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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 33
1.
‘If I don’t kill, I’ll die.’
Raven’s words pierced Verdin’s heart like a blazing arrow.
Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump—
With every beat, a fierce heat surged through his body, wrapping him like wildfire.
Within that heat was a strange thrill.
Verdin swung his sword, savoring the rush.
Shing—
No screams echoed.
Only the sight of hot blood splattering everywhere, somehow beautiful.
At the same time, a faint whisper echoed deep in his mind.
[You have to kill them all. Only then can you find the princess.]
Over a hundred bandits.
Before, Verdin thought that number was overwhelming.
No matter how skilled he was, facing 100 at once was suicide.
But now… somehow, it felt possible.
‘There’s no one here stronger than me.’
And just moments ago, he’d taken down Boss Volg.
Everyone left here were just small fries.
They posed no real threat.
Only a handful could even land a single strike against him.
Shing—
This time, he severed two necks with one blow.
They screamed, but he barely heard it.
What mattered was the number of enemies shrinking.
And with that, the closer he got to Princess Lilian.
‘Lilian… I have to find her.’
His mind flashed back to the knight’s oath sworn before King Elliot of Altera—
A vow to never yield to fear, to give his life for the royal command.
But he broke that oath.
He let fear consume him and handed the princess over to the bandits.
‘I will make this right.’
Verdin tightened his grip on the sword and swung without hesitation.
He lost count of how many he’d slain.
Once the battle began, he realized fear was just an illusion.
Instead, a thrill surged through him.
‘Is this what slaughter feels like?’
A tingling pleasure from head to toe.
In the past, he avoided killing whenever possible—it was his belief.
But now? That belief seemed to have ruined everything.
‘I should’ve done this long ago.’
When the princess’s carriage was ambushed two years ago, he should’ve drawn his sword then.
The numbers then were almost identical to now. Skills were all about the same.
‘I underestimated myself.’
His mentor’s lesson echoed—Knowing yourself is more important than knowing your enemy.
Verdin sighed, then sliced through the next opponent.
Now the enemies were fully armed.
Thick leather armor, heavy iron hammers and axes.
Big and bulky, but still pathetic.
They only believed in their numbers as they surrounded him.
‘What a pointless effort…’
Verdin lightly leapt forward, knocking down the biggest brute.
Landing, he swiftly sliced the neck of a tall, thin man nearby, then plunged his sword into a terrified bandit’s heart.
Only three were killed, but the other seven fled.
‘No way!’
Fleeing enemies are easy to kill—just stab them in the back.
His scimitar’s broad tip cut through hearts like butter with a single thrust.
Verdin dashed like the wind.
Despite having killed dozens, he felt no fatigue.
Closing the distance, he stabbed his sword through another neck.
Thuk—
At the same moment, a voice echoed—
[Wait. I’ll bring the rest too.]
Three fleeing thieves turned back and charged at him.
Verdin flipped his body with fluid grace, swinging his sword in a beautiful arc.
Shing-Shing-Shing—
Three necks flew through the air at once.
Taking a deep breath, cool air filled his lungs.
Exhaling, he beheaded the next three advancing enemies.
Thunk-Thunk-Thunk—
Heads dropped to the ground, bodies without heads collapsed, and Verdin turned around, listening closely.
There were no voices left from the living.
Only the flickering campfires still burned.
‘Have I taken care of them all?’
Most likely, yes.
Though he hadn’t counted, every person struck by his sword must have perished.
‘How easy this was…’
The moment he confirmed the bandit group was wiped out, something inside him slipped away.
At the same time, the thrill that had surged to his head turned into emptiness.
The hollow feeling inside was unbearable.
He thought about finding the princess, but an opposing thought crept in.
‘Is the princess even still alive?’
Verdin looked at the iron cage with reddened eyes.
Inside, the hostages who had eaten the soporific herb soup were asleep.
Those locked behind bars were handled in one of two ways—
Either killed or sold to slave traders who came around periodically.
In either case, the victims were sedated with the sleep-inducing herb before being dealt with.
The herb was abundant here; ever since the bandits settled in this area long ago, they’d used this method.
But two years ago, Princess Lillian was dragged away without being put to sleep.
There was only one explanation for that.
‘......’
Truthfully, Verdin had suspected what had happened to the princess.
He just refused to accept it.
But after unleashing a massacre today and breaking his inner restraint, everything became clear.
‘Lillian is dead. Right here.’
The first woman captured was never locked in a cage. Instead, she was taken to the bandit leader’s chambers.
Then to the deputy’s room, and after that, the henchmen took turns.
After one night like that, most women were broken—either dead or driven mad.
If they survived intact, they became prostitutes for the bandits or were sold to slave traders.
But since that day, no one had seen Lillian again.
‘Filthy worms. Trash.’
A wave of disgust made him retch.
From afar, shouts could be heard.
“Over there! Kill them!”
There were still survivors.
As the faces of the approaching figures came into view, he recognized them.
He didn’t recall their names, but they were the ones disgruntled after Volg became the leader.
They had been deputies under Mikael, so their jealousy toward Verdin made sense.
Suppressing the nausea, Verdin slowly walked toward the first, large man charging at him. Then—
Shreek—
He severed the right arm wielding an axe and stabbed the heart.
Then he waited—for the others to come.
Standing like that, he would appear captured.
“Ugh… why… why did you…”
A voice leaked from the heart-pierced man’s lips.
Verdin didn’t feel like answering aloud, but inside, the reply flowed clearly.
‘It’s time to end this madness.’
More bandits arrived—Verdin met them head-on, sword already in hand.
With practiced, almost elegant precision, he cut them down. One after another, clean and unhesitating.
That was it. No more came.
These must have been the last of them.
Their gear was different—better armor, sharper weapons.
They’d clearly raided the armory, hoping to stand a chance.
But even steel couldn't save them.
Moonlight began to filter through the trees, faint and silver.
He looked up. The crescent moon hung crooked in the branches, distorted and pale.
Like the world itself had been bent out of shape.
Verdin’s eyes welled up with tears mixed with blood.
When he first drew his sword, two thoughts filled him—Kill every bandit here, and find the princess.
But now he realized.
The princess was just an illusion.
Only death remained for the failed knight.
Verdin glanced at his tent.
Two men were watching him there.
Raven and Crimson.
Though he’d named them, now with a clear mind, he knew they were no ordinary bandits.
Without them, he wouldn’t have been able to do what he did today.
‘Who are they, really?’
He absentmindedly looked to the opposite iron cage and saw one cell was empty.
Then he finally understood who they were.
‘Priests of the Calios Church?’
He had heard that the priests of the Calios Church wielded mysterious powers—perhaps that was the source of their strength.
Verdin shook the blood dripping from his sword onto the ground once more and approached them.
He had a favor he desperately wanted to ask.
＊ ＊ ＊
"He's quite skilled."
That was William’s impression after watching Verdin in action.
His eyes gleamed a distinct shade of green—was it the spark of rivalry, one warrior recognizing another?
I glanced over and asked him casually.
"You think you could beat him?"
"I would win."
"Seriously?"
I asked playfully, but William nodded without hesitation.
"That one’s just reached the threshold. He’s got potential, but he needs more experience to truly be refined."
"Oh? Is that so?"
“He’s good enough to take in as a subordinate.”
Coming from William, that was saying a lot.
Verdin really might be something out of the ordinary.
‘Even his backstory wasn’t exactly average.’
He hailed from the Kingdom of Altera, way down in the southern part of the continent.
I’d heard the place was home to more than a few famous swordmasters.
Verdin was probably one of them.
‘Still can’t figure out what he might’ve been called in his past life…’
As I mulled it over, Verdin began approaching us. That’s when Equinox warned me.
[The mind control has worn off. Reapplying it will require significantly more mana.]
The fact that it had broken without me cancelling it meant only one thing—Verdin’s mental strength was formidable.
‘Should I try casting it again?’
I considered it briefly but shook the idea.
The bandit group was already annihilated.
A few tried to flee, but I had used mind control to steer them straight to Verdin—and he cut them down without a second thought.
There were no survivors. No one left to threaten us.
So there were only two options left now—
‘Either kill him… or take him in.’
Either way, I’d have to kill him eventually.
He’d just proven that keeping him under permanent control wasn’t realistic.
Just then, William spoke up.
“I’ll handle it.”
“You sure?”
“…I can’t die.”
Ah. Right.
That explained everything.
Even if William wasn’t quite on Verdin’s level, the fact that he couldn’t die tipped the scales in his favor.
With enough persistence—or the right plan—he’d bring Verdin down eventually.
‘He might even beat him outright, on skill alone.’
By the time that thought settled, Verdin had already closed the distance.
I started to rise, but stopped William with a slight motion of my hand.
Verdin spoke.
"Are you priests of the Holy Nation?"
"...That… we are."
I debated lying for a moment, but answered honestly.
Then I shifted forms—best to talk as a priest.
Just like that, I became Lyernoff. William took on the form of Andre.
Verdin’s gaze deepened, and he spoke again.
"...I have a request, Father."
"What is it?"
"Please… kill me."
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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