The Strongest Villain Sets Out: Reincarnated into a Merit-Based Clan, I Become the World's Strongest Swordsman

I intruded into the battle of the original protagonist Eiden. When I approached together with Cornelia, Eiden said with shock on his face:

“Wh-why are you here…”

“I had some business to take care of. More importantly—I’ll be your opponent.”

I drew the magic sword Muramasa from its sheath and pointed its tip at the bandana man in front.

The bandana man tilted his head upon seeing my face, then suddenly began laughing.

“Oh! You, could you be Luka from the Salvatore ducal family?”

“So what if I am?”

I had become quite the celebrity. Come to think of it, I felt like his subordinate had asked my name too.

I had a bad feeling. As if affirming that premonition, the bandana man chuckled and answered:

“I knew it. Perfect timing. Saved me the trouble of searching.”

“What, you were looking for me?”

“Yeah. Your big brother asked me to. It was related to this job, so I took it on as a side task. He said to kill you.”

“Haah… that kind of harassment again.”

It was probably the same guy who had sent assassins after me before. It had been peaceful for several years, but was he getting flustered again now?

Ridiculous. It was like voluntarily offering me prey.

“Harassment? You got it wrong. You’re gonna die now. If you’re gonna resent someone, resent your brother who requested your killing.”

Saying that, the bandana man kicked off the ground. He quickly circled to my side and swung down his curved sword.

I blocked that strike without looking.

KIIIIING!

The unpleasant sound of metal clashing reached my ears.

The bandana man’s strength and my strength were evenly matched. The sword I blocked didn’t budge an inch.

“What⁉”

“Don’t be surprised by something like this. The Salvatores are a clan of aura. Did you think I’d be weaker than you?”

I deflected the opponent’s cutlass.

Probably due to the influence of drinking the medicine, my aura amount was greater than the bandana man’s.

The bandana man, who had stepped back slightly, clicked his tongue while giving me a suspicious look.

“Tch. So you’re a monster just like the rumors say. Won’t go down easy, huh.”

The bandana man released even more aura. Not a bad amount. It might be the most among enemies I’d encountered so far.

But even so, he couldn’t beat me.

I adjusted my amount to match the opponent’s aura and clashed swords again.

High-pitched sounds rang out as we swung our weapons repeatedly, creating sparks.

“This guy… could he be doing this on purpose⁉”

“You noticed? Nice, you’ve got good sense.”

I deflected the bandana man’s sword diagonally downward and landed a kick in his wide-open chest.

Clean hit.

The bandana man scattered saliva as he rolled backward.

“Damn! Don’t get cocky, brat!”

The bandana man, who had gotten up and readied himself, roared and pulled out a new weapon from his breast.

A dagger with eerie decorations. What was drawn from its sheath was clearly a cursed weapon.

“That’s…”

“Kukuku. This is a cursed weapon I stole long ago. The merchant was apparently transporting this to a temple, but what a waste, right? Purifying such a good item.”

“You killed the merchant and stole it.”

“Yeah. In the end I killed that merchant with this dagger. I’ll never forget his suffering face from that time.”

“Do you regret it?”

“As if. It was so fun I can’t forget it‼”

His vulgar laughter was grating to the ears. The cursed weapon had quite eroded his mind.

Cursed weapons had the flaw of corroding their owner’s mind. Unless one was well-versed in curses, they would be possessed by madness like the bandana man.

Really wasteful. He should have had decent talent, but in the end he was just a mentally contaminated person relying on junk.

I had thought I could enjoy this a bit more, but it was already over. While I was at it, should I confirm the other benefit I gained from contracting with Astaroth?

I smoothly lowered Muramasa and stared at the bandana man in a defenseless state.

The bandana man readied his dagger and kicked off the ground.

“Haha! You’ll regret underestimating me—⁉”

The bandana man thrust his dagger’s point forward. A sharp strike. I—caught it with my bare hand.

The blade pierced through my palm with a dull stabbing sound.

The gushing blood slightly stained my clothes red.

The bandana man’s expression became confident of victory.

“Idiot. Anyone wounded by this dagger receives a powerful curse! Are you crazy, guarding with your bare hand⁉”

His grating laughter echoed. Pitch-black aura flowed in from the dagger. Probably the curse the dagger itself possessed.

The curse clung to my body and… immediately after, it burst.

“…Huh?”

Seeing that scene, the bandana man suddenly stiffened his expression and was dumbfounded.