Chapter 15
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: After the Carnage
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“Remember, our top priority is securing Leon's safety!!”
“Miss! Please fall back! It's dangerous!”
“If I don't go, who will? Quit the nonsense and follow me!”
She dashed into a deserted alleyway.
Following the trail Leon had left behind, she arrived at a place thick with the stench of blood.
It was so foul that even the lowest scum would wrinkle their noses and hesitate to enter.
Thankfully, it posed no obstacle to the knights' advance.
“Urk?!”
How far had they gone?
Melissa and the count's knights and soldiers clamped their hands over their mouths, their faces hardening.
“Gods... what is this?”
A hellish scene unfolded before them.
There wasn't a single intact corpse—every one had been butchered savagely.
The ground was slick with blood, and the dead wore expressions twisted in terror and regret.
“Leon... Leon!!”
Overcome with dread for her sole remaining family member, Melissa plunged ahead frantically.
“Miss!!”
A scream echoed from not far away, spurring her to run even faster.
“Please... please!! Spare me!”
The hoarse, unrecognizable cry made Melissa's blood run cold—could that be Leon?
Ignoring the goosebumps prickling her skin, she pressed on.
Finally, she and the others reached the end of the narrow alley—and froze.
Leon, drenched head to toe in blood, was mercilessly slicing through a terrified knight's throat.
The bodies littering the path to get here had already been innumerable.
Which could only mean...
Leon had killed them all.
“Big Brother?”
Melissa approached him slowly.
Leon's eyes, smeared with unknown blood, gleamed with chilling coldness.
“Melissa.”
His voice, weary with exhaustion, rang in her ears.
“Huh?”
“On the way here, you'll find Bishiri Cascadia's corpse. Make sure you retrieve it.”
With that, Leon staggered and collapsed flat on his back.
“Finally...”
He mumbled blankly before sprawling out without hesitation.
“Ha, crazy... I can finally sleep.”
His voice carried inexplicable pain, yet brimmed with bliss.
For the architect of this carnage, his tone was far too serene.
Staring at Leon, now out cold without a care, Melissa felt a mix of bewilderment and relief as she spoke cautiously.
“Take Leon and go... The rest of you, with me. We'll recover the bodies here and search for any remaining stragglers.”
“Yes!!”
At her command, the pale-faced knights sprang into action.
How had this happened? Had that frail young master really slain them all?
Questions piled up like mountains, but the only one who could answer was already fast asleep.
“Ha... haha... hahahahaha!!”
One of the continent's greatest swordsmen. A Sword Star, bearer of the Star title.
Osberg Mielephon burst into uproarious laughter, clearly in high spirits.
“S-Sir?”
Had he ever seen Osberg laugh so freely?
The man accompanying him stared wide-eyed at the family elder in stunned silence.
“Sir, are you alright?”
“Kehhehe... yes, yes, I'm fine. You see all sorts of things living this long.”
“I'm afraid I don't follow, sir.”
“What do you think of that boy?”
At the question, the man took in the sight of the youth sprawled on the ground.
Frankly, it was staggering.
He appeared to be an Aura User at most.
Yet the idea that this lone boy had butchered countless Aura Users and Sword Expert knights was hard to swallow.
“He's a monster.”
“Exactly. A monster. I've never seen talent this absurd in my life.”
No exaggeration.
The man might pale next to Osberg, but he was a respected Sword Master from the famed Mielephon sword clan and a key asset to the empire.
His sober assessment deemed the boy a marvel.
“Can such a thing even exist?”
Aura User, Expert, Sword Master.
Why distinguish realms? Accumulated aura, honed swordsmanship, fortified body, spiritual enlightenment.
A swordsman ascends to Sword Expert or Master only when these elements stack into a towering edifice.
But this boy defied that from the start.
An overwhelming aura volume beyond even low-tier Sword Experts—let alone Aura Users.
Aura that never waned no matter how fiercely he fought—that alone shocked them.
And then...
“It's like a Sword Master with the realm stripped away. His aura control is already beyond Aura User level... if anything.”
“Yes. Astonishing.”
That was the core of their shock and disbelief.
A mere late-teens boy.
An Aura User who couldn't even form sword aura.
Yet he knew how to fight.
He perfectly grasped his strengths and weaknesses, minimizing flaws while maximizing advantages to crush foes.
Easier said than done—even the man, once hailed as Mielephon's genius, hadn't pulled that off as an Aura User.
“Could you have done it, sir?”
“Me? Heh, you rascal.”
The old man chuckled heartily, then slowly sobered.
“That's a product that denies every theory of the sword across the continent. Even I'm just a swordsman following the path laid by our forebears.”
“So comparison is pointless?”
“Precisely. From the outset, he's the most talented I've ever seen.”
The man's resolve shone in the elder's fervent gaze.
The Sword Saint, long without an apprentice, was about to gain one.
Those eyes burned with the passion to teach the boy personally.
He didn't consider the possibility of refusal.
Osberg Mielephon—the idol and goal of all swordsmen.
Even nations hostile to the empire paid him homage.
Youths across empires and kingdoms vied to be his disciple.
“Do you plan to take him as your apprentice?”
“Yes. Never thought I'd find something I crave so fiercely at my age.”
“But... will that be alright? He seems at odds with Tibel Cascadia.”
As the man said.
Osberg had obtained Demon Realm access from Tibel Cascadia, the count regent, under the count's authority.
In other words, he was aligned with Tibel.
Would the boy and girl see him fondly from their side?
Not a chance.
“Heh. They say Tibel holds the count's authority, but succession clearly isn't settled.”
“Did Tibel deceive us, then?”
“No. From today's events, he'll soon push those two aside and solidify his claim.”
The access granted now would become fully legitimate upon becoming Border Count anyway.
The issue was that the current permit might not yet hold full sway.
“Sir, Tibel might not want you involved after this.”
Osberg snorted dismissively.
“We're mere foreigners. No reason or right to meddle in kingdom affairs.”
“True. But he might demand compensation as pretext. If so, the kingdom learns of your presence, and so does the Mielephon house.”
“Heh. Just hearing it gives me a headache.”
Best to slip in and out quietly without entanglements.
“But.”
“Please, sir, don't stir up an incident. If it sparks an international crisis, His Majesty will have you for breakfast.”
“What can he do when a master aids his disciple? This was our pact with the emperor.”
“The boy isn't your disciple yet. And frankly, his brutality gives me pause.”
Osberg laughed heartily at the question.
“It can seem cruel. But you can't judge until you've met him, locked eyes, and spoken.”
“We're already foes anyway. Hard to paint him as a mere killer. Still, even if he accepts...”
Sword Saint Osberg Mielephon remained unperturbed.
“I'm one of the continent's top swordsmen, aren't I? Who'd refuse such a master...?”
[Sorry, but I must decline.]
Two days later, when the sleeping boy awoke.
That was the first reply Osberg heard from him.
Sleep itself had been a profound trauma, leaving me unable to rest properly.
The solution was simple.
First, fall asleep somehow.
Second, realize it's safe to do so.
No telling if it'd cure me overnight, but persistence would yield progress eventually.
I figured I'd drift off dreamless.
But.
When I came to after dozing off, I found myself amid Labyrinthos's scenery.
Wait, this can't be happening.
Labyrinthos vanished, didn't it?
Never to return. No one could enter.
My limbs trembled, rage surging.
“Hey, Librarian.”
I sought the first thing to tear into, but no answer came.
Instead.
[Red Moon]
Red Moon?
I looked up at the floating text toward the crimson sky, spotting the eerie red moon like a glaring eye.
The bizarre moon ever-present since my first visit to Labyrinthos.
[Prepare for the Red Moon.]
“Prepare for what? What the hell is this? Why am I here...?”
[Prepare for the Red Moon.]
[Prepare for the Red Moon.]
[Prepare for the Red Moon.]
[Prepare for the Red Moon.]
The same phrase repeated endlessly, filling every direction—like a broken machine grinding down one's sanity.
[Good luck. This time, you must succeed.]
With those words, the surroundings shifted in an instant.
“Gah!!”
I jolted upright, gasping in my familiar room.
“Hoo... hoo... what a fucked-up dream.”
At least it wasn't Labyrinthos-level hell this time.
“Ah... I want ice cream.”
The mental fatigue that had gnawed at me was gone; my body felt refreshed, lighter than before.
Memories from my past and present lives sharpened into crystal clarity.
[You are almost ready to receive the memories of the Third Hall.]
The third?
I pondered asking the Librarian about the dream but shook my head.
Probably just nonsense.
Otherwise, it'd have mentioned it outright.
“What happens if I take it now?”
[Not in perfect condition: risk of severe physical strain and mental fragmentation.]
“Then we'll do it when ready. No point wrecking my body when I've got enough to handle already.”
[Understood.]
For now, sword and fists alone suffice to cling to life.
Anyway, I've reached the point where I can break through to Sword Expert with the right mindset.
Well-fed, aura fully attuned to my body—this should be straightforward.
If I push a bit, I could even shatter Sword Master barrier...