It Seems the Demon King Has Returned to a World Where Gender Roles Are Reversed - Chapter 23

Chapter 23 :

In the silent darkness of the forest, filled with an eerie stillness, two shadows darted through, breaking the quiet with their noisy movements.  

Leading the chase was Ragna, with Karen in close pursuit.  

One was a boy just beginning to awaken to the use of magic, while the other was a knight from the White Knights, one of the continent’s most formidable martial groups.  

There was no question as to who held the advantage.  

At first, Ragna had been ahead in their game of cat and mouse, but it wasn’t long before Karen closed the gap.  

However,  

“Haa!”  

With a spirited shout, Karen unleashed a sword strike infused with deadly energy.  

Ragna narrowly dodged the lethal blow.  

Behind him stretched the dense coniferous forest that filled the dark woods.  

If things continued this way, Karen’s sword would likely plunge straight into one of the massive trees. But then,  

*Whirr—*  

With the sound of slicing wind, her sword traced a clean arc, returning to her hand as if it had cut through the air itself. Yet, there had clearly been a thick coniferous tree in its path.  

And then,  

*Crack!* The tree in front of Karen began to topple with a loud noise.  

Seeing this, Ragna let out a soft exclamation of admiration.  

“…Impressive skill.”  

“……”  

The words that slipped from Ragna’s lips were genuine admiration for her technique.  

He was once called the Demon King, after all.  

Though not a true martial artist, he possessed a keen eye for such things.  

And what he had just witnessed was no mere feat of brute strength.  

It required a precise distribution of power, honed by experience, perfect timing, weight shifting, and a calculated balance that pushed both speed and the sword’s durability to their limits.  

Thus, Ragna couldn’t help but voice his praise.  

But Karen didn’t respond.  

She merely glared at him, her sword poised.  

“…Hmph, think I’m mocking you? I meant it as a compliment, you know.”  

Ragna smirked as he spoke.  

Karen’s delicate brows furrowed as she stared at him.  

In truth, she was somewhat perplexed.  

Why was the boy before her so calm?  

Why did he show no signs of desperation to survive, standing there so nonchalantly?  

No matter how she looked at it, something felt off.  

It was almost abnormal.  

There was an unsettling feeling, as if he was hiding something.  

Finally, unable to suppress the doubts rising within her, Karen spoke.  

“…What are you?”  

At her question, Ragna grinned mockingly and replied,  

“Hm… Finally in the mood to talk?”  

“Answer the question. Or else…”  

“Or else what? My head’s already on the chopping block, isn’t it? I doubt answering will change anything.”  

“……”  

Ragna’s sarcastic response left Karen speechless.  

An awkward silence hung between them.  

Breaking the silence, Karen spoke again.  

“…Fine, if you won’t answer, I’ll tear you limb from limb and hold a blade to your throat until you talk.”  

“Hmph… So that’s how it’s going to be? Well, I don’t mind…”  

“……?”  

“But don’t you think you should subdue me first before making such threats? If you end up losing, it’ll be quite the embarrassing story, won’t it, Lady Karen Steiner of the Union Kingdom's White Knights?”  

“Tch!”  

Karen’s eyes blazed at the blatant provocation.  

Fine. If that’s what he wanted, she’d give it to him.  

No need for pity anymore.  

No need to question him further.  

As she had initially thought, the dead don’t speak. That was enough.  

With that resolve, Karen steadied her breathing.  

With her first breath, she gathered her momentum.  

With the second, she tensed her entire body.  

And with the third, she locked onto her target and charged.  

“…!”  

Without a sound, Karen launched herself forward, kicking off the ground.  

Her movement was like an arrow shot from a bow.  

Her strike was clearly aimed at Ragna’s body, carrying the force of a mountain.  

Anyone caught in its path would be torn to shreds.  

The ferocious blow closed in on Ragna, and his body seemed to waver, as if caught in the attack.  

Like a mirage, it was shredded into pieces in the air.  

However,  

“…?! An illusion?!”  

The torn-apart figure of Ragna didn’t bleed or leave even the smallest fragment of flesh.  

It simply dissolved into something black and scattered.  

“What… When did he use an illusion?!”  

Karen, who hadn’t expected him to use magic, panicked and scanned her surroundings.  

Her gaze landed on Ragna, hiding a few steps away.  

“You cheeky brat!”  

Furious at being so thoroughly outwitted, Karen charged at him again.  

But then,  

*Snap.* She felt a sharp sensation near her ankle.  

“…?!”  

Something grabbed her ankle, and her body tilted as the ground rushed toward her.  

In a panic, Karen looked at her ankle and saw a rope coiled around it, though she didn’t know when it had gotten there.  

Realizing what it meant, she shouted in alarm,  

“A trap?!”  

When had he prepared this?  

No, it wasn’t just prepared it had been set up in advance.  

She had been lured into a place where he had already laid a trap.  

“Tch!”  

Karen struggled against the rope pulling at her ankle.  

But no matter how strong she was, it didn’t increase her body weight.  

Her body was soon dragged along, sliding upward into the air.  

But Karen wasn’t about to let herself be defeated like this.  

“Haa!”  

Half-suspended in the air, she twisted her body, using the momentum to swing her sword.  

The blade sliced through the taut rope tied to her foot.  

*Snap.* The rope was cut, and her body was freed.  

Almost simultaneously, a *thud* sounded as the weight tied to the other end of the rope fell to the ground.  

Her instantaneous reaction was a testament to her skill as a knight.  

But in that moment, Ragna’s preparations were already complete.  

[And according to the form of the rippling polyhedron, I shall bind!]

“…!”  

A strange chant echoed through the air.  

With it, a dark, tongue-like energy enveloped Karen’s body.  

“Ugh, damn it!”  

A critical blow.  

Karen struggled desperately to break free.  

But her resistance was in vain, and her body, unable to shake off the clinging energy, was bound and fell to the ground.  

Looking at her, Ragna smiled as if everything had gone according to plan.  

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…Or so it seemed.  

‘That was close.’  

Ragna was desperately maintaining a calm facade, but inwardly, he let out a sigh of relief.  

It had been dangerous.  

One wrong move, and her technique could have torn him limb from limb.  

Facing her head-on would obviously put him at a disadvantage.  

Thus, he had to provoke her, unsettle her, and scatter her focus.  

To that end, he deliberately used a cocky tone and lured her here.  

This place was none other than a spot where traps had been set to hunt animals.  

Humans couldn’t survive on oatmeal alone.  

Thus, the lumberyard workers hunted animals in the dark forest to obtain meat.  

This location was where Ragna, with the help of an old man, had set up traps.  

Near this spot, he had devised a plan to trip Karen up.  

The darkness was his greatest ally.  

No matter how skilled someone was, they couldn’t discern objects clearly in the dark.  

Thus, even his somewhat crude illusion, created by squeezing out his magic, had fooled her.  

The rest went according to plan.  

Karen fell into the trap, giving him an opening, and in that moment, Ragna completed a binding spell the optimal choice for the situation.  

Thanks to his quick judgment and wit, Karen was now sprawled on the ground.  

At this point, there was nothing more she could do.  

Or so Ragna thought.  

But it seemed she had no intention of giving up.  

“Haa!”  

“…!”  

Karen didn’t relent.  

She was pouring all her strength into breaking the binding spell.  

*Crack.* An impossible sound came from the binding spell that held her.  

“…Tch! So being part of the continent’s greatest martial group isn’t just for show, huh?”  

Unlike Seria, who had been unable to resist and was easily subdued, Karen’s resistance was formidable.  

At this rate, she might break free in no time.  

Panicking, Ragna began chanting another spell.  

[I call upon the specters wandering through eternal time. A supreme feast is prepared for thee, so partake in bliss and receive this offering!]

The words flowing from his mouth were woven in an ancient, forgotten language.  

The spell was none other than the “Curse of Weakness.”  

Its effect was simple: it sapped the target’s strength, robbing them of the ability to resist.  

It was the perfect spell for this situation.  

Ragna directed the gathered energy at Karen, who was just within reach.  

She was enveloped in a navy-blue mist, coughing in distress.  

“Ugh, what did you do?!”  

Spitting out angry words, Karen checked her condition and grimaced.  

She realized her strength was rapidly draining from her body.  

“Ugh!”  

She struggled to regain control, but the magic, piercing through her anti-magic resistance, gnawed at her vitality like a ravenous beast, weakening her.  

In the end, unable to resist the binding spell any longer, she collapsed limply to the ground.  

“You coward!”  

Unable to hold back, Karen shouted.  

Ragna, who had been approaching her, paused at her voice.  

She continued to yell at him.  

“You call yourself a knight and act like this? Have you no shame?!”  

Her outburst left Ragna visibly bewildered, his eyes widening.  

An awkward silence hung between them.  

From Ragna’s perspective, her words were utterly absurd.  

But from Karen’s standpoint, they were perfectly natural.  

She was operating under a significant misunderstanding.  

She believed Ragna wasn’t just some lumberyard worker or wandering boy

But a knight from the Third Kingdom.  

And not just any knight one sent to target Seria, whom she was responsible for.  

“…I don’t recall ever claiming to be a knight. I’ve only just proven my qualifications.”  

“How long will you keep making cowardly excuses?! If you’re a knight, declare your name honorably!”  

“As I said, I’m not a knight… Or, well, maybe I am now? Either way, it seems we’re not getting anywhere with this conversation.”  

Muttering, Ragna sighed.  

There was clearly a misunderstanding, but it didn’t seem like it could be resolved in this situation.  

“And you’re calling me a coward? If we’re talking about underhanded tactics, weren’t you the one who started with a sneak attack? Or is it that, for the esteemed White Knights, ambushes are honorable, but using magic is utterly despicable?”  

“……”  

Ragna’s sharp retort left Karen speechless.  

His words hit the mark.  

Ragna, too, silently glared at her.  

And as he did, he thought to himself:  

Why do these so-called knights never change?  

Their vaunted chivalry was nothing more than a shield to protect themselves.  

They justified all sorts of cowardly acts under the banner of petty justice, yet when they found themselves at a disadvantage, they cried out for fairness and knightly honor.  

Their shamelessness made him feel like retching.  

Indeed, now that he thought about it, the hero and his party from his memories were the same.  

“…Come to think of it, there was a blonde female knight among them, too.”  

The blurry image from his memories began to overlap with the Karen before him.  

In that moment, Ragna’s eyes began to glint coldly.  

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Translated by Reversalnovel.web.id