Was it really that what you thought?
Just a few seconds from now, Megan would slit my throat.
But this was only one possible future among countless others. With calm handling, I could still flip the script.
Timing.
3.
2.
1.
The moment I sensed the twitch of Megan’s forearm muscles through the Nature Realm, I snatched a sword from my inventory and swung back in perfect counter.
Megan’s blade closed in faster than my eyes could track, yet my one-beat advantage let me parry it just in time.
But parrying alone was useless.
Megan Astorius stood at the absolute peak of humanity. Left like this, my sword would be shattered to pieces against his brute strength and all those overflowing effects.
Still, I held the power to overturn even that overwhelming gap.
Counterattack!
“How unfortunate~”
I flung Megan’s incoming slash aside like water, then drove the counter straight at his chest with everything I had.
“......!”
Megan’s face twisted in shock; he jerked backward hard. My blade sliced only empty air, missing his swift retreat by a hair.
“Hmm, is this a one-on-one situation? Draw, then?”
“You… who exactly are you? Why is a monster like you pretending to be Shina’s friend and hiding at Luin Academy?”
Megan gripped his sword tighter and glared down at me.
Yet no future attack on me appeared, so I casually returned the blade to my inventory and answered smoothly.
“Hmm, calling a perfectly normal person a monster sounds rather rude, doesn’t it?”
“Stop with the pretense. I’ve spent half my life carving demon heads off my sword. I can smell the stench of malice rolling off you. It’s even faintly present on that blue-haired girl standing beside you… but you’re off the charts. What the hell are you?”
I shrugged my shoulders at his question.
“Shina’s first friend and the second son of the Frelia family—Shion Frelia.”
“…You dare mock me with such nonsense? Do you really think you can escape my blade?”
“Pfft.”
A laugh escaped me.
“…Laughing?”
“Heh, I didn’t plan to, but your tone is just too hilarious…”
I kept chuckling and asked, “Megan, you’re operating under one major misconception.”
I pointed straight at his sword.
“With that blade of yours, nothing in the world can be changed.”
Megan’s brows furrowed. In a low voice he replied, “You have no idea what kind of weight this sword carries. The hope of humanity is etched into it, and no one like you has the right to belittle it.”
“Hmm? In my eyes it looks lighter than a feather. Would you like to test it?”
I strolled forward, stopping right in front of him.
“What are you—?”
Then.
-[damage] HP
“……You’ve lost it.”
Megan muttered it under his breath.
“Hmm, I can see how you’d think that. After all, stabbing your own heart with a sword isn’t something a normal person would do. But wait.”
I flashed a mocking smile at him.
“Isn’t that exactly what you do too, Megan?”
“What?”
“You’re the kind of human who slashes the necks of every living being you’ve decided is evil, no matter what life they’ve lived. A blind fool who has no clue what future disasters his actions will unleash. Isn’t that a pitiful existence, Megan?”
Megan’s face hardened for a moment, then he shook his head.
“……There are no good demons. I’ve wandered the world for countless years; I know that better than anyone.”
At his answer I snorted a laugh.
“You’re talking nonsense. You know nothing.”
I stared straight into his blue eyes and continued, “Do you know the story of the demon who gladly opened paths for lost travelers in the Dark Forest?”
That would be the Dark Forest NPC Berkan, who personally guided every lost soul through the forest.
Megan knew nothing about that kind-hearted guide.
“Do you know the story of the demon who willingly offered a healing hand to a wounded soldier on the battlefield?”
An unknown demon soldier on the front lines who shared his potions with dying allies.
Megan knew nothing about that compassionate demon soldier.
“Do you know the story of the village where demons who accidentally stepped on human feet still treated them with kindness, shared food and water, and sent them on their way?”
The kind village of Parkin, filled with demons who greeted errant players with warm hospitality.
Megan knew nothing about that gentle demon village.
“Of course you know nothing about any of them.”
I jabbed a finger into his chest.
“Because you never listen to their stories. You simply crush lives however you please, following your own madness as a lunatic slaughterer.”
“……Shut up.”
“While you’re being praised as a hero by everyone, you really are something else.”
I opened my eyes—eyes I had kept tightly shut until now—and sneered at him.
“Happy times, you hypocrite.”
The instant my eyes opened, Megan’s body jerked. He took a step back.
And with that, my form let out a sharp “pang~” before crumbling into drifting leaves that scattered into the air.
Naturally, I had never been chasing Megan at all. I had been nothing but a clone the entire time.
Recalling my Tao Power from the scattered fragments, I summoned fresh clones right in front of him again.
Yet what gave me a chill was that Megan had watched every movement of my Tao Power with his own two eyes the entire time I recalled and recreated it.
Even someone like Megan could sense the existence of Tao Power.
“See? With your sword you can’t change a single thing, can you? Not even a pick like me, who looks like he’s about to collapse, can stop your breath. That’s exactly why your act of pretending to be the world’s judge of good and evil is so laughably absurd, isn’t it?”
“……What is it you want to say?”
I shrugged again.
“Whatever I say to you, you’ll never change anyway. So I won’t demand much. Just one small thing: maybe one day you’ll wonder if the very concept of ‘good’ you chase is truly right. If you don’t want to bother, that’s fine too. An 8-Star Transcendent won’t force anyone.”
Megan answered in silence—no agreement, no refusal.
It wasn’t exactly the reaction I wanted, but it wasn’t the worst either. I was satisfied enough to end it here.
“Then, Megan, let me give you a warning about what lies ahead while we’re alone like this.”
“Go ahead.”
“In just a few hours, this Luin Academy will face an unprecedented mass assault. Five 7-Star Transcendents and seven 6-Star Transcendents, plus an uncountable number of lesser forces.”
“……What?”
Megan’s face darkened.
“That’s impossible. There’s no reason for such overwhelming power to target Luin Academy.”
“No reason? Look right here.”
I pointed straight at him.
“Every single soldier in that army harbors hatred toward you. They’ve spilled tears of blood because of your indiscriminate slaughter, and they’re coming to pay you back in kind.”
“……”
“So keep your eyes wide open. You never know when or where you’ll be ambushed. Stay on high alert at all times. If you fall, Luin Academy falls with you.”
“……Are you part of that group too?”
Megan shot me a sharp glare.
“No way. Logically, would I warn you if I were your enemy? I may not fully understand their feelings, but their methods are far beyond flawed. I have zero intention of joining them.”
“Then what will you do when the attack actually begins?”
“I’ll gather with Shina and the others and fight together. It’s the best way to protect her and the rest of my friends.”
“……That means today, at least, you’re not my enemy. Your stench of malice remains thick, but under the circumstances…”
A faint smile crept across my lips as I scratched the back of my head.
“You actually listened and decided to turn over a new leaf? I didn’t expect you to change this fast. I’m a little pleased.”
“Stop with the empty talk. I just decided it’s safer for Shina’s sake to keep you alive today.”
“As if.”
“Then I’ll be taking my leave. Make sure you remember every word I’ve spoken today.”
With my piece finished, I prepared to dissolve the clone.
But at that exact moment.
“Stop.”
Megan halted me.