Chapter 28 : War Heroes (3)

“Damn…….”

Benjamin clenched his teeth, exuding a murderous intent as he glared at Kael, who stood before him.

How did he get here in just a few seconds?

That unbelievable speed left him dumbfounded.

At the same time, Kael’s appearance, as if he would kill him right on the spot, made Benjamin’s desire for survival feel like it had been folded in half.

‘My shoulder………’

Benjamin slyly glanced with one eye at the shoulder that Kael’s sword had slashed.

The tendon in his shoulder was severed, leaving his arms too weak to move.

“Shit… where the hell did he come from…?”

The situation wasn’t much different for Sherda.

With her shoulder severed, her grip loosened, causing her wand to fall and roll across the floor.

With just one swing of a sword, Kael had neutralized both him and Sherda in an instant.

The strike, fast enough that they couldn’t even react, and the meticulous swordsmanship clearly showed the gap between Kael and Benjamin.

‘As expected, he is an opponent I can never defeat.’

No matter how much he struggled, Kael, standing before him, was undoubtedly someone he couldn’t beat.

Benjamin, proud of his own skills, had no choice but to admit that fact.

Kael, a retired war hero and the former leader of the Royal Guard.

Having spent years at the frontlines of the Demon War, he showed a level of strength Benjamin, who hadn’t experienced it, could never overcome.

‘Indeed, his skills are worthy of being called a war hero………’

The talented, those once called strong, were swept away like fallen leaves at the frontlines of the Demon War.

And yet, Kael, who swept through the demon forces, stacking their corpses into mountains at that very front?

That alone proved that Kael was an unbeatable force in terms of talent, effort, and real-world experience.

So, the thought of not being able to defeat Kael was without a trace of falsehood.

However, Benjamin had no intention of simply lying down and dying for Kael.

‘He probably doesn’t think we have demon regeneration factors.’

Though hidden beneath his bloodstained clothes, Benjamin could feel his shoulder and arms slowly regaining sensation, and he swallowed a bitter smile.

Demon regeneration factors.

The leader of the organization “Worst,” known by his nickname “Strategist,” had developed this from research on the bodies of demons piled up during the Demon War, and it was a temporary supply of regeneration power granted only to Benjamin and his superiors.

This factor, which did no harm to the human body but granted the regenerative ability of demons to a certain extent, was something Kael could never have anticipated.

Because no matter how powerful Kael was, he surely wouldn’t have imagined that someone on this continent would have researched such things from the bodies of demons.

[Hey, Benjamin, the regeneration is almost done. What are we going to do?]

A message spell came from Sherda, still feigning concern behind him.

Sherda’s question about the next plan.

Benjamin, recalling the plan he had already prepared in his mind, was about to respond to the message.

Or rather, he was about to.

Crack

“Ugh…………..?!”

Had it not been for Kael’s sword suddenly piercing his side, he would have answered.

He was sure he hadn’t taken his eyes off, but when he regained his senses, Kael had already closed the distance and his sword was embedded in Benjamin’s side.

“Are you that obvious about plotting something? Did you think I was just standing still for a moment and you could relax? I told you, don’t think about dying easily.”

Kael glared at Benjamin with eyes full of murderous intent and said those words.

Then, with a swing of his sword, Kael pulled it out, causing Benjamin to involuntarily grind his teeth and let out a groan.

“Ugh……!!”

The blood pouring from the maliciously opened wound caused Benjamin to quickly press his hand against the injury.

Thanks to the regeneration factor, the wound and the blood loss quickly began to heal, but seeing the blood from a human, not a demon, Benjamin reacted instinctively.

And it didn’t take long for him to realize that this was a foolish reaction.

“You clearly cut off my shoulder, but my arms are still moving fine?”

“Ah…!”

The regeneration ability was exposed in an instant.

With that, Kael’s eyes shone as he saw the regeneration power.

It was as if he was looking at an immortal enemy, one who couldn’t be killed no matter how much you struck them.

Cold sweat rolled down Benjamin’s cheek, mixing with the blood.

He could see, the shoulders of both himself and Sherda, which had been cut off, healing.

Although it was hidden beneath their blood-soaked clothes, Benjamin could clearly see it.

‘Demon regeneration factor, huh.’

In the past, in the previous life’s game, it was an exclusive item of “Worst.”

It was the product of research conducted by the leader of Worst on the demon corpses piled up during the Demon War, and it was the key that made Worst the worst villain group in history.

Though the regeneration didn’t yet match that of demons, this prototype version was already proving to be a troublesome ability for soldiers and mercenaries of this era.

And after briefly watching this scene, I saw the flow of mana from Sherda to Benjamin and immediately took action.

‘Maybe there’s another hidden trick, but it seems there isn’t.’

The reason I didn’t immediately move after neutralizing their arms was simple.

I was watching to see if they had any hidden tricks left, like those secret moves of the Worst officers.

After observing for a while, it was clear neither of them was doing anything, so I struck immediately, piercing Benjamin’s side with my sword when Sherda started channeling mana.

“Clearly cut off my shoulder, but my arms are still moving fine?”

“O……!”

And as he pulled out the sword, digging into the wound, perhaps due to urgency, Benjamin forgot even his usual acting and moved his arm to press against the wound.

Seeing that, I let out a small chuckle, and when I spoke, Benjamin let out a flustered sound, realizing that his hidden regenerative ability had been exposed.

And the moment their regenerative ability was discovered—

“Damn it, you stupid bastard!!”

Sherda, who spat out curses at Benjamin, rolled on the ground, grabbed her wand, and immediately fired a spell at me.

A simple and quick-to-use spell—Mana Slash.

Shwik!

For something used in an urgent situation, the power level was quite high.

But unfortunately, this kind of magic was even weaker than the blind spells that flew around every second on the battlefield.

“Pathetically weak.”

Ka-ga-ga-gang—!!

Without even needing to take a stance, I merely placed my blade against the distorted mana, shattering Sherda’s Mana Slash into countless fragments.

However, as if she had expected this, Sherda didn’t show much sign of panic and immediately used her next spell while shouting—

“Benjamin! Get yourself together and run!!!”

Whoooosh—!!

From Sherda’s wand, thick black smoke erupted and began to engulf the surroundings.

“Damn it, got it!”

Realizing Sherda’s intention behind the smoke magic, Benjamin quickly widened the distance from me.

In an instant, the billowing smoke swallowed up both Benjamin and Sherda.

As expected of a high-ranking officer of Future Worst, their judgment was swift and precise.

Since the smoke magic obscured both sound and sight, their figures were completely invisible to normal eyes.

However.

“……There you are.”

Even within the smoke, I could see their mana clearly.

The mana within their bodies, which only I could perceive, made their locations within the smoke stand out vividly.

And once I knew their positions, only one thing remained to be done.

“Sssss……”

I braced my footing and took a deep breath.

Starting from my heart, I let the mana flow naturally to my sword as if the blade were an extension of my arm, allowing the aura to rise.

By further accelerating this circulation and projecting the mana outward in a structured form, the aura transformed into a sword energy wave.

“Hoo……”

And when one learns to imbue intent into sword energy, it evolves into sword force.

With my breathing steady, my sword infused with sword force, and the enemy’s location perfectly grasped—

The only thing left was to cut down the distant foes.

“I’d love to kill them here and now……”

If I could, I would’ve preferred to slice their heads clean off right away, but those two would serve as valuable hostages to expose Worst’s danger.

So, the target was their legs.

“Hup!”

With a single breath, the sword force slashed through the air, cutting through the smoke and severing both of their legs.

Benjamin and Sherda collapsed onto the ground mid-run, their knees sliced apart.

At the same time, their agonized screams echoed.

“AAAAAGH!!!”

“M-My legs… Fuck, my legs…!!!”

Like worms squirming on the ground, they clutched their severed legs and screamed in agony.

And as Sherda’s mana dispersed, the surrounding smoke naturally faded away with it.

Lifting my gaze from the two, I saw the kingdom’s soldiers and knights charging toward us from afar.

Thump, thump, thump, thump—!!

“Run! Run faster!!!”

“Eliminate the traitors! Kill them on sight!!!”

“Don’t let a single one survive!!!”

Even from a distance, the overwhelming battle cries and the rumbling footsteps of soldiers and knights filled the air.

If left alone, they would surely slaughter the incapacitated Benjamin and Sherda as well.

Brushing off the blood from my sword, I took a step forward.

“Looks like I’ll have to stay in the kingdom a little longer.”

It seemed I would have to meet His Majesty the King again.

Though I wanted to avoid it, it was probably inevitable.

Imagining that inescapable future, I let out a small sigh.

Just the thought of it was already exhausting.