Chapter 118

The two men face each other in the abandoned mansion .

Without any hesitation, Ray heads straight towards Gerard who momentarily loses sight of him .

Your back . (Ray)

Im sorry to say but I see you . (Gerard)

Gerard spins around and readies his shield to intercept the unique sword but at that moment hes slashed across his back .

Guh . !! (Gerard)

I told you your back . (Ray)

In the split second that Gerard had reacted and turned around Ray had moved behind him again and slashed him .

A normal person would have died from that single slash but as expected from a mazoku from 2000 years ago his body was strong .

As expected from someone from the chaos generation . For a mazoku from this time youre pretty good, however . . (Gerard)

Gerards shield emits a gloomy blue light and Rays back suddenly tears and spurts out blood .

Rays wound was obviously deeper than Gerards .

Ray-san! (Misa)

Im fine . (Ray)

Ignoring his wound Ray focussed on the shield .

Its cursed I see . (Ray)

Gerard nodded .

Majun Genias . Its a magic tool that curses the person who injures its user with the same wound and pain but doubled . As long as I hold this shield you will be injured more than me . (Gerard)

Really? (Ray)

Rays steps forward and swings Sigshesta down .

Fuu! (Ray)

Turning his body Gerard blocks Sigshesta with Genias .

Or rather he would have done but the blade changed its path halfway through .

Ill have that first . (Ray)

Gerards right hand was amputated at the wrist and falls down still holding Genias .

Haaa! (Ray)

Quickly reversing his stroke Ray swings at Gerards neck and fresh blood is scattered, however, Gerards head is still attached as Rays right hand still holding Sigshesta falls to the floor .

I said as long as I hold the shield but that was a lie . Youre a good swordsman but youre a little too honest . Even if I no longer hold it the curse wont be removed unless the shield is broken . (Gerard)

I see . Unfortunately, Im not much of a tactician . (Ray)

With a cool smile, Ray casts Total Complete Demon Healing <Ai Shearu> on his wrist but it doesnt heal at all .

Its useless . Due to the curse recovery magic wont work . (Gerard)

Thats unfortunate . (Ray)

Ray picks up Sigshesta with his left hand .

Why arent you healing your hand and back though? (Ray)

I wonder why? (Gerard)

The curse amplifies and returns the wound its user receives but does it stop you from healing as well? (Ray)

Who knows? It might stop it or I could just be pretending and can heal myself at any time . (Gerard)

Hes basically saying he has the overwhelming advantage here .

Do you have the courage to test it? (Gerard)

Of course Ill test it . (Ray)

Stepping forward without caring Ray slashes at Gerards left leg scattering more blood .

The light on the shield increases and the curse activates cutting Rays thigh more deeply than Gerards .

Without caring Ray carries on .

Fuu!! (Ray)

As hes swinging his blade with all his might at Gerards shoulder Gerard Raises Genias and Ray connects with the shield instead causing a strange sound to ring out .

Finally got you . (Gerard)

As Gerard was talking the curse sliced through Rays shoulder .

. Kuu . . ! (Ray)

Ray falls down on one knee .

I never said the curse wouldnt activate if I blocked with the shield . Gerard said never breaking his polite behaviour .

You should have understood from this that you cant win here since you are no good with magic . (Gerard)

I wonder about that (Ray)

Ray stands up slowly .

Do you know who I am? (Ray)

Yes, I know you well . The demonic sword saint Ray Grandori . You are no good with magic but your skill with the sword and your ability to grow in the heat of battle is no less inferior than a mazoku from 2000 years ago . However . (Gerard)

Gerard drew a magic formation and pulled a sword out of it . It had the same blue jewel in it that the shield had . It was more than likely also a cursed item .

No matter how much you grow, any wound you give me is returned to you . Unfortunately, you lack experience when fighting against the curse kings forces . (Gerard)

Gerard steps towards Ray and swings his cursed sword down with all his might at Rays head who blocked it with Sigshesta . Where the two swords clashed Gerards cursed sword chipped easily .

Ray frowned as the cursed sword was too fragile .

Immediately after a stab wound appeared in his chest . The curse moved the intended wound .

. Guu (Ray)

How will you dodge this? (Gerard)

In the instant that Ray flinched, Gerard swings his sword sideways .

When Ray caught it with Sigshesta Gerard laughed as if it was his victory .

Naive . (Ray)

Wha . (Gerard)

Ray took the full force of the blow and turned it aside without chipping the blade .

. . Fuu . . !! (Ray)

Sigshesta flashes and Gerard ducks just in time to avoid being beheaded .

Are you thinking that the curse will not work if you kill me in one blow? (Gerard)

Its worth a go . (Ray)

Gerard attempts to stand back up but Ray does a sweeping kick sending him tumbling to the floor . Since Ray caused no damage there was no damage to return but his posture was broken .

Ray ran away from Gerard but his purpose was not to escape but the shield that Gerard had dropped .

Kuu . !! (Ray)

Gerard runs after him but he couldnt catch up to Ray before the shield was within range .

. . Haa!! (Ray)

Using his whole body Ray thrusts Sigshesta at Genias and pierces through it .

How unfortunate . (Ray)

Gerard laughed graciously at Rays words .

Yes it is because sadly this is your defeat . (Gerard)

One of the jewels in the shield shattered and Ray suddenly falls forward .

I told you this earlier but you are too honest . When I said that the curse could only be broken if the shield was broken I was lying . (Gerard)

Ray-san! (Misa)

Gerard picked the shield up that was lying on the ground .

Its useless . If you damage the shield enough to destroy one of the jewels the curse will destroy your origin . His body might be fine but his origin has gone . He wont come back . (Gerard)

Gerard turns around to face Misa and starts walking towards her .

. . In other words . (Ray)

A voice calls out and it was not a voice Gerard expected to hear .

If I break the other 3 jewels the curse will be broken? (Ray)

. . Wha!? (Gerard)

At the moment Gerard turned around three flashes of light shot out and all 3 jewels shattered .

The curse activates and Ray falls to the floor again .

The magic power of Genias disappeared and the gloomy light faded away .

. His wounds are healing . ? (Gerard)

Gerard watches Rays hand, back and other wounds heal in astonishment .

Didnt you know? Most curses target the origin of the intended victim so the curse momentarily loses its effect when the origin is destroyed . (Ray)

Ray stands up like nothing had happened and in place of Sigshesta he was grasping a brilliantly glowing holy sword .

You should be careful around people with more than one origin . (Ray)

Gerard gulps .

Impos . sible!? (Gerard)

Gerard edged away in fear from the man in front of him .

Now that Ray has stopped hiding his origins Gerard can see them clearly with his demon eyes .

Seven origins . and the spirit god sword Evansmana . . (Gerard)

It was 2000 years ago when I last encountered the curse king . Does he think my plan was a complete success? (Ray)

Ray quietly readies Evansmana .

The war between Azeshion and Deiruheido should be known to the curse king to some degree but he may not be fully aware of what happened due to fearing detection if he got too close .

. . HeroKanon . . youre aliv (Gerard)

Ray thrust Evansmana into Gerards heart before he finished talking .

Guhaa . . (Gerard)

Its a bit embarrassing being told that Im too honest . Its probably because Ive been living a lie much longer than you have . (Ray)

If he puts any more power into Evansmana Gerards origin will disappear .

Ill ask again . (Ray)

Gerard looked at Ray with an expression that said he was ready for death .

Where did you get that other half of the sword from? (Ray)

Gerard strongly grits his teeth before answering .

. Its not possible for me to answer that question (Gerard)

Gerard stabs his own sword into his chest .

Quickly pulling Evansmana out Ray casts <Ingaru> but Gerard didnt revive .

Misa timidly approaches the fallen Gerard but theres no sign that hes getting up .

Was his origin destroyed? (Misa)

Ray shook his head .

No . It seems he reincarnated . (Ray)