Male or Female, We'll Rape Them All
“This might be our last chance to escape.”
“Huh? But the hunters still seem to have the advantage…”
“There’s no such thing as a one hundred percent chance of winning. If the knights somehow pull off a victory, we’ll be trapped here.”
You always had to prepare for the worst. No matter how things looked right now, the board could flip at any moment.
“And even if the knights lose, if they use scorched-earth tactics while retreating, we’re finished.”
It was practically guaranteed. These were the bastards who had turned the academy into a slaughterhouse. There was nothing they wouldn’t do. They would obviously rain down large-scale magic while pulling back. Or leave remnants behind to wage guerrilla warfare from every corner.
“Ah…”
“Plus, a major clash feels unavoidable at this point.”
The original plan had been to circle around and slip out through a gap. But judging by what he was seeing now, even a detour would lead to an inevitable head-on collision. The enemy forces were maintaining almost identical ratios with no openings whatsoever. On the other hand, that also meant their troops weren’t heavily concentrated in any single spot.
With just over thirty lightly armed personnel, they could probably break through. Casualties would pile up like before, but there was a high chance that would be the end of it.
‘Of course, that’s still pretty risky.’
The very fact that injuries would occur meant the danger level was high. Even minor wounds could worsen during movement and turn fatal later on. Kang Sian abandoned the idea of slipping away cleanly. Instead, he slowly considered other options.
“…Guess we just have to do everything we possibly can.”
Muttering to himself, he headed back down to the lower floor.
He wandered through the armory, observing the people. Their weapons were all different. Their armor was uniformly light. Some carried shields. But the shape and size of every shield was exactly the same.
They looked exactly like pot lids.
There wasn’t a single shield taken from the enemy. It was strange in many ways. And disadvantageous.
The equipment was geared toward individual skill rather than group survival. Carrying something like that might protect you, but it was unlikely to protect the comrades behind you. Breaking through an encirclement would be nearly impossible. If the rear collapsed, how could any firepower be maintained?
To break through in formation, they needed much larger shields. At the very least, shields that could block straight-line attacks.
He immediately headed toward Cheon Mari, who was still receiving treatment.
“Sian, are you hurt too?”
“No, that’s not it. I just have something to ask.”
“A question? Oho, our noble quarter-elf ego has deigned to ask a question?”
“We don’t have time for jokes right now.”
“Hmph.”
Cheon Mari’s lame attempt at humor was ignored. Kang Sian sat down in front of her as she continued securing her arm. Then, with an extremely serious expression, he explained his idea.
Or rather, it was less an idea and more a notification that the madness was about to begin.
“Well, it’s a matter of life and death. This much is an acceptable means.”
“Bold and cool. I like it. I’m in favor.”
“Whoa, that much? No, this is completely insane… huh?”
As expected, the infinite malice of humanity. The moment she heard the endpoint of survival instinct, Cheon Mari’s gaze turned extremely strange.
“And on top of that… I have to do it?”
Most of the burden for that task would fall on her. But what could she do? The strong sometimes had to show mercy to the weak.
And so, the regressor from a chaebol family was exploited by her childhood friend. There was no such thing as compensation between friends.
* * *
‘Phew, good thing I have a battery. I did well not hiding and following along.’
‘They say one solid plan from a single competent person is better than gathering everyone’s opinions. Turns out that wasn’t just empty talk.’
‘We’re all third-year high school students, so why is the gap in skill and experience this huge? This guy’s actually crazy.’
‘But what the hell was he doing before? The way he fights, the way he reads situations… it’s rough, but it feels like he’s got some real experience.’
‘He definitely seems like he’s learned something… Well, as long as he fights well, I guess it doesn’t matter.’
The examinees, resting while harboring all sorts of thoughts. Kang Sian gathered them all in one place and began to speak.
About how far they had come. About the current situation based on the information they had gathered. About what remained to be done. And about what would happen after they escaped.
It wasn’t too short, nor too long. The content wasn’t particularly difficult to understand. So it felt like the end was right in front of them.
At least until Kang Sian suddenly started talking about an escape plan.
The extreme story that came out of nowhere and the brutal reality caused everyone’s faces to rot. And what put the final nail in the coffin was what they had to do from now on.
“We’re going to cut their wrist tendons, gag them, put collars on them, and use them as human shields.”
“We’ll also partially dismember some of the knights’ corpses. Smear the blood all over your bodies, and hang body parts on spears or shields.”
“When we charge, we need to create maximum psychological impact. Make your expressions as cruel and terrifying as possible.”
“Oh, right. Let’s decide on a chant for the charge and act as oppressively as we can.”
These were measures to strengthen their breakthrough power. It meant mobilizing every possible method to crush the enemy’s morale.
“What? What the hell are you saying?”
A bewildering tactic. Kang Sian inwardly defined it as ‘wearing the mask of the devil.’ It was an extremely accurate description, since their actions weren’t all that different from their principles.
It was behavior that anyone with normal ethics and humanity would vehemently oppose. However, even if it meant bending their beliefs, this life was better than the afterlife. There was the issue of allied morale dropping, but as long as the desire to escape existed, it was something they could endure.
Right now, there was only one question: could they truly avoid death and cross the World Gate?
‘No way! We really have to go this far?!’
‘His fighting skills and command are good, but this is honestly too much…’
‘Gueeegh—’
‘Fuck, there’s no way this would work in any sane person’s mind.’
‘Doesn’t this make us actual demon king’s army?’
Kang Sian gave orders to the shaken examinees. They hesitated at first, but the sharp rebuke asking if they wanted to live or not forced them to move.
“Ugh…”
“Mom— hic—
“Fuck, fuck…”
They smeared the dismembered chunks of corpses all over their bodies. They hung large remnants of the dead on their shoulders or shields. Some stuck heads on poles and held them high like cannibals. The prisoners whose tendons had been cut were placed at the front instead of shields.
It was the most inhumane sight imaginable, one that stabbed at the primal desire of humans to survive.
Amid nausea and terror, the examinees began moving outside.
Covered in blood, Cheon Mari approached Kang Sian.
“I did it like you said, but we’re short on corpses so the effect will be weaker than expected.”
“It’s fine. As long as we make them panic for a moment, that’s enough.”
The dismembered corpses and the prisoners with severed tendons were all Cheon Mari’s handiwork. More precisely, she had gladly carried out the orders Kang Sian had given after much deliberation.
After all, there were almost no people in this world capable of committing such horrific acts. Seriously, separating organs and crushing what needed to be crushed? It was the kind of thing that would drive anyone insane unless they had a mentality and personality on Cheon Mari’s level.
Even with that kind of mentality, it would have been difficult without her level of skill. If Cheon Mari hadn’t cured Kang Sian’s erosion in the past, he never would have asked her to do this. Without that incident, he never would have known she had talent in this area.
“Mari, thank you. It must have been hard.”
“It’s fine. If anything, I should be thanking you. I got to relieve some built-up stress and rediscover sensations I was starting to forget.”
“You didn’t need to rediscover those particular sensations.”
Cheon Mari smiled sweetly and wrapped her arms around Kang Sian’s neck. Then she casually smeared his cheek with her blood-stained hand.
Naturally, Kang Sian looked at her with clear disgust. The feeling of gratitude vanished in an instant, but since everyone else was doing it, he had no choice but to do it too. He openly told her, in the tone of a professional asking for a favor.
As expected, Cheon Mari, with a cat-like expression, began rubbing corpse chunks all over Kang Sian’s body. Seeing how excited yet meticulous she was, it seemed she was trying to disguise him as oppressively as possible in her own way.
“Oh crap. I put on too much.”
“…”
Only then did Kang Sian finally understand why Cheon Mari usually didn’t wear makeup. In the end, he ended up looking somewhat pitiful and utterly wretched.
Looking around, the other examinees were correcting their disguises in rather creative ways. Since they kept adding more blood and muscle to their bodies, they seemed to have grown used to the disgust.
“H-huuu… hiiiiiiik…”
One timid girl was slowly spreading it across her body with her pinky finger in the corner.
When Kang Sian stared blankly at Shannon, Cheon Mari looked that way too. Then, with a face full of mischief, she quietly approached.
“Our dragon friend, is the makeup not going well?”
“Pardon?”
“Shall this kind and pretty big sister help you?”
“N-no, I’m fine—”
“Aww, you’re not fine at all. It’s obvious you’re struggling.”
“I really am fine—”
“Now now, just trust this big sister. Do it like this…!”
Splat— She pressed a piece of flesh against Shannon’s cheek. Her face became covered in blood. Shannon’s expression went completely blank.
“…”
Slowly, slowly, she looked down at the shard of glass on the floor. Reflected there was her own face with someone else’s facial skin stuck to it. It was grotesque in every way.
Shannon’s breathing suddenly grew rapid. And then—
“Hiiiiiiieeeeeeek!!!!!!”
Her eyes rolled back. She foamed at the mouth like a dog. She thrashed wildly, screaming at the top of her lungs. In the middle of her frenzy, she stepped on the blood flowing across the floor and slipped.
With a loud thud, she fainted with her tongue hanging out.
She had suddenly been transported from another world to an entirely different one. It was truly tragic.
“W-wait, what?! Wake up!!!”
“G-geeeuuuurgh—”
Shannon’s worst moment in life was thus renewed once again.
Kang Sian let out a sigh.
“Let’s just go with a mild charge chant…”
* * *
The encirclement where a fierce battle continued. The hunters fought desperately to protect the World Gate, while the knights fought desperately to break through and strike a blow. Screams rang out everywhere, and they never stopped.
Here, at one particular intersection, the hunters and knights facing off were no different. Believing they could neither retreat nor delay any longer, they fought with their lives on the line.
But even in this desperate struggle between both sides, there was no clear victor. The knights seemed to be slowly pushing forward, but only just barely.
‘Reinforcements…!’
‘Damn it, when is the support coming?!’
‘We’re just a little short on numbers!’
Just a little more. Just a little longer and they would make it. They kept fighting with that thought in mind.
And perhaps the World Tree had answered their call. From far away, something slowly began approaching the intersection.
The hunters gritted their teeth in despair. The knights didn’t realize it at first, but someone’s shout made them understand.
The World Tree has bestowed its blessing upon us. Justice will prevail.
Cheers erupted from all around. It felt as if victory was kissing the knights.
The sound of rough footsteps reached everyone. The appearance of those approaching gradually became clear.
But then a sense of foul impurity arose. Because they were very different from what they knew, and very wrong in many ways. A sense of alienation surged.
Still, since nothing but reinforcements could be coming from the rear, the knights stepped back and one by one turned to look behind them. It was a rather wise decision to confirm their hopes.
The problem was that while it was wise, it would have been far better not to know.
An impure horde. At the front, a platinum-blonde woman shouted.
“Rape the men! Rape the women!!!”
“““Aaaargh!!!”””
Like something from hell. The devil’s army began its charge.