Home/The Seven-Year-Old Village Chief of Exile/ch 64

Chapter 64

The man who descended from the pedestal walked with an air of ownership, as if this space were his own stage.

Frankly, he looked insufferable.

But the moment the man extended his right hand to the side and pulled a long spear from thin air.

"......!"

Ian swiftly drew his sword, and I tensed my right hand, ready to use my ability at any moment.

The man sneered at us.

"Young Clavis, seeing you like this, you really are pathetic."

The man, stopping right in front of my barrier, grinned.

'...Insufferable, but he's good-looking.'

Do all demons have good looks?

The demon, Necro.

The most unfilial of sons, who not only stabbed his father—up for a promotion—in the back but tore it out and threw it into the Han River, never to be found.

As was typical of demons, Necro's eyes were also yellow.

But the color was clearer and more vivid than the Lord-class demons or Verity.

'He's similar to that self-proclaimed General demon we saw at the Deste mansion.'

But his petty, sneering demeanor, which looked down on his opponent to the fullest, was even worse.

Necro seemed intent on wounding me, spitting out harsh words.

"The Clavis, so arrogant and insufferable—why did they leave only a single child behind and disappear?"

"......"

"Acting like you're afraid of nothing—was the Emperor too much for you?"

"......"

"To the point of abandoning a child alone?"

"......"

"Well, you're just baggage, aren't you? Even I would have abandoned and run. Haha, to leave their youngest, whom they cherished so much, in such a trash heap of a forest..."

Click—!

Thud. The demon's head fell off.

---

Tumble, roll. The demon's head soon hit the barrier.

"Wow, you're quite talented, aren't you?"

Hebenia's characteristic sarcastic voice echoed through the cavern.

"You made me angry."

Her face was hidden by her large pigtails, but Ian knew exactly what expression Hebenia was making.

Thanks to his recently improved eyesight, he could clearly see Hebenia's face reflected in the demon's yellow eyes, whose head had been cleanly severed.

She was smiling.

Very happily.

But with clear anger.

Just like the Clavis family head, whom he'd seen once before.

"You should be grateful to me. I threw away that useless decoration for you. Usually, you have to pay to dispose of large waste, but I did it for free."

'Again...!'

The pressure he'd felt in the village hall's dungeon—no, even heavier and more awe-inspiring—weighed down on Ian's shoulders.

He forced strength into his knees, which felt like they were about to give way.

He was so tense he could vividly feel each drop of sweat forming on his temples.

His mind accepted that he feared Hebenia as only natural.

But.

'Strange.'

There was one thing that bothered him.

"Ugh, guh...!"

Ian frowned at the groaning demon.

'His head was cut off...'

Why was he still alive?

There wasn't even any blood.

It was as clean as if a toy doll's head had simply been snapped off.

"Heh, heheh, uh, uhahaha...!"

Hahahaha! Kuhahaha!

The demon's laughter, like a scream, struck the cavern chaotically. Amidst the echoing laughter, the demon Necro curled his lips into a grin.

At that moment.

Whoosh! A gust of wind cut through the air as the demon's spear flew and pierced through the barrier.

"Hebenia!"

Ian grabbed Hebenia and rolled across the ground.

The spear grazed the spot where they had been standing and lodged into the wall behind them.

The wall where the spear hit was caved in, as if struck by a massive shell.

Ian couldn't believe his eyes.

'How, how is this possible...!'

Hebenia's barrier could easily withstand even the brutal force of monsters.

Yet it broke from just a single spear. That made no sense.

"It's not just a spear."

The demon Necro grinned. His head was now held in the hands of his body, which had drawn closer.

"It's a spear imbued with divine power."

"Divine... power?"

"To you humans, it's a 'relic'—no, you'd be more familiar with the term 'Savior's Relic.'"

"......"

A relic.

An artifact said to contain divine power.

Among them, the Savior's Relics were, literally, weapons and treasures personally bestowed by God to the Savior.

'I knew the central temple kept relics, but I thought they were just fantastical legends...!'

It turned out they were real.

"The great Clavis, for all their exceptions, are still just human."

The demon Necro, having reattached his head, now held the spear he had thrown moments ago in his hand.

"Well, then."

Necro grinned.

"Shall we start over?"

A white blur shot forward and snatched Ian away.

"Guh!"

Ian, slammed into the wall, coughed up blood and groaned.

"Ian oppa!"

"Hey, where do you think you're going!"

The demon blocked Hebenia's path as she tried to run.

"Oh my, what a close pair of siblings."

In front of Ian, who had barely regained his senses, dazzling blonde hair spread like a curtain.

"Even though you're not real family."

A beauty with pale skin and vivid red lips fluttered her white wings.

"...You're wearing a nose ring?"

"Your standards are low for such a lowly lifeform."

As Ian kicked to create distance, the angel stepped back willingly.

Her leather top exposed her cleavage, her tight leather pants had questionable breathability, and she wore high heels that made you worry she might sprain an ankle.

Conservative Ian frowned and spat out the saliva in his mouth.

"I'm worried my sisters might dress like you. It's unsightly."

"Are you the eldest son, who has no ability but only authority?"

"I'm the lowest in the hierarchy—I have no authority. I'm just prey for my sisters."

"Yeah, that's how you look."

"I was wondering what souvenir to buy, but it seems I don't need to bother."

Ian, freed from the wall, quickly adjusted his stance.

Shing—. He slowly drew his blade from the scabbard at his waist.

"A pillow would be nice. One with fluffy feathers."

Seeing the black-glinting blade, the angel frowned in displeasure.

"You..."

"......"

"Yes, as I thought, you're no ordinary human."

"Does it look that way?"

"Where did you get that sword?"

"Who knows."

Ian lowered his body slightly, putting strength into his sword hand.

Boom—!

Ian's blade and the angel's wings clashed in an instant.

"Guh!"

It was the angel who groaned.

The one who stepped back was the angel. She bit her lip and glared at Ian with vicious eyes.

"You're just a worm crawling on the ground!"

"Doesn't bother me."

Ian closed the distance and swung his sword in an instant. Tch, a red line appeared above the angel's shoulder.

"Ugh!"

The angel clutched her bleeding shoulder.

"I'll kill you!"

"Usually, the one who says that dies first."

"You're all talk!"

"Learned from my little sister!"

The battle between Ian and the angel began.

---

"Heh, the angel brat finally met her match."

Boom! Boom, boom!

With successive explosions, gray smoke rose.

The demon grinned and swung the long spear he was holding.

The smoke cleared in an instant, revealing Hebenia crouching inside her barrier.

"Oh, you dodged that?"

"Huff, pant...!"

Forcing her labored breath down, she extended her right hand.

"Don't even think about it!"

The demon swung the spear with all his might. The barrier shattered again, and Hebenia lowered her arms and dodged.

This time, several swords shot up like bamboo shoots from the ground.

"Guh!"

Hebenia quickly closed the space between the bamboo shoots and herself to create a barrier.

But the recoil sent her flying, tumbling across the ground.

"The great Clavis, running away like a dog with its tail between its legs!"

The demon, his eyes half-rolled back, laughed and deliberately missed Hebenia, enjoying his cruel game.

"Where's that spirit you showed earlier!"

Intoxicated by the superiority of playing with the Clavis—whom even the great Lords couldn't touch—he was full of himself.

Thanks to that, Hebenia was barely clinging to life.

No, in fact, she was dodging quite well.

'A few of those were serious...'

She'd narrowly avoided attacks that could have taken her limbs twice over.

'Even as a child, a Clavis is still a Clavis.'

But while she avoided fatal wounds, the countless minor attacks had left her battered and bruised.

Moreover, her stamina was nearly depleted from dodging the relentless assault.

Again, weapons flew from all directions, and Hebenia raised her barrier without pause.

'Verity, I swear I won't let you off when I get out!'

How is this a trial a seven-year-old can endure?

'Even a twenty-five-year-old couldn't handle this!'

When she blocked the rain of weapons, the demon shattered her barrier with his spear.

Now he wouldn't even give her a chance, pressing the attack relentlessly.

The moment her only weapon and defense—the barrier—was rendered useless, Hebenia felt her vision go dark.

'Think! Think!'

Twenty-five-year-old brain trapped in a seven-year-old body!

'...Ah, fuck!'

But even the great Hebenia couldn't find composure in such a situation.

'Is this what a butler does for his lady? In novels and manga, the butler always carries the lady around so her feet never touch the ground!'

My butler just grinds me into the dirt—fuck!

"That Necro guy has good compatibility with you."

"Good compatibility?"

"Hmm, more precisely, it's both compatibility and incompatibility?"

"Do demons have a curse that makes them hard to explain?"

Compatibility and incompatibility.

Can those two words even coexist?

What was compatible in the first place?

'Anyone can see this is incompatibility right now.'

The demon's ability, 'Storage,' allows him to retrieve and use weapons and tools stored somewhere.

'And it's like whack-a-mole...!'

Huh?

Could it be...!

"Not paying attention?"

The demon, who had gotten close, kicked Hebenia with all his might.

At the same time, he raised his spear high and brought it down. In case Hebenia put up a barrier, he'd shatter it immediately.

"The Emperor said you just need to be alive! So it doesn't matter if you get a little hurt, right? Fuck, seeing you struggle and whimper because you're so weak—it's so fucking fun!"

Huh?

The demon's body, laughing with half-rolled eyes, swayed.

'What?'

Thinking his head had fallen off again, he touched his neck.

But his head was still firmly attached.

However, the demon had lost his balance and fell on his rear.

The spear he'd been holding fell with a loud clatter.

The cavern fell silent in an instant.

"......"

Hebenia casually wiped the streaming blood from her nose with the back of her hand.

Then she wiggled her bloodstained fingers.

"Get up, vermin."

Hebenia curled only the corner of her mouth into a grin.

"Let's fight properly now."

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