The Madness That Opens Its Eyes (8)

The madness that opens its eyes (8) — an ugliness that could never be explained by simply calling it "ugly"!! That bastard's skeletal structure and muscle formation were far removed from modern humanity — it was an entirely new branch of human evolution!!

"Whoa!! This is fucking fascinating!!" I felt my heart race at the discovery of a new lifeform, my scholar's academic passion completely overriding the situation. My job was archaeologist, but this was a discovery that would remain immortalized in future history. It was on the same academic level of shock as orcas from the sea mating with humans to birth orca-humans who then crawled onto land to demand their rights!!

"Sh-shut up!! Who the hell said I was a half-orc!!!" The crew-cut bastard made his already hideous face even uglier with rage as he roared. "This body's name is Tabula!! I am an Einheri who serves the great celestial madness, an immortal warrior!! I am no mere half-orc!!!!"

"Not... a half-orc?" His words triggered a realization that flashed through my mind. "Then..."

It was like an intuition rising from mud hidden beneath the water after a pebble was thrown. Feeling as though I was recalling a forgotten fact, I trembled and asked, "Then you — you wanted to be called not a half-orc, but a 'half-human'?"

Half-human! That referred not to an orc with human blood flowing through it, but to a human with orc blood flowing through it. 'No way!' I was deeply ashamed of my own mistake. This was unconscious racial discrimination! I had already realized and lamented the discriminatory customs regarding human and demi-human mixed blood during my conversation with the blacksmith Clara! This was clearly my fault. The things I hated most in the world were racial discrimination, communists, political correctness, and professors — yet without realizing it, I had committed severe mixed-blood discrimination!!!!

I wondered how deeply my words must have wounded him. If he considered himself a warrior of the Horde, how much must the human blood flowing in his veins have disgusted him! My unconscious racial discrimination had denied his identity and treated him as human. It was the same kind of well-intentioned linguistic violence as a Black child asking an Asian mixed-blood child why they lived in America!!

"I'm sorry. Brave orc warrior. Forgive my mistake." Having realized my error, I apologized to Tabula with genuine sincerity. "—You are not a human with orc blood, but an orc with human blood. I will no longer deny that fact."

Though we were enemies who could only survive upon each other's corpses, that was no reason to disrespect one another.

—Tremble tremble tremble.

Upon hearing my apology, Tabula's body shook as though moved. His burned fist clenched tightly. The sight pained my heart. Just how much discrimination had he endured to be so moved by such a small gesture of understanding and consideration? Tabula's entire life must have been steeped in fierce discrimination due to his hideous appearance and race. I could only hope my understanding would become his final memory.

—Flash.

After trembling for a long while, Tabula raised his head. "......I'll kill you."

Tabula's single eye was dyed with fury. The massive half-human roared as though unleashing years of accumulated hatred!!

"I'll kill you all!!!!!!!!!!!! Kitai people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"What?!" I was greatly flustered by his attitude, which seemed ready ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to collapse the cave. Why was he angry? And why call me Kitai? Was it because my mask had broken and my skin color was revealed? I couldn't possibly guess the reason for Tabula's rage. I wasn't even from that country, and deliberately addressing someone with a national color was a stepping stone to national supremacy! Could he possibly be an MD fucking racist?

While flustered by his hideous figure charging with veins bulging on his scalp, I soon noticed one fact. "—Ah. I see."

He was someone who defined himself as an orc, not a human. To him, all humans were enemies, monsters, and prey. Calling me a Kitai person was the same logic as us humans dividing goblins into swamp peasants, desert peasants, and so on.

"But do you know this, warrior of the Horde?" I declared while assuming the Cheonji Matu stance. "If you define your identity as an orc — then you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are no longer human."

Orcs were monsters. Monsters were humanity's enemies. Therefore, killing them was OK. Such a cruel and emotionless science-major logic development left no room for protest. Humans killing non-human creatures was a very ordinary and universal thing. In that case, at the very least, burying him as a warrior would be the greatest courtesy I could offer.

With my resolve firm, I maintained ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Burning Hand and wiggled my fingers. "—Come. This is your grave, pseudo-human."

"Die!!!!!!!!!!!!! You!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The enraged Tabula charged like a beast that had lost its reason. Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!! It was a charge that had completely lost the disciplined martial arts he had displayed until just before. His speed had increased, as though the loss of technique came at a price. Tabula's physical abilities had risen.

—Zing zing.

Facing Tabula's menacing killing intent, I maintained my composure. "But you fucking bastard. I told you."

Actually, I had forgotten in the confusion, but the Kitai person remark just reminded me. That bastard had broken the mask my girlfriend had made for me. "You're dead, you son of a bitch."

The one who should be angry wasn't that bastard — it was me. As though my burning rage had taken physical form, my fist intensified its firepower even further. Fwoosh fwoosh fwoosh fwoosh—!!!! I extinguished the flame in my left hand and concentrated mana in my right. My right hand spewed intense flames like an iron-plate chef's fire show.

"Kyaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!!! Tabula, approaching at superhuman speed, threw a punch. His massive fist extended in a straight line, aiming to crush my head. It was the kind of idea only a bastard driven mad by bloodlust would have. Therefore— I just needed to predict and dodge it.

—Swish!

I extended my leg and dodged Tabula's punch. I charged through the gap beneath his fist created by our height difference. I transformed my burning right hand into a knife-hand strike and swung!!

"Berlin's Crimson Rain!!!!!"

—Fwoosh!!!

"Kuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

The flaming knife-hand crushed and sliced through Tabula's side. There was no sharpness to speak of in a knife-hand. It was an attack that forcibly pushed forward using the extreme heat and force of the flames. It was more accurate to say it smashed and pulverized everything in its path.

"Kuh, heo......"

—Thud.

Tabula fell to his knees. Flesh and blood burst from his side, which had been pulverized and medium-cooked. Drip drip, plop—. The side he had lost to my attack was a fatal wound. His organs had been destroyed and burned. His lungs might have partially vanished as well. Surviving in that state would be difficult even with human vitality — or even if he were a superhuman or half-human.

I retreated backward while keeping Burning Hand active. "Y-you bastard......!"

Even on the verge of death, Tabula's eyes had not died. Approaching carelessly for a finishing blow could result in a final counterattack. In nature, wounded beasts were the most dangerous. I didn't want to get hurt while trying to finish off a dying bastard.

Whoosh—.

I felt the flow of mana from behind. Tabula and I both directed part of our senses in that direction while glaring at each other. "Mana of ice flowing in the north."

From a distance, Tirsi was chanting magic. "You, the king of all flows that reign above the water's surface. I am the small king of laws that reigns above you. This is the third rank of the four elements, the execution of the frozen earth—"

Even from afar, I could feel mana gathering. It was a powerful spell meant to deliver the finishing blow to Tabula. Since she could end it without approaching, Tirsi would be the one to snipe him rather than me.

"Kuh. Kuhuhuh...... To think I would fall for such a trivial provocation and show such disgrace."

Tabula laughed as though he had lost his mind. I remained vigilant without letting my guard down. "Once you've fallen for it, it stops being a trivial provocation, you bastard. Is my head so trivial that I fell for it?"

I had no idea what provocation he was talking about, but I said it anyway to piss him off. Tabula laughed like a madman before suddenly clamping his mouth shut. Then he quietly glared at me. "......I'll teach you one thing."

"Spit out your last words, you retard."

What the hell was he saying while dying? What kind of brain structure did these psycho bastards need to have such incomprehensible sensibilities? It was fucking terrifying.

"Kuhuhuhuh. Last words. That's what I should be saying."

Muttering this, Tabula suddenly drove his fingers into his remaining eye. —Stab!!

"What the fuck?"

At this incomprehensible act of self-harm, I felt a chill run down my spine. The same inexplicable discomfort I had felt when this crazy bastard first appeared crawled up my back. Drip drip drip—.

"Regret your arrogant wisdom in Niflheim."

Having completely pulled out his own eyeball, Tabula spoke while blood poured from his eye socket. "It's not over until it's over."

Fwoosh!!!

The moment the bastard laughed hideously, a nauseating mana began to rise around us. It was like having radioactive waste right in front of my eyes. Faced with the black mana that stimulated humanity's primal disgust, I hurriedly retreated.

"Kuhuhuh! Kuhahahahahaha!! So this was my destined fate after all! Is Tabula fated to become a mindless beast!!"

Tabula threw away his eyepatch. Where both eyes should have been, only empty darkness remained. "But even so!!! I'll at least take you with me!!!!!!"

Blood dripped from the black eye sockets like a broken bottle spilling its contents. Tabula raised his eyes — with optic nerves dangling — high toward the sky as though offering them. "O great madness dwelling in the heavens!! Your Einheri offers tribute, so grant your blessing to burn this lowly bloodline!!"

Boom!!!!

Black mana swirled around Tabula like a storm. At that moment, Tirsi, having finished her chant, pointed her wand and shouted. "Be trapped in the glacier's coffin and sleep in the eternal sea! Dominion of Permanent!!"

—Crack crack crack crack!!

Three ice pillars rose from where the wand was pointed. The generated ice pillars wove ice like a coffin of cold, attempting to freeze Tabula within.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!!

"Kuhahahahahahaha!!!"

Even in this life-or-death situation, Tabula spread his arms with a high-pitched mad laugh.

"—Fuck!!" A magic spell! Realizing I was screwed, I snatched a spear from a nearby thief. Extinguishing Burning Hand, I infused it with the power of Beast Regression and threw it at Tabula.

Whoosh—!!

—Clang!!

The spear I threw bounced off harmlessly. It couldn't penetrate the whirlwind of black mana. Tirsi's ice magic also seemed unable to affect the inside of the whirlwind.

Tabula completed the incantation. Even within the mana whirlwind, the bastard's eyeballs — which had remained intact — were crushed and burst in his large hands. Hamask!!

—Pop!

The whirlwind of black mana stopped. The mana that had been spinning from centrifugal force scattered throughout the cave like a cut thread. Whoosh—!!

With the whirlwind that had been obstructing the freezing gone, the ice pillars completed the coffin in the blink of an eye. A five-meter-long black ice coffin was erected, completely covering Tabula's body. After that, nothing happened. It was as though the commotion from moments ago had been a lie.

"......Fuck."

I took a sword from a thief's corpse and held it. I stared at the black ice coffin. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would jump out of my mouth.

—I knew. The real fight was only just beginning.

Was it because it was standard procedure for enemies to revive in situations like this? No. Was it because unlucky me couldn't possibly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠win so easily? No. It was because an evil presence that soured one's mood was still emanating unchanged from within the coffin.

Crack....

—Shatter!!!!!

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!"

A massive figure burst out, shattering the ice coffin. It was a bipedal monster covered in brown fur growing from its skin. Its two standing legs were reverse-jointed, but its outstretched arms were human-like — except for the knife-sized claws on its fingers. Its eyes were empty, and something black continuously flowed from them. Judging by the viscosity, it was probably blood.

—Thud!

The beast, resembling a mix between a boar and a wolf, emerged from the coffin and planted all fours on the ground, growling. Its eyes were blind, but its nose and ears were intact. That would be enough for a beast.

"......Don't move."

"I'll take the front, you take the rear. Support with magic."

We said nothing more and nothing less than that. Without needing many words, Tirsi and I shared the same thought. No one asked the beast who it was.

"Krrrrrrrrr......"

The monster rose while rumbling its nose. Its empty eye sockets looked toward my location as though they would never miss their target. I smirked and extended my fist. "Hand."

"—KryyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!"

The beast leaped. Shedding tears of blood from its empty eyes. I swung my sword. Using the terror swelling in my chest as kindling for my fighting spirit. There was not a single cloud in the killing intent of our clash. Because the only choices before us were to die or to kill.