Demon Sword of Soul Forging (3)

Jinggela was a demonic sword that Ian had excavated in his previous life.

It happened along the way while searching for Nightingale relics with Serana.

Back then, humanity needed as many relics as possible to fight against the demons, and the task of searching for and collecting them practically fell to Ian and Serana.

‘When I first obtained Jinggela, I was quite disappointed.’

He learned only after using it that it was a cursed demonic sword.

‘I thought I had completely wasted my time.’

Jinggela had a powerful ability to freely manipulate the target’s mind, but it had a fatal flaw: it also manipulated the user’s mind in the exact same way.

If, for example, the user implanted the suggestion “You love me” in someone, the user would also be brainwashed with “This person loves me.”

And if the user brainwashed someone with “You owe me 100 million gold,” the user would also come to believe “He owes me 100 million gold,” creating a false reality.

As a result, it was extraordinarily tricky to use, and the more one used Jinggela, the more the user would inevitably fall into madness due to the growing gap between manipulated memories and reality.

‘That’s why I eventually just locked it away in storage and hardly ever used it.’

But now, he could use it without restraint.

‘Because I have projected holy power from the Saintess.’

Jinggela’s mind manipulation stemmed wholly from its curse.

And the curse could simply be erased by holy power.

As long as he had holy power, Ian could completely negate the mind-manipulation curse Jinggela cast on its user, which meant he could use Jinggela at will without any risk.

‘Alright. Now then…’

Ian prepared to manipulate the mind of the assassin who was lying face down.

He gripped the Demon Sword of Soul Forging, Jinggela, in his right hand, and summoned holy power to his left.

—Puuk!

He lightly pricked the assassin’s temple, who was twitching on the ground, with the tip of Jinggela.

“U, uugh!”

With his left hand, charged with holy power, he touched his own forehead.

Thus, the preparations for mind manipulation were complete.

Ian infused aura into Jinggela and looked down at the assassin.

“From now on, you are not a human, but simply a machine that only answers my questions.”

—Uung!

At those words, Jinggela emitted a sinister glow.

“A-aaargh!”

The assassin’s face contorted violently for a moment, his whole body twisting.

And then—

—Chook…

The assassin went limp as if his soul had been drained.

Even the gaze, so full of fear and terror, was now utterly devoid of emotion.

—Hwaaak!

Ian released Atelas’s gravity, which had been pressing down on the assassin.

“……”

Even though the weight crushing his body had disappeared, the assassin lay motionless, face down.

The mind manipulation had succeeded.

Ian gazed down calmly at the assassin and asked,

“Who sent you?”

In a hollow, soulless voice, the assassin replied,

“… The Goldhound family… Maximilian…”

“Hm.”

Ian’s eyebrows twitched ever so slightly.

‘So he was sent by Goldhound.’

The reason was obvious.

‘They wanted revenge for Hector.’

About five years ago, Ian had gouged out Hector’s eyes.

‘Hard to believe it’s been five years already.’

He had indeed found it odd that Goldhound had remained so quiet for so long.

But now he realized they had been quietly waiting for an opportunity like today, when they had a clear shot at capturing Ian.

‘Foolish people.’

If they were going to target him, they should have done it sooner.

Of course, Ian had taken care to never give them an opening.

Trying to catch Ian without any risk had been their fatal mistake.

Now, Ian was far too strong to fall victim to such seedy schemes.

Currently, Ian was someone even Tywin, the head of the Goldhound family, would be hard-pressed to catch even with his own elite knights at his side.

This assassin, too, was clearly quite skilled, but compared to Ian, now at late-stage Grandmaster, he was utterly insignificant.

‘But with aura of this level, he must be someone with a notable reputation.’

Judging by the aura, this man’s level was at least high-rank Master or above.

If an assassin had reached this level, he’d be a leader of a major organization.

He could even be an executive of the world’s top assassination guild.

‘At the very least, I should know his name before I kill him. That way, if there are repercussions, I’ll be able to handle them.’

Someone could become his enemy, so he needed to know the name before killing him.

Ian asked the assassin,

“You. Affiliation?”

The assassin replied as if half-asleep.

“… Hand…”

Hand.

It was a name he knew.

One of the world’s three great assassin organizations.

As famous for its skills as it was for its exorbitant prices.

‘Goldhound must have spent a fortune.’

However, Ian had never been involved with Hand.

In his previous life, the Hand had disappeared without a trace before he had any dealings with them.

He could only suspect that they, too, had become sacrifices to the Demon Cult.

“Name?”

“Ivan… Federsen…”

As expected, it wasn’t a name he knew.

He’d never seen the face before either.

“Do you have a rank?”

“… Hand’s Finger… Second seat… Index Finger…”

“Oh.”

If he was one of Hand’s Fingers, he was among the top executives, and as Index Finger, he held a high rank even among them.

‘To think they’d send an executive of the Hand just to catch me.’

Goldhound must have been dead set on capturing Ian.

‘But it was all for nothing.’

Judging by the situation, they must have assumed Ian was at about Yuria’s level and sent this man, but that was woefully insufficient.

‘Still, someone at this level should be adequate to send back to Maximilian.’

—Uung!

Ian once again infused Jinggela with his aura.

“From now on, you are a machine that follows my orders absolutely.”

—Ssss!

Jinggela’s light seeped into the assassin’s temple again.

“Get up.”

—Stagger! Limp! Ssshk…

The assassin staggered to his feet.

Now Ian noticed that the man’s ankle had been snapped.

It seemed to have broken under the weight of Atelas a moment ago.

‘I’ll need to set the bones first.’

As he intended to send this one back directly to Maximilian, he should send him in top condition.

“Report all your injuries.”

“……”

The assassin began checking his body one by one.

“… Fractured ankle, hip dislocation… fractured ribs, orbital fracture… shoulder dislocation, ruptured liver… lacerated elbow…”

“……”

He was more injured than expected.

If Ian had left him alone, he’d probably have died.

That explained why his voice had sounded so lifeless.

It wasn’t because Jinggela had scrambled his mind, but because he was truly at death’s door.

—Crack! Crack! Thud!

Ian hurriedly treated the assassin.

He set the bones, used Authority of Projection to administer a potion.

There must have been considerable pain during this, but the assassin showed no sign of suffering.

He simply endured every procedure with a dead, blank expression.

“That should do it.”

Having finished the treatment, Ian asked,

“If I ordered you to kill Maximilian, could you do it? Without any help, all on your own?”

“……”

The assassin seemed to consider for a moment, then spoke.

“… It would not be difficult. It is entirely possible.”

—Nod.

Ian nodded in satisfaction.

“In that case, go and kill him. If you fail or are captured, commit suicide on the spot, by any means necessary. Also…”

There was a slight chance that if the assassin made contact with anyone else, Jinggela’s mind manipulation could wear off.

“Until Maximilian is dead, do not make contact with anyone. No conversations. No gesturing. No writing. All forms of communication are forbidden. Understood?”

“Yes. Understood.”

“No matter what happens, never let it be known that I was behind this. And…”

Ian paused briefly to think, then continued.

“Do you have any family?”

“I do not.”

“Any loved ones?”

“I do not.”

“Anyone who loves you?”

“… No.”

“What are your hobbies?”

“Torturing and tormenting assassination targets and listening to their screams.”

“… I see. Then, have you ever helped anyone, or saved a life, in your whole life?”

“No. I have only risen to this position through slaughter and competition.”

“… Alright. Then, once you’ve killed Maximilian, end your own life at once.”

“Understood.”

Ian had considered sparing him if he turned out to be a decent person.

But, it seemed he wasn’t worth saving.

If possible, feeding him to Vladiark in the end would have been best, but since Jinggela’s mind manipulation was not absolute, and could be undone with high-level dispel or an antidote, it was better to tell him to die early before any mishap could occur.

Besides, he wasn’t in a situation where Master-rank magic power was precious at all.

“Then leave immediately. Whether you succeed or fail, you don’t need to report back—just end your life on the spot, do not forget that.”

“Yes. Understood.”

—Paat!

The assassin dashed out from the labyrinth.

Ian watched his retreating figure for a moment, then wiped the blood from Jinggela.

Then, he too began to make his way out of the labyrinth.

It was time to head home, get a quick tune-up, and then go visit the Sword Fiend.

* * *

A week had passed since Lady Ross received Maximilian’s seed.

It was still too early for her to consciously notice the pregnancy, but Ross could feel it.

‘I’m pregnant.’

She could acutely sense the small life firmly taking root in her lower belly.

‘But…’

It had already been a week, so why hadn’t Maximilian come with any news?

‘And…’

She’d also heard a report that Ian, who was supposed to have been kidnapped, had returned to Sunshine Castle as if nothing had happened.

This meant the plan to kidnap Ian in the labyrinth had failed completely.

‘Just what happened…?’

Ross bit her thumbnail fiercely.

She was certain Maximilian had sent the Index Finger, so why was Ian fine, and where had Maximilian vanished to with no word?

‘Something’s wrong…!’

The entire atmosphere felt chilling.

A foreboding and certain premonition that something had gone terribly awry.

“Head Butler!”

Ross immediately summoned the head butler.

She couldn’t stand to sit idle any longer.

“Find lord Maximilian. Wherever he is, right this instant!”

“Y-yes! Understood!”

Seeing Ross’s grim expression, the head butler moved in haste.

Not long after, they located Maximilian.

He was in the forest he often frequented.

His personal training ground in the woods. A natural mana spot.

There, he lay with his throat slashed.

“H-huuuuuh!”

When she saw Maximilian’s corpse, Ross’s face turned pale.

‘Th-this…! What on earth is this!!!’

Maximilian, who had boasted he’d capture Ian, had become a cold corpse before anyone realized.

By his side lay the body of an unknown man.

Apparently, the two had fought to the death and perished together.

They identified the unknown man, but learned nothing.

They could only surmise he was a highly skilled swordsman judging from the well-developed muscles.

‘Wh-why…’

After the bodies were collected, Ross returned to her room and collapsed onto her bed in despair.

—Plop.

She placed a hand on her belly.

‘Wh-what should I do?’

When a family member died, the family head, Tywin, would abstain from intercourse for a significant period to mourn.

When his father died, Tywin didn’t share a bed with Ross for almost two years.

“I… I have to get rid of it!”

If Tywin came to her bed, she might be able to pass the child off as his, but with Maximilian dead, Tywin would not sleep with Ross for a long time, and as her belly swelled, the affair would surely be discovered.

Ross bit her thumbnail hard.

“Head butler! Call the head butler here!”

“Y-yes! Madam!”

Ross obtained a contraceptive through the most secretive channels.

But how could there only be one set of eyes and ears in the Goldhound estate?

Among these were many who resented Lady Ross for her past cruelty.

Now, even the terrifying Maximilian—a shield and source of strength for Ross—was gone…

It wasn’t long before rumors spread throughout the manor that Ross had secretly purchased contraceptives.

Inevitably,

The rumor quickly became a scandal of affair and adultery.

And the scandal soon reached Tywin’s ears.

“… Ross…?”

It was the moment the mistress of House Goldhound changed.

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

Yes, infidelity should have repercussions…

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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