On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

Clank!

A minute had passed since Layland started his spar with Jovenus. He was fully aware that Jovenus was testing him, yet he didn’t know how the spar would end.

Would the fight end if he simply surrendered? Would the fight end if he was knocked unconscious? Would the fight end after he endured one of Jovenus’ ultimate techniques? Would it be okay for him to surrender? He didn’t know.

There were so many ways he could think of to end the spar, but all of them would end up making him look stupid. Although he didn’t mind to look stupid as long as he could survive, however he was afraid he would fail the test for that reason.

In the end, he kept doing his best to land a hit on Jovenus and fend Jovenus’ short sword that was rapidly swung at him.

‘Tsk. This guy must be lying when he said he would seal 95% of his power.’ Layland clicked his tongue in annoyance. ‘Just how can a cheap short sword cut through my vambraces and skin? My hands are now riddled with wounds!’

While Layland understood very well, no matter how confident he was in his ability, that his power was still lacking, he was sure that an ordinary short sword could never penetrate his skin—let alone when it was protected by an armor.

On top of reinforcing it with Mana, his skin, due to the Demon cells inside his body, was as sturdy as a metal even before being reinforced with Mana. Therefore, there was no way a cheap short sword that Jovenus was using could possibly hurt his hands.

Such a thing could only occur if Jovenus decided to reinforce the short sword with his Mana, which shouldn’t help significant enough. That should be the case, if Jovenus had really sealed 95% of his power.

“You have an efficient combat technique, youngling,” Jovenus stated as he launched a kick at Layland, which he could gracefully dodge. “You remind me of the outstanding Knights I have killed … Is your combat trainer a Knight?”

“She is a warrior for sure, but I didn’t learn any combat training from her.” Layland dashed at Jovenus once again, and gave him a circle kick. “I have only learned how to behave in battles from her, and I do admit she is a great trainer.”

“Hoh? So you found your own combat technique.” Jovenus quirked his eyebrow after he dodged Layland’s circle kick. “Is this trainer of yours a human?”𝒪𝗏𝗅𝐞xt.𝗇𝓔t

“Who knows?” Layland shrugged. “Why would you care anyway? Demons, humans, animals, gods, angels—no matter what they are, a good trainer is a good trainer.”

“You say some interesting things indeed, youngling.”

Clank!

Jovenus swung his short sword roughly at Layland, and he managed to block it with his hands crossed. The short sword was now trapped in the middle of his crossed hand, allowing the two to look into each other’s eyes.

“Oh my? Just how many deaths have you seen for your eyes to look like that?” Jovenus commented upon looking into Layland’s cold and empty eyes.

“What about you? Just how many times you have looked down on people for your eyes to look like that?”

“It’s not looking down if I am above them—that’s the only way for me to see them.” Jovenus smirked.

“What a coincidence!” Layland sneered behind his mask. “My eyes turned like this for that reason too: everytime I see people, all I see is death.”

Bam!

Jovenus blinked his eyes at the solid blow Layland had managed to land on him. He didn’t know when Layland had uncrossed his hand to punch, nor did he know why he had let Layland punched him.

‘Was it his answer or his eyes or maybe… His conviction?’ Jovenus frowned his delicate eyebrow. ‘That moment… I am sure, even though it was only a glimpse, I saw destruction in his eyes.’

As he righted himself after receiving a solid blow to his stomach from Layland, Jovenus calmly observed the young Demon he had underestimated the moment he saw said Demon.

He could see all the wounds Layland had received were gradually healing as the vambraces he had chipped with his short sword gradually fixed themselves.

‘Hmm… What an interesting youngling.’ Jovenus smiled. ‘My eyes are getting rusty—I have misjudged him. To think that Velucan beat me in seeing the monstrous potential lying dormant inside his body is embarrassing.’

Gripping his short sword tighter, Jovenus’ heart beat loudly in excitement as he gazed at Layland. ‘I am going to guide him—no, I will absolutely be his guide. He is an asset to the Kingdom … Just like the fallen Crimson Maiden.’

Picturing the future where Layland became one of the prominent figures in Verniculos Kingdom, Jovenus became so excited, he accidentally used 10% of his real power to face Layland.

Swish!

The Generals knew something not quite as planned would happen the moment Jovenus rushed at Layland with such vigour, however they couldn’t just interrupt a spar between two Demons that was just as sacred as baptism.

10% might not seem much, but it was different for the Demon King’s Generals who could take down a human Kingdom by themselves in a day. As such, they were left with no choice, but to wish Layland for his survival.

‘Shit! The pressure is getting stronger than before. Is this guy really sealing 95% of his power?!’

Luckily, the person in question knew that something was wrong. Instantly deducing he wouldn’t be able to take the blow barehanded, he decided to summon his newly owned Blue Rank Relic, Rexorem.

As he infused his Mana to the Bond Seal on his right hand, the sword like tattoo glowed in red—it wasn’t visible since his hand was covered with a glove however—and the great sword immediately materialized in his hand.

At this point, Jovenus was just 4 feet away from him. He got no knowledge of how to correctly wield a greatsword, but his will to survive managed to allow him to block Jovenus’ short sword.

Clank!

Slash!

Not only that, his greatsword even managed to cut through Jovenus’ short sword much to Jovenus’ surprise.

Surprised as he was with his own feat however, Layland didn’t stay idle. Immediately infusing his Mana to Rexorem, he swung it diagonally at Jovenus who was still baffled at the fact that his short sword had been destroyed.

Boom!

Layland hadn’t created any Skill that he could activate with Rexorem, but he infused as much Mana as he could into it. Therefore, when it hit the ground, it immediately carved a long and narrow trench on the ground.

The spectators also could clearly feel the shockwave and the wind the swing had produced—they were impressed by Layland’s display.

Unaware as he was of the people’s view toward him, Layland wasn’t elated in the least bit. That was, because he didn’t manage to hit Jovenus, despite the flashy display.

He had seen that he cut through Joven, but it was just said Demon’s afterimage that he had left due to how fast he had moved.

‘Tsk. This won’t end well.’

Straightening his posture, Layland put Rexorem on his shoulder and gazed at Jovenus at the corner of the arena, who was looking at him silently with a small smile on his face.

“I didn’t know you have such a great weapon, youngling.”

“I didn’t know that your 10% was off the charts.”

“Hahaha… That’s just how great I am.” Jovenus didn’t want to admit his miss, but he still had the decency to blush.

“Uwahh… Look at that narcissistic guy. He doesn’t want to admit his mistake,” Velucan commented.

“Kuhum! Anyway, let us conclude this spar with this one attack of mine.” Jovenus looked at Layland seriously. “Regardless of your capability to take it, I will still guide you. However, I still want you to give your best—you’ll die if you don’t.”

Layland didn’t say a word to Jovenus, but he still prepared himself to take Jovenus’ attack head on. This was an opportunity for him to get stronger, so he didn’t want to mess this up.

As he held his greatsword above his head, he mused about how strong he would be after surviving Jovenus’ incoming attack. Although he would only get 10% out of Jovenus’ 10% of real power, it was still something to rejoice.

“Ah, I forgot to ask this, but what is your Origin?”

“I don’t think it is in our culture to tell each other what one’s Origin is.”

“Hahaha! Indeed, it is not a part of our culture.” Jovenus raised his hand as Mana gathered on the tip of his finger. “Even so, I will still tell you what my Origin is.”

The Mana gathering on the tip of Jovenus’ finger was getting denser along with the Mana Layland was infusing into Rexorem.

Not long after, Jovenus released a beam of light from the tip of his finger, meanwhile Layland swung Rexorem down with all his might.

“My Origin, you know, is Shredder … It allows me to shred anything.”

As Rexorem was close to clash against the beam, instead of going straight to hit it, the beam dispersed into tens of light fragments. Just like what Jovenus had said earlier, they shredded Layland.