At the Scene of the Kin Massacre
Langlok, the demon who had been digging into the hero's reincarnation, had to desperately swallow the words that threatened to burst from his trembling lips.
You're not Zorgal.
The smile of the man wrapped in pristine white bandages filled his vision. Langlok didn't even want to imagine what that smile meant.
He was simply too busy worrying about his own safety.
Whatever had happened to Zorgal—who had always been an annoying bastard anyway—was none of his business.
Demons were cunning, and Langlok was no exception.
"Ahem... Here is your card, Mr. Zorgal."
Langlok cleared his throat as he handed the card back. The man gave a slight nod and slipped the card into his breast pocket.
"Well then, I am quite busy, so if you'll excuse me..."
Just as Langlok turned his back with those words, it happened.
"Oh... Excuse me..."
The bandaged man's voice drifted from behind. Langlok wanted to pretend he hadn't heard and ignore it, but the moment the voice reached him, his arm was grabbed.
The man was supposed to be blind, so how had he grabbed his arm with such pinpoint accuracy? But Langlok didn't even have the luxury of pondering that question.
"...Haha. Yes? What is it?"
"If you don't mind, I was hoping you could show me around this place."
"I'm rather busy—"
"...You'll show me around, right?"
Langlok tried to quickly excuse himself to escape, but the man casually cut him off.
Langlok swallowed hard.
Because he was a Red Horn—at the very bottom of the food chain, the weakest of the weak—his survival instincts were highly developed. He could sense it immediately.
A distinct, chilling murderous intent was radiating from the voice of this bandaged, blind man standing before him.
"...I-I suppose I should. Ahaha..."
Langlok offered an awkward laugh and glanced toward the guard in the distance. The guard was just sitting there, lazily picking his nose.
Barely suppressing a sigh, Langlok began to lead the way.
Langlok was quick-witted.
His mind spun rapidly.
He knew that this blind demon, who had come here under a false identity claiming to be a rookie, was incredibly dangerous.
Whatever this man's—this demon's—purpose was, something very, very bad was going to happen in this place tonight.
That was his intuition.
However, Langlok would never know that the moment he turned his eyes away from the guard, a single gesture from the blind man caused the guard's own shadow to rise up and swallow him whole.
Langlok walked ahead down the corridor, straining to decipher the intentions of the man following him.
Only now did Langlok realize that he couldn't even begin to gauge what color horn this man possessed.
Judging by the faint pressure radiating from behind him—a suffocating weight that tightened around his chest—he could tell the gap between them was astronomical compared to a mere Red Horn like himself.
Of course, that didn't mean much.
After all, there was no demon weaker than a Red Horn.
"...Come to think of it, I haven't heard your name yet."
The quiet question drifted from the man following behind him.
"Ah, I am Langlok..."
He couldn't refuse the man's question.
No, he had no intention of refusing.
Langlok decided that even if he didn't know what the man was planning, there was no need to get on his bad side.
Soon, Langlok opened the door to the main hall and stepped inside.
"This is the main hall. Everyone gathers here to do their work."
The hall was still a chaotic, noisy mess, with stacks of documents flying back and forth.
Not a single soul spared a glance for Langlok or the bandaged man who had just entered.
The moment the man stepped into the hall, the smile vanished from his lips. He was no longer smiling.
Then, his mouth opened.
"...It seems there are no other exits... This will make things easier."
The man muttered a strange comment about things being easier.
Why the exits...?
The moment that question popped into Langlok's head,
The lips of the man, who had tilted his head to look around, parted slightly beneath his white bandages.
"Shadow Stitching."
The moment the man's incantation echoed, every single demon in the hall froze.
The demon who had been grabbing another by the collar to throw a punch, the demon stroking his chin while reviewing documents, the demon who had just begun to stand up from his chair.
And even Langlok, who stood right beside him.
Everyone was frozen solid, unable to budge an inch.
It was as if time itself had stopped, but it hadn't.
They could still move their mouths.
Immediately, a wave of confused and irritated murmurs arose from the dumber demons who hadn't yet grasped the situation.
Then, the bandaged man, who had been standing quietly listening to their murmurs, raised his hand from bottom to top.
"Manifestation."
At the sound of his voice, every single 'shadow' in the hall turned thick and viscous like sticky liquid, bubbling and boiling.
Then, a bizarre and unsettling sound echoed from somewhere in the hall.
—Crunch!!!
In that instant, a strange silence fell over the massive hall.
—Crunch...
—Crunch...
For those who couldn't even turn their heads, the sound of something being chewed, bones and all, vibrated vividly in their ears. The pupils of those who could see what was happening shook violently.
Since Langlok was standing near the entrance, he could witness the entire scene.
Pure terror leaked from Langlok's lips.
"W-What... What is that...?"
A black, shapeless mass surged from the floor, opening a massive maw to swallow a demon along with the very space he occupied.
Its form was so grotesque that he couldn't even begin to fathom what to call it.
Langlok rolled his eyes to look at the man standing beside him.
...This man is doing this.
That much was absolutely clear.
Once again, 'it' surged from the floor, out of the shadows, and swallowed another demon.
But perhaps because it hadn't swallowed him cleanly this time, half of the demon's body was severed, and his upper torso crashed to the floor.
—"Aaaaaaaargh!!!"
The demon's agonizing scream followed.
That scream signaled the beginning of the massacre.
The demons grew desperate.
Rules be damned, they manifested their horns and unleashed their magi, straining with everything they had to take even a single step.
But whether they were a Red Horn...
Or a slightly darker Red Horn...
Or even the young Branch Manager, who possessed a horn close to a Dark Red Horn...
Not a single soul in this place could move.
The boiling shadows beneath their feet rose from the floor, binding their bodies in an inescapable grip.
—Crunch!!
Once more, 'it' chewed and swallowed several demons at once.
An irresistible end.
The sound of bones snapping and the agonizing groans of the dying demons brought pure despair to those who were still alive.
Watching this, Langlok asked in a trembling whisper,
"Why... Why are you doing this... to your own kind...?"
Despite his question, the bandaged man merely knelt down, gently stroking a black, dog-like creature that had appeared out of nowhere.
Just as another ear-piercing death rattle echoed from the far side of the hall,
The man stood back up and spoke.
"Langlok, was it...? How many humans have you devoured?"
"How many...? What do you..."
"You've probably never counted. No one counts how many meals they've had in their lifetime."
"..."
"It's the same for me. You are all merely 'nourishment' to fuel my strength. Calling the scene unfolding before your eyes a 'meal' wouldn't be entirely inaccurate."
The man stepped closer to Langlok as he spoke.
Now, Langlok didn't even need to roll his eyes to see his face and expression.
Because of the bandages covering his eyes, he couldn't tell if the man was angry or completely expressionless.
But one thing was certain... he wasn't smiling.
"...So, how does it feel? To fall from predator to prey."
Langlok couldn't utter a single word in response to the quiet question.
His breath was so tightly constricted that his voice refused to come out.
Cold sweat beaded on Langlok's forehead.
His life flashed before his eyes at a dizzying speed.
When Langlok remained dazed and silent, the man turned his back to him.
"...So please, scream. That is the only thing I ask of you."
Following the man's final words, the shadow beneath Langlok's feet boiled violently.
Langlok knew.
And he screamed.
A quiet silence hung over the hall.
The foul-smelling demons had vanished, leaving not a single speck of dust behind.
I was wondering if I'd have to set fire to the place...
But thanks to Shady chewing up everything from the demons to the desks, there was no need for any tedious cleanup.
The hall had been swept completely clean.
In the empty hall, Shady stood visible.
Sierra muttered, her eyes wide with shock.
...And with good reason.
—Growl...
The cute, fluffy Shady was nowhere to be seen; instead, a grotesque, 'black thing' was letting out a low burp.
That was Shady's manifested state. I wasn't even sure which form I should actually call Shady.
Maybe both.
I had wanted to test something... and to avoid raising suspicion by carrying a weapon inside, I had temporarily hidden Sierra outside.
So, now that the cleanup was finished, I had retrieved Sierra.
Anyway, for this battle—though I wasn't sure if it could even be called a battle—I had planned to handle it using only Shady's power, without relying on Sierra.
Shady's power was highly satisfactory.
The binding ability was excellent, and Shady's manifestation was as overwhelmingly powerful as I had anticipated.
Even if they weren't named bosses, demons were still demons. And there had been quite a lot of them.
Shady's power had unleashed a one-sided slaughter against them.
My only regret was that this power couldn't grow any further.
If there was any drawback...
"Ugh..."
I wiped away the blood that welled up in my mouth.
It consumed a significant amount of stamina.
And it had pushed me to the brink.
If nothing else, Manifestation had a massive cost.
Well, unless it was a special situation like this, I probably wouldn't use it very often.
I had made sure the demons died as painfully as possible.
It was to honor those who had died at their hands.
Thanks to the barrier I had set up beforehand—the one I received from Ecklin on the day of the initiation ceremony—not a single scream from the demons had leaked outside.
In the end, I had achieved my goal.
A blow of this scale would severely cripple their information network, delaying them from reaching the hero for at least a little longer.
Even though their individual levels were low, their sheer numbers yielded a massive amount of experience points.
My level rose by 6 all at once, reaching level 45.
As a bonus, I had tested whether Shady's energy could deceive other demons.
Why... Why are you doing this... to your own kind...
Well, judging by their reactions, the deception had worked perfectly.
Right now, I was intentionally dispersing Shady's energy throughout the hall.
I wanted to sow confusion among any demons who would come to investigate this place.
And to build a certain 'notoriety' in the process.
Demons store the life force of living creatures in their horns to convert it into magi. Among those, humans are of the highest quality.
But would you believe me if I told you there was a creature far more efficient, far higher in quality than any human?
It was none other than 'demons' themselves.
Cannibalism was a strict taboo even among demons.
For my purposes, it was enough to make them recall a nightmare from their past—the emergence of a demon who preyed on its own kind.
Once I felt enough energy had been dispersed, I recalled Shady and melted into the shadows.
I didn't forget to deactivate the soundproof barrier either.
With this, not a single shred of evidence or witness pointing to me remained.
To the demons, this place would now be nothing more than the scene of a perfect, horrific act of fratricide.