Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: The True Blind Man
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He thought it was plenty possible.
No big deal, just candidates.
If they were from the main family, there was no way he wouldn't know about them.
That meant until recently, they were ordinary folk who didn't even know about Demorus's blood, and even if not, nobodies he'd never heard of, so he figured it was fine.
But that was ignorance.
Crack.
He hadn't known he was stuck in some rural backwater for so long.
He hadn't known most candidates didn't move until they reached the midpoint.
That was why he'd never even heard their names.
Stab!
The price of ignorance.
And yet, he still thought it was possible.
"You have talent."
The expectations he'd received even before awakening Demorus's blood.
"Do you want to become a flash of lightning?"
The expectations after awakening that blood.
He believed that proved he was truly a person of value.
So someone like him...
"...Why."
Shouldn't lose to anyone in speed.
"Why-..."
Kindra thought so.
"If you've been wronged, pay it back."
"Repay favors never, but grudges tenfold."
Philosophy ingrained from growing up in the back alleys.
He meant to live it out.
He'd lost his eyes, so he aimed to take a life.
"Why can't I see?"
But it was just as the guy said.
"Why..."
He was the blind one.
Thanks to Rasiel's help, he'd regained his lost sight, but still, he was blind.
"Arghhh!"
Screams echoed.
They were candidates gathered to target Sein.
"Ugh, ugh...""S-Spare me..."
Half of them already lay dead, writhing on the ground.
"Speed starts with sight."
His dynamic vision, which he'd trusted more than anyone's.
Himself, whom he'd thought could become faster than anyone.
But he really was blind.
Stab!
He couldn't even catch a glimpse of Sein's movements.
All he saw were afterimages.
If all he could see were blurry shadows, wasn't he blind, just like the guy said?
It happened in an instant.
"......"
The noisy screams faded away.
Not even the pleas for life from his peers reached his ears.
Crackle, crackle.
All that came was the noise of the dark orc village burning.
Whoosh!
Nothing else.
"See? I told you."
A voice.
Whoosh! Kindra whipped his head around at the voice from behind.
Only then did he see it for the first time.
Wipe.
Sein wiping the blood from his face.
"You're blind, I said?""......""What's the point of superior dynamic vision? You still can't see shit in the end."
"O..."
He staggered back.
"Your vision's trapped in that narrow mindset of yours. That's proof you're blind.""D-Don't... come closer."
Kindra, who had survived and earned recognition thanks to his superior eyesight.
"Why?"
But now he realized that being able to see could be a curse.
"Do you miss when your eyes were blind?"
Sein's face right in front of him.
Snow-white hair, blazing eyes, bared fangs.
Tremble.
It was a terror greater than any Kindra had ever felt.
"Tough call."
Sein said.
"It's shattered completely. Maybe I should let you live."
Kindra would never defy him again.
The guy's speed had real potential.
Considering his guardians or the future, taking him in wouldn't be bad.
"P-Please..."
"Nah."
Stab!
Sein didn't.
"You're broken beyond use."
Sein's hand pierced Kindra's chest.
That was the end.
Slump.
Kindra slumped like the other candidates who'd targeted Sein.
"I get the gist now."
Sein said quietly, tossing Kindra's body aside like trash.
And then.
Humm-!
Dark fragments began rising from the dead candidates' bodies.
Blessing shards.
The moment Sein reached out, they were sucked away like into a sewer, vanishing without a trace.
"And why I can't use them yet? Yeah, I get that too."
A bountiful harvest.
*
*
*
They'd been scared of the name "dark orc," yet gained confidence from "Demorus."
Daughters of lords, sons of blacksmiths, children of villagers—they'd all been intoxicated by their newfound power.
And this was...
"Ah... Aaaah!"
The result.
Charging into the dark orc village without proper preparation.
Though fewer than regular orcs, the name "children of darkness" carried weight beyond numbers.
The candidates had thought they'd seized the advantage at first.
But as the battle dragged on...
"We have to run..."
A bit later...
"We have to run...! Gah!"
They witnessed true terror.
Some had never even killed before.
In this world of blood and flesh, they were greenhorns who didn't know what it meant to kill or be killed.
"Spare me... Spare me..."
So facing monsters that only slaughtered, chewing on allies' flesh, they could only freeze.
Slash!
Then Roberta cut down another dark orc.
Boom!
Sis's Hellflare shattered several more.
"Get it together!"
Sis's voice rang out.
"Stay put and you're dead anyway!"
Blood-soaked Sis.
Not just relying on Hellflare, he wielded a long sword, parrying a dark orc's glaive while shouting.
"Do something, damn it!"
Slash and slash, kill and kill.
That was the only way to survive.
"Kill them, you idiots!"
Sis screamed in desperation.
Total wipeout loomed if this continued.
They had to choose.
Fight to the end, embracing death?
Or run?
The first meant most candidates' lives as the price.
The second...
Gulp.
Crushing defeat and scorn would follow.
Arrogant from the start, massive losses on the first mission.
Then the party leader who'd skipped this would gain the upper hand.
"Sis."
Roberta said, slicing another dark orc.
"It's decision time.""......"
Sis gritted his teeth.
"Huff..."
He was about to speak, thinking it better to aim for another chance than lose everything.
"What a mess here too."
Heads turned naturally at the familiar voice.
And the cost of such distractions on the battlefield.
"Grroooar!"
Was paid dearly, though they didn't know it yet.
A glaive flying at Sis's face.
Sis swung his sword desperately to deflect it, but too late.
Dark orcs, children of darkness, were faster and stronger than expected. His hasty swing...
Clang!
Clashed with the glaive, lost power, and bounced away.
As the rusted blade closed in...
"Well, at least plenty left. Good thing."
The voice from before rang right in front.
He should have heard his face being smashed.
Crunch! But the sound came from the enemy.
A glowing green hand crushed the dark orc's skull.
"Sein... Demorus."
"Why? Happy to see me?"
The madman with a grinning face.
He appeared on the battlefield.
*
*
*
"Fall back."
A small voice, but it rang clear.
"You, you, you. Stick together."
Casual speech, hardly fitting a commander.
"You idiot. Grip your sword tighter."
But the changes from those flippant words were immediate.
Candidates who'd only been pushed back began advancing.
Like at the start.
"Move, you idiots."
Changes emerged under Sein's command.
'We can do this.'
A shared thought in the candidates' minds.
'We can survive.'
Hope.
They'd had the power to face dark orcs from the beginning.
No matter their birth or upbringing, the blessings from awakening their blood...
Crunch!
Were straight-up cheat-level abilities.
They'd just panicked, failed to perform.
Slash!
They had the skill.
Sein had merely coaxed it out with a few words.
So the real biggest hope for the candidates was elsewhere.
"Man, hope they give lots of EXP."
Sein.
"Been a while. Let's see a slaughter."
He stood at the front, swinging his sword.
Carelessly swung, yet it sliced through multiple dark orcs at once.
Aura neither long nor excessive, but its power rivaled blessings.
Crunch!
Taking the greatest risk at the forefront.
Slash!
With Sein butchering enemies up front.
"Die! You fucking bastards!"
Candidates surged forward in near-mad exhilaration.
Glaives charging? No fear.
Clang! Another candidate blocked it.
"Hold your sword." Sein's voice pierced ears at key moments, like an absolute god's command.
Clang! Follow it, and attacks were parried.
"Swing."
Enemies shattered and fell.
"......" And from the rear, watching it all.
"The caliber..."
Sis watched Sein with a complicated expression.
"...is different."
He'd investigated Sein before.
Said to have taken over Chichiron's back alleys before age ten.
Impossible even in a remote backwater.
Then the feats after leaving Chichiron.
And...
"......" His guardian.
'The Witch.'
He'd heard, but couldn't believe.
The Witch herself had chosen and moved for him.
But seeing this scene, he had no choice but to accept.
'There was a reason she chose him.'
A monster.
"Like... the Witch." Or maybe beyond.
The thick darkness, gray skies intensified.
Darkness unrelenting, yet the sun rose beyond.
Dawn was breaking.
And...
"Hoo. Refreshing."
It ended.
Dark orc village.
Over a hundred dark orcs fell to the candidates—no, to Sein's hands.