The Sword Demon Tears People Apart

Zeron suddenly rushed at Lapien.
The sword fell, and Lapien hurriedly raised her sword.
Clang-!
A sharp metallic sound rang out.
Lapien grimaced and formed a hand seal with her left hand.
Gather, release.
A blue sphere condensed in front of her eyes.
It was Magic Missile, a 1st tier magic.
Whoosh-, the sound of air being pierced.
Zeron dodged the magic shot at close range by just tilting his head and sneered.
“You’re slow forming hand seals. The direction is obvious too. You’d be an idiot not to dodge it.”
“Eek…!”
Click-, a gun was aimed at Lapien’s forehead.
It’s non-lethal ammunition anyway, not live rounds.
At most, it would just make her a bit red if hit.
“Bang.”

Along with the playful word.
Bang-! The sound of gunfire erupted.
“Kyaa…!”
Lapien closed her eyes in surprise, but the bullet didn’t touch her body.
The bullet that bounced off the mana emanating from her rolled on the ground.
“Oh?”
Is it a habit ingrained in her body?
Whoever taught her did a good job.
Zeron grinned and lightly tapped Lapien’s head with the flat of his sword.
“Hey, hey. Again. You get two chances.”
“I get it, so get this away!”
Lapien frowned and stepped back.
Her face was red with shame.
‘…This time I won’t be scared.’
With this resolve, she aimed her sword.

“Start.”
As soon as Zeron’s lips parted,
Thump-! This time Lapien kicked the ground powerfully.
A sword falling straight down with her leap.
Vertical cut.
Zeron chuckled and countered.
“Do you feel you’ve improved a bit?”
“Shut, up…!”
“No, I’m still your teacher, you know.”
Clang-, clang-! The loud metallic sounds gradually became faster.
At first, it seemed somewhat followable, but Zeron’s sword speed increased by the second.
Despite Lapien taking the initiative, as time passed, she was being pushed back.

She gritted her teeth and swung her sword widely once, then leaped back as if lying down.
At the same time, she drew the gun from her waist, aimed, and fired.
Bang, bang, bang-!
Two shots to the chest and one to the head.
The bullets fired in an instant rushed towards Zeron.
“Hmm.”
Zeron exhaled through his nose as if unimpressed and raised his sword.
Clang clang clang-! With one sword movement, three bullets were deflected.
Zeron, who was about to swing his sword again to return the bullets, stopped-, freezing his body.
“This might be too much, right?”
He shrugged and rushed at Lapien again.
*
The exam results were exactly as expected, except for one guy.
The rude one, Jeremiah de Lapien, was Good. B+
The flower-headed Defoi was also Good. B+
The dead-eyed Colwhir was Poor. C
The gloomy Ed was Excellent. A+
What was unexpected was the gloomy guy’s skill.
He handled the sword better than expected.
You could say he had excellent practical sense.
He was also a swordsman who only used a sword, not handling both gun and sword simultaneously like the current trend.
With the commonality of being a swordsman and a somewhat friendly way of speaking.
Medea was even puzzled when Zeron called him gloomy.
But what can I do if he looks gloomy to me?
Somehow, I didn’t have a good feeling about that guy.
If I were in my prime, I might have cut his throat as soon as I saw him.
I was really young back then…
As Zeron reminisced about the past, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

“Now, lastly, the kid. Come quickly.”
Regardless of his thoughts, Zeron beckoned the kid with his sword.
The kid walked forward with a somewhat stern expression.
“Honestly, with me going this far, there shouldn’t be an idiot who messes up the duel, right? Hm? I even held a gun I don’t use.”
“Shut up. It’s not like you taught anything great anyway. You barely even used the gun in the first place.”
“No… that’s disappointing. Even if we put the gun aside… how many times did I tell you that the basics are important?”
Hmph-, the kid snorted and took her stance.
A peculiar stance with her right hand holding the sword supporting her left hand holding the gun.
Usually, if a gun is used as a secondary weapon, this stance rather showed a clear intention to use the sword as a secondary weapon.
And for the kid, this was the correct stance.
That’s because…
“…Well then, start!”
Bang bang bang bang bang-!
The kid was a genius at shooting.
*
Zeron marveled at the barrage of bullets as soon as he signaled the start.
Two to the chest, one to each leg, two to the head.
They were fired almost simultaneously.
Moreover, the strangely spread bullets were flying to positions that were difficult to deflect all at once with a sword.
Clang-! Zeron quickly moved his body to the left and deflected two bullets he couldn’t dodge.
Immediately after, he leaped.
But the kid’s gaze didn’t leave Zeron.
Calmly tracking with her eyes, once again.
Bang-! Bang-! Bang-!
This time she put time intervals.
Twisting his body to dodge two shots, deflecting one with the flat of his sword, and dodging the remaining two by running as if lying on the ground.

Even until that moment, the kid remained calm.
The magazine capacity the kid used was 12 rounds.
Click, swish- snap-!
The magazine was replaced in an instant.
13 rounds, combining the 1 in the chamber and 12 in the magazine.
Bang bang bang bang bang-!
The kid’s gun spewed fire.
Zeron appropriately dodged what he could dodge at a student level, and deflected what he couldn’t with his sword.
The bullets weren’t imbued with mana.
The kid wasn’t at the level to imbue mana in such rapid fire, and at a student level, this much was enough to exert sufficient stopping power.
Even if it can’t penetrate mana resistance, one can’t help but flinch at the force contained in the bullets.
Yet why bother blocking with the sword?
Well, it feels dirty if you get hit.
Zeron lifted the corner of his mouth slightly and swung his sword.
Zeron trying to approach, and the kid’s barrage trying to prevent it.
After a brief standoff,

Click────
The firing pin hitting empty air signaled the end of the standoff.
Bam-! At the same time, Zeron’s foot stomped the ground.
As his figure approached in an instant, the kid stepped back and quickly changed magazines.
But it’s too late.
Zeron had already reached right in front of her.
The kid gritted her teeth and swung the sword in her right hand.
Clang-! A clean horizontal slash was blocked.
Zeron lifted the corner of his mouth at the weighty strike disproportionate to the kid’s strength.
As expected of my best disciple.
But there’s no mercy.
He deflected the kid’s second slash with the end of his sword handle.
Immediately after, his wrist turned, and
“Eek!?”
Woong──, the flat of the sword that struck the kid’s head emitted a clear resonance.
Zeron chuckled at that pleasant sound.
“I told you to practice close combat.”
“Shut up…”
The kid pouted and rubbed her reddened forehead.
Zeron habitually reached into his pocket but stopped and just casually swung his sword.
“Shall we start right away then?”
“Wait a moment.”
The kid checked her equipment status and nodded.
“You can start now.”
“Alright.”
Bang-!
With a surprise gunshot, the second test began.
The battle pattern was similar to before.
Zeron trying to break through, and the kid trying to block.
The subject name was Practical Swordsmanship, but… it didn’t matter.
This test was largely meant to prepare for the subsequent duels anyway.
Click, swish- snap-!
Zeron advanced two steps while the kid was changing magazines.

Bang bang bang-!
Continued barrage.
Zeron frowned at the same pattern.
‘She’s not a stupid kid though.’
Eleven shots, twelve shots.
He approached while dodging and deflecting, simultaneously counting the remaining bullets.
One bullet left.
The kid seemed to be aiming carefully, then suddenly threw the sword she was holding in her right hand.
“Huh?”
Clang-! As he swung his sword to deflect it, the kid’s sword flew into the sky with a metallic sound.
The corner of the kid’s mouth lifted.
She aimed at the pelvis.
The sword that went up to deflect the thrown sword would take time to come down.
Of course, he could block it easily with normal bullet speed, but mana was already heavily imbued in the gun.

Increase in power. Plus increase in speed.
Her finger pulled the trigger.
Bang-!
At the same time, Zeron’s head turned sharply.
‘Killing intent?’
His gaze turned to empty space.
But soon, it shattered like breaking glass.
Zeron lowered his sword with a stern expression.
Ting-! The end of the sword handle deflected the bullet.

The kid’s expression, unaware of the situation, was tinged with disappointment.
Of course, she had assumed he would block with the sword blade, so it would be late.
But Zeron remained standing still in that spot.
Medea, though puzzled, quickly changed magazines and aimed at Zeron.
“Hey, hey. Wait a moment.”
“Hm? What is it?”
Medea lowered her gun, pouting.
Zeron’s usually relaxed eye corners were sharply raised.
“Why are you suddenly angry… huh?”
Medea also discovered it.
The crack in empty space.
She looked at Zeron in confusion.
His dull blue eyes, hidden by his messy hair, were emitting a cold light.
Gulp-
She swallowed involuntarily.
*
The regressor remained still.
Then his eyes examined the crack in empty space.
It’s the same this time too.
Feeling exasperated, he glanced at Zeron from the corner of his eye.
He was taking a stance, raising his guard at the unfamiliar situation.
Though his actions might make him seem full of openings, he never lets his guard down.
Because in the underworld where he lived, a moment’s carelessness directly led to death.
‘Should I deal with it? Or let him handle it?’
The decision was quick.
Considering future events, the decision was easy.
‘Go ahead and rampage all you want this time, Sword Demon. In this life, things will never go your way.’
The regressor’s eyes flashed blood-red.