Darek's Death
Darek stared blankly at the completely shattered sword. He muttered as if he could not believe what he was seeing.
"This… this can't be… that… that man always…"
Darek's mind drifted back to the Leos of the past. Whenever a mutant appeared, the man had always stepped forward before anyone else and cut the thing down.
"Darek, stay back. It's dangerous."
"What's dangerous about it? Even Commander Leos drops them in a single hit—you think I can't do the same?"
"Follow the order. I'll handle the mutant."
Darek remembered the words Leos had spoken back when they still worked out of the Gate Management Headquarters. The man had always taken mutants on alone. But he killed them so effortlessly that it was hard to grasp just how dangerous they truly were. That was why Darek never stopped complaining to his comrades.
"He took care of the mutant by himself again today. He's just hogging all the credit for himself, you know that?"
"Don't talk about him like that, Darek. Commander Leos is doing it for our sake."
"Look at how he operates. No matter what we do, the only name that ever comes up is his. Enas. We clear these gates together—does that seem right to you?"
"The Commander nearly died hunting mutants more times than he can count in the old days… He's keeping us out of danger, and you're twisting that into something ugly?"
"Bullshit! How the hell would we know what happened before we even got here? Look at him now! Commander Leos just kills them like it's nothing. Do those mutant bastards look strong to you? And what, are we supposed to be kids? If we die fighting, that's on us. Forget all that—I'm sick of doing the exact same work and getting paid less, getting less credit! I bet I could beat Commander Leos if we actually fought."
"That's not true, Darek. You've never seen Commander Leos fight for real."
"Forget it, Enas. What am I even doing talking to you. Leos this, Leos that, every single day. You're part of the problem, you know that? He looks like a good guy, right? Those are always the ugliest ones underneath."
Darek had always been full of grievances—toward the Leos who played the saint and snatched every mutant kill for himself, and toward the handful of disciples who followed that man without question.
So when Leos's alleged crimes came to light, no one celebrated more than Darek.
"Enas! Didn't I tell you? The ones who talk the prettiest on the surface are always the ugliest underneath. Doing something that filthy to Belin…"
"…I can't believe it. Commander Leos would never…"
While Enas was still reeling, Belin walked into Gate Management Headquarters. The moment she overheard them, she collapsed to the floor as if the words had struck her, tears streaming as she looked up at Enas.
"Miss Enas. What you just said… what is that supposed to mean? Are you saying I'm lying? After all the time we've spent together, how could you not believe me? Leos… Leos did something filthy to me… I… I really…"
"No, Belin, that's not what I—"
Belin seized the momentum and began raking her sword across her own body in a wild frenzy.
"I… I must be the one in the wrong. After suffering something that filthy from Master Leos, there's no reason for me to keep living under this kind of suspicion. Everyone else thinks the same, don't they? That Commander Leos could never have done it."
As Belin started mutilating herself without restraint, everyone nearby rushed to stop her. Kozarik fixed Enas with a cold stare.
"Enas. How could you even think of doubting Belin? Look at the state she's in—does this look like a lie to you? What does Belin gain by framing Commander Leos? You've got a mouth—answer me. Why the hell would she put herself through this for a lie?"
"No, I…"
As Enas wilted under the pressure, Kozarik shot Belin a furtive glance and launched into his performance.
"If anyone else still has doubts about Belin, speak up right now. I'll smash your face in on the spot. Looking at her like this and you still want to call it a lie? What, why don't you go message Leos and tell him you're worried about him?"
Kozarik walked toward Enas, glaring at her like a scolding superior.
"Enas. Don't you have something to say to Belin?"
"…I'm sorry… I won't doubt you."
Even after Enas spoke those words, Belin kept wailing for a long time. After that day, no one at Gate Management Headquarters ever again claimed Leos was innocent.
Beside the suffering Belin, even asserting his innocence had become something forbidden.
"Damn it… why? I've… I've seen that mutant before. A Minotaur. Leos killed one in a single blow…!"
During his time at Gate Management Headquarters, Darek had cut down countless monsters from ordinary Red Gates. It wasn't just knowledge picked up over someone's shoulder—he had built that experience through repeated, life-or-death combat against the creatures themselves.
And so the man had believed it: whatever Leos could do, he could naturally do as well. That arrogance had created the disaster unfolding now.
"What… what the hell are you doing! Help me, all of you!"
Darek shouted toward the rear, but the mutant Minotaur unleashed a burst of ultrasonic waves from the head on its left side, flooding every direction at once.
Beeeeeeeeeeeee!
A crushing ringing slammed into their ears. Everyone bent their heads in agony, and in that opening the right head began gathering a massive sphere of flame.
"Damn it… have to stop it…"
Darek tried desperately to intercept it, but the sword that had been protecting him was already completely destroyed. In his mind he replayed the memories dozens, hundreds of times.
How that man, Leos, had fought these things.
A house built of massive wooden planks. As Leos stepped slowly into the underground space beneath it, Herisia spoke up, astonished.
"Whoa… how did you even know about this place? From the outside it looks like a totally ordinary house, but once you come in there's a whole passage down to a basement?"
"This is another spot Gate Management Headquarters hollowed out for use as a bunker. They bought an empty house no one was living in and did the work, so there's no owner. Looks like someone camped here for a while, though."
"…"
Herisia followed Leos's gaze—and then she screamed.
"Th-th-there's a corpse!"
"Aigoo, enough noise! Want me to clear it out?"
"Please get rid of it, now!"
Bendict dug a finger in his ear, scooped up the body with one hand, and flung it outside with a casual toss.
"Wh-what is that? Why is there a body in a place like this…?"
Leos answered without the slightest ripple of emotion.
"Probably figured they'd be safe indoors, so some wanderer used the place for a while. Stupid move, though. If it had been the bunker underneath, maybe—but trusting a house made of wooden boards against monsters? Death was the only outcome."
"…Was it monsters that did this?"
"Not monsters. One monster."
"…No way. It was that horribly dead, and one creature did all of it?"
"Yeah. I posted about it before—look it up. Search for mutant Minotaur and it'll come up."
Herisia slowly read through the post that had first put Leos on the popular board, and her face went pale with horror.
"Are you… out of your mind? You're saying something this dangerous is right around us!"
"It's not particularly dangerous. The bite marks are irregular and the flesh was torn at the same time, so it's probably a two-headed mutant. With those, you just have to watch out for the ultrasonic and flame attacks."
"And 'watching out' is enough to defend against that?"
"They make a tiny preparatory motion before using an ability. That's when you jam a dagger into one of the mouths from range. Once one head goes down, the other loses control and goes berserk—and that actually makes it easier to kill. I wrote all of this in the post. Why are you asking again?"
"Because no matter how I look at it, that response method is insane. It says here it only flinches for 0.1 seconds before using the ability—how is anyone supposed to react to that?"
"I can."
"…Then, Master Leos. Is there any chance someone who runs into a two-headed mutant Minotaur for the first time could survive?"
"If they know the counter and their physical ability is excellent, they might live, but…"
Leos thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"If they don't know the counter, survival is impossible in every case. They'll die horribly. That thing starts using both abilities at once if a fight drags on."
Darek broke into a run straight toward the mutant Minotaur. Watching a man charge like a madman when he should have been fleeing, the others thought he had lost his mind—but Darek was smiling.
I remember. When they used their abilities, Leos either threw a dagger or, if that wasn't an option, rushed in and drove the attack home. This thing has to have a long cooldown every time it uses an ability.
The moment the flame attack comes into view, I dodge. Then I stab out its eyes, blind it, fall back, find a sword, and re-engage.
Thinking that, Darek locked his focus on the mutant Minotaur's fireball. But then—
Beeeeeeeeeeeee!
After the briefest flinch, the left head's ultrasonic attack hit.
D-damn it… how is it using both abilities at the same time…?
The instant Darek clutched his head and collapsed to the ground, the massive flame the right head had launched came screaming toward him at a murderous speed. Darek stared blankly at the fireball and muttered,
"Fuck… where did I go wrong…"
KRAAAAAAASH!
A perfect death, without even a corpse left behind.
That was Darek's end.
"Le… Leo…"
Enas almost called Leos's name without thinking, then froze. She stared blankly at the mutant Minotaur advancing toward them, and the truth sank into her bones.
Here, the Leos who had always protected them no longer existed.