The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated
chapter-3

Even if he no longer has any memories of his previous life, Shien still clearly knows that before his reincarnation, he was a completely normal person who had nothing to do with "battles."

At the very least, based on his remaining memories, Shien could deduce that his previous life lived in a very peaceful age, in a very peaceful country. Never mind battles, he probably never even got into more than a handful of fights.

To have that Shien fight with a vicious demonic beast from another world?

Whichever way you look at it, victory should be impossible.

However, from the moment Shien raised the Holy Sword in his hands and learned those various skills, all that has changed.

"Coo!"

The cries of the monster bird is still echoing in his ear.

"Shing!"

The Holy Sword in his hand is still continuously releasing light.

Feeling the awesome power from the Holy Sword flowing into his body, Shien unbelievably calmed down.

Time around him seemed as if it's slowed down.

The monstrous bird that's still still emitting ominous waves while diving down seemed to be slowing down too.

The [Enemy Detection] skill is giving off clearer and more accurate warnings than before, which let Shien fully grasp the speed and location of the demonic beast descending from the sky.

The [Dodge] skill alsi seems to have also stimulated Shien's base capabilities, making his body feel like it instinctively know the best speed, method, timing, and direction to dodge.

And the just learned [Two-handed Sword] skill manifested into knowledge of countless ways to use the Holy Sword in his hand as well as various techniques. It gave Shien a certain feeling.

And that is that he could perfectly wield the Holy Sword and slay the enemy before him.

Thus…

"Swoosh!"

Just as the diving monstrous bird was about to slam into Shien, Shien moved as if divinely guided, following the directions from the [Dodge] Skill. Cutting through the air in a whisper, he suddenly leaped to the left a good distance away.

The monstrous bird just barely grazed past where Shien was a second ago, with a wing passing practically right before Shien's eyes and stirring up a fierce gust.

Only, the moment the bird's charge missed and before it could take off, Shien moved once more.

This time, what moved is the Holy Sword that was gripped tightly in his hand.

"Chink!"

The Holy Sword rang out as it cut through the air, its form a crescent blur, cutting toward the defenseless monstrous bird with unbelievable speed.

"Sploosh!"

The moment after, a clear cutting sound rang, along with a great splash of blood.

The bird was beheaded without even have the chance to cry out. The human-like head flew into the air. The enormous body slammed into the ground by its momentum, creating a furrow in the dirt while painting the ground in vivid crimson.

The nearby Shien was also painted with blood while still in the form for slashing, frantically huffing, with his body still shaking.

「Skill gained – [War God] – Would you like to learn?」

A new message once again appeared in him mind.

But this time, Shien could no longer learn it right away.

Still feeling the heat left from the huge amount of blood coating his body, smelling the pungent scent of blood, Shien couldn't help but bend over and throw up.

Shien vomited to the point of turning pale. With his body drained of energy, his heartbeat pounding faster than it ever has, Shien finally collapsed onto the ground, unable to even hold onto the Holy Sword. He presented a sight of utter helplessness.

All Shien could do is struggle to take off his bloody clothes and throw it away to the side. Only when the pungent smell of blood is further away did his complexion turn for the better.

"This really is inhumane!"

Shien couldn't help but curse once more.

If possible, Shien really wants to ask those web novel protagonists who could kill without issue right after transmigrating to another world just how they managed to do that.

Never mind everything else, just counting the experience of bathing in hot blood and the pungent smell of blood. Shien doesn't think anyone could withstand the first time experiencing it without issue.

"Maybe I'm not a protagonist."

Shien could only chuckle bitterly, but he really dare not keep lying there.

The appearance of the monstrous bird told Shien that this patch of forest isn't safe at all. At any moment, various kinds of danger could pop up.

Especially because just when he was using the Holy Sword, maybe due to the Holy Sword's ability to raise skill levels, Shien's [Enemy Detection] skill's area of effect expanded by a great deal, allowing him to sense a lot of vicious existences like the monstrous bird.

Now, due to letting go of the Holy Sword, Shien's [Enemy Detection] skill's effect and range have both decreased. It no longer detects any enemies, but this seems to be limited to only a hundred square meters.

Back when [Enemy Detection] was boosted by the Holy Sword, Shien could sense an area of over a thousand square meters, and he felt many existences on the level of the monstrous bird, with some demonic beasts that seem even more dangerous than the bird.

Therefore, this place really isn't somewhere to linger.

"Let's hurry up and leave this patch of forest."

Shien crawled back up and picked up the Holy Sword that was dropped on the ground.

Just as the Holy Sword got picked up, the effect of Shien's [Enemy Detection] once again expanded, allowing Shien to once more sense the existence of those demonic beasts within a thousand square meters.

That too proved Shien's earlier thoughts. His skills all got boosted by the effect of the Holy Sword.

Taking a quick look at his various status, Shien discovered some changes.

First, after experiencing the battle just now, Shien's level rose from his starting level of one to level two.

Other than that, Shien's skill points changed from it's initial value of 100 points to 195 points.

Seeing that, Shien thought about it, and quickly learned the [War God] skill that he just acquired.

Instantly, Shien's skill points decreased by one.

"Every skill learned uses up one skill point, huh?"

Before he killed the monstrous bird, Shien had learned a total of five skills, and thus spent five skill points.

Then, leveling up gave Shien 100 skill points, so Shien's still point total ended up as 195.

Then, Shien learned a new skill, and the skill points dropped to 194.

Besides that, Shien also discovered that every skill that he's learned can be leveled up, and at the moment, all of them are at level 1.

No, it should be said that other than the two skills [Heavenly Grace] and [Blessing of the Highest God] that he started out with, all other skills can be leveled up.

"No wonder the Holy Sword has an effect that boosts skill level."

As he thought to that point, Shien chose to level up the skill [Two-handed Sword].

The result is that this skill seems to have hit the limit after it reached level 10. The skill display went from [Two-handed Sword (lv.1)] to [Two-handed Sword (lv.max)], and could no longer be raised.

In other words, for all skills that can be leveled up, max level is level 10.

Plus, every time a skill is leveled up, it requires spending one skill point.

If he didn't guess wrongly, then every time Shien raises his level by one, he will gain 100 skill points.

"That is to say, every level up means I can max out 10 skills, huh?"

Shien was momentarily stunned.

You can tell just by thinking about it, there's no way that's normal.

Shien involuntarily shifted his eyes towards one skill in particular.