The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-158

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Chapter 158: A Familiar Face (Part 1)

[Sigh, rumble…]

This guy hanging from the ceiling, emitting an unpleasant sound, is undoubtedly Ephebo.

He is one of the four hounds serving Quilt, along with Geronto, Pedo, and Hebe.

Vikir quickly scanned Ephebo’s entire body.

“Has he fully recovered by now? He’s truly devilish.”

His broken bones, lost flesh, and internal organs that seemed to have exploded all appeared perfectly fine.

But Vikir, being a seasoned hound in battles against demons, didn’t get flustered.

Vikir prepared for battle and calmly began to calculate the next move.

…But Dolores wasn’t so composed.

“Huh? Ephebo? Why is he here…?”

For a moment, she seemed paralyzed, her face showing bewilderment.

Why would a knight of the Indulgentia family be in a place like this at this hour?

And Vikir offered some advice.

“If you keep staring like that, you’ll die.”

Thump!

Soon enough, Ephebo, who had fallen from the ceiling, raised a huge hammer he was carrying and swung it at Vikir.

“As expected, your strength is remarkable.”

Vikir stepped back, still carrying Dolores on his back.

Beelzebub started trembling by the impact.

Quovadis’s mace techniques consumed an excessive amount of energy when confronted head-on.

Vikir leaped away across the corridor.

This place was a labyrinth created by demons, with endless passages, so the terrain wouldn’t hinder them.

Vikir gently put Dolores down on the ground and said, “This is as far as I can shield you. I can’t afford to protect you any longer.”

Dolores tried to say something, but Vikir had no time for that.

…Thump!

Ephebo crawled down to the ground.

[Rumble! Crumble!]

His joints were grotesquely contorted, even more so than when they had met before.

His thick arms, like tree trunks, were longer than his legs and dragged along the ground, while his legs had more joints than a typical human’s, bending in bizarre directions.

He looked like a demon.

And when Dolores saw this, her eyes turned cold.

Ephebo was a member of the Old Faction faction, but for now, he was an ally, belonging to the same Quovadis.

However, the sight before her eyes was unmistakably that of a demon.

“…Why is there a demon here?”

“It’s not a demon; it’s Ephebo, you know.”

“So, I mean… Why did Ephebo turn into a demon…? Are you saying he was a demon from the beginning?”

Dolores looked at Ephebo with a mix of astonishment and shock.

He was a man who had received the rank of knight of the Indulgentia lineage in Quovadis.

He always wore a mask, so no one had ever seen his face, but he had a good image for enduring even the most arduous tasks.

‘What in the world is happening within my family?’

Dolores felt puzzled, but it wasn’t the right time to investigate that now.

…Swish!

The Night Hound’s blade clashed with Ephebo’s hammer once again.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The shockwaves shattered the ceiling, walls, and floor, causing metal beams hidden in the walls to bend like paperclips and water to gush from ruptured pipes.

Dolores was taken aback when she saw the powerful aura emanating from Ephebo.

A Graduator. With this level of ability, he was definitely a High-Tier Graduator.

Was Ephebo really such a formidable presence?

…But even more astonishing was the red aura emanating from the Night Hound’s blade.

…Grrrr!

Vikir, from Beelzebub, emitted a Gooey honey-like aura that was almost solid.

Handling it was similar to wielding a gigantic greatsword.

Splat! Splish! Clash! Clang!

Vikir’s red aura vigorously tore apart the black aura released by Ephebo.

It was a spectacle reminiscent of iron and limestone colliding.

Baskerville’s Seventh Form.

Seven fangs, including upper incisors, premolars, molars, and lower wisdom, canine, and molars, fell toward the black form of Ephebo.

…Crunch! Squish! Thud – crack!

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These were the fangs of a hunting dog that can pierce flesh, cut, tear, and even crunch through bones.

This ruthless combat style is optimized for one purpose only: inflicting fatal harm and making the enemy suffer.

It’s a legendary combat style found only in the practical martial arts manual called Baskerville’s ten styles so it doesn’t look like a commonly known martial art.

Perhaps even the high-ranking members of the Baskerville family would not recognize Vikir’s martial art as Baskerville-style.

Dolores became increasingly puzzled as she looked at Vikir.

“You… have become even stronger since I last saw you?”

“It’s because I’ve been regularly raiding the sub-bases of Quovadis.”

“What, what do you mean!? How can you say that so casually…? No, more importantly, why!?”

“Why? Do you still have questions after seeing that?”

Vikir pointed at Ephebo in front of him.

[Rumble… Groan…]

Ephebo’s entire body twisted, dripping with black energy, and he was staggering, but he didn’t fall.

If he were an ordinary person, or even a high-tierGraduator, such injuries would have been fatal.

…Phew! …Splatter!

Ephebo, who was oozing thick, tar-like blood from his mutilated body, made Dolores ask in utter confusion.

“Why on earth is something like that in our family?”

“If you want to know family matters, ask your own family.”

“But you know all about it! That’s why you’ve been raiding the sub-bases all this time, right…!?”

However, Dolores’ questions remained unanswered as the situation grew more urgent.

Skkk…

Ephebo began to do something unpleasant.

The black energy emanating from his entire body transformed into chains and started wrapping around Vikir.

“Annoying…”

Vikir sensed that Ephebo’s intention was to buy time.

Zap!

The chains that bound Vikir were lifted to their fullest extent, emitting asphalt-like auras.

Vikir was planning to make his final move with this.

However…

Whoomp!

Ephebo swung his massive hammer a few times and then threw it.

The massive hammer, bending like a paperclip due to the chains wrapped around Vikir, was flying towards him.

Because of the chains wrapped around his entire body, Vikir had no choice but to take this heavy blow head-on.

But…

“My light of life, my flame of existence, my sin, my soul. Break these vile restraints!”

A divine incantation from Dolores lifted the chains that entwined Vikir’s entire body.

Fwaat!

A buff and healing spell.

With the demonic debuff removed from Vikir’s body, he regained the agile movements of the Night Hound.

Tch! Pop!

Vikir, after stepping on the flying hammer, leaped once more.

Using the rebound as a foothold, he swung the Beelzebub horizontally.

A red crescent moon rose horizontally.

…Phewk!

Ephebo lost his head by a mere hair’s width.

Vikir pierced the seven fangs into Ephebo’s forehead and used the remaining six teeth to sever the flesh, tendons, and bones of his neck.

Thud!

Ephebo’s body collapsed to the blood-soaked ground. The hammer came to a stop embedded in the wall.

Even though water was gushing out of broken pipes, it would have appeared as if time had frozen.

Thwack!

Vikir dropped Ephebo’s severed head, which was stuck at the end of Baalzepub, onto the ground.

“With the neck completely severed, there’s nothing even a demon can do.”

There was a chance that Ephebo could somehow regenerate through some extraordinary means, so Vikir put Ephebo’s head far away from his body and stomped on it with his foot.

In the past, there had been cases like Seth that had escaped with only the head remaining.

Finally, with a trembling voice, Dolores said, “I don’t know. What on earth is happening? I thought the only conflict within the family was between the Old Faction and New faction… But what’s really been going on behind it all? Do you know?”

In response, Vikir shook his head.

“I don’t know. All I know is that the head of the Indulgentia family is, in fact, a demon, and not just any demon but one of the supreme demon kings.”

At these words, Dolores’ eyes widened in disbelief.”

She stammered, “A-are you absolutely sure about that? Can you state it definitively?”

Vikir alternated between pointing at Ephebo’s body and head. Even at this moment, Ephebo’s body, which was still oozing black blood, was still wriggling, and it even seemed to be twitching for regeneration.

Dolores finally acknowledged what the Night Hound had been saying.

Zap!

The sacred white light emanating from her body completely destroyed Ephebo’s regenerative structure.

Eventually, Ephebo slumped completely, missing his last chance for regeneration.

Vikir looked at this and thought, ‘…More useful than I thought?’

The regenerative abilities beyond common knowledge that demons possessed were always a headache for Vikir. However, with Dolores by his side, things might change a bit.

Meanwhile, with a worried expression, Dolores asked Vikir again, “If a demon was hiding in the background of the Old Faction, what about the New Faction? Isn’t there a problem there?”

“Have I ever attacked any of the New Faction’s sub-bases until now?”

“…No. As far as I know, not a single one.”

“Then, there’s your answer.”

Vikir neatly summarized Dolores’ confusion.

Dolores could only watch Vikir’s back as he walked ahead.

Finally, Vikir looked down at Ephebo’s severed head rolling on the ground. The black leather case looked like a hood attached to the gas mask from the inside, exuding a faint magical aura.

He had thought about this before, but it might be another kind of artifact, just like Beelzebub.

Vikir and Dolores were curious about the face hidden within the black case.

Dolores was particularly interested because she had witnessed Ephebo using Quovadis’s mace technique.

“Who is this… Is he really from Quovadis?”

“Once I unmask him, we’ll find out.”

Vikir extended his hand.

And then, the black case covering Ephebo’s face slid off smoothly.

Both Vikir and Dolores were shocked.

“!?”

The bare face of Ephebo revealed from the black case was undoubtedly someone both of them knew.

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