Become their wicked yet gentle lord.

"stop!"

"As you wish, my master~"

Ruklati immediately stopped laughing, obediently stepped aside, and looked at Ryusha beside her with a half-smile.

written request for leave

I've been too busy before the New Year, so I'm taking a day off. Please forgive me.

Chapter 17 The Past of the Demon Sword

Ryūka glanced at Viscount Anthony, who lay sprawled on the ground, his body shattered and slowly healing, but unable to move for the time being. Ryūka then looked at Ruklati, whose body was now semi-transparent, her face bearing the same nonchalant smile as when he first met her, but now even more arrogant.

“You still call me master.”

Ryuka stared at the dangerous phantom before her. After absorbing the fragment of the demonic sword, she had become more autonomous. She could appear without her permission and even use her power to attack others.

"That's right. Although I've regained some of my memories and am more free, I still need to depend on you to exist."

Ruklati shrugged, looking like she was clinging to Ryukatsu. But the demon sword might not be a good thing, something Ryukatsu was quite wary of. But since she claimed to have regained some memories, he might as well ask her first.

“Tell me what you know.”

"What would you like to hear, my little master?"

Ruklati smiled with amusement. She not only enjoyed her recovery but also enjoyed seeing Ryusha's impatient expression.

Looks like another bad guy with a problematic personality. Ryusha snorted, gripping the scepter tightly with her spiritual power, which immediately caused Ruklati to let out a miserable cry.

"Hey! Go easy~ Okay, okay! I'll talk to you!"

Feeling Ryuga's hand lighten a bit, Ruklati, having recovered, started babbling on and on about the boy in front of her:

"So many memories have returned at once, I almost forgot you were a sadist... Okay, you're right. My name isn't Yu, it's Ruklati, but the two names mean the same thing."

“I know that. I want to know about Carmela, about you, and…”

Ryusha glanced at Viscount Anthony on the ground and gestured for Ruklati to tell him what happened back then.

"Well, initially, gods and humans forged seven holy swords together for one purpose: to fight against chaos. That was the beginning, but the new god who came into being later, that pure newbie, didn't acknowledge any of the old beings, including us. Because whether it was us, the old gods, or the witch, they all possessed abilities that could threaten her..."

"The Holy...Sword?"

Ryuga frowned. Perhaps the title "Demon Sword" was given by the Holy See. But neither Ruklati nor Iduniel, which he only vaguely understood, seemed to have anything to do with the word "holy"...

In the legends of this continent, the only sword that can be called a holy sword is the one used by King Kranar to defeat the cruel witch.

Sensing Ryūsha's skepticism, Ruklati was displeased. She put her hands on her hips and muttered, "We forged it with fragments of divine power, what else would we call it but a holy sword!"

"Uh, the divine sword?"

Rukla rolled her eyes at Ryūka, ignoring his argument, and started counting on her fingers, looking rather dim-witted. She tried to recall her incomplete memories, then pointed to Ryūka's arms:

“Let me think about it. In short, the Heretic War was long and chaotic, and the seven of us changed hosts quite a few times. Of the few you know, Iduniel, she's a bit of a show-off, her greatest interest is observing the ‘fate’ of creatures. Isolde, the one in your arms, she's a stone. Not the crystal that seals her, but her personality. In fact, even the rest of us know very little about her…”

"As for me... in your human terms, I'm 'heartless,' though of course, I never really am. Although I look beautiful—that's because gods are believed to possess varying degrees of 'beauty'—you can only look, you can't do anything about it~ hehe~"

Ruklati lifted the hem of her skirt and twirled around, squinting at Ryusha, seemingly wanting to see Ryusha angry. But Ryusha gripped the scepter in her hand tightly again with her spiritual power, so strong that Ruklati felt she was about to crush her 'true form'.

"Wait! Are you crazy?! You can't take a joke!"

Ruklati showed a hint of panic. Under Ryūka's powerful spiritual energy, she actually felt herself gradually separating and dissipating! Ryūka also noticed this and showed a surprised expression. Originally, Yu resided in the power of order, but now, she had returned to that fragment of the broken sword.

Even a demonic sword, if it can be shattered, means it can be destroyed. Even a god like Chloe will slowly dissipate without the faith and worship of the real world. Ryūka quickly understood this.

Seeing Ruklati's beautiful face contorted in pain, Ryuga grinned. He reached out, leaving only a ripple on her illusory body. Pure energy, without any physical sensation. But... Ryuga always had his own methods for dealing with women with wicked personalities.

"It hurts, doesn't it? Then take off your clothes and give me a striptease? Even though you don't have a physical body, it should be easy for you to do that visually, right?"

"What?! You!" Ruklati's eyes widened. She hadn't expected that even without a physical body, Ryusha could find a way to humiliate her and satisfy his lewd pleasure.

This was something she had never experienced before. Although she claimed to have had many hosts, the weak would be possessed and controlled by the demonic sword before realizing it possessed its own consciousness. Even those few with strong wills who could wield the demonic sword, like Atina, would never destroy it because they had something to gain.

After all, who would destroy the very thing that gives them power?

"You don't want to? Then just tell me a story. I love listening to stories!"

After being threatened to perform a striptease, Ruklati became much more obedient. She even began to regret appearing in front of Ryusha and could only honestly tell her story.

The seven demonic swords possessed different rules and powers when they were forged. This power was originally intended to combat the chaos behind the witch, and it was one of the few swords capable of harming a powerful witch.

Yet they all possessed consciousness born of divine power. This made them uncontrollable, each with their own thoughts. Some willingly inherited the vengeful will of the fallen gods, becoming obsessive and extreme. Others inherited the fear of their gods before their fall, escaping their mission after birth. These behaviors were considered heretical by another being—the goddess of the Church, born in response to human desires…

But the demon swords did indeed possess extraordinary power, so the goddess personally intervened, subdued the demon swords, and allowed them to fulfill their due mission.

Upon hearing this, Liu Xia couldn't help but ask curiously, "You mean, the Goddess of the Holy See personally defeated you?"

"That's right, that newborn, that treacherous and cunning! That utterly detestable white fellow!"

Ruklati gritted her teeth, furious at this.

"I never shirked my mission! It's just that my methods were a bit too extreme! So she considered me a heretic! Not only was the body I was inhabiting unusable shortly after being severely injured, but my original body was also almost destroyed by her! And that encounter foreshadowed my later encounter with Carmela..."

“You’ve heard of the holy sword used to slay witches, haven’t you? That was one of ours once, but its consciousness was erased by that new god, leaving only its power. It became the so-called ‘Holy Sword of the Church,’ and was given to that mortal who possessed a fragment of order, Kranar.”

It's unclear whether Ruklati's anger stemmed from the 'killing' of her 'brothers and sisters' or from her shared stance as a demon sword. She was quite dissatisfied with the matter, but other demon swords clearly held different views.

"And that guy Iduniel even made some sarcastic remarks, saying that he was a coward to begin with, and that he had fulfilled his destiny in that way. But he's still our brother, isn't he!"

"I don't care about all that. Now that the Cruel Witch has been sealed away, my only goal is to avenge myself on that ungrateful new god. And after many failures, I've finally found a suitable host. A host who also possesses the power of order and hates the Church and the Goddess..."

"That little girl, Carmela!"

Chapter 18 The Past of the Demon Sword (Part Two)

"Does Carmela hate the Papacy?"

Ryūsha was somewhat surprised. Wasn't Carmela a saintess of the Holy See? He looked curiously at Ruklati and asked:

"Tell me, who exactly is this woman, and why do you say she hates the Vatican?"

“I don’t know, but I can feel her hatred.” Ruklati shook her head. “After I exhausted too much power, I fell into a deep sleep, and she found me. A human girl of thirteen or fourteen, her face covered in blood, yet she wore a gentle smile. I couldn’t sense any fighting spirit or magic from her, but the corpses of Judgment Knights lay at her feet.”

That scene delighted Ruklati, and she smiled as she asked Ryusha, "Do you know how they died? You want to know about Carmela, right? She'll definitely be a formidable opponent for you. Why don't you guess now?"

Ruklati was right. Although Carmela remained a mysterious figure to her, many of her experiences were inextricably linked to this woman. Even the abilities she had acquired might very well have originated from her.

What unsettled Ryuuya most was that, despite her already considerable fame, coupled with her demonstrated abilities and origins, the Archbishop of Ravenhill, who had once visited her, should have made some connections and suspicions. Not to mention that Hinatil had sent Luminova back to the Holy City; that foolish nun knew her, and as Carmela's 'original body,' Carmela should know her even more…

But she never targeted him, even though her enemy—the Congregation for the Faith of the Holy See—had approached him, wanting to join forces against Carmela. Yet, the cardinal archbishop seemed to ignore him completely. The more this was the case, the stranger it seemed to Ryuka became.

"Carmela killed her?"

“I told you, she doesn’t know fighting spirit or magic.”

"You also said that she has fragments of order. That should give her powerful combat abilities, right?"

Fragments of order imply powerful spiritual energy; it wouldn't be surprising if even a teenage girl killed several Judgment Knights. But Ruklati shook her head and giggled at Ryusha:

"No, those knights committed suicide. They willingly sacrificed their lives and blood for her, to awaken my hatred for the Church."

Ryūka frowned: "Mind control, right? That kind of ability is quite common..."

"Settings?" Ruklati blinked. Ryusha often used strange words, but she didn't mind. Instead, she said mysteriously:

"More or less, but she doesn't rely on the power of fragments of order. I understand this stuff; it can generate different rules of power based on the host's will, and what emerges in Carmela happens to be a quality close to domination... This is quite compatible with my abilities. But unfortunately, she uses an innate ability..."

Ryūka's expression became quite interesting. Fragments of Order, the Demon Sword, Holy Arts of the Church... Carmela already possessed so many different powers, and now she had this 'innate ability'? Whose subordinate was she? How could she be so powerful?

"Guess what, you deal with this kind of ability every day~"

Seeing Ryukura's puzzled and speechless expression, Ruklati revealed a mischievous smile and gave an unexpected answer.

"This innate ability is a female ability..."

"Female... Ruklati, you bastard!"

Ryusha was speechless and immediately swore. Ruklati's answer was completely unexpected! He stared wide-eyed at Ruklati and cursed:

"You son of a bitch! Didn't you just say she was only thirteen or fourteen years old at the time? Female abilities? Are you implying that those Judgment Knights who were willing to commit suicide for her were... because... that's fucking ridiculous!"

Rukla rolled her eyes; she knew the boy in front of her would think that way. It reminded her of a human proverb: "Those with dirty hearts think dirty things!" But instead of criticizing Ryuka, her tone became serious:

"If it's what you think, that's fine. She's a saint of the Holy See, so of course she's a virgin."

This relieved Ryuga; if things were really as he thought, it would be too hellish.

“Really? I don’t think it should be like that. Carmela isn’t a little boy, is she?”

"That's even more hellish! Although those bastards in the Vatican are indeed like that in this respect..." Ruklati couldn't help but grit her teeth and say angrily to Ryukyu:

"What I mean is, she's someone who's born to manipulate men! No magic needed! No fragments of order or rules needed! She doesn't even need to learn skills or methods! That human girl was born knowing how to deceive, control, and exploit men! As effortlessly as a dragonfly skimming the water! Do you understand now?!"

Now it was Ryusha's turn to be skeptical. He showed a disdainful look and said to Ruklati:

"You mean, when Carmela was thirteen or fourteen, without any special abilities, she could make a large group of men willingly die for her?"

"That's right, that's how it is. Now you understand how terrifying she is, right?"

"What? Is she a witch, or is her piss studded with diamonds?"

"Ryuka! You!"

Ruklati couldn't help but want to curse, but under Ryusha's threatening look of "Do you want to do a striptease?", she decided to forgive the human boy for the time being.

"Believe it or not, my memory is incomplete, but that's just who she was! Compared to her, you're a blank slate! No, she's practically a saint!"

Ruklati, her face full of resentment, continued talking about her story, seeing the questioning look in Ryūka's eyes...

"In short, the moment I saw her, I knew she was the one I was looking for. And she was willing to become my host, even giving me the power of the unused fragments of order, allowing it to combine with my abilities. I don't know where she obtained this power of order called 'Proof of Leadership,' probably from some unlucky man, but she certainly hadn't used it before meeting me..."

A demonic sword can combine with fragments of order? Ruklati's words left Ryūka incredulous, but considering that the demonic sword also possessed its own consciousness, making it a 'life form' in another sense, it seemed plausible. However, Ryūka was concerned with something else entirely:

"If Carmela is as dangerous as you say, how could she have failed at Ravenhill after gaining so much power?"

Ryusha pointed to Viscount Anthony lying on the ground. In his lifetime, he was just a Grand Knight. Even if the Demon Sword Iduniel was his family heirloom, it shouldn't have caused Carmela, who possessed so much power, to suffer a defeat, or even damaged the Fragment of Order and Ruklati's main body.

But Jukrati gave a cold laugh:

"Who said she failed?"

She pointed to the infant's corpse on the altar and asked Ryūka:

"Aren't you curious about how she learned to use multiple powers to create so-called 'base bodies'...?"

Chapter 19: The Past of Crow Ridge

Ryūsha also looked at the infant. Although it was a corpse, highly desiccated and rotting, a faint life force still emanated from it. This life force came from the white vines connected to the infant's umbilical cord. However, after Ruklati took her own fragment from the infant's chest, the life force within it went from weak and orderly to uncontrollable, transforming from a still-breathing dead infant into a piece of growing rotten flesh. Rather than an undead zombie like Anthony, it was more like a piece of rotting flesh absorbing nutrients, something somewhere between plant and living being…

Is this his child?

Ryuga looked at Anthony on the ground, his uncertain tone tinged with pity. He didn't know what this poor spirit had suffered in his life, but the scene before him, coupled with Ruklati's words about creating a 'body', forced him to make dark associations.

"He's his grandson, the child of the female mage you defeated outside. As for the child's father..."

Rukla smiled but didn't continue. She looked at Anthony, seemingly nostalgic for the past, and began to recount the story to Ryukyu:

"The Demon Sword Iduniel, its characteristics are life and destiny. Sleeping, she became the family heirloom sword of this clan, while these poor mortals did not know that the silver-white longsword in their hands was the legendary Demon Sword, but only regarded it as a divine weapon that could bring good luck to its wielder..."

Even in its slumber, the demonic sword still faintly emanates power, a power that grants the ancestor of the Anthony family abundant vitality. He can escape death time and again from grievous wounds that ordinary people cannot withstand, and his energy on the battlefield always pushes the limits. These qualities are not obvious, and are simply attributed to good luck, the good luck brought by a sword.

But all good fortune in the world seems to come at a price...

"It was this trait that made Carmela aware of Iduniel's existence... no, I should say, it was me who told her..."

Ruklati shook her head with a self-deprecating smile, but then she met Anthony's empty and hateful eyes, and a trace of arrogance as a demonic sword appeared in her eyes: "I don't deny it, hate me if you want."

"What exactly happened?"

“Ah~ let me recall carefully…” Ruklati’s memory was incomplete, but she still roughly told Ryusha the story from back then:

"That girl, besides being a saintess of the Holy See, also has an identity with another secret organization. I've only seen her and members of the organization a few times, and I don't even know their names. In short, they're a group of madmen who collect ancient powers—fragments of order, witches, relics of gods, and so on… They're obsessed with these things, but their motives are unclear. In any case, they've set their sights on Iduniel, which is in the possession of the Anthony family…"

Although Nur Antony was only a viscount at the time, his family had been valiant knights for generations, and he had a group of loyal knights who admired his martial skills. In Ryūsha's words, Nur Antony was once the leader of this region, and his Rose Castle was a lively hall where adventurers and the upper class discussed war, adventure, and skills without regard to social status.

"He only has one daughter, who practices magic rather than martial arts, but he doesn't mind. He's chosen a rare husband for her, a down-on-his-luck nobleman from afar. He possesses excellent martial arts skills and noble character, humble yet powerful. Everyone says he and Miss Anthony are a match made in heaven; if he's willing to marry into the family, it's a win-win situation for Viscount Anthony and this young man with no powerful connections..."

"His daughter also fell in love with the young man. Having seen all sorts of warriors and adventurers, she ultimately chose the gentle and elegant noble knight. When they married, the young lady was already several months pregnant—this was only after Anthony encouraged her to take the initiative, as the knight was too reserved. Once the deed was done, there were no more excuses, and they immediately began preparing for the wedding..."

How touching! I still remember that day, petals fluttering everywhere, guests arriving in droves to offer their congratulations. Everyone predicted that their child would be an outstanding heir, possessing the talents of both a knight and a mage, capable of making their family's Rose Sword shine once more!

Hearing this, Ryusha couldn't help but interrupt Ruklati: "Wait, you said you were there at the time?"

“Of course, it’s just inside the sheath. Carmela brought me here…” Ruklati smiled.

"Choosing to come when people are getting married, you and Carmela are really a jinx."

"A plague god? Never heard of such a deity. But you're right, we're not here to offer congratulations." Carmela removed her hood, and for the first second everyone was amazed by her beauty, which surpassed that of the bride a hundredfold. But the next second, everyone was enraged by the words she uttered...