Early TWEM Vol. 5 Chapter 9 Part 1 (Patreon)

Note: This part has not been TLCed yet, and might slightly differ from the public version.  If you found any typos/mistakes, pls write them in the comment. Thanks.

Translator: Jay_Forestier

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Chapter 9 - Fierce Battle Between a Devil and a Dragon

The devil, before anything, appeared above the building where he was summoned.

“Fufuu, what a nice view...To be on the safe side, let’s just make sure that no one can escape from this holy city or whatever it’s called——Eternal Prison!”

At the same time as he chanted this, a barrier was erected around the holy city.

This barrier would make it impossible for anyone to leave the holy city.

“That should do it...ooh, looks like there’s another existence besides humans in that place.”

The devil, who had been probing the area while looking around the holy city, noticed Zero's presence.

“He seems pretty strong, but not as strong as I am...only that man poses a threat. But I’ll let that man serve as the main dish. Before that, how shall I go about destroying the holy city.”

Muttering these words, the devil landed in front of a building.

And there, he suddenly opened his mouth.

“What can I do for you?”

“...And here I thought I'd concealed my presence so well. That ominous magic power. You’re a devil?”

“Yes, that's right. And who might you be?”

“I am Gawain Hazark, Captain of the Holy Knights of the Holy State of Belifaire.”

Gawain appeared in front of the devil.

His subordinates, the Holy Knights, had already gathered in the vicinity of the building and were surrounding the devil.

The devil politely introduced himself to Gawain and the others.

“How very kind of you. I don't have a name, but let’s see...you may call me Schwartz.”

“Schwartz, huh...I have a question.”

“Sure, go ahead. But only one, okay?”

Gawain opened his mouth, breaking out in a cold sweat at the unusual presence emanating from the handsome devil.

“What happened to the people who summoned you?”

“Oh, those people?”

“Yes.”

Schwartz smiled and answered.

“——I got their souls in exchange for granting their wishes.”

Gawain fell into deep thoughts in front of Schwartz, who licked his tongue happily.

(Does the fact that he is fully manifested in this way mean that Haruto failed to rescue Lady Ilmina...nah, could just be that he didn't make it in time to stop the summoning, but did rescue Lady Ilmina successfully. I really hope that is the case!)

Gawain's prayers or more of a speculation, was in fact spot on.

Haruto was currently trying to figure out how to get Ilmina out of there.

Schwartz smiled at Gawain, who was looking impatient.

“Now that I've answered your question, let me give you a piece of advice.”

“A piece of advice?”

As soon as Gawain asked that question, Schwartz released an extraordinary feeling of oppression.

“You’re all going to die if you try to take me on!”

Schwartz continued.

“To begin with, it was already over for you lot the moment you got caught within my barrier.”

“...What are you talking about?”

“When you die in this Eternal Prison, your soul is mine for the taking.”

“What the?!”

Schwartz added in front of the astonished Gawain and his subordinates.

“In addition, it also has the effect of weakening my opponents at my will.”

At that moment, Gawain and his men felt as if something was slipping out of their bodies.

The weakening measure Schwartz had just performed was to reduce the magic power and status of the adversary by 30%.

Dropped to 70% of their strength in one fell swoop, Gawain and the others staggered.

But they still rose to their feet and readied their swords to face the mighty devil in front of them.

“Even in your weakened state, you still want to fight me?”

“...It goes without saying. It is our duty as knights to protect the country!”

Hearing Gawain's words, the smile on Schwartz's face quickly faded.

“How boring. Then die and become my nourishment——Darkness Line.”

Schwartz swipes his hand to the side, leaving a single purple along its path.

Gawain, having a bad feeling about it, shouted as he crouched down.

“Put up a barrier or crouch down!”

At the sound of Gawain's voice, each of the knights tried to act.

“Too late!”

The next moment, the torsos of most of the nearly twenty Holy Knights slowly slipped away.

“——Oh god!?”

They were cleanly split in two along with their armors.

Then, a ball of light emerges from the crumbling bodies of the holy knights.

And the true nature of that ball of light is——

“Is that, the soul...?”

Schwartz nodded at Gawain's muttered words.

“Correct.”

Gawain and the surviving holy knights trembled with fear as they saw the souls being taken into Schwartz's body one after another. Some of them were so terrified that they let go of their swords.

“Pull yourselves together!  We are knights who protect this land! Ready yourselves for battle!”

Gawain's words reignited their will to fight.

There were only eight survivors, including Gawain. Even so, they cannot protect their country if they do not defeat the devil in front of them...nah, not quite, they themselves would not survive.

The eyes of the Holy Knights were filled with determination.

“Ahh, what exquisite souls.  I shall relish it with pleasure.”

“Shut the fuck up, you bloody devil! Here we go!”

The rest of the holy knights surrounded Schwartz as Gawain began to chant.

“I pray to thee o god. With thy holy power, seal all evil! ——Holy Octagon!”

At the same time all the holy knights, including Gawain, chanted this, a geometric magic circle was formed on the ground around Schwartz's feet, and light rose from the edges of the circle, forming a dome and trapping Schwartz within a barrier.

Schwartz, on the other hand, held out his hands, clasping and releasing it to feel the sensation.

“I see, a holy barrier indeed...it’s a little weak, so it’s all but pointless.”

Schwartz swung his arm away, and the barrier was destroyed followed by a clattering sound.

The level of the barrier, may as well not exist, to Schwartz.

“What the...? He broke the barrier?”

Schwartz then said to Gawain, whose eyes were wide open.

“You’ll do well to remember that I can easily destroy that kind of barrier like I just did...now then, how about I take your souls as fee for such a valuable lesson.”

As soon as he finished saying this, Schwartz's body blurred.

“Watch out!”

Gawain's warning came a step too late.

“Gahaa!”

One of the knights coughed up blood.

An arm with sharp claws protruded from his back.

When Schwartz pulled out the arm that had pierced his abdomen, the holy knight collapsed.

“Such fragile armor.”

Schwartz scoffed, and the dead knight's soul was absorbed.

Gawain raised his voice angrily as he watched the scene.

“——YOU FOUL BASTARD, HOW DARE YOU DESECRATE THE DEAD!”

“Desecrate the dead? This is normal practice for us devils though?”

“——You mongrel!!”

Gawain angrily slashed at Schwartz, but was easily blocked by his claws.

“You lot have absolutely no chance of defeating me in your weakened states...even if you weren't weakened, you’ll still be out of your depths.”

“I know that already!”

“Then why keep it up?”

“To protect our people!”

“What a trivial reason. Wagering your lives on such a hogwash...what a bunch of fools!”

Schwarz said and kicked Gawain away.

“Gahaa!?”

“Then go to hell. O proud knight.”

Schwartz moved instantly in front of Gawain and raised his sharp claws.

At the very moment when Gawain’s life was about to be cut short——

“Don’t you dare lay your filthy hand on our captain!!”

One of the holy knights shouted and leaped in front of Gawain, and caught the slash with his body tearing through his armor.

Gawain shouted the name of the knight who had been brutally slashed, and Jen collapsed helplessly on the floor.

“Jen, why did you do that...”

“Captain, no, Gawain. Please protect, our country——...”

Jen left those last words to Gawain as he embraced the man who had been his friend and comrade in arms, and then gave up the ghost.

Then, seeing Jen's action, the other holy knights also stepped forward to protect Gawain.

“Is that guy you’re desperately trying to protect really worth all this trouble?”

Schwarz asked, in genuine wonder.

“Don’t do it! No need for you guys to die in vain!”

Gawain exclaimed, but the Holy Knights replied without looking back.

“If you were to die first, what would become of the holy city, this country?”

“That’s right.  So please do your best to protect the holy city and the people!”

“You are the strongest holy knight in this country. So——we’ll leave the rest to you!”

With these words, the holy knights all attacked Schwartz simultaneously.

If there had been spectators it would have been an extremely touching scene.

To Schwartz, however, it was just an unimportant conversation.

“These small fries are in the way——Darkness Line!"

When Schwartz swiped his hand to the side, the knights who were heading toward him were cut in half at the same time.

Souls emerged from the crumpled corpses of the holy knights and flowed into Schwartz's body.

Gawain, seeing this, became enraged.

“MUDDAFUCKAAAAAAAAAA!!”

Gawain clenched his sword and then——

“Gawain, you had better stop this pointless struggle.”

He heard such a voice.

Gawain and Schwartz stopped as quickly as they could and looked up at the direction from which the voice originated——a short distance away in the air.

And there he was——

“...Sir, Zero?”

As Gawain muttered in dismay, they clapped eyes on the mightiest of the dragon species——Zero.

Gawain asked Zero the meaning of his words, recalling that he had been out of sight for some time.

“Sir Zero, what do you mean by that?”

“...You cannot hope to defeat this devil. Besides——my master will be here soon. Until then, I will deal with this devil.”

Zero said, and landed at Gawain's side.

“I can’t let that one slide now, can I? You, deal with me?”

Schwartz's tone of voice was more grumpy than dissatisfied.

“Dissatisfied, are we?”

“...Well, that's all right. I'm sure you'll have more fun than with the knight over there.”

Zero and Schwartz faced each other.

The air began to tremble with the rising magic power.

But then Gawain spoke up.

“P-Please wait!”

“...Anything else?”

Zero opened his mouth without turning around.

As a matter of fact, Gawain knew that he stood no chance whatsoever against Schwartz. At the same time, he knew that even if he wanted to fight alongside Zero, he would be nothing more than a liability.

But even so, his pride as a knight would not allow him to give up a fight.

“I know that I’m severely lacking! But I have to keep on fighting for the sake of those who have fallen!”

Gawain's desperate words certainly touched Zero.

But Zero also thought that he could not watch this man, Gawain die.

“...I’m afraid I can't allow that. This is no place for you. A man like you should not die here. Leave this place to me and do what you’re capable of doing.”

Zero was telling him, in a roundabout way, to evacuate his people.

Gawain, perhaps understanding what he meant, hesitated for a moment, but then bowed to Zero, and dashed off.

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