed his arm from Kraush’s shoulder and took a moment to catch his breath.
Perhaps something inside him had been damaged during the earlier impact, as his breathing was uneven.
On top of that, his aura wasn’t functioning properly.
But it wasn’t to the point where he couldn’t walk at all.
Even if he couldn’t walk, he had no intention of accepting Kraush’s help.
“Brother, your condition isn’t normal. Please don’t—”
“I said enough!”
Belorkin shouted at Kraush, who was trying to support him again.
How dare even someone like you try to help me? He lashed out and pushed Kraush away.
Kraush, as if he had no choice, withdrew his hands.
Belorkin glared at Kraush and barely managed to steady his breathing.
‘Yes, that’s your place.’
In any case, in this situation, there was nothing you could do, so just wallow in your helplessness.
As Belorkin thought this and tried to move forward again—
Thud!
A heavy footstep echoed across the entire swamp.
The moment he heard that sound, Belorkin instinctively flinched.
Because the owner of that sound was none other than the Thousand-Face Demon.
“K-Kraush, how far have we gotten?”
Belorkin asked, trying to grasp the situation.
But Kraush, with a serious expression, looked around.
“I don’t know. Even though we’ve walked quite a bit, we still can’t see the outside. It’s possible the World Erosion has sealed itself off.”
Hearing Kraush’s words, Belorkin’s face turned pale.
If that were true, it meant they couldn’t leave until they killed the Thousand-Face Demon.
Thud!
Once again, the sound of the Thousand-Face Demon’s footsteps echoed in the distance.
“Damn it, damn it.”
“Brother.”
As Belorkin showed signs of panic, Kraush called out to him.
“I have an idea.”
“An idea?”
Belorkin raised his head at the thought that even Kraush might have a solution.
Though he didn’t like the idea, Belorkin forced himself to suppress his feelings, thinking that survival was the priority.
“Yes, you’ve heard about how I fought Aniks, haven’t you?”
Of course, he remembered.
Belorkin still found it hard to believe, but there were indeed rumors that Kraush had fought Aniks to a draw.
“The reason I was able to do that was because I learned a secret technique from our sister.”
At that moment, Belorkin’s body stiffened.
He immediately realized that the sister Kraush was referring to was Charlotte.
“…From Charlotte?”
Kraush nodded again.
Would Charlotte really teach anyone anything?
That thought crossed his mind, but Charlotte and Kraush were born of the same blood.
Perhaps, without his knowledge, she had made an exception for Kraush.
And if Kraush’s draw with Aniks was thanks to Charlotte’s secret technique, it started to make sense.
After all, Belorkin had experienced her genius firsthand, to an excruciating degree.
“Does that secret technique mean you can take him down?”
“I can’t be certain, but I believe it’s worth a try rather than dying here with our strength completely drained.”
Belorkin bit his lip briefly.
He didn’t know what kind of secret technique it was, but Kraush had seen the Thousand-Face Demon firsthand.
And yet, if Kraush said it was worth trying, it was clear the technique was extraordinary.
“…You’re telling me this because you have a favor to ask, right?”
“Your Ignis can ignite any flame, can it not?”
“Yes, and?”
“I would like you to ignite my aura with that flame.”
Belorkin belatedly realized what Kraush was planning.
Kraush intended to combine Belorkin’s flame with the secret technique to take down the Thousand-Face Demon.
“I know you don’t trust me.”
Seeing Belorkin hesitate, Kraush spoke again.
“But you trust our sister’s skills, don’t you?”
And the words that followed were enough to put an end to Belorkin’s hesitation.