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The dry earth had turned into a slick mire of blood and mud.
Corpses with severed limbs sprawled across the ground in meticulous detail. Burst organs lay in wet heaps; intact lungs, livers, and hearts hung from branches in place of leaves. Everything was rendered with perfect clarity.
I drew a slow breath.
A thick, bitter, sour, rotten stench clawed its way up my nose. I licked my dry lips. The taste that met my tongue was nothing like the reek in the air—just emptiness. I strained my muffled ears and caught the lingering screams of those who had not yet finished dying.
My throbbing hand clenched tighter. Frey’s weight felt a little heavier than a moment ago.
I had killed people.
Of course, it wasn’t the first time. I simply hadn’t thought of them as people. I had already cut down quite a few. But I hadn’t known. I hadn’t registered it. No—I had simply looked away.
The reason I could accept it so calmly now was probably the Bracelet of Verdure. Sirin had said it carried magic that forcibly stabilized the mind. The effect was excellent. So excellent it was almost terrifying. I felt nothing at all.
I brushed the Bracelet of Verdure that would one day become my shackle. Was this the right thing to do? No. I had already come too far to weigh right and wrong. I didn’t want to argue about justice. I didn’t want to force any creed on anyone.
Rubia hated Erden. Sirin hated Erden too. So did Luci, Heinzel, Charlotte, Yuria…
Me? I didn’t know. I only trusted Rubia. I wanted to protect her and make her happy. So the conclusion I had reached—to protect Rubia—was my answer, my justice, my belief.
But if every one of these thoughts had been decided by the Bracelet of Verdure—
Hey.
“...Yes?”
At Cartia’s call I awkwardly lowered my hand and tilted my head. After a stretch of silence she let out a small sigh.
I told you twice already. Kids never fucking listen to their elders. You run off to play adventurer and you didn’t even write a single letter home? Your parents must be worried sick, you little bastard.
She had sensed my feelings and was deliberately steering the conversation into something mindless. The gesture was so funny and so kind that I found myself joking back without thinking.
“I-I don’t have parents…”
Half joke, half truth.
...Really?
“Yes…”
After a beat Cartia fumbled for words.
I… I’m sorry. I’m really… really sorry.
“I-It’s okay… it’s fine…”
Silence settled again. Then, a little later, Cartia cleared her throat and forced her voice higher.
Anyway. How was it? Swinging it for real out here.
The half-collapsed mountain painted itself inside my head.
“It was incredible, but… I still can’t swing it much…”
Blood was already streaming from my nose and my skull felt ready to split.
If you used it like a normal sword there wouldn’t be a problem. You’re just swinging the damn thing like a complete savage.
“...More nagging.”
I pouted and trudged toward my greatsword half-buried in a mound of dirt.
In that instant, through the thick cloud of dust, spells erupted from a shattered magic circle and came screaming toward me.
I thought that thing was broken?
I wiped the blood from my nose in a hurry and cut the roots of the spells rushing at me. Screech—boom! Wind tore apart; flames snuffed out. Then I drove the pommel into the solar plexus of a knight charging from the right and swept the greatsword toward the mages. An invisible force followed the blade’s path.
Slash—
Upper bodies sheared cleanly free and scattered with sprays of blood. Without stopping I twisted the sword’s trajectory and brought it down. An assassin hidden in the earth had his skull burst open, soaking the ground.
“Hyaaah!”
I slipped a spear shaft coiling like a snake and kicked up a clod of dirt with my toes.
“Ugh?!”
I drove a fist into the solar plexus of the man who had raised an arm to shield his face. Feeling shattered ribs pierce his heart, I spun and kicked the gut of the one rushing from behind.
“Gah—!”
I desperately dodged the blood spraying from his filthy mouth, then stomped the solar plexus of the man rolling on the ground.
“Gyaaaaaah—!”
Doesn’t something feel off? The magic circle was definitely broken, yet the spells still finished. This bastard’s spine is snapped and he’s still moving. Suspicious as hell…
“...You’re right.”
I brought the greatsword down and burst his head.
Think later. First we kill the mages.
“Agreed…”
I widened my Qi Sensing and painted the mages’ positions. Twelve in total.
Whoosh—!
The instant a fireball shot from the left I kicked off and sprinted forward. Without swinging the greatsword trailing behind me, I drove my raised knee into the man’s solar plexus. One down.
Using the falling body as a pivot I spun, extended my arm, and swept the blade. Two.
Dozens of spells came flying at once. I planted Frey in the ground, kicked a rolling corpse upward to block the incoming magic, and the moment the wet slap of flesh ended I hurled the headless torso at the mages and charged after it. Frey arrived a half-step later and cut them down mid-scream. Four.
I slammed the pommel into the face of a knight charging from the right and drove him into the dirt. Then I tore the armor from his body, arm and all, and flung it at a mage casting high-tier magic. Five.
Skull smashed, half his torso ripped off, and he’s still alive. Kids these days, huh?
I shook my head and stomped the knight’s head until it burst. At the same time I poured mana into the greatsword the way I had before, stamped my foot, and hurled the blade at the ones still standing in a daze.
KRAAANG—!
A sound like space itself tearing open erupted; a violent shockwave swallowed knights and mages alike.
“Hoo…”
Leaving the screaming figures behind, I clutched my pounding head and caught my breath. Two Masters climbing the half-collapsed mountain took shape in my senses. At their running speed… about three minutes.
Those two should’ve died ages ago. Tch… this is exactly like…
Divine Power. Faint Divine Power lingered inside their bodies.
Especially that so-called Master. He’s complete trash, but the aura he’s giving off is weird.
I agreed with Cartia and brushed the Bracelet of Verdure that was squeezing my wrist like mad. It was trembling, spiderweb cracks racing across its surface… If I kept swinging Frey like this the bracelet would shatter.
“Huu…”
I had no choice. I flung Frey into the air and picked up the greatsword buried in the dirt.
“...Wh-what is this.”
The man sitting on the ground—Me… whatever-his-name—jabbed a finger at me and shouted.
“What in the world is this power!!!”
“Ugh…”
My head already felt ready to explode; his screaming made it twice as bad… I tapped my throbbing temples and roughly shook the mud from the greatsword.
“Heretic!!! You wield the power of an evil god!!”
Man, this guy never shuts the fuck up.
“Mern, priest of Erden! I shall burn this body to execute the heretic!!”
Still sitting, Mern bellowed as if trying to shake off his terror and staggered to his feet. But no matter how I looked at it—even after taking my earlier attack head-on—
“...He seems way too weak.”
Right? The ones coming up from below look decently strong, but this guy…
“Hyaaaaaah!”
He stretched his twin swords long and charged. What followed was an incredibly flashy dual-blade—
Yeah, he’s just a complete fucking idiot.
I twisted the greatsword in my right hand and knocked one of his blades aside.
“What?!”
With my left I slammed his ribs. The single-point strike Sirin had taught me—power concentrated instead of scattered.
Crack—
“Ghhhk—!”
Mern’s body neither lifted into the air nor flew backward. Every ounce of force sank straight into his torso.
You’re getting better at controlling your strength.
“I-I just hadn’t adjusted earlier.”
He was wrapping himself in mana to protect his vitals, as expected of a Master… but it was pitifully thin. Again. I clenched my fist and drove it hard into the solar plexus of the man still trembling.
Crack—crunch—snap—
My fist punched through the mana coating, shattered his ribs, and burrowed deep. I opened my hand, seized the broken bones, and—
Riiip—
—tore them free.
“Ghh… ghk… kuh…”
Bone fragments pattered down; his guts spilled out. Yet he still refused to die, scooping his own entrails back into his belly. And slowly, faint Divine Power blooming near his heart began to heal him little by little.
The Divine Power only Rubia should be able to use. The Divine Power that had always gently wrapped my wounds. It was healing these bastards.
It pissed me off. It grated. It was filthy. Disgusting. Impure. Revolting. Pathetic. It made me want to vomit. I wanted to kill them.
With my bare hands. Tear off their limbs. Pull out their teeth, rip out their tongues. Yank their guts free and stuff them down their throats. Make them feel death creeping closer, inch by inch. That was exactly what I was going to do.
The bracelet trembled and clamped down on my wrist. The mana inside me went berserk. Carpeng’s Fragment and Tyrant’s Fragment resonated. A voice in my head tried to stop me. I ignored it and reached out.
I tore off the left arm that had been scooping guts. I tore off the right arm that had been stitching his belly shut. I hooked his legs and slammed him to the ground. I shattered his jaw and pulled his teeth one by one. Just as I grabbed his tongue to rip it free—
Shhhk—!
Two arrows streaked in from behind and blocked me.
Noah.
“...Yes.”
I’m telling Rubia everything about this.
...That would be bad.
Like I’ve said over and over—don’t get drunk on your power. Stay human till the end.
I nodded and stood. I shook the scraps of flesh from my hands and picked the bits of organ from under my nails.
“I-I’m sorry…”
The second Rubia’s involved this bastard completely loses it. Keep this up and if something happens to her you’ll go and destroy the whole damn world, won’t you?
I didn’t answer; I simply fixed my stance.
...You’re actually going to, aren’t you?
“O-of course not.”
Wow, this kid’s hopeless. Somebody needs to keep a tight leash on you.
“W-what do you mean, me…”
A leash? Leash… leash.
“...That doesn’t sound so ba—ugh!”
While I was thinking, another arrow came flying. The moment it touched the ground—
BOOM—
—it exploded. The blast shoved me a long way back.
“Well, damn… this one’s a real demon.”
A man with a greatsword muttered as he surveyed the surroundings.
“Ugh, shit… Mern-ssi. You dead yet?”
The man with the bow clicked his tongue looking at Mern.
“Ghhk… ghk…”
“If you’re gonna die anyway, burn your whole lifespan fighting and then die.”
“Don’t be too hard on my disciple. He’s just short on experience.”
“C’mon, if you got strong through cheap tricks you at least gotta earn your keep, right?”
The Masters approached through the squelching mud, their faces turning toward me.
“Exactly. Just take the greatsword and she’s a complete cripple. Couldn’t even manage that. Your disciple really is trash, hyung-nim.”
“...Can’t deny it.”
Definitely different from the twin-sword guy.
Yeah…
They were strong. Both of them stronger than Kalt.
Can you win?
...I can win, but they’re already coming. Roughly ten minutes…?
I thought Sirin would teleport in, but I guess even she has her limits.
Of course. Heh heh…
I smiled faintly and raised the greatsword. At that moment, Divine Power powerful enough to warp the scenery erupted from Mern’s crawling body. Just like when Kalt’s second phase had begun… something was about to start.
“Hoo…”
I reversed my grip on the greatsword, stretched my arm as far back as it would go, and—
“Hup—!”
—stepped forward with my left foot. Crack— the mud vanished; the ground exploded outward. The two Masters’ faces twisted. Mern was still gaping at the sky. Cartia started cackling.
I burned every one of those images into my mind and swung my right arm forward.
Screeech—
The sound of space tearing open rang out as the greatsword shot forth. At the same instant—
KRA-KOOM—!
Mern’s body, struck by the thrown greatsword, burst into nothing without leaving a trace.
I stretched out my hand, summoned Frey, and recalled Sirin’s teaching.
Sirin’s Theory Class, Lesson One: Kill the enemy while they’re transforming.
An excellent lesson indeed.