Why Are They Fighting Among Themselves?
“Hey, look over there.” “It’s Kyle Meyer……” “So he really is a Master?” “But I heard he doesn’t show his Aura Blade.” “Think about it. Would any Master actually listen if someone asked them to show it?”
Kyle walked past the cadets whispering about him and entered the cafeteria. Since students from every department and every year gathered here at once, countless eyes immediately turned toward him. Envy, admiration, jealousy, resentment, anger—every kind of gaze stabbed into him. A Master’s heightened senses registered every single one, and the weight of it all was considerable stress.
This isn’t a zoo, and I’m not some monkey on display. What the hell……
He wondered if other Masters lived with this feeling too. Shaking his head, Kyle picked up his spoon and began eating. Even the simple act of putting food in his mouth was watched every second, every minute, every hour. Naturally, the meal didn’t go down well. In the end, unlike usual, he left a decent portion behind, roughly cleared his tray, and headed out to the training grounds.
“Haa……”
He had always told himself that other people’s opinions didn’t matter while attending the Academy. After all, a Master could do whatever they wanted. Weren’t they the freest beings in the world? Someone who could surpass the power of the masses with nothing but their own strength—that was what a superhuman was. Yet the moment his status as a Master became known, the urge to drop out surged within him.
A Master was an existence unbound by any framework, but that also meant they could never truly belong to any group. Just as Masters don’t treat others as their equals, people don’t treat Masters as one of their own……
The vast world had opened up before Kyle. At the same time, he had been dropped alone into that same vast world. Unless someone else was also a Master, no one would ever see him as an equal. On this entire planet, he would have to live with only a little over a dozen people who could understand him.
Now I get why the Duke lives like a doting husband.
From a Master’s perspective, an ordinary person who could understand and empathize with them was as rare as a pet. Fragile enough to break with a single touch, yet precious precisely because so few existed. Of course they would cherish them.
Kyle realized there were only a few ways to avoid feeling this loneliness and emptiness. Either I lower my standards, or I wait for the people around me to reach my level…… Other Masters could never even dream of the latter, but Kyle was different. There were plenty of people around him who possessed talent on par with a Master. With just a small trigger, they could become Masters at any time. It might take a few years, or perhaps decades…… but Kyle could wait as long as needed. Even if they never reached that height, it didn’t matter. The people he knew had treated him the same even after learning he was a Master.
“This is annoying.”
“What’s got you so annoyed?”
At that moment, a sweet voice and the scent of oranges tickled his nose. Kyle turned his head slightly and saw Aria standing behind him. One of the candidates who could one day stand beside him. She stood with her hands clasped behind her back, looking down at him. There was no fear or discrimination in the bright smile on her face.
“Everything, I guess.”
“Hee~ That’s interesting. Even a Master gets annoyed sometimes?”
“Of course. Especially when people treat me like a zoo monkey.”
“Why not just smack them around a bit?”
“What are you…… Do you think Masters are gangsters?”
“Weren’t you?”
Kyle flicked her forehead with a light touch of Aura. Aria clutched her head and dropped to the ground, groaning at the sweet yet splitting pain.
“Kkhh……!”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“Aaaagh…… It hurts.”
“Hurts a lot? My heart hurts just as much.”
Kyle patted her head in a mix of punishment and comfort. Even after being hit, Aria seemed to enjoy the head pats so much that she grinned through teary eyes. Kyle looked at her with mild exasperation, then turned his gaze toward the distant mountain ridge.
“Aria. Has your ability stayed the same?”
“Huh? No, it’s grown a bit lately.”
“Really? Perfect timing.”
Upon hearing that her ability had improved, Kyle hoisted her up under his arm. Aria let out a startled yelp and flailed.
“K-Kyle? What are you suddenly—”
“Let’s go somewhere. I think you’ve got work to do.”
With a grin, Kyle wrapped Aura around both of them. Protected by the energy, he launched himself forward at full power. Like a rocket taking off, his body shot ahead in an instant.
* * *
A group wearing robes embroidered with dragon patterns on the back marched somewhere. When the leader at the front raised a hand, the followers behind him stopped in perfect unison, like machines.
“Everyone, halt.”
The stopped leader stared intently at something. A moment later, he flung an object from his robe into the bushes. A glass bottle filled with flammable liquid shattered, and the foliage was instantly engulfed in flames. They watched the burning bushes in silence, their eyes fixed on the inferno.
Soon after, the thing they had been waiting for burst out from within. It was a three-meter-tall monster—an ogre.
“Number Four.”
“Yes.”
The man called Number Four drank a vial from his robe and charged straight at the ogre. Using nothing but raw strength—the very ability that had made ogres famous—he began a contest of power. Adding a bit of technique, he managed to throw the ogre over his shoulder. A throw used the opponent’s own strength against them; the stronger they were, the greater the impact. The ogre, essentially slammed by its own power, began foaming at the mouth. Standing over the fallen ogre, Number Four drew a small dagger and drove it into the creature’s carotid artery, severing its spine. The ogre’s eyes rolled back.
“It’s done.”
“Move out.”
Shortly after, the raging flames died down, and the group resumed their march toward the Academy. As they walked, the leader at the front realized the presence he had felt earlier was back. He had thought it was the ogre’s killing intent, but apparently not.
“Come out.”
At the leader’s command, a monster half the ogre’s size emerged from behind a tree. Size usually meant strength, so it was natural to assume the two-meter-tall creature was weaker than the ogre. Number Four, whose drug had not yet worn off, grinned and stepped forward.
“I’ll handle it.”
“Make it quick.”
“Understood.”
Boasting muscles that bulged unevenly across his body, Number Four silently reached out toward the monster. His movement was so fast that even a decent Expert would have struggled to dodge it. Once caught, it would be over. Number Four began squeezing the monster’s arms with his grip, enhanced by the organization’s drugs. It was strong enough to overpower an ogre, so he figured this small monster would be no problem.
But no matter how hard he squeezed, the monster didn’t budge. Number Four’s eyes widened in confusion.
“What the……”
—Let go, human.
Shocked by the unprecedented sight of a monster speaking, Number Four froze. The monster then pulled out two hidden pairs of arms from within its body. As Number Four recoiled in surprise, his own arms were torn clean off, as if they had never been attached in the first place. Staring at his detached limbs like broken toys, Number Four let out a bewildered voice.
“H-Huh?”
Shhhk—!
Realizing too late that his arms had been severed, Number Four’s body erupted in a fountain of blood. The cut had been so clean that the victim themselves often didn’t register it. Today, the leader and the other members confirmed that saying was true.
Crunch—!
The monster bit into Number Four’s body and devoured it, then smiled with its mouth smeared in juices.
—Tasteless, human.
Shhhk—
From the monster’s six arms emerged bone blades, from which pitch-black light erupted, matching the color of its skin. Seeing this, the leader immediately shouted.
“The enemy is an Aura Master! Everyone, take the fruit!”
At the command, they shoved the Fruit of Life into their mouths. Superhuman strength granted at the cost of their lives surged through them for an instant. Wielding blades that now shone with the proof of transcendence, the members drew their swords.
—Aura Blade.
Hecate watched the light emanating from their weapons and grinned.
—I’ve been looking for you.
In the next moment, the monster and the artificial superhumans clashed.
* * *
“What the hell are these guys?”
Kyle, who had arrived at the burning scene with Aria in tow, let out a dry laugh as he watched the monster and the organization members fighting each other.
“Why are these bastards fighting among themselves?”