A Hyena's Plea
In a room where the air felt like a blizzard, Dorne spoke. “What should I do with you, Elysia…? I’m worried about you. You’re only a fourteen-year-old girl. I fear the trials bearing down on you are far too heavy.”
Violet mana gathered near the armored Orbholder. Dorne had explored the labyrinth with Elysia Bellone for a month. He did not believe she was a corrupt, twisted politician. She might have fought hard against the elders within the Bellone family. Perhaps even this tea time with him was an act of defiance against the adults… Still, that did not change what had to be done.
In the brief silence Dorne allowed, Elysia Bellone steeled her resolve. “Dorne, Dorne… Will you listen to me? Hardel, stay where you are.” She stopped Hardel from stepping forward and pleaded with Dorne. Tears welled in the eyes of the girl who had grown up in the filthy, twisted den that bore the Bellone name.
“If you’re curious about anything, I’ll answer it all. Dorne. This is the best I can do.”
Dorne considered killing all three beastmen in the room with a single stroke, slaying the two guards and taking the young lady hostage, or showing mercy out of past camaraderie and fleeing through the window. Elysia’s cooperative attitude pushed those thoughts aside.
“Hmm… Then first, I’m curious how the Mordin family’s trap in the northern labyrinth caught you. Will you explain in detail?”
Elysia wiped away a single falling tear and answered with a firm expression. “It’s true the Mordin family trapped me. But only because Bellone had already killed several of their legitimate heirs.”
“Hah…”
“The Mordin family is generally just. They’re generous neighbors, easy to get along with.”
Dorne felt the shock of his prior knowledge being overturned. “Then why fight over the mine? If Mordin is truly just, they could have developed it jointly and shared the profits without hesitation.”
Elysia answered without hesitation. “You don’t know exactly where the mine is, do you? If you flew over and checked, you’d see within an hour that it sits practically in Mordin’s front yard. They were forced to fight Bellone’s unreasonable claim to the mining rights discovered near their territory, and they shed tears of blood from the schemes carried out in the shadows.”
“I see… That explains everything I’ve experienced so far.”
The pieces of everyone connected to Bellone that Dorne had encountered rearranged themselves in his mind. Without being asked, Elysia brought up matters concerning him as well.
“The note disguised as coming from Mordin was the elders’ doing. They wanted to use you in a territorial war because fighting Mordin directly would put them at a disadvantage. They never intended to discard you afterward. Even now they’re desperately trying to hide the fact that you noticed their schemes.”
Dorne met Elysia’s bold gaze. “I see. You’ve had a hard time for someone so young. What is it you want to say?”
The beastman girl with animal ears hesitated, then finally spoke. “Dorne… It’s shameless of me to ask, but please. I may not be an outstanding leader, but I believe I can run Bellone more cleanly than the current leadership. Could you deal with some of the Bellone elders who wronged you? I promise you sufficient compensation and reward.”
Dorne felt a deep sorrow… for this young girl trying to shoulder such a heavy burden, for the young lady burdened with such grave responsibility, and for the ruthlessness of nobles who could cut away even their own family. Elysia Bellone had not actually killed her relatives, but the moment she made this request, she had already slain them in her heart.
Dorne felt truly desolate. “Elysia… You’re trying to use me too. Hyena blood never changes, does it?”
“Hic… H-how…?”
The girl who had introduced herself as a dog beastman was shocked. Dorne, who had seen every kind of animal on Earth, had not been fooled but had chosen not to point it out—partly because he knew the common perception of hyenas, and partly because he had once heard that hyenas were not actually despicable creatures. He felt only pity for Elysia Bellone, born into the Bellone family and unable to escape her fate.
—Whish, whish—
—Zzzzt—
Thud. The maid died after being struck by the Orbholder’s beam. Hardel drew her sword and clashed with Dorne. To avoid causing a commotion, Dorne adjusted his strikes so their blades never truly met. Hardel resisted fiercely, but she was clearly on the defensive.
Dorne caught her slash with his ironclad hand, gripping her sword tightly and yanking her forward. The overwhelming strength pulled Hardel in effortlessly. He bent down and wrapped his arm around her neck, locking her in a standing guillotine choke. He compressed her carotid artery until she lost consciousness while pressing down on her back with his other hand to stop her struggles.
She swung her sword wildly, kicked, and even attempted half-swording and sword wrestling to create space to breathe. None of it worked against Dorne, who was easily a meter taller. Once Hardel went limp, Dorne lowered her to the floor and drove his sword through the carotid artery he had just choked, finishing her with certainty.
—Gush, gush, gush—
The beastman’s vigorous heartbeat sprayed blood from the severed artery in pulsing bursts. Hardel’s face, frozen in terror, hung at an unnatural angle. Her neck had been completely crushed between Dorne’s side and forearm during the choke, the vertebrae shattered in the brief moment she lost consciousness and could no longer protect herself with Fighting Spirit.
Elysia Bellone stood frozen, unable to even scream, lost in panic. Hardel had been her friend and bodyguard since childhood, and a fellow hyena beastman.
Dorne spoke gently to her. “Elysia. Pull yourself together. You need to tell me where the important people and the family’s treasures are.”
He calmed the panicked girl and extracted detailed information: where the dwarf prisoners were held, where the elders stayed, and the location of the vault containing valuable treasures.
“Good. Elysia. You’ve had a hard life growing up in that filthy family, short as it was. Rest well now.”
—Crack—
Thud. Thud. With a speed too fast to perceive, Dorne twisted her neck to grant her a painless end, then gave her the same confirming strike he had given Hardel. One could never be sure. A priest with tremendous power might still revive her. Priests did not bestow holy power on monsters, but they might on humans.
—……!
The Orbholder, sensing Dorne’s sorrow, flew into his chest to comfort him.
—Pat, pat—
“Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Holder. You’re all I have. This world really is filthy and rotten, isn’t it?”
The Orbholder and Dorne comforted each other with its wing and his large hand. Now it was time to clean house. Dorne decided that if he encountered Roden—the knight who had taught them Fighting Spirit without participating in the schemes—he would pretend not to see him.
Contemplating how to wipe them all out before anyone could escape, Dorne opened the door and stepped out.
‘I should either feed the Orbholder a scouting ability or obtain another summon suited for reconnaissance.’
The ironclad Dorne carefully opened the door and fed mana to the Orbholder. Instead of firing mana blasts, the Orbholder used Telekinesis to lift Dorne off the floor. Moving this way would consume some mana but allow silent travel.
Floating through the air, Dorne easily killed the knights standing guard at corners, just like labyrinth goblins.
—Thud—
—Crunch—
He drove a dagger formed by his ability into their necks, severing both carotid and windpipe, then clamped his massive hand over their throats to silence any sound. He held the choking hand low so the gushing blood soaked into the carpet rather than splashing loudly from neck height.
Dorne killed everyone he encountered. He still had not met Roden.
He arrived before a grand, ornate door.
—…No—
…This was—
The final words of the hyena who had wanted to be a dog had led him to the most efficient route. According to Elysia Bellone, the family head and elders were currently holding a meeting inside. They were probably discussing how to deal with the clever hunting dog who had noticed their schemes. Dorne opened the door to let the hunting dog give his own opinion.
Noise no longer mattered.
—Creaaak—
The well-oiled hinges gave a stately groan.
“So I’m telling you, poisoning the meal would be clean and without variables.”
“No, he’s going to become an even greater explorer. We should just sweet-talk him and send him on his way!”
“Quiet, quiet. This is getting too heated. For a moment…”
Mid-discussion, the conference room door opened. The Bellone elders turned toward it.
“Well now, it’s rude to badmouth someone when they’re not even present.”
“D-Dorne… sir.”
Dorne’s helmet, unstained by even a single drop of blood thanks to his ability’s unrealistic power, gleamed as it reflected the sunlight. The metal, heated by the blazing sun, looked cold rather than warm.
Cairo Bellone, head of the Bellone family, addressed him. “Sir Dorne. We were in the middle of distributing spoils. I won’t hold you accountable for interrupting the meeting, so please vacate the premises for now.”
These men who had carried out filthy schemes in the shadows now seemed unable to grasp the situation. Dorne had no intention of listening to whatever excuses these creatures wearing human skin might offer.
Ironclad Giant — Iron Net
“Hic! Sir Dorne! What is the meaning of this?!”
“It wasn’t me! I’m innocent! Please spare me!”
—Zzzzt—
Servants and knights who tried to help their masters were killed or blocked by the Orbholder’s beams. The Bellone executives, pinned beneath the heavy iron net, had no choice but to receive Dorne’s blade as he calmly stepped on them.
“Kuh! Krrrk—”
With their necks half-severed, they gurgled boiling blood and died one by one. The number of meeting participants dwindled until only Cairo Bellone remained. Trapped beneath the iron net, urine soaking his robes, he desperately stared at Dorne. His urine mixed with the blood of his retainers, becoming indistinguishable.
—Step, step—
Dorne’s iron boots crushed the blood-soaked carpet.
“I-it’s a misunderstanding… I never intended that… I’ll give you treasure… The vault can only be opened by me…”
Cairo Bellone begged for his life, but as the Ironclad Giant approached in silence, he realized his desperate pleas had no effect and fell quiet. Dorne’s sword tip pierced the head of this filthy noble house, cutting halfway through the neck just like the others.
Dorne annihilated the corrupt noble house and headed to where the captured dwarves were imprisoned. He smashed open the door to the room holding the cubic dwarf he had fought face-to-face.
—Crunch—
—Creaaak—
Using his massive hand and strength, Dorne simply broke the door handle and entered the room where Grombal Mordin lay.
“Pardon the intrusion.”
Grombal, who had been lying on the bed—designed with the bare minimum of noble dignity—to tend his wounds, shot upright in surprise.
“You! That giant…!”
Mentally exhausted beyond what mana or stamina could measure, Dorne raised his palm toward the talkative Grombal Mordin.
“Quiet. From now on, I’m the only one speaking.”
“……”
Satisfied by Grombal’s quick-witted silence, Dorne began to speak at length. Grombal’s eyes widened.