No Middle Ground for the Heavenly Slaughter Star
The next day, as the party made their way back, they ran into a horde of monsters.
“Form up! We’ll fight while falling back!” Max shouted, pulling out a massive axe and swinging it with a loud whoosh. Several goblins were caught in the arc and sliced clean in half. Tifi clicked her tongue and yelled, “Hey! Block that side!”
Enoch, as if venting his irritation, smashed the head of an orc that had gotten too close. Bang! The exploding skull made Tifi flinch, but she quickly shouted again. “Quit playing around! That side too!”
While Enoch moved, Rapeng fired arrows in rapid succession. Twang! Twang! The shafts buried themselves in the monsters’ bodies. The situation wasn’t easy. They had spotted the horde too late, and the party was already half surrounded. The only saving grace was that no truly dangerous monsters were mixed in.
Boom! A monster’s head flew off from a casual swing of Enoch’s arm. By the time Max’s axe hacked into an orc’s shoulder, Tifi distracted it, and Rapeng finished the job with an arrow through its skull, boom! Enoch’s kick sent two more orcs flying in pieces, their limbs torn apart.
Thanks to Enoch’s rampage, the party managed to retreat without too much trouble. Tifi panted heavily as she glared at him. “Hey, you look way too relaxed.”
Deep down, she was tense. She now understood that Enoch was far stronger than her. But she took it one step further in her mind. This kid had been strangely obedient lately, never complaining. If she could keep him under her thumb and use him properly, wouldn’t he make a pretty useful pawn later?
“……”
So she pushed the silent Enoch a little harder. “Not answering? You little brat.”
Tap. Tap. Tifi’s finger jabbed at his forehead. Since he didn’t budge an inch, her own finger started to hurt, but she pretended it didn’t bother her. After everything she’d done so far, showing weakness now would be dangerous. Better to firmly establish the hierarchy while he still looked clueless.
Rapeng felt the same dislike for Enoch, so he chimed in. “D-rank, next time you take the front line. That’d be better than acting like a damn bug.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“Shut up.”
“Tch, what did I even do?”
Enoch looked up at the sky. Don’t try to solve everything with fighting. He was trying to remind himself again when a lump of water flew at him.
Splat!
The spot where Enoch had been standing was now soaked. The sudden attack startled the party, and they hurriedly reformed their formation.
“W-what the hell!”
“It came from over there!”
While the others panicked, Enoch only frowned. He knew exactly who it was.
“What is it?” Tifi shouted at his calm reaction. “Hey! Get in front—kyaa!”
Smack! A water projectile slapped her right in the face. A startled Tifi whipped her head around, and the rest of the party tensed up, unable to react.
[Hey, you idiot! What the hell are you doing?]
“What do you mean?”
[Why are you letting these pathetic losers push you around? I didn’t raise you like this!]
“I didn’t grow up with you either.”
[Agh! You arrogant little brat!]
Unable to hold back any longer, Undine revealed herself.
“A spirit…?”
“Looks like they know each other.”
Ignoring the whispering humans, Undine planted her hands on her hips.
[You think Rionne would like seeing you act like this?]
“…Rionne told me.”
[What? To let yourself get beaten up?]
“She said not to solve everything with fighting.”
Undine clutched her chest dramatically.
[Kyaaaaah! You frustrating, dense idiot!]
Every time Undine pounded her chest, the ground shook. The humans huddled together, holding their breath in fear.
[Is that what you think “don’t solve everything with fighting” means!?]
“Then what?”
[You act like she’s some angel or bodhisattva descended to the mortal realm! She’s just a dense idiot too, you know!?]
Frustrated, Undine twisted her body.
[It just means don’t mess with anyone stronger than you! If you beat these guys up, do you really think Rionne would scold you? She’d probably say, “Oh, our Enoch did so well!” and praise you!]
“Fighting…”
[No! Please! Seriously!]
Rumble—! Dark clouds gathered in the sky and a storm began to rage. It perfectly reflected how frustrated Undine felt.
[She was just worried about you! Do you even know that while you were lying there unconscious, Rionne couldn’t even drink a sip of water!?]
“……”
[If she saw you acting like this, she’d love it! She’d probably rip all these humans’ heads off right now!]
At Undine’s furious pointing, the humans rolled their eyes back and collapsed. Enoch remained unfazed, but the overwhelming pressure that had settled over the area was not something ordinary humans could endure.
[Do I have to spell it out for you!? Huh? “Don’t try to solve everything with fighting.” What does that mean? It means don’t get hurt by picking pointless fights! She’d be thrilled if you were the one doing the beating and would probably shower you with praise!]
“Hmm.” That made sense.
“Then?”
[Then what? Just do what you normally do! If you think you can’t win, hold back a little!]
“That’s it?”
[Yes, you frustrating fool!]
“Got it.” Enoch smacked his palm with his fist. Then he tilted his head. “But why are you here?”
[Why do you think!?]
“Rionne?”
[Obviously!]
Watching the fuming spirit, Enoch idly kicked at the ground. “…I thought she might pretend not to know me now.”
[Oh please, as if. Even now she’s whining, “Is our Enoch okay? Is he eating properly?”]
“……”
Enoch kept his mouth shut for a moment, then waved his hand. “Fine. I’ll handle it myself.”
[Tsk, you’ll handle it?]
Hmph! The spirit snorted and vanished on the spot. Enoch glanced at the party. All three were foaming at the mouth, collapsed on the ground. But after only a few seconds, starting with Max, they slowly began to regain consciousness.
“Ugh… What was that?”
“Why did it suddenly…”
It seemed Undine had played a trick on them; none of them remembered anything. Tifi clutched her head and groaned, then spotted Enoch standing there perfectly fine and shouted, “Hey! What did you see? Why are you the only one okay?”
Enoch thought for a moment before walking over to her.
“W-what are you—!”
Boom!
“Kyaaak…!”
A huge bump formed on Tifi’s head as she crumpled to the ground.
“Hmm.”
It felt strangely unsatisfying. Beating up these small fries didn’t seem to help his mood at all. Enoch kicked at the ground, creating a large hole.
“W-wait…! What are you doing…?”
It was just big enough for one person. Enoch shoved Tifi into the hole.
“Kyaaaaak…! W-wait! Listen to me…!”
He buried her so only her head stuck out, making it look like a sprout popping out of the dirt. Next was Rapeng. The moment he sensed danger and drew his bow, boom!
“Guh…!”
He took a flick to the forehead and was buried beside Tifi. Now two heads sprouted from the ground.
“Uh… Me too?” Max laughed awkwardly.
Enoch nodded.
“Oh dear.”
Boom!
Where Enoch had left them, three heads sprouted neatly in a row like new sprouts.
“…You guys really can’t do anything right, can you?”
Max’s face twisted like a wrathful demon. Tifi and Rapeng trembled violently. Thud, thud. Max pulled his buried body free from the earth and looked down at them with cold eyes.
“Tsk. Useless bastards.”
“W-wait! I can do better! Please? Spare me!”
“…He was stronger than I expected.”
Max grabbed both of them by the hair.
“Ugh…!”
“Kyaaaak…!”
Shluck! They were yanked out like radishes and collapsed onto the ground.
“Let’s head back for now. That rude little shit. I was thinking of teaching him some manners, but maybe we should just bury him for good.”
“…Kill him?”
“Mind your own business.”
Step by step, the three mercenaries started walking back toward the city. The spirit who had been watching them clicked her tongue.
[Too soft. You’ll only learn after getting burned once.]
That arrogant brat. Let him learn a lesson this time.
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, the awkward reunion of the party the next day never happened. A monster wave had arrived right at their doorstep.
“Those who achieve merit shall be rewarded. Those who flee shall be punished.”
This time, the lord himself had come out to lead the soldiers. He was a man with a grim face. A thick beard covered his lower face, and his massive, muscle-bound body was so heavy that the horse carrying him staggered. Even though he had reached the exalted realm of Master, his middle-aged appearance suggested he had lived through quite a few years.
“I assume there are no idiots here who don’t understand, but an order from a superior on the battlefield is absolute. Defiance will be met with execution, so if you have any complaints, speak now.”
There was no way anyone would complain. Even if they did, they couldn’t. Stepping forward now would be the perfect excuse to make an example out of someone by cutting off their head.
“Who the hell are you?”
So that single sentence rang out more clearly than ever before. Every eye turned toward the source of the voice.
“I thought about it, and yeah, humans really are inferior. You don’t even know your place.”
The one grumbling with clear irritation was a suspicious figure wearing a bizarre mask and a pitch-black hood. Naturally, it was Enoch, whose limiters had been released as of yesterday.
[Whoa.]
The spirit watching from afar gaped.
“Hah…” Max, who had been quietly observing, also opened his mouth. He had thought the kid was just weird, but it turned out he was actually insane.
“So, you have a complaint?” The lord, clearly displeased, crooked his finger. “Come forward.”
Enoch stepped forward obediently. In his head, the conversation he had with Undine replayed.
If they’re stronger than me, don’t mess with them. So if I can win, I can do whatever I want, right?
Swoosh—! A swift sword sliced through the air. Enoch tilted his head slightly and dodged. The moment the lord raised an eyebrow, kiing—! A faint halo rose above Enoch’s head.
It was the perfect time to sharpen the realization he had gained last time. Facing a Master wouldn’t be too boring. Of course, since Rionne would worry, he would use the Thunder God Myth gently.
[Hah… Does that kid really have no middle ground? What about the monster wave?]
Undine’s sigh scattered faintly into the air.