Mountain After Mountain
“Ceris, hide behind me.”
“No. I’ll help.”
“Then focus on buffs as much as possible.”
I was going to force my way through them and cause absolute chaos. There was no way the saintess, Ceris, could keep up with my pace.
“Understood.”
Ceris nodded, closed her eyes, and clasped her hands tightly in a prayer stance.
“Come at me!!!”
One of the knights staggered toward us.
“Hey, buddy.”
A mercenary with a dark, scruffy beard and an axe bigger than his own body stepped in front of the knight.
“I get that you’re one of those fancy noble knights. But there are a lot of unrelated bystanders here.”
“Move. If you don’t, I’ll brand you as a servant of the devil.”
“How disappointing. The knights I heard about as a kid weren’t anything like you.”
The mercenary rested his hand on his axe.
“You kids over there. If you want to live, run.”
After delivering that message to us, the mercenary’s face hardened.
“I’ll say it one more time. Move.”
“Knight buddy. Are you even a real knight? Why are you staggering around like that? It’s not cool at all.”
“...”
The mercenary, wielding his massive axe, threatened the knight. The knight who had been screaming at the top of his lungs silently looked up at him.
“Devil. Must. Eliminate.”
The knight muttered in a bizarre, broken cadence.
“What the hell are you saying!”
The mercenary swung his axe in a heavy arc. The moment the blade touched the knight’s shoulder—
SPLURCH!
The mercenary’s arm was severed.
That speed…
It was no ordinary speed. This wasn’t something a regular knight should be capable of.
“Ugh!”
The heavy axe clattered to the ground. The mercenary dropped to one knee and clutched the stump of his severed arm with his remaining hand.
“Ethan!”
At that moment, Ceris opened her eyes, and brilliant light erupted around her. The crude illusion magic unraveled, revealing her true appearance.
Angel wings shimmered as divine power enveloped my body.
This is insane.
The surge of vitality flooding through me was so overwhelming that my mind went blank for a second. A faint sense of omnipotence made the corners of my mouth curl upward.
“Hey, you.”
I drew my sword and called out to the knight. He had raised his blade high, preparing to decapitate the mercenary, but turned his head at my voice.
Too late.
I had already shot forward. I took a wide step and gripped my sword tightly.
My eyes widened as I exploded my mana. A dark crimson aura coiled around the blade.
The knight, finally registering the situation, pointed his sword at me. At that exact moment, my other foot planted firmly on the ground.
“Devil!!!”
His sword strike came rushing in. The razor-sharp edge aimed straight for my eyes.
An astonishing speed. Completely different from the temple golem that had only been ridiculously strong in brute force.
This was my first real fight against a truly powerful opponent since arriving at the academy. My heart raced with anticipation.
I was genuinely glad to see that sword trying to rip my eyes out. I let out a small chuckle and caught the knight’s blade with my bare hand.
My palm tore open. A horrific burning pain seared through my brain.
Even though I had coated it with mana, it wasn’t nearly enough to withstand that sword. But if you looked at it another way, I had still managed to deflect the attack.
The numb agony covering my hand signaled the knight’s defeat. I thrust my other hand forward, driving my sword into his chest.
I had aimed for the heart, but unfortunately missed by a hair.
“Guhk!”
The knight, coughing up blood, glared at me with bloodshot eyes. Those eyes were terrifying.
I twisted the blade deeper. I had to finish him in one go.
Using the Amplification that Seah had taught me, I maximized the cutting power of my sword aura.
“For…give…!”
Taking advantage of the opening, the knight swung his head like a weapon.
CLANG!
I took a direct headbutt. The knight didn’t stop there—he tried to sweep my legs for a follow-up.
“Not a chance.”
I steadied my stance. I flung away the knight’s sword that I had been holding, then grabbed his throat with my mangled hand.
I detonated my mana at a single point and twisted his neck.
The knight foamed at the mouth and collapsed backward. I pulled my sword from his chest and shook the blood off my other hand.
Drops of blood pooled in my palm and fell onto the knight’s corpse with a steady patter.
“Hey, mister mercenary.”
“You…”
The mercenary stared at me with trembling eyes.
“Go over there and get treated.”
I nodded toward Ceris.
Although I was clearly stronger, I was impressed by his courage in stepping forward first.
“…Don’t push yourself too hard.”
“That’s something you’d say to someone you’ve known for decades.”
“A kid is still a kid. No matter how strong you are.”
Leaving those words behind, the mercenary limped away.
I turned my head and scanned the other knights.
None of them looked stronger than the one I had just killed. But there were a ridiculous number of them.
At a glance, there were at least a dozen. Maybe more. Could I win?
I have to.
The moment I killed the one who looked like their leader, I had crossed a river with no way back. If I was going to do this, I had to do it right.
“Come at me.”
The knights, seemingly fearless, drew their swords and charged at me in a disorganized mob. The disciplined coordination that should have been a knight order’s greatest strength was nowhere to be seen.
Maybe I should leave one alive.
With that thought in mind, I leaped into their midst. Without a hint of hesitation, the knights unleashed a barrage of attacks at me.
“Aaargh!”
“Guhk!”
These crazy bastards. They didn’t even care that their own allies were getting hit.
I hadn’t done anything, yet they were already killing each other.
What kind of knight order is this?
I let out a hollow smile and ducked to avoid the attacks. Screams erupted right above my head.
Ignoring them, I planted my hand on the ground. This time, instead of wrapping Amplification around my sword, I focused purely on explosive force.
“I won’t miss!”
Countless thrusts came raining down on my defenseless body. But I was faster.
“Boom.”
I unleashed the explosion spell.
BOOOOOOM!!!!
The deafening roar slammed into my ears. Thanks to the barrier, I wasn’t caught in the blast, but my ears were ringing.
I brushed away the thick smoke obscuring my vision and tapped my ears. The high-pitched ringing in my ears wouldn’t go away.
“Hoo…”
I caught my breath and looked around. The knights caught in the explosion had died instantly on the spot.
Lucky break.
Normally, I shouldn’t have been able to casually use an explosion spell like this. I shouldn’t have been able to snatch victory with a single explosive click.
But these knights had stupidly killed each other, making the whole thing ridiculously easy.
Any survivors?
“Ugh…”
There was one. The knight who had been farthest from me.
He had been less affected by the blast and still retained his body’s shape. Of course, he wouldn’t last much longer.
“Stop right there.”
Dragging his mangled, missing leg behind him, he was crawling away from me. Since he was practically slithering on the ground, his speed was pathetic.
And I had no intention of letting him escape.
“K-kill me!”
“For someone begging to be killed, you’re sure running away desperately.”
I looked into the knight’s eyes. Unlike before, I could feel vivid, living emotion in them.
“I’ll ask you one thing. Answer properly and I’ll send you off without pain.”
“…If that’s the case.”
The knight, having finished his mental calculations, answered calmly. He really was different.
This was completely unlike his earlier irrational behavior.
“Why did you people do this?”
“It felt like we were possessed by something.”
“Something?”
“We don’t know its identity either. At some point, an intense hatred for devils began boiling inside us. I thought it was only me, but my comrades felt the same.”
The knight paused to catch his breath before continuing.
“We shared those emotions with each other and amplified our desire to kill every devil. Then we received an order from our lord. The Empire—especially the imperial family—was protecting devils, so we had to tear everything down.”
“Sivtant’s lord said that?”
The Sivtant family was far from benevolent. They were closer to the axis of evil and had even produced the infamous villainess Isana.
That was why they didn’t have much aversion to devils. They even considered dark mages to be quite useful talents.
They were manipulated.
Otherwise, this made no sense. But by whom?
It wasn’t a devil. From a devil’s perspective, causing chaos was desirable, but there was no reason to deliberately provoke a conflict between the Sivtant family and the imperial family.
Both were useful to the devils. If so, there was only one faction that would benefit from their fight.
The Holy Empire.
Those cunning bastards had finally made their move.
“Did your lord seem strange too?”
“He looked similar to us. But there was one phrase he kept repeating. ‘We must do this. It is the World’s Will.’”
“The World’s Will?”
It was an all-too-familiar term. Back when I first met Rachel.
The World’s Will had tried to make her fall for me.
The Holy Empire and the World’s Will…
When considering their connection, the Goddess of Purity seemed suspicious. She was the being worshipped by the Holy Empire and capable of manipulating the world.
But could it really be that simple? There had to be something I was missing.
As I continued thinking about the goddess, one fact suddenly came to mind. Ceris.
If she was the Saintess of Purity, wouldn’t she know the secret?
But first, this guy.
I had no more questions for the knight.
“Are you done asking?”
The knight asked, sensing my intent.
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
I cleanly severed the knight’s neck. For some reason, he closed his eyes with a peaceful expression.
“Ceris.”
I walked over to her.
“I have a lot of questions.”
“I see.”
“I won’t ask them right now. We need to get back first.”
“…Yes.”
I didn’t suspect Ceris. She was destined to become enemies with the Holy Empire.
Even now, she clearly despised them. However, since she was the person closest to the goddess, I couldn’t blindly trust her either.
“…I’ll heal you.”
In a subdued voice, Ceris poured divine power into my body. I flinched because it was divine power, but since it wasn’t harming me, I quietly accepted the treatment.
“To think you’re on casual speaking terms with the saintess. What a remarkable little brat.”
The mercenary, who had recovered somewhat, let out a hearty laugh.
“Thank you.”
In truth, the mercenary hadn’t done much. He had simply bought time until Ceris could cast her buffs on me.
That was all. Still, I was grateful he had stepped forward.
“No, thank you. If you ever need help later, contact the Black Iron Mercenaries. I can’t do anything too big, but I can lend a hand.”
“Sounds good.”
“Ah, but in return, tell me your name. It’d be inconvenient if I can’t help you because I don’t know it.”
“Ethan.”
“Alright, Ethan. I’ll remember it.”
“What’s your name, mister?”
“Dekan.”
Dekan gave my shoulder a couple of firm pats.
“If the opportunity arises, let’s meet again.”
Dekan bid farewell and left.
“Let’s head back to the academy before things get any more annoying.”
“Okay.”
We returned to the academy.
“M-Master… Isana… Isana…”
Rinea threw herself into my arms and burst into tears.
“Calm down. Take your time.”
“S-She was arrested for treason. I tried to stop her… but Isana said it was fine, that she would talk to them, and went along quietly… Hic…”
Damn it…
It really was one mountain after another.