Gathering at the Capital (2)

We checked into our lodging and, the moment we were inside, washed up. Together.

We had originally planned to bathe separately, but at Ellie's earnest urging, we ended up sharing the bath.

Thanks to which a catastrophe of the burning-inn variety nearly struck again — but I barely held out, and we made it out of the bathroom.

By then, the sky that had been dyed red by the sunset had turned black.

Ellie... that wicked woman...

And so, for the sake of tomorrow's journey, we decided to simply sleep clean and pure.

Ellie seemed a little sulky about it, but there was nothing to be done. If I exerted myself here, I would die with one hundred percent certainty.

Of motion sickness.

Just as I lay down in bed with Ellie and tried to drift off, my intuition kept sending threat warnings my way.

A nagging unease telling me I shouldn't fall asleep.

In fact, I had felt this same sensation earlier — while we were eating dinner.

The feeling that I absolutely must not eat the inn's cooking kept flickering through my mind.

So we'd had our dinner elsewhere, from a street stall instead of the inn — and mercifully, the street food gave off no sense of danger at all.

Since I might have been imagining things, I apologized to Ellie, but she just said this wasn't so bad and happily munched away on the street food.

Back to the present.

Why... why was my intuition threatening me like this?

To be sure, the sensation came from the entire inn, and from scattered spots along the streets as well.

It was worst near the alley beside the inn — so bad that the unease tipped over into outright disgust at times.

And this was a place even the ordinary villagers avoided walking through.

What the hell...

While I was lost in these thoughts, Ellie had already fallen fast asleep in my arms.

Just as I stroked the hair of the girl who had suffered so much for my sake and was about to close my own eyes—

Something... was rising from the floorboards.

Smoke. And at a terrifying speed.

"El—!"

I tried to call her name, but the smoke seeped into the room faster than the words could leave my mouth.

The instant I realized my intuition had been right, I swiftly poured the Authority of Purification into both Ellie and myself.

Only after I had channeled the Authority of Purification into her for quite some time did Ellie finally open her eyes.

Just what was this smoke, that it took Ellie that long to wake?

The moment she came to, she realized the room had gone hazy white, and without a word she drew her own sword from where it stood by the bed.

And so, as the two of us endured the smoke using the Authority of Purification—

Someone entered.

No — the inn's staff came into our room, their noses and mouths bound with cloth.

"For real?"

"Yeah. I heard the head of the Cumul family checked in here."

"They said she's gorgeous?"

"Right? Built to make you want a taste."

"We drug her, tie her up... and then... heheh..."

"Haah... those tits and that ass... They're huge. I doubt one hand could even handle them."

"Shh. Enough chatter. Execute the plan. Kill the man. The woman — do whatever you want with her."

I listened to every word of their conversation in silence.

Thanks to the evolution of my first trait, my intuition and senses had grown sharper than ever.

It was sheer luck that Ellie hadn't heard any of it.

Quietly, I drew the Sword of the Azure Sky from empty air.

And then—

I swung a sword strike at the door.

A blue electric current became visible, coiling along the blade.

I shattered the door and unleashed my strike.

— BOOOM!!

With a tremendous roar, the wretches hiding behind the door were blown away in a single stroke.

And then we beheld an staggering sight.

No fewer than two hundred humans, by the look of it.

And every single one of them had horns jutting from their foreheads.

"You demon-spawn bastards..."

Demons' spawn — fools who sold their souls to demons and, in exchange, gained power surpassing that of ordinary humans in a fraction of the time.

Of course, once their souls changed hands, they followed the demons' orders without hiding or restraining their desires in the slightest, devoting themselves to wringing out human suffering.

In other words, they were traitors wearing human faces, just like the demons themselves — leading humanity toward ruin.

Some of them might genuinely have gained great power from selling their souls.

I couldn't promise how I would fare against them alone.

Having Ellie with me was a blessing beyond words — but listening to their chatter, it was blindingly obvious what would happen if she lost.

And so—

"I'll take your heads with everything I have."

First, the one on my left.

I dodged the longsword he swung at me by shifting behind him with a flash of movement, then drove a roundhouse kick into his side.

The demon-spawn dropped his sword from the pain.

I picked up the fallen blade, channeled Thunderstrike through it as well, and hurled the current-wreathed sword straight at him.

"Weapons... belong to me, I think?"

The sword flew at blistering speed and buried itself in his right shoulder.

— THUNK!

"AAARGH!"

"Hurt? Then you shouldn't have pulled this bullshit."

With that, I cut his upper body down at a diagonal.

Next — the ones trying to climb the stairs.

I kicked them back down mid-climb, toppling them over one another.

"GWAAAH!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Unable to defy gravity, the demon-spawn tumbled backwards.

Leaping down the stairs in a single bound, I used a fallen body as a cushion to break my landing.

"Die."

Down on the first floor, I split the clumsy sword of one who swung at me, then finished him with a cleaving strike to the neck.

Next — behind me.

I readied the stance for the Morning Star Cleaver and presented it to the demon-spawn trying to strike at my back.

— CRUNCH!

I had kicked him square in the chest with tremendous force; the would-be ambusher flew backward and never got up again.

Then — the Morning Star Cleaver, unleashed.

Three slashing cuts delivered mid-charge carved through the demon-spawn in front of me.

It would be fair to say nearly all those caught in the skill's path were already dead.

My senses widened further, growing keener still.

Thanks to that, I could even feel the ones hiding behind tables, lying in wait for their chance.

— Blaze.

— Yes, my Successor.

The Status Window was telling me something or other.

But my rage had already boiled all the way to the crown of my head.

Scarlet crimson flames settled into the blade.

And thanks to Thunderstrike, an electric current was flowing through it as well.

I wheeled back around and charged at the remnants who still remained.

— FWOAAARRR!!!

A colossal wall of flame roared to life, as if to devour the entire inn.

"GKHAAAAK!!"

"Kill him! Swing your swords, damn you, faster!"

"Baram."

Baram's slicing gale flew faster than their swords could ever be swung.

Where flame met the cutting wind, the fire swelled and grew.

I moved swiftly back up to the second floor, where Ellie was.

Even without me, Ellie had been carving through the horde of demon-spawn on the second floor this whole time.

To escape the burning inn, I grabbed Ellie around the waist and sprinted for the entrance.

After all, I was the one who'd set the fire that was bringing the wooden building down.

The moment we burst out, nearly a hundred of the gang drew their blades and attacked — while the remaining fifty or so had the collapsing wooden structure collapse atop them, entombing them within as their grave.

"F-Fuck...! The Successor has this kind of power?!"

"Get out here! Everyone, get out! We can't touch him with our own strength!"

At their shouts, demon-spawn came crawling out of the very spot where I'd felt that wave of disgust — and there were visibly more of them than the ones who had ambushed us at the inn.

My intuition had never lied.

If we had walked down that alley, its narrowness would have kept us from even swinging our swords, and we might never have made it out.

Thank goodness my instincts had kept me from entering in the first place.

A yellow-hued domain spread outward from me across the surrounding area.

The domain Ellie had been too unconscious to witness manifested once more.

The demon-spawn were dumbstruck by the sudden shift in the color of the world around them — but they quickly collected themselves and swung their blades.

"Idiots. If you were going to do something, you should've done it faster."

— CRACKLE-CRACK!!

"Not that it would've mattered."

"GET HIM!!"

A chaotic melee began with the demon-spawn's roar.

Within it, I moved the now-swifter, now-more-potent electric currents in every direction at once.

I raised my sword into a high vertical grip, and as I swung it forward I charged.

The sound of lightning a hair's breadth from striking rolled across the ground.

Three times, no less.

— RUMMMBLE...

More than twenty of them had been annihilated by that single attack.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

You dared... to come for my life? For Ellie's?

I dismissed the Status Window at once and swung the sword forward.

The blade — longer now, and laden with thunder and lightning — was more than enough to keep them from so much as taking a defensive stance.

The sheer force shattered and disabled the demon-spawn's swords.

A cut to confirm the kill.

The second combination skill.

A golden flash surged forward.

"Go to hell, you Successor bastard!"

"You're saying that... to me? Right now...?"

Who did they think they were... telling me to die?

Even audacity had its limits.

My mana... was spilling out of me, raw and voiced.

"Every demon-spawn here dies, right now."

My words of command spread out in every direction, and they began, little by little, to tremble.

This was no longer just a matter between Ellie and me — it was tied directly to the peace of the Empire itself.

Naturally, I would spare not a single one.

If even one survived, they would use what they knew of me to strike again.

It was the only logical choice.

Ellie must have felt my aura too; she stopped mid-swing and stood there watching me, sword still in hand.

Cold rain soaked me through.

Even so, the demon-spawn shivered where they stood, unable to shake off their hatred of me, and pressed their swords toward me all the same.

"For the crime of baring your swords at the innocent and seizing control of this village. For the crime of colluding with demons to plunge this world into chaos—"

"You deserve Heaven's punishment."

Even as I swung my sword, the demon-spawn couldn't so much as lift their own blades; they were simply rendered powerless where they stood.

The sound of shattering swords rang out from all around, and at last the horde of demon-spawn was subdued.

And now — time to ask my questions.

What demon had they colluded with to do all this?

Why, of all people, had they targeted us?

And how had they known we would stop here?

I approached them to demand answers to all three.

"Answer these three questions with nothing but the truth, and I'll let that one go without pain."

At that, the horned multitude nodded eagerly, showing every willingness to talk.

After all, an enormous volume of electric current was still coursing around them — counterattack was, from where they stood, nothing but a dream.

"Listen carefully. First: what manner of demon did you make your pact with?"

"W-we don't know! They... they only told us to show our strength... said it didn't matter if we killed the men and played with the women, told us to do as we pleased...."

I raised my sword in silence and cut down the one who had answered without mercy.

How dare they eye Ellie?

A woman who had only just begun to know happiness.

Besides, I had never intended to kill these things painlessly in the first place.

There was no reason to keep them alive to begin with — and seeing as they didn't even know the answers, there was even less reason to send them off in peace.

"It... it was... a demon with a very deep, low voice..."

The moment one of them was cut down without mercy — apparently convinced it was now his turn — the demon-spawn began spilling everything they knew about the demon in a rush.

"He said... we could just introduce him as... the Flames of Greed...."

.....What?

Why is that bastard showing up... out of nowhere?

Feeling my head throb, I put the second question to them.

"Why did you target us? The mark on our carriage was that of the Cumul family — one of the Four Great Houses. And yet you came for us anyway. Why?"

"It was the demon's command... to kill the Successor... he said that if we failed to kill you early... the world of desire would never dawn...."

So... this bastard had caught wind of my existence.

And on top of that, he had sent these things to test me?

"Ha... Then, next question. How did you know we would stop in the village of 'Sky'? There were plenty of small villages and lesser cities along the road we took by carriage."

I hadn't seen it myself, but from what Ellie had told me, it was easy enough to guess.

Back when we were bathing together, she'd mentioned passing several small villages and lesser cities on the way.

"So. Did you also hear from that bastard that we'd be staying here?"

"Yes..."

One of the Seven Deadly Sins was moving.

Already... and of all of them, the Flames of Greed...

'No prize for guessing how Mammon figured it out.'

The demon bearing the epithet "Flames of Greed" was one of the Seven Deadly Sins — Seventh-Rank Mammon.

And to think he'd moved the moment the Tide of Corruption ended... something about this felt deeply wrong.

It wasn't yet time for the Four Perils to stir.

At minimum, years remained before they could awaken.

Chances were this was Mammon acting on his own — and that he had used his authority to read our movements.

His authority was "Splendid Flame."

Within that flame, Mammon used human souls as a medium to reveal information about anyone he wished to know.

Which meant these creatures' souls had almost certainly already been devoured as fuel for a demon's authority — rebirth was meaningless for them now.

In other words, they would simply, truly die.

But all of that was the consequence of their own crooked choice — the hunger to indulge their desires — a burden they had chosen to shoulder themselves.

No one had ever forced them to sell their souls for the sake of their lust.

And the final question.

"Where are the villagers who lived here?"

"We locked them... all in the cellar..."

"All of them? That many people?"

They had locked the residents of this entire, sizable village in a cellar?

By my eye, the village's population had to be at least a thousand.

At that, the demon-spawn faltered, squirming, unable to meet my eyes.

Then, quietly, one of them spoke.

"We made some of the villagers into... livestock for our desires... and caught some of the others to..."

I couldn't hold back my horror at their words.

And with it, bile rose in my throat.

Was what I was hearing right now... actually real?

What? Just now... a human... ate another human?

When my eyes went wide and I looked at Ellie—

Ellie was staring back at me, stricken.

Right. It was my fault for giving them even a sliver of hope.

A painless death? I had been far, far too generous.

"All of you — from this moment until you die, every time you lose consciousness, you will wake again inside an electric current that grows stronger and stronger."

"!!!!!!"

At my words, the demon-spawn's eyes flew wide open in defiance.

"Shut your mouths."

A word of command sealed every one of their mouths shut.

"You are neither demon-spawn nor human. What I see before me is a pack of beasts that threw away the worth of their own existence."

I slid the sword I carried alongside Ellie back into its sheath, and my voice came out heavy.

"Die slowly, in current and pain that only grow stronger. It won't amount to even half of what those innocents felt — and weighed against the suffering of the villagers who died undeserving deaths, it is nothing at all."

Under my word of command, unable to make even a sound, hundreds of demon-spawn were swallowed by the waves of electricity and vanished.

Together with Ellie, I searched the buildings in silence until we found the cellar — and at last, the people cowering inside, shaking with fear.

The moment I willed myself to know where the people were, my senses turned my body toward whichever direction the feeling grew strongest.

Relief lasted only a moment — some of them had already breathed their last when we found them.

Only after hearing their words of thanks were Ellie and I able to step back out of the cellar.

The sun was rising, its light spilling over us.

I felt a tangle of emotions I couldn't name.

They had been this close — and I had failed to protect them.

I don't think of myself as a hero.

I'm human too, with gaps in my armor and mistakes of my own making.

Saving and rescuing every single person, perfectly, was never possible to begin with.

And still... I had believed I could save the ones within reach...

Whether she read it on my face or not, Ellie laid her hand against my cheek, and then simply held me.

The way she embraced me without a single word — I was so, so grateful for it.

Time passed, and it turned out that the Cumul family coachman who had told Ellie about the inn was shut in the cellar as well.

The villagers, wanting to show their gratitude, asked us to stay one more day.

We nodded at their request, and only after barely shaking off the accumulated fatigue of battle and travel were we able to set out.

By the time the domain's fifteen minutes had run their course, the demons caught in the current were all half-dead — and their final moments belonged, rightly, not to me but to the villagers of that town.

Yet the villagers had begged me to be the ones to end it in their place, saying their families ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and friends and lovers had wished it so — and they handed those final moments over to me.

Ellie took my hand and laid it at her waist, then slipped naturally into my arms and nestled there.

"Hyun. It's okay. I'm here. So... it's okay."

"Ellie... thank you. Always."

Just as the villagers had asked, the demons all became feed for the electric current and crumbled to nothing.

It felt as though my mind was fraying at the edges — but thanks to Ellie tending to me with everything she had, I managed to ward off anything resembling depression.

And so, after one more night's rest, we were able to board the carriage bound for the capital, seeing off the villagers with their warm farewells.