The Weight of Unanswered Questions
The aftermath of the battle left a single, fundamental question rising in his mind: Why?
Why were they here? In a place where no one should be, what purpose had brought them together to perform that ritual?
Demon King worshippers.
Heretics who longed for the ancient era when the Demon King had first appeared, offering their bodies and souls to hasten his return. They desecrated peace and despised heroes. The memory of their human sacrifices and endless sabotage, all under the guise of dreaming of a new age, remained bitterly etched in Hwian’s mind.
It had been two years since the prophecy of the Demon King’s resurrection. They weren’t yet operating as boldly as the average cult, but that didn’t change the fact that the longer one left them alone, the more troublesome they became.
Did they follow Ernest here? Or was it a coincidence?
Hwian adjusted his grip on his sword and turned the question over in his head.
Should he eliminate them? …Yes. He should.
He had never seen anything good come from getting involved with Demon King worshippers. Whatever their purpose in surrounding the mithril like this, it was clearly nothing wholesome.
As for whether they had any connection to the Second Prince staying in this village, that could wait until after he broke a few limbs and interrogated them.
Eight, nine… Exactly ten. Leaving two alive for questioning should be enough.
Having finished his calculations, Hwian exhaled deeply. He checked his blade and stirred his mana.
Is this even possible?
Despite the power boiling inside him, Hwian tilted his head with a somewhat uncertain expression.
It wasn’t that he thought he might lose. Not even for a second.
No matter how grandly they called themselves Demon King worshippers, at their core they were nothing but fanatics. Whether in terms of mana or raw combat ability, there was no chance Hwian would be overpowered.
His real concern was simply whether interrogation would even be feasible.
More precisely—whether he could take any of them alive.
Could he really subdue these disgusting creatures, who sat somewhere between rats and cockroaches, without killing them?
…I don’t know. I’ll just have to try.
Unable to find an answer, Hwian shook his head. He cut his thoughts short, drew in a deep breath, and pressed himself flat against the stone pillar, erasing his presence to the absolute limit.
Then, in the next instant—
He kicked off the ground with a thunderous BOOM!! and shot forward.
“…! Enemy attack! Enemy attack!!”
“Hup—!”
One unusually quick-reacting fanatic raised his voice in response to Hwian’s charge. Hwian ignored him completely and swung his sword with all his strength at the man directly in front of him.
“Guhk…”
One.
The fanatic died without even time to utter a proper death cry. Hwian tore his gaze from the blood that sprayed a beat too late and swept his sword in the opposite direction.
Two…
“Scatter!!”
Blood cascaded like waterfalls from both sides, soaking Hwian’s blade and body in sticky crimson. Beyond the unpleasant heat, he clicked his tongue at the fanatics who were already beginning to spread out with alarming speed.
Their movements were still fast. And they moved in perfect coordination, like a single organism.
“Stop his movements!!”
Purple mana flickered beneath the robes of several figures who had frozen in place.
Immediately after, several chains flew toward him with a metallic shrrrrk! Hwian lightly dodged the classic binding spell from both sides and drove his sword straight into another fanatic’s heart.
“Cough…!”
Three. …Tsk, they’re running.
Among the desperately fighting fanatics, two figures fled without the slightest hesitation.
The central figure of the ritual. Or perhaps high-ranking cultists.
They were most likely to possess the most valuable information.
Hwian yanked his sword free, about to give chase, when—
“…Ugh?!”
“Hee hee hee…!”
The third fanatic, whose heart had been pierced, absurdly grabbed onto his arm.
A middle-aged man grinned maniacally as blood poured from his mouth. Taking advantage of the opening, two more fanatics charged from behind Hwian with daggers raised.
“Tsk…! This is exactly why I hate you people…!!”
He shook off the gripping hand and forcibly twisted his sword free. Turning away from the man who continued to cackle even while vomiting blood, Hwian swung downward with brutal force.
“Five…. Ugh!”
The fifth fanatic, stabbed through the chest, collapsed and drove his dagger into the top of Hwian’s foot.
Even as his death was assured, the man died laughing with glee, as if simply planting the blade had been the greatest joy of his life.
Before Hwian could even steady himself, he spotted another robed figure in the distance preparing another spell.
“There’s no end to you!!”
He ducked under the black chains that came flying with a shrrrrk!, gritted his teeth, and ripped the dagger out of his foot.
“Hup…!”
“Gah!”
“S-six!”
He hurled the pulled-out dagger with all his might, piercing the sixth fanatic through the forehead.
Four remained. The two who had seemed highest in rank had already fled far into the distance.
Deciding he had no choice but to capture the remaining two, Hwian ignored the pain in his foot and accelerated once more.
“Hi…!?”
The speed of Hwian’s charge, like a wild beast, finally painted the face beneath the seventh fanatic’s robe with panic. Without mercy, Hwian swung low and severed the man’s legs.
“Ghk!?”
“Seven. Good. You stay put like a nice boy.”
The final, eighth fanatic immediately swung a dagger down from the side. Hwian deflected it lightly with his sword, then reached out with his other hand and clamped down hard on the man’s thick neck.
“Guhk! You insolent wretch before His Majesty the Demon King…!”
“Eight…. Haa, this is exhausting. Let’s make this easy for both of us. You’ve got a mouth, don’t you? Spit out what you were doing here.”
“The ancient beings who walk beside His Majesty the Demon King will never let you get away with this…”
“What were you planning to do with the mithril? And how did you even know about this place?”
“Ahhh, the glorious age is right before our eyes…!”
Even as white foam bubbled from his lips due to the choking grip, the fanatic continued to giggle and cackle like a madman.
The conversation was utterly incoherent. Hwian’s face twisted in frustration.
“We’re not getting anywhere.”
“Cough. Anyone who interferes with our sacred wish shall never escape divine punishment…”
“Haa, what am I supposed to do with you…—!?”
Interrogation was not his area of expertise. As Hwian debated whether he should knock the man unconscious and drag him outside, the fanatic suddenly spoke again.
“Thus shall we all reach paradise.”
Crack.
The fanatic bit down on something hidden in his molars.
“You son of a—!”
Hwian hastily threw the man away and dove behind a stone pillar. A few seconds later—
A deafening BOOM!! shook the cavern.
It was a massive explosion strong enough to rattle the entire cave.
“…Nothing ever goes right.”
Amid the trembling air, fine stone dust pattered down. When the aftershock finally faded, Hwian—now covered head to toe in sticky blood—let out a hollow sigh.
Perhaps he had grown too accustomed to peaceful days. He had failed to react to several attacks he should have been able to handle. In the end, all that remained was the clinging blood and the wound piercing his foot.
With a deep sigh, Hwian wiped the blood from his sword using the inside of his clothes.
A disappointing result.
It took quite a long time to limp back outside because of his throbbing foot.
The sunset sky was visible beyond the distant exit. Hwian walked with a sour expression, limping with every step.
In the end, he hadn’t managed to learn why they had gathered in a place like that. Not only that, he had even let the two who seemed most important escape.
For an ambush he had launched with such confidence, the results were embarrassingly poor.
“Haa…. Still, the breeze feels nice.”
As he approached the exit, a cool wind brushed against his cheeks. Stepping fully outside, he saw that the entrance was far cleaner than when he had first entered.
An orange sky. Ochre-colored earth.
The patients who had been screaming in agony were gone without a trace. The blood-soaked ground had been washed clean, now damp and spotless as if someone had sprinkled water over it.
It was a drastic change for only a few hours to have passed.
As Hwian widened his eyes in surprise—
“H-Hero?!”
Serena’s voice reached him.
When he turned his head, he saw a girl in pure white sitting and waiting right beside the mine entrance.
The moment she spotted Hwian emerging from the tunnel, Serena jumped to her feet and came running toward him with quick, light steps. Paying no mind to his filthy clothes, she grabbed him with an expression that was equal parts panic and worry, then guided him to sit in the shade.
“Are you alright?! There’s so much b-blood…”
“Hm? …Ah, this? It’s not mine. I ran into some bandit-like people inside—”
“Even so! Are you hurt anywhere? Oh no, you’re bleeding from your foot too…. Just wait a moment. I’ll treat you first.”
“…It really isn’t anything serious.”
She knelt right in front of him, diligently examining his wounds. Even though her clothes were stained with dust, her pure white hair still shone brilliantly. The sight made a chuckle slip out of him before he could stop it. Witnessing such pure innocence—so far removed from madness—felt strangely healing.
The mana flowing from her staff seeped into his injuries.
The mine staff who arrived late poured a bucket of water over him to wash away the blood coating his body.
“Ugh, that’s a deep wound. It must hurt…”
“…”
“It must have been hard facing them alone inside. I’m sorry. I should have gone with you after all…”
“You’re saying some ridiculous things.”
Treating the patients outside couldn’t have been easy either. Healing more than a dozen severely injured people in an environment thick with flying dust was no small feat.
When he turned his head, he saw the miners in the distance exchanging lighthearted jokes. In an atmosphere that had become peaceful, the day’s earlier horrors nowhere to be seen, Serena—the one most responsible for that peace—sat with her head bowed, looking terribly apologetic. Did she not realize how remarkable her accomplishment was?
A small laugh escaped him.
“Pour some water on my hands. I want to wash the blood off.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Hero?”
He asked one of the mine staff to help rinse the blood from his hands.
Once his hands were clean, he reached out and gently placed one on top of Serena’s soft hair.
“…? Hero?”
“It’s nothing. You did well. …It must have been your first time dealing with something like this, but you worked hard.”
It was a compliment that carried genuine sincerity. Truthfully, Hwian had not believed she would be able to endure this environment. The Serena he had observed until now had been the very picture of purity; he had expected her to collapse helplessly before the screams and bloodshed. But look around. She had succeeded. And in the eyes of the miners waving at them from afar, there was clear gratitude and respect.
Unlike himself, Serena had carried out her role admirably. A faint sense of admiration rose within him. If she refused to acknowledge her own merits, then he would simply praise her in her place.
At Hwian’s unusually gentle tone, Serena’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Uh, umm…”
Caught off guard by the unexpected praise and the gentle pat on her head, she fumbled for a response, cheeks growing slightly pink with embarrassment.
She really is like a retriever.
The sensation of someone else treating his wounds still felt somewhat unfamiliar. The softness of her hair tangled between his fingers was pleasant.
Amid that unfamiliarity and gentleness, Hwian felt a subtle tickling warmth. He quietly closed his eyes.
The blowing breeze felt wonderful.