There was no way such a blow was possible otherwise.
“Fugitive Maxim, you die here.”
That was when it happened.
From his chest, the bastard pulled something out.
A golden something shaped like a cup.
When he pressed its mouth to the ground.
Trickletrickletrickle!
A stream of water poured out and soaked the floor.
The water flowing across the floor soon sealed off the opening.
Even so, it kept pouring out without end.
Realizing what the water flowing from the golden cup really was, Maxim was horrified.
“A Holy Grail······?”
······A Holy Grail.
And one that produced that much high-quality holy water!
What is a Holy Grail?
It refers to a cup imbued with the holy power of the god the Church serves.
A true holy relic of the gods.
Naturally, no one but the Holy Emperor could even touch a Holy Grail.
And as far as Maxim knew, there was no Holy Grail that generated infinite holy water.
The holy water that poured out like that enclosed the surroundings like a barrier.
Whooshwhooshwhoosh!
Not stopping there, the bastard poured holy water over his own head.
There’s no other way to describe him but crazy.
I’d never seen anyone use holy water like that.
Even the Church’s top-tier holy knights wouldn’t use holy water that way.
Right after, that madman smiled.
“So, want to try running away like a bug again?”
Seeing that smile, Maxim couldn’t help but panic.
························ What the hell is this guy, really?
Trash belongs in the trash can
【Lv. 10.5】
Not 10 but 10.5.
That was Maxim’s level.
If he had transcended normally, his level would have been shown as ‘★’, but because the way Maxim raised his level wasn’t normal, the notation was different.
‘A demon worshiper.’
The thick stench oozing from him.
He had clearly gained a Demon Heart through demon worship and become stronger.
In this world, there isn’t just one kind of ‘evil’.
Demons, demon race, Death King, abyss······ all live while holding different roles and domains.
Among them, demons are beings that give out quests related to a very small number of ‘evil karma’.
No wonder Priest Andrew freaked out and asked, ‘Are you really a hero?’
‘No normal method will beat him.’
The gap in level, the gap in stats.
But I don’t care.
If I seal the power of that Demon Heart with holy water, that’s that.
With even his escape route blocked, we begin a duel to the death here.
“How ridiculous. No matter how you struggle, you can’t close the gap in level.”
However, Maxim had his own reason for not running.
Even if he couldn’t use the mana of the Demon Heart, the opponent’s level was only 6.
He might be able to stall me for a moment with a few tricks, but the result wouldn’t change.
Maxim took his stance.
I also took my stance.
Two Extreme Iron Swords.
The strongest swords that raise sword proficiency so you can see ‘Extreme’!
《Sword proficiency is corrected to Lv 7.》
《Sword proficiency is corrected to Lv 8.》
《Due to the ‘Extreme’ effect, sword proficiency is corrected to Lv 10.》
When these two blades raised proficiency by 4, reaching 10.
《Reproducing the ‘Heaven’ of Knight King Wilhelm’s swordsmanship, ‘Heaven and Earth Creation’.》
I was able to reproduce Wilhelm’s swordsmanship.
In Randolph’s body, carrying Wilhelm’s memories.
But it’s fine. I obtained the Knight King’s memories and experience intact through the stars.
“Uh······?!”
In an instant, Maxim reeled in shock.
The atmosphere changed.
The domain was seized.
The sword approaching slowly, for some reason, felt impossible to receive.
Swaak!
From top to bottom.
A sword swung plainly.
Cha-eng!
He hooks it aside with his dagger.
But he feels like he won’t be able to block the sword coming for his flank as well.
Instinctively he twists to avoid it and takes a step back.
Another step back.
Something’s wrong. Even though he can block it, why does it feel like he can’t?
‘That pressure······!’
Because the opponent’s pressure had changed.
Because he was being devoured by the opponent’s pressure.
It was the aura only a veteran swordsman could give off,
a swordsman who had lived his whole life with a sword in hand.
But isn’t the opponent a player?
‘How can a player radiate such a seasoned swordsman’s aura······!’
Chiiiiik!
His back burns.
A path blocked by holy water.
The energy of the holy water stood like a wall, cutting off Maxim’s retreat.
He should be crushing him down, but he can’t.
Instead, it was he who was being crushed.
Maxim bit his lip.
‘Don’t be scared. He’s still only level 6.’
Right. There’s no need to be scared from the start.
There’s no reason to get swallowed by his pressure.
If he chickens out against a mere level 6, he isn’t Maxim.
He gripped his dagger properly.
Steel meets steel.
An iron sword flies in slowly, clearly into view.
There’s no way he shouldn’t be able to block it, yet he can’t.
If he blocks one, the other vanishes from his mind.
A blind spot?
‘It isn’t even a strike aiming at a blind spot.’
There are sword arts that sometimes aim at blind spots.
But the opponent is coming straight at him.
He holds dual swords, yet they feel heavy as if he’s holding greatswords in both hands.
With pressure alone, he’s hiding one blade.
‘What kind of swordsmanship is this, anyway?’
Swordsmanship he has never seen, never experienced.
But it makes no sense.
How can a 4-level gap be overturned?
No matter how lofty the swordsmanship, if the stats are low it’s useless. You just crush them overwhelmingly with speed and strength.
“Is this all you’ve got?”
He said.
As if disappointed.
“With only this much, you spoke of salvation?”
······Damn it.
Maxim regretted it.
He should’ve run long ago.
Regret rises, but it’s already too late.
Just meeting his eyes,
those eyes deep like a bottomless abyss, turned his head blank white.
“With only this much.”
Clang!
Maxim threw his dagger.
He has to run.
We only traded ten exchanges, no, maybe more than that, but it doesn’t matter.
Now he knows.
The difference in skill.
That he can’t win.
The truth that level isn’t everything!
Chiiiik!
“Kuaaaagh!”
But he can’t cross it.
The wall of holy water.
His whole body feels like it’s burning away, and now he’s at a dead end.
Maxim turned around.
‘Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!!’
I want to live.
I want to live.
He wanted to live like crazy.
That madman drenched in holy water.
He’s no mere successor.
Maxim had been ignorant of his true martial might, but now he knows.
The one who subdued everything alone.
Called the Battle God,
the one whose name made even the rulers of the abyss convulse,
the nemesis of ten thousand demons.
······Knight King Wilhelm.
Not a single rumor about him had been exaggerated.
Everyone was wrong to think that his skill had rusted after becoming a player.
The man before him is Wilhelm himself, he finally understands that now.
Maxim’s regret was massive, but it was too late.
“With only this much, you called yourself a hero?”
“Ph, Phantom, p, please spare me······.”
Sskuk!
That was Maxim’s final scream.
***
It was disappointing.
Truly.
To talk about the 8 Heroes, heroes who stand shoulder to shoulder with me, with only this level of ability.
He was a man without honor or skill who got greedy.
‘His level is high, but his skill is pathetic.’
The instant I crossed blades with Maxim, I knew.
‘All this time he’s only fought those weaker than himself.’
Weak ones. Prey you can beat without any technique.
He fought them, and won.
And when he thought he couldn’t win, he ran without looking back.
So he’s only high-leveled on the surface. Even with high stats, he can’t use them properly.
Normally, it’s impossible to reach level 10 by fighting enemies weaker than yourself, but.
‘A demon worshiper. He leveled up through demon quests.’
Even Hudson was better.
Even in the worst of circumstances, he didn’t borrow a demon’s hand.
And one more piece of knowledge was added.
‘Gamers can’t become demon worshipers, but players can······.’
Demon worshipers.
They are traitors who betrayed the Goddess.
They hinder the Goddess and are set on sinking the continent into the abyss.
So in the game, quests to hunt such demon worshipers came up a few times.
But when you played the game normally, you couldn’t become a demon worshiper.
Yet now that I’m a player, even that is possible.
‘Those I thought were named NPCs are people, and those I thought were people have become demon worshipers.’
To become a demon worshiper is, in a sense, to abandon being human.
Because the power they give is never free.
‘So the one who hindered me was a demon worshiper?’
There were bastards who obstructed my play viciously.
Back then I couldn’t understand.
Why the hell were game NPCs betraying me this much?
Betrayal on top of betrayal on top of betrayal was the daily norm.
Thinking back, it was only natural for demon worshipers to hinder me, the one called the Goddess’s knight.
Slaaash!
I split Maxim’s belly.
Thump! thump! thump!
A black heart still beating.
I poured holy water over it.
-Kiaaaaaaah!
With a scream, the heart shrank and revealed its true form.
It was the shape of a small demon.
It struggled against the holy water, then stiffened like stone and died.
《Achievement ‘Demon hunter’ has been attained.》
《Player ‘Maxim’ has been slain.》
《You plunder ‘Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule(72h)’.》
When Maxim died, I plundered the Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule he had.
But this was only the beginning.
《The ‘Curse of Coordinates’ engraved in ‘Maxim’s’ heart is extinguished.》
The reason I killed the demon by sprinkling holy water.
If Maxim died, coordinates would have been transmitted automatically.
But every curse was washed away by holy water.
Since it stopped right after that, the coordinates couldn’t be transmitted either.
A laugh leaked out on its own.
‘If Maxim dies, a curse was set so coordinates would be sent to someone. Probably one of the 8 Heroes.’
No one but the 8 Heroes could have placed a Curse of Coordinates on Maxim.
One of them set this curse so that the moment Maxim died, they could come running immediately.
‘Maxim was bait.’
Was this also to target me?
Because they thought I’d go after the weakest Maxim first?
What’s certain is, someone handed Maxim a Demon Heart and disguised him as one of the ‘8 Heroes’.
A bastard careful enough to even put a curse inside the Demon Heart.
The curse vanished thanks to holy water, but still.
‘Interesting.’
They don’t seem to be complete idiots.
Whoever it is, things are turning out pretty fun.
What’s certain is that I won’t go easy on them anymore.
They aren’t NPCs, and this place isn’t a game.
They’ll soon learn that Maxim is dead.
They can verify it easily through the hall of fame, or the Golden Rule Shop.
Then there’s still only one thing I have to do.
‘Become overwhelmingly strong.’
Become so strong that they can’t even think about pulling tricks like this.
And then crush them overwhelmingly.
That was when.
<With the ‘King of Dead’ skill, you succeeded in dominating the dead ‘Maxim’.>
<‘Maxim’ is a ‘raid boss(Lv 10)’ dead.>
<By dominating ‘Maxim’, Agility permanently increases by 1.>
King of Dead activated and began to dominate Maxim.