An Expected Betrayal
A relentless barrage of brutal, deafening detonations tore across the wasteland expanded by the relic known as the Open Birdcage.
Shockwaves rippled outward in concentric circles, sweeping through the barrens and violently rattling the earth until thick, churning plumes of sand dyed the entire horizon a pale ochre.
Grrrrrr...!
"Struggling to even speak human words now, are you?"
Amidst that swirling haze of grit and dust, Kubel stood hunched and teetering, every shred of his terrifying majesty stripped away. His tongue lolled limply from his jaws in a state of utter ruin.
One eye was a hollow socket. His skull was caved in with sharp bone protruding, and a ghastly fissure cleaved down his spine to lay the vertebrae bare. Entrails spilled from his torn belly, while his foreleg and tail had already been sheared clean off. The black blood he had vomited pooled so deeply around the wasteland that it looked like a small lake.
Grrrk, grrrr...!
Though the vitality was slowly draining from Kubel's remaining eye as death drew near, a raw, primal savagery flickered in its place. The sheer ferocity radiating from the beast—as if he might snap his jaws and lash out with razor claws at any second—sent a sharp chill skittering down my spine, prickling the hairs on my skin.
"Just one more strike, maybe two... Impressive, Kubel. You're proving your words through action."
Grrrrr...!
Kubel didn't answer. He simply bared his fangs, a guttural rasp scraping against his vocal cords, though a faint look of grim satisfaction seemed to linger on his mangled muzzle.
"Well then..."
The Absolute Ring of Taunt, the Ring of Absolute Evasion, and the Absolute Counter Ring.
I triggered the three rings in exact succession. Even in his wretched state, Kubel lunged forward like a cornered apex predator, but the counterattack slammed into him with precisely twice the force of his own strike, shearing into the meat of his throat.
Grrrr, krrr...!
"One more."
Flicker. Dim.
The dying embers of life in Kubel's eye blinked erratically. His trembling legs buckled beneath him, unable to support his immense frame, and from his drained, ruined flesh, even the flow of black blood began to cease.
"You proved yourself through your deeds, Kubel. From this moment on, I will place my basic trust in you and the gods of the Divine Realm. Setting that aside, I doubt I'll ever truly like you people... but either way, there's no reason to drag this out. I'll put you at ease. Good work, Kubel."
Grrr...
As if offering a parting farewell, Kubel wrinkled his brow and let out a low, rumbling growl. Watching him, I slowly channeled my focus into the Absolute Ring of Taunt.
"...Tch!"
Right then, completely out of nowhere, a blinding Aura Blade tore in from Kubel's flank.
It was a lethal strike aimed straight at the beast's life. The blow was so lightning-fast that my eyes could barely track the trail of light, but the Masters on my side reacted as if they had been waiting for it all along.
"Not on my watch!"
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"You've finally crossed the line."
Latipi's arrow, alongside the Aura Blades of Wendy and Nemeth, cut across the incoming trajectory. A brilliant detonation erupted, scattering shattered shards of aura across the empty air like falling sparks.
"...What the hell is this?"
I turned my head slowly, fixing a cold glare on the culprit who had unleashed the strike.
"Lira."
"......"
Her lips were clamped shut. Gripping her sword tightly with both hands, she held it raised high, her expression awash with a turbulent storm of conflicting emotions.
"Answer me, Lira. What are you doing?"
"...I apologize, but I cannot trust you."
"Ha."
A hollow snort slipped from my throat as I fought to tamp down the dark fury rising inside me.
"Because my left arm belongs to a demon? Or is there some other reason?"
"...I will ask you one thing. Are you truly Stanasila Alzen?"
I studied her as she asked a question everyone present already knew the answer to. Then, a thin smile touched my lips.
"Right. You found it that hard to believe, didn't you, Lira?"
"Please answer me. Are you... Lord Stanasila Alzen?"
Her voice sounded almost desperate. It was a silent, agonizing plea, begging me to affirm it, to say yes, to tell her what she desperately wanted to hear.
"You're making the face of someone who wants so badly to believe that."
"......"
"Unfortunately, I can't give you the answer you're looking for."
"Which means..."
"Yeah. I'm not Alzen. I'm an entirely different person who has nothing to do with the ducal house. This body is just an empty husk."
Grit!
Gritting her teeth as if severing a lingering attachment and steeling her resolve, Lira reignited her Aura Blade.
"...So, Lira, I'll ask you again. What is the meaning of this?"
"I cannot stand by and watch you grow stronger. What do you intend to do with Lord Alzen's body once you gain such power?!"
"Whew..."
Boil, simmer.
The rage bubbling in my gut surged straight to the crown of my head, roiling so violently it felt like it would spill over at any second.
"......"
I started to say something, but held my tongue. There wasn't time for this right now, and opening my mouth would only let loose a string of foul curses anyway.
And frankly speaking, I had half-expected this to happen. If a steadfast, loyal knight in this medieval fantasy land didn't act this way when confronted with blatant proof, that would be stranger. The matter was far too grave to swallow over a few casual words.
I understood her perspective.
...I understood it, and nothing more.
Experiencing the stab in the back firsthand left the back of my head stinging and my blood boiling so hot that I wanted to slit her throat where she stood.
"Wow... Is this what they call getting bitten by the dog you fed? Huh?"
"......"
"I never thought you'd pull something like this, Lira. Did you already forget everything I've done for you?"
"...I am a knight sworn to the order protecting the Stanasila Ducal House. To me, the Stanasila family comes before anything and everything else."
"Hah, yeah. Of course it does."
The answer was so thoroughly typical of her that I pulled out my flask and took a deep swig of liquor just to ease the suffocating tightness in my chest.
"Still, aren't you being pretty damn stupid? If you wanted to sabotage this, there were plenty of quieter, deadlier ways to do it. It's not like you didn't know my girls were keeping an eye on you... Just what were you thinking?"
"......"
She kept her mouth shut, but the torment etched into her face spoke volumes. She had acted according to her convictions and knightly justice, but deep down, in some contradictory corner of her heart, had she been hoping someone would stop her?
...Even so, betrayal is still betrayal.
"...Wendy, Nemeth, Latipi. Hold that woman down. I need to finish what I started. I'll decide what to do with her after."
"Leave it to us."
"I will restrain her, even at the cost of my life."
"Yes! I won't let her take a single step!"
Hearing their resolute replies, I turned back toward Kubel.
Grrr, krrr...
He was truly at his absolute limit. Drawing shallow, wheezing breaths, the wolf deity shivered faintly, the light in his remaining eye sputtering like a dying candle.
"...Sorry about that. Dragged out the pain longer than I meant to. It really is over now."
"Ugh! Stop! That is Lord Alzen's body! It is a noble bloodline that no unrelated stranger has the right to wield as he pleases!"
Lira's desperate shout rang out, immediately drowned out by the thunderous crash of colliding Aura Blades. Scowling deeply, I activated the Absolute Ring of Taunt.
Even on the verge of death, Kubel harbored no malice toward me whatsoever, allowing the ring's authority to take hold without a hitch.
Grrr... ROOOAAAR!!
As if wringing out the absolute dregs of his strength, Kubel unleashed a metallic, earth-shaking roar. Shrouded in a terrifying tempest of divine authority, he hurled his massive body toward me.
Yet the purple haze of the Ring of Absolute Evasion was already draped across my form.
Shhhhk! Schwwip!
With an eerie rustle, my body stretched and shifted with fluid, impossible elasticity, cleanly slipping past Kubel's fatal trajectory. Instantly, I triggered the Absolute Counter Ring.
A tidal wave of pitch-black energy erupted outward with monstrous momentum, tearing into Kubel's throat like the ravenous bite of an abyssal beast.
SPLAAASH!
Gr... rrr...
"...You did well, Kubel."
Right until the very instant of his death, Kubel remained a valid target for the Absolute Ring set. That meant he had not harbored a shred of ill will toward me throughout the entire ordeal.
I couldn't fathom what death truly meant to a divine entity, but it certainly was no light matter.
"Your sacrifice wasn't in vain. You've provided me with undeniable support and strength."
......
As if my parting words were enough to satisfy him, Kubel's eye curved into a gentle crescent, and he slowly welcomed the end.
"...Khk!?"
In the very next breath, a scorching, white-hot agony flared across the right side of my chest.
"Ghh, aagh...!?"
The pain blotted out my thoughts, turning my mind blindingly white. I ripped open the front of my shirt to find the shamanic ritual tattoos writhing and squirming, their ink shifting into entirely new contours.
"You son of a...!"
If it was going to hurt this damn much, you could have at least given me a warning!
"Khh, aaaaaagh...!"
"Lord Han-gil?!"
"Kang Han-gil!"
"Master!"
Unable to endure the searing heat spreading from my chest across every fiber of my flesh, I collapsed to my knees. The frantic shouts of the women echoed around me as they rushed over.
"Khhk...! St-Stay... subdue them, don't let..."
I tried to tell them to keep a tight rein on Berick and Lira, but the words wouldn't form. My jaw chattered uncontrollably, teeth clattering together, and my tongue twisted numbly in my mouth, robbed of all sensation.
"Aaaagh...!"
I could swear this was the worst pain I had ever endured in my entire life. I wanted to scream my lungs out just to vent it, but my shuddering body had long slipped beyond the grasp of my willpower. I couldn't even manage a proper scream.
"...Understood."
Thankfully, the girls were quick on the uptake. Regaining their composure, they redoubled their efforts to pin down Berick and Lira. Watching through blurred, swimming vision, I clamped my jaw shut. Only after confirming that Lira was thoroughly subdued did I let myself focus entirely on the agony tearing through me.
...Naturally, focusing on it only made it hurt ten times worse.
"Kh, ngh, aaaaagh...!?"
To make matters worse, the pain wasn't confined to mere flesh and bone.
Something I hadn't even known existed within me—something that should have been impossible to physically feel. Instinctively, the word soul came to mind. Or perhaps... the very origin of my existence.
The agony bore straight into that foundational core.
"...!!!"
My mouth fell open, my limbs thrashing in violent, convulsive spasms. This had blown past the realm of simple pain.
"...!! ...!?"
Brilliant flashes of radiance and ominous patches of darkness strobed across my retinas. My internal organs felt wrung dry like a rag, my muscles shredded, and my bones rattled as though pulverized to powder.
Crack! Crunch! Tear!
"...!!"
No, they weren't just shaking—they were genuinely ripping apart and shattering into splinters. And just as quickly as they were ruined, they reassembled anew.
SKREEEE—!!
A piercing, high-pitched ringing whistled in my ears, and as if riding that sound, my soul seemed to soar toward the heavens. Yet strangely enough, I could still feel it churning violently within my vessel.
Trapped in an intoxicating whirlwind of confusion, something deep inside me began to expand. I couldn't tell what that something was... but it opened the gates to an entirely new world.
"Ah, ah...!"
My senses blew past their previous limits, unfurling across an endless horizon. My perception took in everything above and below, feeling and processing the universe all at once. The boundary between knowledge and ignorance dissolved; the line separating flesh from spirit blurred into mist. Everything that constituted 'me' seemed to melt and thin, becoming one with the world itself.
"Ah...!"
Suspended in that boundless state, I felt a pull toward a radiant, luminous presence. Instinct whispered that it was rightfully mine, and I reached out, closing my fist around it.
"Ghhk...!"
And that marked the beginning of a fresh nightmare of pain.
The entity I had perceived as my soul writhed, violently reshaping itself. It expanded only to shrink, hardened only to soften, grew razor-sharp only to blunt out. The sensation of my very being being chiseled away and reshaped terrified me to my core... but soon, realization dawned.
This transformation would never, under any circumstances, touch the deepest core nestled at my center—the bedrock origin of who I was.
Relief washed over me, and I embraced the process with an open, eager grasp.
Hahahaha! Kang Han-gil! I can hardly wait for our date!
Demon King Rubias's mocking voice seemed to echo in the far distance, though I figured it was probably just a hallucination.
The moment my eyes snapped open, I knew.
My body was in absolute peak condition. My head was crystal-clear, and an overwhelming surge of vigor coursed through every limb, so intoxicating that I felt like jumping up and sprinting a marathon right then and there.
"Mmh."
...In any case, this was an unfamiliar ceiling.
Staring blankly up at the wooden lattice of a yurt's domed roof, my gaze caught something wriggling just beneath my field of vision. Puzzled, I rolled my eyes downward.
"...What the hell are you doing?"
"Gah?! What?! You're awake?! Wh-Why now of all times...?!"
Straddling my waist stark naked, Tsarkhella froze completely stiff—halted mere millimeters away from physically merging with me.
Seriously, what is wrong with this crazy bitch?