Episode 537: Return of the Demon Cultist
Thud!
Crash!
With a dull thud, Helmut was sent sprawling by the stream. The water soaked his lower body, mingling with the blood that seeped from his wounds.
Regaining his senses, Helmut gritted his teeth and sprang to his feet. “You insolent bastard…!”
Just as Helmut lunged at Sabikang, the latter sidestepped with a fluid grace, evading the attack. Sabikang swiftly moved behind the staggering Helmut and delivered another powerful kick.
Wham!
Crack! Crash!
A tree snapped in half, crashing down alongside Helmut, who struggled to rise but soon collapsed back onto the ground.
Sabikang approached, looking down at Helmut with a cold expression. “Get a grip.”
“You… how dare you speak to me like that…?”
“Both of us are being hunted by those self-righteous demons, aren’t we? Do you still want to wallow in your delusions of grandeur?”
“Shut up.”
Helmut spat out the blood pooling in his mouth and sat up. Feeling parched, he staggered past Sabikang to the stream, plunging his face into the water and drinking deeply. The cool water cleared his head a little.
The stream reflected his face back at him—eyes of an unnatural gray. A bitter laugh escaped his lips. Abandoned by humans, he had become a demon out of sheer rage. And now, even the demons had cast him aside.
‘I’m so tired of this.’
From the moment he was born a prince of a small kingdom, his life had been nothing but a tool for others. He had miraculously escaped the chaos, but how much longer could he endure?
“If you’re done resting, we should move,” Sabikang suddenly said.
Helmut sneered. “Do you even realize how dire our situation is?”
“Of course. But one thing’s clear.”
“And what’s that?”
“I’ve faced far worse than this. This doesn’t even come close to my worst.”
With that, Sabikang began to walk away, leaving Helmut to watch his retreating figure with a wry smile.
“Fine, let’s see how much further you think you can fall before you hit rock bottom.”
**
Night had fallen, and the air was chilly. It had been a long, grueling day. Surviving felt like a miracle. How many of Helmut’s knights had made it through? Perhaps none but himself.
‘Hound…!’
The thought made his blood boil. Aranius had no idea that traitor was among them. Not that it mattered. Aranius had never been fond of him anyway.
Grinding his teeth, Helmut clenched his fists. He wanted nothing more than to hunt down Hound and end him.
A rustling sound caught his attention. Helmut, eyes closed, reached for his sword, tense and ready. His gray eyes fixed on the trembling bushes, prepared to strike if necessary.
But it was only Sabikang who emerged, and Helmut let out a sigh of relief, leaning back against the tree. Sabikang had gone hunting and returned with a yakun, a creature resembling a deer but with a tough, reptilian hide.
“Impressive, finding food even now,” Helmut remarked.
“You have to eat to have strength, and you need strength to survive.”
“And what do you plan to do with that survival?”
“As long as I’m alive, there’s always a chance.”
Helmut flinched at Sabikang’s intense gaze. Where did such determination come from? Was it mere human recklessness? As a demon, Helmut couldn’t comprehend such emotions.
Watching Sabikang quietly prepare the yakun, Helmut spoke. “You don’t know the hell I’ve been through. Why I became a demon.”
“I don’t need to know.”
Helmut chuckled. What drove such fearless behavior? Most humans wouldn’t dare meet a demon’s gaze. But now, he found he didn’t care what Sabikang thought of him. They were in the same boat—a human hunted by demons and a half-demon.
He began to recount his story, how he became a demon, who he once was. It was so long ago that he felt nothing. As a demon, personal emotions were a thing of the past.
“…and that’s how I became a demon.”
“I see,” Sabikang replied, his tone indifferent. It was hard to tell who was the demon and who was the human.
Helmut asked with a bitter smile, “I sacrificed everything to gain power as a demon. But you… what keeps you going?”
Instead of answering, Sabikang tossed something at Helmut’s feet—a chunk of raw yakun meat, still dripping with blood.
“Eat. You’ll need your strength.”
“Eat this? It’s not even cooked.”
Sabikang shrugged. “If you don’t want it, don’t eat it. Lighting a fire would give away our position. Even using magic to cook it would create smoke and a scent.”
Sabikang bit into the raw meat, unfazed by the blood. He glanced at Helmut, who watched with disgust.
“That’s the difference between us. How do I endure? Like this. Relentlessly. Without compromise. I do everything I can. But what about you?”
”…”
“You compromised. That’s the difference. You never faced yourself. You were too busy running away, ignoring the pain right in front of you. But I faced my pain head-on, and eventually, I found answers.”
“Shut up! What do you know? I sacrificed everything…!”
Sabikang chuckled, and Helmut’s anger deflated. Sabikang’s icy gaze pierced him.
“Sacrificed? What? Your kingdom and people? Don’t make me laugh. That wasn’t your sacrifice; it was theirs. You used them as pawns for your revenge and ambition. Yet you act like the victim, as if you sacrificed everything, as if you’re the only one who’s right.”
“What do you know? From the moment I was born, I was cursed with a terrible fate…”
“Even if Count Adler manipulated you, your final choice is undeniable. You sold innocent lives to climb to your so-called throne.”
”…!”
Helmut trembled with rage, but he had no retort. Sabikang belched and sat down by the tree.
“In the end, you took the easy way out because you were a prince. But many can’t even do that. And many who can, choose not to.”
Sabikang settled into a meditative pose, closing his eyes. Helmut wanted to argue, but Sabikang raised a hand.
“Enough talk. Get some rest. We’ll have to fight again tomorrow.”
Soon, a strange energy emanated from Sabikang as he began his meditation.
**
Rustle… rustle…!
The faint sound of movement roused Helmut from his sleep. Dawn was breaking, and the air was damp with an unfamiliar scent.
‘Are they after us?’
Helmut cautiously reached for his sword, scanning the area. Sabikang was nowhere to be seen.
A thought crossed his mind. ‘Could he have… betrayed me?’
His life had been riddled with betrayal, so suspicion was his first instinct. But he quickly dismissed it. Sabikang had little to gain from selling him out. Perhaps he had simply gone his own way.
Just then—
Whoosh!
An arrow sliced through the air toward him.
Clang!
Helmut sprang up, deflecting the arrow. At the same time—
“Get him!”
“Charge!”
As expected, enemies charged from all sides, their murderous intent palpable.
Clang! Clang! Thud! Whoosh! Thud!
“Aaargh!”
“Ugh!”
Chaos erupted. Helmut swung his sword in a trance, driven by the instinct to survive. His body moved before his mind could catch up, his feet and hands acting on their own.
Slash!
“Aaaargh!”
Swish, thud!
“Ugh!”
With each swing of his sword, enemies fell like leaves in a storm.
The bodies of the demon horde piled up around him, a grim testament to his fury.
He was a demon in his own right, a beast starved for blood.
“Come at me! I’ll kill you all!”
Helmut roared like a fiend, his sword a blur of deadly motion.
The once-green forest was now stained a deep crimson.
But even Helmut wasn’t invincible.
The sheer number of foes was overwhelming.
As time dragged on, his strength began to wane.
Finally,
Swish, thud!
“Argh!”
Crack! Thud!
“Ugh!”
In a moment of distraction, an enemy’s blade pierced his side, and a hammer struck his shoulder.
Staggering back, Helmut barely had time to react as someone loomed up behind him.
“Damn…!”
He spun around just in time to see a hulking man bring down a massive iron axe.
Crash!
“Ugh!”
He managed to block it, but the force was too much, and the edge nicked his forehead.
Warm blood trickled down, blurring his vision.
Blinking against the flow, Helmut saw another flash of steel coming at him from the side.
Slash!
“Ugh!”
This time, the cut was deep.
Stumbling back, he leaned against a tree, glaring defiantly at the enemies surrounding him.
“Huff, huff, huff…!”
“Impressive.”
A familiar face emerged from the crowd.
It was Hound.
Beside him stood Duran, the leader of the Red Wolves, licking a dagger with a cross-shaped scar on his cheek.
“Let me handle this half-breed demon.”
“Be my guest.”
Hound nodded indifferently, stepping forward.
“Hound…!”
“You look furious, Helmut. But who are you really angry with? Me, for siding with the remnants of Baritan? Or the demons who tried to bring you down?”
“I don’t care about any of that! Right now, I just want to kill you!”
Helmut growled, baring his teeth.
Hound smirked but kept his distance. Even a wounded beast still had its fangs and claws.
No harm in being cautious.
He glanced around and spoke.
“Looks like that human’s gone. Smart move, really. Figured he could buy some time by throwing you to the wolves.”
Helmut panted, saying nothing. Part of him hoped that if he fell, Sabikang would survive and wreak havoc on the demon realm.
And then—
[Who said I left?]
Sabikang’s voice echoed from all directions, a disembodied presence that made it impossible to pinpoint.
Hound frowned, scanning the surroundings.
It was Sabikang’s Sixfold Echo.