I'm Not Anyone Special

"This insane creature...!"

The moment Karuns noticed the anomaly, he sprinted over, seething with fury.

No—panicked. That was closer to the truth.

He was in such a rush that he abandoned the gate he would normally have opened at his leisure and came running with his own two feet. It was practically finished.

An incomprehensible immortal had come calling, but at first he hadn't paid it much mind. Those who found their way here were invariably worthless—weak, decrepit beings, every last one of them. He had assumed his ancient plan, his long-cherished obsession with the complete annihilation of the red ones, would simply remain unfulfilled a while longer.

That was what he had assumed.

'Take your water games elsewhere.'

She had sealed away the primordial mana held by his people with absurd, almost insulting ease. To the blue ones born and raised on Primordial Island, mana ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was nothing less than life itself. It was because she had taken those lives ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so carelessly into her hands that he resolved to set his plan in motion.

His one worry had been the possibility that she would not prove controllable, that she would follow only her own will...

'She has shown no killing intent, so how could she...'

On her way here she had subdued multiple tribesmen—even slammed one into the ground—yet killed no one. She had even gone so far as to heal them with her own power. Such behavior was hard to dismiss as mere kindness. If she were truly that gentle, she wouldn't have resorted to such violence to demand what she wanted.

'Compulsion. Or a constraint that forces her hand.'

She could powerfully stop someone, but she could not kill them. If she did kill, there had to be a line drawn somewhere—a line she would not cross, short of which no one died.

And in fact, Karuns's estimate had been almost exactly right. So long as she stayed under that line, Lily never rashly took a life.

It was just that her definition of "stopping" went far, far beyond anything Karuns had imagined.

"What in the world do you think you're doing?!"

Two figures stood at the summit of the Primordial Starting Point. One was Akron, the last of the red ones remaining.

And the other was...

"Oh, there you are."

Facing Karuns as he came flying in a panic, I poured in the last of the Blue-Red Stones Besk had given me a while back. It went in nicely. The effect really was excellent.

"Thank you. Thanks to you, I got good use out of it."

"...Was this what you were after from the start?"

"Hardly. I didn't even know he was sealed away."

Not that I'd planned for this, but...

"The price I have to pay turned out to be a lot bigger than I expected."

He was a being on par with Magong, who wielded power at the level of a high-tier demon. To bind someone like that permanently and completely, ordinary strength and sealing ability would never suffice. At minimum, you'd need power slightly below that, plus highly advanced sealing knowledge.

Under normal circumstances, with the seal broken and my schedule already packed, I would have quietly taken on the whole burden and carried it off myself. But...

'If he insists on hiding it, that's his problem.'

The moment he declared he would dodge responsibility through trickery, he forfeited any right to have the price borne for him. The price is mine to collect.

"Do you have any idea what you've just done?!"

"Don't worry. It looks like a lot, but I'm only covering exactly half."

The half of the land the Venetus had stolen from the Rutilus long ago. I would take that as my payment.

"It was the Rutilus's land to begin with, and I already got permission from their chief. So there's no problem at all."

"Y-you...! Insolent wretch!"

A spray of water surged around the enraged Karuns. A pulse of power vast enough to restore in a single instant the entire region stained red.

Karuns really was stronger than he needed to be.

"I don't like it, but..."

Whoosh!

Rough flames burst out, matching the spray of water head-on, and Akron shot forward. He slammed into Karuns at blistering speed, glanced at his own fist, then immediately ignited his mana, summoning pillars of fire into the empty air around him.

Realizing his attacks weren't landing, Akron opened up his Primordial Body without hesitation. The authority dwelling within it surged to life.

"Better than treacherous blue bastards, at least."

"A mere loser like you..."

The battle had only just begun.

The clash of water and fire raged on. Each surging wave swallowed the highlands whole, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠then rolled back a second time—no, its aftershocks came again and again, far more than twice. So violent was the fallout that even the Four Divine Generals on their way here found themselves pinned down, unable to approach.

KABOOOM!

Akron punched through the wall of water and came rocketing out. Fired like an artillery shell, he tore through every defense in one blow and hammered into Karuns.

KWAAAAAAAANG!!!

A massive sonic boom erupted from the driving fist, and the volcanic island shuddered. Karuns defended with everything his ability could muster, but it was useless. This was the being that dozens of Venetus had desperately, frantically tried to kill and never could, no matter how they flailed.

The one once called the strongest of the Rutilus. With no way to pierce the Primordial Body, they had ultimately been forced to seal Akron alive.

Karuns went flying far into the distance.

There was no denying that single strike had been overwhelming. Enough raw destructive power to smash straight through every force obstructing him and clobber the chieftain of the Venetus.

If he had been merely that—just a chieftain—he would have died.

"He's still alive."

But he was different.

Drip. Drip.

"Ah... oh dear."

Long-lived races don't grow old after a mere seventeen hundred years. Oboni, the elder of the elves, had lived for thousands of years yet kept the appearance of someone between middle and old age. Of course, beings of that caliber could adjust their apparent age at will—but they don't deliberately take on the form of an old man.

'They're all somewhere between young adult and middle-aged.'

Which meant Karuns's true age was...

"You should have vanished quietly like a ghost of the past... How long do you intend to rampage?"

"Ka...ums?"

Karuns—no, Caums—appeared, opening a gate in midair. Chieftain of the Caums clan, one of the primordial Venetus said to have led the sealing of Akron in ages past. His face had changed entirely, but he was just as old as ever.

GUOOOOOO...

Still, it was more than enough to send someone's fury soaring.

"You son of a bitch..."

"It's been a long time, Akron. Were your dreams sweet?"

He thought he'd put that line together rather well. As Caums chuckled to himself, the enraged Akron launched himself forward. This time, for certain, he meant to blow him to smithereens without a trace, and drove his fist out.

"That's your problem. You put far too much faith in your body's strength."

Thwack.

The attack was caught by a hand made of blue mana. Akron's eyes bulged wide, and in that same instant Caums's mana, amplified far beyond its limits, came ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠crashing down on him.

"You've slept so long I suppose you've forgotten..."

CRUNCH!

"You were not the only ones granted the authority of the Primordial God."

The Primordial God cherishes the blue ones more, you see.

Waves coiled around Akron's body. He immediately spewed fire and tried to tear free with his mighty flesh, but it was no use. Infinite mana, never diminishing no matter how much he burned it, wound tight around him like a serpent.

"You did this back then, too. Such a shame I couldn't kill you."

"...I will kill you. I'll tear you limb from limb and end you!"

"Like Lise, you mean?"

"......!"

Crack.

The waves severed. Water breaking apart should have been impossible in itself—but the Primordial Body made it possible.

SPLAT!

Caums's body burst into fragments. At the same instant, Akron's arm shattered as well.

Akron, gasping ragged breaths, lost his balance and plummeted earthward. I tossed a bit of divinity out, plucked him from midair, and laid him down in front of me.

His body was a wreck.

"Whew... whew... I'm finished..."

"It'd be a problem if you died."

"Don't... worry. I merely... overused... the Primordial God's... authority... I won't di—"

"I still have two more favors to ask of you. You can't die until you've heard them all."

He doesn't get to run off as he pleases. Even if he tries to die, I'll drag him back to life somehow and make him pay up.

"...Crazy woman."

Brilliant white divinity washed over Akron, restoring his body. The wounds ran deep, as if he'd been broken from the inside out, but his recovery posed no problem.

Rolling his newly mended arm in a slow circle, he stared at me with a puzzled expression.

"...What exactly are you? Who are you, that you could restore even the Primordial Body..."

"I'm not anyone special."

If I really had to put a label on it...

"Call me the boss of the branch director who'll be overseeing Elbrit 1st Branch from now on?"

"...That wasn't part of the favor."

"Then use it now."

The first favor had been to take over the Rutilus territory returned to them through Blue-Red Stones and my magic. The large quantity of stones had been covered by what I took from Caums, and restoring the origin was more than managed by my magic plus the method Akron still remembered.

And the second favor was this.

"From now on, just manage this place well. Oh, and don't worry—I'm not the type to crush people underfoot and force them into tribute."

Well, tribute might be technically accurate, depending on how you look at it.

"...Damn it all. I've fallen in with a lunatic."

"Everyone says that. Now then, Branch Director Akron—your first assignment."

"I get work the moment I'm appointed?"

"Yes. And this one is rather important."

Caums, shattered to pieces. His flesh had died, but his soul had already sought out one of his hidden replacements and revived himself.

"Capture him alive. If you don't, he'll simply keep coming back."

At least, until every one of the 'Venetus' he'd stashed away is used up.