Chapter 21
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Monster Hanging (1)
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The world outside after so long felt utterly alien. A warm breeze. Air laced with the savory aroma of stew. The laughter and chatter of loved ones. It all felt so awkward that at first, I nearly retched.
Even the common knowledge I once held was completely overturned. Leo had become the hero who saved the world, Bobby the grand archbishop of the Ennesic Order. Sera, the miracle saintess. Rick and Nadia were hailed as the humble hero couple who nurtured love amid the world's threats. Everywhere, people chanted the names of the heroes who vanquished the Demon King—and mine and Eli's were nowhere among them.
Just a few years ago, they had called me the hero. People forget everything so quickly. They turn from plain truths to flashy lies, from bitter pasts to plausible futures. Forgetting that the ignored truths of the past will one day tighten around their own throats.
So I decided to reshape this world into something more familiar. I soaked the mask over my face in blood and filled my distant ears with the screams of enemies. As I reclaimed what I missed one by one, my body reeked of blood, and only then could I breathe freely again.
"Haa..."
But something still felt off. The world I knew wasn't this fragile. Everything broke at a touch, and the marks of my cuts didn't fade easily. While I slept, the world had grown soft in peace, crumbling at the slightest pressure.
It hit me then just how long I'd been asleep. I'd slumbered until they all grew old and weak. There was no other explanation. How could such a brutal, rugged world change like this?
Or maybe I'd changed too much.
Lost in thought as I wiped the blood from my blade, a faint light seeped into view. No laughter, no warm breeze, no fragrant scents came from there. Instead, a chillingly familiar despair spread outward.
Only then did a smile return to my lips. Yes. You're still like me. This peaceful world still feels awkward to you too.
I hoped they hadn't weakened as well and slowly stepped forward. Please hold out for a long, long time. The byproducts in the box on my shoulder rattled, shaking my senses with the feel of life.
"What the hell? Why aren't you going out? Hurry up!"
As Nadia and I lingered by the door without moving, an angry voice barked from behind. Nadia flinched instinctively and turned back.
"R-Rick... I think... you need to come see this..."
"Can't you see I'm busy? And in front of people, it's 'Baron,' not—"
He habitually snapped in irritation but cut off as he spotted something over Nadia's shoulder. He pulled his hand from fondling Lydia's chest and strode toward us.
"What the hell is that? Blood?"
He approached with a furrowed brow but halted abruptly at the door. For the first time, bewilderment cracked his arrogant, irritated face.
"What the fuck is this...?"
As he muttered a low curse, Luke, who had been staring blankly ahead, moved his lips. He mustered all his strength for a single word.
"Baron... sir..."
"What the hell happened, Luke? Who the fuck did this?"
"..."
But that was his last word before his head drooped. The baron moved to check if he was alive but Nadia grabbed his shoulder firmly.
"W-Wait, Rick! What are you doing?!"
"Gotta see if he's dead or alive. And figure out what happened..."
"N-No, Rick! What if you end up like that too...? Please don't go out there, Rick..."
"Shut your fucking mouth, you bitch. Stop yapping like an idiot. A knight who's all bravado but scared of her own shadow..."
He shoved the obstructive Nadia aside and stepped out the door. Curiosity piqued me too, so I peeked my head out to peer down the hall.
And collided head-on with the overpowering stench of blood.
At first, seeing Luke's wounds—tendons and veins precisely severed—I thought it was the work of a meticulous assassin. But he was far from that.
Beneath the dim hallway lay at least ten guards' corpses. They weren't just killed; they were butchered in the most gruesome fashion. Few bodies had intact limbs, and the severed parts weren't cleanly sliced by a blade—they looked crushed by something massive. If time allowed collecting the remains, I was certain the limb count wouldn't match the body count.
Yet despite the brutality, no emotion seemed involved. Like swatting flies buzzing in our ears with clear malice—no, it felt more like they were simply in the way and got dealt with. As I took in a torso split in half, armor and all, the baron recoiled in horror.
"Fuck... oh God..."
He slammed the door shut with a final, agonized curse. It shut so hard Nadia banged her head and bounced back, but he ignored her. Frantically scanning around, he bellowed at the stunned servants encircling us.
"What are you idiots doing?! Standing there gawking—get something to barricade the door! Chair, stick, anything—hurry!"
"Y-Yes? Oh... yes!"
"What kind of bastard would dare..."
I thought he'd rush for the bow, but he headed for the window first. Calling for the guards outside, perhaps. But as he yanked back the curtain, he met an unexpected guest.
"Uwaaak!"
I nearly screamed at his cry but clamped my mouth shut with some self-control. The others weren't so lucky.
They shrieked at the human entrails strung along the window frame.
"Kyaaah!"
"Oh God... heavens!"
"Shut the fuck up, all of you! I said shut up!"
The baron bellowed wildly to mask his fear, while Nadia trembled in utter terror. I watched them all before approaching the window where the baron stood. The clinging guts swayed in the breeze, nearly falling, then dropped limply as I touched them, plummeting to the floor. My gaze naturally followed them out the window.
Another scene of devastation unfolded. Most outdoor corpses had lost all form. The guards by the mansion door were just chunks of flesh and blood, no distinct shapes. Farther ones had hands or feet left, but their torsos had vanished somewhere.
For such a savage massacre to go unnoticed by anyone inside the mansion. Partly the baron's fussing, but likely it all happened in an instant. Shivering, I wondered if we could escape through the window and reached for the gap. But something on the ground below caught my eye.
"...Haha."
A hollow laugh escaped as I identified it. Another corpse, of course. But unlike the others, this one retained a sizable chunk. Precisely two chunks.
The unfortunate guard had died bisected. But unlike a typical halved body, even glued together, it wouldn't be whole. What remained at the center of his torso was splattered straight up the building wall like flung paint. One piece clung to our window. Likely the mark left by the killer's upward slash.
Only then did I realize I'd misjudged the perpetrator. He wasn't a precise assassin or a sadistic butcher. The strewn bodies showed less damage the deeper into the mansion, with cleaner cuts. The implication was clear.
This monster was learning to control his power.
At first, he must have panicked. He'd just swung his weapon, yet bodies exploded and crumpled. Perhaps this was his first time cutting down normal people, not fellow monsters. Midway through the slaughter, after felling the last outdoor guard, he vaguely grasped the power gap.
Thus, the indoor kills were less gruesome, but still unsatisfying. So he minimized force on the final victim, targeting only the most lethal weak points without fully dismembering.
His goal was obvious now. If he just wanted everyone dead, he'd have pulverized them in his initial rampage. Learning power control meant he had a specific target worth the effort. Likely the baron. Or more probably the baron's wife. He was clearing obstacles, turning the mansion into his torture chamber.
But the biggest question remained unanswered. Though it felt detached from me now, it still dominated my mind.
So where the hell is this monster now?
"Move, fucker!"
The baron shoved me roughly and planted a foot on the window sill. Nadia lunged to grab his ankle.
"Rick! Wh-Where are you going? That's..."
"Let go, idiot! Gotta escape through the window... no, flee!"
"But it's too high! Y-You know I'm pregnant... Right? I can't jump from here!"
"Who gives a shit about you? If you can't follow, then don't get in the way!"
"No... don't abandon me, Rick... please!"
Clang!
As if answering my question, a massive thud echoed against the iron door. Everyone inside pressed against the walls in terror, but the baron and Nadia stared at the door in particular horror.
"Wh-What the hell...!"
"No way... no way..."
Nadia muttered the same disbelief over and over. The sound continued above her voice.
Clang!
...
Clang!
...
Clang!
"No... no...!"
"Fuck... no way that's..."
To me, it was just ordinary metal clanging, but they trembled as if it held special meaning. Nadia especially turned ghostly pale, collapsing like someone triggered by trauma.
Clang!
...
Clang!
...
"My bow... get my bow!"
A servant snapped out of it and rushed to fetch the bow. Or perhaps clinging to vain hope that this sham hero might do something. But Nadia wildly shook her head, rejecting any such folly.
"No, Rick! You can't even shoot anymore..."
"Shut your trap! Think missing one finger means I can never shoot again?"
Clang!
...
Clang!
...
Clang!
A stronger impact toppled the barricade chairs and desks with a crash, and the door cracked open just a sliver. Pitch-black darkness seeped through, carrying steady breaths.
"... ..."
"Fuck... fuck...!"
The baron muttered curses, drawing his bow with all his might. Missing his index finger, yet his legendary archer's form was perfect, aim steady. But Nadia showed no reassurance at her husband's stance. As if she knew his defeat was inevitable.
Clang!
...
Clang!
...
Crash!
The flimsy door protecting this pathetic sanctuary shattered, metal and wood shards flying everywhere. As a shadow emerged, the baron loosed an arrow with astonishing speed.
"Die, you fucker!"
The powerfully shot arrow whipped up a gust, scattering dust and shadows. It flew so fast the twang lagged behind, hurtling straight for the intruder's brow.
Boom!
...
But before it pierced, the intruder's hand shot out first. He caught not the shaft, but the arrowhead—in his fist, like snatching a thrown ball. The baron lowered his bow in despair.
"Impossible... who the hell..."
As his defeated mutter echoed, the intruder slowly stepped into the light. Seeing his face, it wasn't Nadia or the baron who spoke first—but Professor Hyde.
"Will...?"
Will? The coachman?
As the professor said, it was indeed the driver who'd brought the carriage to the mansion. But now, looking closely, an eerie dissonance hit me. Like a monster wearing human skin.
He fixed his gaze on the baron and slowly raised a hand to his jaw. Grasping the chin, he peeled off his entire face.
"Ah... aaa..."
The face skin—once Will's—thudded to the floor, revealing a blood-smeared young man's face beneath. In any other circumstance, on the street, it'd be so ordinary I'd forget it instantly.
"No way..."
The baron and Nadia stared at the youth like he was a ghost. Slowly, the baron's lips formed his name.
"Luca..."
"Rick."
The youth called Luca answered in kind. He turned to Nadia and called her name in a deep voice laden with years of resentment, the three syllables—called so many times today—landing heavy as impending doom.
"...Nadia."