The Legendary Spearman Returns

Side Story Chapter 163

The growing pain inside Aden’s body made him grimace. He thought he was used to pain, but this was unbearable. It felt like someone had ripped open his body was rummaging around in his guts.

It turned out that it wasn’t just a feeling.

Aden's eyes bulged as a clump of black energy burst out of the pit of his stomach and emerged out of his mouth along with a splash of blood. He instinctively knew that this cluster of power was the power of Greed.

“What in... the world...?” Aden mumbled.

“Great work,” Joshua said to Greed.

Greed immediately flew toward Joshua, just like Longin had before; both would always return to their true master.

Greed flickered several times.

‘What is that saying?’ Lilith asked curiously.

-...It wants to correct what I said earlier.

‘...Correct?’

-It says I’m not its current owner so I shouldn’t get ahead of myself.

‘Huh?’ Lilith couldn’t understand the answer. ‘Isn’t Greed supposed to be yours?’

-It used to be.

Greed buzzed loudly one last time before its light vanished.

-It also says that I’m the one who abandoned it, so I shouldn’t feel sad about it.

‘Haha!’ Lilith burst into helpless laughter. ‘You’re a heartbreaker in both realms, huh?’

-It’s fortunate that Greed chose Kireua as its next owner because this power is innocent compared to the other Evil Sins. All it wants is to gain more strength.

‘Isn’t that just as dangerous depending on how you interpret it? If the power seeks strength by any means necessary, it’s no different from Evergrant.’

-Greed just wants a fitting owner—the real deal, who got stronger without taking any shortcuts.

Greed lit up in Joshua’s hand again, affirming his statement.

‘...It’s happy because you complimented it, right?’ Lilith asked.

-It seems like it.

‘In any case, you’re great too. Joshua Sanders is the owner Greed found after wandering for its entire life,’ Lilith giggled.

-That’s the conclusion you reached?

‘Yeah, you can be proud of that since you’re the only person who’s earned both mine and Greed’s recognition. So do something about your father.’

Joshua looked forward.

Evergrant’s power was inside him, and Greed emitted its power beside him. However, Joshua couldn’t expect too much from Greed because it had said that Joshua wasn’t its owner anymore; that meant that Greed was only cooperating with Joshua for the sake of its true master. In other words, Joshua, as a temporary wielder of Greed, couldn’t use it to its maximum output. The only way he would be able to do that was to become its new owner.

“Regardless, I feel like I can take down anyone with this much power,” Joshua muttered to himself.

The main source of power was Evergrant; Greed was secondary. The demonic power of a Ninth Circle lich and a Demon King’s ability wielded by Joshua...

“...It’s worth a try.” Joshua smiled.

Aden was beginning to change. His body produced a series of unsettling cracks and a powerful burst of his energy made the ground split as if there had been a drought, and the air randomly exploded.

“Hahahahahahahaha!”

Aden was not groaning in pain anymore. He went through a bizarre transformation, accompanied by peals of manic laughter. His arms were twice as long as before, but his left arm had turned into a hideous beast’s mouth—a manifestation of Gluttony. In contrast, a layer of pink energy enveloped Aden’s right arm, channeling an immense amount of demonic power through his sword.

“I lost one of the Evil Sins but feel like I’ve gotten several times stronger. Gosh, maybe I should have let it go earlier,” Aden murmured.

‘What is he talking about?’ Lilith immediately asked.

-It looks like Greed was preventing the two other Evil Sins from running wild.

‘Greed kept them under control?’

-Greed went through all that trouble to find its owner, so it would be problematic for Greed if its owner gets ruined.

‘You say that like it’s none of your business—you must be forgetting that that body belongs to your son.’

-...I know.

Despite his calm voice, Joshua’s expression was dark. The two Evil Sins were running wild, and the Dark God was using their powers. On top of that, the faraway demons were beginning to detect the energy of the rampaging Sins.

-What?

-Is this... Evil Sins?

-Wait, wait, wait. No one mentioned anything about that. What are they up to after assigning us to deal with death knights and small fries?

Joshua was sharing the death knights’ senses, so he could tell that three of the demons had immediately attempted to go to Joshua’s location. Although the death knights had managed to hold the demons back, it was only a matter of time before the demons managed to break through.

“...I’ll have to finish this quickly,” Joshua murmured.

“Finish? Are you talking about your own son?” Aden asked with a grin after he stopped laughing.

‘What are you going to do?’ Lilith asked, obviously concerned.

-Watch and learn. I’ll show you what you should do in a time like this.

‘You do actually have a solution, right?’

-The mechanism is simple. Instead of slashing your opponent’s body, you attack the opponent’s soul. This is called the “Mind Sword”.

Of course Lilith had also heard of this supreme level.

‘Mind Sword...!’

There were different levels in the Mind Sword technique. Lilith could just about create invisible swords with her will to attack a target directly in front of her, but slashing an intangible soul with immaterial swords? She had never heard or seen that in her life—that would mean that it was possible to kill a soul without harming the body, putting the person into a vegetative state.

‘That’s really possible?’ Lilith asked.

-You’ll find out enough.

Joshua stabbed Longin into the ground without hesitation, drawing a confused look from Aden.

“What? Are you giving up?”

“Does it look that way?”

“Hehehe, you’re still acting tough, huh? Well, you must be frustrated since you can’t kill me despite all your power. Yeah, it’s awfully immoral of you to kill both your son and father at the same time, right?”

Ignoring Aden and everything else around him, Joshua closed his eyes. He needed a spear of mind with which to slay Aden’s soul. Joshua only had one chance, and he intended to make the best of it.

“What are you up to!” Aden shouted.

Aden moved Gluttony’s slavering maw so fast that it looked like he hadn’t moved it at all. Almost instantly, blood spurted out from Joshua’s right shoulder. The wound quickly corroded and turned black.

‘Argh, my shoulder!’ Lilith screamed. She could instinctively tell from the pain that it was going to leave a scar. Although she wanted to scream at Joshua and ask how much longer he was going to keep his eyes closed, she couldn’t. She knew better than anyone how hard Joshua was concentrating.

“...What? You really gave up?” Aden tilted his head again as he walked forward.

The closer Aden got, the more anxious Lilith got. Aden was now five meters away from Joshua, but Joshua wasn’t responding.

“This is getting boring.” Aden raised his sword. “You can entertain me better, can’t you?”

His sword bit into Joshua.

“Just like that day in the past.”

Aden swung his sword again.

“Wouldn’t you feel empty if you die like this?” Aden smiled crookedly.

More wounds covered Joshua’s—Lilith’s body. They were scratches at first, but the longer it went on, the deeper they began. Aden added another one, just above Lilith’s left breast.

‘Hey! Joshua Sanders!’ Lilith shrieked, unable to stand the stress.

It was at that moment that Joshua opened his eyes again.

Standing right in front of Joshua, Aden smiled. “Yes, that’s more like it. You matter more to yourself than your son, don’t you? You already killed your own father, so all your effort right now just seems like hypocrisy.”

“You think we’re cut from the same cloth.”

“Hahaha! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“I’m different. Unlike you, I’m not trash that would sacrifice my family without trying to find another way,” Joshua said, his voice dripping with contempt.

“I see that you still have some energy left for your smart talk.” Aden slowly held up his sword. “If you had decided to kill your own son, I was going to let you hit me once just because it would be interesting in its own way.”

“Over my dead body. I will never harm Kireua.”

“Yeah, and that’s why you’re going to be slaughtered like this.”

Aden infused his demonic power into the sword until the metal screamed. “As a gesture of respect, I’ll still use my full power to deliver my last strike.”

“Let me ask you a question.”

“What is it?”

“Did you ever consider me and my mother family?”

Aden flinched, but then he smiled from ear to ear. “Of course not. You two were just tools for my revenge from the beginning to the end. I even raped the woman. Are you seriously asking me if I considered you two my family? Even if I did, do you think your mother would have wanted it?”

“Mother forgave you long ago because she pitied your tragic life.”

Aden’s face twisted into an expression of rage. “Are those your last words?”

“...Goodbye.”

“What?”

“Let’s say goodbye for real this time. Don’t ever show up in front of my family again, and I hope you, you revenge-obsessed madman, disappear into history,” Joshua said.

“What are you—”

Aden writhed like a fish on the end of a harpoon. His body was pierced by an invisible spear from behind. He clutched his chest in spite of the fact that there wasn’t a single wound on him.

“...Agh! You...?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever pray for you. Just like you, I won't think of you as family anymore.”