What is a Disciple?
What is a disciple?
I had long believed the answer was simple.
The teacher and the student.
The one who leads and the one who follows.
"Master?"
That was enough.
But from some point on,
I could no longer be sure she was truly following behind me.
"Master, why won't you answer?"
I was trying to complete the scenario's ending. World peace—the so-called happy ending.
I'd come close to succeeding a few times.
This time, surely, it would work.
-Slash!!!
My body shuddered involuntarily.
Through the splintered door, red blood rained down.
"I know you can hear me, so why ignore me?"
...It wasn't my blood.
The hulking body blocking the door shattered into pieces and crumpled to the floor, trampled underfoot.
Most who joined the Demonic Cult craved only power.
They were beings beyond human limits, and killing one was no easy task.
Which meant my disciple—who sliced through them like chopping firewood, her face unchanging—was terrifyingly monstrous.
"...It'd be better for everyone if you didn't test me."
She spoke as if stating the obvious: move, and everyone dies.
How far must one ascend to tear people apart like tofu—with a wooden sword, no less? I felt once more that the being before me was a monster.
And then, she appeared.
My disciple.
The Hero, Amelia.
At that moment, the Hero's gaze—who had just slain a man in an instant—turned to me.
A different emotion slowly bloomed in her eyes.
-Thud.
Her sword slipped from her hand.
"...Someone must've gagged you. And I didn't even notice..."
The foes around us, their will to fight broken, were already preparing to flee.
I felt anew the extent of my disciple's power.
She checked me all over for injuries, her hands roaming my body.
"Your wrists are bound too. I'll free you... Let's go home quick."
Thank goodness she's on my side.
But as her knight—before being her master—I had words to deliver.
"...The ignoring before, that wasn't on purpose—"
"...Knight."
Then, her demeanor shifted again.
-Crunch...
Eh?
Strength flooded the hand gripping mine.
...It hurts. A lot? Why so strong...
"...Amelia?"
"..."
The Hero who called my name fell silent instead.
Her pupils, flickering larger and smaller in an instant, trembled violently.
"...Wow."
The Hero let out a sigh laced with admiration.
...What does that mean?
I tried to mask my fear, managing my expression, but each surge of force threatening to crush my hand set off alarms.
"...What the hell is this?"
"..."
"For the past 21 days... you said it was... absolutely necessary... and it was just... this?"
"...Why count every single day like—"
I knew that much time had passed, but imagining her tallying each one made everything feel unsettling.
How obsessive must she be?
"Who is it? Tell me..."
-Crunch..
Amelia's hand seized my wrist.
I flinched hard.
...Whoa, it didn't break, right?
Glancing down at my hand, I saw the Hero's trembling fingers clutching my ring finger with something.
She hadn't crushed it yet.
"Huh? Master. Answer me."
"..."
"Should I chop off your limbs and lock you in the basement?"
Irritation surging, Amelia stood and hacked at the giant's corpse that had blocked the way.
This is the Hero? My disciple is this insane yandere?
Then, her mouth opened again.
"Yeah, that'll do it."
Her words dropped the room's temperature by degrees. A frost piercing my lungs. Her voice, now even colder.
Exactly ten seconds.
After trembling for those ten seconds, unable to wait longer—just like when she'd grabbed my collar—
She suddenly seized my shirt and rip, rip tore it open. Then she tore her own top, heaving breaths as her massive breasts rose and fell.
"Hah, hah... It's all... your fault for making me love you."
The remnants of my shirt in her hand—unlike how easily it shredded—were bulletproof armor that had barely dented even against giant beasts.
Tear it barehanded? Holy shit, that's some material.
"Amelia. We can't do this—master and disciple—"
"Rape... I can't help it."
The Hero herself declared, in a tone of inevitability, that she was going to rape me right here.
No, fuck, I said we can't. I didn't even ask if you're about to rape me now.
"And you seduced me, Yuseong."
"When the hell...?"
I protested my innocence, shouting.
"Roughly... 129 times? Something like that."
Her confident tone made it scarier, like she wasn't lying.
"Anyway... even if I cut off your limbs, it doesn't matter. I'll support you forever. Feed you delicious food every day, fly you to beautiful views... serve you like a servant always. Whatever you want, I'll get it for you..."
It didn't sound like empty words.
-Crack..
The Hero's fingers pressed right against the tendon in my wrist.
She toyed with it as if ready to sever it—with just a bit more force, it would snap.
Infusing mana and squeezing? The tendon would pulverize, obviously.
Limb loss is a hard no...!
"Master, answer well."
Reading my expression, perhaps, she gave one last chance.
"Will you... marry me?"
"..."
Damn it.
They say karma comes full circle back to you.