The Crimson Barrier
Ten minutes before Jena reached Carix.
"This is boring."
Princess Lilith had joined the third group's practical exercise—not in her usual dress, but in comfortable attire consisting of trousers, a shirt, and a sturdy vest. "You should have listened to the young duke, Your Highness."
Jena stood faithfully at her side as always. At her liege's grumbling—sitting idly in a five-person group, merely observing the other students—she let out a soft chuckle.
"Did I expect this? I heard that man was actually participating, so I came along out of curiosity. I never imagined they'd split the entire first-year class into three teams."
At the faintly mocking tone, Lilith puffed out her cheeks and recalled the events from a few days prior.
Before the practical had begun, Lilith had been circling Carix as usual, keeping watch over his activities. As always, she had been caught and invited back to his quarters. There, the young duke had spoken.
"I will be participating, but Your Highness should sit this one out."
"Eh? Why?"
"It would be dangerous given your current level of skill."
The princess revered dopamine and strength, yet her own combat ability ranked among the lowest in the academy. The kings and heirs of Valcart had always been powerful, but as a mere princess with no claim to succession, there was no reason for her to be strong. If she grew powerful, it would only spark political controversy—accusations that she sought to destabilize the established line of succession. Thus, she herself had never shown interest in martial training. More than anything, she enjoyed watching the strong; she had never once thought of becoming strong herself.
"Understood."
"Yes. Then shall we proceed with today's Leng-beating—training report?"
"Gladly!"
That was how Lilith had promised Carix she would not participate in this practical. Yet she had belatedly remembered something. The previous practical had also been one he had told her to skip—and a dangerously intriguing incident had occurred. If that was the case, then what of a practical that even Carix Valentia, who always concealed his true strength, had chosen to join despite the risks?
A man who always obtained secret information unknown even to the royal family or the Royal Knights—if he had decided to participate personally, it could only mean he had foreseen some incident. And he must have judged that if he did not handle it himself, it would interfere with his revenge. So she had quietly joined the practical to watch it unfold.
"Haa. I shouldn't have come. I've seen horned wolves before. And only eight of them? That's far too few for eighty people to fight."
"Your Highness, this is not the Monster Front. It is near the royal capital. Even eight would be a disaster threatening the lives of the common folk."
"I know. Still, boring is boring."
Having completely lost interest, Lilith sighed and turned her back on the training grounds. The students had all arrived together by caravan, but she was a princess. If she declared she was leaving, summoning a separate carriage would be trivial.
"……?"
"Hm? Jena, what's wrong?"
"…I sense an extremely alien and sinister mana."
Jena, who had been about to depart with her, suddenly pressed close and drew her sword in an instant. She whipped her head around as though enemies lurked in every direction. Lilith's heart began to race at the sight of the 2nd-class knight—now far stronger after her awakening—growing tense.
"Wait. I'll look."
Lilith's golden eyes filled with mana, converting it into magical power as she activated Clairvoyance. In an instant, her vision encompassed the entire forest and stretched to the horizon. She located the source of the sinister mana Jena had mentioned.
"Two people over there. They look like mages. They noticed my Clairvoyance and hurriedly concealed themselves."
"Surely not…"
"They must be the ones who made the young duke participate in this practical, right?"
Even if he had known dangerous individuals would appear, perhaps even Carix had not known which group they would target. To think that emotionless revenge-obsessed man could make such a mistake. Lilith's lips curled upward at the thought.
"The knights guarding me. All of you, come out."
"Your Highness. You called?"
Unlike Jena, whose senses and perception had expanded dramatically upon reaching 2nd class, the four royal knights escorting the princess on this external practical were merely bewildered by her sudden summons and Jena's tense demeanor.
"Jena. I'll be guarded by these four, so go deal with them yourself."
"Pardon?"
"Why? Don't tell me you can't win?"
"N-no, it's not that. First, we must evacuate Your Highness and the students to a safe location…"
"The knights and I will handle the evacuation. Jena, go cut them down."
"Your Highness, but…"
"I'm curious. How the young duke will react when the threat he expected—the one he thought he had to handle personally—falls first to Jena's blade… to our hands. Aren't you curious too?"
She was curious. But the princess's safety was not something to be compared to such things. Even so, Lilith did not back down.
"It looks like they're trying to do something. Not an attack spell, but activating some massive magic circle. They must have prepared for today in advance."
"Ugh! Your Highness…!"
"Jena. If you don't take them down before it activates, all the students could be in danger."
The princess smiled brightly, forcing the choice upon her. "I'll watch with Clairvoyance and guide the evacuation properly. Or do you not trust the knights here?"
Jena, the princess's personal guard, was 2nd class. The knights who had emerged from hiding—three 4th class and one 3rd class, thanks to the previous incident at the marquis's territory—were not an untrustworthy force. Still, Jena felt uneasy.
"Jena?"
"……Promise me. Promise that you will evacuate to a safe place without fail, and that you will watch from there with Clairvoyance."
"Promise~!"
Thus Jena left the princess's side, and Lilith faithfully kept her word. She instructed the knights to inform the scattered professors of the situation, then began gathering the students who had been separated from their guards and guiding them to safety.
'Faster, faster! Something feels terribly wrong…!!'
Yet Jena's 2nd-class senses and still-imperfect perception domain only fueled an inexplicable anxiety. She sprinted at full speed toward the mages who had been attempting to cast their spell. The two mages, startled by her sudden appearance, cried out with eyes wide as saucers.
"The princess's guard!?"
"This is insane—did she detect us earlier…?!!"
Jena, too, could not help but be surprised by their words. That she was the princess's guard was an extremely confidential matter for the kingdom… or rather, not quite, but it was certainly not public knowledge. Yet these men recognized her face alone and knew she served the princess—and despite that knowledge, they had been preparing something sinister. In other words, they were no different from traitors.
'Capture them and find out who is behind this… This is not the time to think about that!'
The fishy scent that scraped unpleasantly at her nose and the red magic circle before them—Jena, a knight, could immediately tell it was a sinister spell woven from blood. She could also sense that the mana within it was already on the verge of activation.
"Die…!!"
"Gurk!?"
A silver trajectory drawn without even the sound of a blade being drawn. Jena gave the mages no time to act, no moment for hesitation, and severed both their necks at once. Even then, believing they might still attempt something until their heads fell, she did not stop her sword. She severed their limbs entirely and finally pierced both corpses' hearts, skewering them.
It was such a thorough execution that Carix, had he witnessed it, would have applauded the perfect judgment and handling that left no loose ends. Yet in the instant their heads fell, Jena's gaze met theirs.
"Kihit!"
"!"
It was not a sneer of despair at their futile deaths. It was a mocking, blood-tinged smile—as though their true objective had already been achieved. Following the instincts of her 2nd-class senses, Jena instinctively turned her head.
"Damn it…!"
The magic circle drawn in blood that the mages had prepared. With their blood pouring onto it, the spell was completed, and a massive red dome-shaped barrier unfolded over the forest where the students were gathered. A twist of sequence that even Carix, with his memories of his past life, could not have known. The simple, irreversible, and terrible mistake of prioritizing the mages over destroying the magic circle first. Realizing this, Jena let out a sound that was half shout, half scream, and tried to return inside the barrier.
"Kuh!"
She struck the boundary separating the inside from the outside headfirst and collapsed.
*****
I clearly told her not to come. What on earth was that idiot princess thinking, joining the practical and getting herself involved in this mess?
'If she really didn't know, then I'm the idiot.'
She must have followed, expecting I would show off some interesting ability again during the practical. And the reason she sent even the most loyal and dependable Jena against the enemies was likely nothing more than a frivolous, impulsive burst of dopamine—wanting to see the incomprehensible strong man named Carix flustered by having her handle what he had intended to deal with himself.
"Young duke, I beg you! Please save Her Highness…!"
Jena was no fool. She was not some child who would sit idly by when a barrier appeared, searching for a blue cat robot while whining. When the barrier manifested before her eyes, she must have poured everything into testing whether she could destroy it from the outside. And having failed, she had come here. Her disheveled appearance and weakened mana were proof enough.
"The royal family and the academy—"
"The guards of the noble children who were not swallowed by the barrier remained. I instructed them to cut the horses from the carriages and ride immediately to inform the royal family and the academy, and I also gave them the royal knights' identification to go to the nearest knight order outpost and bring the entire force!"
Perfect follow-up measures. Of course, Jena going herself would have been fastest, but even riding a carriage from here to the capital where the royal family and academy were located would take an hour. Even riding a horse to the point of exhaustion would take at least twenty minutes. The round trip would naturally be double that. That was why she had entrusted the task to others and come running here at full speed to find the one person most likely to resolve a situation she herself could not handle.
'But do I have to save the princess?'
There was no reason. No reason to wield power, no reason to bear the risk of being discovered by others. The calculation was simple, and the judgment swift.
—I can just pretend not to know.
Jena shouting for my help had already drawn attention. I could simply say I would save her and send her back with Leng. Then, even if I failed to save the princess, it would not be my fault. I had clearly told her not to participate, and the princess had joined of her own accord and fallen into danger. Even if she died here, no one could hold me responsible.
—But why?
The words would not leave my lips toward Jena. Only later did I realize this was hesitation. I was hesitating? Because of a mere princess?
"……"
Approaching as she pleased. Feeling fear as she pleased. Whining as she pleased. And yet, like a leech that would not fall away even in death.
—'Young duke!'
That ridiculously blue crown of hair had, at some point, become part of the world I saw.
—Will I lose something again? Like my brother.
"Leng. Summon the marquis."
"Yes!"
The moment I thought I would lose something again, the emotion that began to overflow was already boiling hot enough to melt my insides.
*****
The blood-red barrier was solid. Even when Leng, a 4th-class knight, and Jena, a 2nd-class knight, swung their swords simultaneously, it only suffered minor scratches before regenerating.
"Marquis. This is…"
"From my analysis, it is a barrier that will not be released until its purpose inside is fulfilled."
Just like in the game, then. The purpose inside was to kill every human within. And though the marquis had not noticed, another spell had been layered onto this barrier.
"Teleportation. It seems a spell to summon someone has also been cast in order to achieve its purpose."
"……Huh? Indeed. To manifest a double-layered spell on such a massive and enormous barrier… Just how powerful a mage must have activated it?"
"They were nothing special. Just trash who used other people's blood and even their own."
"Ah… I'm sorry."
The marquis, who had been marveling at the magic before her as a mage herself, quickly bowed her head in apology, realizing it was not something to say in front of Jena, who was more desperate than anyone with the princess trapped inside.
"How on earth are we supposed to break through this…? Even if I analyze it and try to dismantle it, a barrier this large would take at least a month."
"That can't be…!!"
"There is no need to analyze it. Judging from how Sir Leng and Lady Jena's swords struck it, the problem is not that it won't break, but that it regenerates at an incredible speed. In other words, if we can make a hole large enough for a person to enter, that will suffice."
And I possessed the power to make that possible. I placed my hand on it and channeled mana. The barrier was not hard. It merely appeared capable of withstanding even a 2nd-class knight's slash because it regenerated at an incredible speed. That was why the attribute I had awakened was the worst possible matchup for this barrier.
—Gwooooo…
"Huh…?"
The barrier's wall trembled. Through mana, I understood the components that made up the wall and spread vibrations that lowered their binding force. My skin, bones, and organs were affected by the vibrations, but it did not matter. Vibrations of this level could not harm a human body.
—Shrrrrk.
"!!"
As the barrier melted away and an entrance just large enough for an adult to pass through was created, the marquis let out a startled cry.
"Marquis. Harden the entrance with crystallization magic."
"Ah? Yes!"
Her crystals suppressed the barrier that had been trying to regenerate in an instant, leaving the entrance open. I turned to the three of them, affixed a leisurely smile to my face, and gave instructions.
"The marquis must maintain the entrance, so she will remain here. We do not know what might emerge from inside, so Lady Jena, please guard the marquis."
"What!? That is impossible! Her Highness is inside…!!"
"Ah. My apologies. I seem to have spoken too long. If you follow me, you will only get in the way. Shut up and stay here."
"!"
My smiling face remained unchanged. But my voice carried a blade-like chill, as though one more word would cost them their heads.
"If you understand, simply nod."
—……Nod.
After giving Jena—who was gritting her teeth and forcing herself to nod—a satisfied smile, I gestured with my chin for Leng to follow and stepped inside.
*****
Inside the barrier, a scene unfolded that the word "hell" could not adequately describe.
"I don't want to die—Gurk!"
"Save me!! Please, someone save me…!?"
"Don't eat it!! Don't eat my leg!!!"
The moment the barrier activated, the fiends and demons that had crossed over began slaughtering the students and professors in sight. Their goal was singular: to weaken the forces that would eventually be sent to the Monster Front in a few years. The first-years were the perfect prey—weak enough to serve as targets.
"Save the eating for later and kill them quickly."
The fiends answered the demon's command in unpleasant voices. Unlike the fiends of some assassin organization, these were beings who had willingly consumed monster flesh and blood and fallen into depravity—and they did not hesitate to crave human flesh.
"Over there!!"
"R-run…!!"
The students and professors gathering together to evacuate after the sudden activation of the barrier and the ambush had proven to be a fatal mistake. The demon first beheaded the guardians who seemed capable of resistance. All that remained were the few students who had fled without resisting. Now they merely enjoyed the hunt, using screams and terror as their work song.
—Thud.
"Huh?"
If no other villain had appeared there, that would have been the end of it.
"Have you seen a blue-haired woman?"
The head of one fiend chasing a female student rolled across the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. A dispassionate voice tightened around their hearts.
"W-what?"
"That guy looks like a student too?"
"That was not an answer to the question."
""!!""
They had been watching without even blinking, yet at the sudden sound of a man's voice beside them, the two fiends recoiled in shock and turned their heads. He had clearly been five meters away, yet they had not sensed any movement or sound. Instinctively, they swung their weapons to create distance—but
—Thud.
"I asked if you've seen her."
"Kuaaaak!!?"
"My arm!? My leg—aaaagh!!"
Three parts of each fiend's limbs were severed without a sound, leaving only their torsos to fall to the ground. Only then did they understand. They, who had been hunters moments ago, had at some point become the prey.
"The one who speaks first dies without pain."
"I-I don't know—?"
"I-I didn't see her either—kuuuaak!!"
As though keeping his word, the black-haired man dropped the head of the fiend who had spoken first, then immediately drove his sword into the remaining fiend's shoulder.
"Whether you truly didn't see her, we'll find out from now on."
Mana seeped into the fiend's body through the sword. It instantly seized control of the fiend's entire body and analyzed the vibrations of his flesh.
"It won't take thirty seconds."
The moment his attribute, which had melted the barrier's wall, was applied to a being with flesh and blood, nothing resembling a human form remained after thirty seconds. Only the stench of blood and minced flesh filled the place.
*****
"Hik…!"
"Carix Valentia, the young duke."
After instantly killing two fiends and reducing the last one to something indistinguishable from liquid in thirty seconds, Carix approached the female student who had fallen while fleeing from a fiend. Her eyes were stained with sticky terror. But the object of that terror was not the fiend that had been chasing her moments ago—it was the 'human' standing before her.
"Have you seen the princess?"
"Th-the princess? I-I saw her…!"
Yet her survival instinct forced her to listen properly to the words of this human, who was more monstrous than the monster that devoured people. It helped her voice, trembling though it was, to give the answer he desired.
"Where did she go?"
"Th-that is… I saw her before the attack…"
"…I see."
Disappointment. It was the first time since arriving here that something resembling emotion had colored his voice. The human before her was a monster who melted and killed monsters that devoured people, but he was still someone who had come to save her. Relief—
—Thud.
"…?"
In that moment, the woman's head rolled across the ground without even feeling pain. 'Why?' The female student's final gaze rolled toward Carix, who had severed her neck, but he had already turned his back, looking away. She would never know until her consciousness faded that she had been eliminated simply because leaving her alive, having witnessed his power, would interfere with his revenge.
******
—Thud.
"Leng. If you can't bear it, leave. And don't ever appear before my eyes again."
Fifteen fiends. Six students. That was the number I had killed since entering the barrier.
"Are you… really going to kill them all?"
"The only ones who can leave here are you, me, and the princess."
I had explained it the moment we entered. That was the only reason I had left Jena outside. Leng was a knight who followed me and our family, but Jena was a royal knight. There was no reason she would not stop me, who had entered with the intent to kill even the innocent student victims.
"……Couldn't you just threaten them and keep their mouths shut?"
"And if, by doing so, my information reaches the one who orchestrated my brother's death—someone whose identity I still don't know—will you take responsibility and slit that bastard's throat?"
This action itself was already riddled with risks. In the first place, even if I hadn't killed them, they were humans who would have died at the hands of demons and fiends anyway. There was no reason not to reduce the number that could be reduced.
"Leng. You said before that you knew my true identity. This is my true identity."
When I rolled the head of the student I had severed and pushed it toward Leng, he gritted his teeth. I had known he had a subtle sense of justice, but as expected, Leng was far too… knightly to accept someone like me.
"I'll say it one last time. If you leave now, I won't say a word. I'll make sure you receive your severance pay properly, and I'll leave your title intact. I won't touch your family either."
Having finished speaking, I walked again. Even if Leng left like this, I would not care. Even if he drew his sword behind me to stop this indiscriminate killer, I would sever Leng's head without the slightest hesitation.
—Thud.
I found the next group of fiends and obtained information that the princess had fled with her guards and might still be alive. Throughout it all, Leng silently followed behind me. This time as well, a female student had seen my face.
Hmm. She had been having her legs torn off and eaten alive. There was no need to kill her directly. She would die soon from blood loss—
—Thud!
"Kuh… Wh-why……"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Blame me…… Blame this weak version of me."
Leng had driven his sword into the fallen female student's heart. Foolish bastard. If he was going to stab while crying, he should have just left. Even he knew she would die soon anyway, so why was he stabbing her?
"She would have died even if we left her."
"……Young master."
"Yeah."
"The students you've killed so far…… Did they suffer?"
A strange feeling. He had struck quite close to the core.
"No. They died without even knowing they were dying."
"I…… will remain as a knight of such a young master."
Was he expecting even a shred of kindness from me? Leng, biting his lips until they bled and steeling his resolve to chase after this revenge-obsessed man, looked… indescribably ridiculous.
"Do as you like."
Anyway, I now knew the direction the princess had fled. All that remained was to pursue her.