A Single Stroke Against Chaos
As the illusion crumbled, I was finally able to return to reality.
A happy dream spun from the fabric of my own memories. I had nearly failed to escape it.
But had the black mass never confirmed that I knew Hades's true nature?
It had played a disastrous hand by bringing a Demi-Lich into the picture.
If it had been Marianne instead, I might actually have fallen for it…
Either way, tasting the abyss had let me break free of that false world—and with that freedom came a surge of fury toward the Evil Beast that had so thoroughly screwed me over.
But first, I needed to grasp the situation.
"Where is this?"
"The dog that leapt from the shadows swallowed you whole and dragged you back to its nest. By the time we arrived, that black mass was already clamped over your head."
"Whew…!"
Relief washed over me at the knowledge that Lin and Rene were safe.
"So I was the only one taken…"
Setting Hades's appearance aside, the world inside the illusion had been sweet.
But if the real world had been descending into catastrophe in the meantime?
The moment I woke from the dream, I might have gone past anger and simply lost my mind on the spot.
"So all that's left is to deal with that mutt, then?"
"As it happens, while you were lying motionless, this body discerned the creature's identity from its appearance alone."
"Didn't you say you'd never seen one of the Four Evil Beasts?"
"I have heard more than enough rumors to sicken of them. A canine body sheathed in pitch-black hide, six eyes and six legs, a mouth split wide from side to side—its true name is Chaos. An Evil Beast that seeks to sow turmoil across the world."
I had never imagined I would face a legendary creature I had only ever heard of by name.
Unlike any ordinary animal, its form was closer to that of a monstrous beast.
Even before the fight began, its presence pressed down on me with raw intimidation.
"Grrrr…!"
Chaos was baring open hostility in our direction.
Acidic drool dripped from its jaws as it growled in threat—looking ready to lunge and tear me apart at any second.
"Weaknesses?"
"The Four Evil Beasts have no such thing. That is precisely what left the first Demon King equal parts awed and despairing."
She had prepared a means that could reliably kill a Hero—yet in the end she could not control it.
She had been forced to clean up the mess with her own hands, and the process had clearly been a nightmare.
Power you cannot master is nothing more than a bomb waiting to go off.
And now I was the one who had to fight that bomb.
"Fight with everything you have. Without that, you will not win."
Feels like I'm sitting for some kind of exam.
"A similar principle. This is an opponent against whom you must use every power you have gained thus far."
Good. That's exactly what I wanted.
I had never been able to gauge my own level.
I had only ever held the goal of becoming strong enough to stand beside a dragon.
That was why I needed an opponent who could force me to measure my strength objectively.
Just as the fight with Leviathan had fizzled out and left me with nothing but regret, another opportunity had arrived.
This time it was no mock battle—it was a duel to the death. A single match with my life on the line.
"No point delaying. Let's go right now."
Keeping my eyes locked on Chaos, I walked slowly forward.
Shiiing.
I drew Frach from her scabbard, steeling my will to take the creature's head.
The distance between Chaos and me was roughly three hundred meters.
That number meant nothing.
"KROOOOOOAAAH!"
A majestic roar thundered out as if it would tear the cave free of the earth itself.
I blinked—and Chaos was already right in front of me in a single bound.
The claws on the legs sprouting from its shoulders flared as it hurtled toward me.
Clang—!
I swung Frach and knocked aside the claw from the right.
The one from the left I slipped past with a slight twist of my body.
Stepping as if in a dance, I drove into Chaos's guard and cut—but the beast simply drew its body back and evaded with ease.
"So that ends the probing…"
Chaos and I had each taken a measure of the other, trading one exchange of pure physical combat without any abilities. The real fight started now.
"Krrng!"
Chaos began racing around me at a speed the eye could not follow.
It seemed to possess some shadow-related power, vanishing into the darkness and reappearing at will.
It moved with blistering speed, sowing chaos through its own path of motion.
"So you want to settle this with speed?"
Then I would answer in a different way.
I kicked off the ground and shot forward in a straight line.
A reckless charge that risked collision—yet it carried me clear of the encirclement Chaos had woven all around me.
Without stopping, I formed a magic circle above my palm.
"Reverse Gravity."
⟨ Gravity Reversal ⟩
Space flipped. My body floated lightly upward.
Winds wrapped around my entire form as I landed softly on the ceiling.
Chaos, for its part, executed a full midair spin and settled onto the ceiling as well.
"Gruk!"
"You won't be able to move freely now."
Unlike the flat floor, the ceiling was crowded with stalactites.
It would no longer be able to dart about as easily as before.
Of course, my own movement would be restricted too—but that hardly mattered.
As I was now, I could cut through the stalactites and Chaos beyond them alike.
"Let's keep going…!"
Frach's runes blazed with pitch-black light.
The dark sword-aura enveloping the blade began to shear through everything in every direction.
I swung my arm with everything I had, launching that razor-edged energy outward.
"Grrng!"
"Not so fast…!"
Chaos bunched power into its hind legs, preparing to leap clear of the sword-aura.
But the gravity across this entire area was already in my grasp.
I intensified it another degree, crushing Chaos's body hard against the stone.
For a brief instant I was certain the cut had landed cleanly.
Crunch—!
Chaos opened its jaws wide and bit down hard on the sword-aura rushing toward it.
In the end the black energy only nicked its cheek before scattering apart.
Watching that, I was left utterly speechless.
"Sword-aura can just… be bitten out of existence?"
"Your opponent is one of the infamous Four Evil Beasts. Do not forget—it is a being that defies common sense."
"Then I'll just have to prepare a much bigger hit."
"You intend to use Blood Magic?"
"Last time I went through all the preparation and never even got to use it, remember?"
"Leviathan was so massive it was easy to land. This opponent is different. Large by human standards, yes—but far too swift to hit cleanly."
"It's fine. If I use it the moment things get razor-close, it's a guaranteed hit."
"This body would prefer its Contractor take better care of himself…"
Even as she scolded me, Frach respected my will.
The runes carved into her blade flashed crimson, sparks leaping along the steel—proof that she had pushed her output to the absolute maximum.
"KROAAAAAAH!"
Sensing the danger, Chaos let out a monstrous cry and charged.
It smashed through every stalactite in its path, barreling straight toward me in a single line.
Fragments of shattered stone skimmed past my forehead and the corner of my mouth, drawing blood.
The wounds stung, but I gritted my teeth against the pain and settled calmly into my stance.
"Are you ready?"
Yeah.
"Once this is over, the strain on your body will be severe. You will be unable to move for some time. Are you truly certain?"
"Doesn't matter. I plan to end it with this one strike."
My vision gradually flooded with crimson. My heart hammered wildly; my breath grew short and ragged.
Every drop of blood in my body spun like a whirlpool, and the coppery stench of it filled my nose.
"Hss…! Hah…!"
I drew a deep breath, let it out, and fixed my gaze straight ahead.
Chaos stared back with blazing blue eyes, razor fangs bared.
But my focus was locked on something else entirely—not the mad dog itself.
A hair-thin white line, splitting space in half like a horizon.
That pure white seam was slowly spreading outward in every direction, like roots taking hold.
I clenched Frach's hilt and thrust my arm forward.
Before the blood streaming from my forehead could blind me—before Chaos's claws could shred my body to pieces—
I swung the sword through empty air with every ounce of strength I possessed.
"Kroaaa…ah?"
Chaos's foot was a hair's breadth from stomping down on me at point-blank range.
I turned my back on it without the slightest defense.
Anyone watching would have called me insane.
But there was no problem. Of course there wasn't—I had already cut.
Crack-crack-crack!
The sound of ice fracturing rang out from every direction. At the same time, my vision warped.
Space twisted, beginning to slip out of alignment piece by piece.
Shatter—!
As Frach's runes faded, the torn space ruptured.
Chaos's body shattered like a broken mirror, scattering into countless fragments that whirled through the air.
The demonic beast created by the first Demon King collapsed to the floor without so much as a single scream.
My strike had claimed its life.
"It's over."
Darkness began to creep in at the edges of my sight.
The recoil from the blow that had severed space was finally catching up to me.
Strength drained from my body; my consciousness blurred in an instant.
A little rest should be fine…
And with that, my world briefly went black.