Reincarnated User Manual

Chapter 289: Gaijin (4)

The moonlight shone down on the holy sword, radiating a chilling aura. It was a blatant display of murderous intent, far from the usual resplendent light that often enveloped it.

This sword wasn’t drawn to cut down the wicked.

It wasn’t as a hero, but as Shiron Prient, that he struck with plain and efficient slashes, ruthlessly cutting through Gaijin’s massive frame.

-Crunch-

Gaijin’s tightly clenched mouth was drenched in blood. Thanks to his blood sacrifice technique, he didn’t sustain a fatal injury, but even with small amounts of damage, it still took a toll.

A slash that should’ve severed fingers barely managed to slice through.

A blow that should’ve twisted and snapped intestines only left him with bruised flesh.

However, the fact that the damage was accumulating remained unchanged.

Though a person wouldn’t die from shallow cuts, it was easy to imagine that death would follow if those injuries piled up.

Dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of wounds marred his body, and Gaijin’s face was no exception. It was happening right now.

Slash! A blue blade slashed across his body. Despite the deep cuts, there wasn’t much blood, but the number of terrifyingly torn wounds was overwhelming.

‘I’ve lost too much blood.’

His limbs had no strength left. No matter how much his flesh was cut, only a dull sensation was felt.

There was no pain. He had long become used to it.

It wasn’t as if his stomach had burst open, nor did the pain he shared with Yoru cause his body to freeze.

There was no hesitation in the sword that struck down.

There was no obstacle in the path of the swinging sword.

Because of this, Shiron was also sustaining injuries.

But there was a stark difference between them.

Gaijin exchanged blows with the man in front of him but couldn’t help but feel an undeniable gap.

Flesh tore, bones scraped.

Even so, Gaijin didn’t stop swinging his sword, as if dodging was too much trouble, and continued slashing.

But even then, Shiron remained unscathed.

When Gaijin chased him down, Shiron would follow.

When Gaijin threw a punch, Shiron willingly exposed his body.

Unlike Gaijin, who only felt half the pain, Shiron endured the full agony without hesitation.

A fleeting thought crossed his mind,

that perhaps he was being foolish.

But he quickly corrected that mistaken thought.

Though thousands of blows had been exchanged, Shiron’s body remained intact.

In an instant, his divine power manifested.

Unlike Gaijin, who had begun to accumulate damage, Shiron’s body returned to the state it had been before the fight began.

While Gaijin felt the weight of fatigue bearing down on him, Shiron showed no signs of tiring.

Gaijin felt wronged by the unfairness.

Despite taking all the damage, Shiron relentlessly pressed forward, driving Gaijin back.

Boom!

The dagger exploded with a deafening sound.

What couldn’t withstand the hours-long exchange wasn’t Gaijin’s body.

No matter how much he deflected or dodged, it was easy to predict that his weapon, after so much impact, would eventually break.

‘A weapon, I need a weapon!’

He fumbled at his waist, but all four of his sheaths were empty.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

After hours of combat, his swords had long been ground to dust by the slashes that had cut across his body.

His sheaths were as empty as a bottomless pit.

Shiron sneered at Gaijin’s growing panic.

As expected, Gaijin had no more means to continue the fight, and his face finally reflected his dismay.

The path of Shiron’s sword became even sharper.

A dense storm of sword strikes swirled around Gaijin.

The sword, moving too fast for the eye to follow, became a sphere, with Gaijin caught at its center, being endlessly cut down.

Gaijin struggled within the numbness.

It felt like he was floating in water, but the sphere of blades was heavy and filled with an eerie menace.

Slowly, he felt himself dying even while alive.

The pain was so overwhelming that he couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality.

“Guhak!”

Gaijin spat out dark red blood.

His intestines had already been damaged, with chunks of flesh mixed in.

The blood mist from the sword storm turned into tiny fragments, scattering in the air.

‘Is this really the end?’

A heavy sense of despair settled on Gaijin’s face.

The approaching presence of death tightened its grip on his heart.

‘No matter how much I fight, I can’t avoid death.’

His heart, gnawed at by anxiety, felt fear for the first time in ages.

Crack! His thighs, on the verge of bursting, exploded, sending Gaijin flying high into the air.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’

Shiron kicked off with legs wrapped in a storm and launched himself into the air.

With a loud crash, he sent Gaijin, who was trying to leap over the wall, crashing back to the ground.

The ground exploded, sending dust flying.

Gaijin, with only one leg left, tried to clear the dust.

But Shiron was faster, already cutting through the storm toward him.

With a chilling aura, the holy sword once again tore through Gaijin’s body.

Cough.

The accumulated damage caused him to cough up blood.

Guhuhuhuk- Thud.

The pieces of intestines he spat out stuck to the stone floor.

That was proof that his body had reached its limit.

Although he had become numb to the pain, the evidence before him couldn’t be ignored.

Death was quickly approaching.

Like his tattered body, his mind was also starting to fall apart.

His once lofty vision was now buried in the dirt.

All he could think about was wanting to escape from this situation.

“…Ha.”

Perhaps out of deep exhaustion, a sneer crept onto Gaijin’s lips.

His torn, blistered lips burst open with the slightest movement.

He despised cowards, ruling through force rather than diplomacy.

And yet, what was this disgraceful state he found himself in?

He wasn’t looking for an opportunity; rather, he was consumed by the fear of death, thinking only of running away.

Self-loathing came in an instant.

Slice!

Gaijin’s remaining arm fell off.

At the same time, his ankle was severed, and his thigh was sliced diagonally.

Thud! Gaijin’s body collapsed onto a pile of stones.

The storm of sword strikes came to an abrupt halt.

“…What is this?”

Shiron spoke, staring at the pitiful sight of the man reduced to a worm.

The reason his limbs had been sliced off was that the blood master technique had been dispelled.

The mental energy required to maintain the spell had disappeared.

That could be one explanation, but Gaijin’s sneer seemed to deny it.

“Why did you stop attacking?”

Gaijin had undone his own blood master technique and released the hostage of his own will.

“If you had kept swinging your sword, I would have died.”

“Are you planning to kill yourself?”

Shiron grimaced and spat out his words.

“You call others cowards, but now you’re trying to run away. Don’t you find that too pathetic?”

“…You’re right.”

“You won’t get an easy death.”

“That’s true.”

Gaijin agreed with Shiron’s words.

Having undone the blood sacrifice technique, he would bleed out and die soon. Death wasn’t far, but it didn’t mean he could survive either.

Shiron wished for Gaijin to suffer as much as possible as death slowly approached.

“You’re right. As the sword of the empire, there’s no way you’d let a barbarian die peacefully.”

Gaijin sighed with his pale face, recalling his fallen comrades.

The empire never let the enemies who threatened them go easily. If captured, they faced horrific torture, and even in death, their heads were hung on the gates.

The funerals were always left to their own people. Even as a child, Gaijin had chased away crows while carrying a corpse on his back.

“How could you be so shameless?”

“…Shameless? I merely spoke the truth.”

Gaijin felt a sense of peace, but he didn’t believe it was Shiron showing him mercy.

“The empire has oppressed Silleya for centuries. All we did was put up a rightful resistance against it.”

“Do you really believe that?”

Thud—

Shiron, kneeling down, met Gaijin’s gaze.

“Do you really think the empire is purely evil, and your people are just righteous warriors fighting back?”

“Is there some hidden truth you’re keeping?”

“No, that’s correct.”

Shiron sneered at Gaijin.

“The empire’s a bastard, and you guys are righteous warriors, aren’t you? Under the pretext of stopping demonic beasts, you plundered neighboring countries, and the empire, which preemptively removed any threats, is the bastard here.”

“…Are you mocking me?”

“You catch on quick.”

Gaijin’s face twisted as he looked at Shiron.

“You still don’t get it.”

“What don’t I get, you bastard?”

“You, born in the empire, wouldn’t understand.”

“I wasn’t born there, you bastard.”

“If we fought head-on, we’d lose. That’s why we chose the most efficient way. In a fight where lives are on the line, do you think fighting honorably is the way? That’s just the arrogance and pride of the weak.”

Cough. Blood sprayed across his face, soaking him in red.

“Only by fighting like this… could we finally stand on equal footing.”

Hot blood trickled down his burning cheek.

There were no means too low for him. That was Gaijin’s attitude toward life. He scoured every document he could find and ventured even into the Abyss to face countless phenomena.

He met Glen Prient. He met demons and gods who vanished from lack of faith.

He broadened the horizons of his sorcery.

He received a blood worm called Hyeolgo and learned how to grow stronger. Upon his return, Gaijin fed the blood worm to his warriors. Yoru was no exception.

“Do we really need to be equals? You could just live, bowing your head like everyone else.”

“…That’s impossible.”

Gaijin muttered, turning his head. At the end of his gaze was the wrecked Yoru.

“I never learned how to bow my head. Too many people have died, and I couldn’t break the cycle of revenge.”

“No, you could’ve broken it.”

Shiron chuckled and raised his holy sword.

“You were given a chance to live a decent life.”

“…”

“You should’ve waited, at least until I arrived, or until Lucia showed up.”

“…You answer too easily.”

“That’s because I’m better than you.”

The holy sword sliced toward Gaijin’s neck.

Shnk—Shiron cut off the conversation as he pleased.

As much as he wanted to continue talking, there were still things left to do.

Shiron trudged toward Yoru.

[Is this one still alive?]

‘…Looks like it.’

Shiron gulped as he summoned his divine power. It was obvious he would need much more divine energy than usual.

A massive holy figure pushed back the night.

---

“…What is that?”

Far from the prison, in a separate area.

Deviale was overseeing the care of 300 injured and witnessed a miracle.

A pillar in the shape of a holy relic illuminated the sky.

Deviale immediately knelt and clasped his hands in prayer. To witness a miracle once more in his lifetime, he forgot the patients he was tending and wept tears of joy.

The surrounding priests were no different.

Dozens of priests didn’t doubt the miracle before them. They felt blessed to witness this historic moment and wept tears of gratitude for being there.

Even the knights and guards watching them were taken aback and knelt down. The interrupted treatment meant that groans could once again be heard all around, but for now, they focused on prayer.

Except for one person.

“I was curious why you were defending a mere common priest so fiercely. To think two cardinals would be sent for something as trivial as rescuing a barbarian.”

“…”

“You said you couldn’t explain the reason, but this is why, isn’t it?”

“…Cardinal Iris.”

Deviale frowned at the soft voice that suddenly spoke to him.

“Don’t interrupt me. I’m praying.”

“…Didn’t Priest Shiron tell you to tend to the patients?”

“…”

“That’s too much, Cardinal.”

Iris knelt in front of Deviale. In an instant, the surroundings turned white. The scenery illuminated by the miracle was gone, and Deviale found himself alone with Iris.

“To know of the hero’s existence and not report it, isn’t it deceitful enough to warrant excommunication?”

“The Hero asked me not to report it.”

Deviale, irritated, pushed the interrupter away.

The white curtain fell, and the world was once again bathed in the light of the miracle.

“Now that you know the truth, I’ll speak frankly.”

Thud—

Iris’s forehead hit the ground. Despite witnessing the miracle, her stiff neck was forced down by Deviale himself.

“Show some respect at once.”

“…Of course.”

Iris agreed with an irritating smile.