If There Is a God (1)

"A demon……?"

The first to break upon witnessing it was Baramson.

No wind, no wave had ever brought him to his knees—but demons were another matter entirely. Their mere existence filled him with terror.

A moment from forty years past, thick with nothing but despair and madness, seized control of his mind.

"Why? Why again?"

He was not alone.

A seasoned sailor clutched his head and muttered something under his breath. That single phrase spoke for every heart present—a cry that stood in for Baramson's own scream.

"Get the ship moving faster."

But in that silence, one voice rang out bright and clear.

"Right now!"

Baramson turned toward the sound as if entranced.

"So I can kill those pieces of trash!"

In his single gray eye, a patchwork of madness and murderous intent, hatred and twisted exhilaration seethed and rolled.

It was the pure, unmixed color of annihilation.

I didn't know what the hell was going on, but demons had shown up. From that point on, there was only one thing I needed to do.

Every last demon gets put down. No exceptions.

"I'll kill every single one of them. Not a single one left standing."

I spat the line while fully immersed in character, and at the same time coolly sized up the city. The most urgent problem had to be the castle where I'd spotted the Ragged Golem.

The harbor, supposedly the closest point to the castle, wasn't exactly in great shape either—I'd need to clear it at least lightly before moving on. At the mouth of the docks, demons and humans were locked in a vicious fight.

The glassy-eyed zombies were fewer in number than the humans, but that didn't mean the humans had any clear advantage.

"Those Bipurit bastards!"

Humans bearing red cloth as their mark were attacking the people of the harbor alongside the zombies.

Why the zombies weren't turning on them was a mystery, but it was probably safe enough to just file them under demon contractors and move on.

"Get the ship moving—now!"

I smashed open a barrel rolling about the deck and snatched up one of the planks that spilled out.

Bang!

With a short running start, my body crushed through the railing and leapt wide. Splash. The plank I'd thrown hit the water and became my stepping stone.

"Victory to my blade."

And so my feet touched the pier.

"Who the hell is that guy?!"

The ones wearing red cloth shouted as I tore down the dock.

Uwaaagh!

A few zombies that had climbed onto the gangway chasing humans fleeing for the ships swarmed toward me. Blood and shreds of flesh clung wetly around their mouths; axes and harpoons filled their hands.

Jingle-jangle. The earrings dangling from their ears made an especially grating racket.

"Glory to the heavens above……!"

But what did it matter if they raised their weapons? I was faster.

Thud—my foot hit the wooden dock, and on the next step the two-hander swept out. A jet-black horizontal Chamgyeok carved mercilessly through what had once been human.

Blood sprayed in a fan and painted the pier red. Bodies split clean in half toppled sideways and tumbled into the sea.

"Wh-what the—?!"

That devastating strike jolted the living into alarm—and drew the interest of the mindless zombies.

Uwaaargh!!

Zombies scrambling up onto ships to prey on those inside, and others clashing with humans on land—several of them came boiling toward me.

I was grateful for it. When they clumped up, I could kill them all at once.

Thud-thud-thud-thud.

My legs raced without hesitation over the creaking wooden planks, and my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sword began to weave smoothly through every direction.

In no time the two-hander was slick and dark with blood.

"K-kill him!"

"Fuck, where did this bastard come from?!"

"What the hell are the sea-guards doing?!"

The problem was that the zombies weren't the only enemies. Cutting down every last one of them, I tightened my grip on the sword hilt as humans planted themselves in my path.

"Fucking kill him!"

Beyond them, the people who'd been fighting for their lives were screaming themselves hoarse trying to hold the harbor.

"You aren't even worth keeping alive."

Jet-black energy unfurled in long ribbons and carved through the crowd wrapped in red cloth.

Slash!

"Hey."

Someone pressed in close behind me and spoke. Tricorn hat, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠long ears—Baramson.

"Leave this place to us and get to the castle."

I checked the people still holding the pier, the number of enemies left, and Baramson's face one more time.

"Go. Save the Lord."

A desperation that couldn't let go of hope even in the depths of despair.

"Please. Save him."

…I had to wonder why the relationship between the Lord and a privateer captain would be this desperate—but this was enough. I was sure they wouldn't break.

Swallowing my bewilderment, I reached into my inventory.

Thwack!

"This is……"

What I'd thrown to Baramson was a Demon Energy Antidote.

I hadn't had much call for them, so of the five flasks I'd used back in Tatara I'd only bought one back—but even one was better than nothing. I could easily have written them off as dead stock and not bought any at all.

"An antidote?"

Whether it stopped infection from a bite, I had no idea. But if you got clawed or hit by a weapon, Demon Energy corrosion was a guarantee—so if this could deal with even that much, at least ten people might keep their lives. Better than nothing.

"Why would you……"

Why? Because it's for you people to drink, that's why.

I swallowed the words and started running, following Baramson's request.

Zombies and Bipurit's men ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lunged for me, but the gap in speed was far too wide. I shook them off in moments.

The only real problem left was that the castle sat at the highest point on the island, so the road only got steeper the farther I went.

Kyaaak!

Something grotesque slammed down from the sky onto the spot I'd just passed.

A flimsy roof groaned with an ominous creak, threatening to cave in. Why a roof? Because I'd gotten sick of following the twisty streets and was parkouring from rooftop to rooftop instead.

Anyway—a monster that resembled a bat, only with a torso bigger than I was, lifted its head.

Even without the bit about harboring flames, one look at its belly would make you think it was about to spit fire. The thin hide of its gut glowed red from within like a paper lantern.

Grrrk-grrrk.

And sure enough, it was already winding up to breathe fire. A sign I couldn't exactly ignore.

Fwoooooosh!

As expected, it spat flame. I timed a lateral leap—and the sweeping fire-jet tracked me as the creature turned its head, forcing me to circle nearly halfway around it.

"Don't……"

Around then its lung capacity must have given out, because the gargoyle shut its mouth. My body had looped nearly half an ellipse and almost locked onto its rear.

"……get in my way!"

Skrrrk—

Bark shingles shredded underfoot, scattering splinters of wood-rind.

Slash!

The sword path swung like a baseball bat and sheared the gargoyle's tail clean off. I'd been aiming for the torso, but the thing sensed the danger and tried to take flight, throwing off my point of impact.

Kyaak, kyah!

Still—flying creatures don't need their wings cut off to lose the sky. The gargoyle that had risen into the air immediately lost its balance and lurched.

Of course I didn't waste the opening.

Crunch!

The roof bucked once more as I leapt up and planted my feet on the gargoyle. Thuk! The two-hander, gripped reverse-handed, drove into its neck—then I switched my grip, spun the blade through a full turn, and tore half its throat out.

But that wasn't the only enemy. I stomped hard on the body that was just beginning to fall.

Boom!

Something like a detonation cracked through empty air as my body shot upward. Next target: another gargoyle already closing in on me.

Kyaaak!

The gargoyle that hadn't expected its prey to launch skyward twisted aside to dodge—and I swung exactly as planned. The two-hander came down like an executioner's stroke and cleanly took the head.

Craaash!

The gargoyle plummeted and the roof collapsed under it in a heap. Too shoddy a roof, apparently, to bear that bulk.

Thud. I landed neatly right beside it. Dust, wood chips, and a gargoyle's head rained softly through the hole in the ceiling.

"Wh-wh-what is this……"

I straightened the knees and back that had bent on impact and dusted off my shoulder with my right hand. The homeowner, lucky enough not to have been crushed, stared at me in blank shock.

Look, I didn't exactly plan for things to go this way either.

I deliberately ignored the homeowner, opened the front door right beside me—and by "opened" I mean I kicked it clean off—and stepped out.

I really hoped that person made it somewhere safe.

Kyaaaak.

Separately, the gargoyle whose throat I'd torn open earlier was thrashing out its last in the alley between houses.

Thuk!

My sword granted it rest.

All right then—time to keep moving. Setting the brief interruption aside, I pressed on. Before long something resembling a castle came into view. The explosions were coming from beyond it.

"Tch."

Who builds a castle this high up? It's a pain in the ass to climb.

I muttered the complaint inwardly and ran for the castle. The portcullis was shut tight, but that hardly mattered. Cut it or smash it—either way worked.

Uwaaargh.

The adorable complication was that zombies were clustered in front of the gate, so I couldn't try right away.

I considered launching a Chamgyeok, then abandoned the idea. Through the gaps in the portcullis, I could see people.

If the slash punched through the bars and reached them…… I didn't particularly want to imagine what came after that.

Grrrk?

I simply charged. Because I made no effort to hide my footsteps, a few zombies turned toward me. Too late.

Ground Crash. I came down hard from a jump, and the sword driven by that force slammed into the ground, spreading mana in a spherical blast.

A black storm scythed mercilessly in every direction, and zombie bodies went flying. The tumbling corpses were riddled with wounds as if they'd been butchered by blades.

But some still remained. I swept the sword in every direction, cutting, cleaving, and carving apart everything that still moved.

"Be-behind you!"

Someone beyond the portcullis shouted at me—and the very next instant, I crushed the skull of the zombie that had been about to bite my ankle from behind.

I'd already known, but it was decent of them to work up the courage to warn me anyway.

Whoosh.

I spun the two-hander and shook the blood from the blade. Open the gate! Someone beyond the castle gate seemed to be yelling that.

"We have to go—now!"

"Hyaaaaah!"

How to put it? Their attitude felt less like letting me in and more like bolting now that the zombies were gone.

I watched for a moment, then slowly approached the gate.

"Raise the gate already!"

And just as I nearly reached it, the gate began to lift, inch by inch.

"Get out—hurry!"

"Don't push!"

"Hyaaaaah!"

Never mind my chance to get in—people were scrambling with real urgency. The gate wasn't even a quarter open, yet they were ducking low and squeezing through.

I'd secured their immediate safety by clearing the zombies at the gate, but this seemed a bit premature.

"Move, get out!"

Or maybe the situation inside had gotten so bad that diving into uncertainty looked better?

I passed between the fully raised gates. I was essentially pushing through a crowd of hundreds, yet I wasn't shoved back in any meaningful way.

"Gyaaaaah!"

"Hold them—hold the line!"

"Hyaaaaah!"

And then I saw it.

A Ragged Golem rampaging through the space inside the walls, reducing soldiers to pulp; zombies pouring through the hole the golem had made and tearing into people; gargoyles wheeling overhead and breathing fire—

"Hahaha, kill them all!"

"Cut every last one of them down!"

—and Bipurit's men wedged in among it all, committing slaughter.

"Somebody save me!"

Ah. Is this the Sindorim rush-hour hell train? There are so many people. I shoved hard to clear a foothold for myself.

Sorry to the people I pushed, but I couldn't exactly just stand here and get stuck. Soldiers were dying left and right in the meantime.

Boom!

"Ugh!"

"Waaah!"

I stomped a little hard for the jump and the ground shook. People around me screamed as my body rocketed into the air.

Thud!

Just floating up would have been a little disappointing, though. I planted my feet on a gargoyle that had been circling, hungrily eyeing the crowd.

Then I dropped onto its back, clamped my arm around its long neck. Think of a wrestling headlock—that move where you trap the head in the crook of your elbow and squeeze—except applied to a long neck.

Only I wasn't doing it to choke the thing. I was doing it to wrench its head upward.

Fwoosh!

Flame raced up its throat and out—then cut off almost at once. Forcing its head away from the people must have choked off its breath.

Kyaaaaak!

The coughing, sputtering creature twisted its head this way and that and veered off to one side. My added weight made its flight a little unstable, but it didn't drop. And the direction it was heading was empty of people. Lucky me.

I yanked my left hand free and drew a dagger. Thuk! The mana-coated dagger punched into its brow and carved a clean line up through its forehead.

The skull and brain matter inside getting mashed to pulp was just a bonus.

Kiaaaak!

Its wings stopped and the fall began.

The moment I felt it, I let go and put power into my legs. The gargoyle crushed beneath my feet slammed fully into the ground, and I was airborne once more.

Thwap!

Kyah!

The next landing point was a gargoyle too. Strictly speaking I hadn't stepped on its torso so much as caught one wing—but still.

I congratulated myself on the excellent midair control, tore through the wing membrane with the dagger, and jumped free.

The gargoyle with the shredded wing smashed into the outer castle wall. I was in a similar position, but I planted my feet on the wall and kicked off in reverse, so I felt we ought to be graded on a different curve.

Whoosh!

I flung the dagger at the last relatively close gargoyle. I missed the brow I'd been aiming for, but a hit in the space between jaw and throat wasn't going to deal light damage.

It fell too.

Boom!

That marked the end of my aerial hunt. My body hit the earth and punched out a small crater.

Maybe because I'd reinforced myself with mana before the fall—my HP didn't drop.

Grrraaargh!

Instead, zombies and Bipurit's men came boiling toward me. They'd been charging past the soldiers to kill the fleeing civilians, but I had dropped closest, so they switched targets.

Which suited me just fine. Far better they ran at me than at people with no way to fight back!

I swept aside everything that rushed me, then sprinted toward the golem.

Uwaaargh!

"Aaaagh!"

I grabbed the scruff of a zombie that had seized a fleeing soldier and was about to bite down. I threw it hard and it tumbled end over end.

Thuk! What followed was my blade opening its throat.

"H-haah……"

The one I'd saved scrambled away at once. I wasn't looking for thanks—I just hoped they'd run well and live.

"We c-can't hold……"

"Please, somebody save us……!"

I took stock of the situation fast. The wall had come down; zombies and Bipurit's men were pouring through, and the soldiers' formation had all but collapsed.

They were forcing a stand, but the advancing golem kept shoving the entire line back. The gargoyles diving from the sky and Bipurit's men fighting dirty hardly needed mentioning.

"Aaaagh!"

Individually weak but fast and numerous, the zombies were a problem too.

One person got bitten, went down—and moments later rose as an enemy. That side needed urgent handling as well.

Slash!

But zombies and people at least looked like they could be contested.

I helped only those I passed on the way, then went for the Ragged Golem first.

The sacrifices that would pile up in the meantime couldn't be helped. All I could do was trust them to hold.

"Out of the way."

I ran forward, chopping zombies apart as I went. With every step, the golem that had looked small by perspective grew larger.

Around four meters by now? Its bulk ran wide as well as tall, making it look even bigger.

And because it was made of people, maybe—its appearance was revolting and the stench was foul.

Put a design like that in a comic and it would get an adults-only rating on the spot.

"Hyaaah!"

"Hahaha, die—?!"

I kicked aside a zombie that had been flung my way by a chance hit from the golem's fist, then seized the scruff of one of Bipurit's men about to jump a young soldier.

Crunch.

The gauntlet crushed his throat and I hurled him to the ground.

"Hrrgh……?"

"Fall back."

Was I almost in range?

I tightened my grip on the two-hander.

"Unless you want to get cut down with it!"

Whether they'd heard me or not, the allies were already running past me to get clear of the golem. Ahead of me, only enemies remained.

Inside the broken formation, I swung my sword.

Slash!

And just like that, the monster said to demand hundreds of lives even unto death fell silent amid a spray of blood.