The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-489

Chapter 489: The Marquis of Discord (7)

“They will swarm like flies.”- 10th Corpse: “Inferior Second Son” Andromalius.

“Boils will spread due to disease.”- 9th Corpse: “The Thousand Faces” Dantalion.

“Flocks of livestock and beasts will perish.”- 8th Corpse: “King of Corpses” Sere.

“They will sweep through like locusts.”- 7th Corpse: “The Wailing Wall” Decarabia.

“Your body and storehouses will be infested with lice.”- 6th Corpse: “The Worthless One” Belial.

“The lives of the firstborns of that year will be taken.”- 5th Corpse: “The Unicorn of the Abyss” Amdusias.

“An uprising of reckless frogs will occur.”- 4th Corpse: “The Reckless Knight” Chimera.

“Hail will pour down.”- 3rd Corpse: “Duke of Ice” Andrealphus.

“Water will turn to blood.”- 2nd Corpse: “The Lying Leopard” Phlorosya.

“Both worlds will fall into darkness.” …And then there was the 1st Corpse: “The Marquis of Discord” Andras.

These were the ten plagues cast upon the world and the ominous beings who caused them. Now, all have been annihilated, leaving only the 1st Corpse, Andras.

And this Andras was originally a being with a grotesque form. His two separate bodies had now gathered together, facing each other. These two were none other than the First Crown Prince, Jack, who had ruled as the heir to the throne, and the Second Crown Prince, Figgy, who had gone missing, surrounded by rumors.

Vikir looked at Figgy’s face with a stern expression. Why had Figgy turned away from the academy, no, from his relationships with others in the past? Was it merely an issue of bullying, exclusion, and alienation?

…No, it wasn’t.

Vikir had considered this possibility ever since his time in the Abyss.

“Figgy is much more resolute and strong-willed than people think. He wouldn’t be broken by mere bullying or loneliness.”

Perhaps, before the regression, Figgy had left because he had begun to question his own bloodline.

Vikir speculated based on the events he had experienced in the past.

“Figgy, was your blood always dark?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, it’s always been like this. Hah! Let me clarify, it’s not because I’m turning into a demon or anything! It’s been like this since I was really young! The doctors said it’s because my blood has a high iron content… But it seems to have gotten even darker since entering the Abyss tree.”

This was a hypothesis that also aligned with the phenomenon where Figgy’s blood twisted the reality itslef when he was trapped in Abyss tree.

In a previous battle with a demon, Figgy had died once. After three days, he had opened the heavy coffin lid and awakened inside. The first thought that came to Figgy’s mind when he woke up was:

“The reason you woke up first is because you had something you needed to do.”

The words Vikir had said to him when he closed the world inside Abyss tree were still vivid in his ears. And the weight and warmth that he felt on his shoulder…

“Don’t look back. From now on, you must go alone.”

In the treacherous and malicious traps inside Abyss Tree, where everything was trying to deceive, harm, and drag him down, the only thing that had pushed him forward was the rough, scarred hand on his back.

Eventually, as Figgy lifted his head, his eyes met a gaze beyond the dimensional gate.

“…Go to a place where you can be at peace.”

It was a severed head on a tall pole.

“…The task I must complete.”

Figgy lowered his gaze and looked at his two hands. Black blood dripped down. The handle of the blade that pierced Andras’ heart was clearly visible.

[You… Didn’t Phlorosya kill you? Hmph, I warned them to be especially cautious of the most suspicious among the candidates…]

Phlorosya, the 2nd Corpse, had used the reservoir to set a trap, all in an effort to seize another form of Andras. If not, he intended to eliminate him early before he could awaken and become a threat.

[You’ve come here at last! To close the ‘gate’!?]

Andras snarled.

In that moment, something also struck Vikir. It was information Decarabia had vomited about Andras in the past.

[The 1st Corpse, you see… has an abnormal body structure. Most living beings are divided based on their bodies, but that concept doesn’t apply to him.]

‘…What does that mean?’

[So, you divide and classify human beings based on yourself. You are one human being, and if there are other humans who meet the same criteria, then you count two, three, four, and so on. But the 1st Corpse is different. He can be two and yet one, or one and yet two. The standard that divides self and non-self lies outside the human concept, making it impossible to measure by common understanding.]

‘I have no idea what that means. So, you’re saying he has an unusual body structure?’

[Anyway, I don’t know much either. The 1st Corpse is a being full of secrets. But… I’ve heard that there’s a separate role for the one who closes the ‘gate’ and the one who opens it. That’s all I know.]

Decarabia, being a demon of object and non-living form, also has a very unique and strange body. But even Decarabia found the form of Andras’ body to be unusual.

A soul split into two. One body.

This naturally tied into the rumors surrounding the prophecy that had spread among the public.

The empire’s civil war, the prophecy that pitted the seven noble families against each other.

It foretold that both the First Crown Prince, born of the bloodline of the founding emperor, and the Second Crown Prince possessed the power of a seer, and that one of them would be the destroyer of the world while the other would be its savior.

The civil war’s justification was to ensure that the wrong crown prince did not ascend to the throne.

And the truth lurking behind it was revealed through the mouth of Andras, who had taken over the body of the First Crown Prince.

[Heh heh… Yes, I am the one with the power to open the gate, and you, my other self, have the power to close it. The end of this ominous cloud will be decided by which of us perishes first.]

Andras grabbed the sword that had pierced through his chest and shattered it with his hand.

…Gurrrrk!

Flames surged toward Figgy.

But Vikir blocked them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Vikir gritted his teeth against Andras’ power, which was capable of burning and melting everything around them even with his body falling apart.

“To unleash this level of firepower even with a body that’s nearly destroyed…”

Had Andras not been split into two, had he fully absorbed Figgy’s soul after killing him, and had he been able to use the demonic sword Asmodeus, the result would have been unimaginable.

[It’s time to choose—open the gate or close it! Don’t interfere with us Human!]

Even at this moment, Andras was baring his sharp teeth, launching fireballs at Figgy.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Crash!

The entire imperial palace began to shake violently.

Andras’ attitude was desperate and frantic.

The brother’s words about wanting to become one by finding his sibling were sincere.

However, the method of becoming one was a survival game where each had to kill the other.

In front of this, Vikir couldn’t help but recall the past.

When Figgy had died due to the intervention of Granola, Vikir had personally taken care of Figgy’s body, just as he had before the regression.

‘…I personally took care of Figgy’s body back then as well. I was even there at his deathbed.’

Vikir’s memory of the exact events from that time was hazy.

But whenever he tried to recall that moment…

‘…A good person.’

All that lingered in his ears was this hallucination that echoed repeatedly in moments of crisis.

After that, Vikir had an astonishing experience.

Even days after returning from the battlefield, Figgy’s body had not decomposed.

As time passed, the smell of death grew stronger from Figgy’s corpse.

But the stench that emanated was entirely different in nature from that of decay.

Awakening.

Figgy had been reborn as something completely different from a human the moment he died.

This was because of Andras' other self had lingered near Figgy’s soul all this time.

“…It felt similar to when Sere was around.”

Demons have a way of lurking around their hosts, waiting for the moment when the host’s mind or body is at its weakest.

When Vikir sensed the familiar yet strange smell coming from Figgy, he used the Mirror of Truth, borrowed from Dolores, to reflect Figgy’s face.

And what he saw in the mirror was astonishing.

The first emperor. The face that Vikir had seen countless times through portraits.

Figgy’s bloodline was finally revealed to the world.

Andras’ other self had been waiting for the moment of awakening, hovering around Figgy’s body, which was of the imperial bloodline.

“Only then did I understand why your blood was able to close Abyss Tree.”

Vikir stood blocking the way, and Figgy responded with a faint smile.

Figgy’s soul, which hadn’t fully perished and was in a state of suspended animation, was able to remain within his body with the help of Camus.

However, unlike Sere, Andras’ self, which had an entirely different and strange structure, had fused with Figgy’s soul. As a result, Figgy was able to stand here now.

…And also.

An invisible thread connected the hearts of Figgy and Vikir.

It was the thread that Andras, who had taken over the body of the First Crown Prince, had noticed—a stubborn strand of fate that had persisted since the last world.

[I remember now, Vikir. How you and I met in that other world. And…]

Figgy spoke in a tone that was tinged with sadness but also filled with longing and warmth.

[Why I sent you back in time.]