No One Without a Story
Everyone has a story. The hallmark of someone with a shady past is that they react the instant their dirty deeds come to light. They might believe they're handling it with considerable composure, but from an outsider's perspective, it's nothing more than the desperate act of pretending not to be on the verge of panic.
"W-why are you doing this?!"
"Hold still. If you keep squirming, your arm's going to pop out."
To me, Iris only showed her girlish side, but in reality she was a Hero several times stronger than the average human. She might still be a half-baked Hero with plenty of shortcomings, but that fundamental truth couldn't be denied. After all, she was one of the people I'd trained myself.
In just five seconds, Iris had subdued the one-eyed woman and was now twisting her arm with tremendous force. There was a loud crack as the joint bent unnaturally. If she twisted it even a little more, the arm would dislocate completely and dangle uselessly.
"Aaaargh! What the hell are you doing?! Let go! Let me go! Why are you doing this?!"
It must have been terrifying, and it must have hurt like hell. Yet the one-eyed woman shouted in as calm a voice as she could manage. Then she turned to her comrades who were watching from the surroundings.
"Are you just going to stand there, you crazy bastards?! What kind of nonsense is this?!"
Several men and women nearby immediately started moving toward me. But I stopped them simply by raising a single fist.
"If you want to end up like that bald guy sprawled over there, go ahead and come at me."
"…"
"…"
Not all of Garam's followers were at the bald man's level, but at least the ones in the immediate vicinity were roughly the same. Which meant they could end up getting beaten to within an inch of their lives, just like that bald guy who couldn't even put up any resistance.
As expected, the only thing that really gets people to behave is a proper dose of violence. I had to thank that bald guy who'd acted up during the newcomer test and gotten himself pummeled. If not for him, I wouldn't have had the chance to demonstrate my power like this.
"I told you to stay still!"
Crack!
"Gaaaah!!"
Hey, Iris. You're going to kill her at this rate. We still need her conscious enough to communicate, at least for now.
When I clicked my tongue, Iris gave a small bow. It was her way of saying she'd restrain herself from now on and just keep her properly subdued.
"Hey. What do you think you're doing?"
At that moment, the scarred man cautiously approached Iris and me. With his hand resting on his sword hilt, it looked like he was ready to fight if necessary.
"Don't even think about it. If you draw that sword, you're dead."
"…That's why I'm asking for an explanation."
Come to think of it, hardly anyone knew what this crystal was. At most, it was only me, my disciples, and the small number of people who fought against the Demon God Worshippers. We'd only recently started using it, and the villains kept it strictly confidential. Above all, it looked like nothing more than a simple accessory, so most people just passed it off as such when they saw it.
If my master had been here, he probably would have called them annoying pests and blown them all away. But I wasn't the type to be that hot-headed. Besides, these people followed Garam and helped her with various tasks, so it didn't feel right to treat them too roughly.
"Do you see this?"
"It's a crystal. What's so strange about women carrying small accessories like that?"
"This is a communication device that the Demon God Worshippers have been using recently. It can't transmit, but it can definitely receive. They get their orders through this and act accordingly."
"…What?"
"What did you just say? Demon God Worshippers?"
"That's insane! Are you saying there are Demon God Worshippers among those who follow the Sword Hero?!"
What the hell did they think was impossible about that? Did they have flower gardens in their heads? Even the various nations planted spies in other countries' key departments to extract information. Infiltrating a group like this, where security was far less strict, was child's play.
Although it was impossible to send messages with this device, that wasn't an issue at all. There were secret gathering places for Demon God Worshippers everywhere, so they could just deliver the information there. Once they received their orders, they could gather more intel or take action. For example, they might deliberately lure in demonic beasts and monsters to slow down the Heroes' subjugation speed. Or they could spread disaster again in cities or towns that had been deemed safe and abandoned. All they needed to do was delay the erasure of despair from this world.
Because people are bound to trust an existence that bestows certain despair more than one that offers uncertain hope.
The Demon God Worshippers preferred to expand their influence in this manner. Like a cult, they made the world even harder to live in and cleverly exploited the gaps that created.
"…Where's your proof?" the scarred man asked, his hand still on his sword hilt. It seemed he was somewhat acquainted with the one-eyed woman. Seeing a newcomer suddenly subdue his comrade and treat her like he was about to kill her, I would have probably reacted similarly if I were in his position.
"I don't have any at the moment."
"You don't have any?"
"It's impossible to send with this device. If they send something, it receives it. If nothing is sent, it's just a small crystal like what you're seeing now."
"You son of a— Is that even something you should be saying right now…"
"That's why I'm going to find the evidence starting now."
The crystal was merely proof that this one-eyed woman was a Demon God Worshipper. The actual evidence would come from asking this damn woman directly from now on.
"Let's make a bet."
I approached the one-eyed woman and grabbed her by the hair. She didn't look particularly villainous—just an unfortunate woman who'd lost an eye, someone who appeared completely ordinary. But as long as she possessed that crystal, she could never shake off the suspicion of being a Demon God Worshipper. It would be quite troublesome if she wasn't, but from the beginning, that was impossible.
"If you can endure for five minutes, you win."
I'd known that the day would come when I'd have to use this. That only by experiencing it firsthand could one understand just how vicious this technique was. The image of my master, who had insisted on using the muscle-severing, bone-crushing technique on his disciple, came to mind. Back then, I'd resented my master so much. But now that time had passed, I could understand why he'd done it.
"If you open your mouth before that, I win."
Shhhhh—
The blue energy that bloomed from my fingertips flowed into the one-eyed woman's body. If the opponent was on a similar level to me, I'd need far more energy than this. But the one-eyed woman was only slightly stronger than an ordinary person. This much was just right—neither too much nor too little.
"Demon God Worshipper?! That's nonsense! How dare you say that to me, a follower of the Sword Hero! …Kuh, kuhuk?!"
It's funny how humans crumble so easily in the face of pain. No matter how strong their will of steel or how firm their convictions, it all becomes useless. Even a simple muscle cramp, where the muscles convulse, brings unimaginable agony. Even a well-trained athlete has no choice but to lie on the floor groaning when struck by a cramp. And when it hits a thick muscle like the thigh instead of the calf, it truly feels like hell.
If a muscle spasm was that bad, then in front of this technique that twisted the entire interior of the body, there were almost no people who could maintain their sanity and endure.
"Guhuk!"
The one-eyed woman's body twisted in grotesque ways. Starting from her pressure points, all the nerves, organs, and muscles throughout her body were being knotted up. And it wasn't just twisting. In some places it felt like they were being snapped, in others like they were being gnawed away. Having experienced it myself, I knew exactly what kind of sensations she was going through. It was so horrific that I'd almost never used it on my disciples. There had only been two or three times, and those weren't by my choice but forced upon me.
They said they wanted to experience what their master had gone through. I warned them they'd definitely regret it, but they stubbornly insisted. So I gave them just a little taste, and the result was obvious.
"Grrrk!"
Ah, damn it. How long has it been? Not even a minute, not even thirty seconds, and she's already foaming at the mouth and making a huge fuss.
"You damn bastards! What are you doing?! She's going to die!"
"She's not going to die. Dying was never an option from the start."
Why was it considered one of the most heinous martial arts? Because it inflicted just enough pain to keep the victim from dying. Suicide was impossible. There wasn't even time to bite one's tongue, and the pain was so fantastically excruciating. And even if one did bite their tongue, it wouldn't kill them, so death was even more impossible.
"Master. Should I wake her up?"
"Leave her. If I put it in one more time, she'll come to her senses."
"You crazy people! Get away! If anyone's the Demon God Worshippers, it's you guys…"
Bam!
Ah, that guy. Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut? I knew he'd end up like this.
I clicked my tongue and looked behind the scarred man who was now sprawled out on the floor.
"Huk?!"
"H-Hero!"
There stood Garam, her fist clenched tightly with a chillingly calm expression. From the killing intent flowing from her eyes, it seemed she wanted to kill the Demon God Worshipper…
"How dare this vermin call anyone a Demon God Worshipper."
…Hey, don't tell me the one you want to kill isn't this one-eyed woman but the scarred man? Why are you doing this to a decent guy when you have this one who was preparing to stab you in the back?
I glanced at Garam and shook my head slightly. I understood how she felt, but it wasn't time yet. Since she'd stepped forward, I was telling her to wrap this situation up appropriately.
She nodded slightly, having understood my meaning, and took a step forward. Then she approached the one-eyed woman who was being held by Iris and grabbed a fistful of her hair.
"I had a feeling. So there was still a rat left."
"Grrk…"
"I'll only ask once. So answer carefully. Are you part of the group that worships the Demon God?"
"Y… yes, I am…"
She must have wanted to deny it, but the answer flowed out as she could no longer do so. Thanks to that, the followers around her looked at the one-eyed woman in utter shock. They were a group that followed the Hero to protect the peace and tranquility of this world. To think a Demon God Worshipper was among them—it was worse than if she'd been a thief or a criminal.
"What did you do while hiding here?"
"I… I informed them of the movement routes… That was all. It's the truth…"
It probably wasn't a lie. After suffering through that horror, she wouldn't have the mental capacity left to lie. If she could still lie in that state, I'd have to acknowledge it.
"So it wasn't even anything significant, yet you did something this dangerous."
Whoooosh—
A gust of cold wind blew, swirling around Garam and the others. It wasn't a flesh-cutting gale, yet it gave an odd chill to the body.
"You couldn't do anything… and yet you had to humiliate me like this at a time like this."
Click.
Garam's hand moved to the sword at her waist. From the beginning, Garam had never truly considered them her allies. It was merely a contractual relationship born from mutual need. Since they had broken that first, Garam no longer had any reason to insist on maintaining it.
"Huk…"
At that moment, the one-eyed woman, who had been groaning, began to sob.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry… My family, my family was taken hostage. Those bastards took my son, my son. They said they'd kill them all if I didn't do this… I had no choice… You can punish me, do whatever you want to me. But please… my family… my son…"
At the mention of her family being held hostage, several of the followers let out sighs. Perhaps they felt sympathy, as it was a situation no human could simply overlook.
"Hah."
But Garam didn't show the slightest change in expression.
"There is no one in this world without a story. Only those who aren't swayed by it and continue down their own path deserve to remain in this world. In that sense, you've crossed the line."