Act 49

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I only came here to find her to change the grades on Linne’s practical exam.

But what is this situation?’

I struggled to understand the situation as I saw Linne lying on the ground and a man standing in front of her, holding a sword.

“What business do you have here? You don’t seem like someone who would be connected to the academy with such manners.”

However, I opened my mouth with a mocking tone, pretending to be calm.

It was natural for me to say something that ‘Julian’ would say, having become accustomed to this body.

“It’s been a while, Julian. Is this the first time we’ve met face to face since the monastery? How I’ve longed to see your face.”

The man, whose face was half disfigured from a burn, growled at me, leaving Linne behind.

As he turned to me, I felt a strong murderous intent that seemed to skin me alive.

Ah, I see.

I had felt this murderous intent before at the ‘Gennel Monastery.

He is a Bishop rank of the Dawn Society and former vice-captain of the Chevalier Knights. Also, the one who gave ‘Replica Horns’ to Joshua, Alphas Mayfield.

“Your current face looks better than your original one, Sir Alphas.”

As I called his name with a tone full of scorn, Alphas’s lips twisted grotesquely.

“It’s a wound I got fighting a wizard who was after me. Indeed, a fourth-tier wizard. So, I personally cut off his limbs and fed them to the dogs.”

“That’s why you shouldn’t give ‘dangerous things’ to just anyone. Thanks to you, an ‘Important sample’ didn’t go missing, did it?”

“Haha, your sharp tongue hasn’t changed.”

Considering what this guy does, we must be terribly entwined with bad karma. What kind of things has ‘Julian’ been up to?

First, I stopped my stray thoughts and considered why Alphas came to the Bayer Academy.

To resolve the grudge against ‘Julian’? That doesn’t seem right…

‘…Could it be Aiden’s order?’

Joshua said he received the ‘Horn’ from this guy. That ‘Horn’ is something Aiden is making to fulfill his long-standing ambition.

In conclusion, Aiden must have sent him to eliminate me because his experiment was interfered with.

And Linne… after all that searching, he finally found her.

Initially, the situation was perplexing, but after a bit of thought, it all came together easily.

Anyway, killing him should solve everything.

Thinking like ‘Julian’, I reached for the sword at my waist.

However, I was struggling to stop Julian’s body from attacking Alphas.

Listen to me, you body, Linne is innocent over there.

Despite a colleague being there, the instinct to kill the enemy, true to Julian’s nature, continued to drive Julian’s body to move.

“By the way, this lady. She uses swordsmanship similar to what you used.”

Perhaps noticing my unease, Alphas grabbed Linne’s neck, who was lying at his feet.

‘Damn it!’

The reason for avoiding the meeting with the Sword Saint was to avoid becoming like in that ‘trailer’ video.

The protagonist of “Let’s Kill the Demon Lord” is not ‘Julian’ but the Sword Saint, Linne, and their companions.

The death of a main character could have unpredictable effects on the main storyline.

And that’s a disadvantage even for me, who has a rough understanding of the story’s main content.

‘What should I do?’

As I watched Linne being lifted up like a corpse without any resistance, I fell into deep thought.

“It seems she too has learned swordsmanship from the Sword Saint?”

“Yes, she is my fellow disciple. Unfortunately, that is.”

“Is that so? Haha.”

Laughing, Alphas threw Linne towards me.

In the moment I instinctively went to catch her floating body, I felt a red swirl of ‘rage’ and a murderous intent piercing my skin from beyond my vision blocked by Linne’s body.

[Amazing Intuition]

[The Color of Denial]

Alphas’s blade, which I could clearly perceive without seeing.

The aura filled with murderous intent was rushing mercilessly to slice through both Linne and me.

Cut through.

My innate intuition and Julian’s mindset shouted to disregard Linne and just slash, but I hugged Linne’s body and rolled to the side.

“Grrr!”

In that process, Alphas’s sword grazed my back, leaving a long wound.

Blood was clearly left where I had rolled, and a dizzying pain struck my mind.

“Puhaha!”

Laughing as if to mock my appearance, Alphas began to laugh heartily.

“You’ve changed a lot, Julian Crypart Frason!”

The guy, shaking off the blood from his sword, began to express his aura with his whole body.

Strong confidence! That was the feeling I got from his aura.

“If it had been the old you, you wouldn’t have protected that woman; instead, you would have pierced through her to aim for my throat!”

He said to me with a voice laced with arsenic.

Pierce through her to aim for his throat? Is he serious right now?

Linne is Sword Saint Hayden’s direct disciple and could be considered his closest associate.

Naturally, if something were to happen to her, the Sword Saint would mobilize all his power to find the culprit.

And what if the ‘Dawn Society’ gets exposed in the process?

And if it becomes known that I’m associated with the ‘Dawn Society’?

‘Shouldn’t you have been able to figure that out when I said she was my fellow disciple!’ 

What a fool.

“The murderous intent is still there.”

Perhaps feeling irritated with me, Alphas smirked bitterly and raised his sword.

“But compared to the past, your infamy is undeserved!”

What have I done now?

Uttering unnecessary sentiments, Alphas kicked off the ground and ran straight at me, swinging his sword filled with aura.

Fast.

But not too fast to handle.

Clang!

Instantly drawing my sword from its scabbard, I infused it with aura and deflected his sword, but his onslaught didn’t end there.

Pat.

He kicked off the wall, changing his trajectory, and swung his sword at me again.

Kaang!

The sword, heavy with the weight of his body and filled with aura, was incredibly heavy.

Just these two exchanges alone were enough to realize that this was different from any swordsman I had faced before.

[Born Swordsman]

But the effort I put into playing ‘Julian’ was never in vain.

The series of movements as he swung his sword.

I could clearly capture his swordplay.

And just like when facing a ‘demon’, Julian’s body whispered that bringing the sword here would be effective.

“Kr, Kruk!”

A series of strikes, then another series.

Within the exchange of swords, Alphas began to frown, perhaps sensing that his skills were being outmatched.

He tried to press me with a more intense attack filled with aura than before. The more he did, the quicker his breathing became, and his sword’s tip wavered.

I felt the peak of his impatience when he took a deeper step towards me and raised his sword.

That thought of wanting to end it quickly.

I threw a bit of bait at him, appearing impatient. Within the seamless series of strikes, I intentionally exposed a weakness that Alphas couldn’t notice.

Specifically, the guard above my neck was not solid. Noticing this, he attempted a full-powered downward slash, trying to close the distance.

However, responding to an anticipated attack was not difficult.

That decision to end it quickly is what killed you.

I dodged the sword coming down towards my head by stepping to the side, then shifted my gaze to Alphas’s abdomen, which was clearly visible.

If I were to slash with my sword stained in moonlight, even if he defended with aura, it would split him without trouble.

Huh? …Wait.

If I were to slash Alphas’s abdomen, it would undoubtedly end in a fatal wound.

That means…

I would be committing murder.

The only people I’ve killed with my own hands until now were those transformed into demons.

I killed without hesitation because I swung my sword with the thought of killing demons.

But Alphas is still human.

“Die, Julian!”

While I was lost in thought, Alphas’s sword, which had changed its trajectory towards my head, exploded on my body before I knew it.

From my left shoulder to my abdomen.

So much blood flowed that I couldn’t cover it with my hands, causing my head to spin, and I stumbled backward from sudden dizziness.

“You fool! You lost your focus!”

With a voice full of rage, Alphas continued to swing his sword.

A series of relentless attacks.

Even within Alphas’s storm-like offense, my body could do nothing but evade, unable to mount a counterattack.

“Cough.”

Blood from the sword wound started to stain my coat red.

Damn, that was my favorite coat.

Even being annoyed by such thoughts at this moment is irritating.

‘Murder’

That sticky feeling was directed at myself, unable to take Alphas’s life a moment ago.

There was a moment when I could have taken control.

There was definitely a moment when I could have ended that arrogant Alphas’s life.

But why didn’t I finish it?

“How easily I could kill you. Have you weakened compared to the past, Julian!”

I somewhat understand the reason.

It’s because of Lee Si-hoo’s mindset, who has never committed murder in his life until now.

Lee Si-hoo’s heart instinctively suppressed Julian’s body, which was about to slice open Alphas’s abdomen.

And the shallow, complacent thought that maybe I could get out of this situation without dirtying my hands led me to this dire situation.

“How about it, Julian! Does the incident at Banpist Bridge not come to mind? The situation is different now, but still!”

This isn’t right.

Alphas is exuding murderous intent, trying to kill ‘Julian,’ and am I to let him go just like that?

That’s not something ‘Julian,’ the ‘Smiling Executioner,’ would do.

With this mindset, facing the dangers ahead will be insufficient.

I decided to play the perfect villain to survive.

***

With a bitter smile, Alphas looked at the wounded man before him.

The empire’s laughing executioner, Julian Crypart Frason.

The fact that he could put an end to the chronicles written by Julian until now made Alphas’s body heat up with excitement.

“You are powerless, too powerless.”

Along with mocking words, Alphas raised his sword, soon to cut off Julian’s breath.

‘I can’t let you go that easily. Just like you did, shouldn’t I do the same?’

Before putting an end to it, Alphas wanted to savor this pleasure a bit longer.

“Crawl between my legs, Julian. Then, I might spare your life.”

Alphas offered this with a sneer, in a haughty tone.

An obvious lie.

The mockery hidden behind the offer.

Any noble lineage would throw away their pride and honor when their life was at stake.

Alphas didn’t doubt that the man before him would do the same.

The ‘laughing executioner’ who would never bow his head under the weight of pride.

It would be utterly ridiculous for him to lose his self’ and crumble.

“Banpist Bridge… I have lost the memory of that time.”

Contrary to expectations, Julian’s response was not what Alphas had hoped for.

“To be precise, after the incident that led to rumors of ‘memory loss’… No! ‘Julian’ might as well be considered dead.”

Julian continued to murmur to himself.

Hearing this monologue, Alphas couldn’t help but sneer at him.

“Going crazy when death approaches, it seems.”

“This is a fact I haven’t told anyone. If this fact were to spread like a rumor, it would endanger my personal safety.”

“What exactly are you trying to say…”

A series of incomprehensible statements.

The only thing Alphas could somewhat understand was that Julian was out of his mind.

“Indeed, everything depends on the state of mind.”

[Emotion heightened.]

[The unique trait, ‘Opened Eyes,’ has manifested.]

Swoosh.

Julian’s eyelids, which were always closed, opened.

…Gasp.

At that moment, Alphas felt an overwhelming murderous intent piercing through his entire body, causing his hair to stand on end.

The immense murderous aura made his mind reel.

Along with the mastery of swordsmanship, his own instincts, which had heightened, reflexively swung his sword towards the murderous intent pouring down on him.

However.

“Kr, Kraaaak!!!!”

The realization that the opponent’s realm was far beyond what his instincts could perceive.

Grimacing from the terrible pain of being sliced, Alphas looked at his right arm.

It was gone.

From the cleanly severed right arm, only bright red blood spurted out like a fountain.

“Killing a person… It’s not that difficult after all.”

Enduring a pain that could have made him lose consciousness immediately, Alphas looked at Julian with eyes reddened from burst blood vessels.

“You must die here. ‘Julian’ has decided so.”

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