Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Grim Reaper
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Hector isn't rotten to the core.
And Evan is fundamentally a good guy, so I expected him to go for the rescue.
Surprisingly, Caron also followed without a word of complaint.
When I asked why, he answered.
“Isn't this a chance to put them in my debt?”
“If you try to bargain with points, you'll just get beaten up again.”
“……”
Caron shut his mouth.
In any case, we proceeded more cautiously toward the source of the screams.
Along the way, we saw a sight that wasn't particularly good for one's mental health.
The corpses of young lords.
“……”
“……”
Hector took the trouble to check the face of a body that had already grown cold, then spoke in a low voice.
“It's a kid named Nashil. The eldest son of the Palom family.”
Evan added in a low voice.
“…I heard his younger sister was pretty. He was the type to get serious if you even jokingly asked for an introduction.”
The atmosphere instantly grew heavy.
Only Caron seemed unaffected.
“You don't seem bothered at all.”
This bastard stole the words right out of my mouth.
“I'm just not showing it.”
It was true.
Inside, I was seething like lava.
Bednicker.
That label I had once coveted so much in my past life, an object of envy, now filled me with nothing but disgust.
I don't know what gives a damn family the right to kill these kids.
No matter how hard, painful, dirty, or screwed up life is.
If you're alive,
as long as you're alive, a better day can come.
Many of the young lords who participated in this training retreat must have held that thought.
The thought of participating in the infamous Bednicker training, achieving results, and turning their lives around.
I took out the map.
And after roughly estimating our current position, I marked it.
Caron found fault with my actions.
“What are you doing?”
“Marking it.”
“I'm asking why you're marking it.”
“We have to come back and bury them later, don't we?”
We don't have the time for that now.
At the very least, we could place the bodies up in the trees so that demons or beasts couldn't desecrate them.
Seeing this, Caron sneered.
“What a meaningless act.”
“How is it meaningless?”
“Because they're already dead. They won't feel a thing even if you recover their bodies and bury them in good soil.”
A funeral is a service for the living.
His notion was the same as mine, but his thoughts seemed to stop there.
“The dead kid, maybe. But you have to think about how their family will feel when they see this later. How do you think a parent would feel seeing their child's body torn apart by wild animals?”
This was something else I learned during my mercenary days.
In that line of work, where death was common, casualties piled up almost daily…
Because of that, I'd met the friends, family, and lovers of the deceased a few times.
And nine times out of ten, the family members who saw a body so mutilated that even I grimaced would collapse on the spot.
That's because a corpse tells you a surprising amount.
How they died, what they felt in their final moments…
Personally, I think it's an unnecessary truth.
“……”
Caron flinched, then scoffed.
He was acting nonchalant on the outside, but it was obvious he was flustered.
It was like watching a little kid who'd been scolded for something he never expected.
‘What a strange kid.’
What kind of upbringing did he have to become so twisted?
Hyde Woodjack, the Empire's strongest ranger.
His fame was so widespread throughout the Empire that even I knew of him, but…
Considering Caron's behavior, something felt off.
In any case, there wasn't just one or two bodies.
As I said before, we learned a few things with each one we found.
“They were terrified.”
“Yeah. Just like Pam.”
Evan replied in a stiff voice.
“It wasn't a Beast. If that demon had killed them, there wouldn't even be a body left.”
“Then was it the Banshee you mentioned, brother?”
“Perhaps…”
We kept moving.
And before long, we finally found living young lords.
“…Hm.”
There were seven survivors in total, and the situation did not look good.
A quick glance showed they were cornered by about a dozen demons, and among them, one stood out.
An entity with a distinctly different appearance from the demons we'd seen so far.
“…What in the world is that?”
It was neither a Beast nor a Banshee.
It was Hector, once again, who answered Evan's hollow mutter.
“It's a Grim Reaper.”
“A Grim Reaper?”
A robe that flowed like seaweed, an ominous aura, and an abnormally large scythe.
The name certainly fit its appearance.
“It's a demon that feeds on human fear. They say it harvests souls with that scythe.”
“Looks like a big shot at a glance. Didn't you say only low-level demons were summoned for the ceremony?”
“Its rank isn't that high either. It primarily serves as a commander, giving orders to Beasts and Banshees.”
Hector said.
“If we're going to fight it, we'll have to risk our lives.”
“……”
That makes sense.
Even from a distance, a chill ran down my spine.
But…
“……”
The seven living young lords.
Among them, I could see a head of white hair.
“We're going to save them, right?”
Evan said, looking at me.
“We have to.”
I nodded.
Evan grinned, and Hector sighed before speaking.
“…I suppose we have no choice. I can't stand by and watch any more young lords die on Bednicker land.”
“You hear him. What about you?”
Caron then replied in a sullen voice.
“You were planning to force me anyway, weren't you?”
“I don't force people into life-or-death situations.”
“Hmph…”
Caron scoffed and then said.
“…If they're still alive, I suppose we must save them.”
To think such admirable words would come from this twisted kid.
I chuckled and said.
“Unanimous, then? I think we might make a better team than I thought.”
Evan, perhaps trying to ease the tension, forced a joke.
“Who should be the leader?”
“I don't know. Whoever kills that demon?”
I said it as a joke, but Hector's and Caron's eyes gleamed.
Just like Mir, boys and girls of this age are certainly a bit simple.
Or so I thought.
“……”
“……”
I saw that not only Evan's, but also Caron's and Hector's hands were trembling slightly.
In truth, it's natural to be scared.
No matter how much combat experience you have.
No matter if you're a prodigy trained from a young age.
Facing a cursed being like a demon head-on is naturally a frightening, trembling affair.
So a hero is someone who faces that fear head-on, someone who is, how should I put it…
a little crazy in the head?
So, I smiled and praised them.
“You crazy bastards…”
“……”
“……”
Unfortunately, there was no response.
***
The Grim Reaper wasn't the only problem.
There were at least a dozen Beasts surrounding it.
What was strange was that not all of those ferocious beasts were attacking the young lords.
In fact, with that many demons, it wouldn't have been strange if the seven young lords were already dead…
A moment of observation revealed the answer.
It was the commander's, the Grim Reaper's, orders.
‘Did he say it feeds on fear?’
With so many delicious things in the world, I don't know why it would eat something like that.
In any case, it was a fortunate fact for the young lords. If it hadn't been harvesting their fear, they would have all been dead long ago.
We quickly came up with a plan.
First, a surprise attack.
Kill as many as possible.
Then fight in the resulting chaos.
And now, we were moving to our respective ambush points.
We even set a signal to start.
Three Beasts were currently cornering the young lords, and as if they too grew tired, they would switch out with others from time to time.
That was the moment we were aiming for.
“……”
I sat on a tree branch, looking down.
‘…It would be good if we could each take out one in the initial ambush.’
Naturally, the reason for an ambush is to reduce the enemy's numbers as much as possible before a full-blown engagement.
We needed to take out at least four to make the subsequent battle manageable.
I was confident I could kill up to two, so if the other three could just kill two more, it would be perfect…
It was at that moment that an unexpected development occurred.
The guy hiding across from me, Evan, started sending me some kind of hand signal.
‘What's he saying?’
The moment I showed my confusion,
Evan suddenly fell from the tree.
“……!”
Did he miss his footing? Of all times?
I didn't know what was happening, but this meant a change of plans.
I immediately dropped from the tree as if falling, and I could see Hector and Caron leaping down a step behind.
*CRASH!*
However, because it was a rushed ambush, my fall only managed to kill one.
The others only managed to inflict serious injuries on the demons.
‘Now we're screwed.’
The difficulty of this battle just tripled from what we'd initially expected.
Of course, there was no time to complain.
I dodged the attacks of the demons swarming around me.
Because they were so large, dodging their attacks wasn't difficult, but their numbers made it tricky to land a decisive blow.
‘Still, it's not too bad.’
I think I understand why these things only roamed the forest in twos and threes.
With a dozen large bodies crowded together, they seemed vulnerable in a chaotic melee like this.
It would be a long fight, but at this rate, we might be able to win without much damage…
just as I was having that hopeful thought.
*Oooooooh-!*
A bizarre sound echoed.
It was the Grim Reaper in the rear.
And then, order began to form in the chaotic movements of the Beasts.
‘So this is how it works?’
This was less like commanding… and more like controlling.
It felt as if the Beasts had been completely stripped of their autonomy, becoming mere golems obeying inputted commands.
Of course, in this type of battlefield, the simpler side has the advantage.
‘Damn it.’
The tide of battle turned in an instant.
What was most troublesome was that things had gotten this bad even though that Grim Reaper hadn't yet joined the fight.
At times like this, the slow-starter nature of the Flame Arts of the Greatest was a bit painful.
‘The others are-.’
They were fighting surprisingly well.
Hector and Evan, in particular, were even protecting the injured young lords amidst the chaos.
I also figured out why Evan had jumped down first.
I saw one young lord who was badly injured, and he looked somewhat familiar.
Karis.
With a large wound on his chest, he was coughing up mouthfuls of blood.
Seeing his best friend in that state, it wouldn't be strange to lose your cool, but…
honestly, it was hard to see it as the right move.
Just as I was considering various options for this difficult battlefield situation.
A chilling wind suddenly raged.
*Fwoooooosh-!*
This wasn't a simple winter wind.
The instant I felt the wind clawing at my skin, I realized it was magic or a Blessing.
‘Seren?’
This wind was definitely coming from her.
Seren had one arm outstretched, and the bodies of the Beasts caught in this blade-like wind were torn apart like rotten meat.
Not only that, but it also instantly pulverized the Grim Reaper at the very back.
*Grrrrrrrrrind-!*
The Grim Reaper, seeing the slicing wind rushing toward it, unleashed a storm of black energy, but it couldn't last even a few seconds before being annihilated.
And that was the end of it.
“…What in the…”
Hector muttered in a hollow voice.
Over a dozen Beasts, including the Grim Reaper, had been annihilated in an instant.
*Thud-.*
And the one who had displayed such divine power promptly collapsed face-first onto the ground.
“…What do we do?”
Hector mumbled as if to himself.
I answered immediately.
“Let's go check on her for now.”