Hecate's Hunger
“So, what do you plan to do with the corpse?”
Once the fighting was over, the headmaster brought up the matter of cleanup. His words carried the unmistakable madness of a mage who wanted nothing more than to study the remains of an Aura Master.
Kyle read the intent behind the question and stayed silent for a moment before answering quietly.
“It would be best if no one ever knew what happened today.”
“Understood.”
The headmaster smiled broadly and carefully lifted Schwarz’s body with magic. With a casual flick of his wrist, the corpse vanished completely, likely tucked away into a mage’s personal pocket dimension.
Once the body was gone from sight, Kyle wore a bitter smile.
I could have ended up like that.
If he hadn’t gained enlightenment during the fight, if his talent had been too meager to grow, it would have been his corpse left behind instead of Schwarz’s. The headmaster and Gawain, waiting in the distance, would have rushed in to restrain Schwarz, and the archer would have fled once he realized fighting two Masters at once was a losing proposition. Only Kyle’s cold body would have remained, and as a noble academy student of high standing, it would have been returned to his family for burial.
It’s difficult. So difficult.
Yet he couldn’t be satisfied with merely defeating a single Master. Schwarz’s organization, the Holy Weapons, was a terrorist group composed entirely of Aura Masters. Whether because they hid their identities or because every member was a Master, even the empire had failed to capture them. In other words, if just two more of them came for him, surviving would be extremely difficult.
I need to get stronger.
To grow stronger, he had to fight stronger opponents. He had to face death again and again, and survive each time. It was a contradiction—strength was meant to keep him alive, yet gaining it required courting death.
Smiling wryly at the paradox of power, Kyle let the two men support him as they returned to the mansion.
Never thought I’d come back here.
Kayness frowned slightly as he gazed toward the academy grounds. Even from this distant territory, the massive, imposing silhouette of Dairos Academy stood out clearly.
Since his face was likely known, he didn’t enter the academy itself. There was no need. He was the Bow, a master archer. Sniping from several kilometers away was his specialty.
Schwarz… isn’t here?
Standing atop a ridge overlooking the academy, Kayness tilted his head when he failed to spot Schwarz. Given the man’s personality, he should have caused some kind of incident by now if he were around. Yet everything seemed quiet.
Just as he began to sense something was wrong, Kayness whirled around at the presence behind him, bow raised.
“……A monster?”
Before him stood a monster with six arms and pitch-black skin. It wasn’t particularly large—only about two meters tall. In a world where colossal monsters exceeding ten meters were common, this one was relatively small. Looking at the creature at eye level, Kayness let out a dry laugh.
“Even monsters are ignoring me now.”
He couldn’t help but feel that way. He was a Master, and at that moment he wasn’t bothering to conceal his Aura. Monsters should have instinctively avoided him. That was what Masters were—overwhelming powerhouses capable of slaughtering most monsters.
“Get lost, beast.”
Even as he spoke, Kayness lightly plucked his bowstring. An arrow of Aura materialized on the empty string and shot forward with a heavy twang.
He turned his head the instant he fired. There was no need to watch. No monster could survive that attack—especially not one found in a place like this.
—I… am not… a monster.
At that moment, a chill ran down Kayness’s spine. He leapt forward, throwing himself to the ground. The monster behind him had spoken.
Surviving his attack was already shocking enough. Hearing it speak like a human was terrifying.
“What the hell……”
—Hecate.
The monster drew a sword from its hand and pointed it at Kayness.
—My name.
“……Even monsters have names now. What is this world coming to!”
Kayness retreated and fired another arrow. As the Aura arrow flew, he finally understood how the creature was still alive. The monster calling itself Hecate casually swung an arm and sliced the arrow in half. The Aura gathered at the tip of its sword had made it possible.
Watching the flexible Aura, Kayness groaned.
Insane. A monster that’s an Aura Master……?
Until now, he had believed the rank of Master was reserved solely for humans, the lords of all creation. While some monsters possessed strength beyond Masters through sheer size and power, none had ever mastered technique the way humans did. That history was being denied right before his eyes.
Stunned by the denial of human history, Kayness stared blankly at Hecate. In that brief instant, Hecate closed the distance in a flash and swung its sword.
“Ugh—!”
The footwork was astonishingly fast. Realizing it came purely from Hecate’s raw strength, Kayness swung his bow to block the blade. The moment he parried one sword with his Aura-infused bow, he belatedly remembered the monster had six arms.
Just like the sword he had blocked, another blade sprouted from Hecate’s previously empty hand. Gripping six swords, Hecate struck with lightning speed.
Shraaak—!
“Sh, shit—!”
Kayness cursed as he watched his left arm tumble through the air once more. Last time he’d at least had a chance to retrieve it. This time, Hecate snatched the severed limb immediately.
—Aaaah.
Crunch—!
Watching the monster chew on his arm, Kayness ground his teeth. Hecate now acted as though Kayness was no longer worth its attention, focusing entirely on devouring the limb.
“Damn it, you fucking bastard……!”
He was furious. He wanted nothing more than to shoot the monster dead right now. But he couldn’t. Kayness staunched the bleeding from his left arm and fled the ridge at once.
Hecate paid no mind to Kayness’s departure, continuing to feast on the arm.
—Not enough.
After swallowing the entire arm, Hecate stared blankly into the air, blood smeared thickly around its mouth.
Not enough. Still not enough.
Hecate’s eyes slowly turned toward the academy grounds—the city that had given birth to its mother and then killed her. Could it win now? It didn’t know. Unable to draw Aura outside its body, it had no confidence in overcoming that gleaming blade.
—A little more.
It needed more prey and more time. Thinking this, Hecate returned to its nest, hoping more food would come up the mountain again.
Although an academy student had been brutally murdered, the incident didn’t escalate into a major event. The academy’s upper echelons had deliberately covered it up. Of course, if the deceased student had been a noble, it wouldn’t have been so easy to bury, but fortunately—or unfortunately—the victim had been a commoner. Someone without powerful backers to demand a thorough investigation. The headmaster buried the matter just like that.
“Lately, it feels like you’re asking too much of me.”
Aria grumbled as she pouted at Kyle. Knowing her ability, Kyle could only laugh. Whenever something happened, he asked her to brainwash the entire academy, so after Kyle, the headmaster, and Gawain, Aria probably knew more about the incidents at the academy than anyone else.
“Then who told you to do something like that?”
“Nooo～ I’m not saying I hate it, I’m saying I need a reward. Right?”
Immediately changing the subject after hearing Kyle’s words, Aria naturally clung to his arm and began acting cute. Since he held the control rights to the slave collar around her neck, it was only natural. If Kyle so much as gestured, she would die instantly, her neck exploding on the spot. Of course, watching her behavior, it seemed there was more than just survival instinct at play—some genuine feeling mixed in.
“A reward…… What do you want?”
“Ah, there’s this dessert I want to eat—”
“Kyle?”
At that moment, spotting Yuri approaching from afar, Kyle quickly pulled his arm out from between Aria’s breasts. Aria pursed her lips and made a sulky face, but Kyle was too busy making excuses.
“She’s the one who stuck it there. I didn’t do anything.”
“You should’ve pulled it out right away.”
“Yeah. I did pull it out the second she put it there. Really.”
While waving his hands and protesting his innocence, Yuri walked up and stopped in front of Kyle. Looking down at her, Kyle was suddenly yanked by the nape of his neck and forced into a headbutt kiss with Yuri.
After their lips met violently, Yuri immediately pulled away and glared at Aria.
“This one’s mine.”
Her tone was filled with the clear warning not to covet what belonged to her. Aria’s eyes began to curve like crescent moons.