“Sir, what? Ah, this?”
Even though they were far away from each other, they both had exceptional hearing and had no problem hearing each other. Although Zich’s question wasn’t what people normally expected a master to say when they saw their servant in danger, Hans calmly replied to his question. He already knew what type of person Zich was.
“It just came out when I pulled it.”
“Woah!” Zich showed his admiration and stared at Hans and Estellade.
“I can’t believe it.” Lyla, who was next to Zich, whispered next to him, “I thought that sword chooses its owner selectively. How could two people pull it out in this short time frame?”
Even though Lyla still had no energy, she had to share her thoughts out loud in this bizarre situation.
“Personally, I think that sword is losing its mind.” Zich agreed with Lyla’s sentiments. But he also added, “Since Hans is so stupid, he probably meets Estellade’s standards for choosing its master.”
“But before that, you were able to pull it out.”
“Yes, that’s the real mystery.” Zich sincerely thought there was not a single reason why Estellade chose him as its owner. Hans and Snoc ran to Zich.
“Congratulations. Since you now have a holy sword, you are one step closer to becoming a hero. You might even receive the title of hero now. I used it before, and its abilities are good. But it seems like that sword’s ability to select its owner is broken.” Zich congratulated Hans.
“Ah, t-thank you. I’m also glad that Sir Zich and Ms. Lyla are fine.”
“It’s a million years too early for you guys to start worrying about me.”
Hans and Snoc were reassured by Zich’s cocky tone. This was the Zich they were most familiar with, but Hans was a bit worried about himself.
“S-Sir Zich! Were you the one who made the most recent attack?” Snoc hurriedly asked this out loud to Zich.
Hans also listened carefully to Zich’s next words. Even though Hans had wanted to ask this since Zich arrived, he missed his chance to ask since Zich asked him about Estellade. Zich stared at the sword that looked like a tree branch in his hand.
“I picked up something awesome in the place where we were teleported into. Sadly, I can’t continue using this power, but it doesn’t matter. I currently have enough strength to blow away all the guys who ambushed this city.”
Zich looked around the battlefield. The battle was still at a standstill. Then Zich discovered Imor, who was staring intensely at Lyla. “It looks like you two were struggling against that guy. Is he the top leader?”
Hans replied, “Yes, he seems like it. He said his name is Imor.”
“Ah, is that so? He definitely looks like he is part of the organization that makes demon people, but it’s my first time hearing one of their names.”
‘Does he have loose lips?’ Hope filled up in Zich’s heart.
“Hey! For what purpose have you—!” Zich’s words were cut off when Imor raised his hand. He was directly pointing his hand towards Lyla.
“Catch her!” Imor amplified his voice with mana, and the underlings around him began to move again. It was a very surprising sight. Even though their comrades had burst from an unknown attack, they immediately responded to Imor’s command; that was how well-trained the robed figures were and how precise their attacks were.
But Zich couldn’t care less. ‘Ah, my words got cut off. It feels cruddy.’
Since Imor was the first robed figure ever to reveal his name, Zich thought he might be able to strike up a conversation with him; but this possibility had completely disappeared now. The robed figures moved towards Zich, or more specifically towards Lyla. There were even some who ran towards the soldiers near Lyla. They probably thought that they couldn’t afford any hindrances when trying to capture Lyla.
‘I guess there’s no need for me to restrain myself.’
Zich lifted the sword in his hand higher. He felt Imor stare intently at him. It seemed as if he knew that Zich was the one who made the most recent attack and raised his guard.
‘Try me.’ Zich swung his sword at the guys running towards him. When it looked as if Zich was about to make his attack, various reactions manifested—some raised their swords and some tried to use their abilities to defend. It was all futile.
Slice!
Zich just made one cut. His opponents were surprised that their swords were destroyed, and their attacks were nullified. They fell into despair and felt intense pain as they watched their body parts fall to the ground. And when they saw that their comrades had turned into the same state as the monsters, they became horrified. But this was the last thought they had.
Thud! Thud!
Without differentiating between monsters and robed figures, they were all split into two and fell to the ground. As if a giant hand was only scratching the areas where they were, a large empty space appeared in front of Zich. It was a space devoid of all life, with only corpses.
Imor shouted, “Keep trying to push him back!”
Zich’s power didn’t seem like it belonged to a human. He looked as if he could completely wipe out an army of monsters by himself. Even while watching Zich’s display of strength, Imor didn’t waver even once and continued to command his army towards Zich. Like this, Zich’s opponents rushed to their deaths.
Zich didn’t even make large movements. He merely wielded his sword lightly, and all the enemies in that direction were shredded apart. However, his enemies continued to fill the space in front of him with more numbers. But even that did not last long. Since Zich was so overwhelmingly strong, their superior numbers had no effect on him.
Kuaaaaaa!
Another group of monsters was crushed. Blood and flesh rained down on the battlefield. On the other hand, a group of monsters managed to survive Zich’s overpowering attacks. It was a group of monsters that looked like insects with firm exteriors. This group had used other monsters as shields and inched closer to Zich. But their efforts weren’t very significant. With another swing from Zich, all the insect-like monsters split in two.
Yet, their efforts were not insignificant—at least to Imor.
‘Now!’
His eyes sparkled.
Bam!
Pieces of the insect-like monster burst in the air. Inside this explosion, a string sword came out from the monster’s blood and fluid. Imor had attached his string sword to one of the insect monster’s backs. Therefore, he was able to make an attack in very close proximity to Zich.
Zich moved his sword back, but the string sword was faster. The string sword wrapped itself around the branch-like sword. The sword’s shape was perfect for twisting the string sword around it. With all his strength, Imor pulled on his string sword.
The tree branch sword dropped from Zich’s hand and flew on top of the city wall. Imor felt a keen sense of euphoria at his accomplishment. Lyla, Hans, and Snoc were completely shocked; they thought that Zich was able to show such a large amount of strength due to that tree branch sword.
Swoosh!
The string sword wrapped itself around Zich’s body. A part of Zich’s clothes ripped off and dropped to the ground. The string sword reached Zich’s skin, and it seemed as if the sword was going to rip off Zich’s body at any moment.
‘Nice!’
Imor did not miss the conversation that Zich and Snoc shared. He did not know who Zich was, but by looking at Zich’s movements and listening to their conversation, he knew that Zich’s enormous strength was only temporary and depended on the sword he was carrying. For that reason, he tried to steal the sword from the very start. Even though Zich’s strength was so overwhelming to the point that he thought he might not be able to take Zich’s sword, Imor could not give up this mission. And contrary to his expectations, he was able to take away Zich’s sword with complete ease.
‘He was caught off guard!’
This was the only thought Imor had. In order to punish his opponent who was foolishly consumed by his own powers and lost his power so easily, Imor pulled his string sword with his fingers.
‘It’s over!’
Squeeze!
The string sword squeezed Zich’s body as if it was going to cut it into pieces. Imor predicted that he would soon see blood, bones, and organs pour out of Zich’s body, and even this flesh and bones would soon be cut apart. However, his prediction was off.
“What—! What is t-this—!” Imor continued to pull his string sword. He infused a huge amount of mana into his muscles and pulled with all his weight. However, the fully extended string sword didn’t budge an inch, and Zich’s body was not cut apart in the slightest.
“Did you think you won?” A twisted laugh filled the space between them.
Hans and Snoc’s bodies relaxed after staring at Zich tensely. They realized what Zich was doing.
“Pweh, really…”
“I really thought my heart was going to burst.”
Koo…
Hans, Snoc, and Nowem all let out a sigh of relief in order.
“Huh? What?” Only Lyla did not know what was happening and looked confused.
“What just happened?”
Hans replied, “It’s Sir Zich’s awful hobby. It’s better for you to see it firsthand.”
As he said, Lyla decided to continue watching the situation. Imor was now completely astounded. No matter how strong a person was, no matter how tough their skin was, there had never been a person who survived when he fully extended his string sword like this. Even though his string sword was flexible and soft, it was tough and sharp, and most of all, very strong—his string sword was infamous for these characteristics. However, his sword was unable to harm Zich.
“Tch!” Imor released the bind to retrieve his string sword.
Catch!
But before he could retrieve it, Zich caught the sword with his strong grip.
“Ugh!” Imor tried to pull his sword, but he was unable to pull the string sword from Zich’s grasp. The sword string merely swayed slightly according to Imor’s movement.
“Attack!” Imor ordered his underlings who had stopped attacking since Imor caught Zich to start attacking again. Zich gripped a portion of the string sword he was holding with his other hand.
Ripp!
The tough string sword was cut much too easily. Imor let out a groan. The cut portion of the string sword was as tall as an average male. The string sword in Zich’s hand drooped to the ground. Then, Zich walked forward and began swinging the string sword in his hand.
Crasssssssssh!
An explosion incomparably louder than the ones before erupted. The ground in front of Zich completely flipped over. Those caught by the impact were disassembled and their body parts were scattered in all directions. The string sword was a thin and sharp sword that was used to slice and rip opponents; it was not a weapon that was suitable for letting out explosive powers. However, Zich was able to overcome this basic principle and used it however he wanted.
Zich spun the string sword a few more times. As people watched a weapon that looked like it couldn’t even blow a breeze create such a devastating impact, people trembled from head to toe. Even the military forces from Violuwin maintained a good distance from Zich. If they moved even a bit closer to Zich, they would be mercilessly caught in his attack.
Tap!
Zich stopped walking. In a matter of moments, he was right in front of Imor who was frozen in place. Zich’s strength was so overwhelming that he couldn’t even run away, and he stared dumbly at Zich.
“Did you think that my strength came from that sword?” Zich continued, “So, when you took my sword, did you think victory was completely in your grasp?”
Grab!
“Agh!”
Zich grabbed Imor’s neck and lifted him up by his neck. Imor’s feet struggled in the air.
“You’re not completely wrong. The reason why I’m strong is definitely because of that sword. But you are wrong about that sword’s ability.” Zich looked up at the wall that his sword fell on top of. Even though the tree branch sword dropped from his hand, he didn’t think that anyone would steal or take it from him.
Zich looked back at Imor. “Honestly, I don’t know the exact ability of that sword. The power I got from that sword is just temporary, but I’m very satisfied with the result. It’s actually very simple. The sword lets me use all the mana I have.”
As a result, Zich went back to the days when he used to be called the Demon Lord of Strength, Zich Moore. Of course, his current power was not the same as his past life. His current body was significantly worse than when he was a Demon Lord. The gap between his body and his mana was enormous. But even with this gap, it was easy for him to defeat Imor’s armed forces.
“As you can tell, even if I don’t have the sword in my hand, my strength doesn’t disappear. You didn’t take my sword away from me; I just let it go. Because even without it, I have no problem dealing with the likes of you.”
And Zich also did this because he wanted to see his enemies’ hopeful faces. “How about it? How was your sweet moment of hope?”