“My daughter? What do you mean by that?” Sorden asked, feigning ignorance.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo said in a low, threatening tone, “Sophia Sinesul. She currently lives happily with your wife, who has dementia.”

“You asshole!” Sorden roared, trying to rush at Kang Yoon-Soo even though there was a sword pointed at his neck. In response, Kang Yoon-Soo simply kicked Sorden in the abdomen and stepped on both of his arms.

Sorden began breathing rapidly as he screamed in rage, “I swear, I’ll rip you to pieces if you dare lay a finger on that child!”

“Be aware that your child will die before I do,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Asshole! Do you think you can make it out of the barrier alive?” Sorden snapped back.

“Let me ask you something in return. Do you think I haven’t stationed anyone outside the barrier? I’ve already fully inspected your background,” Kang Yoon-Soo said threateningly.

The two men were locked in a tense standoff, while Kang Yoon-Soo’s companions seemed to be sick and tired of the scene unfolding in front of them.

“Isn’t that something he got to know by living a thousand times? Geez, so that’s how he kept swindling people all this time…” Henrick grumbled.

“Shh! He might hear you!” Shaneth quickly hushed him.

Iris nodded and said, “Kang Yoon-Soo is a really bad person.”

Kang Yoon-Soo was unfazed even as Sorden trembled from anger. He nonchalantly said, “Let me ask again. Think carefully before you answer me. Who is the commander of this expedition?”

Sorden gritted his teeth and hesitated for a moment before he finally blurted out the truth. “Rumier Kazan! The royal alchemist! I can’t disclose more than that!”

Kang Yoon-Soo grimaced upon hearing the knight captain’s words. Rumier Kazan was the alchemist who had created the Chimera Dimension and created Iris as a test subject.

“Did he order the capture of the empress’ doppelganger?” he asked.

“Of course. He is the commander, after all,” Sorden replied.

“Did Rumier mention anything strange or do anything out of the ordinary?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

“No such thing happened,” Sorden replied.

Kang Yoon-Soo put pressure on the sword and said threateningly, “Think carefully. The life of your daughter, Sophia, will depend on your answer.”

“Damn it…” Sorden cursed under his breath.

“Your wife will also find life not worth living if she ends up alone without her daughter, so it might be more merciful for me to kill her as…” Kang Yoon-Soo began.

Sorden suddenly cut him off, snapping, “Damn it! I’m thinking!”

The knight captain appeared to be seriously trying to think of everything Rumier had done, furrowing his brow. Suddenly, he shouted, “The man who has lived for the thousandth time!”

Kang Yoon-Soo’s hands began shaking, and he even doubted his own ears. He asked in disbelief, “What did you say just now?”

“A man who has lived for the thousandth time! Yes, he said that a man who has lived the thousandth times would disturb our plan to capture the doppelganger! That was the only strange thing he said!” Sorden shouted.

Kang Yoon-Soo furrowed his brow. The man who had lived for the thousandth time? How did Rumier Kazan know about the fact that he had regressed?

He put pressure on the sword once again and asked, “Is that the only strange thing he mentioned?”

“Rumier is a man of few words, and he’s quite reclusive! That was the only strange thing he said. I have no idea what he meant by ‘the man who has lived for the thousandth time’ and he didn’t bother to explain. That’s really the only strange thing I can think of!” Sorden desperately explained.

“Where is Rumier right now?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

“I have no idea, since our forces split apart, but we agreed to set the lake at the center of the mountain as our rendezvous point and gather there after half a day,” Sorden replied.

Kang Yoon-Soo let out a sigh and said, “That will be all.”

“Don’t touch my daughter and my wife!” Sorden pleaded.

“I was lying,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied simply.

“W-What did you just say…?” Sorden muttered in disbelief.

Kang Yoon-Soo smacked Sorden’s head with the hilt of his sword and knocked him out.

Puk!

“Euk!” Sorden let out a groan before passing out on the floor.

Kang Yoon-Soo thought deeply about what Sorden had just said. ‘Rumier…’

It seemed that reclaiming his godly powers and killing the demon was no longer enough. The ones who had previously known about his regression were Sirian and the White Shadow, but another one, Rumier, had been added to the count. Thus, he had to meet Rumier.

‘I have no idea why Rumier is trying to capture Iris, but I suspect that it’s not simply because she’s the doppelganger of the empress. It might be related to the White Shadow residing inside her,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

The royal alchemist, Rumier Kazan, and the god’s natural enemy, God Breaker…

Kang Yoon-Soo had been left with a dilemma about which one to resolve first, but he soon made his decision—he would just take care of both at the same time.

“Sharp, track the whereabouts of the God Breaker,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

One of the new abilities Sharp had gained made him able to track the location of any sword.

“You mean the god-killing sword? I’ve felt its strange and mysterious presence from afar for a while,” Sharp replied, nodding. Then, he exited the cave.

The party members slowly began following the newly-evolved spirit.

***

It was the middle of the night. The Fourth Order of the Imperial Knights were on a mountain, where it was easy for them to get lost, searching every nook and cranny of the peak. Quite a few of them had fallen while trying to climb the steep mountain slope.

The captain of the Fourth Order of the Imperial Knights, Kahwelin, swung his lantern around while looking disgruntled. ‘This was just a waste of time, damn it…’

There were quite a lot of Imperial Knights, but it was impossible for them to search every corner of the vast mountains. Apart from that, mountains were still dangerous no matter how used the knights were to night missions, and the specific mountain they were on was even more dangerous, as the fog made it difficult for them to see ahead even with lanterns illuminating their surroundings.

As such, even Kahwelin was forced to dismount from his steed and walk along the rugged mountain trail. He called out, “Search carefully! Our targets are still within the mountain range!”

The Fourth Order of the Imperial Knights divided the area into zones and scattered into groups to search each and every one of them. The moon was high in the sky, but the only thing they found were wild animals running through the vegetation.

Just as they began to feel that their search was fruitless, someone suddenly screamed. “Euaaaak!”

“What happened?!” Kahwelin shouted, gathering his subordinates as he ran toward the source of the scream.

They found a pool of blood, flowing out from the underbrush beneath the overgrown trees. One of the knights slowly pulled the brush back, revealing the headless body of a knight with its head viciously chewed off.

One of their comrades had been murdered!

The knights nervously placed their hands on the hilts of their swords, certain that the one responsible for killing their comrade was still lingering nearby.

“Don’t drop your guard. Be vigilant,” Kahwelin warned his subordinates. The knights gulped nervously and nodded.

A breeze blew across the dark mountain, suddenly extinguishing the lanterns the knights were holding. The knights panicked when their surroundings suddenly became dark; they could no longer see anything, as their eyes had not adjusted to the darkness yet.

“Don’t panic! Maintain formation!” Kahwelin calmly commanded. His composure in spite of the difficult situation managed to ease the knights’ tension a little bit.

A spine-chilling voice that had an air of hunger and greed suddenly called out from somewhere, “Food… I see so much food…”

Kahwelin unsheathed his sword, and the knights with him followed suit. Kahwelin called out, “I don’t know what kind of monster you are, but you’ve chosen the wrong prey!”

“Keke! Kahahaha! Bahaha!” The voice let out a mocking laugh, as if to convey that what the knight captain had said sounded pathetic. It said from within the darkness once again. “I had no plans to leave my territory, but it’s a different story if there’s so much food in this place…!”

A powerful wind blew from somewhere. It happened in a split second, but the air was quickly tainted with blood, as the knights around Kahwelin lost their heads in an instant.

Thud…!

Dozens of knights collapsed to the ground after losing their heads.

Kahwelin was taken aback by what had just happened. An attack so fast that even he failed to see it had just killed his knights in the blink of an eye, leaving him certain that the enemy was no ordinary monster. He readied his sword and shouted loudly, “Light! Bless my sword!”

“Light…?” the voice muttered.

A burst of light emanated from the sword and illuminated the entire area. The moment Kahwelin spotted the monster, he quickly swung his brightly shining blade at it. The sword’s brilliance rapidly faded, as it was not something he could sustain for a long period of time, but he was certain that he had cut the monster.

“Keuaaak!” The monster groaned before emerging from the darkness. It was a demon with a head that resembled a cross between a bull and a goat, and it had six wings protruding from its back.

Kahwelin was completely unfazed when he saw the demon. In fact, he actually smiled and said, “So you're a demon. I’ve only heard of your kind until now. That means you’ve met the worst enemy you could possibly have encountered.”

Kahwelin’s main skill was his swordsmanship that could channel light and holy power. There was no sword technique more fatal to an evil creature like a demon than the one he practiced.

Just as Kahwelin was about to strike with a shining blade of light, however, his body suddenly froze on the spot.

“…!” His body would not budge an inch, no matter how much strength he used.

Just then, he heard someone approach him from behind and say, “I cannot hold him for long, so please quickly enjoy your meal.”

Kahwelin’s eyes were filled with rage the moment he saw the perpetrator who had tied him up, an individual he was very familiar with—Rumier Kazan!

The demon snickered and replied, “I give my thanks to you.”

Kahwelin was overcome with rage, but he could not even open his lips. He could not even utter a single scream before his head was bitten off by the demon.

Rumier said in his characteristically low, sinister voice, “Berbal, I have a request.”

“Request? Do you want to enter a contract with me?” the demon, Berbal, asked. It turned around after feasting on Kahwelin’s head.

Rumier shook his head and replied, “I will tell you the location of the other prey. Why not go there and feast on them too?”

“That’s not difficult, but… I can’t help but be suspicious of your intentions, when you’re a human that’s being so generous to a demon like me…” Berbal said, licking its lips and inspecting Rumier from head to toe. It continued, “There were some insignificant creatures that tried to cheat me, a demon, but they all ended up being devoured by me.”

The demon standing before the royal alchemist was not one to know how to be grateful, which was why it also planned on devouring Rumier as well.

Rumier said in his sinister, yet somehow depressed-sounding voice, “My name is Rumier Kazan, and I am a friend of the man who is trying to rebuild the Colossi’s Magic Tower.”

Berbal’s eyes shot wide open and it muttered, “The man rebuilding the magic tower…?”

“The King of All Things, Sirian,” Rumier said. He paused for a moment and added, “I am Sirian’s partner.”

Berbal was flabbergasted. Rumier took out a pendant and showed it to the demon.

Then, something unbelievable happened. The haughty demon got to its knees and bowed respectfully at the royal alchemist’s feet.

***

As the sun began to rise, the Imperial Knights gathered at the lake.

The captain of the Third Order of the Imperial Knights, Lenox, asked, “Where are Kahwelin and Sorden? The fourth and fifth orders aren’t here.”

The captain of the Second Order of the Imperial Knights, Seyra, said, “They aren’t the type to be late. I think something happened to them.”

“Hmm… Well, anyway, any luck on your end?” Lenox asked.

“Don’t even mention it. We searched the mountain all night long but didn’t even find a single thing,” Seyra grumbled.

“It was the same for us. We were slowed down as well, because we had to accompany the carriage that will transport the criminal later,” Lenox said.

“Can’t we just get rid of that carriage?” Seyra asked, pointing at the large carriage.

Lenox shook his head and replied, “Those are the orders of the commander of this expedition. We have to bring it along.”

“The coachman’s skill is pathetic, and I don’t see this commander either,” Seyra grumbled.

Even Rumier had failed to appear at their rendezvous spot, and the entire army was left confused by the absence of their commander and two other knight orders.

Helkin, who had been quietly observing the lake, suddenly said, “Someone is coming.”

Helkin’s vision and hearing had already transcended human limits despite his old age. That was why the knights who could not sense anything immediately raised their guard upon hearing his warning.

A young boy walked out of the fog.

Seyra looked confused, wondering, “How can a child be here, this deep inside the mountain? I don’t recall seeing any villages around here.”

Lenox shook his head and said, “That’s not a human, but rather a spirit. You’ll be able to tell if you look closely at its appearance.”

The spirit looked toward the Imperial Knights and raised his right hand. The moment he did so, the swords worn by the hundreds of gathered knights began to emerge from their scabbards.

“H-Huh?”

“W-What’s going on?”

Some of the knights, who had lowered their guard for a second, failed to catch their swords. However, most of them managed to hold on to their swords and keep them from flying away.

However, the swords moved as if they had their own will, no matter how tightly the knights held on to them. They began to shake violently, forcing the knights to use all of their strength to keep them under control.

Seyra calmly held on to her sword, unlike the other knights who were struggling. She asked with a grimace, “Is it that spirit’s doing?”

“It seems like it. I don’t think it’s a normal spirit, judging by the fact that it's able to control hundreds of swords at the same time,” Lenox replied.

The swords under the spirit’s control flew and danced in midair, leaving the knights who had lost their weapons with a strange sense of shame. Knights normally did not use any other weapons aside from their swords, which was the main reason why the Imperial Knights were being openly humiliated by a single spirit.

The dozens of swords that had been dancing teasingly in midair suddenly flew toward the spirit’s side. The spirit arrogantly crossed his arms over his chest and tested the swords one by one, even though it seemed impossible for him to use all of them simultaneously.

The only sword that remained in place without being affected by the spirit was Helkin’s sword.

[God Breaker has refused to be controlled by the Spirit of Swords.]

“I can see that you do not value your life,” Helkin said, letting loose a threatening aura.

Sharp replied with a laugh, “Sure, why don’t you come and stab me with your sword?”