Side Story: The Executioner of the Fallen Empire
The cavern shook with a deafening BOOOOM! as a three-meter black iron greatsword came hurtling straight down toward the crown of my head. There was no dodging it. The speed was so overwhelming I didn’t even have time to trigger my illusory martial dance.
In that split second, a hollow laugh slipped out of me.
‘Seriously… If there really is a god—the author—who designed this world…’
Dropping a monster that didn’t even exist in the original scenario just to kill one measly F-class extra? They were pulling out all the stops to bury me.
This was the price for knowing the original story and twisting the world off its rails. The universe’s desperate corrective force, trying to stop the main scenario from collapsing. That colossal malice had taken the shape of a greatsword and was now crashing down on me.
KAAAANG—!
But it wasn’t over yet. Someone threw their entire body in front of that malice.
“Khk… Roy… get back…!”
It was Professor Cain. He had hardened his body with the Wall of Steel skill, catching the greatsword with his bare flesh. The angle made evasion impossible. It was the most brutish, noble defense an A-class adventurer could choose to protect his student.
Crunch.
The sound of the professor’s steel-hardened arm bones turning to powder echoed. An A-class body simply couldn’t withstand the overwhelming strength of an S+-class monster.
“Cough!”
Professor Cain vomited blood and was sent flying like a bowling pin, slamming into the wall. One hit. Our only tank was now combat ineffective.
“Grrrr…”
The monster raised its greatsword again, as if it had merely swatted away an annoying fly.
It was a situation where anyone would freeze in terror. But my mind had gone ice-cold. I couldn’t let the professor’s sacrifice be meaningless.
I activated Observer’s Eye to analyze the creature.
UNIDENTIFIABLE
This entity does not exist in the main scenario.
Damn. Just as I thought. Still, I knew what it was. That silhouette. The massive triangular helmet. It was the Executioner—the monster that had destroyed the empire in the author’s scrapped side story, The Fallen Empire. A creature that grew stronger by feeding on fear.
Finding its weakness would take time. Killing it would require a single, overwhelming strike. I shouted so loudly the cavern itself seemed to tremble.
“Everyone, follow my orders exactly!!”
My roar tore through their fear and hammered into their minds.
“Adelia! Don’t fight it head-on—deflect its attacks! Keep it pinned down as much as you can!”
Adelia’s eyes widened, then she nodded with absolute trust.
“Scarlet! Prepare 8th Circle Astral Nova! I’ll buy you the casting time—hit it with your strongest shot!”
Scarlet stared at me with an expression that screamed who the hell is this guy, then glanced at Adelia and nodded so hard it looked like her neck might snap.
“Priscilla, stay hidden and target the ankle tendons! One clean hit, then retreat!”
And finally, the only key that could flip this entire board.
“Iris! Create a magic bow and nock three arrows at once!”
“What?! Human, have you lost your mind? Three arrows—how—?”
“Don’t shoot them! Twist them into a spiral to push the output to the absolute limit! You’re making Spiral Arrow!”
“Pour every ounce of your spirit power into it! Lightning, fire, ice, wind, earth—everything!”
“Th-that’s insane! The attributes will collide and the bow will explode!”
Iris looked horrified. Multi-attribute fusion was a forbidden technique that even high spirit mages died attempting. How did this F-class human know about it, and how could he demand she perform it in a moment this desperate?
“It won’t explode! You’re a high elf, aren’t you? You can do this! Don’t fire—keep gathering power until I give the signal!”
I remembered the details about Priscilla’s latent potential from the original setting book, along with the technique that had succeeded when she assisted Adelia against the Demon King. I had to believe in that possibility. No—I had to believe.
Adelia moved first. She gripped the holy sword with both hands and pointed it at her own heart.
“Alright… I understand. I won’t disappoint you, Extra!!”
Shlick—!
“Self-buff deployment. Super strength enhancement. Super agility enhancement. Complete pain nullification.”
FLASH—!
She burst forward wreathed in red-gold lightning. Right before Carnifex’s greatsword could crush me, Adelia charged with a two-meter golden aura wrapped around her holy sword.
A hero’s strike meant to shatter its momentum.
“Holy Sword, full release!!”
First Form Secret Technique — Star-Splitting Sword of Judgment
A blinding golden aura exploded from the holy sword, wiping away the cavern’s darkness in an instant.
The world seemed to split in half with golden light. An SS-class hero’s secret technique collided head-on with an S+-class monster’s greatsword. A scream of tearing air accompanied a massive shockwave that slammed into the cavern. Stalactites rained down like arrows.
Kiiiiiiiing—!
The metallic screech tore at our eardrums. Adelia’s holy sword bit into the black iron greatsword. The monster’s blade was knocked aside, and a deep gash was carved into its now-exposed chestplate. Black blood sprayed like a fountain.
But Adelia was also sent flying backward through the air, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
“Khk…!”
Her body still wasn’t fully recovered. Even after using her secret technique, she couldn’t withstand the recoil—blood vessels in the arm holding the sword had burst. And the most despairing part was—
Hssssss—
Black steam rose from the wound on its chest, and the severed muscle and hide knit back together in the blink of an eye. Ultra-fast regeneration. It wasn’t quite on the level of the tentacles, but it was practically immortal, instantly healing any wound received in battle.
No… This isn’t enough to buy time.
Adelia’s eyes burned with venomous resolve. The moment she landed, she kicked off the ground again without even catching her breath. She didn’t bother wiping the blood from her lips.
Vrrrrrm—!
Her holy sword howled once more. This time it wasn’t golden. A cold, blue starlight like the Milky Way wrapped around the blade.
“It’s… not over yet!!”
She squeezed her mana circuits to their absolute limit. Her entire body screamed as if it would burst, but she ignored it.
“Holy Sword Secret Technique, Second Form…”
Hundreds of tiny spaces twisted. An illusion of ten thousand stars pouring down unfolded behind her.
Second Form — Galaxy-Splitting Star (Starlight Breaker)
CRACK! KUUUUUUGOOOOO—!
An even larger, even more destructive flash of light swept over the monster’s entire body. The wounds it had been regenerating burst open again, and its massive frame was hurled backward through the air.
“KIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEK!!”
For the first time, the monster let out a scream of genuine pain. But Adelia also crashed to the ground, vomiting blood. Using secret techniques in succession had already pushed her battered body far beyond its limits.
THUD!
She used her trembling sword as a cane to force herself upright.
“Huff… huff… I won’t… let you…”
Even while staggering, she planted herself in front of the monster. It was a desperate display of fighting spirit to keep the promise she had made to buy me time.
Damn it… It’s still not dead.
Adelia’s face twisted. Two direct hits from secret techniques and it was still fine. Even when she tried to overpower it with raw strength, the difference in size was too great, and any wound she inflicted healed almost instantly.
CLANG! KANG!
Having finished regenerating, the monster swung its greatsword with terrifying speed. Adelia blocked with her holy sword, but each impact drove her knees lower. The ground cracked like a spiderweb beneath her feet, and her boots sank into the stone. Blood poured steadily from her mouth from the brutal shocks. Even as an SS-class warrior, she was gradually being pushed back in a pure contest of strength. Her consciousness began to fade.
At least Roy has to survive. If I die and the timeline resets… will he still remember me?
Tears fell from her eyes as she grit her teeth and endured the onslaught.
Taking advantage of that chaotic opening, a shadow crawling along the floor materialized. In Priscilla’s hand was the black dagger she had been sent flying with earlier.
I’m scared… But I have to do this. Master Roy gave me the order!
With Adelia desperately holding the line, this was the only chance. She slipped silently behind the monster. Her target was the weakest link supporting that massive body.
Slice!
The dagger severed its Achilles tendon with perfect precision.
“KRAAAAAAGH!”
No matter how powerful its regeneration, it couldn’t prevent the momentary collapse caused by a severed tendon. The monster lost its balance and dropped to one knee. Priscilla didn’t get greedy—she immediately retreated. A perfect hit-and-run.
I urgently looked toward Scarlet and shouted.
“Now! Scarlet!”
From the rear, Scarlet—having finished her incantation—opened her eyes wide. A dark-red sphere of gravity formed at the tip of her staff.
ASTRAL NOVA
Stellar Collapse
KUUUUUUUUU—!
The gravity sphere dropped onto the monster’s head and detonated from within. The surrounding rock turned to powder as the creature’s massive body was slammed into the floor.
“I-I did it!”
Scarlet cheered while coughing blood. It was perfect teamwork—Adelia had pinned it, Priscilla had crippled it, and Scarlet had crushed it.
But then my Observer’s Eye reacted.
The Abyss Executioner has detected an EXTREME THREAT.
A chill ran down my spine. The monster had not fallen. It had regenerated back to full strength. Both Adelia’s secret techniques and Scarlet’s 8th-circle magic had landed, yet its regeneration had simply ignored the damage. The blood-red glare burning inside Carnifex’s helmet wasn’t looking at them.
Its gaze was fixed on only one person—Iris, who was condensing insane amounts of mana from the rear.
Vrrrrrrrrrm— Kiiiiiiiing—!!
The magic bow in Iris’s hands was screaming. Three arrows twisted together in a high-speed spiral, sucking in the surrounding atmosphere and growing larger by the second.
-[Crimson of Fire]
-[Azure of Water]
-[Emerald of Wind]
-[Earthy Brown of the Land]
-[Golden Lightning]
All the elemental spirits were mixing together madly. At the tip of the bowstring, a sphere resembling a miniature sun was forming. It was an incomplete strategic weapon, but one that could definitely kill the monster if fired.
Carnifex had instinctively realized it. The swarm of flies currently attacking it was irrelevant. That thing gathering above was dangerous.
Vrrrrrm—!
“KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH—!!”
A roar of despair like a dragon’s fear spread through the cavern. Priscilla vomited blood. Scarlet barely held her trembling body upright. Iris endured with a trickle of blood running from her mouth.
The monster violently shoved Adelia aside—the one who had been stubbornly binding it—and sent her flying with its greatsword. The moment Adelia landed after being hurled dozens of meters, Carnifex leveled its glowing red-hot blade horizontally.
A terrible, ominous feeling filled the air as the sword vibrated with crimson light and the mana inside the cavern shook violently.
N-no way… That stance—?
I suddenly recalled a line from the side story.
[Wherever that red line passed, nothing remained.]
[It was Carnifex’s ultimate technique—Space Severance.]
It was preparing to swing that ability at Iris. A bug-like technique from this world that rendered physical defense meaningless.
“Haa… Fuck. God damn it!”
Without a second to think, I kicked off the ground and sprinted toward Iris. In that instant, I cursed the bastard who had created both my fate and this nightmare.
‘Author, you son of a bitch!’